[HPforGrownups] Re: Assassin!Snape and Karkaroff's Big Mistake

[Sherry Garfio]

No: HPFGUIDX 46971

Cindy said: 
> "First of all, we already know that Dumbledore will have others do 
> his dirty work.  Oh, he has no problem with that idea at all.  
> Dumbledore sent a wand-less Hagrid to recover Harry from Godric's 
> Hollow, even though the place could have been swarming with 
> murderous DEs.  Dumbledore sent Hagrid to the Giants, and I think we 
> all know how that little mission is going to turn out.  Dumbledore 
> let the trio face barriers like Devil's Snare and a vicious Three-
> Headed dog to safeguard the Stone.  But the clearest example of all 
> is how Dumbledore told Hermione and Harry to use the Timeturner 
> rather than use it to do the deed himself."

And Acire replied:
> Ready? Okay, in order: DD knew that if V-Mort had been somewhat 
> defeated, DEs would scatter. What better envoy to send to giants 
> than two half-giants? DD set it up so that Harry could do it to show 
> something to Harry about how powerful he was, and that he was not 
> just a normal wizard, if there is such a thing. DD could not have 
> used the TT himself, as it would be too noticeable, and Harry was 
> personally involved with the situation. If Ron had been conscious 
> and uninjured, I'm sure DD would have sent him along, as well. 
> Sirius escaping was more personal to Harry because Sirius was his 
> godfather. And DD was once again proving that he could rely on Harry 
> to do such things himself, and to see his power at doing things.
<SNIP Cindy quote>
> DD trusted Harry and Hermione to use the TT. He knew that Hermione 
> had enough knowledge of the TT's workings to keep Harry in line, and 
> he knew that Harry had enough sense to figure out the way things 
> could be done to direct Hermione. Hermione constantly repeats that 
> they can't be seen, and pulls Harry away from positions where there 
> is danger of them being seen.
<SNIP many more examples>

Now me:
I have always seen Dumbledore as a long-haired version of Jean-Luc Picard.  He
has the same "Make it so" style of command.  He assesses the situation, figures
out who would be the best person for the task at hand, and then says "Make it
so" and trusts them to do it.  The major difference is that Picard solicits
input from his people first, but since Dumbledore is 150 years old, he probably
doesn't need much more input <G>.  The other difference is that Dumbledore is
also an educator, so in addition to deciding who would be the best person to
accomplish a task, he also takes into account the growth potential for that
person.

He "sends" Harry after Quirrelmort (not by direct command, but I think most of
us agree that he did send Harry) because 1. Harry has defeated Voldemort
before, making him the best person to accomplish the task, and 2. Harry has the
most to gain from defeating Voldemort again on his own virtues, because Harry
doesn't yet consider himself worthy of the adulation he receives, and because
Harry deserves to come face-to-face with the man who murdered his parents.  He
sends Hagrid as envoy to the giants because Hagrid is a half-giant, *and* he
accepts this about himself, unlike Mme. Maxime.

So where does that leave Snape?  Obviously he's being sent off to do something
dangerous.  I don't know what that could be, many things have been proposed
here and I don't know which one I believe.  But I think that it is clear that
whatever needs to be done, Snape is the best person to accomplish the task -
and may benefit from some personal growth along the way.

One more Picard comment - sometimes his people die.  That is the price of
making good command decisions.  I think Dumbledore knows this too.  I don't
know if Snape's assignment falls into this category or not, but I am terribly
afraid for him.

- Sherry


=====
"The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above-average drivers."

      -Dave Barry, "Things That It Took Me 50 Years to Learn"

__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail Plus  Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now.
http://mailplus.yahoo.com