Not so omniscient Dumbledore?

[linnet323 at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 31558

<<From: "goldie034" <goldie034 at yahoo.com>

Now, whether or not he (Dumbledore) knows about the Marauders and 
their Animagi status... I would think if he knew, he'd keep it a 
secret until (or unless) it became necessary to tell someone else ....

If that is the case, then Dumbledore would have known Sirius was innocent, 
and wouldn't have bothered to secure the grounds against him. ...I think 
Dumbledore had no choice but to let Sirius get locked up, and I'm pretty sure 
he has regreted it ever 
since.
>>

In PoA, Dumbledore confesses to not knowing about the Marauders:  "An 
extraordinary achievement--not least keeping it quiet from me" and also tells 
Harry & Hermione that "I myself gave evidence to the Ministry that Sirius had 
been the Potters' Secret-Keeper."  Also, Sirius tells HRH that changing the 
secret-keeper to Peter was done at the last minute.  

Harry initially sees Dumbledore as omniscient (& close to omnipotent) and is 
slowly learning, as all children must about the adults around them, that it 
ain't necessarily so.  And we learn that along with Harry.  In CoS, 
Dumbledore is temporarily sacked -- physically removed from Hogwarts but 
otherwise helping Harry quite a bit via Fawkes.  In PoA, Dumbledore is 
powerless to stop the execution of Buckbeak, then the planned Dementor's Kiss 
for Sirius.  He also admits that he knew nothing of Sirius's innocence or the 
Marauders' unregistered animagi abilities.  Finally, in GoF, there's 
Dumbledore's ignorance of Mad-Eye's real identity.  A major oops.  
  
I see one of Dumbledore's strengths, actually, is his willingness to 
acknowledge and learn from his mistakes.  Compared with the rigidity of 
Fudge. 

I guess an omniscient-Dumbledore argument would be that all of D's lapses are 
really part of a benevolent/malevolent (depending on your interpretation of 
the Gleam) design, which Harry will eventually get clued into.  We won't know 
for sure until book 7, but the children's literature tradition that JKR is 
writing in, often has the young protagonist grappling with the realization 
that no one is all-powerful and the need for self-reliance.  

-- Linnet


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