HBP CH 17-19 Post DH Look

[Carol]

No: HPFGUIDX 184381

Alla quoted:
> "Professor Slughorn is an extremely able wizard who will be
expecting both," said Dumbledore. "He is much more accomplished at
Occlumency than poor Morfin gaunt, and I would be astonished  if he
has not carried an antidote to Veritaserum with him ever since I
coerced him into giving me this travesty of recollection" - p.372
> 
> Alla:
> 
> Did Dumbledore ever wanted Horace back in school for any other 
purpose other than getting a memory from him? I really am not sure 
anymore. I mean I always thought it was a part of the reason, but I 
was hoping that he really wanted him as teacher too.

Carol responds:
I think DD did want (and need) Slughorn as a teacher, and I see
nothing in this quotation to indicate otherwise. For one thing, he
needs an able Potions master to take Snape's place now that Snape is
teaching DADA. (Actually, I think that Snape's teaching DADA is
contingent on getting Slughorn to take his place. And yet it's
essential that Snape teach DADA not only because he's highly qualified
(and it's the only means DD has of rewarding him for his services and
loyalty) but because no one else is available per OoP and the last
thing DD wants is another MoM-supplied teacher.) Also DD knows that
Snape will no longer be teaching DADA at the end of the year. If all
goes well, he'll be headmaster. If not, he'll be dead from the vow.
Either way, Hogwarts will need a head of Slytherin House to take
Snape's place, and who safer for that position that jolly old
Slughorn, who, whatever his faults, is not Death Eater or DE wannabe?
Please note that all this is just my opinion. Dumbledore never states
any of it. It's all my own inferences and deductions.

Regarding Scrimgeour's reference Umbridge, which you commented on in a
different post (either that or I accidentally snipped it from this
one!), I doubt that he would have casually mentioned Umbridge to Harry
if he knew what Umbridge was up to at Hogwarts the previous year. As
Umbridge said then, "What Cornelius doesn't know won't hurt him," and
the same applies to Rufus, who was in charge of the Aurors at that
time and had no way of knowing that Umbridge was punishing students
(primarily Harry, but also Lee and possibly a few others) with a quill
that scarred their hand. I think Scrimgeour must have been frankly
puzzled when Harry held up his fist to show the "I will not tell lies"
scars. (What's that and what does it have to do with Dolores
Umbridge?) He would have known that she had become High Inquisitor and
headmistress of Hogwarts, supplanting Dumbledore with Fudge's backing
(Fudge himself being deluded), and he may have heard of some of the
educational decrees (but as head of the Aurors, would he know of
them?), but I don't see how he could have any idea of what was really
going on or even what passed for DADA in Umbridge's classes. So, yes,
of course, mentioning Dolores Umbridge to Harry was no way to gain his
support for Scrimgeour's cause, but how was Scrimgeour to know that?
He's definitely opposed to Dark Wizards and has fought them all his
life, and he's an opponent of Voldemort (which got him killed in the
end). He clearly had no idea that Umbridge would end up supporting and
thriving under a Voldemort regime. (It's unclear whether she was
working with Lucius Malfoy all along or whether she really believed
what she preached in OoP, that Dumbledore was trying to oust Fudge and
take over the Ministry by promoting the "lie" that Voldemort was back,
and that "children" did not need to learn to defend themselves and
could pass their OWLs by studying theory. Somehow, I doubt that an old
Auror like Scrimgeour would have approved of that curriculum.

Carol, again stating deductions and inferences as there's no canon
regarding relations between Umbridge and Scrimgeour