Who was responsible for Sirius' death? Who else--Dumbles, of course

[KathyK]

No: HPFGUIDX 167546

JLyon wrote:

> I still have heard of no justification for keeping the prophesy  
> secret that was worth anyone dying. 

KathyK:

And I *still* fail to see how Dumbledore can be blamed so completely
for the actions of others.  Yes, he knew the Prophecy.  But did he
truly *know* that Sirius would run off to the Ministry without
listening to Snape?  Did he *know* that Sirius and Bellatrix would
duel and that Sirius would happen to be standing so close to the veil
that he'd fall through after being hit by whatever spell that was? 
Did he have any control over what LV was attempting? No. 

Dumbledore, IMO, does deserve a share in responsibility for many
things, but he cannot possibly be responsible for every little thing
that happens in the Potterverse.  Other characters need to take
responsibility for their actions.  Like Bellatrix.  Or whoever else we
like to blame for Sirius's death.  

JLyon:

> If DD truly wanted Harry to know, he would have found someone to
teach Harry occlumency. 

KathyK:

He did.  He just chose the wrong person.  I'm pretty sure JKR has said
somewhere that Harry couldn't learn Occlumency, but I'm ignoring that
because I can't recall it exactly and am too lazy to go look for it. 
At any rate, it is my opinon that Harry, regardless of teacher, would
not have learned occlumency because he was much too interested in
learning what was behind that door he kept dreaming about to try and
block such dreams.

JLyon:

> At the very least, he would have told Harry that Voldie wanted the 
> prophesy and that he might use Harry to get at it. 

KathyK:

I agree with this.  Dumbledore made a mistake.  It happens to
everyone, though.


JLyon:

> I lay almost all of Harry's problems (including getting Harry's  
> parents into safety) at DD's high-heeled and silver-buckled boots.

KathyK:

You have every right to do so.  I choose to lay the blame on Voldemort
who murders people to ensure his own contined existence and on those
who choose to follow his lead.  

JLyon:

> DD died being the worst headmaster and the worst mentor there has  
> probably ever been in fiction. Any headmaster would have been fired  
> after any one of Harry's years--and Minnie-the-robot would have been  
> canned also. Of course, that would also lead to firing the staff DE,  
> Sybil, and exorcising at least one ghost. Hogwarts must be a running  
> joke to the rest of the world.

KathyK:

I'm sorry, but on what do you base this assumption that any headmaster
other than Dumbledore would have been fired for any of the things that
have occurred at Hogwarts?  What rest of the world do you mean?  *Our*
RL world?  Perhaps.  

The rest of the WW?  That I would need to see further evidence to even
consider that Dumbledore or McGonagall would have been fired for
anything that happened at Hogwarts.  Yes, Dumbledore was suspended in
CoS due to the petrification of students but as Dumbledore mentioned,
they asked him back and may have been threatened by Lucius Malfoy to
suspend DD in the first place.  Yes Umbridge, that beacon of reason
and enlightenment, managed to force Dumbledore's ouster in OoP. 
However, neither of these events seem the norm at Hogwarts from what
we have seen.  What evidence from the WW do you present that
Dumbledore could or should have been fired?

KathyK