Dumbledore says in Order of the Phoenix, Page 838-839;

"I cared about you too much," said Dumbledore simply. "I cared more for your happiness than your knowing the truth, more for your peace of mind than my plan, more for your life than the lives that might be lost if the plan failed. In other words, I acted exactly as Voldemort expects we fools who love to act.

"Is there a defense? I defy anyone who has watched you as I have- and I have watched you more closely than you can have imagined- not to want to save you more pain than you had already suffered. What did I care if numbers and nameless and faceless people and creatures were slaughtered in the vague future, if in the here and now you were alive, and well, and happy? I never dreamed that I would have such a person on my hands."


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Dumbledore constantly speaks of how much he cared for Harry, and Hermione even backs it up in The Deathly Hallows when she says on Page 563;

"Professor Dumbledore cared about Harry, very much," said Hermione in a low voice.

Again she said on Page 568;

Aberforth seemed lost in contemplation of his own knotted and veined hands. After a long pause he said, "How can you be sure, Potter, that my brother wasn't more interested in greater good than in you? How can you be sure you aren't dispensable, just like my little sister?"

A shard of ice seemed to pierce Harry's heart.

"I don't believe it. Dumbledore loved Harry," said Hermione.

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Dumbledore has essentially been there for Harry his entire life as a specter. He watched Harry grow up, yet did nothing to save him from the torment the Dursley's put upon him. He did nothing to save him from 10 years of abuse, and yearly neglect at their indifferent hands.

Dumbledore places Harry into the situations him came to, to put him closer to Voldemort, to flex that piece of a soul that was attached to Harry's. To give it strength... to build up to his ultimate vision of the final departure.

As per the discussion between Snape and Dumbledore on Page 686;

"So the boy.. the boy must die?" asked Snape quite calmly.

"And Voldemort himself must do it, Severus. That is essential."

Another long silence. Then Snape said, "I thought... all these years... that we were protecting him for her. For Lily."

"We have protected him because it has been essential to teach him, to raise him, to let him try his strength," said Dumbledore, his eyes still tight shut. 'Meanwhile, the connection between them grows ever stronger, a parasitic growth: Sometimes I have thought he suspects it himself. If I know him, he will have arranged matters so that when he does set out to meet his death, it will truly mean the end of Voldemort."

Dumbledore opened his eyes. Snape looked horrified.

"You have kept him alive so that he can die at the right moment?"

"Don't be shocked, Severus. How many men and women have you watched die?"

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I was shocked... or at least, shocked to the pure extent that this kind of thing goes. Of course, most of us have always believed Dumbledore to be nothing but a manipulative old-goat. We knew from the start he was working the threads of his own masterpiece to come out the way he wanted.

However, that's the thing fanfictions and real novels are made of. I was shocked to see the depth of Dumbledores conniving scheme run this deep. His portrayal has never lacked, he has never broke in his exterior. It was only in the last few chapters of Deathly Hallows that you see Dumbledore for the manipulator he is.

Did he ever care about Harry? Was everything he told Harry, was his love and concern, nothing but a lie to set Harry up for the fall?

Was it all a sham?

 

Dumbledore cared for him a lot...in The Office.

 

I think it was both. He cared for Harry but still he knew by then that it was what (in his mind) had to happen.

 

To me, it seems that while Dumbledore was a manipulator, he did genuinely care for Harry. I think because of the fact that he sees the best in people like Harry or Snape, he feels that they withstand anything. And I would imagine that had a lot to do with how his manipulations came about. In his mind, he knew what kind of person Harry was, so he used that in his manipulations.

 

I suppose it's the fact that Dumbledore seemed to use both of the character's he places so much trust in. He found Snape kneeling and begging for help... and Dumbledore twisted the knife in and stole Snape's allegiance for his own gain.

He didn't just use it that once, he found a stock hold in Snape that proved to last all the way to the end.


It just makes me question whether Dumbledore truly did care, because of all the abuse he let Harry go through. Even the abuse within itself didn't make Harry into who he is, as in later stages of the book, Harry not longer is the scared child he used to be.

If he cared so much, why did he let Harry become such a subservient waste? Was it merely so that later in his life, Harry would depend on good ol' Dumbledore?

 

I think Dumbledore knew about Harry being a Horcrux and he knew that if Harry was going to win he would need that Horcrux to be destroyed. Hence why he said, "Voldemort must be the one to kill Harry." I think that if Harry was hit by the AK from Voldemort, it would seek out Voldemort's soul first since the AK came from him.

But I am sure this will bring a whole new generation of Manipulative!Dumbledore fics.

 

I'm pretty sure in the book Dumbledore does confirm he knows Harry is a Horcrux. I can at least remember him saying that he truly believes it to be so. It was during the chapter with Snape's pensieve memories while Dumbledore and Snape were having a discussion.

 

He cares for Harry, but he knows that the greater good has to be served, thus the manipulation.

These lines are just another manipluation. Dumbledore needed Harry to go to his death, thinking that he was about to die, in order for him to survive Voldemort's killing curse. So he fed Snape misinformation.

 

Dumbledore just played games within games within games. Misdirection is all it was. I truly believe that Dumbledore did care for him a great deal. Sure, he didn't show it very well, but nonetheless he did care.

The greater good was always more important to Dumbledore, thus the manipulations.

 

He cared about people like one would care about farmyard animals. Give them genuine love and affection while raising them but when it's time for the slaughter that doesn't matter and they find themself hanging from their hind legs, their lifeblood gushing from their throat and put to the use they were raised for without so much as a second thought.

 

If Harry hadn't truly believed he was going to die, the AK would have killed him too. As explained in DH a true master of death accepts death rather than trying to conquer it. Dumbledore truly cared for Harry, and talked to Snape knowing fully that one day Harry was going to see that memory. He knew that Harry should accept death when the time came.

Yes, he manipulated everyone around for the greater good, but he did care for Harry.

 

Hmm that is a tricky question but I believe he cared for Harry in part. I don't think he cared for him as we were led to believe. Until the 5th book I thought of Dumbledore as the caring grandpa, who while badass, is still kind when needed. But after the 5th book you slowly see him becoming less and less endearing until we reach the 7th book.

Now a question i just thought of while reading these posts is if Dumbledore knew Harry would one day see Snape's memory can it be implied that Dumbledore was purposefully leading Snape to his own death?

 

Well Dumbledore himself admits that he had wanted the Elder Wand to go to Snape. But the plan didn't work out the way he wanted it to. Because he also knew that Voldemort was going to go after the wand. Which basically implied he wanted Snape to have the wand, then he wanted Voldemort to kill Snape for the wand, and thus lead to Harry getting the information from Snape.

 

I always took the Manipulations to mean he was impartial to Harry.

He may have cared, or he may have not, the point being that the manipulations made him care.

Making Harry at least believe that he was cared for, ensured some type of loyalty towards him during the first four books without question. Although the one scene that keeps coming to mind was one that was pointed out from book 6.

Dumbledore nearly in tears at Harry having said he was his man, and the next moment berating him for doubting Snape and Malfoy.

If he truly cared for him why the mood swings concerning Harry?

And paying such little attention to his words.

He was truly a magician that lived his act, how else would he have been able to do all the manipulations he made without attracting too much attention.

Wether the man cared or not, of his own free will, is basically inconsequential to canon now, although I would still like to believe he didn't give a shit for Harry apart from the involvement with the Prophecy.

Biased much? Of course.

 

I think he definatly cared for harry, as he explains in Kings Cross and lets harry believe snape's memory so that he dies willingly, knowing the whole time that if he does it willingly, he will live. The deception was nessecary but Dumbledore did care about the greater good too.

 

If the Elder Wand had gone to Snape, as Dumbledore seems to have planned, Voldemort would have been the true Master of it after he used Nagini to kill Snape. How was that supposed to help?

 

I'm not sure. But that's how the book read. Dumbledore himself said that not all plans work out, in reference to Snape getting the Elder Wand. Again, he stated that he knew that Voldemort was going after the wand eventually.

 

Uhm. Wow. Feel the love, man. If Dumbledore's way of showing his care for Harry is subjecting him to 16 years of neglect, abuse and even out-right torture to further his plans for defeating Voldemort then praise whatever deity you believe in that the old bastard never had any children of his own to "care" for. Dumbledore's appearance at caring for Harry is entirely suspect given that he needed the boy's absolute trust in him. If it meant giving off airs that he actually cared for the boy then so be it. All just part of the plan.

I find it astonishing how easily people seem to overlook the cruelty to Harry that Dumbledore was directly responsible for in the name of the so-called greater good. Do that many of you honestly believe that the ends will justify ANY means? Even the torture and sacrifice of children? Those types of beliefs are what define evil at its most vile. That no cost is too great - even direct torture and death of children.

Ultimately, what Dumbledore did was very little different from Islamic extremists who brainwash children, strap them full of explosives and send them off to take out the enemy. Harry's upbringing with the Dursleys ensured that he had little self-esteem and absolutely no sense of self-worth of his own life. He was in essence brainwashed into believing that his life was somehow subservient to the will and well-being of others so that he would willingly sacrifice himself to take out Voldemort. How much more insidious can you get? What Dumbledore did was actually every bit as evil as Voldemort. Dumbledore used Snape and Harry just as Voldemort used Lucius and Draco - each to further their own ends and take out the other.

 

P.S. I find it highly amusing that just one year ago I was heavily criticized and ridiculed on these forums for my assertions that Dumbledore was just using Harry and cared little for Harry's well-being. You'll have to pardon me for feeling a little smug at being ahead of the curve here. It just goes to show that people will see what they want to see and believe what they want to believe. People wanted to see and believe that Dumbledore was the epitome of light and that he just made a few mistakes along the way. Its painful when reality bitch slaps you upside the head after deluding yourselves for so long. Even now some still want to refuse to see that Dumbledore was NOT a good guy. He was the friend of Grindelwald who sacrificed his own mother and sister's lives to do what he arrogantly thought was best for everyone else. I guess after that, sacrificing someone else's innocent child wasn't too difficult.

 

Incorrect. He may have gone home grudgingly, but nonetheless he abandoned his aspirations and went home to care for his sister.

As for the rest of what you wrote: you obviously did not read DH properly.

Dumbledore never intended to sacrifice Harry: he just needed Harry to think that he did. Had Harry gone to fight Voldemort normally, he would have died. But because of Dumbledore's manipluations, Harry went to Voldemort as a willing sacrifice, and through that lived. If not for Dumbledore's manipulations, Harry would have died.