Manipulations and deceits; a look at Albus Dumbledore
The Philosopher/Sorcerer's Stone
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts, recipitant of the Order of Merlin, First Class, Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards and the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. But of course, we also know him as the masterful manipulator.
We can see evidence of this first of all in Philosopher's stone. We see no evidence of Albus Dumbledore being placed in charge of Harry after the deaths of James and Lily Potter, and the incarceration of Sirius Black. But why was Sirius incarcerated in the first place? We know that he was supposedly guilty of betraying Lily and James, but why then was there no trial? Or the use of truth serum? Dumbledore, being the Chief of the Wizengamot, could have checked to see if Sirius was in fact guilty. Surely the fact that everyone believed Sirius to be the Secret Keeper of the Potters would have raised some suspicions. It's just a bit too obvious for my liking. Surely they would have told Dumbledore about the decoy that they set up, why wouldn't have they?
We're also told during PoA that Sirius wanted to take Harry from Hagrid when he turned up at the ruins of the Potter house. But Hagrid, under direct orders from Dumbledore, refused to give Harry up to Sirius. But why? As Sirius was the godfather of Harry, he would've had complete rights to taking custody of Harry. Dumbledore wouldn't have had a limb to stand on had it gone to court over the custody of Harry. And yet, there was no court trial. Instead, we see an innocent man, deprived of a trial or a chance to explain himself, packed off to Azkaban for over thirteen years.
And the, for the next ten years, we see Harry Potter living in a broom cupboard, doing chores that no ten year old could be expected to do (cooking breakfast). We're not directly told of course whether Harry has or has not been abused in the past, but from what we know, there has been some elements of abuse, whether acknowledged or not by Harry. And of course, it's highly unlikely that Dumbledore didn't know about this abuse, we know that he did because of the letter sent to Harry, and I quote, "Cupboard under the stairs".
When Harry is introduced to the Magical world and is escorted around Diagon Alley, we're introduced to Hagrid. Hagrid is clearly a good person, but he's deadly committed to Dumbledore. While normally that wouldn't be a concern, but we're later shown in CoS that he was expelled because of a Slytherin. He is against Slytherin's and is clearly biased from them, stating that dark wizards come from Slytherin.
But why was Hagrid sent in the first place? We know that he wasn't made a teacher until third year, coincidently when Harry made his elective choices. So before third year, what was he, other than a gameskeeper? Was he really qualified to be sent to what was (arguably) the most important person to come to Hogwarts? Why was not a teacher sent? Or even Dumbledore himself? Surely Harry with his fame merited an official person from the Ministry or the school? And yet instead of any of that we see only Hagrid, a biased, anti-Slytherin, half-giant.
And even when Harry is ready to go to school, what is it that Hagrid has forgotten to tell Harry? Just where platform 9 ¾'s is! Not only that, but he's expected to go onto the train and the station alone! Well, let's just forget all about the Death Eaters who were "acquitted", let's forget that he's an 11 year old boy with no experience of the magical world, and let's just forget that there would be plenty of people with motives for kidnapping him, Death Eaters aside!
Of course, how convenient it is that there just happens to be a person more or less saying out loud in public amid the hordes of Muggles asking where Platform 9 ¾ is! How convenient for Harry that there just happens to be someone saying it out loud for him to hear.
Once they make it to Hogwarts, Harry and his new friend, Ron Weasley (who just happens to be indoctrinated with the belief that all Slytherin's are bad, and has repeatedly told Harry so) go to Hogwarts, across a lake and into Hogwarts itself. There, they are met with no less than the Head of Gryffindor, Professor McGonagall. After telling the students about the Houses, putting a particular emphasis on the word, "Slytherin", they're all led into the Great Hall to get sorted.
One point that does bug me, however, is that does Harry truly belong in Gryffindor or Slytherin? If he was a Gryffindor, surely he would have shown the courage to speak out against his conditions (living in a cupboard), and if he was a Slytherin, he would've used cunning and tried to manipulate the situation. The way I see it, Harry's more suited to either Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. In my opinion, Harry would've preferred Hufflepuff more, as they're more accepting, the members of the House don't have as many expectations placed on them, and they're loyal to a boot. Harry, deprived of friends in his youth would have eagerly loved Hufflepuff because the House would have loved him in return. Hufflepuff, friendly, loyal and kind. In short, everything that Harry would have longed for as a child.
And then we get to the lessons. Everything seems to go alright, Harry has problems like the rest of his year in lessons, but of course then we go onto Potions, taught by Snape, the "ex-Death Eater" who coincidently has a hatred for Potters. What kind of Headmaster would allow someone like him to teach Harry? He constantly put's down Harry, holds him in little liking. Yes, it's just what an abused boy needs, to be put down once again by a man who is immature, foolish and blind.
And then, we have Quirrel. Why couldn't, a man well known for his ability to read minds, tell that a Professor, having gone away (to Albania no less where Dumbledore knows for a fact that Voldemort fled to) came back suddenly changed. He started to stutter and he changed classes from Muggle-Studies to DADA. And of course, we have Snape who suspects Quirrel of being up to something. Is it so unlikely that he wouldn't have gone to Dumbledore with his suspicions? And would have it been so hard to find out what Quirrel was up to by asking the Portraits? And for that case, why didn't the Wards placed on Hogwarts stop Voldemort from entering the castle?
And what do we have next from the manipulations of Dumbledore? Well, lets take a look at his regard for Slytherins. The attack of the troll, what does Dumbledore say? "All students return to their common rooms immediately". Where is the troll? In the dungeons. Where's the Slytherin common rooms? In the dungeons. Now, is it just me or does Dumbledore not have a liking for Slytherins? Probably not, seeing as at the end of the year, he directly gives points to his little pet Gryffindors allowing them to win the House cup. Why on earth would he do it during the final feast of the year? He allows the Slytherin's to believe that they've won the House Cup, but just a minute after, he gives 170 points to Gryffindor, allowing them to win. Perhaps the points were deserved, but then why didn't he give them out before? I think I can hazard a guess at this point, he knew that Snape would award Slytherin more points allowing them to win, so, in order to thwart Snape of this, he gave them out, thereby crushing the hearts of the Slytherins who actually worked to get those points.
And now we get onto the Philosophers Stone. How long did Nicolas Flamel live for? Around six hundred years. So not once, in seven hundred years, had anyone made an attempt to steal the Philosopher's stone? So Flamel's defences on the Stone, defences that he had over seven hundred years to construct were nothing compared to the defences that Dumbledore made, that three first years managed to get past? What the hell is going on there?
And another point, if Nicolas was six hundred years old, how the hell did Dumbledore, only around 150 years old, help to make the Philosophers stone?? Unless Dumbledore went back in time to do it, thereby changing reality, it couldn't have been done!
And who the hell would trust Hagrid, known for his drunkenness, with the information about the first defence of the Philosopher's stone? I understand if it was Snape or McGonagall who had been told, but Hagrid? The very man who bought a dragon to bring up in a wooden house? It's insanity!
And so, in conclusion for the first book of the Philosopher's Stone, we have gone through the book briefly and picked out the important areas of Dumbledore's manipulations. And so I put it to you, my readers, what is Dumbledore really? A man of good intentions? Or a man willing to sacrifice the life of an innocent child and those of countless others (Sirius Black) for a simple prophecy? It just makes you wonder what other manipulations he indulged in before the Harry Potter years.