Prefect Ron - DD's Decision

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 151258

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, OctobersChild48 at ... wrote:
>
> > OctobersChild48:
> > I, of course, expected Harry to be made a Prefect, and 
> > dumbledore's speech at least explained why he wasn't, not that
> > I agree with his  decision ...
> > 
> > Jen:
> > I agree with DD's decision...it made perfect sense to me NOT to 
> > put Harry anymore in the spotlight than he already was. ...
> > 
> > 
> 
> Sandy:
> OoP, page 844, American
> "I feel I owe you another explanation, Harry," said Dumbledore
> hesitantly. "You may, perhaps, have wondered why I never chose
> you as a prefect? I must confess .... that I rather thought ...
> you had enough responsibility to be going on with."
> 
> Dumbledore tells Harry this immediately after revealing the 
> prophecy to him. Taken in this light it could seem to be a good 
> explanation for why DD didn't make Harry prefect, but I just 
> don't see it. To begin with, at the time DD made his prefect 
> decision, Harry knew absolutely nothing about the prophecy or 
> his role as "the Chosen One", so Harry was totally in the blind 
> about DD's decision and why he made it. 

bboyminn:

Harry knew nothing about the Prophecy, BUT, and that is a big 'but',
Dumbledore did. He knew the Prophecy and he comprehended its impact.
Consider going about your daily life, now consider going about your
daily life with a 50 pound bag of sand strapped to your back. In a
philosophical and psychological sense, that 50 pound bag of sand
represents Harry's knowledge of the Prophecy. 

Dumbledore knew he had run out of excuses, the time was, or soon would
be, at hand when Dumbledore had to place that immense burden on Harry,
and that Harry would have no choice but to bear it. That had to be an
immense internal struggle for Dumbledore. One one hand, he knew he had
to reveal the Prophecy, but on the other hand, he would do anything to
 avoid laying such an immense burden on Harry. So, he decided against
making Harry Prefect, which is a responsibility that lasts three years
by the way, because he knew that regardless of Harry's current set of
responsibilities there was an immense psychological weight that Harry
would soon have to bear.

The whole situation is further complicated by Voldemort's newly found
ability to access and influence Harry's mind. Luring Harry to the
Ministry was a very powerful act with immense but unknown
consequences. Dumbledore knew he had to tell Harry about the Prophecy,
but at the same time, telling him could potentially be the same as
telling Voldemort. Complicated, very complicated; so Dumbledore
distanced himself from Harry while he tried to work out those
complications. It gave him the perfect excuse to keep putting off
telling Harry what he knew Harry needed to know, and would soon have
to know.



> Sandy -- OctobersChild48:
>
> ... but suddenly, here he was, being put into the position of 
> being persona non grata. He deserved better than that, and he
> deserved to be made prefect, and the fact that he wasn't added 
> further to his feelings of exclusion. 
> 

bboyminn:

Expanding on my last statement above regarding the connection between
Voldemort and Harry. This is also something Harry worries about
tremendously. After the attack on Mr. Weasley, Harry starts doubting
himself. He wonders if he his mere presences is betraying his freinds
and the Order by revealing to Voldemort the location of Grimmauld
Place and the knowledge that Harry gained while he was there. Further
Harry fears that he has become an instrument of Voldemort, that
Voldemort has compelled him to attack Mr. Weasley, and that he is
therefore a danger to everyone around him. Of course, Harry feels
these things from a very distorted path of thinking, but they are
valid concerns of Harry's, and certainly valid concerns of
Dumbledore's. We see that Harry is very burdened already by what he
currently knows, certainly the additional knowledge of the Prophecy
that absolutely confirms and seals his fate is a very heavy burden
indeed, and I have no problem with Dumbledore reluctance to convey
that information.

> Sandy -- OctobersChild48:
>
> It is your position that had he been made prefect he would have
> been more in the spotlight than he already was. How so? I also 
> ask how making him prefect would have affected him when it came
> to his position as a result of the prophecy? ...

bboyminn:

I think the use of the word 'spotlight' was more metaphorical than
literal. How can you possibly claim that knowledge of the Prophecy
doesn't place an additional burden on Harry? It makes Harry's
confrontation with Voldemort inevitable, and confirms that Harry's
fate is sealed, he must either die or kill. That's a lot to heap on
the shoulder of such a young boy. 

So, I go back to my original point, while, as circumstances turned
out, Dumbledore didn't reveal the Prophecy until the end of the year,
Dumbledore knew that the moment could come at any time, indeed the
moment was long past arriving, so the transfer of knowledge was
inevitable. It was just a question of when would the best time be. So,
regardless of what Harry personally knew, Dumbledore make his Prefect
decision with the foreknowledge of the Prophecy, and the absolute
certainty that he would have to tell Harry soon.

The situation and the decision is further compicated by both Harry, to
a limited extent, and Dumbledore knowing that Voldemort now had access
to Harry's mind. That is one really big complication.

> Sandy -- OctobersChild48:
>
> Furthermore, it does not keep him from being the head of the DA,
> or from being Quidditch captain the following year. ... .


bboyminn:

A couple of last points, the DA Club was a secret club created and
executed without Dumbledore's knowledge or consent, he could have
hardly taken that into consideration when he made his decisions.
Quidditch on the other hand, is Harry's only relief from the burdens
he is already carrying. Removing that would have made Harry's
situation worse rather than better. Even in wartime, people need to
find some joy, and Quidditch is Harry's joy.

As I have said before in another context, if you look at the selection
of Ron, which means not selecting Harry, in the limited context of
'Prefects' then you fail to see the whole picture. If you view the
selection from the perspective of weighing Ron against other available
candidates, and weighing Harry's lack of being a candidate from the
broader perspective of the entire book and the entire series then we
see that Harry is already stuggling with the weight he is currently
carrying. Dumbledore has foreknowledge that he must compound and
increase Harry's struggle tremendously. Umbridge's presences certainly
doesn't help matters in that particular year. Everything is
complicated by Voldemort's ability to potentially access Harry's mind.
Blend all these complications together and you have the perfect mix
for Dumbledore making the decisions he did make. Re-compound that by
acknowledging that foresight is never as clear as hindsight, and I
don't have any problems with the way the circumstances unfolded.

Just a few thoughts.

Steve/bboyminn