Dumbledore is more or less believable to me, especially since he does seem to grant even villianous characters like Tom Riddle and Kreacher a measure of dignity and humanity. I see Hermione, on the other hand, as slowly calcifying into a sort of Umbridge-like woman in her later years: content to parrot her mentor's words without really understanding the compassion he brings. That is, unless JKR decides to use her as a plot device to let the readers know how this-and-that female character should come across or feel. Ugh.
And Phineas... hmmm... I really can sort of understand why he might be the most hated Headmaster in Hogwarts. He probably spent most of his days as a Headmaster ridiculing the students of Hogwarts-- though admittedly for good reasons, since fully half of the school seems mad. He's the sort of character that people probably most appreciate at a safe distance. :D
And very interesting essay/speculation on the topic of perception of character, Sistermagpie! It's true what they say... what would be a crippling evil in a loathsome person often turns into a sad and tragic flaw in a good one (who is also likely to be attractive in some way.) People too often think that other people are all of a piece. If a person is good, then anything and everything he does must be at least well-intentioned. And vice versa. Thus we get the standard cliche of all the neighbors being interviewed after the nicest person on their block is found out to be a notorious mass murderer, or something like that. "But he seemed like such a nice person! I can't believe he'd do such a thing!"
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And Phineas... hmmm... I really can sort of understand why he might be the most hated Headmaster in Hogwarts. He probably spent most of his days as a Headmaster ridiculing the students of Hogwarts-- though admittedly for good reasons, since fully half of the school seems mad. He's the sort of character that people probably most appreciate at a safe distance. :D
And very interesting essay/speculation on the topic of perception of character, Sistermagpie! It's true what they say... what would be a crippling evil in a loathsome person often turns into a sad and tragic flaw in a good one (who is also likely to be attractive in some way.) People too often think that other people are all of a piece. If a person is good, then anything and everything he does must be at least well-intentioned. And vice versa. Thus we get the standard cliche of all the neighbors being interviewed after the nicest person on their block is found out to be a notorious mass murderer, or something like that. "But he seemed like such a nice person! I can't believe he'd do such a thing!"