Question regarding Dumbledore

[wook77]

Ok, question for the flist and any who can answer it.

Long rambling intro: I was re-reading Chapter 26 of HBP last night to do research on the cave and Inferi.

When I was reading... the below caught my eye. (directly quoted from page 572 of the American Version)

And obediently, Dumbledore drank, as though it was an antidote Harry offered him, but upon draining the goblet, he sank to his knees, shaking uncontrollably.

"It's all my fault, all my fault," he sobbed. "Please make it stop, I know I did wrong, oh please make it stop and I'll never, never again..."

What do you think Dumbledore did? Is this about Harry's parents? Is this about Snape? Is this about Malfoy? Is this about Aberforth's goat?



I honestly don't know what i think. I really dislike evil!Dumbledore so I don't think that it's all about how he did something extremely awful and evil.

Instead, I think it's something that he honestly regrets. Either his inability to act quickly enough to save Harry's parents. That seems a reasonable explanation but my curiosity is saying that I'm wrong on that one.

Is this about Snape somehow? Is it Dumbledore's "fault" that Snape is forced to go back to the DE's and he's regretting that now?


What are your thoughts and feelings on this?

Comments

Oh cool *drops everything*

[mordyn4]

Great question. My take on it is this: Dumbledore is the Harry of his time isn't he? And just like Harry has things he feels guilt over. I think that potion makes a person relive something really unpleasant. For example, I think Sirius's death is going to be the one thing that Harry's always going to feel the most guilt over, not because it's the worst thing he'll have a hand in, but because it's the first event that hit him like that - likewise, I think there's something that Dumbledore was involved in early in his life that he feels the most guilt over, has nightmares about, and was unable to process in an adult manner at the time. The way he's speaking makes me think it's something from his childhood, something he couldn't fix. I wonder if it could be connected to his brother and would explain his brother's "problems". What a plot bunny.

Again, great question! And I can't wait to see what you're writing that you needed to research this for. M.

Re: Oh cool *drops everything*

[wook77.livejournal.com]

I really really like this thinking.

There are plenty of things that Dumbledore could regret, from not being able to save a childhood friend to using Harry this way.

Honestly, I'm feeling better about the quotation but at the same time, I'm now more confused because everyone has such wonderful thoughts on what Dumbledore could be begging forgiveness for.

(the research is more for the cave and the Inferi but now that I've had this dumbledore thought... I'm having breeding plot bunnies... it's like I could start up a whole plot bunny farm at this point.)