While I very much see your point, Red Rocker, and agree that DD’s secrecy was very disillusioning to Harry, in the end Harry chose to go by faith and I think he became stronger for it. Does this justify DD’s secrecy? Not really; he admits his many failings at King’s Cross. Yet Harry loves him none the less. The better man, indeed.

‘Harry, I’m sorry, but I think the real reason you’re so angry is that Dumbledore never told you any of this himself.’

‘Maybe I am!’ Harry bellowed, and he flung his arms over his head, hardly knowing whether he was trying to hold in his anger or protect himself from the weight of his own disillusionment. ‘Look what he asked from me, Hermione! Risk your life, Harry! And again! And again! And don’t expect me to explain everything. Just trust me blindly, trust that I know what I’m doing, trust me even though I don’t trust you! Never the whole truth! Never!’

Couldn’t have said it better myself.

Actually, I think your last sentence is an interpretation on its own, but that’s neither here nor there, I guess. Anyway, of course, it’s one of the basic things about Dumbledore, his intense secrecy & his partial truths. Secrets & lies, as Aberforth (may his ale never grow stale) rightly puts it. But that’s also not the whole of the story either, as we’ve debated many times.

And also I think you are mistaken in that DD never shares the smallest thing about himself with Harry. It’s a very important thing & it expresses childlike trust & love in Harry. Perhaps someone on here can tell me what it is. My only hint: It is found in Half-Blood Prince & it’s left out of the HBP movie.

Regarding the conversation between Muriel & Doge, well, it becomes obvious as we read further in the book that they only ever had part of the story. Now, this is not to say that because some people only have part of the story, therefore nobody can ever know the story at all. No, it’s just a lot harder work than people usually are willing to go to in order to find out the truth. And then there’s the whole question of whether or not people need to know the truth. Muriel as a gossip doesn’t really need to know nor would it probably matter to her if she did. Doge, on the other hand, as Dumbledore’s friend should be more concerned with knowing the truth so that he can more responsibly defend Dumbledore & tell people the whole story rather than the bits & pieces that have leaked out. Instead all he does is a hagiography.

And then there’s Harry. What does Harry need to know? Does he really need to know anything & everything about DD’s life? Well, we see that not knowing at first causes him great doubt & uncertainty & eventually he loses his faith in DD. But in the end knowing & not knowing doesn’t lead him back to faith, trust does. He trusts DD even though he doesn’t know everything.

I think that with respect to her position as Fudge’s undersecretary and her appointment at Hogwarts, it is not the Ministry that overlooks/approves of her methods, but rather Fudge. I think that after he walks out of the hospital wing at the end of GoF, he tried to surround himself with those who would support him in suppressing Harry and DD.

Petunia is, I think, a caricature until we learn her background; she then becomes a more sympathetic and conflicted person. Yet she, in action, stays true to her caricature nature until the end. She passed on a chance to redeem herself when she walked past Harry without a word.