But the cry from Fawkes tells us that this is about healing and second chances. Slughorn once let his weakness cloud his judgment with fatal consequences he never intended. He enjoyed being flattered by a rising star and ignored the signs that he should have been more circumspect. Similarly, Dumbledore ignored signs of Grindelwald’s evil and his sister died for it. Snape joined a hate group and Lily died for it. Dumbledore is saying, then, that Phineas Nigellus Black has never been responsible for anyone’s death and wouldn’t understand the immobilizing shame.
