BADD ANGST TBAY, Part II

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 81487


It's a new day in Theory Bay: The sun is shining brightly, reflecting 
off the highly-polished MAGIC DISHWASHER in the Safe House. The storm 
brewing in the bay has subsided for the moment, as has the raucous 
party at the Safe House. 
 
Pip!Squeak and Melody are out front, talking animatedly to each other 
and occasionally casting bemused glances at the new boat in the Bay, 
the S.S. BADD ANGST. This rather Leaky Vessel attempted to crash 
their party, and is now docked several feet away; Captain Remnant and 
First Mate Jen seem to be doing a little repair work--patching a 
crack here, mending a sail there, generally making the boat fit for a 
long-term excursion around the bay.
 
A forlorn figure is polishing a slightly battered canon on board, 
muttering to himself under his breath. Stoned!Harry casts a fierce 
look at the Safe House and continues to mutter about the party, 
lamenting the fact that no one would let him "just TRY a fire 
whiskey...butterbeer, butterbeer--I'm sick of butterbeer and pumpkin 
juice! I'm 15 YEARS OLD and I happen to know a whole lot more than 
anyone gives me credit for." 
 
Jen, sensing a disturbance in the field, tries to console Stoned!
Harry, "of course you do, dear! You are VERY bright and talented and 
don't worry--before you know it, you'll be old enough for fire whisky 
and wishing you were young again!"
 
Stoned Harry turns to glare at Jen now, swiping the canon with wild 
abandon and looking as if he might take a whack at Jen, "That's it! 
I've done more than ALL of you, even more than Dumbledore!" Jen, 
taking a step back in shock, covers her mouth with one hand and grabs 
the railing to steady herself with the other. Captain Remnant, a 
slightly amused expression on his face said, "You've done it now Jen--
you get to handle this one! Why don't you take our refurbished vessel 
out for a spin with Stoned!Harry--and explain a little more about 
Dumbledore while you're at it? Oh, and load up the new canon on the 
way!" Captain Remnant, who is a fair and amiable captain and doesn't 
mind sharing the shipboard duties, then disappears under deck....
 
Stoned!Harry takes a few more abysmal slaps at the canon with his 
towel, sits down and covers his face in his hands. Jen hears him 
muttering about Dumbledore, "he ignored me all year....he made a 
MISTAKE......" Uncovering his face, Stoned! Harry glares at Jen, "And 
I overheard Pip!Squeak at the party last night saying he has a 
Agenda, something to do with a Fire! Tell me what that means, and 
don't mollycoddle me!" 
 
Jen, whose urge to so-call *mollycoddle* Stoned!Harry is ebbing away, 
takes a deep breath, collects her thoughts and steers out into the 
Bay for a second spin aboard the BADD ANGST. "Alright," she says 
finally, her anger subsided, "I'll tell you what I understand about 
Dumbledore and his Plan."
 
"Well, go on then," Stoned Harry says defiantly, "will this have as 
much Bang as Dumbledore and the Fire?"
 
**********************************************************************
Well, no. This version of Dumbledore's Plan is not splashy, no 
parties will be held in its honor and surely Stoned!Harry will lose 
interest before we're done. But there is a little angst, a little 
prophecy, and a light to be shed on the mysterious character who is 
Dumbledore..... This is a long one, and some will argue--"this is 
canon, not a theory!" Yes, there is much that is proven, but in light 
of the updated MAGIC DISHWASHER theory and the fact we have two books 
to go, I'd say where Dumbldore goes from here IS still speculative. 
 
So while much of this theory is a comment on who Dumbledore is, his 
*Plan* is still open to possibilities.......one of which is BADD 
ANGST--"Boundaries Always Direct Dumbledore's Actions-Now Go Stop 
Tom! (All canon from US versions).
 
Dumbledore's Philosophy:

To fully understand Dumbledore's Plan we must explore Dumbledore's 
Philosophy, the core being his belief in Free Choice. Much has been 
said and written about Dumbledore's views on free will and every 
person's ability to choose his/her own thoughts and actions. And just 
as Dumbledore believes strongly in the freedom of choice, he also 
respects the limitations this belief places on anyone who wants to 
foster change:
 
"It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than 
our abilities." (COS, chap.18, p. 333) (Interesting debate on this 
one, post 81223, CatLady)
 
Dumbledore, speaking to Fudge in "The Parting of the Ways" in GOF 
(chap. 36,p. 708): " You place too much importance, and you always 
have done, on the so-called purity of blood! You fail to recognize 
that it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be!"
 
"I have no power to make other men see the truth, or to overrule the 
Minister for Magic...." (Dumbledore, POA, chap. 21,p. 393)
 
"...Hasn't your experience with the Time-Turner taught you anything, 
Harry? The consequences of our actions are so complicated, so 
diverse, that predicting the future is very difficult, indeed....." 
(Dumbledore, POA chap. 21, p. 426).

Lord Voldemort is the ultimate opponent of free choice; His agenda, 
to force others to do his bidding by any means possible--or be 
killed, is in direct opposition with Dumbledore's core philosophy. 
Therefore, Dumbledore's goal is for LV to be defeated. And we know 
this is Dumbledore's goal because he explicitly states this:

"The only one against whom I intend to work," said Dumbledore, "is 
Lord Voldemort. If you are against him, then we remain, Cornelius, on 
the same side."  (GOF, chap. 36, p. 709).


Dumbledore's Plan:

Dumbledore employs a three-part plan in the fight against Lord 
Voldemort, intending to first impede LV's progress and bring him out 
in the open (achieved in OOTP) and ultimately, to defeat him once and 
for all.

1. Creating a strong and unified counterforce--

"Time is short, and unless the few of us who know the truth stand 
united, there is no hope for any of us." (Dumbledore, GOF, chap. 36, 
p. 712)
 
"The second step you must take--and at once," Dumbledore pressed 
on, "is to send envoys to the giants." (GOF, Chapter 36, p. 708)
 
"I say to you all, once again--in the light of Lord Voldemort's 
return, we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are 
divided.....Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if 
our aims are identical and our hearts are open." (Dumbledore, GOF, 
chap. 37, p. 723)
 
"The fountain we destroyed tonight told a lie. We wizards have 
mistreated and abused our fellow for too long, and we are now reaping 
our reward." (Dumbledore, OOTP, chap. 37, p. 834)

"Thanks to you, Dumbledore was able to recall the Order of the 
Phoenix about an hour after Voldemort returned," said Sirius.
"So what's the Order been doing?" said Harry, looking around at them 
all.
"Working as hard as we can to make sure Voldemort can't carry out his 
plans," said Sirius.  (OOTP, chap 5, p. 92).


2.  Respect for and use of the Deeper Mysteries of Magic--

There is a mysterious "ancient magic" that Dumbledore ascribes to 
more fully than to the "Laws of Man" (in this case, the MOM). These 
deep mysteries appear to actualize in the form of binding connections 
between people or between people and magical objects:
 
"You would be protected by an ancient magic of which he {Voldemort} 
knows, but which he despises, and which he has always, therefore, 
underestimated--to his cost. I am speaking of course of the fact that 
your mother died to save you." (Dumbledore, OOTP, Chap. 37, pps. 835-
836)
 
"She {Petunia} may have taken you grudgingly, furiously, unwillingly, 
bitterly, yet she still took you, and in doing so, she sealed the 
charm I placed upon you." (Dumbledore, OOTP, chap. 37, p. 836)


 ".....When one wizard saves another wizard's life, it creates a 
certain bond between them....This is magic at its deepest, most 
impenetrable, Harry." (Dumbledore, POA, chap. 22, p. 426)

The Fidelius Charm is "An immensely complex spell
..involving the 
magical concealment of a secret inside a single, living soul.  The 
information is hidden inside the chosen person, or Secret Keeper
." 
(Prof. Flitwick, POA, chap. 10, p. 205)

"Once a champion has been selected by the Goblet of Fire, he or she 
is obliged to see the tournament through to the end. The placing of 
your name in the goblet constitutes a binding, magical contract." 
(Dumbledore, GOF, chap. 16, p. 256)

Now Dumbledore appears to not only have a deep respect for 
this "ancient magic" but he also has been able to use this against 
Voldemort numerous times because LV "despises and underestimates 
it."  One example, the blood protection, is quoted above.  Others 
include:

* Phoenix tail feathers in the brother wands to produce the Priori 
Incantatem (GOF, chap. 36, p. 697) 
* Hiding the Philosopher's Stone in the Mirror of Erised so only one 
wanting to "find it, but not use it" could retrieve the Stone. 
(Dumbledore, SS, chap. 17, p. 300)


3. Respect for Harry's Freedom of Choice Regarding the Prophecy—

The Prophecy is at the core of Dumbledore's Plan, but there's a twist 
to it. First some bakground:

Dumbledore has been *Called* to shoulder many difficult and 
burdensome tasks in his very long life, especially the defeat of the 
dark wizard Grindelwald and the formation of the Order of the Phoenix 
during Voldemort's reign of terror. And, in perhaps his most 
difficult and troubling role, Dumbledore was "chosen" to receive the 
Prophecy on that fateful night in the Hog's Head.
 
Surely the prophecy was the first ray of hope for Dumbledore after 
many dark years! For we already know that the MOM and OOTP were 
losing ground in the First War, and that Voldemort was taking over 
the WW:
 
"Dark days, Harry. Didn't know who ter trust, didn't dare get 
friendly with strange witches and wizards....terrible things happend. 
He was takin' over." (Hagrid, SS, chap. 4, pps 54-55)
 
Every week, news comes of more deaths, more disappearances, more 
torturing...the Ministry of Magic is in disarray, they don't know 
what to do, they're trying to keep everything hidden from the 
Muggles, but meanwhile, Muggles are dying, too. (Sirius, GOF, chap. 
27, pps. 526-527)
 
"....you weren't in the Order then, you don't understand, last time 
we were outnumbered twenty to one by the Death Eaters and they were 
picking us off one by one." (Lupin, OOTP, chap. 9, p.177)
 
Dumbledore was effectively handed the future of the WW when he was 
chosen to hear the prophecy. "The One with the Power to Vanquish the 
Dark Lord Approaches" (OOTP, chap.37, p. 841) and Dumbledore alone 
carries the enormous burden of trying to protect an infant into 
adulthood who will be targeted by a very powerful Dark Lord and his 
equally powerful followers. Dumbledore's choices, his actions, his 
omissions could allow Voldemort to take over completely.

But here's the twist I'm proposing as the Limitation on the Prophecy, 
a form of ancient magic that Dumbledore realizes early on: The 
Prophecy cannot be activated if Harry is "forced" to conquer the Dark 
Lord.  My words: "Only One wishing to vanquish the Dark Lord by 
choice, rather than force, will have the power to do so." No, that's 
not canon, mere speculation, but it dovetails nicely with why 
Dumbldore was chosen to hear the Prophecy!

So Dumbledore starts making decisions about protecting Harry, until 
such time that Harry is able to choose his "destiny" for himself. And 
Dumbledore believes Harry is the *only* one who has the power, no one 
else can "vanquish" Voldemort--not Dumbledore, not the Potters, and 
not the Longbottoms, even though all of these people have certainly 
been a match for LV. 

Since Dumbledore knows he cannot kill Voldemort, what did DD mean in 
the scene at MOM when he tells Voldemort, "We both know there are 
other ways of destroying a man, Tom....Merely taking your life would 
not satisfy me, I admit" (OOTP, chap. 36, p. 814)? I don't believe 
even then that Dumbledore allows himself to harbor hatred in his 
heart for Tom/Voldemort. True to his nature, DD's deepest desire for 
Voldemort is to find redemption within himself before he dies, to see 
the error of his choices, and unearth some sliver of the humanity 
Harry possesses in such great abundance. The moment when Tom unearths 
his essence, his soul, from under Voldemort's cover, he would
surely be destroyed by the evil of his choices and the life he made 
for himself, unable to continue living as either Voldemort or Tom 
Riddle. And perhaps that is how Harry will defeat him in the end, by 
providing the means through which Tom truly sees the Darkness he 
created by his choices. 

Telling Harry the Prophecy was the final step in Dumbledore's plan to
safely bring Harry to this point where he will be able to make the 
Final Choice for himself. Dumbledore, the master, will have to step 
aside now as Harry prepares to face his fate and that of the 
Wizarding World on his own terms. 

**************************************************************
The sun is setting and Stoned!Harry nods off, lulled to sleep by the 
drone of Jen's voice and the lapping of the waves. The sunset is 
beautiful, though, and Jen doesn't mind at all that Stoned!Harry 
drifted off—his future will be here soon enough, she thinks.  

Besides, this story was for her, to remind her of who Dumbledore 
truly is, and to see that the WW has indeed evolved into a better 
place during his lifetime, because of his influence.  "It's the Cycle 
of Life after all, no person, no energy needs to be wasted in the 
process, since we all have the power of transformation within" she 
reminds herself happily, impressed to have thought of a Dumbledore-
ism all on her own