Dumbledore as champion of Muggle-borns

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 173349

As far back as CoS, the Malfoys sneer at Dumbledore as the champion of
"Mudbloods," but given what the Muggle boys did to his sister and his
father's being sentenced to Azkaban for trying to punish them (the use
of magic against Muggles was considered to be unjustified despite the
provocation), it's quite remarkable that he did so.

An aside first on what the Muggle boys did to Ariana. I for one don't
think it was rape; there are enough horrors in this book without that
and rape is not the only cause of lasting trauma. Children have many
ways of torturing each other, especially a child who is different.
IMO, it's much more likely that they hit her with rocks, perhaps
reflecting "thou shalt not suffer a witch to live"--and, yes, I know
that the translation is flawed) and the ancient punishment of stoning
to death. or they could have burned her with cigarette lighters,
causing much more lasting damage than a Crucio. Assume what you like.
What matters is that she was a defenseless six-year-old and she was
tortured and that she never recovered from the emotional trauma.

Dumbledore, of course, seems to have been more concerned with his own
brilliant future than with Ariana, having an attack of remorse only
after his mother, his sister, and his father were all dead and
Grindelwald was exposed as the Dark wizard DD should always have known
he was. (Shades of Severus Snape refusing to see Mulciber and Avery as
much less powerful and dangerous Dark wizards.) I suppose learning
that Grindelwald set up concentration camps for Muggles or Muggleborns
(I need to reread that part of the story) caused his epiphany. He must
have forgiven the Muggle boys for what he did to Ariana through fear
that he himself had killed her (and yet it had to be GG unless there
are more ways to kill a witch or wizard than a Killing Curse). But it
seems like a most unpromising start on the road to being a "champion
of Mudbloods" (to quote Draco), much less to protecting Muggles.

Anyone care to shed light on this or point me to a thread where it has
already been discussed? It's impossible to keep up with the flood of
posts, and I've been focusing on Snape.

Carol, who doesn't like the DD of this book and has been almost afraid
to look at him