Secrecy (Was: Re: It's over, Snape is evil)

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 137510

Nora:
> Then why does Dumbledore tell Harry other information
 that Voldemort  really needs not to get wind of, like the 
quest for the Horcruxes?  DD  specifically tells Harry *not* 
to tell anyone other than Ron and  Hermione, meaning that 
Harry leaves someone as important as McG out of 
the loop; Ron and Hermione also get the ending text of the 
Prophecy shared with them, which is presumably also rather 
important and still  desirable.  This is all restricted and 
important information that  Dumbledore entrusts Harry with.

Pippin:
Dumbledore confides the rest of the prophecy to Harry only when it
becomes disastrously clear that the consequences of Voldemort learning
it will be less than the consequences of leaving Harry in ignorance.

I believe the same is true of the horcruxes. Dumbledore has suspected 
since he heard about the Diary that this was the method  Voldemort 
used to survive, but he tells Harry of his quest only after he has
found that  destroying the ring nearly killed him.  Harry was able to 
destroy the diary horcrux *without any harm to himself.*

Harry was also able to sense that there was something unusual
about the Diary, and he knew, without any thought or preparation,
how to destroy it. If Dumbledore suspects that Harry has a 
unique ability to recognize and destroy horcruxes, he is obviously
the best person to undertake the quest, and it has to be given to
him. The horcruxes must be found and destroyed as quickly as
possible, or many many innocent lives will be lost.

Voldemort will doubtless find out what he is doing, if he
doesn't know already. But Harry's obvious unsuitability for
the task will be his protection.  So DD gives Harry the quest,
but *doesn't* tell him that he is uniquely suited for it. 

OTOH, since he is apparently unsuitable, it is better that more
conventionally-minded wizards like McGonagall,  don't know 
what Harry is trying to do, because they wouldn't step out of 
the way and let him do it. A teenaged Hogwarts dropout,
on a quest to destroy four of the most powerful and cunningly
hidden magical objects that ever existed? Right, maybe you'd
like to buy some shares in the Bifrost Bridge. <g>

Dumbledore does share Neville's secret with Harry, so I
think he would have trusted him with Snape's. But it would
be too great a threat to Snape if he did so. I believe he was
holding back on how his arm was injured, and his own
life saved, for the same reason.

I think he wanted to let Harry see for himself that if 
Snape had wanted Dumbledore dead, all he would have had 
to do was let the horcrux curse kill him, but DD was hoping to  
get as many horcruxes out of the way first as he could.

Why shouldn't Rowling  pull another deus ex machina?
PS/SS, Dumbledore. CoS has *two*, FF!Anglia and Fawkes. PoA,
TT!Harry. GoF, TeamDumbledore. OOP, Team Dumbledore 
*Again*. HBP,  Buckbeak. And Snape (but he saves Draco.)  

She *likes* 'em.

Pippin