Harry's grief (was: Dumbledore the General)

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 124366


>>Alla:
>Sirius died what ten... fifteen minutes ago? An hour at best. And 
you think it is very helpful for Harry to hear that Sirius did not 
treat Kreacher well and that in essense Sirius is to blame for his 
own death?< 

Betsy:
I think Dumbledore is following the same pattern set forward in GoF: 
drain the poison quickly, before it has a chance to fester.  As 
Pippin pointed out in message 124347, Harry is the one who brought 
Keacher up.  And Harry was the one who started down the path 
of, "it's Kreacher's fault Sirius is dead."  Dumbledore pulls Harry 
away from that path, explaining that Kreacher has been twisted by the 
wizards he served. And he reminds Harry that it is indeed him, 
Dumbledore, who is ultimately responsible for Sirius's death. By 
keeping the prophecy a secret, Dumbledore set in motion the events 
that culminated in Sirius falling through the veil in the DoM.

Was what Dumbledore said polite?  No, of course not.  But it was 
loving -- just as a mother correcting her child is loving.  
Dumbledore takes on the ugly duty of making sure Harry does not place 
the blame for the debacle on the wrong person (or house elf).  And 
Dumbledore was the only person able to have that emotionally 
draining, yet entirely necessary, conversation with Harry. 

McGonagall could not have done it; she's not close enough to either 
Harry or Sirius to have filled that role gracefully.  Hermione could 
not have done it; she's too young for Harry to give her that kind of 
authority.  Molly could not have done it; Harry holds her too far at 
arms length for that sort of conversation to even begin.  Hagrid 
might have been able to do it.  He's got the earthy wisdom and love 
for Harry to help Harry through this most difficult process.  But 
Hagrid didn't have enough information to hand, and it wasn't Hagrid's 
mistake.

But Dumbledore had the perspective to see what exactly went wrong.  
He has a genuine love for Harry, and he has Harry's trust.  Harry 
needed to know the truth, and he needed to know it right then.  
Because Harry's anger at Kreacher would only have lasted so long 
before he turned all that bitter rage on himself.  Harry needed to be 
reminded that Sirius was an adult, perfectly able to make decisions 
on his own.

I don't think Harry is going to be all sunshine and happiness in the 
opening of HBP.  He still has some major anger issues to work 
through, and I imagine he may still have some guilt.  Not nearly as 
much, though, thanks to Dumbledore.  I don't think it's a bad thing 
that Harry realizes that Dumbledore is not perfect. To defeat 
Voldemort Harry needs to become a man, emotionally. And I think 
Dumbledore has done the best he can to help Harry along that path, 
even when the conversations needed were not easy.

Betsy