Albus Dumbledore and the Socks in the Mirror (of Erised)

[msbeadsley]

No: HPFGUIDX 79974

  ["What do you see when you look in the mirror?"
  "I?  I see myself holding a pair of thick, woolen socks."
  Harry stared.
  "One can never have enough socks," said Dumbledore.  "Another 
Christmas has come and gone and I didn't get a single pair.  People 
will insist on giving me books."
  It was only when he was back in bed that it struck Harry that 
Dumbledore might not have been quite truthful.  But then, he thought 
as he shoved Scabbers off his pillow, it had been quite a personal 
question.]

I have searched through the archives looking to see if this has been 
done to death and haven't seen more than a glimmer.

And the lexicon, although it covers socks, doesn't go where I want to.
http://www.hp-lexicon.org/socks.html

I think Professor Dumbledore told the truth, that Harry surprised it 
out of him, although it wasn't very clear.  Things that have been 
mentioned that socks represent include freedom (Dobby), love (Molly 
Weasley's hand-knitting) and obligation (Harry's hand-me-downs).  
What I thought of first, though, was something I haven't seen.  And I 
can't get it out of my head, so please bear with me.

Dumbledore does not just say he would like to be given socks; he 
mentions that "(p)eople will insist on giving" him books.  I don't 
think people are giving him recreational reading; I think (though 
there's no canon for this) he's being gifted with Uber-wizard tomes.

The gifts people give you reflect the image they have of you.  People 
see Dumbledore as a keeper of knowledge and leader/protector of the 
good guys.  He accepts the mantle, knowing he's the most appropriate 
person to wear it.  But he longs for simple pleasures (sherbet lemon 
drops), comfort, warmth (*thick, woolen* socks), and a comfortable, 
secure retirement.  (How often are we told he looks old or tired or 
both?  Didn't he save the world once already, something about a guy 
named Grindelwald?)

(There's also a line in the first chapter of the first book where 
Dumbledore says, "I haven't blushed so much since Madame Pomfrey told 
me she liked my new earmuffs."  Is that a hint, that an intensely  
personal response, blushing, is connected with those soft, warm, 
commonplace earmuffs?)

A world in which Dumbledore could expect to receive something as 
warm, fuzzy, and prosaic as socks for Christmas would be one which 
did not hang in the balance.  It would be a world in which he would 
not have to be wary of having his caring for others turned back on 
him.  It would be a world in which he would not have to sacrifice the 
happiness (or the very life) of "the boy who lived."

Sandy, aka "msbeadsley"