book 7 title

4. The Draught of Living Death Clue Added 7/31/05

Potions come into play a lot in the course of Half-Blood Prince. In Chapter 9, Professor Slughorn presents four already-made potions to his first class, three of which figure prominently in the story.

They are Veritaserum (truth potion), Polyjuice Potion, which we find out later is being used by Crabbe and Goyle to disguise themselves as girls while they're lookouts for Draco, Amortentia (love potion), which Ron accidentally injests from a candy meant for Harry, and Feilx Felicis, which aids the members of Dumbledore's Army later in the climax of the story.

Then, in the same class, Harry, with the aid of the Half-Blood Prince, produces a perfect Draught of Living Death, which was introduced to us way back in Snape's first lesson in the first book. Interestingly, in pratically the same breath, Snape also mentions the bezoar which also figures prominently in Half-Blood Prince, and also wolfsbane, which we know helps Lupin later in Prisoner of Azkaban:

"For your information, Potter, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons. As far as monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant... (SS/PS pg 138/103)

Some fans are speculating that the fifth potion in this scene is important too, that Dumbledore uses the Draught of Living Death to somehow fake his death that night up on the tower. While this theory is possible, besides the mention of the Draught of Living Death here in Chapter 9, to my knowledge there is no other evidence to support this theory.

Okay, this passage comes from the site I posted earlier, www.dumbledoresnotdead.com

This article was about the potions of Slughorn's. Now, listen to this:

The Draught of Living Death, as it says, makes an extremely powerful sleeping potion. I've been re-reading bits in the book, mainly near the end, to see if I could come up with extra clues...

And read what I found here:

Dumbledore's eyes were closed; but for the strange angle of his arms and legs, he might have been sleeping. -- HBP, pg. 608, American

He might have been sleeping! Isn't it a bit odd that he flew fifty feet into the air from a killing curse, landing far away, yet his position could be described by 'sleeping'? Don't know about you guys, but that sounds a bit strange to me.

And one more thing:

Was it ever explained why the Order of the Phoenix was named the Order of the Phoenix?

I know the phoenix is something good and pure to be rallying around, but what if the name had more to it than just that.

What if--if Dumbledore was an animagi and could turn into a phoenix--what if the phoenix meant Dumbledore??

What if, since Dumbledore is more or less the leader of the Order... what if it was named after him? The Order does exist because of Dumbledore...

I am finding more and more clues as I go along!

Read this, from page 588 in the American HBP:

Dumbledore closed his eyes again and nodded, as though he was about to fall asleep.

One more point goes to the sleeping bit.

Damn, this is crazy...

I hope Dumbledore is alive. I like him more than any other character in the book.

Originally posted by DanZeke25
I hope Dumbledore is alive. I like him more than any other character in the book.

Clues are pointing more toward the Draught of Living Death theory than I expected...

I am so confused... 😕

And this is all making my head spin...

And the worse thing is that we're gonna have to wait two friggen years! 😠

😱 Did I really hit on something this big?

The Draught of Living Death theory is wonderful... and it would explain the way DD fell and landed after flying from the tower. But don't Phoenixes only rise again, from the flames, after they have actually died?

Or is it possible that DD didn't die, used the Draught of Living Death (could it have been the green potion in Voldemort's basin in that cave, by the way?), and then during the funeral, changed himself into a Phoenix and 'escaped'?

OMG, I'm as excited as you hotsauce!! 😆

So, by my calculations, the reason DD was so tired after he and Harry had been to the cave was because he drank all of that green potion out of the basin (Draught of Living Death), got back to the castle... then when Snape 'killed' him it was actually not the Avada Kedavra but Snape doing a curse in his mind which was more powerful than the spoken one. This then shot D off the tower, he landed in a sleeping position because of the Draught, then at the funeral he burst into flames after awakening from the Draught and became a Phoenix via his Animagi capabilities... OMG, I'm getting so confused... does anyone understand where we're going with this??

*bump*

This HAS to be discussed 😱

Originally posted by Syren
😱 Did I really hit on something this big?

The Draught of Living Death theory is wonderful... and it would explain the way DD fell and landed after flying from the tower. But don't Phoenixes only rise again, from the flames, after they have actually died?

Or is it possible that DD didn't die, used the Draught of Living Death (could it have been the green potion in Voldemort's basin in that cave, by the way?), and then during the funeral, changed himself into a Phoenix and 'escaped'?

OMG, I'm as excited as you hotsauce!! 😆

So, by my calculations, the reason DD was so tired after he and Harry had been to the cave was because he drank all of that green potion out of the basin (Draught of Living Death), got back to the castle... then when Snape 'killed' him it was actually not the Avada Kedavra but Snape doing a curse in his mind which was more powerful than the spoken one. This then shot D off the tower, he landed in a sleeping position because of the Draught, then at the funeral he burst into flames after awakening from the Draught and became a Phoenix via his Animagi capabilities... OMG, I'm getting so confused... does anyone understand where we're going with this??

Either that, or, I was just thinking...

Perhaps he is still asleep in the coffin? And, like you said, the flames were just of the white tomb appearing?

But that wouldn't explain the phoenix Harry 'thought' he saw through the smoke.

Dumbledore *might* just be alive!! 😱

eeehhh...did it seem like dumbledore fell asleep in the cave?
the potion was not the druaght of living death, and there is no way DD could get it else.

Originally posted by sasee tiin
eeehhh...did it seem like dumbledore fell asleep in the cave?
the potion was not the druaght of living death, and there is no way DD could get it else.

No, I do not know what that potion is, nor how Dumbledore could have somehow gotten the Draught of Living Death. They are the holes I have yet to find solutions for.

Sasee, have you been to that website yet, though. It makes you think, though, trust me.

yeah, i've been there, and though i had heard most of the evidence already, it definetly is interesting!
I am quite sure he died, but it is possible that they had a plan, and that DD will return in another form of life (as aphoenix or something)

you know the graves of Lilly and James might be horcrux.

i dont think they are because in book six dumbledore tells harry the horcruxes are the neclace which is in gremald place the ring which is destroyed the diary which is destroyed voldemorts snake somthing of gryffindors or ravenclaws the cup and voldemort himself

I definitely think DD could be an Animagi (Phoenix) and I'm liking the idea of the Draught of Living Death... there are way too many references to these things for them just to be coincidence.

Hi everyone!

I think that Harry Potter will die in the 7th book because I remember J.K. Rowling saying in an interview "There will be no old Harry Potter, just young". So I think that Harry Potter will kill He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and unfortunatley I think Harry will die.

Follow up..............

I do agree with General Bondius because I think when Voldemort killed Harry's parenets, that Voldemort created Harry to be one of his Horocruxes and I think that when Harry tries to kill Voldemort, Voldemort will tell him he is his last horcrux so Harry will have to kill himself in order for Voldemort to die.

I think that when DD died that he became a Phoniex in a way. But I am so sad that DD had to die. The DD died was awful and I am still reall bumbed out about even if it was just a character in book.

But if he became a Phoenix because he's an Animagi, that means he's not dead. He took the Draught of Living Death and then burst into Phoenix flames at his funeral.

We have millions ofthreads like this I mean millions