OOP: Dumbledore's actions (spoilers)

[susanbones2003]

No: HPFGUIDX 66066

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "riki827" <riki1229 at h...> wrote:
> S
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> I've been reading some posts about Dumbledore's "failure" with 
Harry 
> in OOP.  I know some people are disappointed by it, but I have a 
> theory on Rowling's reasoning for it.  
> 
> We've read many times how Dumbledore is the only wizard LV is 
afraid 
> of and how Dumbledore can protect Harry (which I believe means the 
> end of Dumbledore at some point, but that's a different post).  
With 
> Dumbledore making mistakes with Harry this time out, coupled with 
> Sirius's death, I believe this is Rowling's way of illustrating 
how, 
> as we grow up, we have to learn to take care of ourselves.  Your 
> parents/guardians/keepers protect you as long as they can, and in 
the 
> best way they can, but at some point, protection time is over.  
> 
> I think this goes along with the prophesy, and why some people may 
> have found it disappointing, at least dramatically so.  Yes, WE 
knew 
> that Harry and LV were going to have to fight the final battle.  
But 
> Harry didn't.  This is the same rite of passage lesson, I believe, 
> blown up into Harry-size proportions, of course.  Ditto with Harry 
> seeing his father in a different (and disappointing) light.  Those 
> people, those protectors, you think are perfect and infallible?  
They 
> fail you even though they have the best of intentions (Dumbledore), 
> they have flaws (James as seen in the pensieve), they're often 
> powerless (Harry has learned that he is the only one, as he 
> understands it at this point, who has the power to defeat LV), and 
> they die (James, Lily, Sirius).
> 
> It's a hard lesson to learn.  But Rowling is into teaching us hard 
> lessons.
> 
> Riki
> (proud newbie)

I add:
I agree that this book is about Harry's rite of passage, his 
realization that adults can't always protect him or don't always even 
know better than him but there is also the added difficulty that 
Harry had no one to trust *period* until he was 11 years old. 
Dumbledore mentions that Harry was not as well-cared for as he might 
have hoped in the Dursley house but he never quite approaches the 
damage done to Harry through years of emotional (I hate using that 
word but it's the only thing I can come up with) neglect. In essence, 
Harry has never really been a child. Or at least allowed to be one 
until he comes to Hogwarts. That's why he's always keeping too much 
to himself or trying to handle too much alone. People who accuse him 
of playing the hero don't seem to understand that's the only way he 
knows how to act. He didn't much experience in relying on an adult to 
take care of much of anything. Old habits die hard and these old 
habits have made him the fearless almost-loner that he is. So in this 
installment, we see the few adults he'd come to count on, many of 
them anyway, becoming fallible before he'd hardly gotten used to them 
caring for him. I don't know what word in the English language can 
encompass all the emotions that would run through such a person but 
anger seems to take care of a good bit of it. While I understand the 
people that haven't enjoyed OOP and can sympathize with them, I am 
hoping one of the points of this book was to put people in a very 
uncomfortable postion, to make them feel Harry's frustration and 
anger and not let up and get all warm and fuzzy. The person who said 
this was the first installment of a 3 part arc, I so hope you are 
right because this was a difficult book for many reasons(Difficult 
doesn't mean bad)and it gives me hope that we will see some of the 
reasons for all the mind-numbing events of OOP.

-Jennifer (who was so pleased to see Susan Bones actually have her 
character developed somewhat in OOP)