Dumbledore’s “They learned not to mess with our families” line clued me in that he did it. The line is too on-point for anything else
Saying “They learned not to mess with our families” with a stone cold look on his face is what you’d expect Dumbledore to do whether or not he killed Narcissa. The statement is a simple fact. The memory of Aberforth’s death and mere knowledge of Narcissa’s seems to me plenty sufficient to produce that line and that look. Harry has even explicitly thought that Dumbledore has acted consistent with either possibility. I grant that that thought was more about the “Only a fool would say ‘Yea’ or ‘Nay’ ” line, but if Harry thinks the line you mentioned is evidence of guilt, he has failed to think it where we can hear him, even when he was thinking through this entire issue.
His motive is better
Maybe, and yet the deed is still out of character for him, where it’s not nearly as much for Amelia, and Amelia’s motive is plenty good, given that Bellatrix was too powerful to attack directly.
his textual clues are clearer
Such as they are, they’re more explicit and blatant and obvious, yes. That just means it’s a crappy mystery if you’re right. I know I always say “Not everything that is mysterious to the characters is supposed to be mysterious to us”, but that’s more about things where we’re supposed to use our enhanced knowledge of canon or alternate POVs, where it takes deliberate suspension of learning or blatant failures of reading comprehension to keep from admitting the truth. Not like this issue, that’s obviously supposed to be a mystery that will be revealed later.
and he explicitly said that he did it.
Says Lucius. Maybe Dumbledore said he did it, or maybe he used weasel words to lead Lucius to that belief without lying, or maybe he admitted some involvement without saying he cast the spell that killed her. The fact is, Dumbledore had a vested interest in the bad guys’ believing that he did it; therefore, any alleged confessions made by Dumbledore to the bad guys should be treated with suspicion.
EDIT: As a gesture of goodwill, let me post the best evidence I’ve seen that Dumbledore might have killed Narcissa, that I just now thought of and haven’t seen brought up in this context:
Because, you see, I had tried to kill Grindelwald once before, a long time ago, and that… that was… it proved to be… a mistake, Harry...” The old wizard was staring now at his long dark-grey wand where he held it in both hands, as though it were a crystal ball out of Muggle fantasy, a scrying pool within which answers could be found. “And I thought, then… I thought that I should never kill. And then came Voldemort.”
Sounds like Dumbledore has killed before. He said this in the same room where he keeps his Pensieve and memories of Aberforth’s death. I don’t know of any good guesses about who he might have killed other than Narcissa. Consider my probability estimates revised to be closer together. Not past each other, not even terribly closer, but closer.
An interesting thought, and one that I had not considered in this light. And yet, right afterwards:
The old wizard looked back up at Harry, and said, in a hoarse voice, “He is not like Grindelwald, Harry. There is nothing human left in him. Him you must destroy. You must not hesitate, when the time comes. To him alone, of all the creatures in this world, you must show no mercy; and when you are done you must forget it, forget that you ever did such a thing, and go back to living. Save your fury for that, and that alone.”
This seems to make it clear to me that it is not that Dumbledore thought that he would never kill, and then Voldemort’s war changed that, and he killed. It’s that he thought that he should never kill, and then Voldemort himself became the exception, changed the rules so that he should kill Voldemort.
Saying “They learned not to mess with our families” with a stone cold look on his face is what you’d expect Dumbledore to do whether or not he killed Narcissa. The statement is a simple fact. The memory of Aberforth’s death and mere knowledge of Narcissa’s seems to me plenty sufficient to produce that line and that look. Harry has even explicitly thought that Dumbledore has acted consistent with either possibility. I grant that that thought was more about the “Only a fool would say ‘Yea’ or ‘Nay’ ” line, but if Harry thinks the line you mentioned is evidence of guilt, he has failed to think it where we can hear him, even when he was thinking through this entire issue.
Maybe, and yet the deed is still out of character for him, where it’s not nearly as much for Amelia, and Amelia’s motive is plenty good, given that Bellatrix was too powerful to attack directly.
Such as they are, they’re more explicit and blatant and obvious, yes. That just means it’s a crappy mystery if you’re right. I know I always say “Not everything that is mysterious to the characters is supposed to be mysterious to us”, but that’s more about things where we’re supposed to use our enhanced knowledge of canon or alternate POVs, where it takes deliberate suspension of learning or blatant failures of reading comprehension to keep from admitting the truth. Not like this issue, that’s obviously supposed to be a mystery that will be revealed later.
Says Lucius. Maybe Dumbledore said he did it, or maybe he used weasel words to lead Lucius to that belief without lying, or maybe he admitted some involvement without saying he cast the spell that killed her. The fact is, Dumbledore had a vested interest in the bad guys’ believing that he did it; therefore, any alleged confessions made by Dumbledore to the bad guys should be treated with suspicion.
EDIT: As a gesture of goodwill, let me post the best evidence I’ve seen that Dumbledore might have killed Narcissa, that I just now thought of and haven’t seen brought up in this context:
Sounds like Dumbledore has killed before. He said this in the same room where he keeps his Pensieve and memories of Aberforth’s death. I don’t know of any good guesses about who he might have killed other than Narcissa. Consider my probability estimates revised to be closer together. Not past each other, not even terribly closer, but closer.
An interesting thought, and one that I had not considered in this light. And yet, right afterwards:
This seems to make it clear to me that it is not that Dumbledore thought that he would never kill, and then Voldemort’s war changed that, and he killed. It’s that he thought that he should never kill, and then Voldemort himself became the exception, changed the rules so that he should kill Voldemort.
At least, it is an alternate possibility.