I am going to the midnight release of the DVD for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. SO EXCITED. I'm sportin' my Harry Potter gear, although I would like to post something that I have been discussing with my friend, Michelle.
"There are so many people who absolutely LOVE Dumbledore, but by the end of the seventh book I felt myself disliking him. I feel like the reason I have a problem with Harry, to an extent, is because I have a problem with Dumbledore. He relied on Harry's starvation for a family and figures of authority to guide him in order to condition him to believe that he had to defeat Voldemort, no matter what the cost. He was entirely aware of this from the beginning as soon as he placed Harry on the Dursley's doorstep, knowing that they would not treat him the same as their own son. Since Dumbledore was the pseudo-grandfather figure he knew he could easily get Harry to do what he wanted, when he wanted. For example, in the sixth book when he tells Harry that he's disappointed in him in order to give Harry motivation to obtain the much needed memory. Harry bases his motivation on the desire to please one of the only family figures in his world. In the end when Dumbledore tells Harry that he always had a choice and could always choose not to fight Voldemort he is still lying about his blatant conditioning to get Harry to do as he wishes. He contradicts himself further by saying it was all a matter of choice, yet he had to "protect" Harry from the truth. He had to protect Harry from the truth so Harry couldn't make a decision for himself.
"Additionally, Rowling raises Dumbledore to such an elevated level of sainthood that when Rita Skeeter publishes information on the late Dumbledore's history, people are appalled to hear about the relationship between Grindelwald and himself, not to mention Aberforth and Ariana. It shows that Dumbledore was entirely as arrogant and self-centered as James, Sirius, and even Harry were about themselves. In a sense, Dumbledore was creating a miniature self in Harry- and if we had more evidence of this it would be safe to assume in James and Sirius as well. (In Harry's defense I would like to add that he does have some of his mother in him, which helps him make the right decisions when he had to -for once- do it himself.) When the truth actually is revealed about Dumbledore's former character, he says that it is because of in his youth he did things he's not proud of. I apologize Dumbledore for my bluntness, but I must say that doing things your not proud of in your youth and teaming up with one of the greatest Dark Wizard's of all time is a completely different manner. Not only that, but he also says that he was a coward and he couldn't face Grindelwald. When the entire world was crying out for help, Dumbledore was hiding, afraid of facing his long time friend (or if we take Rowling's view into account- his lover). What happened to the greater good? The most aggravating part of this, to me, is when Dumbledore urges and guides him to have courage and love for others, when he himself didn't. We don't get a full look into Dumbledore's past, and perhaps if we did we would be able to understand the evolution of his story. However, Rowling saw it fit to provide us with just this amount of information, and no matter how you look at it, Dumbledore is far from the great man that everyone claims him to be. He even kills himself out of his own stupid curiosity to try on the ring containing the resurrection stone. That really aggravates me as well because if it wasn't for that utter lapse in judgment, Snape would probably not have had to agree to the unbreakable vow to kill Dumbledore. Which also means that if Dumbledore wasn't dying he probably would not have thought of Malfoy to the extent of sending Snape in to commit the act. Instead he probably would've conditioned Malfoy to change his mind and join the Order of the Phoenix. Voldemort may scare people into doing things, but he never is sneaky like Dumbledore. I wonder if Dumbledore should have been a Slytherin."
This idea about Dumbledore comes directly from yours truly. You may have different opinions of Dumbledore, but you have to admit that this makes you think about him in a completely different way.
There is much else that we were discussing, but I thought I would share it with you (whoever you are).
Side note: Tomorrow is the experiment for cognitive science. SO EXCITED. (I don't want to write what it's about because the findings are going to be published.)
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