Day: March 17, 2005

I just figured out what bothers me most about the latest Harry Potter book. It is the way that all of the adults keep secrets from the children. My philosophy is that if a child is old enough to ask the question, then they’re old enough to hear the answers. This is particularly important if the child has been traumatized in any way. If you withold vital information, then the child will not trust you and come to you for help when they need it. In the very first book Harry asks why Voldemort wanted to kill him. Dumbledore refuses to answer the question. Harry should have been told about the prophecy right then and there. Dumbledore claims Harry was “too young”. Any child who has been visciously attacked and nearly killed NEEDS to know everything about causes of the attack in order to recover. In addition Dumbledore tells Harry that his father saved Snape’s life, but fails to tell him the full story even though it is relevant. What should have happened was that Dumbledore sat down with Harry for an entire evening and answered every question Harry had.

My approach when my kids ask difficult questions (Like “where do babies come from?”) is to give a general, but truthful answer. If they then ask for more information I fill in details. That way the child gets exactly as much information as they are ready for. Dumbledore should have answered Harry’s “Why” with basic information about the prophecy and elaborated as Harry asked further questions. At least that is what Dumbledore should do if his first concern was for Harry. I don’t believe that to be true. I believe that Dumbledore’s first loyalty is to humankind at large and that his intention is to bring the permanent downfall of Voldemort. This larger goal causes Dumbledore to hide things from Harry and to use Harry as a tool. The sad thing is that Dumbledore could as easily achieve his larger goal by telling Harry things and then Harry would be a willing tool. I don’t like Dumbledore as much as I used to.