It's not Dumbledore who's the father here, it's Snape.
Certainly in Draco's case, but I'm a little confused if you are referring to Harry. In a post of yours from a few days ago, you labelled Dumbledore as a "father figure" to Harry: Harry says something like "Don't worry, sir," and Dumbledore replies something like, "I can't worry, Harry. I'm with you." That's an amazingly cool thing for a father figure to say to his son, and Dumbledore stresses that sort of thing throughout HBP. You can do this, he tells Harry, not putting pressure on him but reassuring him that he trusts him.
This I particularly agreed with when I read it, because I have always believed that a father needs to be encouraging as well as disciplinary (and protective); the two have to come together, otherwise you are left with a father like Lucius (discipline only) or a father like Sirius (encouragement only). It's all well and good to have a favourite son and an unwanted son, but then the unwanted son would get only half the benefits of a father figure. This is perhaps why I've never really connected Snape as Harry's main father figure; he does not get from Snape what Draco does, or what he gets/got from Dumbledore. Though I admit he could be at least one of Harry's father figure, and it's interesting that he seems to be the one who has survived thus far; but it's just that Harry has never seemed to connect with Snape on this level before, and the reasons for not doing so only seem to be racking up (Sirius, his parents, Dumbledore...).
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Date: 2005-07-22 12:39 am (UTC)Certainly in Draco's case, but I'm a little confused if you are referring to Harry. In a post of yours from a few days ago, you labelled Dumbledore as a "father figure" to Harry:
Harry says something like "Don't worry, sir," and Dumbledore replies something like, "I can't worry, Harry. I'm with you." That's an amazingly cool thing for a father figure to say to his son, and Dumbledore stresses that sort of thing throughout HBP. You can do this, he tells Harry, not putting pressure on him but reassuring him that he trusts him.
This I particularly agreed with when I read it, because I have always believed that a father needs to be encouraging as well as disciplinary (and protective); the two have to come together, otherwise you are left with a father like Lucius (discipline only) or a father like Sirius (encouragement only). It's all well and good to have a favourite son and an unwanted son, but then the unwanted son would get only half the benefits of a father figure. This is perhaps why I've never really connected Snape as Harry's main father figure; he does not get from Snape what Draco does, or what he gets/got from Dumbledore. Though I admit he could be at least one of Harry's father figure, and it's interesting that he seems to be the one who has survived thus far; but it's just that Harry has never seemed to connect with Snape on this level before, and the reasons for not doing so only seem to be racking up (Sirius, his parents, Dumbledore...).