Dumbledore's Secret 'All Along' Plan?

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 163642

---  "Penny Brooks" <pennygbrooks at ...> wrote:
>
> ... I myself had been of the mind that Dumbledore:
> 
> 1)  was aware of LV's existence, and his plans to reemerge

bboyminn:

Not quite, Dumbledore thought that perhaps Voldemort was
not entirely dead. That some how some way he still existed
in some form, and was therefore likely at some time return
to the wizard world. 

That is a lot of 'maybe's and with each passing year, I'm
sure Dumbledore grew more confident in Voldemort's absents.

> Penny:
> 2)  was aware of LV's thoughts about Harry, and the 
> danger against Harry

bboyminn:

Dumbledore assumed that is was likely that IF Voldemort
ever returned he would likely still have a grudge against
Harry, the cause of his downfall. That's still pretty
IFFY, but none the less a likely assumption.

> Penny:
> 3)  had some idea about the horcruxes, and has been 
> piecing together the evidence since COS
> 

bboyminn:

No problems here. Dumbledore gradually put the pieces 
together and arrived at the Horcrux conclusion. This
was absolutely confirmed when he found a Horcrux of 
his own.

> Penny:
> ..., certain questions are emerging--...
> 
> 1)  Why would Dumbledore hire Lockhart? In COS, 
> Dumbledore's comments about him indicate he's fully 
> aware of Lockhart's incapabilities.  ...
> 

bboyminn:

First, the DADA job has been in jeopardy for a long time.
We pick up the story when Harry arrives and see, so far,
six DADA teachers, each ending with his own bit of bad
luck.

However, you must remember that this curse on the DADA 
job has been going on for over 20 years. It has been 
curse from the time many many years ago when Voldemort
himself applied for the job. So, they have gone through
over 20 (estimate) DADA teachers, none has lasted more
than a year, and all have ended is some type of bad luck
or misfortune.

So, it is very probably that there real was no one other
that Lockhart who applied for the job. Certainly the 
wizard world is filled with people who are more than
qualified to DO the job, but if they don't apply, if
they don't want it, you really can't force them. 

I say the Dumbledore really is scraping the bottom of
the barrle. In the year the Umbride was DADA professor
she got the job because Dumbledore simply could not
find ANY ONE to take the job.

> Penny:
> 2)Why did Dumbledore agree to hold and host the 
> Triwizard Tournament at Hogwarts?  ...  
> 

bboyminn:

Why? Because life goes on. You can't stop living 
because you thing some dark wizard who /might/ still
be alive, and he /might/ still come back, and if he 
does he /might/ cause problems. It seems that 
Dumbledore and the others have been working on this
project for years. The Tri-Wizard's Tournement has
a long and respected history in the wizard world. In
a sense, it is like the Wizard Olympics; or perhaps
the European Games. 

Yes, Dumbledore has an obligation to Harry, but he
also has an obligation to history and to the wizard
world at large. Further, Dumbledore put in place
certain protections that should have prevented Harry
from being part of the tournement. 

Like I said, life goes on, and you take reasonable
precautions but you don't stop living because
something /might/ happen.

> Penny:
> I won't even go into the whole occlumency with Snape
> fiasco--even Dumbledore admits it was a bad idea.
> 

bboyminn:

I think the Occlumency lessons were a large fiasco relative
to the book they appeared in (OotP), but I think Harry is 
better at it than it seems, and I full expect those lessons
to pay off at some point in the last book. Note: while I
said Harry is better than he seems, he's still never 
going to be great at it.

> Penny concludes:
> So, I'm wondering:  if Dumbledore knew all along about
> LV's possible  plans and the horcruxes, and such, then
> either:
> 
> 1)  He's making a lot of inexplicable decisions
> 2)  He's purposefully trying to get Harry to LV
> 3)  He was using Harry as bait to draw LV out, where 
> the Order can get him.  Didn't work, but now Harry is 
> old enough to handle things (maybe).
> 
> There must be more ideas.  Any thoughts, anyone?
> 
> Penny Bee
>

bboyminn:

Dumbledore has made his mistakes, but I think he as taken
reasonable precausion based on what was known at the time.
I don't agree with 1) or 2) above, and I can only give
the slightest nod to item 3). Dumbledore knows that Harry
and Voldemort's fate are intertwined and there is nothing
he can do about that. Voldemort is calling the shots. 
Voldemort decides when, where, and if he will attack Harry.
What can Dumbledore do about that? Lock Harry up in a cell
to protect him? Even that is not safe, and it is certainly
not a morally acceptable solution. 

So, once again, we are stuck with 'life goes on', and 
what will come will come and they have to deal with each
event when it arrives. Though as Dumbledore gathers more
knowledge, he is more able to find ways of ultimately
defeating Voldemort. Many of the tragic events that have
happened to Harry, are the very events that gave Dumbledore
the clues he needed.

Just one man's opinion.

Steve/bboyminn