I tend to think that Harry's "growing up" will have to include some sort of pity. What really freaked me out was Dumbledore: "Are you actually feeling sorry for Voldemort?" like it's surprising.
I occasionally feel the urge to pray that this woman doesn't actually think Dumbledore is a "good" teacher. As a war general, he's almost totally admirable; as an educator of powerful children, he's absolutely criminal. What kind of man lets Tom run as free as he was obviously allowed to? In a story I'm writing, Tom is talking to Minerva (this is during the time he's having the basilisk kill people right and left) and there's an implication that he has totally lost respect for Dumbledore precisely BECAUSE Dumbledore absolutely fails to control him.
Neither Tom nor Harry is entirely at fault for his behavior -- every parental figure in their lives is either neglectful, manipulative, or (in the case of Sirius) bashed by all and sundry after an untimely death. Tom's case isn't less sad because he's a sociopath; it's more so.
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I occasionally feel the urge to pray that this woman doesn't actually think Dumbledore is a "good" teacher. As a war general, he's almost totally admirable; as an educator of powerful children, he's absolutely criminal. What kind of man lets Tom run as free as he was obviously allowed to? In a story I'm writing, Tom is talking to Minerva (this is during the time he's having the basilisk kill people right and left) and there's an implication that he has totally lost respect for Dumbledore precisely BECAUSE Dumbledore absolutely fails to control him.
Neither Tom nor Harry is entirely at fault for his behavior -- every parental figure in their lives is either neglectful, manipulative, or (in the case of Sirius) bashed by all and sundry after an untimely death. Tom's case isn't less sad because he's a sociopath; it's more so.