Dumbledore's serious errors & what did he do to make up for it/Harry's trust.

[finwitch]

No: HPFGUIDX 122880


> Betsy:
> Has Dumbledore been wrong time and again?  He *was* fooled by Crouch!
> Moody, and the big reveal in OotP is that puppetmaster!Dumbledore is 
> a myth (thank God!) but Harry is still alive, still learning, and 
> Voldemort has paid dearly for every step forward he's made, because 
> of Dumbledore's actions.

Finwitch:

Or despite of them. Dumbledore *has* erred several times...

PS: Dumbledore erred to follow a fake letter, supposedly from the
Ministry. As result, Harry feels compelled to go down there and
attempt to rescue the stone. Harry nearly dies, and was barely saved
by his Mother's love-you-enough-to-die-for-you-mark on his skin. Of
course, Dumbledore came back just early enough to help Harry into the
hospital wing.

CoS: Well, there was the whole Flying-car fiasco, and Dumbledore's
error in assuming that he'd have no choice but to expel the two if
they ever did something against the rules... well, I don't know if
sending Hedwig had worked - who says Dobby couldn't have intercepted
it? He DID take all letters Ron&Hermione had sent to Harry, after all.

The more dangerous error, however, was hiring Lockhart - this fraud
WAS causing danger-- he nearly turned Ron&Harry into not much more
than someone KISSED BY DEMENTOR would be near the end, before he
removed Harry's bones, set pixies loose etc. Interesting that the most
serious consequence of the Car-incident (Ron's broken wand) was the
thing that SAVED them from the fate Lockhart had in mind. He left
Fawkes behind so that 'he had not truly left Hogwarts so long as at
least one remained loyal to him', and 'help would always be given at
Hogwarts to those who ask for it'.

PoA: This one reveals several errors shared by Dumbledore & every
single teacher/adult except for Sirius & the pet-shop worker so far as
we can tell: believing Sirius betrayed James, despite of knowing how
close they were. Not noticing anything odd about Ron's rat - living so
long, lacking a finger... but most importantly, that of not giving
Sirius a chance to defend himself (which becomes clearer in the GoF,
but is presented here). Snape in particular is guilty of not listening
 to the truth of Peter Pettigrew. What happens: Harry almost gets
Kissed by a Dementor, if not for Hermione's TimeTurner, and the
Patronus Harry could now produce, thinking that he'd go live with
Sirius... Oh well, at least Dumbledore gives Sirius a chance NOW - the
chance he should have given him 12 years ago. No wonder Harry doesn't
trust Snape. Not after the Events in the Shrieking Shack.

GoF: Dumbledore failed to recognise fake!Moody (and only got it after
Harry got himself out of danger once into danger again). Result: BC
Jr. turns the goblet into a portkey, leading directly to the death of
Cedric Diggory, and Harry's battle against Voldemort. 

OOP: All that 'don't tell Harry anything'- crap, along with keeping
Harry at distance. Also, having Harry stay at the Dursleys (with
watchers) all Summer was an error that may have caused the loss of
Harry (AND Dudley) to Dementors sent by Dolores Umbridge. Plus it
lessened available resources. Wouldn't it have been more beneficial
and effective to have Harry stay at the 12 Grimmauld Place earlier? 
 
> Betsy:
> This is the crux of the matter.  Harry has never fully trusted 
> *anyone* and understandably so.  I am of the opinion that Harry's 
> lack of trust is a strength in many ways.  He thinks things through 
> for himself.  

Finwitch:

I agree, (except for Sirius whom Harry trusts like none other). That
is his strength - and I believe that it is mainly due to this
independence that gave Harry the ability to resist Imperius. Not to do
 anything just because you're told to do so.

Snape's instruction on how to do Occlumency was 'It's like resisting
Imperius'. Which *is* what Harry's doing. Resisting Imperius is
practically disobeying and/or not listening to anyone telling you to
do things without telling you why.

When Harry *tried* to calm his mind before bed, he *found himself*
instead focusing on how much he loaths Snape and Umbridge. You know,
if attempt to calm yourself only makes you *focusing* on an emotion,
it's only logical to quit what you were doing. At least you'd not be
on ADDED emotions. Or at least, Harry doesn't know how to calm himself
before bed. Despite of how Harry blames himself, I think he did do all
 he could.

Finwitch