OoP Dumbledore's mistakes and Harry is not a saint

[megalynn44]

No: HPFGUIDX 62508

Um...Megalynn. Dumbledore did a *huge* mistake in GoF. He did nto
realize that...

(a) Moody was Barty Junior.
-and-
(b) The TriWiz cup was a portkey.

Missing those two key elements cost Dumbledore more headaches and
baggy eyes than any other book. The whole of GoF was Voldemort being
ahead of Dumbledore, and Dumbledore knowing that but not knowing how.
Kind of like when Riddle was in school and framed Hagrid. 
Dumbledore knew Hagrid was framed by Riddle, but he could do nothing
about it. 

So really, Dumbledore messes up his fair share. The thing is though,
he is smart enough, powerful enough, and quick thinking enough to
cover his mistakes and remove them from being a problem that destroys
everything. 

Oh and Harry is far from a saint. He did sneak out to Hogsmeade in
PoA and got reprimanded by Snape and Lupin for it. A saint would have
obeyed that firm rule told to him by *everyone*. He risked a lot for
butterbeer that day.


Melody



I think the difference I see there is that those were not decisions 
Dumbledore made. Yes, it's true Dumbledore is not God, people have 
been known to get things past him before (like the Marauders and 
Crouch Jr.)

But HERE, this is the first time he has made a truly bad decision. He 
was not in control of the situation. I guess I can see how that might 
be apples to apples with some but it made a difference with me at 
least.

And about the Harry Saint thing, maybe I shouldn't have used saint, 
we have known all along Harry is a Flawed character, but he really 
seemed to loose control and cave into some real depressing, bratty, 
selfish feelings for the first time. Which I think is a good thing. 
It makes him even more believable as a character. It's like he and 
Ron switched places from GOF to OOP. 

Megalynn