DD: an appreciation (Was Re: Snape, A Murderer?)

[a_reader2003]

No: HPFGUIDX 95518

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Barry Arrowsmith 
<arrowsmithbt at b...> wrote(about Dumbledore):

> Yep. IMO he does have incredible foresight, and I've  said before 
that he does seem to know of events before they happen, that he's 
acting as if he's following a script that has already been written. 

Carolyn:
The whole plot makes a lot more sense if you agree with the theory 
that DD is simply the current incarnation, and leader of the forces 
for 'good', and Harry is the one who will have to pick up that baton 
eventually - the chosen one (Merlin, Godric Gryffindor etc could have 
been other incarnations). The fact that DD has Fawkes as a pet is a 
big clue to the reincarnation theme IMO, and that Harry was able to 
call up Fawkes in the Chamber. I think this is more believable than 
your 'possession' idea (but see below), but also, of course, slightly 
hackneyed. All fantasy stories are mostly about the ultimate face-off 
between good and evil..the interest here is whether JKR can give it a 
more contemporary twist, and avoid a too-obviously Christian allegory.

In this respect, we may have had a version of the temptation scene 
already. I think it was no accident that DD sought out Nicholas 
Flamel when he was younger, and worked with him on the Philosopher's 
Stone. DD was as tempted as Voldy in his own way - think of the kudos 
of being the ultimate administrator of 'good' for ever and ever. All 
that was before Harry, or even Harry's parents, had even been born - 
he must have been wondering how the succession was to be maintained. 
But, despite protecting the stone somehow through VWI, he eventually 
had to give up the idea, firstly because of what he realised were the 
implications of the prophecy (ie his successor had been chosen at 
last), and secondly because of the dangers of Voldy getting to the 
stone first. 

DD's protection charm on the Mirror of Erised was pretty double-edged 
in this respect, no wonder he thought of it as one of his better 
ideas. I wonder if even DD could have retrieved that stone, once he'd 
put it there, if it could only be obtained by someone who didn't want 
to use it for themselves ?

It seems to me that DD has now held the job for a very long time, and 
like a lot of very old people, his outlook has simplified and become 
very black and white over the years, especially now he knows he's on 
the last straight. He's not exactly a cruel man for the sake of it, 
but essentially he sees Harry as a chesspiece that must at all costs 
be protected in order to win the game. Fluff like Harry's mental 
state isn't what preoccupies him most of the time. 

Instead, he's locked in a mental battle with the forces of evil in 
the same way as Gandalf and Sauron were. DD's own big assignment 
turned out to be Grindewald; he knows Voldy is someone else's job, 
but he also seems to know that for some reason the time is not yet 
right for that confrontation, even though his own time is running out 
fast. I also think his chances of reaching the end of Book 7 alive 
are nil because of this, and JKR will finish him off at the most 
dramatic moment possible - maybe at the end of Book 6, and then leave 
us hanging in suspense for another couple of years..

However, back to the current situation. The business with the AK 
rebounding off baby Harry was a bit of a facer for him - wasn't meant 
to happen; he did what he could to protect the baby once he'd heard 
the prophecy, but he didn't know what would actually take place when 
Voldy eventually attacked. Once it had happened, it made the battle 
with Voldy a lot more complicated if Harry now carried some of 
Voldie's powers within him. I think is a clever way of JKR's to 
update the traditional theme. In good, there is some evil, and vice 
versa - very much the human condition. I also reiterate my idea about 
muggles and wizards - its no accident that both Harry and Tom Riddle 
have mixed parentage, unlike presumably Dumbledore, and perhaps 
Grindewald, Salazar Slytherin etc.

I think JKR's solution will involve some rapprochement between the 
two worlds (if only from the WW POV), and some way of getting round a 
simple good/evil clash, because its an endless battle and she 
couldn't really suggest evil can be overcome for good - not in 
today's political climate. 

Carolyn, hoping for something a lot more pragmatic & apologising if 
this posts twice - Yahoo did something weird the first time I hit 
send.

PS an additional question:
Voldie-in-a-turban. I have seen no convincing explanation as to why 
supposedly all-powerful DD did not notice what had happened to 
Quirrell in PS, when Snape was highly suspicious and even the kids 
noticed the funny smell. Either DD really is a 'silly old codger', or 
I suppose your argument is that he DID know, and let the situation 
develop deliberately into a necessary confrontation ? 

It was a fantastic risk..and the protections on the stone were 
extremely equivocal. They seemed to suggest that anyone bright enough 
to work them out, deserved to get the stone - even from the mirror, 
if Voldie had a change of heart. An example of DD giving the Tom he 
had known yet another chance, and the possibility of using his very 
great powers for good ? It makes me think of Ollivander's 
remark '[he] did great things - terrible, yes, but great' ?