I was listening to HBP in the car yesterday and I got to the end of the cave and it just hit me again. Harry reassuring Albus, telling him "It's going to be alright, I can get us back. Don't worry" (quoted from memory, so not word for word) feels so ... intimate. I remember reading this for the first time as a kid and being touched but also kind of cringing. Because that's not something you tell your teacher. It's something you tell your child or your sibling or a friend or maybe, eventually, your parent, in that moment when you habe to support them for the first time instead of the other way around. Because that's what this scene is, a son supporting his father for the first time.
And then I thought about it from Albus perspective and my heart broke all over again. Because when do you think did he last hear words like this? Maybe on can imagine him having such a relationship with the Flamels but I don't think it's likely. So it was probably his mother who last told him that things will turn out alright, that he doesn't have to worry. Just think about what that must have meant to Albus. On his last night on earth, to experience once more what it's like to be cared for emotionally like that, even if it was just for a few moments before he had to take charge once more.
I don't know man, I'm just emotional over Albus and Harry and their last night today :')
That is a really intimate moment for them!!
Harry is used to doing things himself but, paradoxically, also quick to rely on others once they've proven themselves to be reliable. And subconsciously, there are few he relies on more than Dumbledore. Dumbledore is always patient with him, always calm, in control, in the know. To have him be none of those things in the midst of a very terrifying mission must have done numbers on Harry's psyche.
ALSO you hurt me by reminding me that Albus has been the one people (the Ministry, his staff, his current and former students) lean on for ages! And Harry saying "lean on me, sir" was probably the first time he'd heard anything like that from anyone since childhood, maybe. And I would think it would be really early childhood. We (STILL SOMEHOW) do not know much about Kendra Dumbledore, but I could see her parentifying Albus at a really young age to keep things stable, even if that only took the form of "keep our family's secrets and make sure you only bring positive attention to our name". Aberforth is rough and honest but not really someone you can rely on in times of trouble, because the only person he never gives up on is Ariana. And once Gellert ran away from Godric's Hollow... yeah, I can see how Albus would have put up walls for decades because he was so used to not having anyone to depend on.
It's honestly a crime how there's not more meta pieces on how much the scales (at least TRY to) balance between Harry and Dumbledore in HBP. Even though they're at vastly different levels of power and influence, Dumbledore still treats Harry with respect, still listens to his thoughts, debates him, indulges him, and (finally) trusts him in a moment where he can no longer trust himself. That's huge for someone who's bottled themselves up for almost nine decades!
It may have been a tragic night for both of them, but Harry did gain something that few others ever had. It's what I try to think of whenever I (inevitably) have Sad HBP Thoughts.
