Albus Dumbledore: the myth and the man

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 96142

Kneasy:
> Part  of the problem with the omniscience thing is that he 
knows too  much about some things yet acts as if he knows 
nothing about others.

 He knew Harry was looking into the Erised mirror.
Fawkes turns up with the Sorting Hat and Gryffindors sword in 
CoS. Can he be presumed to know what Harry wanted without 
DD's instructions? And I've lost count of the number of times he's 
asked Harry "Is there something you wish to tell me?" -  
invariably when there's something Harry should tell him. T'ain't 
natural.
 He tells Harry in OoP that he watched Harry "from afar" with his 
problems with the Dementors in PoA.
 He knows entirely too much about what went on at Godrics 
Hollow for  someone who wasn't there.
 It's all a mixture - no apparent consistency. 
<snip>
 I agree that he graveyard incident was a shock to him; it was 
entirely unexpected, but at the same time he must have known 
Crouch!Moody was a fake. They were old friends, going back to 
the first Voldy War, it's impossible that he didn't notice something 
amiss in an entire school year. Crouch might look like Moody, 
but he doesn't have his memory. The inconsistencies mount.<<

Pippin explains:

I can't think of anything Dumbledore knows that he couldn't have 
learned from the portrait spy network and Legilimency.  The *hat* 
knew what Harry needed--not surprising since it contains 
Salazar Slytherin's brains. We can easily presume that  it can 
converse with the portraits if it wants to,  and that it's loyal to 
Dumbledore, so maybe *it* called Fawkes.

And Crouch--he had Mad Moody's magical eye. What a gift for the 
skilled Legilimens--no need to face your subject in order to look 
him in the eye! Any  fluffs that did occur could be explained by 
Moody's mental problems--memory loss is a common symptom. 
Barty would have to be a terrific Occlumens as well, but then he 
must have been, or Dumbledore wouldn't have needed 
veritaserum in order to question him.

As for the Animagi, Dumbledore probably knew that they were up 
to plenty, but didn't know, and didn't want to know, exactly what. 
Most of their mischief seems to have been managed outside the 
castle, away from prying eyes.

The question is why Dumbledore doesn't interfere more than he 
does, if he knows so much, but that's simple too, once you 
understand that you're dealing with a macho society. In the WW, 
asking for help is an admission of weakness. And so, offering 
help that hasn't been asked for is an insult, even to a child. Or a 
House Elf.

Muggleborn, liberal-minded Hermione doesn't understand that 
she keeps offending people with her generous gestures, of 
course. Poor girl.

Pippin