deathtocapslock | GOF Chapter 24: Rita Skeeter's Scoop

Hermione is too sensible to bother with straightening her hair on a regular basis. Ron and Hermione are willing to keep the peace for the sake of Harry (and the plot) - oddly mature of them.

Hermione thinks views of giants are 'just' prejudice, and with that she proves how naive she is, just like about the elf issue. Though perhaps a giant that rejected giant culture (whether willingly or under duress) might be considered worthy to save her life.

Finally Harry starts doing something about the egg, but completely ignores Cedric's hint. Anybody trying to help Harry with something has to be very direct. This problem will be repeated with worse outcome next year, with Sirius' mirror.

Oh, Hagrid isn't there to teach. Professor Grubbly-Plank replaces him. The Slytherins are gleeful and not surprised. Draco lets Harry snatch the paper with Rita's revelations about Hagrid.

Let's see:

Hagrid was expelled in 3rd year - true.
Hagrid admits to said expulsion - true.
Hagrid has been gamekeeper since then - well it seems he was gamekeeper's assistant for about half of that time, so mostly true.
The position of gamekeeper was the result of Dumbles' intervention - probably true. At least that's what Hagrid says himself.
Hagrid was appointed COMC teacher over better qualified candidates - we see at least one such better-qualified person in Grubbly-Plank, so true.
This appointment was the result of 'mysterious influence' Hagrid has over Dumbles - speculation. (I'd say Dumbles just wanted to give his staunchest and blindest admirer more time with Harry.) Not true.
Hagrid is alarmingly large and ferocious-looking - true.
Hagrid has been terrifying his students and maiming them with horrific creatures - mostly true.
Draco was attacked by hippogriff - true.
Crabbe was bitten by flobberworm - not true (note that this is presented as a direct quote from Draco, so if he actually said it Rita isn't lying in reporting his words)
Draco says 'we all' hate Hagrid and are afraid to say so - the hatred is true, depending on whom is included in 'we all'. Though he isn't really afraid of saying so.
Hagrid admitted to breeding the skrewts illegally - he may indeed have. He tells Harry Rita was very interested in them during her interview with him.
Hagrid pretended to be a pureblood wizard - we don't know, though he never mentioned his giant heritage before and neither Ron nor Draco seem to have suspected it.
Hagrid's mother is the giantess Fridwulfa - true.
Internal warfare killed most of British giants - possible.
A handful of them joined Voldie's ranks - what does this mean? Did any of them have Dark marks or were they external supporters like Fenrir and perhaps other werewolves?
Giants were responsible for some of the worst Muggle killings - I though Muggles were mostly killed by DEs, for fun? I no longer know whether to believe Rita or Bill Weasley.
Many giants were killed by Aurors, but not Fridwulfa. She may have escaped to a giant community. Well, we know she had Grawp at some point. (How can a giant community last if they keep offing one another? I doubt we know all there is to know about them.)
Hagrid developed a friendship with Harry - true.
Dumbles should be warned about Hagrid - believe me, he knows. And doesn't care Hagrid may occasionally endanger students, as long as Harry keeps hearing Hagrid's praise of Dumbles.

In summary: The article is almost entirely true. The few untrue things are presented either as speculation or as a direct quote by someone else.

Parvati is disloyal by preferring a COMC teacher who does a decent job (and she is correct that losing his teaching position doesn't leave him jobless). But even Hermione prefers Grubbly-Plank. How dare she? At least Hermione does the decent thing of bending under Harry's pressure - yes, she wants Hagrid back as a terrible teacher, of course she does!

But the big question is how did Rita discover Hagrid's secret without being seen? (And yes, she is close to the truth, Rita did overhear Hagrid at the ball.)

Alas, Hagrid ignores the kids when they come to see him.

A nice example for Terri's thesis about Hogwarts discipline that I linked in chapter 18 (as well as her vision of Slytherin student culture from her fic): Draco taunts Harry only when there are teachers around, because that's allowed, but responding with violence or magic is punishable. I think in OOTP after the Quidditch match he managed to overdo the taunting to the point neither Harry nor George cared about punishment anymore.)

Harry lies to Hermione about his progress with the egg because he hopes to meet Hagrid in Hogsmeade. Er, if Hagrid is avoiding everyone why would he go to Hogsmaeade when students are there?

On the way there they see Viktor jumping into the lake. I remember when I first read this it reminded me of the places where this is done as a New Years tradition. But of course this means Viktor (like Cedric) figured out the egg's message and was working on his Transfiguration. (And Ron hopes the giant squid will take care of Viktor. Nice of him. And completely different from Draco wishing Slytherin's monster would kill Hermione.) Well, Viktor proved his worthiness to Hermione by saying he liked Hogwarts better than Durmstrang. And Ron broke his Viktor figurine. Oh, what a love triangle. But really, Viktor treats Hermione nicely, Hermione thinks well of him, they have enough to talk about to have a correspondence that lasts into the following year at least - why does she drop him for Ron of all people? (Because she smells Ron in the Amortentia. Hermione/Ron is all about hormones, no substance.)

Bagman (the mastermind!) is at the Three Broomsticks. With angry goblins. Why is he here? Well, the only way Harry can get a clue about his agenda is if he conducts his shady meetings where Harry (and half of the Hogwarts school body) is bound to show up. Oh, he wants a word with Harry. He reveals that Crouch Sr has been absent for weeks and Percy says he is ill. (Note that Percy is just saying what he knows - and that people outside Crouch's department are well aware of the latter's absence. Percy isn't pretending Crouch is in his office but too busy to see anyone. Also, note that Ludo doesn't think there is anything odd about Crouch's absence - so either the illness story really looks convincing or Ludo doesn't care or he really is the one who set these events in motion in the first place so obviously he isn't surprised, nor does he want anyone else to be.) If Rita found out about the absence she'd say Crouch went missing, like Bertha Jorkins. Well, that's not far from the truth. Was that a slip from the mastermind of the plot?

Ludo is finally conducting a search for the lost employee from his own department. Turns out Bertha visited one relative but disappeared on her way to another's home. And she's not the type to elope (why else would a woman disappear? the sexism).

OK, what Ludo really wanted was to give Harry a clue. Because he likes him. And supports a champion from Hogwarts. But not the official one. Harry doesn't want an unfair advantage, does he? He's selective about only receiving help from people he likes (even if they are teachers, like Hagrid and 'Moody', from whom he is explicitly not allowed to receive help). Now Ludo is refusing a drink from the twins. Is that because like Harry he realized to be suspicious with their offerings? (Or just avoiding their demands to be paid in real money for that bet.)

Hermione thinks Albus wouldn't have liked Ludo persuading Harry to cheat? Since when is Dumbles opposed to cheating by Harry?

Ron thinks Percy is trying to slowly poison Crouch so he could take over the department. Like fan theories about Severus and Sirius in OOTP.

Rita is there. And seems like she is considering investigating Bagman at the moment. But Harry confronts her about the Hagrid story, while Hermione calls her on her general method. Rita hints she already knows something about Ludo (indeed, she reported from his trial). Though it seems her plan was to get Ludo to lose his job rather quickly. I wonder how that was supposed to work. But now Rita found her next target. Indeed, Harry already sees her quill at work. But even before we see anything else from her, Hermione decides to get Rita, somehow. I believe this is where Hermione's other transformation begins. That's where she develops her vengeful streak, which we will see more of next year (and from which she doesn't recover in canon.) Naively Hermione thinks the only people whose opinion of her matters are her parents. Little does she know.

She decides its her duty to force Hagrid out of his sulk. Well, Albus is there too. Finally, almost 2 weeks after Rita's article, he is there to show some support to a member of his staff. Oh, and he brought with him countless of supportive letters from parents. Who remember Hagrid as groundskeeper (or the assistant to one), not as a teacher. Also, Albus receives complaints about the running of the school weekly. But ignores them all, of course. How would anyone else know better than him? So now people bring up their horrible relatives. Harry has the Dursleys. ('Look what I've got for relatives' - because Muggles aren't human, so they qualify as 'what' rather than 'who'.) And Dumbles has Aberforth, with some never-quite-explained history with goats. (Why would wizards care about bestiality, if that really is the case? They do every other horrible thing to animals.)

How long did Hagrid's father think his son wasn't a wizard? Was Hagrid a later bloomer than Neville?

We get Hagrid's take on Albus - he gives second chances, will take in anyone, regardless of family background, as long as s/he has magical talent. (What Hagrid doesn't say is that said family members get treated like dirt if they aren't human magicals.)

And finally Harry decides to tackle the egg. Because he can't let Hagrid down. (Harry/Hagrid OTP?)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

oneandthetruth.livejournal.com

PSYCHOPATHS MUST BE IN CONTROL AT ALL TIMES!

That's why they make such great totalitarian dictators. That's also why they lie all the time, even when they don't have to. It's an attempt to control, to bend reality to their will. Don't like the reality you've got? Just make up a new one. Bonus points if you can convince others of your alternate reality.

That need to control is why Albus hated and slandered Aberforth. Like my sister and me, Aberforth was the one person Albus could neither control nor brainwash. So he had to be destroyed, not his body but his reputation. There was no need to kill Aberforth because Albus knew he'd done such a great job of conning the world, nobody would listen to Aberforth anyway. But the hostility was still there, so it had to come out sometimes.

I also don't buy Albus was a genius. IIRC, we have no evidence of this besides his own bragging and the accolades of his subservient friend, Doge. Sure, the chocolate frog card praises him, but where did it get its information, hmmm? And just because he wrote to a lot of famous people doesn't mean they wrote back. It also should be remembered that a man who could alter his school records to cover up what house he was in (I believe Hufflepuff) could also have altered them to make himself look smarter and more creative than he was. After all, who was going to contradict the beloved and brilliant Headmaster of Hogwarts, the Only Person You-Know-Who Feared?

He certainly doesn't act like a brilliant person. He acts remarkably stupid, telling a bunch of lies that can easily be disproven, making plans that fail dramatically, behaving in gratuitously reckless ways, then raving about how wonderful and brilliant he is, and how any failures are the fault of somebody else. The only things he's good at are playing with people's heads and playing them off against each other. That's all typical psychopathic behavior.

I don't think there was a damned thing wrong with Aberforth except that he wouldn't fall down and kiss Albus's butt. We have no evidence he was intellectually inferior except the word of his pathologically dishonest brother. Sure, he quit school before graduating. So did John Lennon. So did Bill Gates. People often quit school for reasons that have nothing to do with doing poorly at their studies. Maybe, like Lennon and Gates, he decided Hogwarts wasn't teaching him what he wanted to know, so he pursued his own course of study. Maybe he was being bullied. Maybe he was tired of being compared to his brother.

Sure, he didn't achieve the adulation Albus did, but he was clearly a more modest person. Some people just don't care about living in the limelight. Narcissists and psychopaths have to constantly be fawned over by others. That's because they're empty inside, and the only way they can relieve that emptiness is by having others try to fill them up. Since Aberforth was clearly neither a narcissist nor a psychopath, he didn't feel that emptiness, so he didn't need the acclaim of others to fill him up.

Far more convincingly, to me, than his loud praises of Aberforth in the King's Cross scene in DH.

Oh, yeah. For once, the mask of goodness slipped, and we got to see the real Albus Dumbledore.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: If you assume Dumbledore is a psychopath and everything he says is a lie, the books make sense. If you don't, you're forced to torture out these endless, convoluted explanations for his remarks, like like terri_testing is so good at doing.

I prefer to go with Occam's Razor.

From:

night-axe.livejournal.com

First, you have my sympathies for the situation with your sister. That's got to suck beyond the telling of it.

Second, you make a good case. (Side note: much better than Swythyv's for DD having Aspergers. Her essays are fun, but she should have looked in the DSM-IV, not Wikipedia.) Dumbledore creeps me the fuck out with his personality cult, his spin-doctor lies, and his utterly self-involved emotional life. "Oh poor Harry, I just couldn't add to your troubles by making you prefect before I have you killed". And his personality is consistent by JKR's standards. We could argue endlessly whether OotP!Sirius follows naturally from GoF!Sirius and what that says about his character, or whether analyzing him is pointless because the author just gave him a makeover to suit her plot. But Dumbledore never seems OOC, unless you start with the assumption he's a good and caring man. What he frequently does, though, is strike a false note when trying to express a human sentiment (such as his OotP talk about "love"). So yeah, the more I think about it the more plausible your diagnosis seems.

I don't think there was a damned thing wrong with Aberforth except that he wouldn't fall down and kiss Albus's butt.

QFT.

From:

majorjune.livejournal.com

So yeah, the more I think about it the more plausible your diagnosis seems.

And what, pray tell, may we then infer about the psychological profile of the character's creator, since said creator presents said character as the epitome of ethics and heroics? ;-)

From:

the-bitter-word.livejournal.com

Speaking of said author and the character she'd most like to meet or have dinner with, or something, I wonder if I am the only one in the world who dreads the new Pottermore (http://www.pottermore.com) site, whatever it will be. When I read the first gleeful speculation about Pottermore, I became profoundly depressed. Why can't Rowling just let the f'ing thing die, already?

If it's a fan site, well, the joke's on those devoted fans who've built their own sites for years, I guess. This one will be official.

If it's the encyclopedia, I fear the worst, frankly.

If it's an RPG, count me in for starting a Goblin rebellion.

But, if the purported screenshots (http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/facebook-page-uploaded-three-possible-screenshots-from-j-k-rowlings-pottermore-website_b32558) are correct, it's seems like just another way to get money out of the franchise. It makes me sad.

There are cynical remarks in the article below, not linked because NPR is weird about linking:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2011/06/17/137245987/quoth-the-rowling-pottermore

Edited Date: 2011-06-18 06:27 am (UTC)

From:

oryx_leucoryx

Well, anything from Rowling is going to require tons of new fanwank to fit with existing canon because I doubt she suddenly improved her ability to maintain consistency. I find it likely many of us here will ignore it except to poke even more fun at her.

From:

the-bitter-word.livejournal.com

Yes, more mental exertions to make canon work, more selective shutdowns of critical perspectives... I guess that's not really a depressing prospect. What else do people have to do with their time, and probably money, than worship at the altar of Rowling?

It reminds me of Dumbledore, though. Just when I thought the tiresome pedant was really and truly dead, he comes back to life to explain it all once again in the face of incredulity and disgust, and assert that, just because he says so, the pieces really do fit. He's especially careful to note his overwhelming cleverness, just in case I didn't properly appreciate it and doubted him. Huzzah, he's universally acclaimed as the most amazing wizard ever!

I was actually serious about the goblin rebellion thing. But, I don't want to waste my time on what is essentially a waste of time, in the end.

From:

oryx_leucoryx

Anything from Rowling is going to be more spork material. Possibly also anything from WB. Anything else can be safely ignored or enjoyed, according to individual taste.

I wonder what she'd say about fanfic that doesn't align with her views of the characters.

From:

majorjune.livejournal.com

When I read the first gleeful speculation about Pottermore, I became profoundly depressed. Why can't Rowling just let the f'ing thing die, already?

Two reasons: money, and I suspect that she's come to the realization that she's never again going to have the success as an author as she did with the Potter series. Hell, where's the new book she's claimed to be working on? She doesn't even crank out short stories for magazines! :-)

If it's a fan site, well, the joke's on those devoted fans who've built their own sites for years, I guess. This one will be official.

If it's the encyclopedia, I fear the worst, frankly.

If it's an RPG, count me in for starting a Goblin rebellion.

I read that's it's supposed to be a "social networking site", with games, fan fiction (?????), and the ability to buy the Potter books in e-read format.

I suppose that it may allow fans to post fiction for free (but since there are so many existing fan fiction sites, why bother?), but I suspect all the other functions will require a fee of some sort, especially since WB's involved in it, too.

From:

the-bitter-word.livejournal.com

I suppose that it may allow fans to post fiction for free (but since there are so many existing fan fiction sites, why bother?)

Maybe the chance to be noticed, or gads, approved of by La Rowling herself will drive fans to post fiction on the site.

The whole thing, from rumors, sounds like a paean to her work and brilliance, which... has anyone else ever set something like this up for his/her own sake? I know there are huge fansites for some authors' works, like Westeros, but those were set up by the fans, not the authors.

... but I suspect all the other functions will require a fee of some sort, especially since WB's involved in it, too.

Well, WB would support it, since the last movie's coming out, but it's being presented as a Rowling production. Someone's making bank, anyway. And, yes, it's probably not new work. It's probably keeping the old cash cow alive.

Re: The Truth about Aberforth, Part 2

From:

oneandthetruth.livejournal.com - Date: 2011-06-19 05:31 am (UTC) - Expand

From:

oneandthetruth.livejournal.com

There are cynical remarks in the article below, not linked because NPR is weird about linking:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2011/06/17/137245987/quoth-the-rowling-pottermore

I found this remark in the NPR article interesting.

She's [Rowling's] said in the past that she'd donate any proceeds of an encyclopedia she created to charity, so it makes sense that it might become a free online tool rather than a book from which she took no money.

Wow. If I'm interpreting that correctly, that's an insult as subtle as Dumbledore's remarks about Aberforth and goats, and his "we sort too soon" dig at Severus. That is, it sounds to me as if this person is saying, "Rowling is so greedy, she can't stand the idea of writing a book and not making money off it, so she'd rather just create an online tool she won't make money off of anyway, and let the charities go hang."

And why is this site not called Potterwatch? That would be a nice little inside joke.

That must be a Slytherin owl on the right, since it looks kind of satanic. ;-)

From:

sweettalkeress.livejournal.com

"Dumbledore creeps me the fuck out with his personality cult, his spin-doctor lies, and his utterly self-involved emotional life."

So I've recently got ahold of the newest generation of Pokemon games (this'll all be in an essay sometime in the future, hint hint) and although I haven't actually played them yet, the main villain (from my admittedly limited understanding) seems to be very similar to Dumbledore- in that he spends most of his time pretending to be benevolent and well-meaning, all while plotting world domination and raising a hapless child to be a sacrificial lamb. And you know what, the fandom HATES this guy because he's just so evil! Take that as you will.

From:

oryx_leucoryx

Dumbles is loved by many because they buy his benevolent front and are convinced that whatever manipulation and lying he engages in is only done for noble causes (such as saving Harry from being expelled).

Pratchett's Lord Vetinari is openly (to the reader, and to protagonists such as Sam Vimes and Moist von Lipwig) bastardly yet still loved by fans. I think it's because he does appear to have limits and he comes across as sincere when he says it is all for the sake of the city. I doubt anyone ever said Vetinari is no different from Reacher Gilt or any of the other manipulative villains.

From:

condwiramurs.livejournal.com

Vetinari also never claims to be the pinnacle of morality and righteousness. He may be a bastard at times, but he's not a hypocritical manipulator. He's a pragmatist. I think he and Snape might see eye to eye on a few things. And he does demonstrate an ability to genuinely care about at least one other living creature (Whuffles), which is more than I can say for Dumbles.

(Now I need Discworld/HP crossover fic. Sigh.)

From:

oryx_leucoryx

Vetinari doesn't mess with children's lives either. And there are tangible changes to the better in the city from his policies.

The people he manipulates are either criminals with useful talents who get their redemption through his 'angel' program, talented but unwittingly too dangerous to leave at large (Leonard) or talented but in need for direction (Sam). Severus would have flourished under Vetinai's care. In my imagined cross-over Severus befriends Sam. (Heck, wizards are the only people Sam doesn't hate - they don't add to his paperwork; but he won't want magic to solve crimes, it's unreliable.)

From:

night-axe.livejournal.com

Dumbles is loved by many because they buy his benevolent front and are convinced that whatever manipulation and lying he engages in is only done for noble causes (such as saving Harry from being expelled).

Dumbledore is on the side of good if you define "good" (as the books pretty much do) as "getting rid of Voldemort" with a side order of "being pro-muggleborn". That doesn't automatically make him a good person. I was just looking at the HP Network's Dumbledore thread (http://www.thehpn.com/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=26&topic=14576.0), and the DD fans are saying that he was the general, the plot compelled him to make tough decisions etc. Granted, but he made them with maximum doucheyness.

Also, what

condwiramurs said below. Dumbledore would be a lot more tolerable as a cold, detached bastard who didn't pretend to be anything else. /end rant

From:

oryx_leucoryx

It also should be remembered that a man who could alter his school records to cover up what house he was in (I believe Hufflepuff)

Hufflepuff? I have seen good arguments for both Ravenclaw (detachment, pride in his cleverness, analyzing emotions he doesn't actually experience) and Slytherin (how different is he from Tom?) but I can't see Hufflepuff. Who is he loyal to other than himself? Where is the work ethic? While I can see both Umbridge and Fudge as Hufflepuffs gone bad (though Umbridge has connections with Slytherins and Fudge can posture like the best of Gryffindor) I can't see the Twinkly One as such.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: If you assume Dumbledore is a psychopath and everything he says is a lie, the books make sense. If you don't, you're forced to torture out these endless, convoluted explanations for his remarks, like like terri_testing is so good at doing.

We tried listing all his canonically demonstrated and suspected lies once here. We may have missed a few, but yes, the list got rather longish.

From:

oneandthetruth.livejournal.com

That's partly what I was thinking of when I referred to tortured explanations. I read that and thought, "Oryx did a womanful job with this, but she would have made it a whole lot easier on herself if she'd listed the true things he said rather than his lies. That list would have been a whole lot shorter. It would be interesting to compare the two." Hint, hint. ;-)

I was also thinking of terri's suggestion Aberforth was dyslexic, among other speculations she's made about the family.

Regarding Dumbledore the Hufflepuff, I wrote a reply, but it got so long I'm going to post it as a separate essay in the next few days. I also examine why he favored and disfavored the houses he did.

From:

oryx_leucoryx

Lynn tried to list his true statements. It got boring because many things are trivially true or have no truth value. Anyway, in the list of lies I focused on what obviously contradicts other canon or what doesn't mesh well with other canon (proven and highly suspected lies). There's a lot that is not clearly on either side.

The possibility of Dyslexia occurred to Terri because of her dyslexic grandfather (just like marionros reads Albus as a Narcissist because of her narcissistic sister and you read him similarly from your experience in your family). Before there was awareness of this disability dyslexics were often treated by emotionally normal people the way Albus treats his brother. But of course Albus would be nasty that way to Aberforth even without that kind of 'justification'. Based on my experience all I can say is that swythyv is completely wrong with the Autism Spectrum Disorders (though I like her description of Albus as the man who failed at many of life's tests).

Looking forward to your essay on Albus' true House.

From:

lynn-waterfall.livejournal.com

Yeah, I posted the true statements in both PS and CoS, as I recall. I think I went through PoA without posting anything... I probably still have the notes. I can post them if anyone's interested.

...Oh, I have most of DH done, too! Just from Severus' memories, but those are the only ones I feel we can use to judge Dumbledore with, anyway. (The stuff Harry hears after being AK'd could be a hallucination.)

From:

lynn-waterfall.livejournal.com

This is probably funnier if you recall what it is I'm leaving out.

Dumbledore makes very few statements in this book. He doesn't say much (being dead), and many of the things he says are questions or orders, which have no truth value.

(Of course, questions and orders can deceive, but I'll leave that to Oryx.)

So:

“The prophecy did not refer to a woman,” said Dumbledore. “It spoke of a boy born at the end of July – ”

This is not something that they could be entirely sure of. We've talked about the seventh month thing.

“You disgust me,” said Dumbledore

May or may not be true. He'd probably say it anyway, because he's trying to browbeat Severus. (And succeedding.)

“[Lily's] boy survives,” said Dumbledore.

True.

“Her son lives. He has her eyes, precisely her eyes.

Precisely? Oh, whatever.

“If you loved Lily Evans, if you truly loved her, then your way forward is clear.”

Hmm... no. I don't think that it's clear. Severus could have done all kinds of other things. He could have gone after Vapor!mort, he could have openly worked for greater acceptance of Muggleborns. He could have done a lot of things.

He could have taken Harry away from the Dursleys and seen to it that Harry grew up in a happier home.

I'm not blaming Severus for not doing these other things, mind you. I'm just saying that Dumbledore's statement isn't true.

“You know how and why she died.

True. (The rest of this line consists of orders/suggestions, which have no truth value.)

“The Dark Lord will return, and Harry Potter will be in terrible danger when he does.”

True. And one of the people that Harry will be in danger from is *Dumbledore*, since Dumbledore is going to set him up to die.

“You see what you expect to see, Severus,” said Dumbledore, without raising his eyes from a copy of Transfiguration Today.

We don't know whether this is true, and it's a matter of much debate in Snapedom even as we speak.

“Other teachers report that the boy is modest, likable, and reasonably talented.

...Probably? We don't know, but probably.

Personally, I find him an engaging child.”

This is in the middle of Harry's first year, so Dumbledore has interacted with Harry for... how many seconds? Probably zero. I suppose Legilimency at a distance is a possibility, or something, I certainly can't categorize this one as known to be true.

“You are a braver man by far than Igor Karkaroff.

True.

“I…was a fool. Sorely tempted…”

Probably true on both accounts.

“You have done very well, Severus. [...] I am fortunate, extremely fortunate, that I have you, Severus.”

True. :P

“I refer to the plan Lord Voldemort is revolving around me. His plan to have the poor Malfoy boy murder me.”

I am sure that that is what he was referring to.

“Oh, not quite yet,” said Dumbledore, smiling. “I daresay the moment will present itself in due course. Given what has happened tonight,” he indicated his withered hand, “we can be sure that it will happen within a year.”

True, true, and true.

I confess I should prefer a quick, painless exit to the protracted and messy affair it will be if, for instance, Greyback is involved – I hear Voldemort has recruited him? Or dear Bellatrix, who likes to play with her food before she eats it.”

I'm sure this is true -- the preference, and what he'd heard.

[“He is his father over again – ”]

“In looks, perhaps, but his deepest nature is much more like his mother’s.

Maybe.

[“Information,” repeated Snape. “You trust him…you do not trust me.”]

“It is not a question of trust.

I believe that.

I have, as we both know, limited time.

Don't we all? But Dumbledore's is particularly limited.

“I prefer not to put all of my secrets in one basket

Total, utter lie. Dumbledore is the one basket he keeps all his secrets in.

“And you do it extremely well.

This refers to Snape's spending time around Voldemort. It's probably true.

From:

lynn-waterfall.livejournal.com

Do not think that I underestimate the constant danger in which you place yourself, Severus.

There's room for doubt here, but it could be true. Dumbledore probably does know, whether or not he cares.

“You gave me your word, Severus. And while we are talking about services you owe me, I thought you agreed to keep a close eye on our young Slytherin friend?”

True, and presumably true.

[“But what must he do?”]

“That is between Harry and me. Now listen closely, Severus. There will come a time – after my death – do not argue, do not interrupt! There will come a time when Lord Voldemort will seem to fear for the life of his snake.”

True because he makes it be true, and true even though he must be guessing.

Everything else is Dumbledore's portrait, or a possible hallucination, so I'm going to leave DH with just this.

From:

oneandthetruth.livejournal.com

Wow. Thanks for the info, and for all the work you put into collating that. Now I'll have to compare it to oryx's list of his lies from DH.

From:

danajsparks.livejournal.com

I don't think that many people with Asperger's would be capable of being as manipulative as Dumbledore is. I imagine Swythyv suggested Asperger's mainly because people who are diagnosed with it are often characterized as lacking in empathy. It's an unfair characterization, for, unlike psychopaths, most people with Asperger's genuinely do care about others' feelings. I think part of the problem is that psychologists have failed to see the distinction between being empathetic and having social skills.

From:

oryx_leucoryx

I don't think that many people with Asperger's would be capable of being as manipulative as Dumbledore is.

Agreed. Aspies/Auties who try to be manipulative tend to be amazingly naive about it. Nor would they be capable of the intense eye contact required for Legilimency.

It's an unfair characterization, for, unlike psychopaths, most people with Asperger's genuinely do care about others' feelings. I think part of the problem is that psychologists have failed to see the distinction between being empathetic and having social skills.

Yes. There's a deficiency in understanding how other minds work, understanding a different perspective, and how to express feelings appropriately.

Re: The Truth about Aberforth, Part 2

From:

oneandthetruth.livejournal.com - Date: 2011-06-21 03:27 am (UTC) - Expand

From:

charlottehywd.livejournal.com

I concur. As someone whose sister has autism and who has met numerous other people with either autism or Aspberger's, I highly doubt that someone like Dumbledore could be that way. My sister, for example, may not always think of other people when she does something, but she is quite emotional and very affectionate towards the people she likes. DD isn't either of those things.