Obsession

[cubfanbudwoman]

No: HPFGUIDX 138780

Jen Reese wrote:
> After thinking about HBP as a whole, how it fits into the series, I 
> realized one of the major themes is obsession.
<snip> 
> OK, so I don't have to go through every event, and there are many 
> of them, but the most significant ones are:
> 
> ***Harry's obsession with Draco, as well as his somewhat minor 
> obsession with the Half-Blood Prince. Both of these things distract 
> him from his important work with Dumbledore, and in the case of the 
> Prince teachings, Harry increases his ability to be deceptive and 
> feels drawn to use dark magic spells. 

SSSusan:
I agree with you that this obsession with Draco DID distract Harry.  
In fact, one of my favorite moments of HBP (and I know it was NOT a 
fav of many) was when DD actually got Harry to feel shame over not 
having worked on the Slughorn memory extraction.  He did it so 
effectively!

OTOH, I have to wonder about this particular part of the 
obsession "message."  You're right that it distracted Harry, slowed 
down the process DD was working on with Harry, but for once it turned 
out Harry was RIGHT.  So was it bad to have obsessed about Draco?

That kind of provides a segue to this one...


Jen: 
> ***Dumbledore's obsession with finding the Horcruxes. Digging 
> around in the obsession theme, I had to start wondering about 
> Dumbledore leaving the school for long periods of time to hunt 
> Horcruxes alone, coming in contact with all sorts of dark magic and 
> then depending on the reactive strategy of Snape 'saving' him 
> before major damage was done. 

SSSusan:
Yep, seems a bit risky, doesn't it?  Not just that Snape could be 
ESE! and wouldn't actually save him (nah -- not buying that ;-)) but 
also in the sense that it's a risk he'd manage to find Snape in time.

Jen:
> Did he became so intent on finding and destroying Horcruxes he lost 
> his focus in other areas? The night of the cave, when Harry comes 
> to him with information about Draco and Snape, Dumbledore dismisses 
> it.

SSSusan:
Right -- this brings us back to what Harry was obsessing about.  In 
this case Harry was CORRECT, but was DD so obsessed with his mission 
that he didn't attend carefully enough to Harry?  Brushed aside 
Harry's information & concerns too quickly?  Was the problem here 
that they were *both* too obsessed with their own obsession?  

Could it also be that DD was so focused/obsessed because he KNEW time 
was short?  We still can't agree around here on whether the green goo 
was killing DD anyway, I know, but there are also members who think 
that the ring hx damage was also slowly weakening & perhaps killing 
DD.  Did DD know that, green goo or not, his days were numbered?  Is 
that why he was so single-mindedly focused on the horcruxes?


Jen:
> 2) Dumbledore was completely fixated on getting to the cave. I 
> really believe his tunnel vision about the cave contributed to him 
> deciding against telling Harry, finally, why he trusted Severus 
> Snape. The time was right, Harry knew the truth of Snape being the 
> eavesdropper, he *deserved* an explanation since he lost both his 
> parents partially due to Snape's information. But Dumbledore 
> hesitated, probably deciding the Horcruxes were more important (an 
> old man's mistake again?) and the moment was gone.

SSSusan:
That is a huge frustration for us readers, as well as for Harry.  I 
think it's possible that you're right -- that the reason DD didn't 
tell Harry is that he was too focused on the cave mission.  But I 
also still wonder if it might not have been because whatever the 
revelation about Snape is, it is INTENSELY PERSONAL and possibly 
involves Lily.  I know that the new discussion revolves around Snape 
& Narcissa, not Snape & Lily, but either way, I think DD felt the 
need to continue to protect Snape's privacy a little longer.  At 
least, that's what I'm predicting. ;-)

 
Jen:
> I feel certain obsession brought Snape down, but I wonder where it 
> was rooted. In his family dynamics and early life...  His 
> life at Hogwarts as a half-blood sorted into Slytherin? His 
> interest in Dark magic & choice to be a DE? By taking the 
> Unbreakable....

SSSusan:
Search me.  I once argued for Narcissistic!Snape and his being 
obsessed with having the respect of those deemed to be beneath or 
equal to him, something which perhaps would make his end-of-PoA, gone 
ballistic scene more understandable.  This would imply obsession with 
respect, recognition, etc.  But I'm just not sure it fits with HBP!
Snape....  


Jen: 
> You know, I just realized something--we didn't get our Dumbledore 
> explanation at the end of HBP. Wah. 

SSSusan:
Wah, indeed! :-(  And we won't get one in Book 7 either.  The most we 
can hope for, I suppose, are bottled memories for the pensieve or for 
portrait-talk, but it's not the same, is it?

Siriusly Snapey Susan, ridiculously behind in reading HPfGU posts, 
but diving right in here anyhow.