Contrariness is good. :-) Going more or less backward, if I understand your man on a horse comment, this seems to be exactly the opposite of what we generally see. The good guys are usually identified in terms of their loyalty to Dumbledore, not so much their opposition to Voldemort (adjusted in book 5 for the third "side" of the Ministry). As has been noted above, Harry is praised primarily for showing loyalty to Dumbledore himself, not for fighting and risking his life to save Ginny.
As for teaching kids to be on guard, I have two main problems. One is that it's not a lesson to teach eleven year olds. In principle, sure. Putting them in highly dangerous situations, no. The second is that his entire demeanor opposes this lesson, and if he's trying to teach it, he's failing miserably. Everything Dumbledore presents (his general demeanor, for instance) seems designed to make kids feel safe, even when they aren't. Hermione says in SS, the Weasleys agree in PoA, and it's emphasized in the Ministry in OotP that Harry/everyone is safe as long as Dumbledore's around. I think there's a stronger message of relying on Dumbledore for your safety.
Skipping back to the house issue, though this has been brought up elsewhere. First, Dumbledore likely has no idea what the Hat offered Harry, though I suppose "personal greatness" is a reasonable guess. I'm not entirely sure it's true, but that's a different point. Harry's decision to not take it, though, has absolutely nothing to do with the virtues and opportunities from each house, whether "true" or not. All he knows is that Hagrid said Slytherins are evil, Ron said his family were all Gryffindors, and the kid who reminds him of Dudley is in Slytherin. Moreover, what you say about Dumbledore not caring about the essentials and true definition of a house really supports the idea that he dislikes Slytherin and can't be arsed to actually figure out who they really are. After all, they're the kids who choose power over all else and are thus bad. Which, of course, brings us back to praising Harry for choosing not to go with Slytherin values -- it's the same as praising him for not being a Slytherin.
I don't think Dumbledore is completely evil or anything. I think that on some levels he tries his best. On other levels, though, I think that he's complacent, or doesn't understand people at all, or has priorities that are just completely out of place.
no subject
As for teaching kids to be on guard, I have two main problems. One is that it's not a lesson to teach eleven year olds. In principle, sure. Putting them in highly dangerous situations, no. The second is that his entire demeanor opposes this lesson, and if he's trying to teach it, he's failing miserably. Everything Dumbledore presents (his general demeanor, for instance) seems designed to make kids feel safe, even when they aren't. Hermione says in SS, the Weasleys agree in PoA, and it's emphasized in the Ministry in OotP that Harry/everyone is safe as long as Dumbledore's around. I think there's a stronger message of relying on Dumbledore for your safety.
Skipping back to the house issue, though this has been brought up elsewhere. First, Dumbledore likely has no idea what the Hat offered Harry, though I suppose "personal greatness" is a reasonable guess. I'm not entirely sure it's true, but that's a different point. Harry's decision to not take it, though, has absolutely nothing to do with the virtues and opportunities from each house, whether "true" or not. All he knows is that Hagrid said Slytherins are evil, Ron said his family were all Gryffindors, and the kid who reminds him of Dudley is in Slytherin. Moreover, what you say about Dumbledore not caring about the essentials and true definition of a house really supports the idea that he dislikes Slytherin and can't be arsed to actually figure out who they really are. After all, they're the kids who choose power over all else and are thus bad. Which, of course, brings us back to praising Harry for choosing not to go with Slytherin values -- it's the same as praising him for not being a Slytherin.
I don't think Dumbledore is completely evil or anything. I think that on some levels he tries his best. On other levels, though, I think that he's complacent, or doesn't understand people at all, or has priorities that are just completely out of place.