The Snitch Dumbledore bequeathed to Harry had the message "I open at the close"

I only read the book once, but I'm going through it again and I still don't get it - what did it mean?

It basically means it is going to open when his life is about to end, or close, if you will. Also, he has to put it in his mouth and actually close his mouth for it to open, because the snitch remembers the first person to catch it remember?

Yeah...he didn't have to put it in his mouth for it to open. The snitch only had to touch his mouth.

I agree with the person above. The thing that made things work (if you ask me) is that there was the parallel to a quidich (so I can't spell...) game and that when the game ends is what the snitch is caught. everything closes and the snitch puts itself "away". That makes it to where Harry could figure out what was going on. At least that's how I figured it out...

Actually, I believe he had to put it to his mouth to reveal the message on it, not to open it... at the end of the book when he is on the edge of the forest preparing to give himself up, he finally understand the message and whispers to the snitch "I am about to die." just like you said above... its at the "close" of his life. it says he pressed it to his lips and whispered. I think he had to put it to his lips to reveal the message, but that was only part of how to open it... The fact that he excepted the his fate and was prepared to die opened it completely. And probably because he told it "I am about to die." lol... anyway, thats my take on the situation... ~Cheese

Oooo...I really love the parallel you're making here about the snitch revealing itself to end the quiditch match and it revealing itself at the end of Harry's life. I hadn't made that connection before, but it really is beautiful and makes complete sense. I never got reading the book why Dumbledore chose to put the stone inside the snitch, but that totally explains it. If Harry had been able to make that parallel connection he might have known earlier what it was that he needed to do. That was why Dumbledore did it - the snitch was a clue in addition to being practical which makes complete sense for his character. Hmm, fantastic point.

wow thank you! :P lol... I'm glad I was able to present a new point to you :D

Just to add a little something to this discussion, Dumbledore also gave the Snitch to Harry because it held significance in his life. Even then, people (the Minister) were suspicious about why Dumbledore gave it to him, but at least that could be explained. If he had put it in something else entirely that had no significance to Harry, the Minister probably would have confinscated it. But the Snitch was explainable.

I got that Dumbledore hid the ring in the snitch to keep it from the Ministry—and also to hide it from Voldemort. But I found "I open at the close" to be a little disconnected—not a lot, but a little. I didnt take "close" to mean "death". I thought about it, but it didnt seem to pan out. The connection was a bit weak. First, (spoiler alert) Harry didnt "close" after opening it. Not really anyway. Then, Dumbledore explains the afterlife as more of an opening than a closing. Wouldnt you agree? So that is where it seems disconnected for me. Perhaps the "close" was not a "closing of life" but more like the "end of the quest". This would make more sense with the parallel created with Quidditch. The snitch doesnt really 'reveal' itself at the end of the game; it is found. The game is lost when the seekers quest for it is over. The "end of the game", if you will.

J.K is an amazing writer and let's leave it at that, lol! She is one of the few writers that surprises me in their books; that woman is a master of twists and foreshadowing! Something as simple as an old bust and tattered tiara that Harry put as a marker for where he hid his potions textbook in HBP turned out to be one of the biggest twists of DHs!!!! I really wonder what's inside of mind of J.K, sort of like "Being John Malkovich". ^_^