DD's dilemma (was: Hogwarts Teachers - Lockhart)

[rdoliver30]

No: HPFGUIDX 126508


<BIG SNIP>  
> >>Lupinlore: 
> > Once again, I, and many others, would be more inclined to 
> > be sympathetic toward Dumbledore if indeed we did see some
> > of that anguish and tension people are postulating.
>  
> John:
> What exactly do you mean by this? Just because DD isn't one 
> prone to overt displays of emotion, should this be a reason 
> for us to find him wanting in that respect?


I think Alla said it better than me when she said:

"But when I read about Harry at the end of OOP, who tries to tell
Dumbledore that "she never loved me" and Dumbledore shuts him up in
the middle of the sentence, THAT Harry is not rooted in fairy tale as
much as he used to be ( for me anyway). I see a portrayal of hurt
child, who is a realistic enough to demand answers and hopefully
receive satisfactory answers."


Lupinlore now:

Put simply, many of us find DD's explanation at the end of OOTP cold 
and unsympathetic, and notably lacking in remorse for what he has put 
Harry through, whether with good reason or not.  JKR obviously wants 
us to like and sympathize with Dumbledore and to regard him as a 
shiningly good character.  Based on what we have seen of this issue, 
we can't go along with her, because we are far from convinced that he 
really cared very much whether Harry was suffering.  Or to put it 
another way, we suspect from what we have seen so far that he 
regarded Harry merely as a weapon to be saved from harm, and that he 
really didn't care one way or another how Harry was treated.

Now, many people have postulated that Dumbledore has experienced a 
great deal of anguish and tension over this issue.  We see little 
evidence of that.  If indeed we are to see Dumbledore as JKR 
obviously wants him to be seen, making some of that anguish and 
tension clear would be helpful.  Otherwise, he simply seems like a 
cold chessmaster, perhaps fond of Harry and sorry for some of the 
things he did during Harry's fifth year, but overall really very 
uncaring about Harry as a person and simply concerned that his "plan" 
(whatever it is) move on apace.


Lupinlore