The Eye of The Snake - Dumbledore's knowledge

[Jotomicron]

In the chapter 'The Eye of The Snake', in OotP, Harry "dreams" he's bitting Mr. Weasley, when actualy it was Nagini. He wakes up, Neville calls McGonagall, and she says: "We ought to see the Headmaster."
There, Harry hears lots of voices and wonder who could be at Dumbledore's office at that time of the night. They (mcGonagall, Harry and Ron) enter into the office and the voices suddenly broke off. Harry eventually finds out DD was talking to the pictures...

Now: about what? what was he doing awake at 2 or 3 in the Morning? Doesn't he sleep? Did he knew about Harry? If so, why didn't he just said the former Headmaster and Headmistress to go and find Arthur?

[Athena Appleton]

Well, I would imagine he has an awful lot on his mind... If I'm stressed about something, I usually can be seen awake and puttering around the house in the middle of the night, so maybe the same goes for him... ? I don't think he already knew about Harry's "dream," because I do agree that he would have already checked on Arthur.

Honestly, I just didn't make too much of it when I read it, because I figured it would be acceptable for a man with as much on his mind as Dumbledore has to be up at odd hours during the night...

[Cruzio]

Ever heard of dumbledore beeing asleep?

Seriously though, I don't think he knew about harry's dream (or what you should call it). Perhaps he was asking the pictures for advice in some matter, I mean there's no living soul that could give him any (as it seems).

About him beeing awake, well we don't know anything about his sleeping habits... maybe he sleeps very little, maybe he sleeps in the afternoon, who knows.

[Athena Appleton]

I wonder if maybe he sort of saw it coming... like, he didn't know what form the "dream" would take, but he had a gut feeling that it (Harry "dreaming" through the eyes of Voldemort) would happen soon. In that case, nighttime would be a somewhat scary time for him.

I just wonder that because he seems to instinctively know that Harry didn't see it as a dream, he saw it through the eyes of the snake. That's not an assumption many people would make...

[Cruzio]

I just wonder that because he seems to instinctively know that Harry didn't see it as a dream, he saw it through the eyes of the snake. That's not an assumption many people would make...

Well he did know about the connection between Harry and Lord Voldemort... or atleast he had a good guess.
And I guess it also was some sort of confirmation for dumbledore that it wasn't just an ordinary dream, when Harry told him he had actually been the snake.

[Aberforth]

When I first read OotP, when Fudge fianlly realises that LV is around he demands an explanation from DD. DD says something like:

I will give you half an hour of my time....

At first I took this as meaning that DD works on a different time than everybody else. I took it to mean not you have 30 minutes of regular time, but 30 minutes of my time (that being different from 24 hours a day 365 days a year time).

This could help explain the strange pocket watch DD has with the 12 hands and moons going round the edges.

[Aberforth]

This has got me thinking. Harry is waiting in DDs office while DD is talking to Fudge. Time passes very quickly if Harry spends a real 30 minuntes waiting. It seems to me to be much less than that going on what is described that he does.

[pandora315]

I think "my time" is an expression alot of people use. I've wondered about the watch DD has because of the first book when he looks and his watch and says Hagrid is late, but I don't think its an indicator of DD being on a different time, I think its more measuring the movements of the planets sort of like Firenze does. And about waiting, hald and hour does go by rather quickly if you're thinking about something. Sometimes I stare off into space thinking about something without even realising 20 minutes has gone past, and harry was thinking about many things.

[Aberforth]

I know my time is used commonly, but this is a theory of mine that can only be disproved later. However, I believe that Dumbldore is living on borrowed time and that there is something not fully human about him. Not sure what it is yet.

[Athena Appleton]

I definately think that Dumbledore's line about giving Fudge half an hour of his time meant that he would give Fudge the basic facts and that would take around 30 minutes, but then he had important business to deal with...

But now you've got me wondering...

I read a theory once about "finding God in the Harry Potter books"... I'm a Christian, I don't think the Harry Potter books are sinful or satanic, but I had to laugh when I read this. I think it mentioned Dumbledore as God, Harry as Christ, Voldemort as Satan... *shrug* something about what you just said about Dumbledore being "not quite human" brought it to mind...

[Alice I]

Dumbledore living along diferent rules for the passage of time is an interesting theory. Perhaps that is how he has lived to the age of 150. This idea seems to work better than what I used to think which was he had some of Nicolas Flamells elixer from the SS (being that they were partners) but then of course the stone was destroyed. Are there any other wizards that are old like dumbledore?

[Athena Appleton]

We don't know other wizards ages... it does seem odd, though, that they do seem to have a longer life span (we know Hagrid is around 65-70, but you sure wouldn't suspect it)... There are, however, a lot of wizards who are described as "ancient"... Ollivander is coming to mind, but I know I've seen it elsewhere... I just always chalked this one up to the magical cures they have for almost everything...

[darkcloak]

I think DD is as human as most wizards.

When the examiners come in for the OWLS (OotP) the head one (can't remember her name) is very old and says that she examined DD on his Newts. Something like "He did things with a wand I've never seen before". He therefore would appear 'normal' for a wizard.

He does have, however, a super-human presence and an unmistakeable 'invincible' aura about him (see his calm in his fight with Voldie, OotP).

[Ferrus]

well, it seems that wizards live naturally a lot longer than muggles, Hagrid is about 65 and seems about 40-ish.

[Jotomicron]

The examiner you're talking about is Professour Marchbanks... she examines the Astronomy OWL. And if Sumbledor'es time is as normal as ours (or wizards' ...), Marchbanks is way older than DD is: she examines DD's newts, meaning she would be a qualified and successful professour: she must be 30/40 years older than DD... WOW!