Spoiler alert. Events from the first book of Harry Potter discussed.
It’s that time of year again when the child in every adult revisits Harry Potter. My favorite character is Dumbledore acted by Jim Dale in the audiobook format (not a fan of any of the movie Dumbledores)
he is an example of the type of person that I want to be.
I’m at the part in the first book where Dumbledore has a talk with Harry at his third time visiting the mirror that shows Harry his family; the deepest desire of his heart.
“Back again I see.“ Dumbledore reveals to Harry he was there the second time as well when he recites what Ron saw in the mirror; a visit Ron and Harry thought they shared between only them. Dumbledore was there then and he’s here now for Harry’s third visit.
what I like about this scene and how it develops Dumbledore‘s character is how it shows him as a person who does not Get consumed with the details and the immediate. His experience and his age show here. His 10,000 foot view show here. He is not more upset with Harry than he is interested in using this opportunity to one) be kind (not nice; know the diff) and two) understand from Harry’s perspective why he is back.
He understands Harry’s intention is not to be bad or to break school rules even though that is what he’s doing. Dumbledore understands that, primarily, Harry is there because it is easy for anyone to be consumed with a desire for something that they cannot have. And instead of yelling at him, Dumbledore explains it to him in a way that creates respect. Harry knows Dumbledore could instead be punishing him. But Dumbledore is patient. And Dumbledore trusts that helping Harry understand will do more good for Harry than punishing him.
Dumbledore conveys to Harry that he trusts him. And that is what is important. If Dumbledore were to punish Harry, it would communicate that what Harry was doing was wrong. And it is wrong. But that’s all it would communicate. It would not address Harry’s intention. It would not help Harry grow into a more emotionally intelligence human.
In contrast. What Dumbledore did instead communicated to Harry the same thing; that what he was doing was wrong, even though his intentions were good. And that even though his intentions were good, they could lead him down a purposeless path.
Dumbledore’s approach let Harry draw the conclusion in his own mind that in the long term what he was doing was potentially harmful aside from the immediate error of breaking school rules. And I believe that Dumbledore took this strategy on purpose . I believe that is why he took this approach with Harry and why he takes this approach with most things in the book. He has a 10,000 foot view. He takes the long-term over the short term.
___________
Now that I’ve finished the book, the above reminds me of some Dumbledore character development that we get through a conversation between Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
This is after the night the trio save the Sorcerer’s stone (surprise I’m in the US).
Hermione expresses she thinks it was potentially careless of Dumbledore to perhaps know they were going to try and save the stone themselves. But Harry replies that Dumbledore, if he knew the trio would try, there was not stopping them. And instead of making the failing effort to stop them, Harry said he would instead prepare them, without explicit notification, to handle the challenges ahead.
The ten thousand foot view.
___________
Another thing I think this shows about Dumbledore is that he doesn’t get involved with things that are below him. In the same scene, Dumbledore says “I don’t need a cloak to be invisible”.
it suggests that Dumbledore is not ignorant; he’s aware that Harry has been here before, and he’s probably aware of other things that Harry has been doing at night; ie Breaking the rules.
But Dumbledore doesn’t water down his influence over Harry or respect from Harry by getting involved in every single little infraction. He is there for the pivotal moments. The ones that will mold Harry into a the person he is meant to be. He’s not on Harry’s back for every single squabble that he has with Malfoy Or Other small altercation that doesn’t matter. He’s there for the things that matter.
Dumbledore doesn’t get involved in every single thing only the things that are above a certain threshold of important. And this interaction that Harry is having with the mirror is above that level.
This again is evidence of an innate trust that Dumbledore has in Harry. Dumbledore trust that Harry will figure out the small things for himself. He understands that the squabbles with Malfoy are part of growing. He understands that the squabbles with Malfoy are there to make him into who Harry Needs to become. He understands that this friction with Malfoy needs to happen to harden Harry’s self confidence. And so Dumbledore does not get involved in those things even though they’re bad.
Dumbledore does not protect Harry from the friction with Malfoy or from instances when Snape takes points from Harry for ridiculous infractions. Dumbledore understands, from a 10,000 foot view, that all of this friction and unjust treatment has a place. That there are actors out in the world who Can’t be controlled who are going to be much worse toward Harry than Snape or Malloy. And that it does Harry no good to save him and shelter him and bring him up in a just and cushy environment.
So Dumbledore lets it happen.
And the quote from Dumbledore about him not needing a cloak to be invisible Tells us he knows all of this bad stuff is happening to Harry. It tells us that when Dumbledore meets Harry in the mirror room that Dumbledore is closely following Harry on a day-to-day basis. He knows what’s going on. And he lets it happen. Because Dumbledore knows that that friction will grow Harry in the direction that he needs to grow And also trusts Harry to grow from it and not be consumed by it.
Dumbledore is at the wheel, he is controlling the knobs, he’s not allowing to happen more than what Harry can handle, and he is watching out for paths like this mirror That are more than Harry can handle, and giving Harry the information that he needs to understand that without overstepping to remove it from him entirely. Dumbledore is trusting in Harry, and Harry is developing a sense of self reliance, respect and confidence.
_________
Like I mentioned, I finished the book. This was a fav quote from Dumbledore at the end of the book:
- The well organized mind sees death as the next great adventure
