All-Knowing All-Seeing Dumbledore ...or Not

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 132052

> ..edited headache giving time travel discussion...
> 
> By the way, my personal explanations as to how DD knew to delay the
> executioners from leaving Hagrid's hut are quite simple: 1) he can see
> through walls, and so he simply saw Harry and Hermione freeing
> Buckbeak ; 2) he's a Legilimens, so maybe he simply "heard" Harry or
> Hermione thinking about how they had to hurry to free Buckbeak - I
> know I sometimes think very strongly of what I want someone to do, so
> maybe DD simply picked up Harry or Hermione's mental pleadings of
> "Don't come out now, just wait another minute" or something like that.
> 
> Del

bboyminn:

While I don't outright dispute your position, I think people jump to
magical solutions a little too quickly sometimes (in general).

I think Dumbledore is an old and wise, highly intelligent, and most
important of all, EXTREMELY PRECEPTIVE man.

We could go with some magical solution as to how Dumbledore knows he
needs to delay the executioner, but it's just as likely that he is
merely hyper-aware of his surrounding. He may have seen ill-defined
movement, or a shadow, or a reflection that told him something was
happening outside, and that it might be in his best interest to delay
things.

Lupin very easily and very accurately guessed that the Trio would
visit Hagrid before the execution. Is it a stretch to think Dumbledore
 as well as everyone else, reach that same conclusion or at least had
that same suspicion? I don't think so. 

So, Dumbledore seeing the movement of a shadow or a reflected glint of
light, or hearing a subtle noise, might have been enough to make him
suspect that the 'alway has his nose deep in trouble' Harry and
friends might have been lurking about trying to help Hagrid and Buckbeak. 

Another incident that I analyze in the same way is Dumbledore's
awareness of Harry and Ron's presence under the invisibility cloak in
Hagrid's hut in CoS. True, we could speculate that Dumbledore can see
through an invisibility cloak, or we could just say, that he is wise
enough to pay attention to the world around him, rather than letting
himself be distracted by petty pointless thoughts and worries. 

He could have detected Harry and Ron by scuff marks on the floor, by
the subtle shifting of a foot, or the soft brush of invisibility cloth
against the hut or against Harry or Ron. Perhaps, the creak of a
floorboard; others may ignore it as the normal creaks of an old cabin.
He may have detected the heat radiating from their bodies. Or maybe he
just suspected Harry would likely come down to talk to Hagrid. Or he
may have seen them moving across the ground; even if they were under
the I-Clock, their feet would have still destrubed the grass, an
observation that Harry himself made in PoA. This is also a possible
way for Dumbledore to know that Harry was around Hagrid's before the
execution. He many have seen unnatural movements of the grass as the
Trio left Hagrid's for the Castle. 

So, I'm not discounting the possibility of magic, but at the same
time, let's not discount the possibility that Dumbledore is smart and
perceptive.

Just a passing thought.

Steve/bboyminn