He had to die

[The Mauled Avenger]

he had just drunk a large ammount of an unknown potion

[Snow_Crystal]

He'd just had a whole load of poison though...?

[Froggs]

He'd just had a whole load of poison though...?

Yes, but he's DUMBLEDORE!!! (We never want our heroes to fall or falter!) I think I was making him out to be more than he was.

[Snow_Crystal]

Yeah but the death of Sirius shows us that hero's do fall however much we don't want them to.

[Stumpy]

depends wheather its for the greater good, but as we dont know wot that was i completely agree

[gadfly22]

Dumbledore "died" -- but his death is likely to follow one of 3 patterns for the wise wizard figure:

1. He's gone for good, like Merlin. And the reason is that it was simply time for the pupil that he was tutoring to take responsibility for himself. If Book 7 is about Harry's marching into adulthood, then Dumbledore will stay dead and not return, whether according to his own plan or because he was "tricked", as Merlin was, by another magical person.

2. He'll return somehow stronger than ever, like Gandalf. But, unlike Gandalf, he won't return from death itself. He'll return as part of his own plan and was never really dead. But, in any case, he'll be back and even more potent.

3. He'll return but in a different form, like Obi-wan Kenobi. Maybe as a ghost or just in a headmaster's portrait, but Dumbledore will be present to help Harry somehow, all according to Dumbledore's own plan.

[Dutchess42]

I opt for number one on that one. Dumbledore is gone.

Unfortunately I saw the original movie before I read Book I and so my Snape was always Alan Rickman and I had a hard time believing him to be on the dark side. (Plus the movies soften him a lot, even to the point of having him guard the kids against Lupin which never actually happened)

Even so, I have never abandoned my theory that he is on the side of good. Up to now I've thought so because Dumbledore trusted him - though that could be a tragic flaw of his. But now I'm positive that Snape is not in league with Voldemort. He never killed any of the Order, he never let anyone kill Harry, he seemed NOT to want to kill Dumbledore.

And, if Dumbledore was pleading for his life he would have said "please, no" instead of just "please."

[guesswhat]

he and HARRY SPEND SO MUCH EFFORT, he drank the potion, and he wanted to be killed, the potion itself or the person who drank it maight be a part of LV, so DD HAD TO DIE. and SNAPE is not on the bad side. Because he has been helping Harry and DD.

[Mistress Siana]

I've thought the hole thing through again from yet another point of view: That of Voldemort. It might be a bit long, but please bear with me, I think I came to an interesting but scary conclusion.

Firstly, we know how incredibly vain Voldemort is. He believes himself to be the greatest wizard that ever existed, one who went further exploring Dark Magic than anyone else, and yet he failed to defeat Dumbledore in their duel at the MoM. His Death Eaters already guessed that Draco wasn't really meant to succeed, but was Snape? I honestly doubt that Lord Voldemort, with all his megalomania, would have thought Snape capable of fulfilling a task he himself has failed at. And personally, I don't think that, under normal circumstances - that means without DD being weakened - Snape would have stood a chance. I think that, during their duel, Voldemort must have come to the conclusion that there was only one person that could defeat Dumbledore: Dumbledore himself. And Voldemort must have seen what, in his eyes, was Dumbledore's greatest weakness, namely his nobility, his willingness to sacrifice his own life for the course. When Dumbledore told him that death was nothing, he immediately reacted by challenging him to prove it and kill Harry in order to kill him, Voldemort. I believe that Voldemort must have come to the conclusion that the only way to get rid of Dumbledore was to set up a scenario that would make Dumbledore sacrifice himself for someone else. You can see that this is the way Voldemort thinks by the way he used Harry's feelings for Sirius to lure him into the DoM.

Now, he needed someone DD trusted, someone so valuable in DD's eyes that he, under certain circumstances, would chose that person's life over his own; and seeing how things turned out last time Voldemort used Harry, preferably somebody else this time. This is where Snape comes in.
I honestly wonder what Wormtail was in this book for, other than to show that the Dark Lord does not trust Snape. The rat, *assisting* Snape? Of course...especially considering his habit to listen at doors. So, shouldn't we assume that Wormtail told Voldemort about Narcissa and Bella's visit, and depending on how much he heard, the Vow? And wouldn't Voldemort react to such an act of treachery if he wasn't up to something else?
On explaning his behaviour to Bellatrix, Snape asks: "Do you really think that, had I not been able to give satisfactory answers, I would be sitting here talking to you?"
Well, actually, I dare to say the answer is yes. Think about it! If I were Lord Voldemort and if I knew that my favourite Death Eater had betrayed me and run off to my worst enemy, what would I do? Would I kill him in an instant? No, I'd rather use the fact that Dumbledore trusts him unconditionally for my own advantage. I'd find his greatest weakness, his soft spot, and use it against him, I'd find a way to control him and be at my mercy, I'd make him pay, make him regret he ever betrayed me and make DD regret he ever trusted him, I'd take everything he has away from him - and then, I'd kill him.
Seeing that the Malfoys are very clearly a soft spot of Snape's, can't it have been that what Voldemort was up to: Revenge on Snape, rather than Lucius? If it was only to punish Lucius, it would have been far wiser to just kill Draco. Sending Draco after DD but expecting him to fail was a rather stupid thing to do, because it would alert DD to Voldemort's plan to kill him now rather than chasing after Harry. And DD of course is not stupid, it was only too logical that Snape was Voldemort's "plan B" should Draco fail. And Voldemort, a second class strategist? I don't buy that.

Now, take those two points - the realisation that only Dumbledore himself can defeat Dumbledore and the revenge on Snape -, combine them and you have the perfect plan. If Snape has a soft spot, I think it's clearly the Malfoys. You can tell that by the way he flinches when Harry accuses Lucius of being a Death Eater (GoF), by the obvious mutual affection between him and Narcissa and the quite un-snapish patience with which he treats Draco. So...lean back, count on Snape not willing to stand aside and watch as Draco is sacrificed to hurt Lucius, count on Snape confiding in dear Dumbledore, count on Dumbledore heroically sacrificing himself for his precious spy and an innocent boy, and you'll get everything you ever wanted. And even if things go wrong, you don't really have anything to lose. If Draco dies, you at least have you revenge on Lucius, if Snape dies, so what?
Now that sounds more like Voldemort, I think. The Vow was very convenient, but it might have worked without it, too. Or perhaps Voldemort knows Narcissa well enough to know what she would be doing.

Anyway, I think Voldemort used Snape deliberately to make Dumbledore sacrifice himself. And thinking about it...as I don't really buy Lord "I do not forgive" Voldemort's unshakable trust in Snape, I can very well see him kill Snape after he's fulfilled his purpose.
Possible or far-fetched?

[thestral]

wow...need time to assimilate and process info...

[Scarlet Lioness]

wow...need time to assimilate and process info...

You and me both...

[Augusta Longbottom]

very possible. It all makes sense the way you explain it. I hadn't given much thought as to why PP was really at Snapes other than to "assist". I completely agree that LV expected Narcissa to run to Snape to save her precious Draco, but that hadnt occured to me before. Now that you've pointed it out, I think this is a very plausible situation.

[Broccoli]

What do you think, can it be that LV ordered Narcissa to go to Snape and ask for protection, as a part of the plan described by Mistress Siana?

Regarding DD pleading not to kill him - it seems strange to me also for the following reason. DD trusted Snape and, therefore did not expect him to kill him. So why say: "Please, don't kill me", if he thought Snape was on his side? After all, Snape's intentions were not that obvious when he entered the room. So, apparently, DD's words meant something else indeed.

[Mistress Siana]

He could possibly have employed legilimency...but I don't think that makes sense. If Snape really were on Voldemort's side it means he would have been fooling DD for 16 years, and now, without what? 5 seconds? Dumbledore, weakened and wandless as he is, realizes his true intentions? No way...unless possibly Snape wanted to, to manifest his triumph sotospeak, but wouldn't he have said it aloud then?

About Voldy ordering Narcissa...I wondered about that, too, but her fear for Draco seemed truly genuine to me. And I'm not sure if she could have fooled Snape, after all it was Bellatrix who taught Draco occlumency, not Narcissa. So I guess she wouldn't have been good enough to play charade with Snape. But we do know that Voldemort is an expert in playing little mindgames, Harry expected him to have planned for ages to find the right moment to ask Slughorn about Horcruxes. So I think he might have known Narcissa well enough to know about her fear for Draco, her trust in Snape and her readiness to go behind his back in order to protect her son. I think he counted on that. If he hadn't, why wouldn't he have punished Narcissa? I think, due to Wormtail's 'convenient' presence, we can assume Voldemort knows about her visit.

[Froggs]

I am disinclined to like Snape or forgive him for what he did, regardless of what he can do to redeem himself in the last book. However- Someone pointed out that Snape did the deed quickly, no gloating, no final words of hatefullness to DD, nothing was said that would indicate that this was a triumph for Snape. Very out of character for a villain. His face showed hatred and revulsion, but that could mean anything...if he had smirked then Snape is obviously evil, if he gloated-evil, if he laughed-evil, rude comment after the deed-evil, but he did none of those things, if anything he was just, well, efficient.