Oops! Dumbledore did it again!

[Tom Wall <thomasmwall@yahoo.com>]

No: HPFGUIDX 50902

Sheryl wrote:

PS/SS - 
--Dumbledore hires a teacher with Voldemort on the back of his head! 
Voldemort had been in his school the entire year and Dumbledore 
didn't have the slightest clue.

GoF-
-- Dumbledore appears to be a better judge of teachers by now. At 
least by this time he only hires an agent of Voldemort and not 
Voldemort himself.
 
--He allows the Goblet of Fire, which is shown to be his own special 
responsibility, to be tampered with and a younger student to be 
entered.
 
--He allows the Triwizard cup to be turned into a portkey without his 
knowledge and two students to be transported by it.

I reply:
In GoF, he didn't only "hire" an agent of Voldemort in disguise, he 
actually FELL for a fake version of someone whom, we can gather from 
the scenes in the Pensieve, is actually a trusted friend of his. 
Pretty shoddy powers of detection, Albus.

And don't forget that in:

CoS-
--Dumbledore is unable to locate the Basilisk and halt the attacks.

--Dumbledore hires someone who is an obvious fraud (and it seems like 
every student and every teacher BUT him seem to realize this) for the 
very important DADA position.

PoA-
--Dumbledore is unable to successfully safeguard Hogwarts from Sirius 
Black, who is able to get onto the grounds in disguise... repeatedly.

--(we learn that) Dumbledore's admittance of a werewolf student 
nearly results in Lupin attacking a fellow student.

--(we learn that) despite the fact that Lupin nearly attacked Snape, 
Lupin is *still* allowed to remain at the school.

--(we learn that) 3 students were able to become animagi under his 
very NOSE without him realizing it.

--Dumbledore's hiring of a werewolf professor nearly results in Lupin 
attacking students.

--Dumbledore's hiring of Hagrid as the Care of Magical Creatures 
instructor results in Buckbeak attacking Malfoy. Okay, sure, I know,  
Malfoy *did* provoke Beaky, but *still,* it's not very smart to start 
out with such a dangerous creature, right?

GoF-
--Dumbledore is unable to stop Rita Skeeter from infiltrating the 
Hogwarts grounds.
--Dumbledore begins tampering with the affairs of the MoM (which is 
why Bill is sent, swiftly and secretly to talk to his father, with a 
warning that Fudge should not find out.)


Sheryl wrote:
Now don't get me wrong, I do think Dumbledore is a figure to be 
respected and trusted. He is, though, admired so much that people 
miss his shortcomings and his failures. Harry doesn't seem to realize 
that Dumbledore is far from perfect and he has been in danger many 
times from error and carelessness on Dumbledore's part.

I reply:
I agree - I think that Dumbledore is to be admired for his skill as a 
wizard, and I think that most, if not all of the denizens of the WW 
respect, and some even fear him for his abilities.

But I think that Dumbledore perhaps is not such a great administrator 
(at least, when compared with someone like, say, McGonagall) for a 
school.

If you think about it, from a certain standpoint, Dumbledore is 
really quite a loose cannon - I mean, he hires giants, he hires 
werewolves, he advises contacting the giants, he advises removing the 
dementors from Azkaban, he seems to openly favor Harry and his 
friends (now, we know that Harry and his friends act valiantly, but 
to an outsider... not so clear), he's consorting with a known 
criminal (*we* know that Sirius is innocent, but the WW doesn't... if 
you think about it, it's quite unorthodox), he helped Buckbeak to 
escape, actually defying the MoM, and not only that, but he 
encouraged *students* to defy the MoM by helping Buckbeak AND Sirius 
to escape. He also (knowing that parents probably wouldn't like this) 
announces to everyone at the final banquet of the year that it was 
Voldemort who killed Cedric. 

I think that what JKR wants us to see in Dumbledore is someone who is 
the very model of tolerance and acceptance of people and their many 
differences - giants, werewolves, mudbloods and muggles - and that 
all should be treated with compassion.  And I think that we all do 
see all of that. He's honorable, he's fair, and he's kind. *We* know 
this, as readers who are (mostly) aware of the circumstances.

But isn't that her brilliance? *We* see all of that, but the rest of 
the WW can't/won't see it. And no doubt about it, he does have 
supporters in the WW, but he also has his share of detractors ala 
Malfoys, who believe that "Dumbledore's the worst thing to ever 
happen to this school."

And I think that this is going to get Dumbledore into some serious 
political trouble in OotP.  I'm not sure how, just yet, but I'm 
leaning towards him getting sacked as Headmaster.  Minimum.

-Tom