Adults "failing" Harry (was: Themes in OotP)

[delwynmarch]

No: HPFGUIDX 120187


Lupinlore wrote:
" Once Dumbledore took it upon himself to make these profound
decisions, the responsibility for their outcome adhered to him. 
Whether he wanted to make these decisions or not is of no consequence
whatsoever with regard to the blame that he bears."

Del replies:
I'm of two minds on that one.

On one hand, I agree with you. DD made choices, he's got to live up to
them.

On the other hand, I am ready to cut him some slack on some of his
decisions because I feel he really did the best he could under the
circumstances and it's really not his fault if some things turned out
pretty badly : he didn't mean them too. For example, sure he knew that
the Dursleys wouldn't be the most loving foster parents there could
be, but I'm sure he didn't anticipate them being so loveless and
abusive. I still don't understand why he didn't keep a check on them
and step in when things got bad, but I'm willing to give him the
benefit of the doubt.

Lupinlore wrote :
"Dumbledore made the decisions, Dumbledore must bear the blame for the
consequences.  That may not be perfectly fair, it may not be perfectly
reasonable, but it is utterly true and utterly necessary.  No one can
take it upon themselves to make such profound decisions about another
person's life without bearing the responsibility for the outcome of
their decisions.  "

Del replies:
I disagree. DD *is* responsible for much, of course he is. And he
knows that too. But he's definitely not responsible for what other
people do IMO. He's responsible for putting Harry with the Dursleys,
but not for the way the Dursleys treated him (or just a bit maybe).
He's mostly responsible for Harry missing the bigger picture in OoP,
but not for Harry's decision to go to the DoM. DD is responsible for
the way he took his decisions, but not for the unpredictable
consequences of those decisions. If he is, then James and Lily are
also entirely responsible for Harry being raised by anyone but them,
and Harry is entirely responsible for Cedric's and Sirius's deaths.

I'm not saying that nothing is DD's fault. But I am saying that many
things are not his *fault*, even though they are the unpredictable
consequences of his decisions. He can't avoid dealing with those
consequences, but he shouldn't be blamed for making the decisions in
the first place IMO.

The funny thing is, I'm not so sure we disagree. I have a nagging
feeling that we are talking past each other. I'm wondering if this
isn't just another case of us not using the same words in exactly the
same way, or not translating our concepts the same way. Do you get the
same feeling?

Del