Omniscient Dumbledore (Was Re: Snape's AK Failed!!!, and DADA responses)

[catjaneway]

No: HPFGUIDX 134900

Betsy Hp wrote:
> It's not that I believe in an Omniscient!Dumbledore. (I've posted 
> plenty of times on how much I *hate* that view of him.)  I just 
> have a hard time wrapping my head around "complete and total fool"!
> Dumbledore.  Because for Snape to pull the wool so totally over 
> Dumbledore's eyes, Dumbledore would *have* to be an idiot. 
<Snipped eloquent defense of DD's protection of Harry through the 
years>

Janeway:
Your distinction between an omniscient!Dumbledore and a more 
measured not-a-fool!Dumbledore is well taken. But I don't agree that 
being wrong about Snape is so much more idiotic than being wrong 
about, say, LV residing in the back of Quirrel's head. I mean, 
they're both pretty bad -- it's just that the outcome in Snape's 
case turned out to be so much worse. And while we can reasonably 
explain away one or two of DD's previous errors in judgment, is it 
reasonable to explain all of them away?  


Betsy Hp:
> Turns out that yes, Lockhart is a complete incompetent.  But he's 
> not out to kill any of the student body.  So, in this case, 
> Dumbledore is  wrong.  But no real harm done.
> But, if it turns out that Snape has been playing Dumbledore for a 
> fool for all those years...  Well, it means that Dumbledore was 
> *wrong*, in an "and for that reason, the Order lost the war" sort 
> of way. 

Janeway:
But if Quirrel or Diary!Tom or Fake!Moody or any of them had been 
successful in killing the "chosen one", it would also have been 
wrong in a "the Order just lost the war" sort of way too. 


Betsy hp:
> For me, if Snape is truly Voldemort's man, Dumbledore is not just 
> fallible, he's a fool. And frankly, that would be harder for me to 
> take than the actual betrayal.
 
Janeway:
I agree, it would be devastating to find out that Dumbledore is a 
fool. But I don't think that trusting Snape makes DD a fool, even if 
Snape turns out to be ESE. When you trust someone you open yourself 
up to be hurt by them. It's a risk. You have to be very strong and 
very brave to be able to trust. DD uses his strength to give people 
second chances, and most of them have paid off (think of the 
difference it made to Hagrid, Lupin, Sirius... and of course to Tom 
and Snape as well). 

I think by making the difficult choice to trust Snape (and 
thereby save him from LV or Azkaban), DD models what he means 
by "love" -- laying yourself on the line for someone else's good. 
And IMO that is heroic, even if it turns out that the person you 
trusted betrays you. 

At this point, Harry is fully aware of the consequences of choosing 
to "love".

Just my view,
Janeway