Dumbledore the teacher (was: Umbridge, detention, scars, and plotlines, oh my!.

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 126059


>>Betsy:
>First of all, as per the prophecy, the battle will come down to 
Voldemort and Harry.  Harry will have to stand alone.  Dumbledore 
will have to watch from the sidelines and just *hope* that he's 
taught Harry enough.<  

>> Hannah: 
<snip>
>Yes, the prophecy says that Harry is the only one who can defeat 
LV, and that 'one must die at the hand of the other.'  But it 
doesn't say that Harry has to do the whole thing alone, without help.
>I think DD could participate actively in the final battle, as long 
as Harry does the actual whatever-it-is to get rid of LV.<
<snip>

Betsy:
I agree that Harry *can* have folks standing by his side when he 
goes into the final whatever-it-is (I like that phrase <g>) with 
Voldemort (like you I won't predict whether he actually *will* or 
who those folks might be) but I was talking more about the idea that 
in the end it will come down to Harry vs. Voldemort.  Even if that 
final face-off takes all of three seconds, for that moment, nothing 
else will matter.  

I think Dumbledore would much prefer that that final moment, even if 
if it's a nanosecond moment, be between him and Voldemort.  And I 
think it's very difficult (or was anyway, I think Dumbledore learns 
from his mistakes) for Dumbledore to deal with the fact that the 
final moment is Harry's.  Which is very different from the usual 
mind set of the "wise old man" in hero's journey tales.  Usually the 
role of mentor and teacher is old hat to the wiseman character.  In 
this case, Dumbledore is filling that role for the first time 
really, and he's learned that it is not an easy role to fill.

(And let me add, that I know Dumbledore is a teacher and has been 
for many years, but usually he's the one facing the danger, not 
training others to do the job. This is me trying to avoid repeating 
myself by... repeating myself. heh.)

Betsy