[HPforGrownups]"other ways of destroying a man . . ."

[theotokos]

No: HPFGUIDX 126012

Steve <bboyminn at yahoo.com> wrote:
So, to some extent, Dumbledore is bluffing. He is speaking in a strong confident voice that hides the fact that he is limited in what he can do. [snip]
I don't think Dumbledore is lying to Voldemort, he believes everything he says. There are things worse than death, and
there are fundamental truths the Voldemort just doesn't get.

I also believe that Dumbledore is attempting to mentally disarm or
undermine Voldemort by calling him Tom. In a sense, implying to
Voldemort that he can try to make himself out as a god, but Dumbledore knows him for the insecure boy that he is. [snip]
Dumbledore knows he can't kill Voldemort, so he bluffs and plays head games with him.

me:
 
I don't see this side of DD.  I know DD is unorthodox but I don't think he would take this opportunity to play games with LV--right in front of Harry.  I know what you mean, but the connotation of "bluffing" and "playing head game" is off IMO.  I agree he is using psychology by calling him Tom.  I think he is also using psychology in his statements about what they both know but I don't think he is just stalling or playing his way through this.  If DD fails to defend against LV attacks, Harry could die that day.  He is using all he has mentally and physically to defend--not to kill, i agree, but definitely not to play with.  Head games are played for no purpose except the enjoyment of the one playing them.  DD is not that simple.  Yes, there are things LV does not get and I believe that is how he will eventually be defeated.  I think DD is making smart remarks that may possibly undermine LV's confidence.  I do not think DD is laying the ground work for redeeming Riddle (as someone
 suggested else where).
 
> Amiable Dorsai:
> 
> > "merely taking your life would not satisfy me." My first thought >was that Dumbledore wants revenge for some of the grief that Riddle
> has caused, ... Could it be that Dumbledore wants to use Riddle-->or,at least, his power, to in some way heal the damage that he's 
> caused?
> 
> ...edited..
> 
> A true victory for the forces of light would be to kill not just
> Voldemort, but the *idea* of Voldemort.
> 

 
me:
Maybe that is so.  I defiantly feel like there is something more than just killing Voldemort.  Something more happened with Tom--I'm sure of it.  But, as I stated above, I do not think LV will be redeemed.
 
bboyminn:
In addition, because of the Prophecy, Dumbledore assumes that Harry is the only person who can truly rid the world of Voldemort.

Me: 
I don't think DD has told us all he knows about the prophesy.  DD kept saying that his coming to love Harry is what could mess this all up--DD's concern for Harry's happiness is dangerous because it leads him away from being concerned for all the "countless and nameless" people who have been and will be harmed by LV.  DD started to come clean with Harry at the end of OOTP but no way has he finished.  
 
bboyminn:
As to what some of these 'other ways of destroying a man' might be. A few things occur to me. First, and most obvious, is the Dementor's
Kiss. That certainly destroys a man without killing him. 

Another might be the loss of magical powers. Can you imagine, all
magical power force from Voldemort's body by Harry /special power/?
Poor Voldemort, force to live out his days as the very thing he
despises; a muggle.


me:  But this exchange read more personal than that to me.  If he was just talking about all the possible ways to destroy people without killing him, DD could say, "We all know" or simply "There are worse . . ."  His comment, "We *both* know. . ." sounds personal to me.  It sounds like LV/Tom did something very horrible that did or didn't go the way it was meant to go--either way both DD and LV know about it and both recognized it as being horrible.

thanks for those thoughts,  You got me thinking in new ways now.
 
Theotokos



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