GoF CH 27-29 Post DH look/ Snape and Harry redux

[Carol]

No: HPFGUIDX 182263


> > Alla: 
> > YES, thank you, that's the one. Sure Dumbledore never says that he
understands Parseltongue and still that was my impression that he
understands it. Can what you describing be true? Of course, but I 
submit that there is nothing in the text to negate my speculation.
> 
> Potioncat:
> I'll vote with you on this one. DD makes a comment that I can't
quite recall--about even some who speak Parseltongue are good and
brave--that makes me think even more that he spoke it. <snip>

Carol responds:

Dumbledore boast of his own intellect, but never of his goodness
(unless you count "It's my mercy that matters now") or his courage. I
think he was referring to Harry. Surely, if he spoke Parseltongue, he
would have found the chamber of Secrets and killed the Basilisk long
before CoS. He knew who had opened it, after all. And once it was
reopened, he had to rely on Harry to open it. That or close the school
or risk having students killed rather than merely Petrified. As I
said, Professor Binns says that "the school has been searched for
evidence of such a chamber, many times, by the most learned witches
and wizards" (CoS Am. ed. 151). Surely, Dumbledore, who must have
known what was in the chamber as well as who opened it, was one of
those learned wizards. And if that's not sufficient, he adds, "If a
long succession of Hogwarts headmasters and headmistresses haven't
found the thing--" followed by, "I repeat, if the likes of
Dumbledore--" (152), which states clearly that DD tried and filed to
find the Chamber. (The kids point out that if only the Heir of
Slytherin is supposed to be able to open the Chamber, DD couldn't do
it; they don't yet know that the Heir would speak Parseltongue, which
would be the proof of his ancestry, but they're on the right track.
Harry, of course, is not the Heir of Slytherin, but he has the soul
bit in him, giving him the same power as the Heir himself. As for
Ginny, she only speaks Parseltongue when she's possessed. She never
actually learns it.)At any rate, if DD spoke Parseltongue, surely he
would not be among those headmasters and other gifted Wizards who
sought for and failed to find the CoS. He needs *Harry* to do it. He
provides what means he can for Harry's success and survival,
including, presumably, orders to Fawkes to deliver the Sorting Hat
(with the Sword inside it) when a Gryffindor in peril expresses
loyalty to DD, but that's all he can do. That and arranging for Sprout
to grow the Mandrakes and Snape to prepare a restorative potion to be
administered by Madam Pomfrey when the Mandrakes are ready. 

Carol, who thinks that canon shows as early as CoS that DD does not
speak Parseltongue (he, like Snape and even twelve-year-old Ron,
recognizes it when it's spoken, but nothing more)