Dumbledore the Counselor (was: Dumbledore the General)

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 124371


>>Betsy, who blushes at the length of this post and wonders if anyone 
will actually read this far.<

>>Whizbang: 
>Are you kidding?  That was brilliant.<

Betsy:
*blushes even more*  Thanks. :)

>>Whizbang:  
>I'm not sure if I agree about Harry "bullying" his way back into the 
action, though.  There seems to be a pattern of: 'keep Harry 
uninformed and out of the action' 'the action comes to Harry who 
seeks adult intervention but can't ever seem to get any help from a 
grownup when the feathers really hit the fan' in all the books, 
including OotP.<  

Betsy:
I wasn't trying to imply intent.  (So yeah, poor word choice on my 
part. <g>)  I was trying to say that Harry always manages to find 
himself in the center of the action.  Which, granted, is the purpose 
of the books, but Harry's character is not conducive to him just 
sitting by the sidelines.  For example, he could have chosen to not 
go after the Stone in PS/SS.  Or he could have left Ginny's rescue to 
Lockhart.  Those were options.  Of course, it was impossible for 
Harry to choose those options.  He has to *do* something.  Harry 
cannot merely sit by and observe the action, he has to get his hands 
dirty.  And Dumbledore recognizes this about him.  So does Hermione 
for that matter.

In fact, it's actually *doing* something that seems to bring Harry 
peace.  He's nervous or scared or anxious right up to the moment of 
action.  But once he's in the action, a strange sort of calm 
generally seems to take over.  (I haven't actually checked canon for 
this, but the first task in the Triwizard tournament springs to mind, 
and I think it's a fairly typical example of Harry's reactions.)

>>Whizbang:
>How would telling Harry the prophesy sooner have helped keep Sirius 
alive?  No matter what kind of confrontation with Voldemort Harry got 
into, Sirius would have run to save him and risked his life in the 
process.<

Betsy:
I think the general assumption is that if Harry knew about the 
prophecy he wouldn't have been so curious about the DoM dream and he 
would have learned Occlumency or just ignored the dream.  Plus, he 
would have been more alert to Voldemort's schemes.

Of course, Voldemort may have chosen a different plan of attack to 
draw Harry to the DoM, so who knows?  And I agree with you that 
Sirius would *never* sit safely at home if Harry is in danger.

>>Whizbang:
<snip>
>So what am I saying.  Hmmmm......  I'm not sure that telling Harry 
the prophesy sooner would have saved Sirius.  And while Dumbledore 
admits to overprotecting, if not underestimating Harry, I'm not yet 
ready to concede that it was a mistake.<

Betsy:
I don't know either.  Would knowledge of the prophecy at the 
beginning of OotP been too much pressure on Harry?  I think that was 
Dumbledore's original worry.  Dumbledore says he was mistaken to 
think that, but it's impossible to know what Harry's reaction would 
have been.

I'm generally of the mind that knowledge is better than ignorance.  
But what if knowledge will sacrifice innocence?  I think that was the 
line Dumbledore was walking, and I certainly don't envy him that 
particular decision.

Betsy