More Old Hat & Dumbledore/Belgarath

[prefectmarcus at yahoo.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 24377

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., Herald Talia <heraldtalia at j...> wrote:
> 	Actually, I don't like the Gandalf -Dumbledore comparison at 
all.
> Personally, I don't like Gandalf. He's aloof and condescending. He
> doesn't tell his heroes everything, which I hate. 


And Dumbledore does?  If Dumbledore was so approachable, why did Harry 
fear to send him an owl in GoF ch2?

Dumbledore has his public persona, and his private persona.  He 
publically seems like a mildly dingy old man.  "Mad yes, but still a 
genius!", I believe Percy said.  Privately, he is far less open. 

Take the Mirror of Erised scene.  How much does Dumbledore really tell 
Harry beyond the basics of how the mirror works and a warning of its 
dangers?  

As to telling his heroes everything, we just had a big thread 
speculating why Dumbledore kicked McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey out 
of the room before revealing Sirius to Snape.  What about "The Gleam?"

No, Gandalf doesn't go around telling everything to everybody, but 
neither does Dumbledore.  It is too dangerous.  "Perilous to us all 
are the devices of an art deeper than we possess ourselves."  (JRRK - 
TTT) "The Truth is a terrible and dangerous thing, and must be treated 
with respect."  (or something like that)  (JKR -- SS)


>Don't yell at me,
> everyone. It's just an opinion.  I love Tolkein, and like a lot of 
people
> on this listserve (I bet) I practically memorized The Lord of the 
Rings
> when I was preadolescent. 
> 	The most refreshing thing about HP is that it is not another 
copy of
> Tolkein. That's been done so many times, with varying degrees of 
success.
> Let's just all admit that Tolkein was Tolkein and no one else is, 
though
> there are other good authors. I like the way JKR can break away from
> those traditions so easily and create something recognizable, yet 
new.
> Robyn

I can only say, Right on!  :)

Marcus