Dumbledore - father figure or manipulator?

[alhewison]

No: HPFGUIDX 35674

Mahoney wrote:

At any rate. I suppose that of the living I feel the most pity for 
Harry. The past continues to weigh on him, he has recent traumas to 
deal with, and can only look forward to more danger, disruption, 
uncertainty, suffering. He's haunted, hunted, can't catch a break. 
Poor kid.




Dicentra wrote:

 10. Ron then asks, "D'you think he meant you to do
> it? Sending you
> your father's cloak and everything?" Harry responds
> (after Hermione's
> obligatory horrified reaction), "I think he sort of
> wanted to give me
> a chance. I think he knows more or less everything
> that goes on here,
> you know. I reckon he had a pretty good idea we were
> going to try, and
> instead of stopping us, he just taught us enough to
> help. I don't
> think it was an accident he let me find out how the
> mirror worked.
> It's almost like he thought I had the right to face
> Voldemort if I
> could...." I don't think this is Harry?s personal
> interpretation. I
> think this is JKR's message to the reader.
> 
> I wondered what would possess Dumbledore to not only
> allow, but to
> arrange for, a first-year student to confront
> Voldemort 
  

I can't help wondering about Dumbledore. No, I don't think he's evil. 
It makes no sense to live for 150 years on the "Good" side, wait 13 
years after an evil wizard has seemingly disappeared, see him on the 
rise again before showing your true colours. On the other hand I do 
wonder about his "treatment" of Harry. 

Voldemort tells us that Harry's future fell to Dumbledore after his 
parents' death (GoF). He sent him to the Dursleys, to save him from 
his own fame (possibly to keep him from safe from remaining Death 
Eaters - although this hasn't yet been spelt out). Yet in doing so he 
allowed Harry to be quite severely abused. I believe that Dumbledore 
continued to keep an eye on Harry (it does seem fairly likely that 
Mrs Figg was living near Harry for a purpose - doesn't it?). In which 
case why on earth couldn't he do something to make Harry's life more 
bearable? 

Dumbledore tells Harry that it's choices rather than abilities that 
make a [wizard} yet, he seems to let Harry make choices without 
telling him half the information. Dumbledore might be acting the 
protective father-figure that Harry never had. Equally, he could be 
manipulating Harry to fulfil his destiny. This confuses me then – is 
Harry's role/ fate already predetermined or is it his choices – based 
on only the snippets of information that Dumbledore (& co – as I 
reckon that at least Hagrid knows more than he's told Harry). 

Dumbledore seems to have watched as Harry was abused at the 
Dursley's, isolated in CoS and again mistrusted in GoF. This might be 
character-forming for Harry, but  surely Dumbledore could have eased 
his right of passage?

Ali

(Still dreading the fate of Harry in Book 7 – why is JKR so set that 
there won't be another HP story?)