Omniscient Dumbledore

[rklarreich at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 134945

Juli writes:
> I keep thinking of PS, why else would DD show Harry the "use" of the mirror of Erised if he didn't want Harry to face Quirell?

There could be another reason here. Snape says in Chapter 2 of HBP that many of Voldemort's old supporters wondered if Harry might turn out to be a powerful dark wizard they could rally around.  In other words, when he started at Hogwarts he was pretty much an unknown quantity--nobody knew *how* he had survived Voldemort's attack.  Even Dumbledore says to McGonagall in Chapter 1 that they can only guess.  Of course, Harry's personality should have made it clear fairly early on in his Hogwarts career that he was OK, but Dumbledore might
have been cautious; after all, there was a lot at stake here and he hadn't been close to Harry himself.  He could only have received secondhand reports from Harry's teachers (and Tom Riddle had managed to charm all of *his* teachers).

If I remember correctly, Dumbledore doesn't actually talk to Harry directly in Philosopher's Stone until the Mirror of Erised chapter.

So, if Dumbledore wants to make absolutely sure that Harry, whose life 
circumstances so far are very similar to Tom Riddle's, isn't a Tom Riddle personality, what better way than to sit him in front of the Mirror of Erised and find out what he sees?

Thus, it might not have to do with Quirrell at all.

***

I hate to make all roads lead back to Snape, but I've been turning around in my mind the reason why I'm sure Snape is still on the good side, and it fits in with the Omniscient DD thread, so here it is, or at least part of it.

>From a literary standpoint, the longer a secret is concealed, the more 
impressive it had better be when the author finally reveals it. Where Snape is concerned, we've had Dumbledore insisting throughout the series that he trusts Snape absolutely for a reason he won't reveal.  This sets the stage for an amazing revelation:  what could it possibly be?  Now, in book 6, what do we get? A rather feeble story that makes everyone in the Order who hears it (and the reader) say "Huh??!"  After all this buildup, this CAN'T be the whole story. There has to be more to it than that, and that means we'll be getting the rest of it in book 7.  And with all this extra buildup, it better be good. So good, in fact, that it convinces us as well. In the meantime, making Snape appear guilty at the end of book 6 while also end up heightening the effect of the final revelation.

Incidentally, in GoF, Dumbledore states that the reason for his trust of Snape is between him and Snape--i.e. none of Harry's business.  This too suggests that there is more to it than Snape's repentance over betraying Harry's parents, which *is* Harry's business.

Roberta