A Case of Sirius Neglect? (was Re: Sirius - who is right?)

[Phyllis]

No: HPFGUIDX 74392

Marina wrote:
 
> It does kind of make me wonder about the wizarding world's (and 
> Dumbledore's in particular) understanding of psychology.  When 
> Harry returns from the graveyard in GoF, Dumbledore acted as 
> someone familiar with the concept of trauma.  <snip> Yet his 
> attitude toward Sirius makes me wonder if he simply made Harry talk 
> because he wanted the information right away, and not from any 
> concern for Harry's mental state.  Because in OOP, Dumbledore 
> behaves as if he thinks there's nothing wrong with Sirius 
> that a bit of willpower and common sense couldn't cure.  This is a 
> very old-fashioned attitude toward mentall illness (though God 
> knows it still exists in modern times), and the wizarding world 
> *is* old-fashioned in many ways.  It's possible that Dumbledore 
> meant no neglect, that he just really didn't understand the problem.

It strikes me that, with respect to both Harry and Sirius, Dumbledore 
makes it clear that their survival is more important to him 
(Dumbledore) than their mental health.  In Harry's case, I think 
Dumbledore has an ulterior motive - because he alone knows the 
content of the prophecy, he alone knows that Harry is the only one 
who can permanently vanquish Voldemort, so keeping Harry alive is 
paramount in order to eventually achieve Dumbledore's main objective -
conquering Voldemort for good.  So he sends Harry back to Privet 
Drive the summer after Voldemort regains his body because it's the 
only place he's truly safe from Voldemort, but doesn't bother sending 
any of the members of the Order to visit or sending any communication 
in order to allay Harry's fears and help Harry cope with the 
aftermath of the events of the graveyard.  This lack of compassion 
and understanding on Dumbledore's part makes it very difficult for me 
to relate to Dumbledore's statements about his love for Harry at the 
end of OoP - I just can't see how someone can truly love another and 
treat them like this.  I don't think it takes a trained psychologist 
to understand that keeping Harry in the dark would be detrimental to 
his mental well-being.  And to top it all off, Dumbledore allows 
Harry's two best friends - Ron and Hermione - to spend the summer at 
the headquarters of the Order while Harry is locked up without 
communication at Privet Drive.  Talk about rubbing it in!

With respect to Sirius, Dumbledore merely tells him to stay in the 
house without taking the time to help Sirius sort through his 
emotions at having to be cooped up in his parents' old house with 
their house-elf, who obviously hates him, and with his mother's 
portrait continually screaming derogatory remarks at him.  Even if 
Sirius had no emotional scars before returning to Grimmauld Place, 
this would have been terribly difficult for him.  And as darkkitten 
so excellently points out, Sirius did return to Grimmauld Place with 
loads of emotional baggage.

~Phyllis