Repost of " Dumbledore "wrote" Book 1" by Dicentra ( LONG)
dumbledore11214
dumbledore11214 at yahoo.com
Tue Jun 7 01:54:32 UTC 2005
No: HPFGUIDX 130207
Alla:
So, I was thinking of Phoenixgod argument that Dumbledore changed in
book 5, because he suddenly became very protective over Harry while
in all other books he let him have some very dangerous adventures.
I was also thinking about Pippin's ( I think) reply that this
argument only makes sense if we are sure that Dumbledore really knew
about all Harry's adventures, had everything under control, so to
speak.
I am one of those readers who HOPES that Dumbledore is not a
puppetmaster and does not have everything and everybody including
Harry under his complete control, but who thinks nevertheless that
Dumbledore knows A LOT of what is going on in Hogwarts.
So, as to whether Dumbledore knew about Hary's previous adventures,
I really think that canon sort of lets him completely off the hook
in GoF only, where it is stated that Harry has to compete in TWT
because of binding magical contract.
Personally, I still think that Dumbledore could have find the
loophole in that law if he wanted to, but it is only my
speculation,which is directly contradicted by canon,so let's assume
that I agree that in GoF Dumbledore had no choice, but to let Harry
compete.
In book 3 Dumbledore sends Hermione and Harry off himself, so I
don't see how one can argue that Dumbledore did not know.
I think that in book 2 one can also argue that Dumbledore knew a
lot based on the fact that he dropped waay too many hints to Harry,
which became useful to him in the Chamber.
And now, finally to book 1, the main purpose of this post. I think
that Dumbledore knew everything and staged the major part of it.
I think Dicentra's post sums up brilliantly why Dumbledore "wrote
book 1" so to speak and I agree with every word of it.
And yes, when I think of Dumbledore of PS/SS, who let eleven year
old face Voldemort,even if in his weakened stage. I have a VERY hard
time reconciling him with Dumbledore of OOP.
All of that had been just my opinion only.
Enjoy Dicentra's post. :-)
Dicentra in 33289:
In 33131, I asked the group what had been said about the ease with
which Harry and company made it through the gauntlet of spells to get
to the Sorcerer's Stone. Thanks to Angela AKA Sweet Usagi (33144),
Eloise (33145), and blenberry (33148) for giving me some good
synopses of the theories posted here.
>
I'd like to propose a theory that builds on all that's been said and
then goes one step further: The spells were breakable by first-year
students because Dumbledore MEANT for Harry to face Voldemort. And in
fact, most of the events of SS were engineered by Dumbledore for
Harry's benefit. (Sincere apologies if this very argument has been
made before, but parsing 33,000 posts to find out was a bit
daunting.)
>
This is why, I believe:
1. It cannot be a coincidence that Harry was with Hagrid when he
recovered the stone. Dumbledore sent Hagrid to collect Harry and get
the stone at the same time.
2. It is also no coincidence that the stone was retrieved the day
Quirrell broke into Gringotts. Dumbledore must have known what had
happened to Quirrell in Albania and what Voldemort was up to. He
brought the stone to Hogwarts to protect it, yes, but he also knew
Voldemort would follow it. Perfect opportunity to let Harry confront
him.
>
3. As has been mentioned, the Mirror of Erised was the only real
protection the stone had. Quirrell and Voldemort would have no
problem getting through the other kinds of "protection" surrounding
the stone (though it did slow them down some). The mirror was kind
of a monkey trap--you can't pull your hand out until you let go of
the fruit--that Voldemort could never foil.
>
4. Dumbledore gave Harry the Cloak of Invisibility for Christmas,
telling him to "use it wisely." What could that mean except "go
roaming about the school after hours to figure out this mystery"?
>
5. It's therefore no coincidence that Harry found the Mirror of
Erised. After Dumbledore tells Harry how the mirror works, he says
"The Mirror will be moved to a new home tomorrow, Harry, and I ask
you not to go looking for it again. If you ever do run across it,
you will now be prepared." At the time, Harry probably thought the
last sentence meant that he wouldn't waste away in front of it, but
I think he was referring to the confrontation with Voldemort. (And,
by the way, the stone was probably in the mirror the whole time
(even before Christmas?), "unprotected" by the other spells.)
>
6. Some have suggested, with reason, that the tests required the
cooperation of all three to pass and were deliberately set up this
way. The only test that didn't have this quality was the troll, which
Dumbledore knew would have been defeated by Quirrell before Harry met
up with it.
>
7. That the test was ultimately meant for Harry alone is shown in
Snape's potions test. Only one person can make it through to the
mirror. Dumbledore counted on that one person being Harry. (If no one
was meant to get to the stone, ALL the vials would contain poison.)
8. Dumbledore was counting on Harry to figure out where the stone was
and who was after it. When Harry asks him later about the fate of
Nicolas Flamel, he brightens up: "Oh, you know about Nicolas?" said
Dumbledore, sounding quite delighted. "You *did* do the thing
properly, didn't you?" The "thing" was the mystery Dumbledore had
set up for Harry.
>
9. It's possible that Dumbledore was not fooled in the least by the
fake MoM message, instead understanding that Quirrell was making his
move. He "leaves" Hogwarts, but he probably doesn't go far. (He tells
Harry that he makes it as far as London, but I wonder...) As Hermione
later recounts "we were dashing up to the owlery to contact
Dumbledore when we met him in the entrance hall--he already knew--he
just said,'Harry's gone after him, hasn't he?' and hurtled off to
the third floor."
>
10. Ron then asks, "D'you think he meant you to do it? Sending you
your father's cloak and everything?" Harry responds (after
Hermione's obligatory horrified reaction), "I think he sort of
wanted to give me a chance. I think he knows more or less
everything that goes on here, you know. I reckon he had a pretty
good idea we were going to try, and instead of stopping us, he just
taught us enough to help. I don't think it was an accident he let me
find out how the mirror worked. It's almost like he thought I had
the right to face Voldemort if I could...." I don't think this is
Harry?s personal interpretation. I think this is JKR's message to
the reader.
I wondered what would possess Dumbledore to not only allow, but to
arrange for, a first-year student to confront Voldemort (weak, yes,
but Quirrell wasn't). He must have known that Quirrell wouldn't be
able to touch Harry because the spell that protected him against AK
in the first place was still working. But as he says, "I feared I
might be too late....For one terrible moment there, I was afraid
[the effort to keep Quirrell off you had killed you]." Ah well, I
guess that there is no reward without risk. But what a risk!
So, that makes Dumbledore the "author" of SS/PS in the sense that he
was the ultimate cause of the action. In Book 2, it was Lucius
Malfoy, believe it or not, because he set it all in motion by giving
Ginny the diary. In Book 3 it was Sirius Black, whose dead sexy
escape set off the chain of events. (Or was it Cornelius Fudge, who
gives Sirius the newspaper, or the Weasleys for getting their
picture taken, or the editor of The Daily Prophet for publishing the
picture, etc.?) And in Book 4, it was the fake Mad-Eye Moody. Wonder
who will make Book 5 rock?
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