[HPforGrownups] Re: JKR Chat "The Crucial and Central Question"

[Laura Ingalls Huntley]

No: HPFGUIDX 92419

Laura (me):
>> And I don't know if it could technically be said that there was all
>> that much to do  in the underground movement department, at least 
>> after
>> the first couple years or so, as the DE's were pretty much subdued by
>> that time and Voldy was kinda incorporeal.

greatelderone:
> I think it could be said that the DEs were more terrible once
> Voldemort was removed. Without him as their leader and with a power
> vaccuum, they could become far more terrible than Voldemort ever was.
> Remember what happened to the Longbottoms.

That's why I specified "after a couple years".  Actually, I think it 
probably took much less time than that for the DE problem to be 
contained.  As far as I can tell, the really fanatical DE's (like 
Bellatrix, for example) did their bits close after Voldy was defeated 
and were quite rapidly rounded up and thrown into Azkaban.  As for the 
others -- the smart ones (like Lucius) and the dumb follower types 
(like Crabbe and Goyle) were all busy trying v. hard to pretend they 
never had anything to do with Voldemort.

The Wizarding World that Harry enters at eleven is *not* one that has 
been terrorized by periodic DE attacks for the past ten years.  In 
contrast, most wizards are convinced that the threat is gone.  Nothing 
like what occurred at the Quidditch World Cup has happened in a *long* 
time.  The Dark Mark hasn't been seen in nearly ten years.  This is 
because the DE's *weren't* out there continuing Voldy's noble work.  
They were hiding their asses and going on with their lives.  That's why 
the big man was so . . . erm, *disappointed* with the lot of them when 
he got his body back in GoF.

Laura:
>> Well . . . can Sirius *really* be considered an asset in OotP?

greatelderone:
> Yes. He may not be the most powerful wizard, but I'm willing to bet
> that he still has quite a lot of power. After all becoming an
> animagus imo takes a lot of skill and power.

Oh, I think he's a v. powerful wizard.  That's not the issue at all.

Laura:
>> He's
>> impetuous, irrational, and spoiling for a fight

greatelderone:
> Good for a war wouldn't you say?

No, that's good for a bar brawl.  Sirius is *not* a good soldier in the 
kind of war Dumbledore is trying to fight.  The OotP is not a barbarian 
horde, and it's no good for them to try to fight like one.

Laura:
>> -- not to mention he's 
>> a bad influence on Harry (keeps trying to get him to do inadvisable
>> things).

greatelderone:
> So is Ron. Aside from this if I were Dumbledore killing Lupin would
> have worked better. Fellow's a werewolf and the weakest of the
> original four(in mind) aside from Wormtail. Plus he didn't even tell
> Dumbledore that James, Sirus and Pettigrew were animagi when he had
> the chance.

Hey.  I never said that Dumbledore killed Sirius.  Are you even reading 
what I'm writing?  Anyway, Lupin *is* a good role model.  He *knows* 
how the OotP has to operate in order to win the war, and he's *good* at 
explaining it to Sirius and the kids.  He's levelheaded, fair-minded, 
and a v. good guy as far as we can see, despite the fact that he has 
made some bad choices (who hasn't?).

Also, what makes you think he was the weakest of the Marauders?

Laura:
>> *And* he can't leave the headquarters (except that he does
>> anyway, which just causes more trouble).

greatelderone:
> Don't think so short term. Sirus would still be very useful in the
> long term especially when the battles starting happening. Right now
> when it's a secret war, Sirus wouldn't be of much use, but his use
> would increase once Voldemort starts striking out with his army.

But *now* (or, that is, when OotP occurred) he was in a position to 
jeopardize the entire mission and getting agitated enough to actually 
do it.  As for his usefulness in a fight -- remember how he died?  The 
man was out of control.  I'm all for enjoying yourself in a fight, but 
he was so busy laughing and yelling insults at Bellatrix that he wasn't 
paying attention to the fact that she was trying to *kill* him.

I'm not saying that he couldn't have been an asset in the war -- just 
that Dumbledore didn't know how to harness his energy properly.

Laura:
>> Again, I'm not saying that Dumbledore is *bad* or unethical or
>> anything, just that he's pulling Harry's strings for the greater good
>> and I think he's gonna get burned for it.
>
> I think Dumbledore is obviously trying to make look out both for the
> wizard world and Harry. Remember what he said that he was unwilling
> to tell him the prophecy in PoA and CoS because he wanted Harry to be
> happy? He obviously cares for the kid as a person not just as a
> warrior or a champion.

Like I've said in every email I've written on this topic, I *do* think 
Dumbledore truly cares for Harry.  However, the example you just gave 
only serves to prove my point.  Dumbledore *knows* that, ultimately, he 
*has* to put the fate of the wizarding world above Harry's well-being.  
Although I think he's already done things (such a sending Harry to the 
Dursleys) that he feels badly for, he does want to shield Harry as much 
as he can without endangering the rest of his people.

If you take a close look at what Dumbledore tells Harry at the end of 
OotP, you'll see this:  Dumbledore says he tried to protect Harry at 
the expense of his ability to fight against Voldemort; then he says 
that it was the wrong thing to do.

Laura