[HPforGrownups] Dumbledore

[Dave Hardenbrook]

No: HPFGUIDX 54

At 04:21 PM 8/25/00 +0000, dorband at uwp.edu wrote:
>    Early on we find out that he's a great wizard and a great man. We
>are led to believe that Harry will be absolutely safe while at
>Hogwarts under his protection. He himself tells Harry that he
>(Dumbledore) doesn't need a cloak to be(come) invisible...

Dumbledore has the same problem as Ozma in the Oz books.  Time
and again Baum assures us that Ozma is a great and wise ruler,
and yet many of her actions "onscreen" seem to suggest that she has
all the wisdom and leadership skills of Hagrid.  But IMHO it almost *has*
to be this way -- if Ozma is totally infallible, then there's no 
story.  (As it is,
many Oz books are "ruined" by Ozma materializing at the last minute and
fixing everything in one fell swoop.)  But of course, this necessary emphasis
on Ozma's mistakes leaves us with a probably "unfair and biased" view of her
actual competence.  The same is true, I think, of Dumbledore, though it
*would* be nice if JKR showed us his power a little more frequently...



                                                 -- Dave