Conspiracies and re-assessments

[arrowsmithbt]

No: HPFGUIDX 111694

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "snow15145" <snow15145 at y...> wrote:
> Snow:
> I don't know about the Dumbledore appearing as the holier than thou 
> scenario from the get-go concerning Harry. Dumbledore from the first 
> encounter in the first book appears to be aloof to what had just 
> transpired to close friends less than 24 hours before, let alone his 
> self appointed guardianship to their child who was placed in the 
> hands of in-laws who had to be bribed in some manner to even take 
> him. Also the bit too celebrating attitude for what had just happened 
> to the very people he asked to be secret keeper for. (This so reminds 
> me of Dumbledore's unusual behavior of Pettigrew's escape, an almost 
> identical response to what should have been anything but the relaxed, 
> calm attitude that was displayed by him) It seems Dumbledore was 
> celebrating something different than everyone else that night after 
> Godric's Hollow. This was the very first instance that alerted me to 
> the possibility that Dumbledore has a "for the greater good" idealism 
> that is not Harry but involves Harry. 
> 

Kneasy:
It's difficult to get a grip on DD, though I've tried a time or two.
His reactions do seem inappropriate at certain times.
I've posted before about the possibility that somehow he's already
aware of how things are going to/should develop, which is why he
rarely seems surprised or unready. 

You're right;  his reaction after Godric' Hollow is not what one would
expect. I have tried to explain it with reference to the Prophecy,
though making sense out of that is like banging your head against a 
brick wall. Briefly, I wondered if James and Lily were referred to more
than once  in that little conundrum. 

The first is obvious - "..born to those.."
OK, they  get one mention; why not another?
"..neither  can live while the other survives.." 
"Neither" is James and Lily, "the other" is Harry.
Seems fine at first sight, but it starts to unravel a bit when the Prophecy
is taken as a whole.
Mind you, it would resolve a few mysteries - DD would  know
beforehand that the Potters  *must* die for Harry to live and that
he had made preparations for the event. That "old magic" that
protected Harry is much more likely to be familiar to DD than to
Lily. And having expected and planned for the event, his lack of
reaction would be understandable.  

I truly hope that this isn't leading up to a Time Travel scenario -
something you wouldn't object to, judging by your posts - but I have
expectations that it won't, because there are a couple of occasions
when he does seem to be caught on the hop - not what you'd expect
from someone who'd seen it all before. The first being the TWT
Portkey Cup - that was entirely unexpected, I think. His 'plan' had come
off the rails; but I also get the impression that it was back on track
again when Harry told him of his involuntary blood donation - the
famous "Dumbledore gleam'. The second was the failure to foresee 
the failure of the Occlumency lessons. (Or was it? I'm still not entirely
sure; for someone as reputedly omniscient  as DD is reputed to be the
well-known antipathy between Harry and Snape seems a fairly obvious
potential stumbling block.) 

Snow:
> Just take a look at the wands created for not only Tom 
> Riddle/Voldemort but also the eventuality of Harry. The wand chooses 
> the wizard, how clever of Dumbledore!  The wizard does not in this 
> case have a choice does he, but I think Dumbledore does. Too curious 
> indeed that Harry's wand chose to choose him after the many that he 
> had tried unsuccessfully. Not really that curious since the prophecy 
> pre-empted the decision of who should be destined for that wand. 
> Dumbledore supplied Olivander with not one but two feathers from his 
> own phoenix Fawkes with a preordained destiny in mind. Whether this 
> plan that was devised, most likely since the birth of Tom Riddle, 
> will succeed is in the choices made by Harry but very closely watched 
> and nurtured in a positive direction by Dumbledore and company in 
> order to proceed to the plan that had been created long before the 
> prophecy. 

Kneasy:
Ah! Those wands.
I'm surprised that more questions haven't been asked about those.
It was brought up a long, long time ago but nobody seemed to have
any answers.

Obvious questions:
Two feathers were 'given'. Who by? DD says Fawkes, but I can't see 
Fawkes flitting into Ollivanders shop and dropping them on the counter.
Does Fawkes belong to DD personally, or does he go with the job of
Headmaster of Hogwarts? It matters, you see - the Head around the 
time of Tom was Professor Dippet, not DD. And we don't know much
about Dippet.
But if Fawkes belongs to DD it seems very odd that a feather coming
from that combination is turned to evil uses. Unless in the beginning
Tom was nowhere near as bitter and twisted as he has been presented.
Could he have been much more like Harry to start with? Hmm. Intriguing.
Were both feathers given at the same time? Or was the second provided
as an "antidote" to the first after Tom turned bad? 
Were the feathers given with the specific personal and magical 
characteristics of the eventual owners already implanted? Probably
yes, from what Ollivander says.

Yet more blank spots on the map.
We'll get the answers one day - I hope.