[HPforGrownups] Trust (was Re: The names in the Goblet/Re: Conspiracy Theories)

[Shaun Hately]

No: HPFGUIDX 96871

On 24 Apr 2004 at 12:45, Barry Arrowsmith wrote:

> Kneasy:
> I may sort of trust what he does (obviously with the best of intentions 
> - and we all know what road is paved with good intentions), but I don't 
> automatically trust what he says. Like all good  war leaders he works 
> "on a need to know" basis. Whether the need to know is for Harry and 
> internal to the plot or external and aimed at the reader is a very good 
> question indeed. 

Personally I've always viewed Dumbledore as something of a 
'Churchill' character (with Fudge as 'Chamberlain'). I think the 
comparisons are quite obvious in some ways, although any analogy 
will break down if you take it far enough, of course.

I think there's a quote from Churchill that should really be borne 
in mind when it comes to Albus Dumbledore.

"In war-time, truth is so precious that she should always be 
attended by a bodyguard of lies"

Deliberate deception - often of your enemy, sometimes of your 
allies - is a very necessary tool in war-time. Anthony Cave Brown, 
in his book entitled 'Bodyguard of Lies', about the deception 
operations that helped to win World War II, takes the view that the 
use of deception to win wars is, while hardly unique to Britain, a 
very real characteristic of British military history. A 
quintessential part of British military history, in fact - and the 
best and most successful operations have often been the brainchild 
of some very eccentric and unusual individuals.

Dumbledore would seem to qualify - I think he'd have fitted quite 
well into the LCS.

I think Dumbledore can be trusted in the same way I think Churchill 
could have been trusted. To direct every fibre of his being to the 
defence of what he held dear. But that is the priority - and if 
needed, he will sacrifice anything, including the truth on 
occasion, to protect the core.

Actually... in a world where the Wizarding World exists, and where 
Muggle Prime Ministers know of its existence... well, I'm pretty 
sure that Churchill would have done his best to get the Wizards and 
Witches of Britain onside - and would have directed its talents to 
things like the LCS and the SOE, if he was able to.

Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought
Shaun Hately | www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html
(ISTJ)       | drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200 
"They shall not grow old, as we who are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We shall remember them."