OOP Dumbledore(TOUGHLOVE)

[susanbones2003]

No: HPFGUIDX 65218

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "kiricat2001" <Zarleycat at a...> 
wrote:
> Really, I don't get how Harry has been dumping his problems on 
> everyone.  In OoP, he has certainly been angry and has not treated 
> Ron and Hermione terrbily well, but, he's at an age where crap can 
> happen with the most evn-tempered of kids.  In fact, we have seen 
> ample evidence of Harry struggling through problems without a lot 
of 
> help from anyone.  And, with a good deal of suspicion or dislike 
> being directed at him from his peers.  Harry the Parselmouth, 
> suspected of petrifying people in CoS?  Harry, the lone champion in 
> GOF whom many suspect of putting his name in the goblet?  How much 
> support did he get from others then?
> 
> And now, Harry is slandered in the press, sniped at by the MoM, and 
> dealing with feelings of isolation and being kept in the dark.  
And, 
> who else in his society has any idea of what it is like to be 
> Voldemort's challenge and target?
> 
> So the kid was snarky.  He's not a saint. Nor should he be expected 
> to be.  Yes, he must learn control and to manage his emotions, but, 
> he's dealing with very adult situations, and he's a KID!
> 
>> > > Voldemort has been playing on Harry's childish emotional state 
> all 
> > > year, the last thing that Dumbledore can do now is to allow 
Harry 
> > to 
> > > continue in that state.  I think that isolating Harry and 
forcing 
> > him 
> > > to deal with his emotions was the most effective method of 
> dealing 
> > > with the problem. 
> 
> But, it didn't seem to work.  How did Harry's isolation help him 
deal 
> with his anger and his feelings of betrayal and separateness?  
> 
>  Was it cold-hearted? Of course it was, but it 
> > was 
> > > also necessary, and I am confident that, given their current 
> > > development in the story, none of the other characters would 
have 
> > > taken that appropriate attitude with Harry.  He doesn't need a 
> > > friend . . . he has already got pleanty of those.  What he 
needs 
> is 
> > a 
> > > mentor, and I belive that that is the position that J. K. 
Rowling 
> > is 
> > > putting Dumbledore in.
> > 
 Some one said earlier, 
> > forgive me, that he was reduced to sitting in a bush crying. 
> 
> That may have been me.  I commented on how the scene of Harry 
sitting 
> by the lake grieving by himself struck me as a picture of utter 
> despair.  Yes, sometimes people need to be by themselves.  And 
Harry 
> may not feel comfortable breaking down and crying on someone's 
> shoulder.  He may need to work through some of his feelings by 
> himself at this point - he makes clear he doesn't want to talk 
about 
> Sirius to Hagrid or to R/H. But the fact that he may feel that way, 
> and that there was indeed no evidence of any adult offering him 
help, 
> or comfort or perspective on what happened was a cold and lonely 
> scene.  
> 
>> I hope that the beginnig of Book 6 shows some sort of closure for 
> Harry.  Or at least that we hear of someone attempting to reach him 
> in his grief.  He can always choose to keep people at arms length, 
> but I'd like to see at least one adult make an effort.
> 
> Marianne

Wow Marianne,
A great analysis of all those cold claims of what Harry needs. I wish 
I'd said it. I find it to be a terrible irony that Harry's heart 
saved him but he still ends this book about as isolated as I have 
ever understood him to be. In Book 4, I thought the way the grief of 
Cedric's death was handled with a great deal of sensitivity. In my 
head I said "Those cool British folk. They know how to meet tragic 
events with just the proper mix of emotion and restraint." Mrs. 
Weasley wasn't so clingy, Dumbledore said comforting things, Sirius' 
gripped Harry's shoulders in a very meaningful way. It was not much 
but it was just enough. This time it was as if you were trying to get 
blood from a stone. Heart-wrenching. And so I thank you for your 
final paragraph. I too am hoping for some sense of connection, and 
closure. If Harry's heart is as big as we are told, there must be 
room for others.
JenD