Yes, yes, I gave in and saw the midnight showing of Harry Potter.  In my defense, I had only seen three of the previous movies (none in theaters), and I was entirely peer pressured into it.

SPOILER ALERT:  If you haven’t seen the movie and don’t want key plot points revealed, read this later!

I am writing because Dumbledore’s character troubles me.  In the final installment of the series, we learn that Dumbledore has been anticipating Harry’s death since the beginning.  Basically, he knows that Harry must die in order for Voldemort to be defeated.  In fact, Dumbledore has set in motion a long chain of events in order to bring about this outcome.  As an impassioned Snape mourns, “You have been raising him like a pig for slaughter!”

Of course, it’s for a greater purpose:  If Harry is sacrificed, then millions of people will be saved, Voldemort can finally be defeated, peace on earth, good will toward men, etc. etc.  It still unnerves me, though, how easily Dumbledore decides to send Harry to his death.  I mean, the boy has been like a son to him, and Dumbledore is the closest thing to a father-figure Harry has ever had.  It just doesn’t seem right.

Now…contrast this with the Malfoy’s treatment of their son.  I know they are a generally pathetic, pale-skinned little trio, but I caught something beautiful in the movie:  Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy will do anything for their son.  Don’t get me wrong, I think 99% of Daddy Malfoy’s decisions are piss poor, but when it comes to precious little Draco, he and his wife will do absolutely anything.  In this case, that means betraying Voldemort in order to get their son to safety.

In case you have forgotten, Voldemort instructs Mama Malfoy to make sure Harry is truly dead.  She sees that he is breathing but chooses not to announce this.  Instead, jeopardizing all of the status and power she and her husband have spent so long pining after, she asks Harry if her son is still alive.  In that moment, I saw a vulnerable human tenderness that outshines all her past actions.  She’s just a mom who is willing to do anything possible to protect her son. This time, that means making a good decision (for once), and telling Voldemort the lie that will ultimately destroy him:  “He is dead.”

It may not be heroic, but it’s love – in some form or fashion.

I’m still not sure whether Dumbledore or the Malfoys have it right, though.  In fact, Dumbledore’s situation has started reminding me a lot of the story in Genesis when God commands Abraham to murder Isaac.  It seems awfully similar:  Both “fathers” consign their children to death with unsettling ease, and both do so out of devotion to a higher purpose.

Yet, the question still remains:  Why did Abraham come a knife’s blade away from murdering his son?  The easy answer is that it was an act of faith:  God was testing Abraham to see if he would do absolutely anything commanded of him.  That still makes many of us uncomfortable today, though.  We wonder what kind of twisted deity would force a person to contemplate such a terrible act just to make sure he was loyal.  (Even God made clear in Deuteronomy that child sacrifice is not cool).

I read a little further, though – into the end of the New Testament – and found something pretty interesting.  It turns out that early Christians struggled with this same question.  In Hebrews 11, the author reassures his readers that Abraham “considered the fact that God is able even to raise someone from the dead – and figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.”

According to this analysis, Abraham only intended to kill his son because he was counting on a resurrection.  That sheds a totally new light on it.  Maybe the death of a child is less traumatic if we know they will return.

Which makes me think of another Father who sends his Son to be killed, planning on resurrection the whole time and knowing that his death will save the world.

Maybe Dumbledore had the same confidence that Harry would be brought back.  Maybe he just knew it was the only way to finally get rid of evil.

What’s more important: Being firm in your devotion to a higher purpose, or protecting the ones you love? 

If you were in Abraham or Dumbledore’s position, could you do what they did?   

Should you do what they did?