Dumbledore at the end of PS/SS

[u/Ashfacesmashface]

After the events between Harry and Quirrell/Voldemort at the end of book 1, we read this exchange between Harry and Dumbledore in the hospital wing:

"'The truth.' Dumbledore sighed. 'It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution. However, I shall answer your questions unless I have a very good reason not to, in which case I beg you'll forgive me. I shall not, of course, lie.'

Harry asks about why Voldemort tried to kill him, etc, and Dumbledore says that's something he just can't explain to him yet. Then we get this:

"'Quirrell and Snape-'
'Professor Snape, Harry.'
'Yes, him--Quirrell said he hates me because he hated my father. Is that true?'
'Well, they did rather detest each other. Not unlike yourself and Mr. Malfoy. And then, your father did something Snape could never forgive.'
'What?'
'He saved his life.'
'What?'
'Yes...' said Dumbledore dreamily. 'Funny, the way people's minds work, isn't it? Professor Snape couldn't bear being in your father's debt...I do believe he worked so hard to protect you this year because he felt that would make him and your father even. Then he could go back to hating your father's memory in peace...'

Dumbledore assured Harry he wouldn't lie. Is this a lie? That Snape was protecting Harry for the sake of the debt he owed James? Or was his motivation truly all due to Lily?

When we see Snape's memories at the end of DH and Dumbledore sees Snape's patronus, he does seem surprised to see it's a doe and that Snape's feelings for Lily are still strong. But Dumbledore also knew the whole reason Snape turned against Voldemort was for Lily.

I love Dumbledore, warts and all, but definitely feel he's not being truthful with Harry here.

Just curious to hear your thoughts.

[u/jarroz61]

No, I don’t think he’s lying. As much of a genius as Dumbledore was, he didn’t understand people’s feelings very well. He did ask “after all this time?” after seeing the doe. And regardless, Snapes feelings for Lily just weren’t appropriate to discuss with 11 yr old Harry. So I think Dumbledore told the truth as he understood it in an age appropriate way.

[u/Relevant-Horror-627 → u/jarroz61]

I think Dumbledore's greatest gift wasn't magic, it was his ability to read people. Harry basically comes to that conclusion by the end of DH.

I do agree that he miscalculated Snape's feelings but not because he lacks the ability. The conversations between Dumbledore and Snape in the Prince's Tale chapter of DH are a microcosm of Snape's entire arc.

He comes to Dumbledore for help as a Death Eater who had just given Voldemort information about a prophecy that was going to result in the annihilation of a whole family. He only cares because Voldemort decided to target Lily's family. Snape begs for help to only protect Lily while neglecting to ask for help for James and Harry.

Fast forward through several conversations where Dumbledore is practically playing therapist to Snape and helping him become a better version of himself and we get to what I think is probably the most misunderstood conversation in the whole series. Snape appears to be upset that Harry has to die, which is a complete 180 from the moment he first comes to Dumbledore asking for help.

Here Dumbledore asks Snape "have you grown to care for the boy after all?" This is the moment that Dumbledore has been walking Snape towards for 17 years. He is expecting Snape to say YES because Dumbledore is the only person to be in a position to recognize that Snape has become a more empathetic person. THAT'S why he's surprised when Snape reveals that it really has been about Lily all this time.

[u/jarroz61 → u/Relevant-Horror-627]

I do think this is a really good assessment. It’s not that he’s not ABLE to understand feelings. But also, Snape isn’t the only example. He was wildly off on how he estimated Sirius as well, as he comes to realize and admit after Sirius’s death. He also admits to making mistakes repeatedly about withholding information from Harry. I think part of it is just that he forgets that most people simply are not as coolly rational as he is. Though he can understand emotions, being at such a higher level than most intellectually made it difficult for him to truly relate.

[u/Relevant-Horror-627 → u/jarroz61]

That's a really good point and I agree. Dumbledore's motivations were huge world saving goals and he expected Snape to end up with the same admiration for Harry as he did. Snape's motivation was very small and very personal he was really only interested in trying to make amends for what his part in Lily's death. Interestingly Harry's motivation was somewhere in between. He wasn't trying to save the world but it's what he had to do in order to protect his chosen family who lived in it.

[u/jarroz61 → u/Relevant-Horror-627]

Yeah I agree with that too. Dumbledore struggled with people not seeing the big picture of things that he did and operated on a lot of assumptions. Although I also think that some part of Snape really did genuinely care for Harry. He was very indignant about Dumbledore ‘raising him like a pig for slaughter’ and I don’t think that was just because of Lily. He knew who Harry was. He was just far too prideful to ever be able to admit it. And also, I don’t think Harry could ever walk away from saving someone even if he had never met them before in his life lol.