There are plenty of straightforward indications that Dumbledore is indeed dead in the common sense of the word, no stoppering.

When Umbridge took over as Headmaster, the office didn’t let her. But when McG took over, it did, with a portrait of Dumbledore prominently in place.

Ah! The portrait.

No doubt there will be a conversation or two: a perfect explanation of Rowling’s words to the actor. Serious readers knew that Dumbledore had to die sometime, for the same reason that Obi-Wan had to die. No surprise, then, when Dumbledore continues to be a presence.

I initially interpreted the draught of living death exactly the way you do. In fact, I still do. This is something entirely different (IMHO) from ‘stoppered death’, and I’m expecting we’ll learn more about both of them in “Deathly Hallows”. I’m also expecting we’ll finally see both the draught of living death and stoppered death in use.

another thing I see bandied about is the “Drought of living death” (cue dramatic music..duuhhh, duuhhh, dduuunnhhhh). Again it is explained as being a powerful sleeping potion. The people are in a deep sleep, just sleeping. Not overly sinister to me.

My 2 cents…love the site!

I also agree with Regnia about how ‘stoppered death’ works, and that Dumbledore was a ‘dead man walking’ throughout all of HBP.

A final theory – I think Jodel and Swythyv are right in saying that Dumbledore may not have been all that nice as a young man. He, himself, may have made serious mistakes and needed forgiveness. Maybe Rowling was having trouble in introducing his painful history to Harry? (But that’s speculation, of course!)

I’m a newbie at looking this deep into the stories so maybe I’m missing something obvious, but does Dumbledore have to be present to be “involved” in Harry’s continued quest? Couldn’t Dumbledore have left a series of clues, or friends who will show up to pass on info, or memories in the pensive.

..Or could Dumbledore have made a mistake that Harry has to unravel.

Just some thoughts.

Secondly, I have a lot to say on the topic of Snape and Alchemy.

In PS/SS first book, Snape mentions “bottled fame” and “stopper in death” in the very first DADA lesson. Here is the gun on the mantel for Chekov fans.

In PS/SS, the trio assume that Snape is after the Philosopher’s Stone, eternal life. This Stone is something that made Nicholas Flamel famous.

What if the Trio were right? What if the stone represents Snape’s motivation? What if Snape tells us in the very first lesson what he is most interested in?

Snape wants Fame via figuring out how to put a Stopper in Death. So…
Snape wants to learn to make a stone. Alchemical success would be showing the world your potion expertise by creating the elusive Elixer of Life.

Hence, Snape joined famous Dumbledore to learn about the Stone, one method of putting a stopper in death.

Another route to eternal life are horcruxes, dark magic. Snape luurves dark magic per the reports from the Mauraders and his stint at teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts gives credence to his fascination with that subject.

Hence, Snape joined infamous Voldemort to learn about horcruxes, another method to put a stopper in death.

Pursuit of knowledge is a powerful motivator and as a bonus, you become a better person by following the spiritual path of the Philospher’s Stone. Maybe that is what Dumbledore trusts about Snape.

Pursuit of knowledge is a powerful motivator and as an added bonus you can achieve eternal life and flee death. Maybe that is what Voldemort trusts about Snape.

This is why Dumbledore goes to Snape when he has horcrux related injuries. He knows of Severus’s interest in all eternal life possibilities and his death-eataer past.

Snape saved Harry because:
…saving Harry (book one) kept Snape on Dumbledore’s team (because Dumbledore is a good guy and doesn’t want kids to go splat on the Quidditch field.)
…saving Harry (book six) kept Snape on Voldemort’s team (asssuming that Voldemort may think that Harry is a horcrux).
…saving Harry may be useful if Snape is wondering if Harry is a horcrux as well.

Maybe Lily was another student interested in the Philosopher’s Stone. This is why her expertise as a potions student is a big revelation.

Also, In an earlier version of the HP series, (a draft noted on her website) Rowling wrote that James and Lily stole the Philosopher’s Stone. So at one point, there was a distinct Rowling line of thought that once directly connected Lily and James to the Philosopher’s Stone.

Plus the Chocolate Frog card said Nicholas was the only Known owner of a Philospher’s Stone. One can’t help but note that Lily and James were very rich.

Voldemort wanted knowledge about eternal life. If Lily has access to another Stone, that was why Voldemort initially decided not to kill her.

The whole business of the Unbreakable Vow… Why take any kind of vow that could kill you if it was broken, if you are so much into eternal life?

Well you don’t have anything to fear from such a deathly vow, if you are sure that you have already figured out a way around it.

Snape understands mixing things up in his chemistry set. I don’t think he gets the purity of soul aspect that goes along with alchemy. So by killing Dumbledore, he has permanently closed the door to ever achieving alchemical gold. (torn soul and all that)

Harry Potter became famous for defeating the Death Curse. Somehow that rug-rat defeated death while still in diapers and became so very famous! He loathes that kid.

So Snape is not Dumbledore’s man nor Voldemort’s man. He wants to prove himself by understanding magic‚Äôs deepest mystery ‚Äì the secret of eternal life ‚Äì both by taking the Dumbledore high road and the Voldemort low road. He want to be the best authority on putting a stopper in death.

He can see it all now…Front page Daily Prophet News: “Severus Snape Has Conquered Death!”

Order of Merlin look out, I believe Snape very much wants some eternal glory.

However, the exposure to Dumbledore and the Quest for Quientessence, has made its mark on Snape. I think he will be like the parable of the vineyard. He is one of those workers who gets in at the very last moment.

We are told that yes, he is dead. No, he won’t “pull a gandalf.”

Why should we be surprised that it is “more complex?”

And why assume that she is referring to Dumbledore in the present. We have much to learn about Dumbledore’s past that would also add more complexity to the story. All we know is that JKR was working on some plot point involving Dumbledore that was tricky for her to work out. This can mean any number of things!

“Isn’t he dead?” assumes that just because he is dead, there is nothing more to learn about him, nothing regarding Dumbledore that is complex or difficult to work out.

First, Mary, I’m not sure Snape’s reference to “stoppered death” can be construed as “brewing antidotes” or any other such thing. He was trying to explain, in dramatic fashion, the power of potion-making. As Felicity has noted, Snape would hardly say, “I can teach you to brew fame, bottle glory, and even stick a cork in a bottle of poison” (or “brew an antidote). Sort of anticlimactic, isn’t it?

John, I’m wondering how you’d respond to this potential hang-up:

This theory rests on the idea that “stoppered death” produces a “dead man walking.” But how exactly does the potion work? Surely it doesn’t vivify an already dead person. It must “stop” the process of death from being fully realized. As such, whenever the potion was administered, Albus was not yet dead, and hence we do have a contradiction between Rowling’s statement that “Dumbledore is definitely dead” and Stoppered Death as an explanation for how Dumbledore is still walking around in Book 7.

Thought? Am I misunderstanding?