Depth? Things to take on their face value (Was: Sirius' loyalty)

[lupinlore]

No: HPFGUIDX 139817

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "houyhnhnm102" <celizwh at i...> 
wrote:
<SNIP>
> 
> I take Dumbledore's confession of his "mistakes" as just another
> expression of his whimsical, self-deprecating style, a facade behind
> which exists a supremely powerful and self-confident wizard.


Oh, certainly Dumbledore is often whimsical and light in his tone.  
But why should we not believe he is being serious about his mistakes, 
even if he is speaking of them in a tone of gentle self-deprecation?  
Often a light, gentle tone is the best way to convey painful truths 
(and often it is not).  In this case, I would say that Dumbledore is 
trying not to shake Harry's confidence by dwelling too long and/or 
too seriously on the fact that the Greatest Wizard in the World can 
make mistakes.  However, he knows the cost of not sharing information 
with Harry (definitely a huge mistake on his part in the past), so he 
makes sure to talk about his mistakes, but to use a gentle, whimsical 
tone that takes some of the sting and fear out of it for Harry.  I 
don't think this is being manipulative, as some people see it.  It is 
merely being diplomatic and maintaining a regard for Harry's feelings 
and fears.
> 
> Like maddmorgan in another thread(Message 139779), I question 
whether
> Dumbledore really has made mistakes.  He has had some hard choices 
to
> make and things haven't always turned out as he would have wished, 
but
> is that the same thing as making mistakes?

If he thinks, on reflection, that other alternatives would have 
yielded better results, then yes, that is the same thing as making 
mistakes.
> 
> Yes, Harry had a miserable 9 3/4 years with the Dursleys, but has it
> damaged him beyond repair?  Dumbledore doesn't seem to think so. 
> Would Harry really have been better off as the pampered little 
prince
> in a wizarding foster family?  Or in danger from the Lestranges or
> other DEs after his parents were killed or from Voldemort himself
> every summer after his regeneration?

Yes, I think Harry would have been better off.  I agree with Alla 
100% that this is one of Dumbledore's egregious mistakes.

> 
> If Sirius had been allowed his freedom, might he not have died all 
the
> sooner, and in a way that compromised the Order?
> 

Sure.  And he might have lived to be a splendid contributor to the 
fight against Voldemort.  One can always predicate shadowy dangers 
that MIGHT have come to be.  These generally do little to redress the 
disastrous things that DID happen.  And so, yes, Dumbledore made a 
mistake here as well.

> The reason that it is courageous to make choices rather than to wait
> passively to be overtaken by fate is that one doesn't have control
> over the outcome.  Dumbledore frequently had to choose between two
> problematic options and, it seems to me, for the most he chose 
wisely.

And it seems to me, and several others, that he was badly cut off 
from human emotions and beneficial counsel, and that he made many 
very bad, and in Harry's case, damaging, choices (going with JKR's 
statement about Harry being damaged).  


Lupinlore