Gandalf and Dumbledore 9(WAS: More Old Hat...)

[prefectmarcus at yahoo.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 24387

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., Herald Talia <heraldtalia at j...> wrote:
>  And Dumbledore does?  If Dumbledore was so approachable, why did 
> > Harry 
> > fear to send him an owl in GoF ch2?
> 
> Harry's a first year student. 

*ahem*.  In Chapter two of GoF, Harry is about to start his fourth 
year.

>Of course he's not going to just send 
an
> owl casually to Dumbledore. In a British boarding school, class
> distinctions like that are very important, and Harry would never be 
so
> presumptuous. It's just not done. I went to a private parochial 
school,
> and we loved and were in awe of our prinicipal. I would not have 
given
> her a casual call. Even if I had a problem, I'd work a lot on it 
myself
> before going to her. It's respect. Harry just didn't want to look 
like an
> idiot in front of someone he loves and admires. Remember, he wrote a
> letter in his head and thought it sounded "ridiculous" and so he 
didn't
> send one. 

So why is Gandalf being held to a different standard?

> 	As far as the truth that goes, Dumledore agrees to tell Harry 
as much of
> it as he possibly can and we, IMHO, believe him. I wouldn't believe
> Gandalf if he said something similar. His purposes are too alien, 
he's
> not of Middle Earth and his idea of "truth" and mine may not be the 
same.

I can't think of any instance where once could seriously fault Gandalf 
for not revealing enough.  Can you?  Would it be that hard to match 
them with similar instances on the part of Dumbledore?  I doubt it.

I like and respect both men.  They both have very weighty matters 
pressing on their heads.  They both have to deal with fools in high 
places.  They both are just a little mysterious.  They both are 
reticent in talking about themselves and their business and tend to 
divert interest in themselves.  They both put on an air of 
harmlessness, but they both are revealed to be creatures of great 
power when the need arises.

And in spite of all their simularities, they are still two distinct 
individuals with different personalities.  One would never confuse the 
two.  They are what they are.

Marcus