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

[Jerri/Dan Chase]

No: HPFGUIDX 182524

> Without further ado, heeeere's Harry:

Great summary!!!  I loved it.
> 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.

As has been noted, back at the end of OoP, Harry was devastated by 
Sirius's death, and angry mostly with himself, feeling that he was at 
least in part responsible.  So, he projected his anger on others, 
especially Dumbledore and Snape.  This time he is hurt and angry with 
Dumbledore.  He (and I) can't understand why Dumbledore didn't tell 
him much more than he did, or give him guidance.

> 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?

NO!!!

> 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?)

There is so much that Dumbledore should have told Harry.  One small 
example, Dumbledore never even told Harry the story of finding the 
ring, etc., although he seemed to spend much of HBP in telling Harry, 
"I'll tell you that later."  No plan, no guidance, just leave things 
to chance and Harry's instinct.

> 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?

No, this is the one thing that I don't think Harry had the "right" to 
know from Dumbledore.   It was personal to Dumbledore.  However, there 
were lots of things personal to Harry or related to Horcrux's, etc. 
that Dumbledore should have told.

> 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?

I tend to think that the part of the book we read was the part where 
Rita was the closest to the truth, although I am not sure she knew it. 
She was going with the most sensational explanation she could come up 
with for everything.  It's just in this one area where the truth was 
as sensational as anything Rita and the "Quick Quotes Quill" could 
come up with.

> 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?

I think he gave up the complete domination of the Muggle world by 
Wizards, "for the greater good".  However, he still thought that he 
should act for the "greater good", and manipulate others to that end 
as well.  (Or to quote a Star Trek movie "The good of the many out 
weighs the good of the few, or the one."  However, the question is, do 
the few or the one get to decide themselves, or do they get drafted?)

Jerri