Innocent Albus? (was RE: Why should Harry...)

[lupinlore]

No: HPFGUIDX 122765


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Tonks" <tonks_op at y...> wrote:
>

>
> As to the comment about Dumbledore... I am with Hagrid. My wand is
> out and pointed toward you >>>> Never insult Albus Dumbledore in my
> presence!!!!!
>

BUZZZ. Nope, sorry, request denied, not gonna happen, thank you for
playing!

Interestingly enough, I agree that there are scenarios where Albus can
come out (mostly) innocent and sympathetic, although I personally
doubt JKR will go with them. I really think she is so deeply invested
in her own authorial scheme of the characters and events that she is
genuinely mystified why people don't see them the same way she does.
The problem is that her view is based on a kind of intimate knowledge
that she has never communicated to her readers and likely never will.
Hence (to pick one example), her statement about Lupin that "the only
thing wrong with him is he wants to be liked too much." Well, if
we've seen that trait we've only seen it very obliquely. She is
speaking of the Lupin that exists in her mind. Unfortunately, that
Lupin may or may not have very much to do with the Lupin presented in
the pages of her books. Likewise when JKR speaks of DD she is
speaking about the "epitome of goodness" that exists in her mind, NOT
about the figure that exists in her books, for whom the title "epitome
of goodness" often seems rather inappropriate. Speaking as someone
who has been published in several venues (although obviously neither
as successfully nor as widely as JKR), I have to say that one of the
hardest tasks for a writer is to try and recognize that what exists in
your head might differ rather substantially from what is printed on
the pages of your work. After dealing time and again with people who
*just don't GET it* an author faces a bitter pill to recognize, or be
forced to recognize, that *I just didn't SAY it.*

But, back to the redemptive scenario for Alby. Here's how one such
sequence might play out, starting from Harry's arrival at Hogwarts:

Albus knows that Harry lacks adult emotional support of the kind a
parent would provide. However, when Harry comes to Hogwarts DD has no
way of knowing that Harry's time there will be SO very ... eventful.
He at first hopes that Harry will get through Hogwarts with Voldy and
his followers remaining relatively (although certainly not completely)
quiet. There is no way for Albus to anticipate all the problems with
the Stone, the Basilisk, etc.

The two obvious adults to "bring in" as a kind of support structure
for Harry would be Sirius and/or Remus. But at this point DD still
believes Sirius to be a DeathEater (let's leave aside for this
discussion all the problems that raises given Dumbledore's position as
Head of the Wizengamot and the availability of Veritaserum and
Legilemcency). And Remus is mainly qualified to teach DADA, a subject
that is not open.

Given that DD arranges for Hagrid to be Harry's first adult "friend."
Hagrid would seem to have several advantages. Being something of an
outcast himself he can readily sympathize with Harry and provide him
emotional support. Similarly the fact that Hagrid is rather childlike
makes it easier for Harry to open up to him. As he is not a member of
the faculty, Hagrid isn't bound by the various rules and strictures
covering the interaction of students and professors. Things start out
splendidly. Harry is sorted into Gryffindor, he develops a close
circle of friends, and warms rapidly to Hagrid, who might eventually
become not a parent but a kind of older sibling with enough experience
to give Harry support and enough status, at least at Hogwarts, to
offer Harry some level of "familial" intercession.

But, the events of the first year prove that Albus has indulged his
usual (but lovable) flaw of being too optimistic. Harry just isn't
ready to trust anyone, even someone so positive toward him as Hagrid.
Voldemort and his followers are showing every sign of being much more
aggressive and clever than Dumbledore had hoped. Severus is overdoing
the whole hostility act (Dumbledore thinks). And as groundskeeper
Hagrid is too much out of the power loop to really act as an effective
protector for Harry. Besides, DD is beginning to suspect that all
those ugly remarks about Hagrid's "slowness" may be more true than DD
wanted to allow. To cap it off the events of Harry's summer show that
the Dursleys, far from being cowed by Harry's entrance into the WW,
are actually becoming bolder and worse.

Luckily there are some bright spots for year two. Why not bring Remus
in at this point? A good question and something that Rowling may have
intended (especially if Remus turns out to be the HBP). But let us
hypothesize for the time being that Remus is unavailable. There is
now an opportunity to promote Hagrid to the faculty, giving him more
status and making him a better possible support for Harry, even given
that relationships between student and teacher are more complicated
than between student and groundskeeper. In addition, Harry is warming
to the Weasleys, another possible source of support.

Unfortunately, year two turns out to be a disaster. The pressure from
Voldemort and his followers is increasing.  Hagrid shows some
inclination to intercede openly for Harry in the matter of the
petrified students, but his status is shown to be fragile when he is
clapped into Azkaban on the basis of no evidence at all. Harry
continues to refuse trust, even when DD himself offers him an opening.
And the Weasleys are not available over the summer to provide a source
of support for Harry at year's end. It is becoming clear that Harry
needs a source of support who does not have the existing
emotional/familial commitments that hamper the Weasleys, and who is
more formidable than Hagrid.

In year three Dumbledore is finally able to bring in Remus.  There is
now an opportunity to promote Hagrid to the faculty, giving him more
status and making him a better possible support for Harry, even given
that relationships between student and teacher are more complicated
than between student and groundskeeper.  Unfortunately the werewolf
proves more reserved and reticent than DD had hoped. Hagrid's
confidence is shattered early in his teaching career by the incident
with Buckbeak. The return of Sirius creates an enormous shambles.
Sirius wants to be a parent for Harry, but he has a death sentence on
his head and plentiful emotional problems of his own. Severus, in a
move deeply disappointing to DD, flies into a childish rage and forces
Remus out of Hogwarts, as well as greatly deepening the rift between
Harry and the potions master. And to put the shine on the apple, Harry
has immediately latched onto Sirius (or the hope Sirius represents),
thus creating an electric and extraordinarily difficult
dynamic

Year Four is brittle and somewhat desperate. The Weasleys are able to
provide support for Harry over the summer, but Sirius can't show his
face. The family situation of the Weasleys is becoming even more
complicated, and the drift of government policy makes it almost
impossible for Remus to think about anything other than survival.
Voldemort's return caps the end of the year.

By now DD is in a state of panic. Not only has he singularly failed
to provide an appropriate emotional support system for Harry, Harry is
himself in clear danger. It has now become clear that, for any
forseeable future, Sirius is the only option for providing a parental
figure for Harry. DD arranges the affairs of the Order around two
goals, to safeguard Harry's life and to keep Sirius alive for Harry.
To make things even more complicated, Dumbledore orders that Harry be
kept in the dark so that, DD hopes, his happiness might yet be
salvaged. Albus is experiencing disaster on every front in the form
of Umbridge, and is honestly caught off guard by the viciousness of
Fudge's policies and the willingness of the WW to turn its back on
both Harry and Albus. He sets his policy for the year to one of
extreme defensive, fully aware that things are out of control.
However, he clings to a hope that once the crisis is weathered Sirius'
name can be cleared and the thorny and persistant dilemmas of familial
support for Harry can be solved at last. Meanwhile McGonagall and
Hagrid are buried under the Umbridge onslaught, Snape's bitterness is
proven to go even deeper than DD had begun to fear, the Weasley family
is paralyzed by disagreement and threats to Arthur's career, and Remus
shows himself to be disinclined to step up. All in all a fine mess.


Anyway, that's how one "Innocent Alby" scenario might go.
Unfortunately, I really don't buy it.


Lupinlore