Plotholes and Dumbledore/ some Dark is rising WAS: Why down on all the characte

[a_svirn]

No: HPFGUIDX 179298

Alla:

<snip> Dumbledore did learn secrets on his mother's knee
indeed, didn't he?

I found it perfectly, perfectly consistent with his character as
established within the books IMO.

Need to know basis and that's all. Is it too clever for his own good
or better said quite idiotic? SURE, I do think so, but do I think
that is Dumbledore indeed? Oh yes, in fact I would have been
scratching my head had he told Harry to share information. I mean, I
would have been happy that he did learn something, but looks to me
that he never did.

a_svirn:
Well, I scratched my head when he said Harry to tell his two friends 
and nobody else. And proceeded to scratch it throughout DH. It's not 
just that he wanted Harry to be secretive. It's the idea that he 
should have only two teen-agers to help him for starters. Granted, 
Harry was a teen-ager himself, but that couldn't be helped. 
Dumbledore knew how difficult, time-consuming and dangerous the hunt 
would likely to be. He was already *dying* when he told Harry about 
the Horcruxes, precisely because he had tried to destroy one of them 
and got mortally cursed in the process. So not only he had raised 
Harry as a pig to the slaughter, as Snape elegantly phrased it, he 
also sent two other kids to almost certain death simply because he 
thought they would be congenial company for Harry.  Moreover, unless 
he had gone completely senile in HPB he knew what sort of 
reprecautions for the WW his demise and Harry's disappearance would 
likely to have. He had had the whole year at his disposal, and had he 
bothered to prepare the Resistance? Nope, he hadn't. In fact, he 
ensured it – by alienating the minister and by throwing the Trio the 
Hallows Red Herring – that they are going to be slowed down, and – 
consequently – that Voldemort control over the WW would be prolonged. 

So you see it's not jut that he is secretive and manipulative. I 
don't mind that, exactly. What I mind is that his manipulations are 
completely and utterly pointless, not to say counter-productive. It 
makes the reading of DH an exercise in frustration.

Alla:
When it stops working for me is when it is viewed in some sort of
positive light - that Dumbledore had some sort of good reason to do
so. THEN it can only be a plot hole for me.

a_svirn:
You mean he played with other peoples' lives for no better reason 
that he enjoyed it? That spells something more sinister than 
just "secretive". And even "manipulative". 

Alla:
Same thing in Potterverse happens often. Did Harry participation in
Tournament could have been avoided by any sense? Sure, of course. 
<snip>

The thing is JKR decided it should happen that way, so I
just followed along the ride. She wanted Harry to suffer and fight
at Graveyard, no?

a_svirn:
Oh, yes. But I found the whole Tournament thing so exasperating, not 
because it was a contrivance, but because it was a contrivance that 
wasn't even properly explained! I mean the blood protection thing 
sure strains credulity, but it has at least the explanatory value. To 
use Carol's favorite quote we can "suspend our disbelief" and yes, 
enjoy the ride. But the tournament is an abomination– it's way too 
dangerous, it's supremely unfair in its every aspect, and the last 
two tasks had zero entertaining value for the spectators. It also 
increased the security risks and the times when no additional risks 
could be afforded. So WHY did Dumbledore resurrect it? We are not 
given even a contrived explanation. It certainly spoiled my enjoyment 
of GOF. But GOF at least ended with the brilliant cliff-hanger, so 
that we waited the next book with bated breath for three years, 
whereas DH ended in a rather less satisfactory way (well for me, that 
is). 

MusicalBetsy:
GOF was one of my favorite books - yes, it occurred to me at the time
that it was not needed at all for Harry to win the tournament in
order to be portkeyed to the graveyard, but would anyone really have
wanted it any differently? Weren't the three tasks just total fun to
read?

a_svirn:
Certainly the last two of them weren't total fun to watch. Can you 
imaging anything sillier than a thousand spectators gaping at the 
serene lake's surface for more than an hour?