But I do think that the exception is Molly Weasley. She tries like hell to protect Harry from himself like no other adult in the series does - most of them are content to sit back and let him be The Boy Who Lived and do whatever the heck he wants in the name of Saving Wizardingkind.
True, except that I read Molly's mothering is explicitly positioned by the text as (especially as Harry gets older) smothering and unhelpful. Emotional support is great, but she also refuses him information--I'm thinking particularly about OotP and the huge fight with Sirius. Molly treats Harry as a child long after he's taking action with adult results--and we see with the twins how well her type of mothering actually works.
YMMV - ha! that works! Your Molly May Vary!!
Anywhoodle - I didn't read her like that. And despite their childhood shenanigans, I thought her type of mothering did work and very well, at that. All of her kids end up being sucessful in their careers and living lives that - from what information we have - are happy.
I'm willing to admit I overstated it a bit. But one of the problems I had with Molly was that she behaved as though she actually had authority over Harry, and as if she were the only person who cared about his well-being. I do think it was pretty explicit that she wasn't willing to let him make his own decisions.
OoTP is the book where absolutely no one makes a good decision. Harry makes about 15 bad ones, but Dumbledore is close behind, followed by Snape and Sirius.
OoTP is the book where absolutely no one makes a good decision.
Oh my God, this is so true. Seriously, this whole last chapter or penultimate chapter or whatever I'm in is basically about how EVERYONE FUCKED UP SO HARD.
You know who pretty much made all the good decisions, though? HERMIONE. She is particularly awesome in this book, I swear.
You know who pretty much made all the good decisions, though? HERMIONE. She is particularly awesome in this book, I swear.
Except that she didn't think that maybe Snape was faking when he said that he had no idea what Harry was talking about when he tried to tell him about Sirius.
Also, it's the book where Neville and Ginny and Luna are awesome, so that helps.
Except that she didn't think that maybe Snape was faking when he said that he had no idea what Harry was talking about when he tried to tell him about Sirius.
True, but I'm not sure whether that would have changed anything. They still would have gone to the Department of Mysteries, in case he wasn't.
Also, it's the book where Neville and Ginny and Luna are awesome, so that helps.
It does. Ginny is pretty great in this book too. She's all wisecracking and being good at spells and flying and shit.
Which would be more meaningful in retrospect if he didn't just continue on with the information-withholding and failure to trust Harry with his plans and ideas for the next year.
I did like the fact that JKR addressed this in DH, when she has Aberforth state that secrets and lies were the way that the Dumbledore boys were raised, and that Albus embraced it.
I did like the fact that JKR addressed this in DH, when she has Aberforth state that secrets and lies were the way that the Dumbledore boys were raised, and that Albus embraced it.
Right. I always thought a lot of the dynamics in that family looked like a family where one of the parents is an alcoholic. Which isn't how it maps to the story, but those sibling relationships that are involved with concealing family stories and resentment about leaving vs. caretaking has a Children of Alcoholics vibe to me.
