Dumbledore

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 190883

 
> 
> > Pippin:
> 
> > All the portraits were in on DD's plan, and some of them have images
> elsewhere, so there was a backup even if Hogwarts was destroyed or Snape
> died before he could get his information to Harry.
> 
> >Joey:
> >But how powerful and effective is this backup? It was sheer luck that
> Phineas Nigellus's portrait was in the beaded bag and that was the only
> portrait that had a connection with GP. DD must have known that Harry would
> not do his 7th year in Hogwarts with such a daunting, life-impacting task
> ahead of him; he planned to die but he never told Harry to maintain contacts
> with his portrait (or the rest) in case of his death.

Pippin:
That's what Hermione is for :) The beauty of it is that if Snape dies, she'll no longer need to be concerned that the portraits are under his control, and if Harry is stumped on what to do next, they'll be an obvious source of advice. 

On the night he died, Dumbledore probably intended to have Harry to destroy the lake horcrux with the sword of Gryffindor  and  then give Harry the true sword and replace it with the fake. If that's the case, the portraits did serve as a backup, and quite a powerful one. 

Though Dumbledore made Harry swear to obey any commands he might give, he never commanded Harry not to give the information about Voldemort to anyone else. He *asked* Harry not to share it with anyone except Ron and Hermione, who had proved themselves trustworthy. 

  Harry exaggerated his instructions, just as he did when he decided the rules of the Tri-Wizard Tournament forbade him to ask for help from anyone, not just teachers. Harry was even told that Lupin and Moody had been commanded to give him any help that he might ask, but he still thought he ought to do it all himself. That was Harry's "thirst to prove himself" talking, not Albus Dumbledore. 

But Harry had obvious reasons not to trust, say, Scrimgeour. Scrimgeour was willing to imprison Stan Shunpike for political purposes; why should Harry be any different? 

Pippin