Dumbledore's Portrait : Can it speak? Will it be able to help Harry? v2

[IgoRetla]

Yup. And that's where the other portraits come in. Of course, if the portrait-Dumbleodore soesn't have mich more to offer than words of support, Harry doesn't have to see him a great deal anyway.

I think that Jo made it prettty clear that Harry is pretty much on his own in this one.

If anything, I think Harry would want to apologize to the portrait...and vice versa.

[Hes]

Originally Posted by IgoRetla

I was just intending to say that there will likely be other places that Harry has access to Dumbledore's portrait than just the Head's office.

Maybe it could be in St Mungo's, since Dumbledore did discover those uses for Dragon blood, didn't he.

And for all we know, McGonagall is one of the early deaths in the book, so her wishes wouldn't be a factor at all.

Possible, without McGonagall as head of Hogwarts it would be a lot more difficult for Harry to get access.

[witchsmart]

HesHPfan:
Possible, without McGonagall as head of Hogwarts it would be a lot more difficult for Harry to get access.

Yeah, especially if it was Umbridge again. *shudder* But if Dumbledore does have a portrait in St. Mungo's, it should be pretty easy for him to acess that one, of course he would first have to figure out that there's one there.

[Hes]

Originally Posted by witchsmart

Yeah, especially if it was Umbridge again. *shudder* But if Dumbledore does have a portrait in St. Mungo's, it should be pretty easy for him to acess that one, of course he would first have to figure out that there's one there.

That's where Aberforth might come in, he must know things about Dumbledore that are still a mystery to us. Aberforth could tell Harry.

[horcrux_man]

Well i dont know if it can speak but what about the thing Harry goes into in GOF and sees Barty Crouch Jr. getting sent to Azkaban, do you thing Harry will go back into that and be able to find things out that happened to or had to do with Dumbledore's memories?

[TonksRocks]

I think that as of right now, if the pensive still works (would it work after someone's dead?), that's his best bet. The way I always viewed the portraits was that they aren't the actual person persay, but the person's likeness. I think the answers the portrait of Dumbledore can only give answers of what Dumbledore would do in a situation. I'm sorry if that doesn't make sense, but you get my drift. I don't think it has the memories that Dumbledore has; that would be too easy.

Also, another thing to think about is, if Dumbledore has a million and a half portraits, he most likely won't be at his Hogwart's ones. It was mentioned several times in the books that portraits, such a Sirius' uncle or past Headmasters/mistresses weren't in their portraits because they were visiting others.

[Hes]

Originally Posted by TonksRocks

Also, another thing to think about is, if Dumbledore has a million and a half portraits, he most likely won't be at his Hogwart's ones. It was mentioned several times in the books that portraits, such a Sirius' uncle or past Headmasters/mistresses weren't in their portraits because they were visiting others.

But the portrait in the Headmaster/mistress office is the most important portrait. Dumbledore as former head is bound by a promise to serve the current head. Which makes it unlikely that he will be away a lot. He has to remain in place as much as possible in case McGonagall needs him.

[IgoRetla]

Originally Posted by horcrux_man

Well i dont know if it can speak but what about the thing Harry goes into in GOF and sees Barty Crouch Jr. getting sent to Azkaban, do you thing Harry will go back into that and be able to find things out that happened to or had to do with Dumbledore's memories?

I think that it's Harry's own memories, the places he's been and things he's seen, that are important. Perhaps Dumbledore's portrait will suggest that Harry stick his own memories into the Penseive and give them a stir.

[Celestrin]

Do you think McGonigal will let him in alone? She was rather snotty with him in the end of HBP.

[TreacleFudge]

Originally Posted by IgoRetla

I think that it's Harry's own memories, the places he's been and things he's seen, that are important. Perhaps Dumbledore's portrait will suggest that Harry stick his own memories into the Penseive and give them a stir.

That's an interesting idea. It makes sense, too! We know already that the portraits are just an imprint of sorts, so DD wouldn't necessarily have any memories to share with Harry. Harry did know about as much as DD did on Horcruxes by the end of HBP, so the portrait suggesting that Harry look at his OWN memories is brilliant.

[missypotter]

I have a feeling Dumbledore's portrait won't speak until after LV is killed. The purpose of the portraits are to help the current Headmaster/Headmistress with their duties at Hogwarts. I don't think DD will be hanging out at his portrait.

I do think Dumbledore still has information and helps for Harry, but I think they were put into place ahead of time in case of his death. The portraits do what they are asked, but they don't act indepedently. Also they can only go where they have portraits.

Anyway, my feeling is where ever DD is, he will be too busy to just hang out in McGonnagals office until LV dies. Then he will be happy to take his place with the others.

[witchsmart]

missypotter:
I do think Dumbledore still has information and helps for Harry, but I think they were put into place ahead of time in case of his death.

Maybe into the pensive? Then Dumbledore's portrait could just tell him to look there, or maybe Harry will figure it out himself. And he could use it to sort out his own memories, like IgoRetla said.

[padfootandme]

I think that Harry will go back to Hogwarts to talk to Dumbledore's portrait, but it won't be a weekly thing, maybe once or twice when he is stuck in a corner and doesn't know the next direction to turn in his hunt for horcruxes.

[potterfan53]

I would love for Harry to be able to talk to Dumbledore and find out about Snape's loyalties, the potion, other horcruxes, etc. but it just won't happen. Harry has to be going alone at this point in the series, and having Dumbledore tell him where to go, what to do, and who to trust seems like Harry is still not the actual powerful wizard, just someone who follows Dumbledore and gets a few lucky breaks.

I like the pensieve idea a lot more, though. Going through DD's memories and the ones he collected from others in his research could be very useful for Harry, and looking through his own memories could be just as good. Harry never really seems like he understood how truly useful it was, but it would be like him becoming a reader and being able to reread his own life. What if, for example, he looked back at his memory of cleaning 12 Grimmauld Place and saw the locket that he otherwise would have forgotten (assuming that is the horcrux)? His own memories could be an incredibly valuable resource to him.

[Manyh]

uhm well, It's kinda stupid to say that dumbledore's portrait can't speak because the others can and then it's typical magical portraits that they can actually move and talk but not touchable.

I hope he would be able to help harry, if someone has not hide him away lol.

[HeatPhoenix]

Yeah but the portrait will stay in the office ..So Harry can't possibly come back to the office all the time to take orders