....what I SHOULD have told you....

[Devika]

No: HPFGUIDX 54503

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "grace701" <grace701 at y...> 
wrote:
> "Dumbledore lowered his hands and surveyed Harry through his half-
> moon glasses. 'It is time,' he said, "for me to tell you what I 
> should have told you five years ago, Harry. Please sit down. I am 
> going to tell you everything.'"
> 
> 
> After reading this for the umpteenth time it sounds like Dumbledore 
> is regretting not telling Harry something and I'm that impression 
> from where he says "I should have told you".  As though, something 
> has just happened that could have been prevented.  Is it just me 
> that has read it this way?  
> I'm not saying that this is the right way to interpret it because 
it 
> could just simply be Dumbledore informing him about what happened 
> the night his parents died, something about Lily (whom we know 
> nothing about), or anything basically.  And "It is time" kinda 
> throws off my idea, but how about realizing he made a mistake and 
> there was a consequence to that mistake that could have been 
> prevented had he told Harry what he should have told him 5 years 
ago.
> 


This is interesting.  I think a number of people have said that 
Dumbledore regrets not telling Harry something in PS/SS (5 years 
ago?) that would have prevented something bad from happening in OoP.  
This might be someone's death or something else equally traumatic to 
Harry.  I see no reason to disagree with this idea.  It seems pretty 
plausible.
I also found this post interesting because it made me think of 
something that I hadn't thought of in this context before.  There is 
one thing that Harry wanted to know in PS/SS that Dumbledore refused 
to tell him at that time.  Voldemort had told Harry that he only 
killed Lily because she had tried to prevent him from killing Harry.  
In the hospital wing at the end of the book, Harry asked Dumbledore 
why Voldemort would want to kill him (Harry) in the first place.  
Dumbledore said something like, "Alas, the first question you ask, I 
cannot answer...someday, when you are ready, you will know."  (Sorry 
for the inexact quote; PS/SS is the only book I don't have with me)

It seems like Dumbledore might be regretting not telling Harry why 
Voldemort wanted to kill him in the first place fourteen years ago.  
It would make sense, since this is a question that Harry asked 
Dumbledore directly and that Dumbledore directly refused to answer--
until Harry was ready.  Surely, Harry is ready to know now.

Devika