Changed character perceptions (long).

[eggplant107]

No: HPFGUIDX 185034

"Geoff Bannister" <gbannister10 at ...> wrote a interesting post:

> He [Dumbledore] has learned from the early failures 

Yes I agree, and I think that's why Dumbledore refused the position of
Ministry Of Magic when it was repeatedly offered to him. He very much
wanted the job, but a wise man recognizes his own weaknesses and he
knew that he could not be trusted with that much power.
I think that could also explain his EXTREME politeness, even to the
Death Eaters in the Tower who were trying to kill him! He knew through
bitter experience the extraordinary power that he could unleash in a
thoughtless instant, and so it became his lifetime habit to be
excruciatingly polite, in other words to keep his wand on "safety"
most of the time.

> but I have become very wary of taking his
> actions as being altruistic 

But I can't entirely agree on that, I think Dumbledore always saw
himself as altruistic, and even an objective third party would
conclude that he was altruistic nearly all the time. Nearly. However
that doesn't mean the man can't be manipulative deceitful and cold as
a mafia hit man when he needs to be.

For example, from page one book one, Dumbledore was leading Harry to
death like a pig to slaughter. As the years went by and the better he
came to know Harry the harder it became for him to do to do this.
Dumbledore came to love Harry, there is no doubt about that, and It's
"the flaw in the plan" that Dumbledore talked about in book 5 (not the
one in book 7). He didn't think he'd have the strength to complete the
plan, but it turned out there was no flaw, he did have the strength. I
insist that is altruism because if he had not sacrificed someone he
loved the entire world would have been turned into a nightmare, and he
was more than willing to sacrifice himself as well. It was horrible
but had to be done. 

I don't think Dumbledore thought Harry had a snowball's chance in hell
of surviving that confrontation with Voldemort in the woods; hence his
absolutely delirious delight in Kings Cross when he discovered that
somehow, miraculously, he had.

 Eggplant