KaraC: Wow. That was huge. I love to hear people think. I am not offended by opinions because I firmly believe an opinion is a terrible thing to waste.

First I apologize for leading you in a political direction. Philosophically, I believe the greatest failure of humankind is war--any war. War is chaos and it leads to death. The goal of humankind is to survive. We are at the top of the food chain. Plants and animals do not need us. We need them. If humans disappeared tomorrow, the world could go on quite happily doing what it does. Mother Nature takes no sides. Disease, disaster, death are equal opportunity employers in the business of life.

In the Potter books, JKR draws many parallels to our society. We have an "Axis of Evil," Voldemort and his followers. We have an aggressive and repressive "Ministry of Magic" whose function seems to be preventing the magical community from doing things in the interest of "Homeland Security," underage wizards/witches may not use magic, Flying Carpets once used are outlawed, Portkeys must be registerd, Animagi must be registered, Squibs must be registered, Witches and wizards are identified by their wands as they pass through "Security" at the Ministry Building. Those who disobey are locked up in Azkaban and tortured by thugs and felons known as dementors. But the Ministry has no issue with using dememtors because this is part of their "Homeland Security" policy to protect the magic world from being discovered by muggles. Does any of this sound familiar?

The biggest difference between our society and the magical world is that there is a leader who understands that power corrupts. That's Dumbledore. He knows that if the Ministry of Magic had no checks and balances, two things would happen. 1. Witch/Wizard rights would diminish; 2. The Ministry's rights would expand.

But of course Dumbledore is a great wizard. He is powerful enough to take on the ignorant, the self-righteous and the bullies who want more power. Still he doesn't force his hand because he understands another important principle. The definition of a bully (any bully) is one who forces his will on a weaker opponent. Many bullies have bent weaker opponents to their will and told them, "It is for YOUR own good."

Dumbledore also knows about the cost of war. He has seen his magical world almost destroyed by war in the past. He knows Voldemort is out there and he knows war is in the wind but he waits. I believe he will wait until he has no further options before he considers war. War for victors and vanquished alike is too costly. He will fight to defend but he will not march into Voldemort's camp with an army of young witches and wizards. Dumbledore has no desire to inflate his own ego. He values life above anything that death can achieve.

Even in our world, humans can achieve more by living than by dying.