Trust in Dumbledore WAS: Re: The Statute of Secrecy

[a_svirn]

No: HPFGUIDX 158965

> Magpie:
> Heh--and I could very well be wrong about my thinking they're 
right on that 
> one!  But regardless, since nobody has any idea *why* they trust 
Snape 
> except that Dumbledore did, they all look really stupid once 
Dumbledore is 
> dead even if Snape was DDM.  They are practically paralyzed, and 
given what 
> they say trust in Snape sounds absurd--well, of course we all 
wondered since 
> Snape was a DE, but we figured Dumbledore had his reasons...  And 
when Harry 
> claims Dumbledore thought Snape had changed sides because he felt 
about 
> killing Harry's parents Lupin jumps in with Harry's pov, that 
Snape hated 
> James so would never have felt sorry (forgetting that, as we 
learned in the 
> first book, hating someone doesn't necessarily mean wanting them 
dead). 
> It's like none of them can begin to deal with what's happened 
because Snape 
> was never someone they understood to begin with.  And sure, maybe 
they 
> didn't all need to understand him completely.  But it seems like 
their 
> perfectly reasonable questions about Snape were handled the same 
way Harry's 
> always were--DD had his reasons.  Dumbledore seemed to feel his 
word was 
> most important and as of now it seems like all of Dumbledore's 
special 
> knowledge has died with him.

a_svirn:
I agree, though I must say that the whole "Dumbledore's trust in 
Snape" thing doesn't bother me the way other things about Dumbledore 
do. In this case I'd say Dumbledore's reasons for secrecy are more 
understandable. Obviously, when Snape turned from his death eating 
to Dumbledore they made some kind of a deal. Since it was between 
the two them – well, it was between the two of them. Snape trusted 
Dumbledore with some confidences that Dumbledore wasn't at liberty 
to disclose. A deal's a deal. On the other hand, since the rest of 
the Resistance didn't know Dunbledore's reasons they didn't trust 
Snape. Tolerated him (or, in Sirius's case, barely tolerated him) 
but didn't trust. Which was fair enough. 

However, the blood projection thing, or, say, that wonderful 
Voldemort-baiting plan in OOP was another matter entirely. Here 
Dumbledore again didn't share his plans and intentions with other 
phoenixes, and he didn't have the same excuse as with Snape. Yet, it 
didn't seem to occur to anyone to question his dictatorial style. 
(Except, probably, for Sirius – again). They all adopted an attitude 
that can be summed up in Lupin's  words "It isn't our business to 
know, it's Dumbledore's business". And it's just, well, weak. To say 
the least.