Dumbledore's master plan/passing the torch

[Sandra]

No: HPFGUIDX 138460


Namie:
> I'm really glad that someone brought this up because it's 
> been on my mind for some time now.  At the beginning of HBP 
> (at least in the UK edition), when Harry and DD leave the 
> Dursleys, DD tells Harry not to worry because he is with DD. 
> <snip> and towards the end of the book, when Harry goes 
> back to his dorm to get his invisibility cloak and quickly 
> tells Ron and Hermione that he's going to look for a horcrux 
> with DD, he tells them not to worry because he will be with 
> DD.  But by the time they are leaving the cave, DD says what's 
> quoted above, about not being worried because he is with Harry.
> 
> I was really puzzled by that.  While I assumed that it did 
> imply some sort of torch passing, like Lawrence Carlin, I didn't 
> see any evidence that Harry had become the stronger wizard, etc.  
> This is total speculation but I wonder if Harry has always been 
> unwittingly, the most powerful wizard but he has not (and still
> does not) completely know how to use his powers and that the 
> only visible transition is that Harry is now mentally ready to 
> hunt down Voldemort. <snip> 


Sandra here:  In the first instance, as Harry and DD are leaving 
the Dursleys', Harry looks to DD for some assurance that just the 
two of them traveling together are safe, and DD assures him of 
that.  By the time Harry makes the statement to Ron and Hermoine 
that he is not worried because he is with DD, we can see how much 
Harry trusts DD,even with his life.  And, then, at the end, we now 
see that DD is showing trust and confidence in Harry.  I think it 
is a wonderful example of both love, and trust.  Maybe it is a 
foreshadowing of the passing of the torch to Harry.  I don't always 
think that Harry is a strong and powerful wizard, like DD was, at 
least now yet...  But he has a knack to make quick instinctual 
decisions which have saved his own skin, as well as others.  He 
would also need to know that DD has faith in him.  Much like a 
patronus spell that only works when the emotion is there, having 
that feeling that DD believes in Harry will strenghten Harry for 
the coming battle.