What drives WW ? (was Chapter 24: Occlumency)

[a_reader2003]

No: HPFGUIDX 108963

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "severelysigune" 
<severelysigune at y...> wrote:
> 
> Potioncat suggested in another part of this thread that Snape might 
> be more or less afraid of Dumbledore. I think he certainly must be 
in 
> great awe for him, but more in an admiring and respecting way than 
> what he feels towards Voldy. Otherwise I think he wouldn't be so 
> prepared to carry out DD's orders :).
> 


Carolyn:
Sigune your comment about Snape's awe of DD gives me an opportunity 
to post something I have been working on, originally prompted by 
Kneasy's 'Shared Thoughts' thread, but also by Nora's 'Voldy is a 
Fascist' thread. Basically, what intrigues me is *why* anyone is 
afraid of Voldy, let alone see him as the leader of a political 
movement.

Nora wrote in one of her replies (sorry, forget which):
>>>It seems to me that he's built a persona, a public
image, as the Heir of Slytherin, and that this is part of what gets
the followers. I suspect there are followers as well out of sheer
desire to get ahead. That is enough to consider it an ideological
underpinning--you don't have to make it overt to have one, after
all...<<

Kneasy began his post 108664 by listing the gaping holes in the back 
story, which by their very absence, suggests that what happened long 
ago between the founders of Hogwarts is key to the solution of the 
plot. 

I agree. The disagreement between the founders of Hogwarts must drive 
the whole story, but I think the reason we have been given, about 
Salazar storming off in a huff because he thought pure-blood wizards 
and witches were the only ones who were worth teaching magic, is 
something of a red herring. 

Not that I think that he didn't believe that. I am sure he did, with 
a great deal of passion and conviction. After all, he was prepared to 
destroy a great friendship for his beliefs. But what was so 
important, what was really at stake? It seems to me that we've missed 
the subtle clues as to what really drives the imagination of the WW.

I think it is, put simply, the pursuit of `greatness', for example, 
as expressed by Ollivander when he said about Voldemort in 
PS/SS: `After all, He Who Must Not Be Named did great things – 
terrible, yes, but great.'

JKR also states it plainly in the opening chapter, in the exchange 
between McGonagall and DD: 
`But you are different. Everyone knows you're the only one You-Know – 
oh, all right, Voldemort – was frightened of.'
`You flatter me,' said Dumbledore calmly. `Voldemort has powers I 
will never have.'
`Only because you're too – well – noble to use them.'

And, just in case we forget this, we are later treated to various set-
piece demonstrations of DD's powers – first when he storms through 
the door to save Harry from Fake!Moody; then his effortless escape 
from Fudge after the DA confrontation, and finally when he confronts 
Voldie at the MoM. It is also clear that because of his abilities DD 
is held in wide respect generally – the Chocolate Frog card 
said `considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times.'

Other examples of the way the WW thinks are Quirrell's excuses (about 
Voldy) in PS/SS: `He is a great wizard and I am weak
 there is no 
good and evil, there is only power, and those too weak to seek it.' 
In GOF, Sirius comments about Crouch Sr: `He's a great wizard, Barty 
Crouch, powerfully magical – and power hungry'. At Harry's first 
Occlumency lesson, Snape uses almost the same words about DD with 
grudging respect: `Dumbledore is an extremely powerful wizard' (when 
Harry challenges Snape to speak Voldy's proper name). 

And the list goes on and on – the WW's somewhat patronising, often 
contemptuous attitude to Muggles is rooted in the fact that Muggles 
have no magical powers to command respect. Their hierarchy of 
responses to non-human magical creatures is governed strictly by 
their magical abilities. On the whole, the WW doesn't muck about with 
toughs like centaurs or goblins. Weaker creatures like House Elves 
become enslaved. Dangerous dragons are so far subdued that they 
appear to be farmed for their meat, blood and every last particle of 
their carcasses. 

Between ordinary wizards, it is a rough and tumble of hex or be hexed 
(getting a satsuma stuffed up your nose at Christmas seems to be 
perfectly normal; no one blinks an eye at the Draco/Crabbe/Goyle heap 
on the train each year). No wonder it is so important to get into 
Hogwarts and get the best teaching on essential survival skills. And 
if you are born without magical ability, heaven help you. The anxiety 
in the whole Neville story is hedged about with is he/isn't he going 
to be a squib; both Filch and Mrs Figg eloquently convey their anger 
and shame at their condition.

The Hogwart's founders' original obsession with discovering and 
nurturing magical ability has continued down the ages, and I would 
suggest that one of the things that's going on at the MoM are 
experiments on brains, to see if they can identify any physical 
characteristics that indicate absence or presence of magical ability. 
The contents of the locked room may well be something that they have 
managed to identify as the essence of this ability.

So to bring this back to Voldy and agendas. I think Dumbledore is 
100% committed to the nurturing of magical talent wherever it can be 
found [even in non-humans], and in this sense is the embodiment of 
the original wishes of all four founders, and in fact this *is* the 
role of the Headmaster of Hogwarts down the ages - to be the keeper 
of that faith, and Fawkes is a symbol of that continuity. [I don't 
know whether DD is actually continually re-born or a new individual 
is chosen when the old one dies,] but that is his job, and why 
Hogwarts is such a seat of power, and why the headmaster has no need 
to be Minister of Magic, yet commands a far greater influence.

In this role, DD spotted Tom Riddle's abilities very early on 
[perhaps Ollivander alerted him to the immensely powerful wand which 
Tom Riddle chose, containing the feather from the headmaster's own 
phoenix], and with the support of the then rapidly-fading Headmaster 
of Hogwarts, Armando Dippet, encouraged him. But, alas something in 
Tom's psychological make up led him to make the wrong choice in his 
pursuit of power [remember 'it's our choices'..etc etc]. Perhaps it 
was the absence of parental love early in his life, who knows - it 
would be an appropriate reason for JKR to pick on, with her interest 
in children and orphans.

All this would account for DD's ruthless, yet regretful dealings with 
Tom. He has to stop him, but is deeply aware that it might have been 
his mistake that created the monster in the first place. It would 
also account for Voldy!Tom's extremely erratic behaviour. We joke 
that he hasn't read the Evil Overlord rulebook properly, but his list 
of mistakes is really laughable. Essentially the problem is that he 
has gone off at a tangent, embraced the power apparently represented 
by Salazar, but failed to understand that it only ever was a quarter 
of the original line up, and must always be balanced by the skills 
and abilities represented by the other three founders if it is to 
lead to true power.

The DE's and their supporters follow him only because at one time it 
looked like he was a bandwagon that might grab power - he appeared 
for a very short while [10-12 years] to have unassailable magical 
ability, and that's what really counts in the WW. The pureblood 
argument was only ever a useful prop - it is self-evident that 
purebloods do not necessarily have greater magical abilities than non-
purebloods, or even non-humans. 

If the pursuit of 'greatness', ie over-arching magical ability is 
what fundamentally drives the WW, then Voldie is obviously going to 
fail because he has not understood his lessons. The more interesting 
question to me is whether Harry is also going to fail because he is 
so closely identified with Gryffindor talents. There is that ick-
making line of Hermione's: 'Harry - you're a great wizard, you know' 
forewarning us of his abilities (and we all know she is the voice of 
the author), but would substituting Gryffindor values for Slytherin 
values really change much in the WW? 

Carolyn
Who should have pondered on this more, but is posting it anyway.