Albus Dumbledore (character sketch)

[naama_gat at hotmail.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 14148

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Caius Marcius" <coriolan at w...> wrote:
> Questions
> 
> 1. We all remember the chilling scene in GoF, when Barty Crouch Jr. 
> explains to Harry how each of his actions as Moody was coldly 
> calculated to advance Voldemort's agenda.  Will there someday be a 
> parallel scene where Dumbledore will explain his own coldly 
> calculated behind-the-scenes maneuverings to Harry? 
> 
I disagree completely with this interpretation of Dumbledore. Unlike 
Voldemort he does not view his fellow human beings as chess pawns. I 
do not think he views Harry as an insturment at all. He may have 
inklings as to Harry's destiny, he obviously has knowledge and wisdom 
that he doesn't share, but that doesn't make him "coldly 
calculating". I see his secrecy as arising from the same kind of 
logic regarding traveling back in time. You have to be very careful 
with what you know to avoid changing what shouldn't be changed. 


> 2. Dumbledore, Harry and Fawkes. Elderly man, young man and bird. 
Any 
> similar trinities come to mind?
> 
> 3.Will Dumbledore survive the series? Will he hang in there until 
> Book Seven, or perish earlier? Will be die with harness on his 
back, 
> like good king Macbeth, or peacefully in his bed? 

Since Dumbledore to me is almost indistinguishable from Gandalf, I 
see him surviving till the end and after. 
> 
<snip>
 
> 5. Voldy loves nothing more than to talk about himself (see 
Chapters 
> 32-34 in GoF).   By contrast, most of what we know of Dumbledore's 
> past was on the back of a trading card.  What is the significance 
of 
> Dumbledore's consistent refusal to talk about himself?

Well, Voldy is an egomaniacal psycho. He is so caught up with 
himself, changing himself, making himself stronger and then 
strongest, that he cannot see others, aside from how they can best 
serve himself and his interests. I see Dumbledore as the complete 
opposite - his wisdom is so great that he has reached selflessness, 
in the sense of not being at all busy with yourself. In this, he 
reminds me of Indian (or Buddhist) sages. 
> 
<snip> 
> > 
> 10. Dumbledore tells Harry that the one thing Voldemort cannot 
> understand is love.  Does Dumbledore understand love?  How does he 
> demonstrate (or fail to demonstrate) it? 

I think it's obvious from what I wrote above what my answer would be -
 yes, he certainly understands love. I think he demonstrates it 
practically all the time. Where else would all that patience and 
tolerance and empathy come from? 

<snip>

Naama