Rita Skeeter posts a contribution to our discussion

[terri-testing.livejournal.com]

I just re-read what Rita wrote after reproducing Albus’s charming letter to his lover.  And it’s instructive, as Rita always is.  Here she is, in all her audience-wooing. muckraking glory:

“Astonished and appalled though his many admirers will be, this letter constitutes proof that Albus Dumbledore once dreamed of overthrowing the Statute of Secrecy and establishing Wizard rule over Muggles. What a blow for those who have always portrayed Dumbledore as the Muggle-borns’ greatest champion!  How hollow those speeches promoting Muggle rights in the light of this damning new evidence!  How despicable does Albus Dumbledore appear, busy plotting his rise to power when he should have been mourning his mother and caring for his sister!”

Rita Skeeter, The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore, quoted in DH 18.

And there we have it.  What strikes US (or, at least me; I shouldn’t jump in and speak for other Muggles) as unthinkably shocking and horrifying about Albus and Gellert’s youthful fancies is that they quite seriously plotted to set themselves up as total dictators, whatever violence—to body or mind—was required for them to “seize control” and maintain it afterwards.

What Rita expected to astonish and appall her magical readers, conversely, was that Albus “once dreamed of overthrowing the Statute of Secrecy.”


Um.  So. Plot mass murder and absolute, inescapable repression?  Dream of enslaving, both body and mind, all the survivors of your original coup?  MILLIONS of victims?  (Most of them Muggle, by definition.)

And then force your slaves to recite, in unison, that it had all been for their own greater good.  Really.

(In real life, some Western slave-owners actually DID make this argument.  Had they not mercifully caused African natives to be kidnapped and worked [or tortured] to death, said natives might well have gone through their whole lives without ever, perhaps, having received the benefit of learning about Christianity!)

The response of Rita’s Daily Prophet readers to such a program? 

Neh.  Boys will be boys, and it’s good to have ambitions.

But.  Plot to overturn the Statute of Secrecy? 

How despicable does Albus seem!

Comments

Re: Fawkes's acquisition

[sunnyskywalker]

Albus having Fawkes (whether fully or on loan) would also make the timing of his naming his Order back in 1974 or so a little smoother. "Yup, naming my order after my familiar, which is a symbol of life and hope and stuff *handwave* and possibly a reminder that I have worked on alchemy with the immortal Nicholas Flamel" would raise less eyebrows than "Naming my order after a creature animal which is not particularly associated with me (but there are rumors about my enemy)."

Tom as an early "disappeared" victim also could help smooth out the contradictory statements that (a) few people know Voldemort was once Tom Riddle and (b) most people who knew him at school are afraid to talk. He implies that they're afraid because they know he's Voldemort and don't want to bring down his wrath, but what if he means that they're afraid because a few other people who tried to investigate what happened to poor Tom also came to bad ends? Poor Tom, who suddenly "resigned" (OR DID HE) and disappeared after those valuable artifacts went missing--well, suppose Voldemort was the thief, Tom found out about it somehow due to his connection with Hepzibah, and there's something in that whole murder and robbery affair that Voldemort doesn't want anyone looking into? (Not that he minded taking out Tom to eliminate a possible adversary as well, but perhaps Tom also Knew Too Much.)

Best not to even think about whatever it is Voldemort doesn't want people to know. Best not to mention you knew much about Tom at all, just to be safe. If he could take out Tom Riddle to cover it up, you'll be dead before you know it.

Or (and/or?), if one of the reasons Tom never got caught in school was because he Obliviated his victims, Dumbledore might not have been asking people about what Tom was like, exactly. He might have been saying, "I think you were Obliviated in school, and recovering your memories might give some important information. There is, alas, a slight risk that doing so will damage your mind somewhat..." So they weren't necessarily directly afraid of Tom/Voldemort, but of the PROCESS of remembering.

Oh, you're right. Thinking Tom died and returned as Voldemort would be impressive.