Albus Dumbledore: Character Analysis v2

[Sereena]

Originally Posted by HedwigOwl

Actually, Dumbledore did discuss what type of objects Voldemort was likely to have used for his horcruxes. Discussing and showing Harry what was important to Voldemort helped Harry discover where they might look. With the exception of the Ring -- which being a Gaunt heirloom as a true line of Slytherin, that Riddle cursed because he likely felt no one but a Slytherin should ever put it on -- the magic protecting it seems the strength of the horcrux spell itself and of course the soul-piece. Voldemort felt to the end that his own intelligence and cleverness could not possibly be figured out by "ordinary" wizarding folk. And Dumbledore also left Harry the Sword in his will, which didn't work out because of Ministry interference.

This argument seems to be based on the fact that since things turned out alright, Dumbledore probably acted in the right manner, which I don't think is logical. The fact that Harry was able to defeat Voldemort doesn't have to mean that Dumbledore gave him all the tools he needed to succeed. Had Harry failed in his quest, Dumbledore's plan and actions would have been subject to more criticism but since Harry succeeded, he gets leeway. The fact that Voldemort was too arrogant to protect all his Horcruxes in a powerful way is merely convenient and there is no indication that Harry would have known how to deal with dark magic had Voldemort chosen to use it. This is why I said that Harry won through luck, because Dumbledore didn't and/or couldn't provide him with anything useful, besides Voldemort's background.

[HedwigOwl]

Originally Posted by Sereena

This argument seems to be based on the fact that since things turned out alright, Dumbledore probably acted in the right manner, which I don't think is logical. The fact that Harry was able to defeat Voldemort doesn't have to mean that Dumbledore gave him all the tools he needed to succeed. Had Harry failed in his quest, Dumbledore's plan and actions would have been subject to more criticism but since Harry succeeded, he gets leeway. The fact that Voldemort was too arrogant to protect all his Horcruxes in a powerful way is merely convenient and there is no indication that Harry would have known how to deal with dark magic had Voldemort chosen to use it. This is why I said that Harry won through luck, because Dumbledore didn't and/or couldn't provide him with anything useful, besides Voldemort's background.

I think Dumbledore gave Harry all the information about Voldemort & horcruxes that he could. He took him along on the expedition to the cave horcrux hunt precisely so Harry could see how Dumbledore went about investigating and how dangerous it could be. He didn't tell Harry that he had a soul-piece behind the scar, but then I believe Dumbledore was correct in thinking that Harry wasn't ready to hear that part, not until there was no other choice, when Harry was completely committed to the defeat of Voldemort via the horcrux destruction. Some things were left to chance, but every possible assistance was given. You argue that the author steered circumstances to turn out the way they did. While that may of course be true, in actual history many decisions of great scale are undertaken with less than complete information because the point is reached where action must be taken (or not taken). Looking at the story you can see elements of personalities, commitment, determination, service to evil or good, parts of puzzles but not the whole -- all these contribute to the outcome based on the actions or inactions of the people involved, just like in real life. Not so different, then, a good story and life events when you think about it......