Albus Dumbledore: Difference between revisions

Template:HP character Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore is a fictional character in the Harry Potter novel series written by British author J. K. Rowling, as well as its film adaptations. He was the headmaster of the fictional wizarding school named Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for the majority of the series, and was the founder of the wizard organization called "The Order of the Phoenix", an organisation dedicated to fighting the main antagonist of the series named Lord Voldemort. Dumbledore was said to be the most powerful sorcerer in the series.

The books describe Dumbledore as a classic wizard; thin build with long silver hair and beard, a long crooked nose, and half-moon glasses. It is strongly suggested that Dumbledore was inspired by the classic wizard Merlin.^{[citation needed]}

Dumbledore's full name is Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, as he states during the fifth installment in the series, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The name "Dumbledore" is an old Devon word for "bumblebee" and was picked by Rowling because she imagines him wandering around the castle humming to himself.^[1] Like "Hagrid", this word of West Country dialect appears in the works of Thomas Hardy. Additionally, Dumbledore is the common name for Geotrupes stercorarius, also known as the Dor Beetle, Clock or Lousy Watchman, an insect which visits the Shire each year, as mentioned in the poem "Errantry" by J. R. R. Tolkien (published in The Tolkien Reader).

The name Albus is the Latin word for 'white', a frequently used symbol for good, which marks the character out as an enemy of the 'Dark Lord'.^[2]

The name Wulfric means "wolf-power" and is reminiscent of the legendary hero Beowulf ("bee-wolf"; a kenning for "bear"), who, in his early years, slew the monster Grendel (a name oddly similar to Grindelwald, a Dark Wizard whom Dumbledore defeated).

Percival is a name from old French, meaning "pierce the veil".^[3] It was the name of one of King Arthur's knights. While Galahad was the only knight pure enough to be permitted to hold the Grail, Percival was permitted to see it. The oldest recorded version of Percival's story is Chrétien de Troyes' Conte du Graal, from the 12th century. In Alfred, Lord Tennyson's "The Holy Grail", one of the Idylls of the King, Percival is both hero and narrator of the tale, as is the case for Dumbledore in parts of the Harry Potter books.^[4]

The name Brian is of Celtic origin and its meaning may be "hill" or "strong, noble, and high"^[5]. Brian means a matter strength, dignity, and honor. Another meaning for this name is "majestic and powerful in Irish rule." It could also come from the ancient British word for "king" (*brigantinos, Brythonic *brijanin, Welsh brenin).

It has also been noted that the name 'Albus' bears a resemblance to the name of a 19th-20th century stage magician, 'The Great Albini', who was a friend and rival of the less proficient magician Horace Goldin (who is described as similar in appearance and nature to Horace Slughorn).^[6]

Characters in the books remark that his greatest weakness is his willingness to trust those who may otherwise be considered untrustworthy. This trust is often criticised by those around him, but due to his wisdom, is rarely questioned. He is frequently shown to have a great sense of humour, and often has a whimsical sense about him, especially during conflict, which can often infuriate those who are at odds with him. He is hardly ever impatient, and is always calm. He is a great lover of music, calling it "A magic beyond all we do (at Hogwarts)". Template:HP1

Dumbledore is also known to love sweets, magical and non-magical. When Dumbledore is first introduced in the novel, he is seen eating sherbet lemons (lemon drops in the US version). Dumbledore's sweet-tooth is such that he usually sets the password for the gargoyle guarding his office door to be the name of various sweets. (Cockroach clusters was the office password during Harry's fourth year, acid pops during his sixth.) In Philosopher's Stone he mentions to Harry that he dislikes Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans after coming across a vomit flavoured bean 'in his youth' and that the deepest desire of his heart is to have a pair of woolen socks, as "one can never have enough socks" (although it is later speculated by characters in the novel that he wasn't being truthful when asked that question). In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, it is revealed that he is a fan of knitting patterns and Muggle magazines with his favourite jam being raspberry flavoured.

Dumbledore encourages students of Hogwarts to think for themselves, and on occasion supports those who recognise when a rule needs to be broken. As he tells Harry and Ron in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, "I seem to remember telling you that I would have to expel you if you broke any more school rules." Before Harry can protest, the headmaster continues: "--which only goes to show that the best of us must sometimes eat our words."

Another example is Dumbledore's attitude towards the Ministry of Magic. Although he provided Fudge with advice, he refused to fully cooperate and give in to the minister's demands, often infuriating Fudge (and later Scrimgeour).

J.K. Rowling explained the inspiration for Hogwarts by describing her time teaching in Scotland, "What amused me in a way, though probably only me, was the idea that you would have this very traditional school in which you had almost controlled anarchy. I mean, if those students wanted to band together, they could have the staff, no problem. I’ve had that experience myself as a teacher looking out at the class and thinking, 'You could have me - what is holding you back?'" ^[7]

Dumbledore is described as tall and thin, with long silver hair that looked long enough to tuck into his belt and a long beard. He has twinkling, blue eyes, a very long and crooked nose (looking as if it had been broken at least twice) and long fingers. He wears half-moon spectacles. He once claimed to have a scar above his left knee, the cause of which is unknown, in the shape of a map of the London Underground.

Readers know little of Dumbledore's early history or family. According to Rowling, during an interview in 2000 after publication of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, he "is a hundred and fifty"^[8], meaning he was born in the 1840s, and most probably 1845. His only surviving sibling, a brother named Aberforth, was also a member of the Order of the Phoenix, and was prosecuted in the Wizengamot for "practising inappropriate charms on a goat". Aberforth is currently the bartender at the Hog's Head in Hogsmeade.^[9]

Around 75 years after his graduation, Dumbledore returned to the school as Professor of Transfiguration. He later also became Deputy Headmaster, in which capacity he also served in recruiting students for the school.

In 1945 Dumbledore defeated the Dark Wizard Grindelwald. This is one of the facts known about Dumbledore based on his Chocolate Frog Card. His card also states that he, along with Nicholas Flamel, dabbled in alchemy, and that he discovered the 12 uses of dragon blood. In addition to this, it is known that he has held the posts of Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards. He was removed from these posts during his conflict with the British Ministry of Magic under Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge, but was reinstated when the Ministry was forced to concede that he had correctly warned that Voldemort had returned. In the course of his life, Dumbledore refused the position of Minister for Magic at least four times (it is mentioned in the first book that he was requested for the office before Fudge came to power). He held the Order of Merlin, First Class, for Grand Sorcery.

One of Dumbledore's tasks as a teacher at Hogwarts was to find the young wizard Tom Marvolo Riddle and offer him a place at Hogwarts. Riddle was living in a Muggle orphanage, and while he had discovered some magical abilities, he did not know that his mother had been a witch. At that time, Dumbledore was much younger and had auburn hair and beard; for his trip to the Muggle world, he wore a plum-coloured velvet suit. While visiting the orphanage, Dumbledore told Riddle about Hogwarts, and how he is different. While Dumbledore was impressed by Riddle's abilities, he was troubled by the boy's admitted fondness for inflicting pain, and never trusted him fully. Riddle attempted to get a teaching post at Hogwarts, but Dumbledore first persuaded the current Headmaster, Armando Dippet, to refuse Riddle's request, and he himself refused a second request several years later. By this time, Riddle had declared war on his former mentors, and adopted the name that would strike fear into the hearts of the wizarding world for years to come: Lord Voldemort.

It was to Dumbledore that Sybill Trelawney, subsequently appointed as Divination teacher, revealed the prophecy regarding Voldemort's fall. Supposedly, the prophecy was partly overheard by Severus Snape, who reported what he had heard to Voldemort, although this is questionable, as the accounts of the event do not seem to agree. While Dumbledore maintains that Snape was discovered eavesdropping by Aberforth (Dumbledore's brother and the barman of the Hog's Head Inn) and that Aberforth removed Snape from the building after hearing the first half of the prophecy, Sybill Trelawney later recounts in the sixth book that Snape was removed after she spoke the prophecy. Voldemort interpreted the prophecy as referring to Harry, and as a result killed his parents, James and Lily Potter, while trying to kill Harry. By acting upon the prophecy, Voldemort marked Harry as his equal.

Dumbledore has been instrumental in the struggle against his former student, working tirelessly against him with the Order of the Phoenix. When Harry's parents were killed, it was Dumbledore's decision to place the now-orphaned Harry in the home of Vernon and Petunia Dursley, knowing that Harry would be protected by the special magic caused by his mother's sacrifice, after he evoked the magic of the bond of blood and Petunia Dursley sealed it by accepting Harry into her home. This old magic of binding love made touching Harry unbearable for Voldemort.

Dumbledore makes the important discovery that Voldemort is on the path to achieving immortality by making Horcruxes, one of which was Tom Riddle's diary, destroyed by Harry in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.Template:HP2 Later, Dumbledore destroys a second Horcrux, a ring which was an heirloom of Voldemort's family.

Throughout the series, Dumbledore is portrayed as a wizard with modern/reformist ideas about blood purity and the rights of Muggles, as well as those of part-humans and non-humans. Dumbledore does not give importance to the so-called "purity of blood" and believes that an individual's choices reflect one's character, rather than one's birth, blood or family, saying "it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be". Voldemort angrily refers to Dumbledore as "that champion of commoners, of Mudbloods and Muggles". Unlike most wizards, Dumbledore is not afraid to refer to Voldemort by name (and attempted to persuade others to call him by his 'proper' name, Voldemort, during the First War), and he addresses Voldemort as "Tom" when confronting him.

Dumbledore was killed by Severus Snape during the Battle of Hogwarts in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, his death being continuously confirmed by J.K. Rowling ^[10], but the reasons behind Dumbledore's murder remain unclear. Dumbledore's death is foreshadowed at the start of The Half-Blood Prince, where he first appears with a burnt and blackened hand, a result of his recovery and destruction of a ring that was an heirloom of Voldemort's grandfather Marvolo Gaunt and was serving as one of Voldemort's Horcruxes. On that occasion, Dumbledore is saved from death thanks to his own "prodigious skill" and the intervention of the school Defense Against the Dark Arts master, Severus Snape, though the injury shows no sign of improvement throughout the year that passes in the sixth book. No explanation for this fact was ever given, except when Hermione says: "But there are some injuries you can't cure...old curses...and there are poisons without antidotes." Dumbledore's death is indirectly predicted by Sybill Trelawney, who maintains that disaster is coming to the school. Though she attempts to warn Dumbledore, he takes no notice. In fact, the chapter of The Half-Blood Prince in which Dumbledore is killed is called 'The Lightning Struck Tower', this being the card held to predict calamity and disaster.

This injury was particularly troublesome as it reduced Dumbledore's physical skills. After picking up Harry from his aunt's house, Dumbledore seems unable to complete simple everyday tasks. Such tasks included opening the front door to leave the Dursley's house: instead of using the door handle he opted to use magic to open the door. Later in book six he was unable to point at a street sign without obvious discomfort, exclaiming "ouch". Finally, he was unable to uncork a bottle of memories, for his first private lesson with Harry, by removing the cork with his hand. Instead he was forced to use his wand. That said, it did not at any important point cause him trouble in spell-casting.

Harry Potter repeatedly warns Dumbledore that another student, Draco Malfoy, is working for Voldemort. Dumbledore refuses to take any action against Draco, and instead tells Harry that he already knows more about what is happening than Harry does. Draco makes two ill-conceived attempts to kill Dumbledore during the year, but on each occasion a student is injured instead. The first attempt involves a cursed necklace, the second a bottle of poisoned mead. Both times Harry attempts to warn Dumbledore that Malfoy is responsible. Dumbledore also refuses to share Harry's distrust of Snape, by now the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, even after being forced to admit that Snape had been in part responsible for the death of Harry's parents, having been the one who passed information of the prophecy to Voldemort.

Harry suspects that Malfoy is working on something in the Room of Requirement but he cannot get in. When he tries to warn Dumbledore again, his concerns are seemingly ignored. Malfoy's main plan is to use a magical cabinet already inside Hogwarts to transport Death Eaters into the castle. The attackers enter the castle while Dumbledore and Harry are away attempting to find and destroy another Horcrux. Dumbledore is weakened by drinking a potion left by Voldemort while obtaining a locket. Upon their return to Hogwarts, Dumbledore and Harry find the Dark Mark floating over one of the school's high towers. Dumbledore and Harry fly to the tower but find it empty. Hearing footsteps approaching from inside the tower, Dumbledore uses the split second of time before he is disarmed by Malfoy to immobilise Harry, who becomes a silent and invisible witness to the events. While talking to Malfoy, Dumbledore reveals that he knew it was him behind the two earlier attempts, but recognises Malfoy's precarious situation. Malfoy finally realises that he cannot kill Dumbledore, so instead Snape is obligated to perform the task, killing Dumbledore with the Avada Kedavra curse following a "Severus... Please..." from Dumbledore.

After all, to the well-organised mind, death is but the next great adventure. - Albus Dumbledore Template:HP1

Dumbledore's funeral was attended by students, teachers, members of the Ministry of Magic, giants, ghosts, centaurs, merpeople, and others. Shrouded in purple velvet, he was entombed in a white marble sarcophagus beside the lake at Hogwarts, and it is said that he is the only Hogwarts Headmaster to be buried on the school grounds. Upon his burial, Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix, who was singing his sorrowful song because of Dumbledore's death, takes flight and departs from the school grounds.

Dumbledore's portrait appears in the current Headmistress's office alongside those of the other former Headmasters and Headmistresses of Hogwarts. Whether or not Dumbledore's portrait will be able to speak to Harry or provide him with meaningful advice as would Dumbledore himself is a matter of debate among the fan base. At the end of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, when Harry tells Dumbledore that he saw his parents in the duel with Voldemort, Dumbledore responds, "No spell can reawaken the dead," and interestingly enough, the portrait of Dumbledore shows him sitting in a chair sleeping peacefully. It is also interesting to note that while Harry struggled with Sirius's death in the end of Book 5, wondering if he would ever be able to speak to Sirius's possible ghost form, he makes no attempt at trying to reestablish contact with the deceased Dumbledore despite there being a portrait of him in the Headmaster's office. However, the fact that Dumbledore's portrait was sleeping may indicate that the spirit within the painting has not yet organised itself prior to the death of the body and is not yet ready to communicate. In addition, Dumbledore and Harry had secrets that it was agreed only Ron and Hermione - and by extension not McGonagall, despite her repeated requests to be told - should know. Therefore he could not attempt to speak to the portrait whilst McGonagall was present.

Dumbledore's views on death in general begin to appear as early as the first book, where he states that "Death is but the next great adventure." Furthermore, in the fifth book, there is the following exchange with Voldemort:

"You do not seek to kill me, Dumbledore?" called Voldemort, his scarlet eyes narrowed over the top of the shield. "Above such brutality, are you?"

"We both know that there are other ways of destroying a man, Tom," Dumbledore said calmly, continuing to walk toward Voldemort as though he had not a fear in the world, as though nothing had happened to interrupt his stroll up the hall. "Merely taking your life would not satisfy me, I admit—"

"There is nothing worse than death, Dumbledore!" snarled Voldemort.

"You are quite wrong," Dumbledore said, still closing in upon Voldemort and speaking as lightly as though they were discussing the matter over drinks. Harry felt scared to see him walking along, undefended, shieldless. He wanted to cry out a warning, but his headless guard kept shunting him backward toward the wall, blocking his every attempt to get out from behind it. "Indeed, your failure to understand that there are things much worse than death has always been your greatest weakness—"

Dumbledore is famous as an alchemist who has worked with Nicolas Flamel, the only known maker of the Philosopher's Stone ("Sorcerer's Stone" in the US), and is credited with discovering the twelve uses of dragon's blood. He is known to be able to conjure Gubraithian Fire (magical everlasting fire). He is also capable of conjuring a Patronus, one that takes the form of a phoenix, a recurring symbol in the books.

His weapon of choice seems to be fire. In his duel against Voldemort in the fifth novel, he used a fiery rope; when he displayed his Wizarding powers to young Tom Riddle, he did so by setting Riddle's wardrobe on fire; in the Cave he also used fire to hold off the Inferi. Dumbledore has devised a method of sending messages using a Patronus Charm, a skill he has taught only to members of the Order of the Phoenix. His Patronus takes the form of a Phoenix^[11], and his faithful long - time animal companion is a Phoenix; Fawkes. These birds are associated with both fire and rebirth. He has claimed to be able to become invisible without using an invisibility cloak. (Though some fans believe that he simply used a Disillusionment Charm.) Dumbledore is also skilled in Occlumency and Legilimency.

Dumbledore places great emphasis on memories; he uses them both as a weapon and as a means of research. In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince he uses his Pensieve to show Harry many people's memories that he has collected about the history of Tom Riddle and how he became Lord Voldemort, as well as the events leading up to the creation of the Horcruxes. Also, in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Harry stumbles across the Pensieve for the first time. This is where Dumbledore first explains it to Harry and how it works.

Dumbledore can speak Mermish, the language of the Merpeople,Template:HP4 as well as a number of other languages. He can recognise Parseltongue, the language of snakes, as he demonstrates in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince while he and Harry are inside Bob Ogden's memory; he is able to quote verbatim a Parseltongue phrase uttered by Morfin Gaunt in a later memory.Template:HP6 Whether or not he speaks it himself is never stated in the books, so it's possible he needed outside help to translate the Gaunts' speeches.

In an interview Rowling commented:

Immense brainpower does not protect you from emotional mistakes and I think Dumbledore really exemplifies that. In fact, I would tend to think that being very, very intelligent might create some problems and it has done for Dumbledore, because his wisdom has isolated him, and I think you can see that in the books, because where is his equal, where is his confidante, where is his partner? He has none of those things. He’s always the one who gives, he’s always the one who has the insight and has the knowledge.

However, Dumbledore sometimes seems the opposite of reckless. He often hesitates to act until he is certain: for example, allowing Snape to return unchallenged and teach at Hogwarts.

Rowling has said that Dumbledore is primarily self-taught, although he "had access to superb teachers at Hogwarts." Rowling also said that as far as his education is concerned, "Dumbledore's family would be a profitable line of inquiry".

While he is by no means vain, Dumbledore also exhibits no false modesty, readily acknowledging that he is unusually intelligent and an exceptionally powerful wizard. He admits a number of times to Harry Potter in their occasional meetings in the sixth Harry Potter book of the series that he makes mistakes, and since he is "rather cleverer than most men" his mistakes "tend to be correspondingly huger".

Dumbledore's family history has never been properly explained throughout the novels. Rowling has stated that in book seven more will be revealed about Dumbledore's heritage.^{[citation needed]}

Dumbledore also has a brother who is mentioned throughout the series. The first mention is by Dumbledore himself stating that his possibly-illiterate brother was arrested for performing illegal charms on a goat. He is later pointed out by Moody in a picture of the original Order. Rowling has confirmed that the bartender of the Hog's Head is Aberforth Dumbledore.^[12]

In the film adaptations of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001) and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), Dumbledore was played by Richard Harris, who died in 2002 of Hodgkin's disease. Michael Gambon was cast as Albus Dumbledore for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007); he is also scheduled to return for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, to be released in 2008.

Patrick McGoohan was originally offered the role for the first movie before Harris, but turned it down due to health reasons. All three actors are Irish. Harris mentioned that he was originally not going to take the role either, since he knew his own health was in decline. He accepted because his then 10-year-old granddaughter threatened to never speak to him again if he didn't take it.^[13]

• Albus Dumbledore appears in the Robot Chicken episode "Password: Swordfish" voiced by Seth Green. When Harry Potter goes to him to find out how to defend himself against Pubertis, he discovers an African-American dressed as him who says that a different actor portrays Dumbledore in the movies. He gives the Rubbing Stone (a stone turned on by heat) to Harry that would help him fight Pubertis only to pop up in the battle to tell Harry that the stone can only be warmed up three times (he forgot to tell Harry that). He also mentions that Pubertis can't be destroyed and that it lives in everyone just like Dumbledore's own demon Wandus Limpus prevents him from having meaningful relationships.
• In a college music textbook, The Enjoyment of Music, the introductory chapter begins with Dumbledore's quote in the first Harry Potter book, "Ah, music! A magic beyond all we do here!"

• JK Rowling quotes about Dumbledore at Accio-Quote.org
• Dumbledore's page at the Harry Potter Lexicon
• Dumbledore's page at The Phoenix Files on MuggleNet
• MuggleNet - quotes by Albus Dumbledore
• MuggleNet - Editorial theories about the potion Dumbledore consumed
• Editorial theories on Dumbledore's "death" at dumbledoreisnotdead.com
• Interview with JK Rowling about book 7 and Dumbledore's Death at The Leaky Cauldron
• Alohomorra - Alohomorra's page on Albus Dumbledore
• Albus Dumbledore on Harry Potter Wiki, an external wiki

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