[HPforGrownups] Dumbledore on the Dursleys in OotP (was:Re: Old, old problem.)

[rebecca]

No: HPFGUIDX 151233

<snipped great posts from Pippin, Sherry and Alla>

>Jen R said:
> In the end, I guess I don't want that speech to go away or be
> edited. It was raw, hard to hear, and made me feel uneasy but it was
> a 'darkest hour before the dawn' moment that seemed right for the
> transition between the dark and depressing tone of OOTP and the more
> hopeful and active themes in HBP.

Rebecca now:

When I read all these posts, the first thought I had was the phrase "moment 
of truth." That's what the end of OoP is for me, in a way, because as 
Dumbledore states, the truth should be treated with great caution. 
Philosophers debate what "truth" is all the time, and there's always a 
connection and debate about truth and knowledge.

Dumbledore was dealing with a very emotional Harry in his office:  I'm 
curious how compassion, kind words, and hugs lessen the blow of truth and 
the reality that Harry faces with Sirius' loss, the truth behind why he was 
attacked as a child and his parents killed, and his possible future?  IMO, I 
think looking at how Harry reacted to DD in 2 key paragraphs in HBP gives us 
a better idea of how we should perhaps interpret how DD acted and treated 
Harry at the end of OoP.  The first is where Harry leaves the Dursleys with 
DD:

"He had never had a proper conversation with the headmaster outside of 
Hogwarts before; there was usually a desk between them. The memory of their 
last face-to-face encounter kept intruding too, and it rather heightened 
Harry's sense of embarrassment; he had shouted a lot on that occasion, not 
to mention done his best to smash several of Dumbledore's most prized 
possessions. "

Harry is embarrassed.  Not angry, not hurt by his last OoP conversation with 
DD. The second exchange below leaves me with the perception that DD did do 
the appropriate thing with Harry when he revealed the truth to him in OoP:

"Sirius represented much to you that you had never known before," said 
Dumbledore gently. "Naturally, the loss is devastating. . . .
"But while I was at the Dursleys' ..." interrupted Harry, his voice growing 
stronger, "I realized I can't shut myself away or - or crack up. Sirius 
wouldn't have wanted that, would he? And anyway, life's too short. . . . 
Look at Madam Bones, look at Emmeline Vance. ... It could be me next, 
couldn't it? But if it is," he said fiercely, now looking straight into 
Dumbledore's blue eyes gleaming in the wandlight, "I'll make sure I take as 
many Death Eaters with me as I can, and Voldemort too if I can manage it."

To me, that mindset and maturity Harry displays in this paragraph is 
partially as a result of the way DD tells him the truth in OoP. He has 
accepted reality and, in effect, the truth. Accepting the truth and 
embracing reality, no matter how good or bad, empowers one for extraordinary 
actions in desperate times.

The truth, as they say, shall set you free. :)

Rebecca