Pondering the details of Goblet (Parting of the Ways)

[caliburncy at yahoo.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 23486

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., hfakhro at n... wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at y..., mcandrew at b... wrote:
> > 2) Chap 36, Parting of the Ways. (p. 617-8 UK) At Harry's hospital 
> > bedside after the third task, Sirius and Snape are introduced to 
> each 
> > other by Dumbledore - but not until Madam Pomfrey has left the 
room 
> > and is out of hearing.  Obviously he doesn't trust her as he does 
> > Snape or Molly Weasley, who is still present.  Yet Pomfrey is a 
> > highly respected member of Dumbledore's handpicked staff. So why 
is 
> > she regarded as so much less trustworthy than some of the others? 
> 
> More confusing is why does Dumbledore get rid of McGonagall? Pomfrey 
> I can understand: "Madame Pomfrey was standing frozen at the foot of 
> Harry's bed, her hands over her mouth. Mrs Weasley was still 
standing 
> over Harry, her hand on his shoulder to prevent him rising."
> 
> I don't think it's a matter of trust, I think he wanted as few 
people 
> as possible to know about Sirius, because of panic and because of 
> safety. It could be that Molly Weasley is stronger than we might 
> expect as somebody else proposed, or it could be that Dumbledore 
knew 
> that she wasn't leaving Harry that night, as evidenced by her 
> reaction to Voldemort's rebirth in the quote above. Her priority is 
> Harry. So he could only get rid of Bill and Pomfrey. Why does he get 
> rid of the McG? Any theories about this?
> 
> -Hella

Sorry for the rather long quote, I wasn't sure where to snip out 
sections of it.  Anyway, I think perhaps more important than why he 
asks Pomfrey and McGonagall to leave could be why Mrs. Weasley is 
allowed to stay.  It's quite true that Dumbledore probably wouldn't 
have been able to pry her away from Harry's side with the Jaws of Life 
by that point--but maybe he would have had her stay anyway.  It might 
be important that she see and trust Sirius Black so that he can have 
more direct contact with Harry when he is at the Weasley's or 
something like that.  We won't really know until Book 5.  But Harry is 
probably going to undergo even tighter protection (much to his dismay) 
and the Weasley's are going to have to know that Black is not an enemy 
to Harry.

But if you do want to talk about why not let McGonagall stay, then 
let's.  I think McGonagall probably would eventually be accepting of 
the fact that Sirius Black is innocent.  She does seem like the type 
to be very stubborn, but she also seems to have a deep-seated enough 
respect of Dumbledore to believe what he says.  However, I'm not sure 
this would be the best way to go about it even if he did intend to 
tell McGonagall.  It'd probably be better to sit her down and talk to 
her, not just spring it on her.  She might ask too many questions and 
refuse to let the conversation go on until they had been answered to 
her satisfaction.  Obviously, Dumbledore's most pressing need at that 
moment was to get Severus and Sirius to acknowledge each other so this 
'intrusion' by McGonagall would not be acceptable.  I do think she 
must be brought into the know at some point (in fact, maybe she 
already has been, after the events of PoA), because I see her as a 
strong supporter of Dumbledore, if not a very active one with the 
school being a more pressing concern than Voldemort.

This is one of my less coherent posts.  Sorry about that.
-Luke