DD's commentary in Beedle the Bard

[Zara]

No: HPFGUIDX 185252

> > Carol:
> >  But Umbridge was
> > High Inquisitor, undermining his control of the school and 
Voldemort
> > was getting stronger, and DD was using his time to comment on
> > children's stories? It doesn't make sense to me.)

Zara:
The commentaries are not very long - a few pages each, and they are 
about stories he has known from childhood. Speaking personally - I 
work full time, and am a single mother of two young children...yet I 
find time to drop in here to post, and pen the odd chapter or two of 
my fanfiction. I don't find it incredible to consider that Albus 
might also reserve some small amount of his time for activities that 
relax him and give him pleasure, even if the responsibilities in his 
life seem more weighty to us than mine do. Nor is the particular 
activity one I find odd for him. He chose, after all, to be an 
educator, of all careers he could have had with his gifts.

In OotP, anyway, I do not feel he was under such great time pressure, 
anyway. He knew Fudge's position that Voldemort was not back was 
untenable in the long run. And he believed he had years in which to 
find and destroy the Horcruxes

> Shelley:
> Only once in the commentaries does it sound like Dumbledore, where 
he 
> recounts fondly of Professor Beery's Christmas production of the 
Fountain of 
> Fair Fortune skit. But again, it smacks of Rowling's post writing 
recreation 
> of the characters she created, recreating Dumbledore as this warm 
man who 
> willing shared funny stories of his past, but yet in the books, 
Dumbledore 
> fails to warmly share anything with Harry in person. He always 
stops short 
> of that kind of relationship with Harry. So just whom is he 
reminiscing with 
> here? Anything he told Harry was all part of the manipulation of 
getting him 
> to fight Voldemort and die, and so what is the point of this 
commentary? 

Zara:
To me this overstates the cold and manipulative aspect of 
Dumbledore's character. I find his protestations of love for Harry in 
OotP quite convincing, personally. I would also disagree he intended 
Harry to die. When he tells Harry in HBP that it is his hope that 
what Harry learns in the private lessons will enable him to survive, 
I think he is being entirely honest.

Albus did come across as a warm man who shared funny stories in the 
series. For example, in GoF he conjured tea and cakes for Hagrid and 
the trio and shared the funny story about his (supposedly illiterate) 
brother and the goats. Nothing he ever told Harry was deeply 
revealing and personal (until after his death) - but neither are the 
reminiscences of these commentaries. I find them to be of a piece 
with random witty comments Albus made throughout the series.

> Shelley:
> So the timing of when he supposedly writes this has two problems- 
the "fun 
> recounting" smacks of a time when Dumbledore had less troubles on 
his mind, 
> and all of the Deathly Hallows stuff smacks of a post Deathly 
Hallows book 
> writing, for if the commentary had indeed been there for Hermione 
to read, 
> most of the Book 7 was spoiled- they didn't need to spend months 
figuring 
> things out if it was all explained clearly by Dumbledore in the 
commentary. 

Zara:
I believe the commentary is said to have been discovered among 
Albus's personal papers. It did not take the form of marginal notes 
in the book he gave Hermione.

> Shelley: 
> than these long rantings at the end of each story, spilling details 
of Mr. 
> Malfoy's objection to remove a book from the school library- wait, 
what did 
> that have to do with the tale anyway? 

Zara:
Malfoy wanted that book removed from the library, because in it was a 
tale in which a witch marries a Muggle ("The Fountain of Fair 
Fortune" - the knight in the tale is not a wizard). The gossipy, 
amusing manner in which Albus retells his conflict with Malfoy I 
found quite in character. (And also his bringing himself into the 
commentary in such a way - he is a rather self-important sort of 
character, it seemed to me.)