Dumbledore's decisions (was:Re: Depth? Things to take on their face value...)

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 139861

 
> Alla:
> 
> Oh, I don't know about  the "best he could", Betsy. I am really not
> so  sure about it.
> 
> I mean, not to go back to Dursleys, but checking on Harry once in a 
while would have  been nice, especially since we know now that
Petunia did not have anything over Dumbledore's head - that he did not
promise her family some kind of protection in exchange for taking
Harry , or something like that. ( Unless I am forgetting something, 
of course)

Pippin:
But likewise, Petunia had nothing to lose by throwing Harry out,
except that she would have reneged on her agreement. The Dursleys 
seem to feel that they shouldn't do that. I guess they have honor of 
a sort. At  least, if Harry had been raised in a family where dirty
tricks were the norm, he would have anticipated the one that Malfoy 
played on him with the duel in  Book One as a trick, and he wouldn't 
have thought he could bargain with Vernon to sign his permission 
form if he behaved. I think, if the Dursleys no doubt fragile 
concept of honor was all that was standing between Harry and
Voldemort, Dumbledore was wise not to put more pressure on it.

Really though, if Dumbledore was wrong about Snape, he could be
wrong about anyone.  In that case, was he not wise to place Harry
where he could not be harmed by any wizard in the service of
Voldemort, even if that wizard was someone who had Dumbledore's 
trust?

I suspect we will learn the true value of the Privet Drive protection
when it evaporates and hordes of giants, dementors and inferi
(oh my!) descend on Little Whinging. Meanwhile, complaining that
it was not worth the price -- wouldn't that be like those legendary 
fools who tore down the  fence at the cliff edge, having decided
that it wasn't needed since no one ever fell off? <g>

Alla: 
> And I certainly do not think that Dumbledore did the best he 
could by Sirius, in fact I am more sure of it than with Harry's case,
because  as I said I am inclined to believe that Dumbledore indeed 
wanted Harry  to survive and maybe at least in Harry's case he had 
some misguided ideas that Dursleys WILL treat Harry as a son, 
because he asked  them to and because Petunia may have some 
scrap of humanity left in her, because she took Harry in.

Pippin;
I think Dumbledore knew that Harry would suffer dark and difficult 
years at the Dursleys even if  Petunia and Vernon had followed his 
wishes and treated Harry as they treated their son Dudley. In fact 
Harry would  have suffered even more damage.  But Dumbledore 
would have wished all the same to think there was a little more 
love in the world, even if it meant that Harry arrived at Hogwarts
thinking of  Draco as a kindred spirit and let himself be sorted into 
Slytherin without a qualm.


Alla: 
> In Sirius' situation though, Albus went against the very basics of 
Sirius' nature, when IMO it would have been easy enough to let
Sirius  do something useful for the Order either by Using invisibility
cloak  or in his animagus form, which was not widely known ( I mean 
some  knew, but I think that if Sirius knew that he was doing
something useful , he would have been more careful, IMO).

Pippin:

Albus was not a fairy godfather whose job was to make everyone 
happy. Sirius was not a prisoner in the house; there was nothing 
keeping him there except his willingness to be Dumbledore's man,
and his conviction that Harry needed him. That was what was
important to him. I can see no indication in canon, anywhere,
that Sirius ever thought that he, himself, needed to be careful,
no matter how much Harry longed that he should be.

Sirius was disappointed that Harry was not more like James; has any 
one ever considered that Harry was disappointed that Sirius was not 
more like him? 

Pippin