Dumbledore

[ginnysthe1]

No: HPFGUIDX 116474


Juli wrote:

> <snip> I believe DD knows a LOT more than we believe, he seems to 
know everything that happens in Hogwarts, even before things 
happen.<snip>

Christopher wrote in response:

>Well, there's always everybody's favourite, the Time-Turner! I don't 
see why everyone dislikes them. Time travel isn't that difficult to 
understand, especially if you imagine time as a pseudo-spatial two-
dimensional graph, and then graph absolute time on one axis and 
timeline branches on the other ... but I digress. Back to the point: 
Dumbledore's apparent omniscience. He's already demonstrated a 
willingness to use time travel both to aide a student in her 
education (I highly, *highly* doubt that devices like Time Turners 
are free for professors to hand out even to students like Hermione, 
at least not without some paperwork) and to save lives. Who's to say 
that he doesn't use one to monitor his school?<

Kim chimes in here:

Speaking only for myself, not everyone dislikes time-turners!  I 
think in the hands of one such as Dumbledore, they could be very 
powerful, useful tools, though way more unpredictable than at first 
thought.  After all, it takes a really bright (and it goes without 
saying, responsible) wizard or witch to use them properly without 
risking messing everything up, which shows us the high regard DD and 
McGonagall have for Hermione.  It just stands to reason that DD uses 
a time turner himself on occasion.

Christopher continued:

>And then there's an idea that you [Juli] came so close to hitting, 
but you missed. It gave me the idea, though. We've seen in OotP (and 
probably elsewhere, but since I've finished reading OotP most 
recently, it's the book freshest in my mind) that photograph 
inhabitants are free to roam to other photographs -- they're not even 
restricted to their own.  And, since photograph inhabitants are 
apparently limited in what they *can* do, I don't see it as too much 
of a stretch that many of them would lend themselves to gossipping. 
Hence, I see it as entirely possible that one of the myriad and 
sundry photograph inhabitants would be able to keep Dumbledore -- or 
anyone else for that matter -- fully apprised of any usual or unusual 
goings-on.< 

Kim again:

The only problem I can see with picture-traveling is the limitation 
that comes from some rooms having pictures and some not.  I don't 
think all the castle walls are covered with pictures and photos. And 
then there's the problem pictures present with seeing things that go 
on outside the castle.  And with frog-card pictures, which could go 
outside, what would you do if you were in someone's pocket all the 
time?  But in that case I suppose you could still at least hear what 
was being said.

Christopher continued:
  
>And then there's also the possibility that Dumbledore himself has 
some intrinsic ability of which we're not aware. Perhaps he has some 
sort of ability to perceive the future? This would possibly explain a 
lot of his actions regarding Trelawney. It would possibly impart to 
him knowledge of how difficult true prophecy is and thus he would 
have more respect for the otherwise mostly fraudulent Trelawney.<

Kim's last remark:

I recall others on the list coming up with the idea of Dumbledore 
possibly having the intrinsic ability to become a bumblebee (i.e. his 
animagus), especially since that's what "Dumbledore" means.  As a 
bee, he could literally be a "fly on the wall" and see what others 
are up to without them knowing it.   Of course, on closer 
examination, there are still some problems with that too:  Wouldn't 
people notice the buzzing of a bee?  Wouldn't a bee (being a warm-
weather creature) freeze if he went outside to keep watch on folks 
during the winter months?  How would a bee keep from getting smashed 
or eaten by Crookshanks? Or maybe DD isn't a bee, but some other bug 
(such as Rita "Skeeter" was a beetle, not a mosquito).  And how has 
he kept his animagus ability secret for all these years if he indeed 
has the ability?   Being a bee or other bug may be only one of 
several omniscient capabilities DD possesses.  In any case, IMO 
Dumbledore has an animagus (just as the current transfig. teacher 
McGonagall's is a cat), but JKR just hasn't mentioned his animagus 
yet.  I'd love to see more discussion of this.

Cheers,
Kim