The Snape Whisperer

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 163558

Pippin wrote:
> <SNIP>
> 
> > Milan also explains his use of a controversial technique called
'flooding'. This consists of desensitizing an animal to an undesirable
emotion, such as a phobia, by allowing it to become overwhelmed. While
this is regarded as too cruel by some, Milan feels that it is far more
effective than trying to comfort the animal when it is frightened,
which in his view often leads to reinforcing the very behavior one is
trying to discourage.
> > 
> > I have to wonder if Dumbledore had a similar rationale for leaving
Harry to be overwhelmed by his feelings after Cedric's death. <snip>
Harry went through a miserable six weeks at the Dursleys, but he does
seem to have become somewhat desensitized to survivor guilt, enough so
that he could deal with the loss of Sirius without plummeting into the
severe depression  he experienced after losing Cedric. 
> 
Alla responded:
> 
> Yes, this is of course possible and yes, I would consider it beyond
cruel, but maybe Dumbledore did something else entirely. Something 
that he did to Harry during **all** his life, something that seems to
me to be perfectly in character for Dumbledore to do.
> 
> From the moment Dumbledore left Harry with Dursleys, he did not
bother as far as I remember to check on Harry once, to provide him 
with one yota of comfort when he was a little kid and till now, me 
thinks.
> 
> Leaving Harry without comfort and moreover, prohibiting his friends
from contacting Harry just seems to me another one in the very long
line of mistakes Dumbledore committed while dealing with him.
><snip>
> 
> Alla, who thinks that Dumbledore should be called a bloody 
> hyppocrite if he deliberately employed this techinique with Harry, 
> because he was one of the major contributors to Harry not getting 
> the comfort through his life.
>
Carol responds:
Oh, dear. It seems that each time someone tries to analyze or justify
Dumbledore's behavior, you just become more angry with him. Maybe we'd
better just hold our tongues, eh, Pippin, or Alla will change her
Yahoo ID!

Seriously, I don't think that Dumbledore was intentionally withholding
comfort from Harry. In fact, he took pains to announce publicly that
Cedric was murdered by Voldemort (Wormtail gets left out of the
explanation, I suppose because the full truth would seem even less
probable than the condensed version) and to salute Harry along with
Cedric, raising his cup to him and asking everyone present to do the
same. That, to me, is DD saying to Harry, "This isn't your fault. You
have no reason to feel guilty." And Dumbledore had listened to Harry's
story, making sure he told it while it was still fresh in his mind
rather than allowing him to sleep and then relive it, which would have
been still more painful. 

Yes, he ignored Harry over the rest of the summer, but he didn't
forget about him and he made sure that the Order members (Mrs. Figg
and whoever else was on Harry duty) were watching over him. I don't
think that speaking words of comfort, which Mrs. Weasley and others
had already done, would have helped. Harry had to come to terms with
Cedric's death himself, as we all do when someone we know dies,
especially if we think it's partly our fault. (I won't get into the
death of Sirius Black here except to mention that Harry deals with it
differently, conveniently shifting his own feelings of guilt and his
anger over Black's death onto Snape. Oddly, he never feels angry with
Voldemort for either death even though he's either directly or
indirectly responsible. It's possible that Dumbledore is trying to
redirect Harry's animus in HBP when he talks about why Harry "has" to
fight Voldemort.) 

Rather than considering Dumbledore a "bloody hypocrite" for employing
a technique that we don't even know he's aware of, I think it might be
better (more comforting :-) ) to return to regarding his treatment of
Harry as a mistake rather than systematic cruelty. Just a suggestion
since I don't think it was either one--more like a practical necessity
or necessary evil, one of many I could list but won't unless requested
to do so.

However, it seems to me that *Lupin* applies something like Milan's
"flooding" technique in teaching kids to confront their Boggarts
(their worst fears personified)--and the technique seems to work. In
some cases, the students may realize that their fears are childish
(fear of eyeballs or mummies or mean teachers, for example). I wonder
if the Boggart class helped Ron overcome his fear of spiders? And
Lupin uses the technique again in teaching Harry how to cast a
Patronus--confronting a Boggart Dementor. (No one except Harry has
that advantage in learning to confront one.) I suppose that
Dumbledore's taking Harry with him to retrieve the (supposed) locket
Horcrux was also "total immersion," and much needed as preparation for
future encounters. The same could be said for Snape's Occlumency
lessons and his duel with Harry at the end of HBP ("again and again
until you learn to shut your mouth and close your mind," which may not
be applicable to battling Voldemort but is certainly necessary if
Harry is ever to defeat Snape himself, supposing he's ESE, or a real
Death Eater like Bellatrix, supposing that he's DDM).

Anyway, Harry, because he's Harry, has to learn some difficult life
lessons, and "flooding" could be an effective way to teach those
lessons, whether or not his teachers consciously use it. Certainly, he
has learned to deal with bullies by being exposed to bullies and with
danger by being exposed to danger--as have many other students at
Hogwarts. Quidditch and COMC (and unfair teacers) probably wouldn't be
tolerated if they didn't prepare the students for the cruel and
dangerous world that is the WW.

Carol, just exploring Pippin's idea and wishing she could help Alla
recover her lost affection for Albus Dumbledore