Dumbledore versus General Iroh SPOILERS for Avatar the Last airbender LONG

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 184730

Alla: 
> I hesitate to react till I understand in what sense Iroh sounds like
 wish fulfillment for Pippin. I mean if it is wish fulfillment in a 
sense that one would want to have likeable Wise Old Man in the story,
 then sure I agree – it is fulfillment of that particular wish. 
> However his character does not become less believable because he is 
> likeable or anything like that.
<SNIP>
I totally believe that  Harry would have benefited tremendously from
that kind of  relationship and would have been much happier in so many
aspects, 

Pippin:
If I understand you correctly, you are wishing that Dumbledore was
more like Iroh, not so that Rowling's story would work better, but so
that Harry would have had an easier life. Is that right? So in that
sense, Iroh would function as  a wish fulfillment character in the HP
universe. 

It has nothing to do with whether Iroh would be a believable character
in Rowling's world, or in our world, which I am in no position to judge.

I do not think, in terms of Rowling's story, that a more benign mentor
could have given Harry the experiences that JKR wanted him to have. 

But it is really not Dumbledore's plan that forces Harry into a
situation where he has to carry out Dumbledore's plan  or everything
he cares about will be destroyed. 

  Harry  decided that Dumbledore was wrong to trust only the Trio, and
enlisted the help of the others to find the Hogwarts Horcrux.  But by
doing that, Harry put himself under an obligation to the others. He
couldn't refuse to die for them when they were dying for him, not
without becoming another Pettigrew.

Magpie:
Harry's prideful arrogance didn't come into contact with a Peter
Pettigrew is the main difference.

Pippin:
Harry met a lot of potential Pettigrews, he just didn't make friends
of them. There were a lot of characters who offered Harry flattery  as
a means of gaining personal advantage. Harry was more suspicious of
that than James, who took it as his due. 

The character whose outrageous flattery Harry does accept is
Dumbledore, who betrays him on a personal level, but not for personal
advantage. 

Magpie:
So Dumbledore manipulates again by "allowing" Harry to think that he
betrayed him, and Harry decides by himself to follow Dumbledore

Pippin:
It was manipulative of Dumbledore to get Harry to  think for himself
and decide to do the right thing? How do you see that as different
from leadership? 

Pippin