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

[juli17 at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 135169

Betsy wrote:

>  Snape, on the other hand, is one of Dumbledore's most trusted 
>  confidants.  When it comes to Order work I was under the impression  
> that Snape was pretty much Dumbledore's second.  If Snape does  turn 
> out to have been Voldemort's man all along, it means Dumbledore  was 
> *completely* fooled.  
Nora wrote:



Confidant is an interesting word, because that is exactly what  JKR 
says that Dumbledore *does not have*, in the latest interview.  I  
suspect that we've been overestimating how much Dumbledore actually  
tells Snape, in the sense of planning things out as an explicit line  
of attack.  It seems much more Dumbledore's style to let Snape go his  
own way, and then only step in when necessary.  I can't see the good  
cop/bad cop team that's been hypothesized, anymore.  I really can't  
see the idea that Dumbledore and Snape set up half the things we've  
tended to think they have.


Julie says:
 
I thought what JKR has said was interesting too. Dumbledore doesn't
have a confidant, i.e., that *one* person you can share everything  with.
He carries too large a burden for it all to be shared with one  person.
He shares much about running the school with McGonagall, I 
think, who is clearly one of his oldest friends. But he doesn't seem
to share much with her about Order business, especially any of
it that involves Snape or Harry. 
 
Meanwhile, we get the impression he does share quite a bit of
Order business with Snape, which only makes sense as Snape
is DD's inside man in the DE (or as inside as he can be without
the kind of full "betrayal" that would convince LV beyond of his 
loyalty beyond a doubt--such as killing DD). And I also think 
DD and Snape do share some plans relating to Harry, as with
Occlumency and perhaps the HBP textbook. 
 
And then there's the stuff he shares only with Harry, about 
the prophecy and the Horcruxes (though Snape may know 
about the latter, while McGonagall is certainly in the dark). 
 
I agree that Snape isn't DD's confidante in the fullest sense, 
any more than McGonagall, or Mad-Eye Moody, or Harry. But
DD has still trusted Snape with a *lot* of information,  especially
over the past several years. If DD's trust in Snape is misplaced,
then DD has made a huge mistake, VERY huge, far more so
than any other misjudgment we've seen from him, because
it affects exactly those he has sworn to protect, the Hogwarts
students, and Harry himself. They are all now in much greater
danger from Voldemort and the DEs if Snape has truly joined
them. This magnitude of misjudgment makes DD not only
fallible, but I think his standing as a great wizard would be  
somewhat tarnished.
 
As for the good cop/bad cop, I still see that as a viable 
reason why DD allows Snape to run his classes as he saw
fit. DD knows how Snape feels about Harry, how hard (and
sometimes even unfair) Snape is, but DD also knows that
there are some things Harry needs to learn from Snape. 
So while DD didn't set it up that way, and Snape isn't even
aware of it in that sense, DD allows the good cop/bad cop
game that goes on between Harry, Snape and himself to
continue, because it serves as a learning experience on 
several levels for Harry (both because Snape does have 
skills Harry needs to learn, and because if Harry can't stand
up to Snape, who may dislike him but won't actually harm
him, how can he stand up to Voldemort, who wants to wipe
him off the face of the Earth?).
 
All IMO,
 
Julie 


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