ChapDisc: DH 18, The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore

dumbledore11214 dumbledore11214 at yahoo.com
Tue Apr 15 01:50:26 UTC 2008


No: HPFGUIDX 182522

Mike and Sherry, this was brilliant summary. I am stealing your idea 
for Dumbledore in heaven chapter ;)



QUESTIONS:

1. Harry hasn't been this mad at Dumbledore since OotP. Was this
worse? Compare and contrast this anger with Harry's rage from a year
and a half ago.

Alla:

Well, Harry is not throwing things around, but I still think it is 
worse.

"Some inner certainty had crashed down inside him; it was exactly as 
he felt after Ron left. He had trusted Dumbledore, believed him to be 
the embodiment of goodness and wisdom. All was ashes; how much more 
could he lose? Ron. Dumbledore, the phoenix wand
"

Alla:

Harry is not just feeling left out, he feels betrayed and I think 
comparison with Ron also means that he is hurt even more than in OOP.

2. Dumbledore calmed Harry in OotP by launching into the whole
prophecy story, and he started it by saying "I am going to tell you
everything." In light of this DH chapter, did he?

Alla:

You know the answer to that heheh – of course not.

3. Is Harry right about Dumbledore not trusting him with the whole
truth? We all know about Dumbledore's penchant for secrecy, but was
he withholding any information regarding the Horcrux hunt from Harry?
Was he withholding any information that Harry needed to confront
Voldemort? (Let's leave out the soul bit in Harry's head for this
discussion, shall we?)

Alla:

Erm
 if we leave out the soul bit part I am just not sure how we can 
say that Harry had all information to confront Voldemort.

4. Did Harry have a right to know about Dumbledore's past, especially
his friendship with GG? Harry admits he may only be mad because DD
didn't reveal it himself, but how would that knowledge have helped
Harry?


Alla:

I will be the first person to smack Dumbledore for hiding things from 
Harry, you know? But I have to answer no he did not have a right to 
know that. I think Harry had an absolute right to know EVERYTHING 
that would have helped him to fight Voldemort and also he had an 
absolute right to know everything related to his past. To me that 
mean that Dumbledore should have disclosed the prophecy, the 
eavesdropper, yes that little part of Voldy in Harry, the tiny thing 
that Dumbledore took away cloak from James and James did NOT leave it 
with Dumbledore because he wanted to, but because Dumbledore asked 
him, all that stuff.

But I do not see how the information about Dumbledore's friendship 
with Grindelwald  a) would have helped Harry to fight Voldemort or b) 
had any relation to Harry's past personally.

I think the information would have helped to strengthen the bond 
between Dumbledore and Harry, absolutely, but I do not think that 
Dumbledore had any obligation to share it, no.

But don't worry I think he did not share SO MUCH of what he had to 
share, that I would be mad at him forever probably LOL.




5. How much do you think Rita was stretching the truth in the part of
her book we read? It was obvious where she put in her own opinion,
but on the rest did you think she was telling it honestly, adorning
the truth a little, or stretching the truth beyond acceptable
boundaries?

Alla:

Actually I do not think Rita was making up all that much or almost 
nothing. I mean for example take Ariana's death, she is not claiming 
that she KNOWS how Ariana died, didn't she?

She gives part of the story that she learns, speculates some and 
leaves it for the reader to speculate. And boy is she close to the 
truth or what?

"And how did the mysterious Ariana die? Was she the inadvertent 
victim of some Dark rite? Did she stumble across something she ought 
not to have done, as the two  young men sat practicing for their 
attempt at glory and domination? Is it possible that Ariana 
Dumbledore was the first person to die "for the greater good"?" – 
p.293, brit.ed.

Alla:

I mean, it is not exact, but we can say that Ariana DID die because 
of their desire for glory and domination, didn't she? I am telling 
you this IS the chapter after which I at least got some respect for 
Rita Skeeter.


6. With regards to "For the Greater Good", Hermione said Dumbledore
changed. Did he? Though Dumbledore rejected Grindelwald's
interpretation of that phrase, did Dumbledore reject his own
interpretation?


Alla:

LOLOLOLOL. I think my answer would be obvious too as well. NO I do 
not believe that Dumbledore ever changed in a sense that he rejected 
his own interpretation. I think this is the slogan according to which 
Dumbledore lived his life up till his death. When Harry came into his 
life, this slogan began to be in conflict with Dumbledore's growing 
affection for Harry, but he was still carrying this slogan, IMO.

I mean, it is for the greater good that Harry will be placed with 
Dursleys, right? It is for the greater good that Dumbledore would not 
check on him once for eleven years. Yes, all for the greater good.

It is also for the greater good that it is perfectly Okay to betray 
your closest comrades to the enemy. Oh boy I hate this phrase or 
what? And yes, I know that Harry sacrificed himself for the greater 
good too. At least he was not asking anybody else to sacrifice 
themselves.



7. Rita had her own speculation. What do you think happened to
Ariana? Was it Albus's fault, as Aberforth contended when he broke
his nose, or was Albus taking the blame because he allowed the
circumstances that led to her death to occur?

Alla:

Well, personally I believe and always did that Aberforth's curse hit 
her. Yes, I think Albus took blame because he felt he allowed 

8. As Harry asked above: if Grindelwald hadn't fled, would Dumbledore
have changed his ways? Would Dumbledore have necessarily chosen his
brother over Gellert? Do you think Aberforth did something that
showed Albus the error of his ways, and what could that have been?

Alla:

Since I believe that Albus was protecting his brother, I think he did 
love him, I have no idea though if he would have chosen him over 
Gellert. I love Aberfoth.



~ Mike and Sherry
aka Phlytie and Blinky Elves

Alla:

THANK YOU, that was supercool.






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