OBHWF+

When he faces Malfoy at the end of HBP, Dumbledore is weak, maybe even (probably even) dying. He is unarmed. He is injured. Malfoy seems to have the upper hand in every way, but Dumbledore is really the one in charge. He even makes it clear that Malfoy is at his, Dumbledore’s, mercy. And Malfoy really is. Even while Malfoy was plotting against Dumbledore, Dumbledore protected and watched out over him. And while Malfoy stood holding his wand at the “defenseless” Dumbledore, Dumbledore was still willing to forgive everything and take Malfoy and his family into protection.

Dumbledore, even at what is arguably his weakest moment, is fully in charge. He doesn’t beg for mercy. Instead, he gives it. That’s his strength of character. And that’s why I believe his pleas to Snape a few minutes later are not pleas to spare his life. He’s not begging Severus to spare him, but to kill him–to end his life. I fully believe this because I fully believe that there is no one from whom Dumbledore would ever need to beg for mercy. I’m sure Dumbledore has a reason for doing it.

Maybe he does it to save Malfoy–to spread the love that he, Dumbledore, has valued so highly. Maybe Malfoy will see this sacrifice and understand the real power of love. I think he does see it there at the end, as he drops his wand. Malfoy doesn’t kill Dumbledore, though he could. He doesn’t cross that line. All the same, Dumbledore knows that if he survives, Malfoy will not. So Dumbledore allows himself to be killed–even, I believe, begs to be killed–in a way that both frees and protects Malfoy much the way Lily begs Voldemort to kill her instead of Harry.

Will Dumbledore’s sacrifice, his love, pass on an extra mark of protection to Malfoy the way Lily’s did to Harry? Will it show him the vast strength and power of love? Or did it merely allow Snape to maintain his footing within Voldemort’s ranks, thereby maintaining a spy for The Order? I think it did all of these things. I hope it did. I hope it wasn’t just treachery by Snape. I trust Dumbledore’s opinion too much to think he was wrong about Snape, to think it was really just simple treachery. I hope that’s justified. Still, right now, I kind of hate Severus Snape.

Either way, it’s pretty clear that this bit of mercy has marked Malfoy as Harry’s counterpart–opposite but equal, in a way. What this will mean is yet to be seen.