Resolutions (was: Epilogue (was Re: Ron and Parseltongue)/Slytherins are Bad

[julie]

No: HPFGUIDX 183428


> 
> Pippin: 
> > Draco's soul is not valuable  because he was a cog in Dumbledore's
> > wheels within wheels, or a potential hero, or the reformer of
> > Slytherin House, or Harry's bestest friend, or the guy who
> > will make the Trio sorry they ever assumed that Slytherins were no
> > good, or because he could become a cool, sly, masterful Slytherin 
> like
> > Snape at Spinner's End. 
> > It's valuable because...it exists. 
> 
> Magpie:
> Not any more it isn't.
> 
> That's what I *thought* was important about it. I thought the story 
> would underline this by showing that the soul of this highly flawed 
> person is valuable just by existing in some unexpected way--iow, 
that 
> Dumbledore's good act would turn out to have some result because he 
> didn't do it for any strategic reason and in fact risked everything 
> on this seemingly worthless thing. But in the end this act didn't 
> interfere with Dumbledore's plan, he got to make some noises about 
> what an epitome of goodness he is without putting anything on the 
> line and without much of a result on Draco either way. The idea 
that 
> his soul is important just because it exists was exactly what was 
> undermined for me in DH. 

Julie:
Again I agree with you, Magpie :-) I argued vehemently for
a truly caring Dumbledore who gave out second chances primarily
for the sake of the person desiring/needing that second chance,
and who believed even the most damaged souls deserved to be 
saved. The Tower scene in HBP sealed it for me. And then DH
unsealed it, when we learned that saving Draco's soul is just
part of a strategic plan. 

Yes, Dumbledore suggests Draco's soul isn't as tainted as
Snape's, but it still read strongly to me that Dumbledore 
isn't so much in the saving souls business as he is into 
carrying out his grand plan to defeat Voldemort. And I can't
say we weren't clued in, as Dumbledore had expressed little 
interest in any of his students' souls before, never making
an observable effort to prevent any student from joining 
Voldemort's camp, not when Snape was a student, nor in 
Harry's student days when Voldemort makes his triumphant
return and everyone knows he is actively recruiting new
DEs, particularly the already primed children of his current
DEs (Slytherins, for the most part). 

Once I realized Dumbledore had never concerned himself 
with saving student souls, not to mention that he also
wasn't particularly interested in the eventual fate of
Snape's soul (and even Alla expected Dumbledore to dismiss
the mere concept of Snape risking his soul even for the sake
of the Plan), I realized that Dumbledore was in fact all
about the Plan and his goal of "saving" the WW, never mind
the individuals within it. (And he even considered it a 
personal weakness that he came to care for Harry so deeply
that Harry's fate mattered nearly as much to him as the
fate of the WW itself.)

All this to say I don't think Dumbledore finds Draco's 
soul intrinsically valuable or important. He could save
it, so he did, and made note of it. But if saving Draco's
soul had interfered with his Plan, he would easily and
with little remorse have let it go to its doom for the
greater good. Given that Dumbledore willingly sacrificed
his own life for the greater good, I'm not even saying he
was wrong. Just that he turned out to be much colder and
more calculating than I believed him to be throughout the
first six books. I still admire many of his qualities and
what he accomplished, but in the end I don't revere him 
or love him as I expected I would had I been asked before
DH. And while he may be the epitome of a war general, a
not inconsequential achievement, I can't really see him as 
the epitome of goodness.
 
All IMO of course,

Julie