I wonder if another failing of Dumbledore isn't hubris - suspecting members of his Order means admitting his own fallability
Hubris is, in my opinion, the most likely explanation for Dumbledore's behavior. Dumbledore wouldn't have been respected for so long if he weren't both competent, and intelligent. But it seems to me that at some point (perhaps during/after the business with Grindenwald?), the WW began to regard Dumbledore as infallible. Sooner or later, Dumbledore himself must have started to believe this.
He just seems to be someone who's convinced he cannot be mistaken. The one notable time he admits his own fallibility to Harry, at the end of OOTP, he explains that the only reason he made a mistake is because his motives were so noble: he so loved Harry, he didn't want to burden him with vital information; he kept an already emotionally disturbed Sirius locked up only to try and save his life. In other words, Dumbledore's brain would never had failed him, if his heart weren't so darn good. And if that's not hubris, or at least arrogance, I don't know what is...
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Date: 2004-07-15 06:36 am (UTC)Hubris is, in my opinion, the most likely explanation for Dumbledore's behavior. Dumbledore wouldn't have been respected for so long if he weren't both competent, and intelligent. But it seems to me that at some point (perhaps during/after the business with Grindenwald?), the WW began to regard Dumbledore as infallible. Sooner or later, Dumbledore himself must have started to believe this.
He just seems to be someone who's convinced he cannot be mistaken. The one notable time he admits his own fallibility to Harry, at the end of OOTP, he explains that the only reason he made a mistake is because his motives were so noble: he so loved Harry, he didn't want to burden him with vital information; he kept an already emotionally disturbed Sirius locked up only to try and save his life. In other words, Dumbledore's brain would never had failed him, if his heart weren't so darn good. And if that's not hubris, or at least arrogance, I don't know what is...