HBP Chapters 27 - 30 post DH look LONG SORRY

[dumbledore11214]

No: HPFGUIDX 184522

>  Alla:
> > > > > 
> > > > > I am no Montavilla, but I think she meant asking Petunia in 
> > person  and **before** she finds a child at her house. 
> 
> Pippin:
> You think that would have gone well?

Alla:

At a risk of sounding like a parrot, I think he did not try.

Pippin:
> Sometimes a letter is better than a face-to-face meeting -- it gives
> everyone a chance to think things over and not react in a knee-jerk
> way. It would be nice if Dumbledore could  "engage" with Petunia, 
but
> they were way past that, IMO. 

Alla:

They were way past the possibility of Dumbledore having a decency to 
inform Petunia in person that her sister had died and asking her to 
take her nephew?

What are you basing that on? They had what one letter exchange, 
Dumbledore and Petunia, I mean and that's how Dumbledore decided that 
Petunia is a lost cause and he just can't be bothered to tell her 
that her sister died in person and just has to dump Harry on her 
doorstep?

Pippin:
>  In the unlikely event that Petunia could be charmed, baby Harry 
would
> be  better equipped to do it than that "weirdo" Albus Dumbledore. 

Alla:

Really, based on her treatment of Harry I have not noticed her being 
particularly charmed by him and again, Dumbledore did not try.


Pippin: 
> I see huge differences between Snape, wishing he could die with 
grief
> and remorse, and Petunia, who had everything she wanted.

Alla:

I do to, I do not believe however that those differences mean that 
Dumbledore just could not have a conversation with Petunia.
 
Pippin:
> Vernon and Petunia  were  *not* sorry that Lily died.
> 
>  "the world's better off without them in my opinion -- asked for all
> they got, getting mixed up with these wizarding types--just what I
> expected, always knew they'd come to a sticky end--", 
> 
> "just as strange, just as -- as-- *abnormal*  and then, if you 
please,
> she went and got herself blown up." 
> 
> Petunia had been waiting for years to have her say -- do you think 
she
> could have kept from saying it to Dumbledore?


Alla:

I do not know. I kept not believing and not believing when people 
were arguing that this speech feels suspiciously like someone who 
**was** sorry and kept coming up with the reasons to cover up grief 
and denial. I am still not totally convinced, especially based on her 
treatment of Harry, but I think argument has merit now.


Pippin:
> We've heard Dumbledore  react to talk like that, "You disgust me."
> James and Lily were close to him. I don't think he would have been 
any
> happier with Petunia than he was with Snape. 

Alla:

And that's fine. If he tried and Petunia gave him that crap, I would 
be totally okay with him saying you disgust me. Petunia would have 
disgusted me as well. He did not try though.


Pippin:
<SNIP>
> You keep saying, Alla, that Dumbledore should have *tried*. But
> it's worse than pointless to try something that you have every 
reason
> to believe is going to make things worse. It's  possible, under
> certain circumstances, to put out a fire with gasoline, IIRC. But I
> wouldn't advise anyone to try it. 


Alla:

Well, you see Pippin, even if I saw any canon support that Dumbledore 
**believed in good faith** that talking with Petunia in person and 
telling her that her sister died and asking her to take Harry in, 
even if I saw that, which I did not, I still say that he should have 
tried.

Do you know why? Because if person believes in good faith that 
telling the sister of the deceased that her sister is died, and that 
asking her to take her nephew in, to ask her if she needs financial 
assistance, etc, I think the person who believes that doing all these 
things is going to make matters worse is **wrong**, period, end of 
story. Of course this is all my opinion only.

So if great Abus Dumbledore believed all that in good faith, which as 
I said before I see no evidence whatsoever in canon, I think he was 
dead wrong.

I believe that he thought that he knows better and people should and 
will follow his plans, because those people will have no choice, 
that's it.

And again, I am not arguing totally identical position to Montavilla, 
I agree with her that Dumbledore should have done something, I do not 
mind that he should have tried persuasion, anything to help Harry.

BUT if persuasion would not have worked, I do think that Dumbledore 
should have used force, lots of it.

JMO,

Alla