I have a hard time believing DD is alive, although it is possible.

JKR spent too much ink hammering it in that he'd dead, dead, dead. It would be too much of a cheat for him to be alive (though I can see him making a cameo appearance as a ghost or a talking portrait.)

Got the exact quote:

Dumbledore was slumbering in a golden frame over the desk, his half-moon spectacles perched upon his crooked nose, looking peaceful and untroubled.

Yeah, but it seems only fair for him to get a brief rest period, what with being killed and all.

"Dumbledore, you've just been blasted off the roof and into the afterlife by an Unspeakable Curse! What are you going to do next?" "I'm going to Disney World!"

Hey, the Monks downstairs apparently have quite the wine supply. I'd think that'd do in a pinch.

non-dead people move in pictures

I think dumbledore is dead, but I think there are legitimate reasons for him to be alive -- the helpfulness of going undercover, the silent curses, the incessant phoenix imagery, flying from the killing, curse, the offer to fake draco's death...

I think he's a goner. Pulling a Gandalf would be plausible, with all the phoenix imagery & so forth, but it would be such a cheat. And I don't think JKR lacks bottle to that degree - I think she's prepared to go the whole Mineare. I don't think Harry's going to die, but I've not ruled it out as a possibility. And I'm definitely feeling nervous for Snape. Think he'll maybe have a heroic death, but I wouldn't put it past JKR to give him a really annoying and pointless death ::cough::Sirius::cough::

I don't think its a cheat if its an elaborate set-up.

Hmm.

I think that the mentor-losing thing is appropriate to the kind of story I perceive JKR to be putting together - if this is supposed to be a growing-to-manhood, rites-of-passage deal. Which is how I read it, at this point. And from Kenobi on back, it's a precedent which packs a lot of oomph. If we go for the Gandalf model - well, it's not without precedent, but it detracts from the rites of passage thing, I think. But it may be that it's what she's going for.

Some of it is the degree of set up. IMO, more of it is the emotional set-up and pay-off. Even if there's a deep technical explanation, if the result is an, "Oh, sorry about your emotional trauma, Harry. Not dead," it feels kinda ass-pull-y, even if it was built in from the get-go.

eta: the thing about Gandalf is that he is, but, he's kinda not, too. I mean, it's the same guy, but he's not the same as when he left. He achieved a higher level of wizard-ness, or whetever.

there's ways to make it work though... this year's wesleycrusher is that Harry thinks Dumbledore is alive and keeps finding clues and nobody believes him

but I still think he's dead