[HPforGrownups] Re: The Statute of Secrecy

[Rebecca]

No: HPFGUIDX 159210

> Mike:
> Excuse me, I'm being rude for disagreeing with your opinion?
>
> Or could it be because I called your mis-use of a Lupin
> quote "intellectually dishonest"? Since that quote was about DD
> keeping his secrets regarding Snape, which you agree with, then in
> essence you agreed with the position that Lupin takes on this
> subject. But that was not what you used the quote for. You used that
> quote as your assessment of the entire Order's intestinal fortitude.
>
> IOW you agree with Lupin that "It isn't our business to know. It's
> Dumbledore's business. Dumbledore trusts Severus..." . If you want
> to call the whole Order "weak" for not challenging Dumbledore's
> *dictatorial* style, that's fine as your opinion. But to use that
> quote about DD and Snape's secrets, not about the Order members
> getting a say in DD's planning/decisions, is an improper use of a
> quote. It may have matched your opinion of the Order, but it was
> definitely out of context.

Rebecca:

I am not sure about the notion that Dumbledore shared everything, his 
detailed plans and such, with the Order.  It appears he did as Molly 
cautioned Sirius to do in OoP with Harry (which to me is telling):  he 
informs them just what they need to know to do what they must do. Otherwise, 
there would not be any need for the Order to be so shocked when Snape kills 
Dumbledore, because had they known why Dumbledore trusted him, they would be 
able to reason what happened for themselves - they took it on blind faith in 
Dumbledore about why he trusted Snape.  Their shock is real and palatable in 
HBP after Harry tells them Snape's deed.

Furthermore, by the quote specified in Mike's snippet above, Order members 
do very much respect and value Dumbledore, whether they challenge for 
details or not. This "management" style is very consistent, to me, of The 
Resistance in WWII and in keeping with the way covert and intelligence 
missions are typically handled:  no one has any more information than they 
need to know to protect the secrecy of the mission, the participants, and 
the outcome.  This appears to be especially true to keep the "mystery" of 
the plot JKR has devised so that we keep squirming in our seats about the 
last book and it's revelations. :)

The problem for me is that socially, I believe that blind faith and 
adulation in 1 person who appears to know all means any mistakes that person 
makes becomes the mistakes for all.  In this perception, asirvn is, IMO, 
correct for questioning the fortitude of the other Order members - like I 
said above, if I were in the Order I know I'd ask about Snape just given his 
history. (I'd ask many questions, and Dumbledore would be so TOTALLY annoyed 
with me.) Snape doesn't exactly ooze "trust me", you know?  To be in the 
Order is to risk your life and one would assume you'd want to know you can 
trust your fellow man.  Additionally, the Snape-Dumbledore secret does not 
appear to be the only one he kept from other Order members:  horcruxes, Tom 
Riddle's past, the prophecy as it relates to Harry....it's not clear in 
canon that he's ever shared any of these things with other Order members. 
The only one we see those being shared with *in detail* is Harry, who isn't 
even formally IN the Order. Therefore it will be interesting to see what 
exactly is shared by the Order with Harry in Book 7.

Rebecca