Re: Dumbledore's Smiling Face, Part 2
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Brilliant, Oneandthetruth! I had been going to try to formulate a reply, but now all I can do is second everything you've said. Summing up:
The boy and the young man do get off on the wrong foot, and their personalities (which are almost bound to clash) and their past experiences do feed into this. However, Dumbledore manipulates both of them, throughout, for his own ends. I think you are dead right in saying that he - Dumbledore - did not want any young adult male to bond with Harry. Lupin, being a distant sort, was no great danger to him, but Severus and Sirius were. It suited him very well to confine poor Sirius to a home filled with toxic memories, where he drifted into alcoholism. And it suited him to encourage the natural antipathy between Harry and Severus. So he did it.
As for the clashing personalities, people have pointed out that Harry, given his circumstances with the Dursleys, would be naturally rebellious and distrustful of authority figures, and would see hard work and discipline as punishments. Well, Dumbledore engineered Harry's circumstances. We know from SS/PS that he was aware of them and could have mitigated them at any time. For ten years, he chose not to do so.
So yes. Dumbledore benefited from the hostility and suspicion between Harry and Severus, if only because it made it easier for him to manipulate both of them. Severus does bear some responsibility for the impasse, if only because he's an adult. But Dubmledore bears far more. He is evil, IMHO.
"Poor Severus" my foot!
The boy and the young man do get off on the wrong foot, and their personalities (which are almost bound to clash) and their past experiences do feed into this. However, Dumbledore manipulates both of them, throughout, for his own ends. I think you are dead right in saying that he - Dumbledore - did not want any young adult male to bond with Harry. Lupin, being a distant sort, was no great danger to him, but Severus and Sirius were. It suited him very well to confine poor Sirius to a home filled with toxic memories, where he drifted into alcoholism. And it suited him to encourage the natural antipathy between Harry and Severus. So he did it.
As for the clashing personalities, people have pointed out that Harry, given his circumstances with the Dursleys, would be naturally rebellious and distrustful of authority figures, and would see hard work and discipline as punishments. Well, Dumbledore engineered Harry's circumstances. We know from SS/PS that he was aware of them and could have mitigated them at any time. For ten years, he chose not to do so.
So yes. Dumbledore benefited from the hostility and suspicion between Harry and Severus, if only because it made it easier for him to manipulate both of them. Severus does bear some responsibility for the impasse, if only because he's an adult. But Dubmledore bears far more. He is evil, IMHO.
"Poor Severus" my foot!