OotP Chapter Thirty-Seven
Jul. 4th, 2008 11:22 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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deathtocapslock*Aren’t you proud I didn’t write "The Lame Prophecy?" Because I totally could have.
*I should warn everyone this recap never ends, because it’s an entire chapter of Dumbledore trying to wrestle the story into his pre-set moral ideas, so every line needed some explanation.
*Everything seemed to have repaired itself in Dumbledore’s office since the headmaster’s departure. In fiction this is called "hitting the reset button." Don’t suppose that will work at the Black House. Of course, this sort of thing can undermine the gritty realism for which the series is known just a tad.
*If his surroundings could have reflected Harry’s inner feelings, the portraits would all have been screaming in pain. I guess we should all be grateful they don’t reflect Harry’s inner feelings, then. The headmaster would never get any work done.
*Harry thinks it’s his fault Sirius is dead. Snape, where are you?! Harry’s reflecting on his own actions and wondering if he did the right thing! Somebody stop him!
*Harry has a big gaping hole inside him where Sirius had been. A hole that is bigger and blacker than the hole anyone else would have had if someone they were actually close to died.
*Phineas says the office is barred to all but the "rightful" headmaster, which does beg the question of how the "rightful" one is chosen. Who decides who’s right? Isn’t it just a job? Do they pick the person by seeing who can get in the room? Somehow I suspect this is just one of these things everybody’s supposed to know—well obviously there’s such a thing as the "right" people and the "wrong" people, and any self-respecting office would know the difference.
*ETA: Which makes one wonder why anybody thought Snape was a bad guy. Amycus wouldn't be getting into that office, surely.
*Not that there’s any such thing as pre-set fate. It’s your choices that make you what you are. Unless you choose the wrong headmaster, in which case the universe will let you know.
*Phineas calls Sirius worthless but he does actually care about him. Could this be a hint to how the Blacks or Slytherins behave? ETA: No, not really. Unless you count Lucius dressing Draco down in CoS while still being crazy about him.
*Dumbledore says Harry will be pleased to know his fellow students will suffer no lasting injury. Don't worry, he means Harry's friends. He and Harry don't really care about Harry’s fellow students. How’s Montague, Dumbledore? Suffering lasting damage, is he?
*Dumbledore is worried that Harry feels ashamed at being sad that Sirius died? Um, that doesn’t really seem to be Harry’s problem. In fact, it seems rather a point of honor in Gryffindor to grieve loudly and dramatically for five minutes.
*Harry doesn’t want to talk about his feelings—he’d rather just show them to everyone a lot through tantrums, throwing things and such.
*Oh, alright, if you insist on Harry talking about his feelings MAY HE AT LEAST DO IT IN CAPSLOCK??!!
*I know a lot of people find Harry’s I DON’T WANT TO BE HUMAN very tragic but me, not so much.
*If feeling like this is Harry’s greatest strength then Voldemort really doesn’t stand a chance. Harry has been a towering pillar of rage and self-pity all year.
*Dumbledore creepily tells Harry that Harry cares so much he feels he will "bleed to death from the pain of it" (Anyone else think Dumbledore, inside, is rubbing his hands together and thinking Heh heh heh. All part of my plan, and it’s working perfectly!) What does Harry supposedly not care about, exactly? Voldemort winning? But that’s not what’s making him bleed to death with the pain of it, is it? Isn’t that just the Sirius-shaped hole?
*Btw, "Bleed to death from the pain of it." We’ll just pretend that metaphor makes sense. I suppose if you can bleed to death from a snakebite you can bleed to death from pain.
*Meanwhile, Phineas responds to this kind of painful situation with a sort of practical bluntness that many people would probably appreciate. But then, since Harry is someone who gets offended if someone doesn’t show proper grief at having learned the kid getting fitted for robes at the same time as he is lost his parents at some point in the unspecified past, you can see why he’d more appreciate Dumbledore’s assurance that his pain is really quite special and the worst thing ever, and a sign of his superiority.
*God, Dumbledore really is an annoying little bitch, isn’t he? "By all means, continue destroying my possessions. I have too many and can easily hit the reset button and fix them." Is he really supposed to be set up here as the best teacher ever? I mean, he’s treating Harry like a toddler. Though I guess he is acting like one.
*Dumbledore claims responsibility for Sirius’ death and acts like he was remiss in not making it perfectly clear to Harry that there was no need for him to go to the DoM, but since making sure Harry didn’t know this was such a priority all year, I can’t help but feel he’s lying and this was exactly what he needed to happen now.
*Am I the only one who finds Phineas’ reaction to Sirius’ death far more real and effecting than Harry’s? In a few short paragraphs throughout the book Phineas has completely convinced me he and Sirius are family, something Harry has not been able to do with pages of CAPSLOCK.
*ETA: Post-DH people often talked about which death was the saddest, and honestly for me the most touching grief is still Phineas here and Amos Diggory. With minor characters JKR really hit it for me. I just felt how these characters would specifically feel about a real loss, which to me is more like grief than the over-selling of death elsewhere.
*Oh good lord, here comes Dumbledore’s creepy, "forgive me for I am but a dotty old man who is still smarter than everyone else" speech.
*Harry did not care about being rude, because he doesn’t care about much of anything anymore. Apparently he’s forgotten he never cared about being rude.
*I think at the end of the series the fact the people keep correcting Harry that Snape is “Professor Snape” is going to be important. Whether this means Snape will ultimately wind up respected by everyone is unclear. Perhaps he’ll die doing something evil and it will be out of pettiness because Harry didn’t call him Professor.
*Dumbledore ignored Harry all year so Voldemort wouldn’t ever know he and Harry were more than headmaster and pupil or ever had been. Okay, first, they ARE headmaster and pupil. Harry just happens to be Dumbledore’s favorite. Even if Malfoy wasn’t there as witness to this (remember those points first year? Nobody thought that was about Hermione), even if Malfoy hadn’t obviously reported this back to his dad, who told Voldemort, why on earth would Voldemort ever doubt there was more to their relationship? I know he’s shown idiocy in the past, but would he really think Dumbledore would have no special interest in Harry? Especially given his personal love of James? And Harry’s closeness to the Weasleys? And the fact that he’s in Gryffindor? Next Dumbledore will reveal he allowed Harry to be banned from Quidditch to protect the vital secret that Harry is handy on a broom.
*Throughout his mea culpa act, Dumbledore finds many opportunities to remind Harry he was actually completely right about everything, and only made a mistake in not knowing the proper way to make sure others did the right thing. Dumbledore was RIGHT to think Voldemort might try to use Harry in some way, and this is apparently a brilliant deduction that was not obvious to everyone, especially Harry. He forgot kids like to be told what's going on, unlike older people, who love to be kept in the dark about things that concern them. Just ask Snape!
*So while Voldemort has really been spending the year trying to get Harry to the DoM to get the prophecy, Dumbledore’s thought he was spending the year trying to possess Harry so that Dumbledore would kill him. Yes, he was totally right all along. Two steps ahead all the time.
*Harry, naturally, has no interest in these explanations of the plot the way he might have been interested a few months ago. He thinks it’s because he’s so upset about Sirius. I think it’s really because he actually doesn’t care what emotions Dumbledore has been handling all year. ETA: He's really only interested in emotions Dumbledore had 80 some odd years ago, and he'll only be interested in that after he's dead.
*Continuing in his story of "My Brilliant Plan and How Everybody Else Fucked It Up In Ways I, Dumbledore, Could Never Have Foreseen," Dumbledore reveals he realized he was, of course, completely correct in thinking Voldemort would try to use Harry, so he brilliantly arranged for some half-arsed Occlumency lessons. These lessons were really important, though not so important that Dumbledore would actually keep an eye on them, or get Harry a teacher who would help him.
*Meanwhile, he continued to hide from Harry the terrible secret that there was a possibility he could get possessed by Voldemort and used by him, because Harry had too much to deal with at that time. Remember what Harry was dealing with at that time? He was all upset because he was worried Voldemort was possessing him and using him.
*And then Harry heard Rookwood telling Voldemort what we’ve known all along, that the prophecies are heavily protected. Only Rookwood was, err, kind of wrong, because they’re not all that protected. Voldemort could have pretty much walked in and taken his. Maybe this was yet another of those times where somebody only listened to half the important information before running off and making a plan: "The prophecy is very well-protecte...between the hours of 2 and 6 pm."
*At this point it became ever more urgent for Harry to learn Occlumency. But not so urgent that anyone should really try to make him learn Occlumency.
*I could make a comment here on how Harry sticks in a reminder about how Hermione Was Right All Along, but his having to learn Occlumency was so obvious it seems unnecessary.
*Apparently the Order have more reliable ways of communicating than Harry does, so Snape could easily contact Sirius. Is there some reason these "reliable means of communication" could not have been given to Harry? Because I feel like Dumbledore just said, "Oh, well, we’ve all got cell phones so Snape just called him." ETA: Which is pretty much what he said. And no, nobody will ever teach the kids to use their Patronuses that way even though they presumably would.
*All agreed to go to Harry’s aid at once. It just maybe didn’t seem that way cause it took so long.
*And Snape told Sirius to stay behind. If anyone is keeping score, yes, Snape is the one person who thought rationally and effectively throughout this ordeal. No wonder it’s all his fault! Thinking rationally effectively is just another sign he does not love Harry and so is evil!
*Now I have visions of drunken!Sirius telling Kreacher about how Harry means most to him in the world. I still wonder how Kreacher knew that Harry was coming to regard Sirius as a father and a brother. Maybe they just reminded him of the Blacks: Mr. Black also drank alone and Sirius and Regulus were forever shutting themselves in their rooms and sulking.
*So Voldemort figured out the one person Harry would go to any lengths to rescue was Sirius Black. Didn’t we earlier establish Harry would go to any lengths to rescue most people? Isn’t that his "saving people thing?" Wouldn’t he have done this for pretty much anybody who’d ever been in Gryffindor?
*Kreacher injured Buckbeak?! I hope Buckbeak at least annoyed him first, making it okay!
*Harry’s really stuck on this idea of Kreacher laughing about Sirius. Perhaps it was a practical joke on Sirius, Harry. You don’t want to be the kind of person who doesn’t laugh at jokes, do you? Sometimes the bad guys have to let off steam and raise their spirits, you know? ETA: This will just make it all the more emotional when Kreacher becomes Harry's favorite slave.
*Although Dumbledore is a legimens, he still preferred to "persuade" Kreacher to tell him the whole story. "Persuading" being marginally less sinister than "having a little chat." At least Kreacher *might* still be alive.
*And Dumbledore had Kreacher tell him this story *before* he left for the Department of Mysteries. Before. Because he couldn’t face Voldemort without the proper exposition.
*And here we get to Dumbledore’s most ridiculous assertion: if you’d all have been nicer to Kreacher, this wouldn’t have happened. The problem with Kreacher was that he had a miserable life in having to work for Sirius, to whom he felt no loyalty. If Sirius had made his "lot easier" (don’t ask me how exactly this was to be done), Kreacher would not have felt badly. There’s no reference to any *positive* feelings Kreacher may have felt for the other Blacks. Those could have easily been taken care of with cake.
*ETA: Well, what to make of this? Dumbledore will no longer worry about making Kreacher miserable by forcing him to work for a master to whom he has no loyalty next year, when that master is Harry. And anyway it turns out cake and sympathy will completely wipe out any seeming feeling Kreacher has for the Blacks.
*ETA: Just had a passing thought that it's funny the way JKR says obviously Harry and Draco could never be friends after all that's happened, when Harry will name his son after a guy who hated him but was obsessed with his mother, and come to embrace the elf who lured his father-figure with his death as a beloved slave.
*Kreacher, according to Dumbledore, is "what he has been made by wizards." He is not an independent being, but simply the bad reflection of bad wizards. Any love that Kreacher might claim to feel for Mrs. Black is just brainwashing, the sad, negative evidence of his mistreatment. ETA: His love for Harry, otoh, is deep and true.
*Harry thinks Dumbledore doesn’t understand Sirius: "how brave he was, how much he suffered…" sound like anybody we know?
*Dumbledore really is a jerk, here. This Sirius speech is hardly appropriate—for a confession of how everything is his fault Dumbledore sure seems to have a lot to say about other peoples’ mistakes, especially considering Dumbledore put Sirius there in the first place with Kreacher.
*"What about Snape?" Harry sneers. Ah, he’s already doing Sirius’ memory proud. Let’s talk about what Snape did wrong, even though he totally did everything right. BASTARD!
*Harry feels a savage pleasure (his favorite kind) blaming Snape—that’s what Snape’s there for, after all. I know I feel better finding somebody to shift blame onto.
*I’d suggest here that Dumbledore might be making himself feel better by blaming Sirius, but I honestly don’t think Dumbledore feels guilty about a single thing to start with. ETA: Except for those three naughty thoughts about Gellert he had back in 1874. Bad Albus! Bad!
*Dumbledore says Sirius was much too old and clever to allow such feeble taunts to hurt him. WHAT?? Are we sure Dumbledore is a Gryffindor? You’re *never* too old to rise to bait like that!
*Dumbledore also forgot that Snape has an absolute loathing for James that spills out onto Harry. I know Dumbledore says he trusts Snape, but has he ever actually met the man?
*I do like the way Dumbledore will never say anything about why he trusts Snape. It’s probably a plot point, but also it sets up that great "You should believe me just because it’s me—asking for rational proof is for
*Harry asks if it’s okay for Snape to hate his dad, but not okay for Sirius to hate Kreacher. I don’t think it’s the hating that’s the problem here, Harry. If hating were a problem you’d pretty much be sunk, right? The key is how you act on the hate.
*Sirius did not hate Kreacher, though, even though I’m almost sure he’s been described as hating him. Maybe it’s like Harry’s righteous anger, the hate that’s not really hate. ETA: And anything you do acting on hate is a good thing.
*Dumbledore seems really serious about this idea and it seems ludicrous to ignore fact that Kreacher could be loyal to his actual family. I really don’t think this was purely revenge for Sirius treating Kreacher indifferently especially since, hello? Aren’t house elves used to that? Especially ones that belong to Dark Wizards? I’d say the disrespect of him and his family seemed a much bigger deal, what with the trousers-snogging and accusations of Sirius breaking his mother’s heart. ETA: I accept I was wrong, but it still seems ludicrous. I refuse to believe, for instance, that JKR would ever write Kreacher dismissing his loyalty to Harry if Zach Smith gave him a necklace.
*So I guess Harry will be taking this lesson and applying it to all the people he's treated with indifference and contempt, right? Just kidding.
*Boy, Dumbledore can really be an annoying, self-righteous, judgmental liberal can’t he? Yes, Sirius was just reaping his reward as part of the white male establishment with Kreacher.
*SO SIRIUS GOT WHAT HE DESERVED, DID HE? Because if he did deserve it, you know, it would be okay. It’s just he couldn’t possibly, because I like him, and besides I’m the one who gets to decide who deserves what.
*ETA: Sirius was kind to house elves in general, according to Dumbledore, but hated Kreacher. His problem was treating Kreacher like a human rather than an animal who likes whoever feeds him.
*Boo to mean Harry for hating Dumbledore for showing signs of weakness even though weakness is pretty much universally despised in this universe. Though really Dumbledore doesn’t seem weak. Keeping Sirius in GP was just stupid, not weak. It was strong, actually. Are we supposed to think Dumbledore was just so worried Sirius might get hurt he wanted to keep him safe at home? Because it doesn’t seem that way. He really doesn’t seem to have ever cared about Sirius.
*Dumbledore happily explains how he had to leave Harry with the Dursleys, even though he knew they’d mistreat him. He does not explain why he had to give them absolute free rein in treating him badly. What if he’d wound up seriously injured or incapable of functioning because of how he’d been treated? I mean, if his soul didn't repel mistreatment and turn it into good character?
*In fact, in general, what if Harry hadn’t made Dumbledore so proud? What if he’d showed up with Draco Malfoy’s personality, weak, vulnerable but with an arrogant, bullying façade? What if he’d been Snape, greasy, resentful and secretive, and immediately drawn to the Dark Arts to get back at his enemies? Would the plan still have been working really well?
*Harry was saved by that ancient magic of family. Which one would think the Purebloods would respect a lot since it’s the center of their lives, but they don’t do family right.
*Harry is safe as long as he’s at home. Good thing he never ever leaves the house when he’s in the Muggle World.
*Nice of Dumbledore to brush over Harry’s mistreatment by saying he was just not as well-fed as he would have liked. It’s not really up to him to let himself off the hook for that one, really, but he won’t let that stop him.
*Especially since he's casually suggesting a child's been systematically malnourished.
*I know the blood bond is now, happily, given as a practical reason for why Dumbledore put Harry with the Dursleys, but he still seems pretty damn hung-up on his success at not turning Harry into a "pampered little prince." You know, that’s not the end of the world. Some pampered prince kids actually grow up better people than the ones abused from birth. Was Tom Riddle a pampered prince?
*Have you figured out the flaw in Dumbledore’s big plan yet, Harry? Like there’s only the one flaw?
*Finally we get to the upshot of Dumbledore’s big confession: He’s a great guy. He just cares about Harry too much. So you see, it’s really not a flaw at all in Harry’s eyes, as Dumbledore well knows. Those poor Gryffindors are just cursed with being able to love better and more deeply than other people.
*We’ve all seen the kind of lover Dumbledore is, of course. His great and t00by love for Harry is not enough to tempt him to intervene or help when Harry has to face his latest horrible test that will advance Dumbledore’s plan. It’s only enough to keep him from telling Harry anything that might make Harry think less of him. He’s got no problem grooming Harry to face Voldemort to the death, but he loves him too much to tell him that. Would that really destroy Harry’s peace of mind so much as wise him up that Dumbledore’s interest in him isn’t just personal? Sure I’ve lied to you for years but I felt really really bad about it and remember when I fixed the house cup contest?
*ETA: God, imagine a world where Ariana never died and Grindelwald took over the world with his boyfriend at his side.
*Dumbledore’s watched Harry very closely—and proves it by correctly stating that Harry has suffered more than anyone in the history of the world. I can’t help but have this vision of pervy!Dumbledore crying over a crystal ball watching Harry frowning at the Golden Egg in the Prefect’s bathroom, or waking up from a nightmare, while elsewhere in the school kids are dealing with the death of family members, divorce, abuse and bullying in privacy.
*Despite our being reminded that Harry doesn’t like being on display, he does not ask for clarification about Dumbledore "watching him" be miserable.
*Yes, what did Dumbledore care if many nameless, faceless people were slaughtered in the future? The important thing is keeping Harry happy and thinking Dumbledore was the source of it! Dumbledore is merely showing that he values people over ideals, and that he is human and capable of real love. Not that not telling Harry this fact in any way affects Dumbledore's plans, you realize. It's not like he chose to not let Harry fight Voldemort, he just didn't tell him about it. He hasn't actually risked anything.
*Dumbledore didn’t even want divination taught until it applied to Harry.
*Apparently Dumbledore knew Trelawney was rubbish at it too, but knowing your subject has never been the most important part of getting a job with Dumbledore. Let’s see, she’s emotionally unstable, under qualified and drinks—when can she start?
*I guess that’s why it’s kind of okay that Trelawney got fired by Umbridge and not okay that Hagrid, an even less popular teacher who is also emotionally unstable, under qualified and drinks, got fired by Umbridge.
*Note Dumbledore hasn’t said anything about getting Trelawney back in the saddle as soon as possible the way he has Hagrid. She’s not that useful.
*The prophecy: neither can live while the other survives. Except right now, when Harry and Voldemort are both living and surviving together. Is there maybe another part of this prophecy that Dumbledore himself didn’t hear? Like, "Neither can live while the other survives...until the last month of Harry’s seventh year at school?"
*So the big burden is that Harry has to vanquish Voldemort because of a prophecy, and not because Voldemort is obviously going to keep trying to kill Harry with stupid plots until he does.
*Exactly why did Dumbledore put the prophecy in the DoM? Just so Voldemort could one day try to snatch it?
*I know JKR has explained that Voldemort marking Harry is like Macbeth because he makes the prophecy come true, but isn’t Dumbledore doing that too? The prophecy says "the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord." That doesn’t mean that this is the only way he could be vanquished, does it? It seems like this made Dumbledore abandon all other hope and concentrate on Harry. Maybe the power about which the Dark Lord knows not is an even worse Dark Power.
*I don’t actually see why Voldemort’s marking Harry as his equal is a burn on Voldemort or making the prophecy come true. Especially given JKR’s hints that according to Dumbledore (who is always right) Neville could not well have survived the great burden of being TBWL, it’s clear that Harry really was the one who was Voldemort’s equal, so Voldemort naturally marked him so. It wasn’t a case of choosing so much as identifying.
*ETA: Btw, Neville wouldn't have survived the burden? Neville would have survived the burden with more class and grace than any of these people.
*The secret power is love, isn’t it? The same wonderful and dreadful force that’s causes teenagers to bicker incessantly and headmasters to hide when they’re being manipulative and forget 999 students exist. It’s love. Yay. ETA: Wow, and the first time I read this I had no idea how badly love made people behave.
*I know I said this before, but Voldemort could not bear to live in a body where love lived, yet almost all we ever hear about from Harry is hate. This would be a lot more interesting, for me anyway, if that was the catch, that Harry was in fact MORE vulnerable to Voldemort because Harry has really never known love and hates so much, so Harry would have to learn to let go of his hate and
*Harry’s love is much stronger than other students because it hasn’t been softened up by actual affection during life. Love goes rancid if you’re actually around to show it.
*Voldemort saw himself in Harry—but this should not be taken to mean that Voldemort, too, has any power to love. Nor should anything be read into his choosing the half-blood as his equal except that the whole Pureblood superiority thing is untrue. Blood and fate mean nothing unless it’s on of those times when they do.
*Convenient that somebody was thrown out of the Three Broomsticks exactly halfway through the prophecy, with no suggestion of exactly why he was thrown out. It sounds like he was just "detected" and so thrown out for eavesdropping, but who threw him out? Why didn’t they memory charm him? ETA: Well, why didn't they memory charm him? And why does Trelawney remember him getting thrown out after she finished?
*Err, did Dumbledore perhaps want Voldemort to go off half-cocked and kill the Potters so Harry would get the super Dark Lord!Power. Seems that way, doesn’t it? He somehow knows exactly how much the guy heard. ETA: Yeah, it does.
*I suspect whoever it was who was eavesdropping that night might come up later, because if we heard who it was I missed it. Harry, naturally, doesn’t ask. Could it have been Snape? ETA: Yes, it could!
*"Neither shall live while the other survives" in no way follows from "one must die at the hand of the other." Just because two people can't both be alive doesn't logically mean one must die at the hand of the other.
*It seems impossible there are people in the world who still desire food and laugh, who don’t know or care that Sirius is gone forever. Just for old times sake I had to note that construction again. Harry doesn’t have much more time to think how odd it is he has to share the planet with other people before the book finally ends.
*It’s really sadly hilarious that Dumbledore can’t help but announce, apropos of nothing, that he wanted to make Harry prefect. Just in case Harry thought he didn’t care.
*Maybe that's a little shout out to PS/SS. Just when you think the point might be that there's something more important than school prizes, you'll win that school prize and that'll show 'em.
*The single tear. WTF.
Designated Hero
Yes, Harry. I’m the one who decided you should be raised in an unloving home. I stuck Sirius in the house he hated with the Elf that drove him nuts. I picked the worst Occlumency teacher for you, knowing it would be painful for both of you. I lied to you because I wanted you to think I was great. I am the embodiment of the goodness.
Idiot Picture
I suppose I could have foreseen things like Snape still hating the guy he’s hated for 20 years or Sirius reacting badly to being locked up after so long, and I suppose I shouldn’t have run around making sure nobody told you it was important to learn Occlumency when what I really wanted you to do is learn Occlumency but it was all because of love, really. Besides, wouldn’t you rather listen to me be judgmental about the rest of the Wizarding World than examine the flaws in my own plan?
Informed Attributes
Love, love love. All you need is love. If it seems like stupidity, it’s really love. If it seems like cowardice, it’s really love. Unless we’re talking about Slytherins, in which case if it looks like love it’s just slightly less bad wizarding behavior.
James Bond Exposition Rule
Dumbledore takes over this one in this chapter, starting all the way back in year one.
Ken and Andrew’s Rule of Plot Holes
This whole chapter is kind of an attempt to cover up any there might be along the way. Unfortunately it sort of creates several more.
McGuffin
More discussion of the Story that Might Have Been, as it turns out that Dumbledore, too, spent the year avoiding Weapon!Harry who never came to pass. Even Dumbledore went for the more interesting storyline. The prophecy was just a minor side issue for him.
Misdirected Answering
Oh, thank GOD the prefect question was cleared up because the whole book I’ve been wondering HOW could Ron be prefect instead of Harry? That’s much more important than any further info on who overheard the prophecy or Petunia.
One Radio Rule
Actually, we have perfectly easy ways of communicating with each other but we didn’t share them with you because it would have made the plot more difficult. So Dumbledore called One Radio Rule.
Whooshing Powder
When Dumbledore spun in on the floo I suddenly longed to be reading Artful Façade.
Final score: 12
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no subject
Date: 2008-07-04 05:30 pm (UTC)Some pampered prince kids actually grow up better people than the ones abused from birth.
Like Draco, who is a far more decent person than Harry. I can't help wondering what it tells about HP that the Malfoys are the most decent people around. In addition to being the most loving family, of course. If you have to look at your baddies for role models it means that there's something deeply wrong with your story.
no subject
Date: 2008-07-04 05:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-05 02:15 am (UTC)But then, James seemed to be a pampered prince who was okay despite being an asshole too. And he was possibly even more pampered than Draco.
The Lame Prophecy (Part One)
Date: 2008-07-04 06:34 pm (UTC)You have my permission to retitle it. :)
*If his surroundings could have reflected Harry’s inner feelings, the portraits would all have been screaming in pain. I guess we should all be grateful they don’t reflect Harry’s inner feelings, then. The headmaster would never get any work done.
Dumbledore's office as designed by Munch.
*Phineas says the office is barred to all but the "rightful" headmaster, which does beg the question of how the "rightful" one is chosen. Who decides who’s right? Isn’t it just a job? Do they pick the person by seeing who can get in the room? Somehow I suspect this is just one of these things everybody’s supposed to know—well obviously there’s such a thing as the "right" people and the "wrong" people, and any self-respecting office would know the difference.
*ETA: Which makes one wonder why anybody thought Snape was a bad guy. Amycus wouldn't be getting into that office, surely.
Yes, another hint that no one picked up on. And that makes it even weirder that there's no Snape portrait in the office at the end. No only did the office magically know that Snape rightfully filled the office of Headmaster, according to JKR the office magically knew that Snape had done a bunk and didn't deserve a picture. Except that he didn't.
You know, all she had to say was that Snape hadn't had time to sit for a portrait in the year he was Headmaster....
*Dumbledore is worried that Harry feels ashamed at being sad that Sirius died? Um, that doesn’t really seem to be Harry’s problem. In fact, it seems rather a point of honor in Gryffindor to grieve loudly and dramatically for five minutes.
No, Harry's problem is (or ought to be) feeling ashamed that his stupidity killed Sirius.
*ETA: Post-DH people often talked about which death was the saddest, and honestly for me the most touching grief is still Phineas here and Amos Diggory. With minor characters JKR really hit it for me. I just felt how these characters would specifically feel about a real loss, which to me is more like grief than the over-selling of death elsewhere.
I agree. The deaths in the series that hit me the hardest were Cedric, Amelia Bones, and Emmeline Vance. All minors characters. With Sirius, it was more about the utter waste of his last year than the actual death. (He came into the series with such a bang! But OotP was one long Sirius whimper.) I have to say, though, that Amos's had this whiff of editorial commentary about it. That it was like his pride in Cedric: too much. Mrs. Diggory was more dignified and more sympathetic.
I don't think there was a single death in DH that really affected me. I knew Snape would die, so that hit me there wasn't the death but his horrible treatment by Dumbledore. With Lupin and Tonks, it was almost a relief since it got them out of that marriage.
*Dumbledore ignored Harry all year so Voldemort wouldn’t ever know he and Harry were more than headmaster and pupil or ever had been. Okay, first, they ARE headmaster and pupil. Harry just happens to be Dumbledore’s favorite. Even if Malfoy wasn’t there as witness to this (remember those points first year? Nobody thought that was about Hermione), even if Malfoy hadn’t obviously reported this back to his dad, who told Voldemort, why on earth would Voldemort ever doubt there was more to their relationship?
It's so odd. It's like JKR never considers the fact that Draco is always taking this obsessive interest in Harry or that Lucius needs to prove himself to Voldemort after being dissed in the graveyard. Draco was handing out rumors to Rita Skeeter, for goodness' sake!
Or any one of the other 999 students. It's like Dumbledore casts a memory charm on the entire student body when they leave for the holidays. Hmmm.... This might help explain why the entire student body seems to forget who Harry is from year to year. He saves the world every June, but come September, he's always that weird kid with the scar.
Actually, that would explain a lot. Especially if Dumbledore forgot to cast the charm at the end of OotP. HBP is the first time anyone remembers what Harry actually did the year before.
Re: The Lame Prophecy (Part One)
Date: 2008-07-05 02:18 am (UTC)I hadn't thought of Amos being too proud. I felt like he just thought the sun rose and set on Cedric and he was going to be devestated. Poor Amos.
I didn't even get that Lupin and Tonks were dead at first. I thought they were asleep. But I eventually got it and I definitely thought it was a blessing. Put that marriage out of its misery. And the last time we see Lupin he's with Sirius. LOL!
Re: The Lame Prophecy (Part One)
Date: 2008-07-05 05:33 am (UTC)I wasn't the only one. JKR was asked about it very soon after the book came out. I'm almost it was Katie Couric who asked her. Anyway, she famously explained that Snape was not givena portrait because he "abandonned" the school, but that she thought Harry might do something about that eventually.
Yes, she bothered to tell us that George married Angelina and who their kids were. But not whether or not that portrait ever made it into the office.
Which, of course, sets off other questions. All the other portraits were there for Dumbledore's planning sessions with Snape. Did they not notice what Snape was doing? What magical entity is it who decides who gets a portrait? I can't help imagining that it takes a majority vote from among all the paintings in the castle--with suits of armor getting 2/3s of a vote and House Elves getting 3/5s for purposing of counting votes (while not, of course, being allowed to exercise their votes).
Re: The Lame Prophecy (Part One)
Date: 2008-07-05 09:26 am (UTC)Re: The Lame Prophecy (Part One)
Date: 2009-01-28 04:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-04 06:45 pm (UTC)I think the same thing--Amos was incredibly touching. Perhaps it's because we've filled in the details of those characters...
no subject
Date: 2008-07-05 02:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-04 06:55 pm (UTC)So, what was the deal with Sirius having to stay shut up in the house, when the trio remained hidden with ease outside of it in DH? I used to think that Sirius did something reckless between GoF and OoTP to merit house arrest, but turned out that it was just one of those huh? moments. Like, for instance, nobody thinking about using a time-turner to save Harry's parents, to save Cedric, etc., etc.
Oh, and keeping all those kids locked up in a dusty, moudly, dark house for 1.5 months in summer, without a breath of fresh air, was pure child abuse, IMHO.
it’s clear that Harry really was the one who was Voldemort’s equal, so Voldemort naturally marked him so. It wasn’t a case of choosing so much as identifying.
That's what comes out of an attempt to have a cake and eat it, too. Rowling wanted Harry to be a prophesied hero, because she wanted him to victoriously duel teh big bad Evil from the age of 11, without the "tedious" acquisition of skills, knowledge and power required. Not to mention that she wanted him to be a worshiped celebrity from the start.
Yet she also tried to pretend that Harry was an everyman, who somehow chose to become a hero and earned his victories.
Result of these contradictory urges was an awful mess, the extent of which only became clear with DH, IMHO.
no subject
Date: 2008-07-05 02:02 am (UTC)Oh Sirius *totally* did something to merit house arrest. After Albus went to the trouble to arrange for someone else to help him escape from Britain, he was supposed to *stay away*/
INstead there he is back again like a bad penny getting underfoot before the next year was half over, daring to give Harry advice and generally in a position to meddle with Albus's arrangements. Can't have that, can we?
What else was Albus to do but park him at #12, with Lupin to keep him company (rather than be out monitoring the werewolves) and the rest of the Order to keep an eye on him and make sure that he *stays* there? I'd say Sirius was very much in disgrace and under house arrest all through OotP. The twins and Snape even taunted him about it.
In fact, don't you think the Order already *had* a Headquarters? What happened to it? Was it the house in Godric's Hollow where the Potters were killed? Is that why Albus moved operations into London so they could all sit on Sirius? Just what was his "cunning plan" to explain that?
The Lame Prophecy (Part Two)
Date: 2008-07-04 07:22 pm (UTC)Scene: Dumbledore's office. Snape is sitting before the Headmaster's desk, a puzzled look on his face. Dumbledore leans back, sucking on a lemon drop.
Dumbledore: So, you see it's vitally important that Harry learn Occlumency. Although, not so important that I'm going to teach him myself. But vitally important.
Snape: Let me make sure I understand what you're asking. You say that Voldemort and Harry can share thoughts and feelings? That, even though Voldemort is hundreds of miles away, he can know what Harry is feeling--can literally see through his eyes and hear through his ears? That's what you're saying?
Dumbledore: Yes, and probably possess him, too, if he likes.
Snape: So, you want me, a double agent whose life depends on Voldemort not suspecting that I really work for you, to teach Harry Potter something Voldemort doesn't want him to learn?
Dumbledore: Exactly.
Snape: Even though Voldemort will be able to watch me doing that--at the moment I'm doing it.
Dumbledore: Yep.
Snape: And with the great probability that he'll be able to read my mind during the lessons?
Dumbledore: You can borrow my pensieve and remove any inconvenient memories.
Snape: Well, that makes it all better, then. I don't suppose I have any choice about this?
Dumbledore: No. (He pops another lemon drop in his mouth.) By the way, you still suck.
*Apparently the Order have more reliable ways of communicating than Harry does, so Snape could easily contact Sirius. Is there some reason these "reliable means of communication" could not have been given to Harry? Because I feel like Dumbledore just said, "Oh, well, we’ve all got cell phones so Snape just called him." ETA: Which is pretty much what he said. And no, nobody will ever teach the kids to use their Patronuses that way even though they presumably would.
Especially when Harry's Patronus is so striking and powerful.
*All agreed to go to Harry’s aid at once. It just maybe didn’t seem that way cause it took so long.
Fernwithy had a very nice solution to this plot hole. She had the Death Eaters set up all these traps after the kids get in, to prevent anyone else rescuing them. It's sort of like the obstacle course in PS/SS. It's one of those times when JKR's difficulty with logic helps spur the creativity of fanficcers.
*And Snape told Sirius to stay behind. If anyone is keeping score, yes, Snape is the one person who thought rationally and effectively throughout this ordeal. No wonder it’s all his fault! Thinking rationally effectively is just another sign he does not love Harry and so is evil!
I can't help thinking that Dumbledore was amazed to find someone like Snape, who does think rationally most of the time (even in the midst of a huge temper tantrum). Snape was probably the first person since Grindelwald who could hope to match Dumbledore in deductive ability. Even if Tom was a powerful wizard, he was still a dope.
*Now I have visions of drunken!Sirius telling Kreacher about how Harry means most to him in the world. I still wonder how Kreacher knew that Harry was coming to regard Sirius as a father and a brother. Maybe they just reminded him of the Blacks: Mr. Black also drank alone and Sirius and Regulus were forever shutting themselves in their rooms and sulking.
Post-DH, we now know that this was true of Sirius. Regulus probably wasn't sulking, but writing "Mrs. Regulus Voldemort" over and over again.
Re: The Lame Prophecy (Part Two)
Date: 2008-07-05 02:21 am (UTC)LOL! Harry could bond with him over that. Did you know Tom Riddle was quite handsome?
The Lame Prophecy (Part Three)
Date: 2008-07-04 07:26 pm (UTC)Okay.... so why not have Harry see a vision of Sirius being tortured in Hogsmeade, a place that Harry could conceivably reach in a timely manner? Send the vision, set up an ambush, kidnap Harry and then--if you really do have to get that stupid prophecy, floo him to the Ministry and imperius him. Or make him get it while you keep one of the FIVE other kids as hostage.
*And here we get to Dumbledore’s most ridiculous assertion: if you’d all have been nicer to Kreacher, this wouldn’t have happened. The problem with Kreacher was that he had a miserable life in having to work for Sirius, to whom he felt no loyalty.
This is an important part of the S.P.E.W. storyline. You see, the problem wasn't in that Kreacher was a slave. The problem was that Sirius was rude to him. Slavery isn't an evil institution--although Sirius wrongheadedly thought it was all of a piece with his evil family. It was Sirius who was wrong not to assume his rightful place as the heir to the Black family and lead with noblesse oblige.
The wizarding world is a hierarchy. Scions like Sirius cannot escape the hierarchy by running away. Sooner or later, they are going to be thrust back into authority and they better take to it gracefully or else.
*Harry feels a savage pleasure (his favorite kind) blaming Snape—that’s what Snape’s there for, after all. I know I feel better finding somebody to shift blame onto.
Okay. I understand Harry doing this, because he is in pain and it's easier to blame Snape than to blame himself (or Dumbledore). What I never understood was why, when JKR's pointing out that Harry is doing this merely to make himself feel better, so many readers continue to insist that Snape was responsible for Sirius dying.
*We’ve all seen the kind of lover Dumbledore is, of course. His great and t00by love for Harry is not enough to tempt him to intervene or help when Harry has to face his latest horrible test that will advance Dumbledore’s plan. It’s only enough to keep him from telling Harry anything that might make Harry think less of him.
To give JKR credit, this is entire consistent with Dumbledore in DH. Dumbledore's whole big Snape plan was merely a way to avoid admitting to Harry that he's going to have to sacrifice himself. And even when the man's dead, he's still worried about what Harry thinks of him.
Just when I thought I couldn't get any more disgusted with Dumbledore.
*ETA: God, imagine a world where Ariana never died and Grindelwald took over the world with his boyfriend at his side.
Well, isn't that the epilogue?
*Dumbledore’s watched Harry very closely—and proves it by correctly stating that Harry has suffered more than anyone in the history of the world. I can’t help but have this vision of pervy!Dumbledore crying over a crystal ball watching Harry frowning at the Golden Egg in the Prefect’s bathroom, or waking up from a nightmare, while elsewhere in the school kids are dealing with the death of family members, divorce, abuse and bullying in privacy.
I'm pervier than that. I keep imagining Dumbledore having nanny cams in the Dursley household all those many years. Although, perhaps he simply had Figg report to him.
Dear Dumbledore,
I am continuing to keep tabs on the Dursley for you. This week, little Harry stayed with me for a few hours while Petunia took Dudley out to the movies. As per your instructions, I made sure that my cake was stale and that was nothing to look at but the fake (non-moving) family photograph albums. I also sprayed extra amounts of cabbage-smell about the place.
I counted three times last week that Vernon shouted at Harry, calling him "useless" and "a waste of space." I also noticed several bruises on Harry's neck and arms during his visit. He mumbled something about falling down the stairs when I asked him about them.
Are you sure this how you want the boy to be raised?
Arabella Figg
Re: The Lame Prophecy (Part Three)
Date: 2008-07-05 02:23 am (UTC)Absolutely! Better than I expected.
Love,
Albus
p.s. I hope you appreciate how awesome I am even listening to your questions. You're a squib!
The Lame Prophecy (Part Four)
Date: 2008-07-04 08:06 pm (UTC)So... Voldemort could have walked away from the Prophecy and it wouldn't have come true. But... Harry can't? If you can keep a prophecy from coming true by pretending that it won't... why can't Harry keep the second part from coming true by ignoring his "chosen" status? Or, at least, making a deal with Voldemort to mutually ignore it?
And, if most of those prophecies in the DoM never came true, then why bother to collect them at all? It sounds like prophecies in the WW have no more validity than prophecies in our world.
*ETA: Btw, Neville wouldn't have survived the burden? Neville would have survived the burden with more class and grace than any of these people.
Although I knew it would never happen, I was sort of hoping that the whole series would turn to be a joke and that Neville really was the prophecy boy all along.
*The secret power is love, isn’t it? The same wonderful and dreadful force that’s causes teenagers to bicker incessantly and headmasters to hide when they’re being manipulative and forget 999 students exist. It’s love. Yay. ETA: Wow, and the first time I read this I had no idea how badly love made people behave.
I'm wondering now if JKR is serious about the Power of Love being the most powerful force on the planet--but that it is an impersonal power. So that it is just as destructive as it is constructive.
So, it wasn't that Voldemort couldn't understand the power of love because he was evil. He was simply stupid. Had he understood it, he could have manipulated it and used it to rule the world. Sort of like Coca Cola does.
*Convenient that somebody was thrown out of the Three Broomsticks exactly halfway through the prophecy, with no suggestion of exactly why he was thrown out. It sounds like he was just "detected" and so thrown out for eavesdropping, but who threw him out? Why didn’t they memory charm him? ETA: Well, why didn't they memory charm him? And why does Trelawney remember him getting thrown out after she finished?
I think they did memory charm him. It's really the only explanation. Dumbledore used Snape to take half the prophecy to Voldemort, tricking him into marking Harry. The only reason we don't have this spelled out is because Dumbledore is too cowardly to explain that part to Harry.
*It’s really sadly hilarious that Dumbledore can’t help but announce, apropos of nothing, that he wanted to make Harry prefect. Just in case Harry thought he didn’t care.
Oh! This was the place where I seriously wanted Dumbledore to die. It took away all the honor that Harry earned in my eyes when he had to make himself glad for Ron. I mean, is JKR that petty that she has to let us all know that, yes, Harry really is that much better than Ron (or Seamus or Dean or Neville) that he must outrank him at everything?
It's like that moment in HBP when she assures us that Harry's marks were equal to Ron's in all subjects (except D.A.D.A., where Harry's mark was superior).
Note to new authors: It really is okay if your supporting characters occasionally outshine your hero. It's even okay to let your hero lose the big game once in a while.
*The single tear. WTF.
It's such a movie moment. Can't you just picture the close-up on Dumbledore's face with the single glycerin tear falling down? Thankfully, the producers of the movie cut this moment out and cut the scene down to the barest minimum.
Re: The Lame Prophecy (Part Four)
Date: 2008-07-05 02:24 am (UTC)Re: The Lame Prophecy (Part Four)
Date: 2008-07-05 11:06 am (UTC)So true. That was the the most WTF moment in the book! Both Harry and Dumbledore have just screwed up in huge way and Sirius is dead, yet this is the moment to reassure Harry that he's better than his best friend? I mean it's not as if JKR could be bothered with Harry competing with say, Hermione who's actually got some brains and works hard. No Harry's bar is set so high, he has to constantly reassure himself that he's better than Ron. Ron -who is the least remarkable of all the Weasleys(hell, even Ginny is supposed to be better), who has no particular talent, is lazy and petty (and who's been loyal and sympathetic to Harry since the beginning, no matter how Harry has treated him). Yeah, gotta make sure Harry's superior to him!
I lost all respect for both Harry, Dumbledore and JKR here. It pisses me off that Ron is so devalued here, he must be pushed down at all costs (it reminds me of the H/Hr shippers who bash Ron, he's just plain inferior). And Hermione being better than the boys academically or competence-wise counts for absolutely nothing. Harry only measures himself against Ron, never Hermione. That Hermione recognised the dismissal line in DH just confirms what's here. Harry is superior to both his best friends, whether they became prefects or not.
Dumbledore must remind him of that in this crucial moment where Harry's just fucked up so badly. That'll make him feel better!
Re: The Lame Prophecy (Part Four)
Date: 2008-07-05 05:58 pm (UTC)Ron, on the other hand, only sacrificed himself in the chess game because it was putting two players forward and it was the only way to win the game. Therefore, he's never really come right out and said that Harry was the better person. So, I suppose Harry can't be quite sure.
Just like Ron could never be as sure about those anvil-sized hints as we were, because whenever he did move away from Harry, Hermione moved right in to fill that gap. Plus she consistently re-affirmed her view of Harry's superiority. I guess from Ron's perspective, that looked a lot like Hermione being attracted to Harry.
no subject
Date: 2008-07-04 10:16 pm (UTC)Harry has probably understood that Kreacher = "an animal who likes whoever feeds him" and took philosophical approach, aka "if a donkey hit you, would you feel hurt?" [meaning: feel hurt as if insulted by human]. Besides, we can't make Harry have a hateful relationship with his slave, since it would resemble Lucius and Dobby too closely, and JKR didn't want her hero to set free such valuable, convenient thing as a house-elf, and thus good!Kreacher was born.
* ETA: Just had a passing thought that it's funny the way JKR says obviously Harry and Draco could never be friends after all that's happened, when Harry will name his son after a guy who hated him but was obsessed with his mother, and come to embrace the elf who lured his father-figure with his death as a beloved slave.
Snape is already dead, so Harry didn't have to deal with him, and Kreacher is his slave. Since having a good relationship with Draco would mean dealing with actual alive person, equal to Harry [at least, not his slave] and who most likely wouldn't parrot Harry's opinions, I am not surprised JKR decided to make them barely acknowledge each other without exchanging one word in the epilogue. It's slightly similar to Harry not thinking about Draco twice after the fight in the bathroom - whatever is most convenient to JKR goes. Frankly I am glad Draco & Harry didn't become friends. If they did, we would get a revolting scene of Draco asking Harry to forgive his sins or reveal he pettily offended Harry at school not due to disliking him, but out of envy & rightful feeling of his inadequacy compared to Harry's courage, talent and morals.
* ETA: Sirius was kind to house elves in general, according to Dumbledore, but hated Kreacher. His problem was treating Kreacher like a human rather than an animal who likes whoever feeds him.
Sirius was too emotional to understand that and stop anthropomorphizing animals, which led to his downfall. Luckily Hermione learned her lesson before the end of the series.
* ETA: God, imagine a world where Ariana never died and Grindelwald took over the world with his boyfriend at his side.
Has anybody read a good fic like that? I would really like to read it. Pity mistful won't write any new fics any longer. :(
Sister magpie, you have written recaps of 4 HP books, right? [PS, GoF, OoTF, HBP]
Is there any chance now that you finished OoTF, you'll recap CoS, PoA or DH? Please? :)
My dream is to read your recaps of all 7 books - I enjoyed reading new recap weekly and discussing it here more than the books themselves (and I liked the first 4).
no subject
Date: 2008-07-04 11:29 pm (UTC)LOLOLOL, it's true! And we already have everyone else in this universe going on endlessly about how wonderful Harry is in every possible way, we really don't need Draco doing it, too. I know people thought he lost his dignity by being completely passive and petrified during the entire last book, but they don't realise how bad it could have been.
no subject
Date: 2008-07-05 02:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-05 02:25 am (UTC)I did CoS, I remember. I'll probably do some updates of HBP at least. I'm still not sure if I'll be able to face DH again.
no subject
Date: 2008-07-05 03:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-05 06:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-04 11:41 pm (UTC)Where I was bright was in just leaving the prophecy alone. It didn't make sense to me, and I figured we'd get the explanation and that would be that, so why worry about what it meant. Of course, as it turned out, it still didn't make any sense. But at least I didn't waste a lot of time trying to squeeze out a meaning. (I'm counting even the tiny victories, here. *g*)
no subject
Date: 2008-07-05 02:28 am (UTC)Instead he starts making plans to control everyone even after he's dead.
no subject
Date: 2008-07-05 04:02 am (UTC)That's why Dumbledore's so thin. He's one of those vegan commies.
sistermagpie: *Boo to mean Harry for hating Dumbledore for showing signs of weakness even though weakness is pretty much universally despised in this universe. Though really Dumbledore doesn’t seem weak. Keeping Sirius in GP was just stupid, not weak. It was strong, actually. Are we supposed to think Dumbledore was just so worried Sirius might get hurt he wanted to keep him safe at home? Because it doesn’t seem that way. He really doesn’t seem to have ever cared about Sirius.
I personally like the theory that Dumbledore actually hated Sirius's guts ever since the werewolf prank blew up in Dumbledore's face (
sistermagpie: *I know the blood bond is now, happily, given as a practical reason for why Dumbledore put Harry with the Dursleys, but he still seems pretty damn hung-up on his success at not turning Harry into a "pampered little prince." You know, that’s not the end of the world. Some pampered prince kids actually grow up better people than the ones abused from birth. Was Tom Riddle a pampered prince?
To be fair, Dumbledore was born in 1849 or something, so he probably grew up with a very different idea of child-rearing. Unfortunately this doesn't fit well with other aspects of his character. He's not just any vegan commie; he's a vegan commie Montgomery Burns.
sistermagpie: *ETA: God, imagine a world where Ariana never died and Grindelwald took over the world with his boyfriend at his side.
I do not exaggerate when I say that as I read this, the very first thought I had was to wonder how much worse this would actually be than the Bush administration.
no subject
Date: 2008-07-05 02:30 pm (UTC)I admit I tend to see Dumbledore as having some real hostility towards the Marauders too--both Sirius and Lupin. He might like James for having died, at least. And it was his fault, too, what with trying to do something Dumbledore didn't know about. (That's the main sin of the Marauders.)
To be fair, Dumbledore was born in 1849 or something, so he probably grew up with a very different idea of child-rearing. Unfortunately this doesn't fit well with other aspects of his character. He's not just any vegan commie; he's a vegan commie Montgomery Burns.
Oh, I'm sure he did. It's just still so bizarre how much this idea is pushed given the time he lives in now. Harry was abused and unloved his whole life and he's still holding out this greater fear of him being pampered. Even though Dumbledore himself wasn't raised that way.
I do not exaggerate when I say that as I read this, the very first thought I had was to wonder how much worse this would actually be than the Bush administration.
It's scary how reasonable that leap is.
no subject
Date: 2008-07-05 11:15 am (UTC)Absolutely! Better than I expected.
Love,
Albus
p.s. I hope you appreciate how awesome I am even listening to your questions. You're a squib!
*rolls around laughing*
ETA: God, imagine a world where Ariana never died and Grindelwald took over the world with his boyfriend at his side.
There is actually a disturbing and well written fic by miss_morland where Dumbledore and Grindlewald take over the world together (I don't remember whether Ariana was alive or not in thsi fic, though). You can read the fic here:
http://miss-morland.livejournal.com/4427.html#cutid1
I do not exaggerate when I say that as I read this, the very first thought I had was to wonder how much worse this would actually be than the Bush administration.
Word. So much word.
no subject
Date: 2008-07-05 02:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-05 02:17 pm (UTC)No no no, it's your choices that show what you are. What you are never changes. This does not, of course, stop our heroes being granted full credit for their Innate Goodness or our villains being held entirely responsible for their Innate Badness.
It was your last recap, wasn't it, where somebody pointed out how messed up it is that we're supposed to accept that not only is Voldemort a clinical sociopath, but also to somehow believe that he's being a sociopath on purpose
- Dan Hemmens
no subject
Date: 2008-07-05 02:37 pm (UTC)It's still kind of fascinating, though, the way these things get changed in interviews when they seem to be very clear in the books--it's not just that Dumbledore says choices show who you are, that's the way it plays out as well. Just as Slytherins clearly aren't in the final battle, and the only way it seems like they might have been would be in fighting for Voldemort, but when questioned about it that changes.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-22 03:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-22 04:06 am (UTC)But then, that's kind of the blind leading the blind...
no subject
Date: 2010-09-23 02:54 am (UTC)Of course, this is assuming that Voldemort counts for anything more than a fantasy villain stereotype. There are fans of the series who are all, "Oh, yeah, but I don't sympathize with Voldemort one bit." What do they want, a cookie? Voldemort's just some psychopathic idiot loser who's trying too hard to be an irredeemably evil fantasy villain.
no subject
Date: 2008-07-20 08:26 pm (UTC)