Dumbledore - Better Late than Never

[nikkalmati]

No: HPFGUIDX 190934



> >
> > Nikkalmati wrote:
> > 
> > > DD was a man with some very distictive weaknesses.  He believed in himself, but not anyone else.  Did he really think Harry or McGonagall or Snape would run off and make a Horcrux if he told them what LV had done? 
> > 
> > Joey:
> > 
> > LOL. Yeah, he could have certainly shared it with McGonagall, Snape and even Moody. I think trusting none was a huge flaw in him. ...
> > 
> > Nikkalmati wrote:
> > 
> > > I think he would have chosen to die, if he thought he could save the WW that way.  DD could just have told him.  
> > 
> 
> 
> Steve replies:
> 
> I have to wonder how many people in the group have any direct Military experience? Do you really think every, or for that matter any, soldier has any idea what is going on? No, they don't; the best they get is 'go here', 'do this', 'take that hill', no explanation, nor sense of the greater plan or objectives, just do what you are told and don't ask questions.
> 
> The theory is, the less you know, the less you can reveal. I concede as much as I understand that attitude, I think it is detrimental to the final objective, but it is none the less military reality.
> 
> Generals are moving toys around on the map, and real soldiers are dying in the fields no knowing why.

Nikkalmati

Yes, and even though Harry knew he had been "drafted" so to speak, a soldier does not expect that he is going out on manuvers but the General know the enemy is coming over the hill and all the soldiers will be massacred.  I understand if you are headed out for Normandy beach, maybe the plan wasn't the best and some will be drowned before they reach the beach and some will be killed trying to achieve the impossible, but that if the army wins, their sacrifice was necessary and second guessing is irrelevant.  That is different from the Biblical story where David orders Josiah to lead Uriah to the head of the army and then retreat leaving him there?  (Of course, David wanted Uriah dead and DD did not want Harry dead, he just saaw it as necessary, but the situation is the same).  Telling Harry he would not come back would have been better IMHO than letting him think he was preparing to fight LV.

 Nikkalmati (admittedly never been there)



> Dumbledore knew his death would come soon, but he didn't necessarily know it would come that night. Also, how many sessions did he and Harry actually have during the school year? Most of the time Dumbledore was gone seeking new information and confirmation of his theories. He and Harry actually had very few sessions together, and most of them involved Dumbledore trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together. It seems reasonably that there was a lot more he intended to tell Harry, but never got the chance.

Nikkalmati

DD had complete control over how many sessions he had with Harry.  Snape told him he might have a year and by the time DD dies that year is almost up.  He has very little time left whether he died that night or not.  Why did he call for Snape when he got to Hogsmeade?  DD know the potion would kill him otherwise.  He could have died at any time.  Much of the information DD collected must have been done years before Harry even came to school.  He had been preparing all that time.  I don't think he failed to tell Harry anything he planned to tell him.  Remember the will and the gifts he left were designed to drag things out.  

Nikkalmati

   
> 
> Though I have always said, that the lessons you learn best are the ones you teach yourself, and the revelations is a much better teacher than explanation. I believe, within limits, this was also Dumbledore's philosophy. But, not his exclusive philosophy, he had things he wanted to simply tell Harry,and he told him some of those things in a way that allowed Harry to realize them for himself, rather than simply being told by Dumbledore. The mark of a good teacher in my book.
> 
> But as time grew short, I expect there would not be time for such a luxury, at some point, I assume Dumbledore would have started to lay things out in detail. During those sessions information would have come in volumes. But he never got the chance.

Nikkalmati

Why wait so long, if that was what he intended?  Why not leave a message just in case?  This is not an academic experiment, but life and death for thousands of people.

Nikkalmati

> 
> Dumbledore knew he was dying, he also knew that Draco had been charged with the task of killing him, but he didn't necessarily know that Draco had the will or the skill to accomplish the task. Certainly in his lifetime, far greater wizards than Draco had tried to kill Dumbledore but failed. So, while Draco was a risk, and a risk that was going to come to the forefront very very soon, I don't think he saw Draco as much of a threat. He didn't see Draco's attempts as his own imminent death, at least, not at the hand of Draco.

Nikkalmati

I agree, but it was the green potion that weakened DD so much he could not defend himself.  I doubt he would have told Harry anything more.  At King's Cross he as much as confesses he intentionally withheld the truth.  JKR is at pains to introduce us to Aberforth who explains his brother's secretive nature.  It is all there in the books.

Nikkalmati

> 
>snip>

> Lastly, while we can analyze actions and motivations within this world, occasionally we have to step outside the world and realize that it is a story, things are not suppose to go smoothly. Harry is suppose to struggle, the needed knowledge is suppose to be a mystery. Dumbledore, from the perspective of the writer and the read, was not suppose to tell Harry everything because that kills dramatic tension.
>
Nikkalmati

Yes, but the author has to make it believable and make everything fit.  The only way the story works is if DD through his own weakness and errors does not behave the way a leader should behave and sets up the senario we see, which doesn't work very well and creates tension for the reader because things are going out of control.

Nikkalmati
 
<snip>