Harry's behavior was Re: Riddle's information re:

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 83958

Laura responds:

>>I agree that at the end of OoP, Harry seems to have reached a 
pointof emotional equilibrium. He's been able to cry for Sirius 
and hasbegun to accept the finality of his death. He has 
experiencedpublic acts of support from his friends and adult 
mentors, both onthe train back from school and at the station. So 
when we meet himagain in book 6 (sooner rather than later, we 
hope!) we may see a less angry Harry. But...

If Harry's not still furious with DD in book 6, I'll be mightily
surprised. <<

Really? Harry isn't a person who finds it hard to forgive. He 
knows his friends, both young and old, sometimes make 
mistakes and misjudgements and take too much on 
themselves. He's not holding it against Hermione, Ron, Hagrid   
or Lupin for the times they've let him down. Why should he feel 
differently about Dumbledore? 

Laura:
>>I still think that the prophecy is a great big old red
herring. I haven't yet read a compelling explanation for why LV 
hadto be kept from knowing what it said. <<

1) Because Dumbledore was using it as bait to lure LV out of 
hiding, but  that could only work as long as there was *no* other 
way LV could find out what it said, including the link in Harry's 
mind.

2) Because Dumbledore didn't want LV to know that if "the one" 
is not destroyed by LV, then LV himself will not survive. It would 
appear that LV suspects this. But he can't know. Why erase all 
doubt?

3) Because Dumbledore didn't want LV to know that according to 
the Prophecy,  Dumbledore will not be able to kill LV. 
Dumbledore  has reason to  think that LV will fear  him far less if 
LV finds out for sure that Dumbledore can't kill him. We can see 
Dumbledore trying to sow the idea in LV's mind that there are 
worse things than death, but so far LV isn't buying.


Laura:
>>That's where I think DD made
his big miscalculation. Abigail pointed out in a recent post that
DD has his skills but managing people isn't among them, at 
least of late.<<

I disagree. What we have in the Order is a standard situation in 
war stories  all the way back to the Iliad: a poorly organized gang 
of misfits, malcontents and prima donnas up against a  better 
disciplined and highly motivated enemy force.  The Order's 
collection of different outlooks is their great strength. 

Dumbledore knows his people have to learn to trust each other 
despite their differences, but it's no good *telling* them that. They 
have to find out for themselves. Dumbledore can't *make* Snape 
and Harry work things out, any more than the forced handshake 
at the end of GoF could fix things between Snape and Sirius.  All 
Dumbledore can do is create opportunities for co-operation and 
hope for the best. 

For all his power and influence,  Dumbledore can use   
charisma only up to a point. If people do as he wishes only 
because they're  overwhelmed by his personality, he will sow  so 
much resentment in the end that it will destroy his ability to 
govern except by force. We can see the end stage of this process 
in Tom Riddle/Voldemort.

Laura:
>>The idea that an adult keeps you in ignorance in order to 
protectyou is not one that kids understand. You have to be an 
adult to seewhy it might make sense to act that way. Kids want to 
be respectedand trusted, not infantilized and patronized. And if 
the grownupswho care for them want them to grow into thinking, 
responsibleadults, they'll understand that and act accordingly. If 
the kid isold enough to ask the question, s/he's old enough to 
hear (at least some of) the answer<<

Harry was neither child nor adult in OOP. He had the capabilities 
of adulthood, but he still had a child's conception of what it 
means to be grown up. 

He thought  that having proved himself against  Voldemort meant 
he should be let in on everything. In  truth, none of  the grownups 
in the Order had  been told all of Dumbledore's plans. 

 All of the adults accepted that as members of a secret 
organization, they were going to be operating with less than full 
knowledge. Harry was told this also. But he couldn't grasp it. 
Even after he was told the reason for secrecy, he assumed the  
reason he wasn't  being told everything was that Dumbledore 
didn't trust him on account of his youth. That wasn't the case. 

Of course it felt awful being kept in the dark. But either Harry is a 
kid, and has to accept that right or wrong, adults are going to be 
making decisions for him, or he's an adult, and shouldn't  expect 
anybody to have nurturing him as their first concern. But Harry 
wanted it both ways.

Pippin