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Am I the only one a little bothered by Dumbledore? Not only with the fact he could end up in the Guinness Book Of World Records for "Most Incompetent Headmaster of All Time" (though I'm sure there's worse. :P), but also because...he just bugs me. I know JKR was trying to write him as the "flawed Yoda", so to speak (and to be fair, he's nowhere near Yoda. XD), but it's also how...preachy he gets. Towards Fudge, for example. You know, in Goblet of Fire, with, "You place too much importance on purity of blood, yadda yadda et cetera et cetera" -- which considering how he treated Tom Riddle and the Slytherins is...slightly hypocritical isn't it? Probably bad writing on JKR's part, though. :/

Anyways, sorry 'bout the rambling. Thoughts?

Current Mood: confused
Current Music: Oldies. :P

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

sunnyskywalker

The fact that she put kid Lily using wandless magic and then Lily being magically helpless without her wand in the same book is just mind boggling. In fact, since the wandless magic we see her do is slowing her fall, jumping out the window could have been the perfect escape - she just needs to grab Harry and jump out far enough to get past the anti-Apparition wards that are probably in place, and then slow her fall when she lands wherever.

If Rowling intended for Voldemort to be so ridiculously powerful that no one stood a chance (and it's implied as much I think in book 1), then she should have hinted somehow that Voldemort was lying when he told Harry they put up a fight. And, you know, made Voldemort scarier in the rest of the series.

If on the other hand she was going for what looks like the solution that fits most of the pieces - that Lily was trying to delay for a few minutes so the cavalry could come, and since we see that Dumbledore is able to send someone within minutes of their deaths it seems reasonable that they know the Order is monitoring the house and will show up if something's wrong - she should have said so! I know they're all lacking in common sense and so in RowlingLand, it's more likely that Dumbledore was monitoring secretly and the Potters hadn't set up any magical alerts to let their best buddies Sirius and Peter (and Remus?) know if something was wrong so they could come help, but how much are we supposed to swallow here?

From:

sunnyskywalker

Come to think of it, if she wanted to go the "Voldemort is just too powerful" route, it would have been better if Voldemort had never intended to keep his promise to Snape. He just came in, Lily reflexively shouted, "Not Harry, please!" and then he zapped her with no additional fuss, the end.

Because why would he waste time bargaining and trying to get her to stand aside, even for a minute? Yet he does.

From:

ladyhadhafang.livejournal.com

Good point. :)

Or if Lily had actually tried to put up a fight. Sort of like, say, Katara when Zuko arrives in the Spirit Oasis with the intention of capturing Aang (mostly to regain his honor after his father banished him -- it's a long story). Instead of just standing there and pleading with Zuko not to get Aang, Katara actively *uses her skills against him* to keep him from capturing Aang (which unfortunately didn't end up in the live action movie for...some reason). Granted, Katara's later defeated by Zuko when the sun comes up (because, you know, waterbenders draw their power from the moon, and firebenders draw it from the sun), but the intent is worthy of admiration. There's no doubt that she was scared, but to quote John Wayne, "Courage is being scared to death, and yet saddling up anyway."

Granted, one could argue they were in different circumstances (Katara being in her element -- no pun intended -- and Lily...not), but like Lily, Katara was basically all alone against Zuko. Lily *knew* what Voldemort was capable of; why didn't she transport Harry to safety, then just pull a You Shall Not Pass on good old Voldemort. I mean...she and James *thrice defied him*, for Christ's sake!

What do you guys think? :)

From:

sunnyskywalker

I wonder what "thrice defied" even means? Did Voldemort have some elaborate plot, and Lily and James blundered in and stole his MacGuffin or took out a key henchman, and that ruined his plans? ("Curses, foiled again! Those meddling kids!") Or did they actually fight him? It seems like we're supposed to think no one fought Voldemort and lived during the first war, but maybe it's an exaggeration.

From:

sunnyskywalker

Or maybe he sent them three engraved invitations to join the dark side, and they tossed them in the trash XD

From:

ladyhadhafang.livejournal.com

You win a free Internet. XD

From:

sharaz-jek.livejournal.com

Didn't JKR say in an interview that this was pretty much the case for the first defiance? Maybe the other two were like Walter Koenig's explanation for how Khan remembers Chekov despite Chekov not being in the episode featuring Khan. (Chekov was in the bathroom and Khan was waiting desperately outside, and when he finally got in he discovered Chekov had used the last of the toilet paper. Khan swore never to forget this.)

From:

sunnyskywalker

That's the funniest retcon ever! Yes, the Potters bought the last Fizzing Whizbees from Honeydukes, there wouldn't be another shipment for a week, and Voldemort needed that candy today, dammit! Some things just cannot be borne.