Dumbledores Motives

[Peter and Denise Clements]

No: HPFGUIDX 40946

Dante wrote:
>What's bothering me is Dumbledore's timing as far as bringing the 
>Philosopher's Stone to Hogwarts.  Did he know someone was planning on 
>stealing it?  He probably guessed that the stone could be used to 
>revive Voldemort from his weakened state - I mean, what else was it 
>really good for (besides the whole near-immortality thing)?  But, if 
>that's the case, why did he leave it in Gringotts for long?  Why 
>wasn't it moved to Hogwarts right after Voldemort's defeat, when his 
>followers were still floundering about?  For that matter, why wasn't 
>it just destroyed?

Now me:
I think there is a history here that we don't yet know enough about. Dumbledore removed the stone because Hogwarts and his staff were the best ones to protect it. I'm presuming that Dumbledore was thinking if Voldemort was to try and get the stone it would be better if he were trying on Dumbledores turf .. nowhere else. Where better to stage a war than on turf you already know. 

>What brought this to my attention was something McGonagall said just 
>after she caught Harry, Hermione, Neville, and Draco wandering the 
>halls after the incident with Norbert:

>"...nothing gives you the right to walk around the school at night, 
>especially these days, it's very dangerous..."

>What?  What does she mean, "these days" and "dangerous?"  As far as 
>the reader was concerned at this point, nothing very serious was 
>going on at the school.  Sure, there was a troll running around at 
>Halloween, but that was explained away as an isolated incident, 
>right?  What I think this says is that the faculty was aware of 
>*something* going on, something we weren't been told about.  This 
>something probably had to do with Voldemort, but I'm not sure the 
>faculty knew that particular fact.  Or did they?

>Snape at the very least knew.  He was suspicious of Quirrell from the 
>start, even since the first Quidditch match.  Surely he would have 
>mentioned Quirrell's alarming behavior to Dumbledore, whom Snape 
>respects.  I mean, he tried to kill a student!  Why didn't Dumbledore 
>do anything about it?

Once again, I think there is history here that we dont know which relates to "Why DID Voldemort come after Harry".
Lets suppose that with Harrys increase in his magical knowledge that the staff have been made aware of the inherent danger of Voldemort rising again. eg Harrys rise in knowledge, Voldemorts rise in power. Ollivander wrote to Dumbledore and told him that Harrys wand shared the same core as Voldemorts. It would just add another similarity between the two. Remember, that not everyone thought he was gone for good. 



"Most of us reckon he's still out there somewhere but lost his powers.

Too weak to carry on. 'Cause somethin' about you finished him, Harry.

There was somethin' goin' on that night he hadn't counted on -- I dunno

what it was, no one does -- but somethin' about you stumped him, all

right."
Hagrid,  p45 PS

>I have a great many suspicions concerning Dumbledore's motives in the series, most of which are not well received.  I have >this feeling he's manipulating everybody for some other purpose, one that isn't necessarily in the best interest of all concerned.

I think he is trying to get those in power to realise that Voldemort is still a danger to the WW. Fudge wont believe it, the average wizard on the street doesn't want to believe it. There are only a few of the "old crowd"

>I just don't see how he couldn't know Voldie was stuck on the back of Quirrell's head, especially if Snape suspected his >involvement with the Dark Lord.  If he DID know, then having the stone stored at Hogwarts was just asking for Voldemort >to be revived!  

Okay A)Dumbledore works on trust. He trusted Snape didn't he? He would trust Hagrid with his life. SO he places his trust in Quirrell and then does his thing with the mirror.
B)But, sir" - Dobby's voice dropped to an urgent whisper -"there are powers Dumbledore doesn't ... powers no decent wizard.. ."     Dobby, CoS, p18
So maybe there are things that Dumbledore doesn't know. He can defend against the dark arts but does not KNOW everything there is to know about the Dark Arts.
And finally .. C)
"Ah, now, I'm glad you asked me that. It was one of my more brilliant ideas, and between you and me, that's saying something. You see, only one who wanted to find the Stone -- find it, but not use it -- would be able to get it, otherwise they'd just see themselves making gold or drinking Elixir of Life."
Prof. Dumbledore, PS, p242 




>The same thing goes for Crouch.  How could Dumbledore NOT know that it was somebody else in a Moody-skin suit?  I >thought he and Dumbledore were close friends.  I don't understand how Crouch, who had been isolated for the past twelve >or thirteen years or so, could so easily fool Dumbledore. 

Okay A) HUGE Voldemort fan who is given the perfect opportunity to return his master to power and who is slightly mad He has the chance to possess the body of someone else who is slightly mad/paranoid. Acting isn't hard when you want something so badly.
B) The Polyjuice Potion instructions were taken from a book called Moste Potente Potions.  I understood this to be a most complicated and dangerous potion.  Crouch Jnr says that he kept Moody alive but under the Imperious Curse to learn about his past, his habits. Obviously he learnt enough to fool a lot of people. 


>Unless, of course, Dumbledore DID know, just like he knew about Quirrell, and was looking for subtle a way to 
>get Voldemort back in power.  What better way to put yourself in power than to defeat some great evil and make yourself a >hero?  Dumbledore already has his vigilante fighting force (the Aurors), the "side of the light" on his side, and is slowly >undermining the Ministry's power. If he manages to overthrow Voldie on his own (with Harry Potter, the golden boy, at his >side), while at the same time managing to cause the rest of the wizarding world to doubt and loose confidence in the Ministry, >I could very easily see the people putting him solely in charge, which is potentially dangerous.

Piffle. If Dumbledore has a character flaw it is that he is too trusting. There is no solid evidence or subtle innuendos to suggest that Dumbledore has alterior motives other than to defeat Voldemort for the good of the WW as a whole. He doesn't have the aurors on his side. At the end of GoF not only is he fighting a losing battle against Fudge (the one who I think has yet to be exposed for what he truly is because he is basically a politician at heart and would do anything to get more power) but knows that there only a select few that will believe that Voldemort is back. Look at who he sends, an ex-baddie (Snape) and Sirius who many still believe is a criminal. 


"Sirius, I need you to set off at once. You are to alert Remus Lupin, Arabella Figg, Mundungus Fletcher - the old crowd. Lie low at Lupin's for a while; I will contact you there." Dumbledore, GoF, p460



"Severus," said Dumbledore, turning to Snape, "you know what I must ask you to do. If you are ready . . . if you are prepared ..." Dumbledore, GoF, p460



Dumbledore isn't undermining the MoM, he is trying to give it the power to overthrow Voldemort for good.
"I tell you now- take the steps I have suggested, and you will be remembered, in office or out, as one of the bravest and greatest Ministers of Magic we have ever known. Fail to act - and history will remember you as the man who stepped aside and allowed Voldemort a second chance to destroy the world we have tried to rebuild!" Dumbledore, GoF, p458

This isn't the act of a wizard trying to get top billing. 



Denise



















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