why did DD immobilize Harry?

[frodobaggins]

This has probably already been discussed but oh well.

why would he immobilize harry?? it makes no sense.

two wizards against whatever force DD thought was coming is better than one.
and if DD was worried about harry's safety why was he. an even sick DD is better than a couple death eaters and so is harry.

why did he waste the chance to strike first??

 

[Dr Winterbourne]

Perhaps so that Harry would not stop Snape from doing what they both knew had to be done.

 

[Seeker615]

Maybe also being that it was Draco involved he wanted to keep Harry from interfering with him trying to talk him down. The two do not get along at all and maybe Dumbledore didn't want the two of them to have another fight. He probably wanted Harry to know what Draco has been through the past year and how truley evil voldy is.

 

[Flyboy]

DD knew exactly what was planned, he had known all along (from Snape). He didn't want Harry to interupt the plan.

Which then gets me thinking - why didn't DD tell Harry what the plan was? They had been so close over the last year, and Harry assumed that DD had now confided everything to him. Maybe DD knew that Harry didn't trust Snape and so wouldn't believe DD when he told Harry their plans. Which means that DD didn't entirley trust Harry (?)

If DD immobolized Harry to stop him interfering with a plan he and Snape were in on but didn't feel that he could tell Harry what the plan was - does that mean theat DD death is directly linked to Harry future? That's why DD sacraficed himself - all for Harry.

 

[horcruxfinder]

DD imobilized Harry because at all costs he has had to protect him so that his future is secured. He didn't want him to be harmed in any other fight or try to be heroic and save DD. DD needed to secure Harry's future because he believes harry must face LV and destroy him. It is DD plan to nurture Harry and keep him safe and clear the pathway so that he will destroy the heir of Slytherin - Lord Voldy. And, (I know this may belong in another thread but....) I think he may have this plan because he is the heir of Godric Gryffindor and want to finally bring an end to the disunity that has plagued Hogwarts since the 4 founders split and Slytherin left.

 

[halliemei]

I wondered about this at first, too. My thought is that it's as simple as Dumbledore needed Harry to see/hear what was going to happen. He needed Harry to let it happen, too. I agree that the chances are that he set up what occurred on that tower (or at least knew about it), and he couldn't take the chance that something could happen to Harry. But, I think that it was also that he needed Harry to see what transpired.

 

[Lovegood54]

i dont think DD knew exactly what was going to happen, or even who was coming up the stairs, after all, harry didnt see draco til after he was immobilized. i think he immobilized harry to protect him, in case it was someone who would kill harry, like maybe voldemort. he had no idea if the death eaters were still in the castle or gone, and for all he knew Voldemort could have gotten impatient and come to the school and found a way in (whether through force or through help) and he wanted harry to be safe, in case it was voldemort. (the dark mark was present, and i am sure dumbledore was assuming the very worst case scenario: Voldemort got into the school, despite his protections, and had killed someone). this said, DD may have immobilized harry so that harry could live to fight another day. DD is an acclomplished Occlumens, and i would assume he would be able to lie to voldemort, and thus could say that Harry had run away from the school, or something and there would be no way for voldemort to know that harry was right there under his nose.

so, DD immobilized harry so that harry would be protected. since harry couldnt move, he couldnt make any noise (in case it was voldemrt, harry wouldnt be able to try to sneak out the door or, more harry like, attack voldemort directly and get killed) and thus, since harry is like a lamp, and unable to make noise, DD lie of saying he is all alone becomes more valid.

 

[Mr_Bandman]

Dumbledore planned every bit of it. It makes perfect sense. Dumbledore's death will foster Voldemort's arrogance and give him a false sense of security, which could make him vulnerable. Harry has to face Voldemort alone, and he can't have it lingering in the back of his mind that Dumbledore will be there to pull him out if he gets in a tight spot. Harry also has to be able to muster the rage and hatred necessary to pull of a successful Unforgivable Curse. Witnessing the death of the person he looks up to most at the hands of the person he hates the most certainly gets the ball rolling in that department. I think that could be a hint toward things to come----one way or the other, the 2 people closest to Harry are going to be taken out of the action----either Ron dies and Hermione crosses over to be with Viktor Krum or Hermione dies and Ron crosses over out of jealousy (or because the entire Weasley clan are all Dark Wizards and always have been). I'm leaning toward the latter of the two possibilities. Either way, Harry's rage and hatred are fed, and when he has to pop an A.K. on Voldemort, he will absolutely mean it.

In any case, Dumbledore accomplished several things in being murdered. In addition to the aforementioned, he prevented Draco Malfoy from fracturing his own soul through murder, thus saving him. If Harry had been able to move, there is no doubt he would have acted to protect Dumbledore, and either he or Malfoy could have been seriously hurt or killed. Harry is far too important to the plan to have him caught up in what would essentially be an unnecessary distraction---a fight with Malfoy and/or Snape.

 

[Lovegood54]

yeah, but i dont think dumbledore knew that it was draco who sent up the dark mark. i am pretty sure that he couldnt have planned what happened on the astromonomy tower. i dont think DD would have left the school if he had known that there was a possibility of Death Eaters getting into the school. Would you leave a school full of underaged wizards (including muggle-borns and blood-traitors, the prime targets of Voldemort) if you knew that there would be Death Eaters entering your school? i wouldnt. it would be ludircious, and i would want my students to have the best protection possible, which would mean having one of the most powerful wizards there in the school protecting them. i think some of it to an extent was planned, like i think Dumbledore may have planned on having Snape kill if Draco couldnt do it, just so that Snape could continue being a spy, and so that draco wouldnt be killed (afterall, draco has been practicing occlumency, and Snape is the best occlumens, so they might be able to get away with it if they were the only witnesses). we know DD knew that Draco was attempting to kill him, but i would call it lunacy to believe that DD knew that Draco was fixing the vanishing cabinet so that he could bring Death Eaters into the school, and knowing this, left the school to retrieve a horcrux he could go and retrieve the next night, or leave careful instructions to harry on how to retrieve it safely (like by leaving behind the memory of how he retrieved the ring for instance) i doubt that Dumbledore, being who he is, would leave his students alone with only the order and teachers to protect the students if he knew that that Death Eaters would be entering the school.

 

[Mr_Bandman]

Dumbledore was seemingly completely unconcerned about what Draco Malfoy was up to and I believe it was because he knew about it. I am convinced that Snape is still on the side of the Order, & Dumbledore and Snape planned for Snape to carry out Draco's orders. Snape told Dumbledore what the Dark Lord ordered Draco to do, and that helped Dumbledore to finalize his plans. Dumbledore may well not have known HOW Draco would carry it out, but he absolutely knew that he would not do it alone and that there would likely be casualties other than himself. I also believe that Dumbledore knew that Draco had been branded with the Dark Mark and was collaborating with Death Eaters----this all comes back to which side you think Snape is on----I think he is with the Order. It isn't lunacy, or if it is it is because war is lunacy. Casualties of war are unavoidable, especially if you intend to win that war. I go back to what I have been saying for some time now----Dumbledore is playing an unfathomably intense chess match (hence the repeated chess references throughout the six published books). If you're going to win at chess, you have to sacrifice pawns, knights, bishops---whatever it takes to corner the king. You cannot value the life of the individual more than you value the greater goal of defeating your opponent. Dumbledore's chess match has been ongoing for 16+ years----he has carefully set this entire thing up. I think Dumbledore knew/knows far more that any of us yet are aware of.

BTW, in the giant chess match in PS/SS, notice who sacrifices himself so that Harry can continue on to the ultimate showdown----wonder if that is foreshadowing the end?

 

[Glumbumble]

The bit that gets me here is that Dumbledore has invested so much time over the years in trying to convince Harry that Snape, Professor Snape Harry, is on the side of the Order and is to be trusted.
To deliberately let Harry witness Snape killing Dumbledore would only reinforce Harry's deeply held view that Snape is evil.
There can only be two possible explanations for this. Firstly to show Harry that he, Dumbledore, was wrong or, secondly, to ensure that Snape had the best opportunity to safely move back in with the death eaters. Someone had to take the message back to the order that it was Snape, not Malfoy or anyone else, that killed Dumbledore.

My view is that the second scenario was the one that Dumbledore intended, not to say at this point that he wasn't wrong.

The argument that occurred between Snape and Dumbledore may well have been about the next task that Snape would have to perform, the killing of Dumbledore.

 

[Mr_Bandman]

I agree, G---in order to reinforce the false sense of security Dumbledore hoped to foster in Voldemort, everyone involved (perhaps Harry especially) must believe what appears on the surface----that Snape killed Dumbledore because he is on the side of Voldemort. If Voldemort does not believe this, Snape will likely be put to death and the Order loses a most valuable insider. If Harry does not believe it, he cannot truly go it alone----his hatred of Snape must be an absolute----if he has doubts, or thinks there is a possibility that Snape is on his side or can help in some way, he (Harry) will not muster the courage and constitution to to face Voldemort, he will likely give Snape's secret away (Voldemort is a great Occlumens, and even if Harry were able to block that bit of information he cannot look to Snape, even with a quick side glance without giving him away----Harry must continue to look on Snape with hatred and disgust), and the plan will fail. This way, Snape has the opportunity to manipulate certain things from the inside----that can only happen is he has the unwavering trust of Voldemort and all of the DEs (at least the "major players"). What a weapon that is----imagine if you were able to conceal from your chess opponent that his queen is actually on your side and though seems to be protecting his king is actually helping to orchestrate his demise.

It is easy to see, at least from this viewpoint, why Snape was so irate when Harry called him a coward.

 

[Alz]

I think the previous replies pretty much sum this up the best really.
Dumbledore had to do two things, one protect Harry the second was the stop Harry getting involved.
By having Harry immobilized and also hidden, he could get all the motivation he needed to take the final steps towards Voldemort (find Snape, find Voldemort!) but be perfectly safe from harms way.
Dumbledore needed Harry to see that people are capable of changing, he needed to show Harry that Draco was not all bad but he also needed to keep Harry alive and safe to fight another day. Remember Dumbledore knows that Harry will have his day, only Harry can stand a chance against Voldemort.