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

[naamagatus]

No: HPFGUIDX 95928

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "arrowsmithbt" 
<arrowsmithbt at b...> wrote:

> 
> And note that in chap. 37 he also claims that he  doesn't  care if 
numbers of nameless and faceless people and creatures are slaughtered 
>in the future so long as Harry is alive, well and happy. 

He did *not* say that. He was berating himself for allowing his love 
of Harry to stand in the way of what he believed he should have done 
for the higher good. If he really didn't care for the consequences of 
his actions, other than Harry, what cause would he have to feel as 
guilty as he does?

> 
> Has he ever expressed regrets over any of the deaths in the series 
so far? None that I can find. Not even those, (Cedric, Sirius) for 
>which he must bear some responsibility. 

In that same monologue from which you have just quoted, Dumbledore 
takes the blame for Sirius' death, with expressions of guilt. As for 
Cedric, I'm sorry I don't have the books here so I can find the exact 
quote, but Dumbledore appears distraught at his death. 

>Cedric died because Harry was in the TWT, and Harry
> was in the TWT because DD insisted that Harry was bound by a magical
> contract that Harry did not make; something DD knew. No way would
> Harry be able to confound the Goblet. 

Are you saying that Harry was *not* bound by a magical contract? I 
don't see any evidence for that. It seems that once your name is spit 
out of the goblet, you are, willingly or not, a contestant.

>He openly admits blame for what
> happened to Sirius, but no regrets, no apology. No words of 
commiseration over the deaths of James and Lily either, not even to 
McGonagall the day after the event. This is a cold man, despite the 
copious crododile tears produced as emotional blackmail for Harry. 
>Perhaps that's how he defeated Grindelwald - he talked him to death.

I don't understand you here - tears are cheap and words dear? If he 
had said how sorry he was, that would have persuaded you that he 
truly cares? Or would you have found the words cheap and blamed him 
for not caring enough to cry?

> 
> And he's still holding things back from Harry. Chap. 37 again, 
where he's > explaining blood protection and Petunia:
> 
> "But she took you," DD cut across him, "She may have taken you 
grudgingly, furiously, unwillingly, bitterly, yet still she took you, 
and in doing so, she sealed the charm I placed upon you. Your 
mother's sacrifice made the bond of blood the strongest shield I 
>could give you."
> 
> "..the charm I placed upon you.. shield I could give you." 
Not "..that your mother placed on you" or "..shield you could have." 
How the hell does DD come to be involved in Lily's 'sacrifice' charm? 
It reads as if he thinks that he arranged it, that it's not the 
automatic protection given by Lily's death and it's continuation 
through Petunia that many readers assume.  "Unwittingly given" as 
Voldy says in the graveyard. And if DD did arrange it, it had to be 
>planned in advance.

I have always interpreted it to mean that Dumbledore placed his charm 
on Harry *after* his mother's death. He knew what Lily had done and 
wanting to give Harry the best protection he could, placed the charm 
on him and left him with the Dursleys. 



Naama