Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Characters/Albus Dumbledore

From Wikibooks, the open-content textbooks collection

Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter - Character
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
Gender	Male
Hair color	Silver (formerly auburn)
Eye color	Blue
Related Family	Percival Dumbledore (father) Kendra Dumbledore (mother) Aberforth Dumbledore (brother) Ariana Dumbledore (sister)
Loyalty	Order of the Phoenix

Contents 1 Overview 2 Role in the Books 2.1 Philosopher's Stone 2.2 Chamber of Secrets 2.3 Prisoner of Azkaban 2.4 Goblet of Fire 2.5 Order of the Phoenix 2.6 Half-Blood Prince 2.7 Deathly Hallows 3 Strengths 4 Weaknesses 5 Relationships with Other Characters 6 Analysis 6.1 The First Five Books 6.2 Half-Blood Prince 6.3 Deathly Hallows 7 Questions 8 Greater Picture 8.1 The Ending of Half-Blood Prince 8.2 Gellert Grindelwald

[edit] Overview

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore was the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a Grand Sorcerer decorated with the Order of Merlin, First Class; also Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards and Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. Ron describes him at one point as "barking." Non-British readers should be aware that this adjective is commonly used in England to modify the word "mad", but without the negative connotations of the word "raving" that is similarly used in the US. Someone who is "barking mad" in the UK is fully functional, but exhibits a very high degree of harmless eccentricity.

According to the author, Dumbledore was born in 1881.

[edit] Role in the Books

[edit] Philosopher's Stone

For much of the book, Albus Dumbledore is rather a remote presence and has little interaction with Harry Potter until the story's end.

Dumbledore first appears at Privet Drive with Professor McGonagall, discussing the recent tragic events resulting in Harry being placed with the Dursleys. He is awaiting Hagrid, who is bringing the infant Harry. Once Hagrid arrives, Harry is left on the Dursleys' doorstep. A letter from Dumbledore explaining why Harry has been brought there is left for Harry's Aunt Petunia, which she apparently does read.

Ten years later, in discussions with Hagrid and Ron, and also from Dumbledore's Wizard Card, Harry learns that Dumbledore, a very powerful wizard, is probably the only one Lord Voldemort ever feared.

Harry first actually sees Dumbledore at the Entrance Feast, where he says a few words. "And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!" This leads Harry to ask Percy Weasley if he is a bit mad; Percy answers that he is a genius, but yes, a bit mad. At the end of the feast, Dumbledore issues a few start-of-term announcements, including that "the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death." This causes Harry to ask Percy if Dumbledore is serious; Percy replies that he must be.

Harry's first direct encounter with Dumbledore is during Christmas, when he discovers the Mirror of Erised. Dumbledore catches him at the mirror and explains its function, saying it only shows what people desire, not what they truly are; he says that he is taking the mirror away and asks Harry not to look for it again. He also proves able to see Harry despite the invisibility cloak that Harry is wearing, and suggests that invisibility cloaks are not the only way to be invisible.

Shortly after this, there is a Quidditch match, Gryffindor against Hufflepuff, at which Professor Snape chooses to be the referee. Fred Weasley seems surprised to see that Professor Dumbledore is in the stands; evidently he has not previously made a habit of watching the student Quidditch games. Because Snape is referee, and because Harry mistrusts Snape, he makes a point of catching the Snitch as quickly as he can; the game lasts only a few minutes. At the end of the game, Dumbledore speaks personally to Harry, saying he is glad that Harry has not allowed the Mirror Erised to dominate his thoughts.

Having determined that someone, they believe Snape, has all the necessary information to pass any obstacles between the forbidden third-floor hallway and whatever is being guarded, which they guess correctly to be the Stone, Harry, Ron and Hermione decide that they must tell Dumbledore what they have learned. In the Entrance Hall, they ask Professor McGonagall to take them to Dumbledore; McGonagall tells them that Dumbledore has been called to London. Harry decides that, in the absence of Dumbledore, he must go down the trap door himself; Ron and Hermione insist on going with him.

With Ron incapacitated, and only one dose of potion available to let Harry and Hermione go forwards at the last obstacle, Harry tells Hermione to go back, get Ron up, and send a message to recall Dumbledore; he will go on and face the final challenges himself.

In the final chapter, Dumbledore speaks with Harry in the hospital wing. He explains that he had found himself not needed in London and had returned immediately, and had arrived just in time to save Harry from death. In response to questions from Harry, he mentions that he is particularly proud of the last puzzle in the chamber, involving the Mirror of Erised. He also partially explains why events have occurred, although he refuses to explain why Voldemort intended to kill Harry.

Finally, at the Leaving Feast, Dumbledore awards some late House points: fifty points each to Ron and Hermione, and sixty to Harry, for their efforts to reach and save the Stone, and to Neville Longbottom, ten points for bravery. This catapults Gryffindor from last place into the lead in House points, resulting in their winning the House trophy for the first time in seven years.

[edit] Chamber of Secrets

Dumbledore disciplines Harry Potter and Ron Weasley shortly after they crash into the Whomping Willow in a flying car. Dumbledore warns them that breaking one more rule will cause them to be expelled.

When Mrs. Norris (Filch's cat) is found apparently dead, Dumbledore takes her to Gilderoy Lockhart's office to examine her, and asks Harry, Ron, and Hermione to come along, with Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall. After examining her, Dumbledore announces that Mrs. Norris is Petrified, though he is not sure how. Overruling both Filch, who demands that someone should be punished, and Snape, who suggests that Harry knows more about this than he admits, Dumbledore dismisses Harry, Ron, and Hermione without punishment.

While Harry is in the Hospital Wing getting his arm bones re-grown, Dumbledore helps carry in the Petrified body of Colin Creevey. Examining Colin's camera and the destroyed film within it, Dumbledore says that the Chamber of Secrets is again open. When Professor McGonagall asks "Who?", Dumbledore responds, "The question is not who. The question... is how..."

When Justin Finch-Fletchley and Nearly Headless Nick are found Petrified, Harry is taken to Dumbledore's office by Professor McGonagall. Although Dumbledore believes Harry is blameless, he asks him if there is anything that he wants to tell him; Harry, thinking about Ron's comment that hearing voices that nobody else can hear is as worrying among wizards as it is with Muggles, responds negatively.

Dumbledore accompanies Cornelius Fudge to Hagrid's hut when the Minister decides to arrest him on suspicion of releasing a monster from the Chamber of Secrets. Dumbledore's attempt to dissuade Fudge fails. The twelve school governors, here represented by Lucius Malfoy, at the same time temporarily relieve Dumbledore as Hogwarts' Headmaster, citing a failure of confidence in his abilities.

When Harry goes into the Chamber to rescue Ginny, he meets Tom Riddle, who boasts that he, only a memory, caused Dumbledore's removal from Hogwarts. Harry contradicts him, and his loyalty to Dumbledore calls Fawkes to him. Dumbledore's pet Phoenix brings him the Sorting Hat containing Godric Gryffindor's sword. Harry kills the monster and destroys Tom Riddle's memory.

Upon hearing Ginny has been taken into the Chamber of Secrets, eleven of the governors send letters asking Dumbledore to return. Several imply that the twelfth governor, Lucius Malfoy, had threatened to curse their families had they not supported his request to remove Dumbledore. Dumbledore is in Professor McGonagall's office when Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Gilderoy Lockhart are led there by Fawkes after their ascent from the Chamber. He assists Harry in explaining to Mr. Weasley and Mrs. Weasley what has been happening and how Ginny was involved, and tells those gathered that Tom Riddle and Lord Voldemort are the same person. He goes on to reassure Ginny that there will be no punishment for her actions; wizards more powerful than Ginny have been hoodwinked by Voldemort.

Dumbledore explains to Harry the events that have transpired and resolves some issues that have been troubling him; he also explains that despite his earlier statement, there will be no consequences for Harry having broken so many school rules. He is able to reassure Harry that, despite similarities to Lord Voldemort, Harry does in fact belong in Gryffindor House, not Slytherin: "It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities." Shortly after, he warns Lucius Malfoy that anyone aiding the Dark Lord will be severely punished. He gives Harry the encouragement he needs to free Dobby, Malfoy's house elf who helped Harry.

[edit] Prisoner of Azkaban

Harry and Hermione are late to the Arrival Feast and miss the Sorting; however, they are present when Dumbledore warns the school that the school entrances and exits are being patrolled by Dementors, and that there is no subterfuge that will allow a student to pass them. He also announces the appointment of two new teachers: Rubeus Hagrid as the new Care of Magical Creatures teacher, and Remus Lupin as Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.

When Hagrid messes up in his first Care of Magical Creatures class, and Draco Malfoy is injured, Hagrid is certain that Dumbledore will sack (fire) him. The Trio reply that Dumbledore would never do that.

Dumbledore is summoned when the portrait of The Fat Lady is found destroyed. He questions Peeves, who says that the portrait was destroyed by Sirius Black. Dumbledore then sends all of the students back to the Great Hall to sleep, moving the tables aside and conjuring sleeping bags (and, one would hope, some sort of mattress pads). He sends the teachers out to check the castle for Black. Snape, returning to report to Dumbledore, takes a moment to question one of Dumbledore's appointments; Dumbledore says he is certain that no-one in the castle would have assisted Sirius to enter.

At the Quidditch match against Hufflepuff, Harry loses consciousness when Dementors stream onto the field. Ron and Hermione tell him that he had fallen fifty feet, and been slowed and saved by Dumbledore; and that Dumbledore had then done something that sent the Dementors back to their posts at the entrances of the school.

Dumbledore is one of only a very few people remaining at the school for Christmas; there are only twelve seated at the one remaining table. When Professor Trelawney joins them unexpectedly, he conjures a chair for her. When Trelawney predicts Lupin's imminent departure, Dumbledore mildly says he doesn't think Remus is in any immediate danger.

At the Quidditch match against Ravenclaw, Marcus Flint, Draco Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle dress up in Dementor's robes to scare Harry. Their plan backfires when Harry produces a Patronus that completely bowls them over. Harry sees them being disciplined by Professor McGonagall, and as he is leaving the pitch, he hears McGonagall saying that Professor Dumbledore is approaching.

The Quidditch final is Gryffindor against Slytherin. Gryffindor wins the match, and Dumbledore presents the Cup to the team.

Dumbledore joins a member of the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Beasts, Cornelius Fudge, and Walden Macnair as they go to Hagrid's hut for the scheduled execution of Buckbeak. Hagrid has told the Trio that Dumbledore has volunteered to be present to support him.

After the events in the Shrieking Shack, Dumbledore visits the Hospital Wing, where he asks those present, Cornelius Fudge, Severus Snape, and Poppy Pomfrey to allow him a word with Harry and Hermione. After hearing protests from Snape and Madam Pomfrey, Dumbledore tells Harry and Hermione that he has been speaking with Sirius Black, and understands the story; he says that the account of two underage wizards will not be given much weight against Snape's story, and as Lupin is currently running in the Forbidden Forest, he is unavailable. Even if he were there, it probably would not help; a werewolf's recounting of events would not be given much weight either. Dumbledore hints to Hermione that they should use the Time Turner, says that two innocent lives may be spared this night, and locks them into the hospital wing. Harry later understands this latter hint to indicate that they should save Buckbeak as well; and Dumbledore has told them which window is the one to the office where Sirius is being held, which leads Harry to guess that Dumbledore means them to fly on Buckbeak's back to that window to save Sirius.

At Hagrid's hut, Harry and Hermione watch the execution party arrive, and see them return to Hagrid's hut for the paperwork. While he is coaxing Buckbeak to follow him into the Forbidden Forest, Harry hears Dumbledore calling Macnair back for one final signature that needs to be witnessed. Later, watching from concealment near the Whomping Willow, Harry and Hermione see the execution party, including Dumbledore, walk past again on their way back to the school.

As they return from seeing Sirius and Buckbeak off from the tower, Harry and Hermione meet Dumbledore at the door to the Hospital Wing, where he has just locked them in; he unlocks the door so that they can return to their beds. When Snape bursts in, accusing Harry and Hermione of having something to do with Black's escape, Dumbledore is present to defuse his arguments, pointing out that Harry and Hermione have been locked into the hospital wing, and couldn't have had anything to do with it, unless they are able to be in two places at the same time.

Lupin's being a werewolf is revealed by Snape the next day, and Lupin, knowing that public opinion will not allow him to remain a teacher at Hogwarts, resigns. Harry goes to speak with him while he is packing up his office. Lupin tells Harry that Harry's father's Animagus form was a stag, the same as Harry's Patronus. Dumbledore arrives to announce Lupin's carriage. After Lupin has left, Dumbledore stays to have a word with Harry. He tells Harry that in his conversation with Sirius he had learned about James Potter being an Animagus. Harry told him about how he had thought the Patronus that had chased all the Dementors away had been cast by his father. Dumbledore says that as long as we remember them, those who die never truly leave us. "Make no mistake — Prongs rode again last night."

[edit] Goblet of Fire

Dumbledore enters the story at the Arrival Feast. To the dismay of many, he announces that there will be no Quidditch tournament this year. Before he can explain, he is interrupted by the arrival of a heavily scarred man who walks up to the teachers table, exchanges a few quiet words with Dumbledore, and then begins eating; Harry notices that he ignores the flask of pumpkin juice on the table, instead drinking from his hip flask. Dumbledore introduces him as Professor Moody, who will be teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts this year. Dumbledore goes on to explain that Quidditch is canceled because Hogwarts will be hosting the Triwizard Tournament. Dumbledore says that wizards under the age of 17 will be excluded from competition, and that representatives from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving shortly and will be staying at the school.

Professor Moody tells the class that he will be performing the three Unforgivable Curses in class; Hermione objects, but Moody says Dumbledore wants the students to be able to recognize and deal with them immediately. While this doesn't entirely quiet Hermione's concerns, she does stay in the class.

We next see Dumbledore when the other two wizarding schools arrive, on 30 October. He greets Madam Maxime of Beauxbatons warmly, and asks if she wishes to stay and greet the delegation from Durmstrang; she decides that she will instead go into the castle, because of the cold. Dumbledore similarly greets Igor Karkaroff of Durmstrang, who says that one of his students has a bit of a cold and should go inside immediately.

After the welcoming feast, Dumbledore introduces Ludovic Bagman and Bartemius Crouch, who will be judges, with the three school headmasters, of the Triwizard Tournament. He then has Argus Filch bring out the Goblet of Fire, and explains that, to enter the tournament, a student should write his name on a piece of parchment, with his school, and place that in the Goblet within the next 24 hours. He will be drawing an Age Line around the Goblet, so that students younger than 17 cannot enter. He cautions the students that placing their name into the Goblet constitutes a binding magical contract; once they have agreed to participate, they cannot change their minds. At the Hallowe'en Feast, the Goblet will choose one Champion from each school to enter the tournament.

When Fred and George later try to put their names in to compete, the magic of the age line gives them both long white beards as it throws them away from the Goblet. Dumbledore, arriving from the Great Hall, remarks that he had warned them, and that they were not the first, that two other students were already in the Hospital Wing getting their beards removed.

At the Hallowe'en Feast, Dumbledore announces the Champions as they are presented by the Goblet: for Durmstrang, Viktor Krum. For Beauxbatons, Fleur Delacour. For Hogwarts, Cedric Diggory. He is then stunned when the Goblet produces a fourth name: Harry Potter.

Harry, equally stunned, is not immediately able to get to his feet; Dumbledore has to call him a second time, and then tell him to proceed to the room off the Great Hall where the other Champions have gone. Dumbledore joins him there shortly with the other judges, and asks Harry if he had put his own name into the Goblet, or had an older student do that for him. Harry insists that he had not. After Ludo Bagman asks Mr. Crouch for a ruling, Crouch says that if his name came out of the Goblet, he is bound to compete. Dumbledore accepts this ruling, though the Heads of the other two schools are opposed. Given that their champions are bound to compete also, however, they cannot see any alternative course of action. Seeing that Crouch appears somewhat ill, Dumbledore asks if he would like to stay the night at the school, or at least stay for a drink, but Crouch says he must get back.

At the Weighing of the Wands ceremony, Rita Skeeter draws Harry aside for a private interview, from which he is rescued by Dumbledore. Seeing Rita, Dumbledore makes some pointed remarks about the last story she wrote that had mentioned Dumbledore in most unflattering terms. Dumbledore is present for the Weighing of the Wands ceremony, and for the photo call afterwards.

Dumbledore, in his role as judge, is present at the First Task, where Harry must retrieve a golden egg from a dragon. Harry is quite successful, summoning his Firebolt and flying past the dragon to capture his golden egg in the shortest time of all the four Champions, and Dumbledore scores him a nine out of ten.

Dumbledore is also at the Yule Ball, of course, where he mentions the Room of Requirement to Karkaroff, by way of illustration that nobody can know all the secrets of the school. We also later see Dumbledore dancing, rather awkwardly but without embarrassment, with Madame Maxime.

Rita publishes a scurrilous story about Hagrid, saying that he is half-Giant. Hagrid goes into seclusion in his hut, not coming out to teach or tend the grounds; a new teacher, Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank, covers his classes for a week. Returning from a Hogsmeade weekend the following week, Hermione beats on Hagrid's door, demanding admission, and is nonplussed when Dumbledore opens the door and invites them in. Over tea, Dumbledore tells them, and an obviously distraught Hagrid, that one must ignore the press; his own brother Aberforth had once been pilloried in the press after a conviction for practicing unnatural charms on a goat, but had simply gone on as always. Of course, Dumbledore muses, it is possible that Aberforth could not read, so it might be that he was unaware of the stories... Dumbledore then leaves, telling Hagrid that he expects Hagrid to be back on the job Monday, and to be at Head Table for breakfast Monday morning.

Harry ventures out to the Prefects' Bathroom late at night to work on the clue in the Egg for the Second task. He is nearly caught by Argus Filch and Professor Snape, but is rescued by Professor Moody. In talking with Professor Moody afterwards, Moody says that Dumbledore believes in second chances, where he and Mr. Crouch don't. Later, Harry remembers this, and wonders what Snape had done to deserve a second chance.

Dumbledore is, of course, a judge at the Second Task, and is present when Harry returns to the surface with Ron and Gabrielle Delacour. He speaks with the mer-Chieftainess, and determines that in fact Harry had arrived at the hostages first, and then had stayed to ensure that all of them were rescued. This had delayed him beyond the alloted time, but most of the judges feel that he should receive extra credit for behaving nobly.

After surveying the site of the maze which will form the course of the Third Task, Viktor Krum asks Harry to step aside with him for a word. They end up, in partial darkness, under the eaves of the Forbidden Forest. As their conversation finishes, Mr. Crouch, much the worse for wear and discoursing with the trees, appears. In rare moments of partial lucidity, he holds tightly onto Harry's robes, and demands Dumbledore; he then goes back to talking cheerfully about his wife and son to the trees. Harry, leaving Krum to keep an eye on Mr. Crouch, runs to the school where he finds the gargoyle that guards Dumbledore's office, but does not know the password. The door opens, though, to reveal Snape, who refuses to allow Harry past and into Dumbledore's office. While Harry is trying to convince him f the urgency of his errand, Dumbledore himself appears at the door, and apprised of the situation, hurries to the spot with Harry where he and Krum had been talking. There, they find no sign of Crouch, and Krum apparently Stunned. Dumbledore revives Krum, and sends a messenger for Hagrid. When Hagrid arrives, Dumbledore tells him to find Karkaroff and Moody, but Moody appears immediately, saying that Snape had told him where Crouch was. Dumbledore tells Moody that it is imperative to find Mr. Crouch, and tells Hagrid to escort Harry to Gryffindor Tower. He also tells Harry to stay in the dorm until morning; any messages he needs to send can wait until then. Harry wonders how Dumbledore can know that he was planning to write to Sirius.

The following morning, as the Trio are preparing to send a message off to Sirius, they are interrupted by the arrival of Fred and George Weasley. After they have left, Ron mentions that they are really serious about funding their joke shop, and might not talk to Dumbledore about something they've seen if it might imperil their funding.

Harry falls asleep in Divination class, and sees Wormtail being tortured. Waking up, he rushes to Dumbledore's office to let him know what he has seen; trying passwords at random, he manages to get the gargoyle to leap aside and open the door. At the top of the stairs, he overhears a discussion between Dumbledore, Cornelius Fudge, and Professor Moody, about the disappearances of Bertha Jorkins and Bartemius Crouch. He suggests that Madame Maxime might have had something to do with Crouch's disappearance, but Dumbledore protests.

Harry is discovered by Moody, and invited into the office. Dumbledore suggests that he should wait there in the office while he, Moody, and Fudge survey the spot where Crouch was seen last. Harry, waiting, sees odd, shimmering light, and discovers a stone bowl full of something, not liquid, quite. Placing his face into it, he suddenly finds himself seated alongside Dumbledore in what appears to be a courtroom. Finding that nobody can see or hear him, he recognizes this as a memory, similar to the one he had been shown two years before in Tom Riddle's diary. Dumbledore is observing what might be a release hearing for Igor Karkaroff, in which he agrees to name Death Eaters in return for leniency. He then sees a new memory, this time of the trial of Ludo Bagman, who was passing Ministry secrets to a death eater, Augustus Rookwood. Finally, he and Dumbledore witness a third trial, this time of four people who stand accused of torturing Frank and Alice Longbottom into insanity in order to get them to tell what had happened to Voldemort. Acting as prosecutor in this, as he had been in the other two cases, is Bartemius Crouch, who here is apparently sending his own son to Azkaban. A second Dumbledore appears, and grasping Harry by the elbow, returns him to the office.

Dumbledore identifies the stone basin as a Pensieve, and says it is a useful place to store one's thoughts and memories when there seem to be too many of them in one's head. It is also good for showing patterns in thoughts. Harry apologizes, but Dumbledore dismisses his concern, saying that curiosity is not a sin, but that it should be treated with caution. He then produces, from the Pensieve, the image of Bertha Jorkins at 16, complaining because someone had jinxed her when she told him she had seen him kissing someone behind the greenhouses. He softly chides the image, asking why she had gone behind the greenhouses in teh first place?

Dumbledore now says that Harry had something on his mind when he came up to the office. Harry tells Dumbledore about his dream. Dumbledore asks if there were other times that his scar had hurt, apart from the time at the beginning of the summer? Harry says no, but then stops: how had Dumbledore known about that episode? Dumbledore says that Harry is not Sirius' only correspondent. Dumbledore then thinks for a long while, taking thoughts out of his head and placing them in the Pensieve. Harry interrupts him, asking why his scar hurts? Dumbledore says that the scar hurts when Voldemort is near, or feels strong emotion. Asked if the dream was real, Dumbledore says it was no ordinary dream, and asks if Harry could see Voldemort. Harry says no, only the back of his chair; but Voldemort doesn't hove a body, does he? How could he hold a wand? Dumbledore again thinks about this for a while.

Harry now asks if Alice and Frank Longbottom were Neville's parents. Dumbledore asks if Harry had ever wondered why Neville was being brought up by his grandmother? Harry admits that he had not wondered. Dumbledore says that Neville's parents had never regained their sanity, and that they were permanently resident at St. Mungo's Hospital. He tells Harry that he should not tell anyone this, not even Ron and Hermione. Asked about Ludo Bagman, Dumbledore says that he has not been connected with anything Dark since his trial; neither has Severus Snape. Finally, Dumbledore wishes Harry luck in the Third Task.

In the run-up to the Third Task, Sirius is sending owls to Harry almost daily with advice; the main one being that Harry should not worry about what's happening outside Hogwarts. Inside the school, under Dumbledore's protection, he should be safe.

Dumbledore is present as Ludo Bagman sends the four Champions into the maze.

Dumbledore is again present as Harry returns bearing the body of Cedric. He tells Harry to remain where he is; Harry, confused, leaves with Moody. Shortly, Dumbledore, accompanied by McGonagall and Snape, breaks down the door of Moody's office and Stuns Moody. Professor McGonagall wants to take Harry to the Hospital wing, but Dumbledore overrules her. He sends Snape to fetch his strongest truth serum, and to also bring the house elf Winky from the kitchens. Dumbledore also sends Professor McGonagall to take the large black dog in Hagrid's pumpkin patch to his office. He then uses Moody's keys to open the trunk in his office. In the seventh compartment, he finds Alastor Moody, weak, unconscious, but alive. Examining the hip flask that the Moody on the office floor is wearing, he finds it full of Polyjuice Potion. Dumbledore says that he had known that this was not the true Alastor Moody; the true Moody would never have taken Harry away if Dumbledore had told him not to. He and Harry watch as the Moody on the office floor turns into Barty Crouch Jr.

Snape returns with Winky and the truth serum. Dumbledore reassures Winky that Barty is not dead, only Stunned. McGonagall returns from her errand and is equally amazed at who Moody has turned into. Dumbledore administers three drops of the serum and revives him. He then questions Barty, who explains much of what has happened, including that he had turned the Triwizard Cup into a Portkey.

Dumbledore now takes Harry to his office, where Sirius is waiting. Dumbledore says that he must hear the entire story of what happened after Harry had first touched the Cup. Harry, tired and weak, pauses, and Sirius says he needs rest; but Dumbledore says that if he thought rest would help, he would put Harry into a dreamless sleep immediately. But that would be only postponing the process. With Sirius holding his shoulders, and strengthened by a note of Phoenix song from Fawkes, Harry feels able to tell the story, and he does.

Dumbledore seems particularly interested that Voldemort had used Harry's blood for the spell that brought him back, asking to see the wound; and Harry thinks he sees a brief flash of triumph in Dumbledore's eyes before he goes on. And Dumbledore explains the reappearance of Harry's parents during the wand duel, the Priori Incantatem effect, clearly aware of how hard it is for Harry to speak about this. Dumbledore says that when two wands sharing a common core are forced to duel, the Priori Incantatem effect will force one of the wands to disgorge the last few spells it has performed; in this case, Harry had seen the last four people the wand had killed.

Dumbledore now takes Harry to the Hospital Wing, leaving him in the care of Madam Pomfrey, Mrs. Weasley, Bill and Ron, Hermione, and the large black dog that is Sirius.

Harry is waked up by the arrival of Cornelius Fudge, with Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape in attendance, looking for Dumbledore. Dumbledore arrives shortly, and is surprised that McGonagall is no longer guarding Barty Crouch; McGonagall tells him that Crouch had decided to bring a Dementor with him, and the Dementor had administered the Kiss, sucking out Barty's soul. Dumbledore points out that this means he can no longer testify as to what happened; Fudge says that any testimony that he could have given would be suspect as he believed he was working under Voldemort's orders. Dumbledore says that he was working on Voldemort's orders, and that Voldemort had returned. Fudge is taken aback momentarily, but then rallies, saying that Dumbledore was basing his belief on what Harry was saying, and that Harry is less than reliable. Dumbledore says that they must each act as they see fit. Fudge, apparently choosing to believe that Dumbledore is setting himself up in opposition to the Ministry, leaves in a huff.

Dumbledore now sends Bill off to report to Arthur Weasley, Professor McGonagall to take Hagrid and Madame Maxime to his office, and Madam Pomfrey to tend to Winky. Asking Sirius to show himself, he requires that Sirius and Snape shake hands, then sends Sirius off to speak with "the old crowd": Remus Lupin, Mundungus Fletcher, and Arabella Figg, then lay low at Lupin's until Dumbledore gets back in touch. He then sends Snape off on "the mission we discussed". He then instructs Harry to drink the rest of his sleeping potion, and departs.

When Harry leaves the Hospital Wing, Ron and Hermione tell him that Dumbledore has already addressed the school, telling them what had happened. Ron's mother had asked if Harry could stay with them over the summer, but Dumbledore had told her that Harry must stay at Privet Drive first.

Harry asks what mission Hagrid has been sent on, but Hagrid says Dumbledore told him not to tell anyone about it.

At the Leaving Feast, the Great Hall is draped in black. Dumbledore starts with a tribute to Cedric Diggory, and explains that he died at the hands of Lord Voldemort. He says that the Ministry would be upset that he had told them this, and some of their parents might also be upset; but truth is better than lies, and lying about Diggory's death would be an insult to his memory. He mentions that Harry had risked his life to return Cedric's body, and offers a toast. Finally, speaking to the students of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang there present, he says that they will always be welcome in Hogwarts, as they must all stand together against the forces of darkness.

[edit] Order of the Phoenix

Over the summer, Harry is extremely vexed that nobody will tell him what is going on with the newly-returned Lord Voldemort. Particularly exasperating is the fact that neither Ron nor Hermione, in their answers to his messages, are at all responsive. Matters come to a head when Harry is attacked by Dementors as he and Dudley walk back to Privet Drive. It turns out that Dumbledore has been having Harry watched by, among others, old Mrs. Figg, who amazingly turns out to be a Squib. Harry's use of magic results in a flurry of owls, as Dumbledore goes to the Ministry of Magic to prevent their hasty action regarding Harry's unauthorized use of magic. The final owl of the evening is a Howler, which is addressed to Aunt Petunia; she is brought up short by this and forces Vernon, who had been adamant that Harry was going to leave their house, to accept that Harry has to stay with them.

Shortly after that, Harry is brought to the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix at Number 12, Grimmauld Place. There, Harry is re-united with Ron and Hermione, who are most apologetic about the tone of their letters. They explain that Dumbledore had made them promise that they would not tell Harry what was going on. It turns out that the Order is a group of wizards who are fighting Voldemort; they have to remain undercover because the Ministry's official position is that Voldemort has not returned. Dumbledore himself, as a direct result of his stating publicly that Voldemort has returned, has lost many of the offices he once held: he is no longer Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, for instance, has lost the position of Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, and there is talk of revoking his Order of Merlin.

After dinner that night, Harry asks some questions about what Dumbledore is doing, and why the Order has to stay quiet. He also asks why Voldemort seems to be doing nothing, and is told that Voldemort has to regain his strength; at the end of the previous book, he had only a handful of followers, and he needed to build up his numbers before he could move into the open. Harry is told that he was not meant to escape the graveyard, and by doing so he had dealt Voldemort the worst possible blow. Voldemort had wanted his return to remain secret, and Harry had taken word of his return to the worst possible person: Dumbledore. It also turns out that Headquarters, which is in a house owned by Sirius Black, is protected by the Fidelius charm, and Dumbledore is secret-keeper.

A hearing had been scheduled at the Ministry regarding Harry's use of magic when underage, fighting the Dementors. Shortly before the hearing, Harry learns that while he had been asleep, Dumbledore had visited Headquarters, but had not stopped to talk to Harry. This upsets Harry greatly; he does not understand why Dumbledore does not wish to see him. At the hearing, which has been changed at the last minute to be in one of the old courtrooms and apparently in front of the full Wizengamot, Dumbledore appears as a surprise witness for the defence. Dumbledore manages the defence brilliantly, first getting the panel of judges to concede that in fact use of magic by underage wizards in self defence is allowed, then further getting the concession that if there were in fact Dementors present, that would constitute grounds for use of magic. He then introduces Arabella Figg as a Squib who had actually seen the Dementors. After Arabella's testimony, Dumbledore catches and defuses a number of spurious accusations leveled by Fudge, and in the process suggests that as there were Dementors at Privet Drive, as stated, and if the Dementors remain under Ministry control, as the Ministry claims, then someone at the Ministry must have sent them. Finally, Dumbledore requests that the judges make their decision; when the votes are counted, Harry is exonerated, and Dumbledore gets up and immediately departs. Harry is relieved that this ordeal is over, but remains upset that Dumbledore had never even looked at him, and had not remained there long enough to even exchange a few words.

At the Arrival Feast, Dumbledore gives his customary speech. When he introduces Dolores Umbridge, she, most unusually, rises to make a speech of her own. Hermione seems to be very interested in what she is saying, but most of the rest of the school seems to find it deadly dull. Later that night, Harry is amazed to find out that there have been some concerns about returning to Hogwarts among Wizarding families. Seamus Finnigan, for example, had almost been kept out of Hogwarts by his parents, who feel that Dumbledore may be "losing it" with his insistence that Voldemort has returned.

Harry is upset that Dumbledore still seems to be avoiding him. His name is mentioned a couple of times during the next few months; Hermione suggests that Dumbledore may not be commenting on Hagrid's absence to as to avoid calling attention to it, and Angelina Johnson suggests that it may be Dumbledore's influence that allowed the Gryffindor Quidditch team to reform after it was forcibly disbanded by Educational Decree Number Twenty-Four. In conversation with Sirius, Harry, Ron, and Hermione learn that the reason Umbridge was foisted on the school, and the reason her teachings are so ineffectual, is because Cornelius Fudge believes that Dumbledore may be trying to create a private army to overthrow the Ministry, and her classes have been deliberately designed to thwart this. It is because of this belief that the Defence Against the Dark Arts Group that Harry heads up is named "Dumbledore's Army". When Dobby mentions the Room of Requirement, Harry remembers that Dumbledore had mentioned the room at the Yule Ball. And when Hagrid returns, Harry, Hermione, and Ron manage to learn from him that Dumbledore had sent him and Madame Maxime on a mission to contact the Giants and attempt to win them over to Dumbledore's side.

Just before Christmas, Harry has a vision of Arthur Weasley being attacked by a snake. Professor McGonagall, told of this vision, takes Harry to Dumbledore's office. Still not looking at Harry, Dumbledore questions him as to what he has seen, and Harry tells him about the attack, and when questioned more closely, that during the attack he believed he was the snake. Dumbledore sends the occupants of two of the portraits in his office to investigate. He also sends Professor McGonagall to bring the other Weasley children to his office, and the portrait of Phineas Nigellus Black is sent to Headquarters to alert Sirius that guests are coming. He does some investigation of his own, then creates a Portkey to carry Harry and the Weasleys to Grimmauld Place. Just before the portkey activates, Dumbledore, for the first time in months, looks into Harry's eyes, and Harry feels the snake within him rise up, ready to sink its fangs into Dumbledore's face.

While Dumbledore does not appear at Grimmauld Place during the holidays, he does send a message. Harry, having overheard conversations that indicate other members of the Order suspect that Voldemort is possessing him, decides that his best course is to leave Headquarters where he might show Voldemort the activities of the Order. As he is preparing to leave, the portrait of Phineas Nigellus appears with Dumbledore's message: "Stay where you are." Harry complies, but he is vexed that again he is being given instructions and no information. Then, on the day before school is scheduled to start, Severus Snape arrives with the unwelcome news that Dumbledore wants Harry to learn Occlumency, and that Snape will be teaching him. Snape does not explain why Dumbledore wants this, nor why Dumbledore does not teach Harry himself.

Harry has a vision of Voldemort discussing a plan with one of his Death Eaters, apparently Augustus Rookwood, who is telling him that the plan proposed by Avery would not work. Harry tells Ron about this dream, and Ron says Harry should tell Dumbledore. Harry, repeatedly stung by Dumbledore's refusal to speak with him, says he will not; Dumbledore evidently doesn't want to know about these things as he is trying to teach Harry how to turn them off.

When Umbridge dismisses Professor Trelawney, Dumbledore says that it is his will that she remain in residence at the school, even if she is not to teach any more. Umbridge asks where the next Divination teacher will stay? Dumbledore says he has found a Divination teacher, and he will want different rooms. He then introduces Firenze, a Centaur, as the new Divination teacher.

Umbridge learns about Dumbledore's Army, and sends her Inquisitorial Squad to try and capture its members. Due to a timely tip-off from Dobby, all of the DA members escape except Harry, who is taken to Dumbledore's office. Dumbledore is present, along with Professor McGonagall, Umbridge, Cornelius Fudge, Percy Weasley as scribe, and two Aurors: Kingsley Shacklebolt, who is also an Order member, and Dawlish. Umbridge accuses Harry of having an illegal meeting at the Hog's Head earlier in the year; Dumbledore points out that while he does not deny that the meeting took place, the Educational Decree banning such meetings came out two days later, so the meeting was not against any regulation. Umbridge states that any meetings since then would have been illegal, Dumbledore suggests that what is needed, then, is proof that any such additional meetings actually happened. Umbridge here produces her witness, Marietta Edgecombe, who is holding her robe up over her face. As she lowers her robe to speak, everyone in et room is amazed to see that she has large purple blemishes on her face, spelling the word "Sneak". Due to a timely Memory charm from Kingsley, she then indicates that there were no other meetings of that group. However, Umbridge produces the membership parchment of the DA, and seeing the heading of the page, "Dumbledore's Army", Fudge guesses that Dumbledore is, in fact, creating a private army. Dumbledore pleasantly agrees that he is doing so. Fudge sends Percy off to send his notes to the Daily Prophet, and then has the Aurors attempt to put Dumbledore under arrest. This fails dramatically; with both Aurors, Fudge, and Umbridge unconscious, Dumbledore departs the school in a flash of phoenix fire.

Again, there is a stretch of some months without direct contact with Dumbledore. Hagrid mentions that the Centaurs are very upset with him, as he had broken up a fight; many of the other Centaurs had been attacking Firenze for agreeing to work with Dumbledore, and Hagrid had stepped into that and allowed Firenze to escape. And when Umbridge catches Harry in her fireplace, using the Floo network to try and talk with Sirius, Hermione tells her that they were trying to contact Dumbledore. She says that on Dumbeldore's orders, they had been building a weapon, and it was finished. With this as a lure, she is able to get Umbridge to follow her into the Forbidden Forest, where she is captured by the Centaurs.

Dumbledore is not seen again until the climactic battle at the Ministry of Magic. He arrives in the hall of the Veil, and captures nearly all of the Death Eaters there. Bellatrix Lestrange, however, escapes, and Harry gives chase, finally catching up to her in the Atrium and dueling with her there. Voldemort arrives, and shortly afterwards Dumbledore does also; Dumbledore animates the figures of the Fountain of Magical Brethren to trap Bellatrix, protect Harry, and summon help. He and Voldemort then duel; Voldemort escapes, but returns to possess Harry. Harry, believing he is about to die, thinks of Sirius and his joy at being re-united with him; that drives Voldemort out of his mind. Ministry wizards and Aurors, including Fudge, now arrive, just in time to see Voldemort reappear to rescue Bellatrix.

Dumbledore tells Fudge that there are death eaters captive in the hall of the Veil, and says that he will grant Fudge half an hour's explanation, but that after that he would have to return to Hogwarts. He creates a Portkey, and gives it to Harry; Harry finds himself in Dumbledore's office at the school.

Reinstated as Headmaster, Dumbledore talks to the distraught Harry in his office. He admits that he made many mistakes, such as not telling Harry about a Prophecy concerning him and Voldemort. Harry tells him that the prophecy was smashed, and Dumbledore says that was only a copy of the prophecy, that the person to whom the prophecy was made still remembers it and can reproduce it. He then extracts a memory and places it in the Pensieve; Sibyll Trelawney rises and says "The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..." He also explains that he had been avoiding Harry to prevent Voldemort from reading Harry's thoughts and learning information through him about Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix – he was deeply concerned at what would happen once Voldemort learned that the relationship they shared was greater than headmaster to student. He also explained that he had feared what would happen if he was trying to teach Harry Occlumency, while Voldemort had access to Harry's mind. And Dumbledore also says why he had chosen Ron to be Prefect instead of Harry: "I felt... that you already had... enough responsibilities to be going on with."

Dumbledore is re-instated as headmaster, and regains his offices in the Wizengamot and the International Confederation of Wizards, now that his belief in the return of Voldemort has been vindicated. He walks into the Forbidden Forest alone, returning with an apparently undamaged Umbridge; Umbridge, however, will not speak, and eventually flees the school when she thinks nobody will notice.

[edit] Half-Blood Prince

Harry is surprised when Dumbledore comes to Privet Drive to collect him after only a fortnight. Despite the letter Dumbledore had sent, Harry did not believe that he would be able to leave the home he so loathed, so quickly. Dumbledore invites himself in, and tells Harry that he has inherited all Sirius' worldly goods, including the house at Grimmauld Place, Kreacher, and Buckbeak. However, there is a concern that there may be a charm that would require that the property be inherited by the oldest living descendant of the Black family, in this case Bellatrix Lestrange. In order to test this, Dumbledore summons Kreacher, and requests that Harry give him an order. If Kreacher follows Harry's orders, then he is Harry's property. Harry tells Kreacher, who is yelling defiance, to shut up; Kreacher suddenly cannot speak, thus proving that Harry does, in fact, own him and the house. At Dumbledore's suggestion, Harry sends Kreacher to work in the Hogwarts kitchens.

Dumbledore now asks if Harry is ready to go, and is unsurprised when Harry says he has a little last-minute packing to do. When he returns from throwing everything into his trunk, Dumbledore is still in the sitting room, rather than in the front hall as Harry had hoped. Dumbledore chastises the Dursleys for their treatment of Harry, saying that he had requested that they treat Harry as one of their own, and he is only glad that he was not as ill-treated as Dudley. He and Harry then depart. Harry has noticed that Dumbledore's hand is blackened and dead-looking, but when he asks Dumbledore about it, he is told that while he will tell Harry about it later, he does not have the time to tell the story properly now.

Dumbledore tells Harry that they have another errand to run first, and asks Harry to keep his Invisibility Cloak with him. He then sends Harry's trunk on ahead to the Burrow, and has Harry hold on to him while they Apparate. In the small village of Budleigh Babberton, Dumbledore tells Harry, they are going to recruit a new teacher, as they seem to again be one short. Arriving at a small house, Harry and Dumbledore discover a scene of desctruction; Dumbledore, however, pokes an overturned armchair which utters an exclamation and turns into a very fat, bald wizard. Introduced as Horace Slughorn, the fat wizard asks Dumbledore what he had forgotten, and Dumbledore says that there had been no Dark Mark hovering over the house. Dumbledore and Slughorn then clean up the mess, and Dumbledore introduces Harry to Slughorn. Dumbledore then offers Slughorn a job at Hogwarts, pointing out that since he has gone into hiding, he has been out of touch with his various associates. When Slughorn turns him down, Dumbledore departs to use the bathroom, leaving Slughorn and Harry together. On his return, Dumbledore says he was intrigued by the Muggle magazine on knitting patterns, and making one final offer, prepares to depart. As he is walking out the door, Slughorn says he accepts the job at Hogwarts, but will want a raise.

Dumbledore then Apparates with Harry to The Burrow. There, he draws Harry aside, and suggests that he should tell Ron and Hermione the contents of the Prophecy. He also tells Harry that he should always carry the Invisibility Cloak with him during the coming year, and that he will be having private lessons with Dumbledore over the course of the year as well.

In conversation with Ron and Hermione the following morning, Harry learns that Percy Weasley is still estranged from his family, despite Dumbledore having been proved correct. Dumbledore had commented that sometimes being right was even less forgivable than being wrong, which Ron thinks is a positively barmy thought. Following Dumbledore's instructions, Harry tells Ron and Hermione about the prophecy, and is creatly relieved that they are worried about Harry's having to face Voldemort, rather than reviling him because he perforce may become a murderer.

At the Arrival Feast, Dumbledore announces two new staff appointments: Horace Slughorn has come out of retirement and will resume his old job, teaching Potions, while Professor Snape will be teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts. He also says that with the reappearance of Voldemort, new protective spells have been placed around the school, and he asks for the students' patience and cooperation. He also asks that if anyone has any concerns, they should report them to any teacher.

It is some time later when Harry has his first private lesson with Dumbledore. He is intrigued to find that they will not be studying magic, but rather will be reviewing and extending Dumbledore's researches into the origins and life of Voldemort. For the first lesson, Harry and Dumbledore, by way of the Pensieve, relive the memories of one Bob Ogden, a Ministry representative in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, as he visits the Gaunt home. Harry and Dumbledore watch as Bob is attacked by Morfin Gaunt, speaks to his father, and watches the byplay between them and Merope Gaunt, as Tom Riddle rides by. After Ogden is chased away, Dumbledore mentions that the elder Gaunt is named Marvolo, and Harry draws the conclusion that this may be Voldemort's grandfather. Dumbledore agrees, and further mentions that Merope is his mother, and the handsome Tom Riddle riding past is his father. He goes on to explain that Merope had ensnared Riddle by magical means when her brother and father were locked up in Azkaban, but for reasons unknown had allowed the enchantment to lapse, perhaps thinking that bearing Tom's son would be sufficient bond to keep him with her. Harry, recalling that Tom had been raised in an orphanage, asks if Merope had died; Dumbledore says that she had. Harry asks if he can discuss this with Ron and Hermione, and Dumbledore agrees, saying only that they should not let it go any further. As he is leaving, Harry notices a broken ring on a table, and correctly identifies it as one that Dumbledore had been wearing earlier in the year, and also the one that Marvolo Gaunt had been wearing. In Ogden's memory, Marvolo had identified it as the signet of the Peverell family, one of the oldest pure-blood Wizarding families.

After this lesson, there is a long stretch when Dumbledore is not apparently present at the school, is absent from head table at many meals, and no further invitations for lessons come from his office until mid-October.

The meeting in mid-October happens on the Monday after a Hogsmeade visit in which Harry has surprised Mundungus Fletcher selling off silver from Grimmauld Place, and has seen Katie Bell injured by a jinxed necklace that she was carrying. Katie was apparently under the Imperius curse, and Harry is convinced that Draco Malfoy was behind it, despite Professor McGonagall saying that Draco had been doing detention at the time. Although he is uncertain that Dumbledore will be there, Harry goes to his office in time for the lesson. Finding him present, Harry first asks about Katie Bell, and Dumbledore says that Professor Snape had done all he could. Asked why Snape instead of Madam Pomfrey, Dumbledore says that Snape has more experience with Dark magic. Dumbledore then tells Harry that Mundungus seems to have gone into hiding, but in any event he will not be taking anything else from Grimmauld Place. When Harry tells him about his belief about Draco's involvement in the necklace attack, Dumbledore says that he is aware that Harry believes that, and it will be investigated; but that the lesson is more important.

Dumbledore says that Merope Gaunt had gone to London, where, left on her own, she had sold the few items of value that she owned. In the Pensieve, Dumbledore shows Caractacus Burke of Borgin and Burkes, gloating over having purchased Slytherin's locket for ten Galleons. Harry is outraged at Burke's avarice. Harry and Dumbledore then enter the Pensieve, and follow the younger Dumbledore as he visits the orphanage where the young Tom Riddle is living. Dumbledore plies the matron with gin, asking her about the young Riddle. She tells of the night of his birth, with his mother dying only an hour afterwards. Further, she says that she can't prove anything about him, but after checking that nothing she says will prevent Dumbledore from taking Riddle to the school he represents, the matron admits that Riddle had apparently had something to do with the death of a rabbit, and that two children who had been absent with Riddle at their annual seaside outing were apparently scared to the point of being insensible.

She then takes Dumbledore to see Tom. Tom is initially suspicious, but Dumbledore manages to convince him that what he is doing is magic, and that he is there to take him to a school where he will be taught magic. As proof, Dumbledore makes Tom's wardrobe appear to be on fire, and then has a box of stolen objects dance to protest their captivity. He suggests that there is a fund to help those students of magic who are unable to pay their own way, and when Tom refuses assistance finding Diagon Alley, Dumbledore gives him a money bag and instructions as to how to get there. He notes at the time that Riddle reacts poorly to mention of the innkeeper's name, because it is the same as his own.

Returning to his office, Dumbledore says that even then, he was worried about Tom Riddle's cruelty, ambition, thieving, and how he reacts to being told he is a wizard. He had resolved to keep an eye on him. He further notes that Tom, even at that young age, was trying to set himself completely apart, and was apparently friendless. Dumbledore finally mentions that he liked to keep trophies.

Leaving the office, Harry notes that the ring is gone, and wonders if there shouldn't be something else there, such as the mouth organ (US: harmonica) that had been one of the stolen items in Tom's wardrobe. Dumbledore compliments his perceptiveness, but says the mouth organ was never anything but a mouth organ.

Over Christmas, Rufus Scrimgeour, the new Minister for Magic, tries to recruit Harry to act as poster boy for the Ministry. Harry refuses, saying that he is Dumbledore's man through and through.

At Harry's next private lesson, he recounts Scrimgeour's attempt to recruit him. Dumbledore is moved by Harry's acceptance of Scrimgeour's calling him "Dumbledore's man". Harry then recounts a conversation that he had overheard between Snape and Draco Malfoy in which Snape had said he was sworn to help Draco in the task he had been set, and Draco had refused his help. Dumbledore thanks Harry for reporting it to him. In response to Harry's angry outburst, Dumbledore says he does understand, possibly even better than Harry does, but he trusts Snape and nothing that he has heard changes that. They then proceed to the memories of Riddle during his school days. Dumbledore admits to having had serious difficulty in getting memories of anyone from that time, as he was creating his core group of what would become Death Eaters around himself. The first memory is of Tom and his uncle Morfin.

Dumbledore and Harry then watch as Tom appears in the Gaunt shack, Morfin attacks him under the impression that he is Tom Riddle Sr., and then, once he learns who Tom is, tells him of his mother Merope and his Muggle father. Then everything goes black. When Morfin woke up, Dumbledore says, the Riddle family were dead via a spell cast by Morfin's wand, and the ring of the Peverells was gone.

The second memory is of the Slug Club, headed by a much younger Horace Slughorn and including Tom, now about fifteen and wearing the Peverell ring. When Tom asks about Horcruxes, the memory turns to white fog and only Slughorn's voice can be heard. Dumbledore comments that the memory is quite clearly edited, and gives Harry the job, "for which you are uniquely equipped," of retrieving the unedited version of that memory.

Harry's attempts to retrieve this memory from Slughorn over the next while are fruitless. Meanwhile, though, Ron is poisoned on his birthday by means of a bottle of mead which Slughorn says he had purchased as a Christmas gift for Dumbledore. Harry manages to revive him with a bezoar. As Harry and Hermione are leaving the Hospital Wing, Hagrid, who is leaving with them, mentions that he had overheard Dumbledore and Snape having a bit of a disagreement. After some persuasion, Hagrid mentions that Dumbledore and Snape had been talking at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, and Hagrid had overheard Snape saying that perhaps he no longer wanted to do something which he had agreed to. Dumbledore quite firmly reminded Snape that he had given his word. Dumbledore had also mentioned Snape's investigations in Slytherin, which Hagrid assumes were in regards to the necklace.

Harry is sent to the Hospital Wing shortly after that by a mis-hit Bludger. He and Ron leave at the same time, and Harry is almost immediately given an appointment for his next lesson with Dumbledore. When he arrives at Dumbledore's office, Professor Trelawney is there, complaining that Firenze is still teaching Divination. Trelawney is also upset that a student, namely Harry, seems to be more important than Trelawney and her concerns, but Dumbledore is firm: Harry has an appointment. After Trelawney leaves, Dumbledore says that if he had taken Divination, he might have been able to foretell how much trouble the subject would be giving him. He then asks Harry about the memory that he was to get from Slughorn. Harry has to admit that he has not been able to convince Slughorn to give it to him, in amongst the confusion of Ron getting poisoned and his own injuries. Dumbledore's response is only a mild chastisement, but his disappointment is so evident that Harry promises to make retrieving the memory his top priority. Dumbledore says that without that memory there would be little point proceeding, and the lesson continues with the last two memories that Dumbledore has to show Harry.

Before they get into the memories, Dumbledore has Harry recap what they have learned about Riddle so far. Dumbledore then says that they are now entering the realm of deep speculation. The first memory is that of a house-elf, one Hokey, servant to Hepzibah Smith, who claimed descent from Helga Hufflepuff. Tom was working then as a buyer for Borgin and Burles, a job that was a surprise to all who knew him. Tom had earlier applied to Armando Dippet, then Headmaster of Hogwarts, for a teaching position and had been turned down for lack of experience. In Hokey's memory, we see Tom making an offer for something that Hepzibah is selling, and Hepzibah also showing him two of her treasures: a cup that once belonged to Helga Hufflepuff, and the locket of Slytherin. In Hokey's memory we see that Tom seems to have difficulty releasing the locket, particularly after he hears that Burke had bought it from some poor witch for a relative pittance.

Back in his office, Dumbledore says that Hepzibah had died two days later. Hokey remembered making the mistake that had resulted in her being poisoned, and had accepted the punishment for it, but Hepzibah's treasures had never been found. And at about the same time, Riddle had left Borgin and Burkes.

The second memory, Dumbledore says, is from ten years after Hepzibah's death. It is Dumbledore's own memory of Riddle returning to Hogwarts to ask for a teaching post, this time to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts. Dumbledore says he is aware of Tom's new name but chooses not to use it, and is also aware of his Death Eaters, waiting in Hogsmeade. Saying that he doesn't trust Tom's motive for wanting the job, and that he is aware of Tom's other recent activities, Dumbledore turns down Tom's application. Back in his office, Dumbledore remarks that since that time, he has never managed to keep any teacher in the post of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher for longer than a year.

There is now a stretch where Dumbledore is absent. While he is absent, Harry, Ron, and Hermione receive a note from Hagrid that Aragog has died, and he would appreciate them being there at his funeral. Harry, under the influence of Felix Felicis potion, attends the funeral, manages to get Slughorn to attend as well, manages to get Slughorn drunk, and retrieves the memory from him. He then returns to the castle, where he learns that Dumbledore has returned, and immediately visits Dumbledore in his office. Dumbledore is immensely pleased that Harry has the memory he has been seeking, and they immediately return to the Pensieve.

Again, they visit the Slug Club meeting with the young Horace Slughorn, Tom Riddle, and several of his associates. Tom is asking about Horcruxes; Slughorn describes them as a way of tying one's soul to earth and thus providing a sort of immortality. It is necessary to split one's soul, which is done by committing murder; the torn fragment can then be encased in a physical object and will act to keep the soul tied to the Earth. He further says that he knows nothing about the details. Riddle asks, if splitting one's soul is a way of becoming immortal, wouldn't more be even better? And isn't seven the most magical number? Slughorn is horrified: to commit murder is bad enough, but multiple times?

Back in Dumbledore's office, Dumbledore tells Harry that Riddle's diary, which Harry had destroyed almost four years earlier, was almost certainly a Horcrux. What had alarmed Dumbledore at the time was that it was not only a way of storing a soul fragment, but seemed almost designed as a weapon. It seemed designed to be passed on to a student at Hogwarts, as a way of opening the Chamber of Secrets. Why this was alarming was that if it was being treated so lightly, it must be only one of a number of Horcruxes; if that diary represented the total of Voldemort's immortality, it would not have been treated so lightly. Dumbledore suggests that Voldemort had divided his soul into several pieces: Slughorn's memory suggests the number of pieces is likely seven, which would be six Horcruxes and the damaged soul remaining in Voldemort's body. As long as any Horcrux remains, Voldemort cannot be killed. Dumbledore believes that Voldemort. with his love of taking trophies, has used unique objects for his Horcruxes. Two have been destroyed: the diary, which is unique because it contained proof that Riddle is the heir of Slytherin, and the ring of the Peverells. Dumbledore reveals that it is while destroying that ring that he received the injury to his hand, and that it was only due to his own skill and Snape's timely action that the damage was no worse. Dumbledore believes that of the four remaining Horcruxes, two will turn out to be Hufflepuff's cup and Slytherin's locket, one will be an as-yet unknown artifact of Gryffindor or (more likely) Ravenclaw, and the last one may be Voldemort's snake, Nagini. Asked if it is possible to put a Horcrux in a living being, Dumbledore says that it is possible, but risky, as living beings can be killed. Dumbledore also says here that if he locates any more Horcruxes, Harry will be permitted to accompany him on the mission to retrieve or destroy them.

Harry now asks if Voldemort is aware when one of his Horcruxes is destroyed. Dumbledore says he thinks not; his soul is likely so shredded that he is not able to sense damage to the bits trapped in the Horcruxes. It is certain that he was unaware of the destruction of the diary until Lucius Malfoy told him about it. Dumbledore understands that Voldemort's rage at that revelation was quite spectacular. What with that, and the failure of the mission at the Ministry, Malfoy might be feeling quite happy to be safely locked away in Azkaban.

Dumbledore now says that, if all his Horcruxes are destroyed, Voldemort can be killed by someone with uncommon skill and power. At Harry's demurral, Dumbledore says that Harry does have uncommon skill and power, and it is that plus his capacity to love which will give him the edge over Voldemort. He manages to get Harry to understand that it is choices, more than anything, that controls what people are; Voldemort is being driven by the prophecy, but Harry would be fighting Voldemort whether the prophecy had been uttered or not. The ability to make that choice gives Harry the power that Voldemort does not have.

Some time later, Harry is again summoned to Dumbledore's office. Along the way, he encounters Professor Trelawney sprawled on the floor outside the Room of Requirement. Apparently she had been using that room to hide her sherry, but this time when she went in, she heard someone whooping. When she had asked who was there, everything had gone dark, and then she had been unceremoniously pushed out the door. Harry guesses that whatever task Draco Malfoy had been trying to accomplish in there, he had succeeded, and asks Trelawney to accompany himto Dumbledore's office so that she can tell Dumbledore what had happened. On the way, Trelawney tells her side of the events on the day she was hired, and happens to mention that it was Severus Snape who had heard the first parts of the prophecy; Harry immediately runs ahead to speak with Dumbledore about this new revelation.

Harry is momentarily disarmed when Dumbledore says that he has found one of the Horcruxes. However, as he is noticeably distraught, Dumbledore asks him what has passed, and Harry says that he has just learned it was Snape who had overheard the prophecy. Dumbledore ends the ensuing heated discussion by saying that he has his reasons for trusting Snape; though it seems he is about to reveal those reasons, at the last moment he does not. Harry prepares to re-open the argument, but Dumbledore forestalls him, saying that if he wishes to come on this expedition with him, he must promise absolute obedience, no matter what. Including that if Dumbledore tells him to run away, to save himself, he must do so. Harry reluctantly promises. Dumbledore then tells him to fetch his Invisibility Cloak and be in the Entrance Hall in five minutes.

When Harry joins him, Dumbledore asks Harry to put on the Cloak and walk with him. Dumbledore then walks to Hogsmeade, greeting Madam Rosmerta pleasantly as he walks past towards the Hog's Head. Once they are out of sight of the Three Broomsticks, Dumbledore Apparates them to the foot of a cliff by the sea side. Dumbledore tells Harry that this is where the young Tom Riddle had taken two of his fellow orphans, after which the two had never completely recovered. There, they swim into a cave, and Dumbledore finds a hidden door which refuses to open. After studying it for a while, he discovers that it is necessary to shed blood on this door to open it, and does so; the now-open door leads to another cavern which contains a lake. Harry, seeing a green glow at the apparent center of the lake, asks if they could not Summon the Horcrux; Dumbledore suggests he try it, and Harry does, only to have his spell intercepted, apparently, by something in the lake. Dumbledore then discovers an invisible chain, and magically reels it in, bringing a very tiny boat to the surface of the lake; he and Harry get in, and the boat sets off for the green glow. Harry, by wand light, notes that the lake has dead people floating in it; Dumbledore tells him that he is not surprised, but so long as they are just floating, they will be harmless.

Reaching the green glow, which is on a small island, they find that the light comes from a basin containing a potion, which they cannot reach either physically or by magic. Dumbledore guesses that the only way to remove the potion and find what lies beneath it is to drink the potion. He produces a crystal goblet, and scoops some of the potion out of the basin with it. Before he drinks, he requires a promise from Harry, that Harry will force him to drink the potion in its entirety, no matter what happens. Harry has misgivings — what if the potion kills Dumbledore? But Dumbledore says that Voldemort would not want to kill the thief of his Horcrux outright; he would want to keep him alive for a while, for questioning.

Dumbledore begins to drink, and the effect it has on him is horrific. He seems to be in great pain, he appears to be reliving scenes in his memories that are horrible, he is pleading with someone not to hurt someone, he pleads with Harry to kill him, he asks for a drink of water, and he is so weakened that he is unable to stand. When the potion in the basin is gone, Harry tries to conjure water for him, but some magic in the potion prevents conjured water from reaching Dumbledore; Harry has to retrieve some from the lake. He is seized by Inferi as he touches the surface, but he is able to throw some of the lake water towards Dumbledore. This seems to revive him enough that he is able to conjure fire to repel the Inferi. Taking the locket from the now-empty basin, Dumbledore returns to the boat with Harry, and they return to the shore of the lake with no further interference from the Inferi. Dumbledore is much weakened, and needs to be supported as they make their way around the lake to the doorway. Harry had received a small cut while fighting the Inferi and used the blood from that to re-open the door. Harry then supports Dumbledore out of the cave and back to the foot of the cliff, where he Apparates both of them back to Hogsmeade.

Back in Hogsmeade, Dumbledore collapses, asking Harry to fetch Severus Snape. As he prepares to do so, he is met by Madam Rosmerta, who says that the Dark Mark has appeared over the school. Harry Summons a pair of brooms from the Three Broomsticks, and Harry and Dumbledore set off for the Astronomy Tower, Dumbledore muttering charms to allow them passage through the protective spells as they go.

Atop the Astronomy Tower, Dumbledore sends Harry, under his cloak, down into the tower to find out what is happening and get help, but then hearing someone approaching, he Petrifies Harry to prevent him interfering. The approaching person, Draco Malfoy, disarms Dumbledore. Although it becomes apparent that his mission is to kill Dumbledore, Draco cannot bring himself to do it. Dumbledore gets him talking, and determines how Draco had known when Dumbledore had left the school (he had placed Madam Rosmerta under the Imperius curse), and how he had gotten Death Eaters into the school (he had been working in the Room of Requirement on one of a pair of linked Vanishing Cabinets; the other one had been in Borgin and Burkes). Dumbledore nearly has convinced Draco to abandon Voldemort's plan to murder him when four Death Eaters arrive at the top of the tower. One of them says he'll kill Dumbledore, but another holds him back, saying that Voldemort's orders are that Draco alone should do it. Snape suddenly appears on the scene, and fulfilling the Unbreakable Vow he made to Draco's mother, blasts Dumbledore with a killing curse, catapulting his body "over the battlements".

The Heads of House, assisted by Hagrid, decide to keep the school open until after Dumbledore's funeral, so that those students who wish may pay their last respects. On the day of the funeral, with a large part of the Wizarding world present, Hagrid carries Dumbledore's wrapped body to the bier, and after the service, a white tomb magically appears around it.

Following Dumbledore's death, everyone, including Harry, believes Snape a traitor, although Dumbledore's trust in him never wavered. It is unclear whether Snape actually betrayed Dumbledore or was acting under unknown circumstances. Regardless, Harry swears to destroy both Voldemort and Snape.

[edit] Deathly Hallows

Albus Dumbledore may be dead, but that does not mean that his influence has ended.

Harry, for the first time in seven years, is cleaning out his school trunk to the bottom, finding everything he wants to take with him and putting it into his rucksack, and discovers (painfully) a shard of the magic mirror Sirius had given him for Christmas two years before. He tucks the mirror shard in the front pocket of his rucksack.

After cleaning the wound, Harry stops to read one of the copies of the Daily Prophet that had accumulated; this one carries an obituary of Dumbledore, written by Elphias Doge, one of Dumbledore's friends in school. This reveals that Dumbledore's father Percival had gone to Azkaban for attacking three Muggle children. Albus had overcome his notoriety at Hogwarts by excelling at academic subjects. When his brother Aberforth arrived at the school, it seemed he was very different, preferring to settle arguments by dueling rather than debate. Dumbledore graduated, and was preparing to go on a world tour with Elphias when his mother Kendra suddenly died. Albus had given up his world tour and gone home to take care of his family. A short while after that, Albus' younger sister, Ariana had also died, and this had apparently caused an estrangement between the brothers. Albus had never talked about his family since, and, putting this sad chapter of his life behind him, had gone on to achieve many noticeable successes, including his discovery of the twelve uses of Dragon's blood, and his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald.

Harry realizes that he hardly knew Dumbledore at all; their conversations had been about Harry, and he had never thought to ask Dumbledore about his past. He tears out the obituary and tucks it, also, into a front pocket of his rucksack. Then, looking through the more recent issues of the Prophet, he finds a teaser piece about a new book written by Rita Skeeter. Rita suggests that Dumbledore had dabbled in Dark magic, that Ariana was a Squib, and that at Ariana's funeral, Aberforth had punched Albus in the nose. She also suggests that the epic duel between Dumbledore and Grindelwald might not have been all it seemed. She also suggests that the relationship between Dumbledore and Harry might be less than savoury.

Harry, outraged by this muckraking, can do little; distracted, he turns the mirror shard over and over in his hands. He sees a quick flash of sky blue, the colour of Dumbledore's eye, in the mirror shard. Studying the mirror shard, he sees only himself, and there is nothing that could have reflected sky-blue. Harry thinks to himself that Dumbledore's eye will never look on him again, but all the same he tucks the mirror shard away in a front pocket of his rucksack.

Shortly after arriving at the Burrow, Harry has a vision of what Voldemort is experiencing. While Hermione is adamant that he should close off that channel of communications, Harry mentions that Dumbledore had thought that would not be necessary, as Voldemort had found Harry's mind a very uncomfortable place the last time he was there (at the end of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix). Harry's love for Sirius had made Voldemort's stay in his mind a very short and unpleasant one for both parties.

It is mentioned that Grimmauld Place is no longer safe to use as Headquarters. Dumbledore had been Secret-Keeper for that location, and with his death, everyone who had been privy to the knowledge is now a secret-keeper. This includes Severus Snape, who quite possibly has let some Death Eaters in on the secret. As a result, many Order members now take their meals at The Burrow.

The Order of the Phoenix have determined that Harry, Ron, and Hermione are on a mission assigned to them by Dumbledore, and largely are content to leave them to it. Mrs. Weasley, however, is afraid that they are going off to get themselves killed, and sets the three of them tasks to keep them apart from each other, apparently in the hope that if they can't get together to plan, they will have to stay at the Burrow and allow the older wizards to take care of Voldemort. Her plan goes awry at one point, though, leaving the Trio a clear hour to discuss their plans. Hermione says that she had Summoned a number of books about Dark magic, including Horcruxes, from Dumbledore's study immediately after the funeral. She wonders whether Tom Riddle had read the book. Harry says that Dumbledore believed so; he had indicated that when Riddle had talked to Slughorn about multiple Horcruxes, he had already known how to make them. They wonder how Dumbledore had been able to destroy the Ring Horcrux.

On Harry's birthday, Rufus Scrimgeour arrives to give Harry, Ron, and Hermione their bequests from Dumbledore's will. When Harry asks why it had taken so long to read the will, Hermione replies that the Ministry is allowed to examine bequests for thirty days, and had evidently taken the full thirty days to try and figure out what Dumbledore's bequests meant. To Ron, Dumbledore has left his Deluminator, a magical device for extinguishing lights, that we first saw in the first chapter of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. To Hermione, a copy of an old edition of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, in runes. And to Harry, the Golden Snitch that he caught to win his first ever Quidditch game. Scrimgeour seems particularly interested to have Harry hold the Snitch; Hermione guesses that this is because of the Snitch's "flesh memory". A Snitch includes a spell that enables it to retain a "memory" of the person who first touched it. This is used in cases where two Seekers seem to reach the Snitch at the same time; the Snitch will remember who touched it first. Scrimgeour expects the Snitch to react when Harry takes it; he is mildly disappointed when the Snitch lies quiescent in Harry's hand. Scrimgeour also says that Dumbledore had bequeathed the sword of Gryffindor to Harry, but that was not his to give; being a national treasure, it would remain in the Headmasters' office at Hogwarts.

Later that night, Harry reminds the other two that he had caught the Snitch in his mouth. Placing it again in his mouth, he finds that words appear on it in Dumbledore's writing, saying "I open at the close". Harry is mystified as to what this means.

At Bill and Fleur's wedding, Harry, who is in disguise, happens to see Elphias Doge, and revealing who he is, asks Elphias if there is any truth to what Skeeter had written. Elphias sputters indignantly about Rita's efforts to talk to him, but they are interrupted by the arrival of the Weasleys' Auntie Muriel. Muriel says that there doesn't seem to be any evidence against what Rita had written. Elphias had said that Ariana Dumbledore was ill, but Muriel says that her friend who worked at St. Mungo's, said that Ariana had never been admitted there, and if Ariana had medical problems, why did she not get taken to hospital? She confirms that Albus had been a very poor head of the family after Kendra's death, and that Aberforth had punched him in the nose at Ariana's funeral. Muriel also mentions that the Dumbledore family, at the time, had lived in Godric's Hollow.

When the Trio escape to Number 12, Grimmauld Place, they are greeted by a simulacrum of Dumbledore, put there as part of a curse placed on Headquarters to prevent Severus Snape from entering.

While they are at Grimmauld Place, Remus Lupin visits and is also confronted with the Dumbledore made of dust. In discussion with Harry, he mentions that the Ministry, which is now controlled by Voldemort, has listed Harry as a wanted person; when asked how they could justify this, Lupin produces a copy of the Daily Prophet which is trumpeting that Harry is wanted for questioning in the death of Dumbledore. After Lupin's departure, Harry notes that the Prophet also contains an extract from Rita Skeeter's muck-raking book. In that extract, she writes that Kendra Dumbledore had been a proud person; when Percival had been sent to Azkaban, she had moved the family to Godric's Hollow, where they were unknown, and tried to stay aloof from the neighbours. The daughter, Ariana, was hardly ever seen, apparently to hide the fact that she was a Squib.

On September 1st, the Daily Prophet reports that Severus Snape has been appointed headmaster of Hogwarts, and that Alecto Carrow and Amycus Carrow have been appointed to fill the two missing spots for teachers, Muggle Studies and Defence Against the Dark Arts. Harry recognizes the Carrows as two of the Death Eaters who had been present at the death of Dumbledore. Hermione, thinking of Snape in Dumbledore's office, retrieves the empty portrait of Phineas Nigellus Black and stuffs it into her beaded bag, so that he will not be able to eavesdrop on their plans and report back to Snape.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione sneak into the Ministry in order to try and find Slytherin's brooch, which they had discovered had been extorted away from Mundungus Fletcher by Dolores Umbridge. Ron, wearing maintenance worker's robes, is pulled aside by a Death Eater that Harry recognizes as having been atop the tower when Dumbledore died; other Ministry workers call him Yaxley. While Harry is searching Umbridge's office, he sees what he thinks is a mirror, and Dumbledore looking out of it. When he looks at it more closely, he sees it is a copy of Rita's book, with a picture of Dumbledore on the cover. Flipping it open, he sees a picture of two teenagers, one of whom he assumes to be Dumbledore. As Pius Thicknesse opens the office door, Harry, under the Invisibility Cloak, replaces the book on the shelf and makes good his escape.

As the Trio escape the Ministry, Yaxley grabs Hermione and is brought to the stoop of Grimmauld Place by side-along apparation. Hermione breaks loose from him there and apparates them away, but says that they cannot return to Grimmauld Place. With the death of Dumbledore, she is now a Secret-keeper for the location of what was the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, and as she had taken Yaxley there, he is now also aware of its location.

Dumbledore is mentioned in passing a few times; Ron maintains that there cannot be a Horcrux hidden at Hogwarts because Dumbledore would have found it, and Harry reminds him that Dumbledore had never claimed to know all of the secrets of the school. The Trio overhear another party of refugees talking, and the other party mentions that they believe Harry's story that Snape had killed Dumbledore. In talking about the sword of Gryffindor with Phineas Nigellus, the Trio learn that Dumbledore had used the sword to break a ring, which Harry recognizes as being the ring of the Peverells and one of the Horcruxes. After Ron leaves the group, Harry is unsure whether he is angrier at Ron for leaving, or at Dumbledore for the lack of clues he has given Harry. Harry and Hermione discuss almost endlessly where Dumbledore might have hidden the real Sword of Gryffindor.

Hermione, reading the copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard that Dumbledore had left her, notes a mark on one of the stories, which Harry recognizes as the symbol that Xeno Lovegood had been wearing at Bill and Fleur's wedding, and also as Grindelwald's mark. Meanwhile, Harry has been brooding over the sword of Gryffindor, finally deciding that it might have been hidden in Godric's Hollow. Hermione says that would be logical, Godric's Hollow being named after Gryffindor. It suddenly occurs to Hermione that Dumbledore may have given the Sword to Bathilda Bagshot, who also lives in Godric's Hollow. After suitable preparation, they do go to Godric's Hollow, appearing there on Christmas Eve after a heavy snowfall. In the graveyard they find the headstones for Dumbledore's mother and sister. They also find a marker for one Ignotus, marked with the sign that Hermione had found in her book, and the headstone for Harry's parents.

At Bathilda Bagshot's house, Hermione picks up a copy of Rita's book, which she and Harry examine after Harry recovers from their escape. Harry looks through the book to find the picture he had seen in the copy of the book in Umbridge's office. The caption tells him that this is the teenaged Dumbledore and his best friend, Gellert Grindelwald. Stunned, Harry and Hermione look for the associated text, and find the chapter "The Greater Good". There, Rita has written that while Dumbledore had canceled his world tour to come back to Godric's Hollow and care for his family, many residents of the village had not seen much evidence of that care. Aberforth was allowed to run wild, still, and Ariana was kept hidden. That same summer, Bathilda Bagshot had taken in her grand-nephew, Gellert Grindelwald, a student as brilliant as Dumbledore who had been expelled from Durmstrang. He and Albus had become close friends, talking and planning together all day, and sending letters back and forth by owl much of the night. One of the letters is reproduced in the chapter, and in that letter Dumbledore agrees that Wizard dominance over Muggles is proper so long as it is done for the greater good of all. Dumbledore goes on to say that he believes that Wizards must rule responsibly and use force only when necessary. He says that he believes that this is where Gellert had gone wrong at Durmstrang, though of course if Gellert had never been expelled, Dumbledore would not have had the chance to meet him. Rita's interpretation is that Dumbledore was planning at one point to overturn the International Statute of Secrecy, establishing the rule of Wizards over Muggles. This contradicts his later stance of support for Muggle-born witches and wizards, and protection of Muggles' rights.

Barely two months after their friendship began, Dumbledore and Grindelwald parted ways; it is unclear what caused the rift, but it is likely that it involved the death of Ariana. Bathilda recalls that Grindelwald had been at Albus' house that day, and had come home very disturbed, requesting an immediate Portkey, he had left the following day. Bathilda had felt it a great shame that Gellert had not stayed for the funeral, she thought he could be a great comfort for Albus. It was never understood why Aberforth had blamed Albus for Ariana's death, to the point that they had come to blows at the funeral. It was apparent that Aberforth felt that Albus' friendship with Gellert was somehow tied up in it, possibly because Gellert's expulsion from Durmstrang was because of near-fatal attacks on fellow students.

Grindelwald had then gone on to overthrow the Wizarding government in Europe, and despite repeated pleas from the Wizarding world, it was five years before Dumbledore had challenged, and defeated Grindelwald. Grindelwald's defeat had left some questions, however: Was it his affection for Grindelwald that had prevented Dumbledore from intervening earlier? And what of Ariana's death? If she had been a Squib, was her death accidental, as stated, or was it perhaps a first attempt at implementing their plan For The Greater Good?

The chapter ends at this point. Harry is dismayed at yet another loss: this time, his faith in Dumbledore, who to Harry had once embodied nothing but goodness and wisdom, has been shattered. Hermione reminds him that this is Rita Skeeter, but Harry points out that Rita didn't write Albus' letter to Gellert. Hermione mentions that Dumbledore's words, For The Greater Good, had become a slogan of Grindelwald's and were carved over the gates of Nurmengard, the prison Grindelwald had built to house his enemies. Hermione points at Dumbledore's youthfulness as a possible reason for his beliefs, but Harry says that he was the same age Harry and Hermione are now, and they are fighting Dark magic, not planning it. Hermione suggests that he was alone, having just lost his mother; Harry points out that he had his brother, and was keeping his Squib sister locked up. Hermione doubts she was a Squib, and that Dumbledore would ever have allowed oppression of Muggles. No matter what he thought at seventeen, he had ever since chosen the path of fighting evil. Hermione surmises that what Harry is really angry about is that Dumbledore had never told him this himself. Harry acknowledges that this may be true, and privately wonders how Dumbledore could have left him with such a mess, and whether Dumbledore had ever really cared about him.

On Ron's return, he and Harry discuss where the silver doe Patronus could have come from. Ron suggests that it could have been Dumbledore; Harry reminds Ron that not only is Dumbledore dead, but his Patronus was a phoenix. They also talk about the revelation that Dumbledore was friends with Grindelwald.

Some short time later, Hermione suggests that they should go visit Xenophilius Lovegood. Hermione, reading Rita's book, had found the original of Albus' letter to Gellert, and seen that Albus' signature, instead of an A, had the same "triangular eye" symbol that Xeno had been wearing at the wedding, that was apparently Grindelwald's mark, that had been on the headstone of the unknown Ignotus in Godric's Hollow, and that had been written on the copy of Beedle the Bard that had been given to Hermione in Dumbledore's will. She says that the symbol keeps coming up, and it's about time they figure out what it means.

Xeno tells them about the three Deathly Hallows. After the Trio escape from his house, Harry guesses that the reason Dumbledore had James Potter's cloak when James had been attacked was that it was one of the Hallows, and Dumbledore had been examining it. Xeno has mentioned that the three bothers in the story that talks of the Deathly Hallows are named Peverell. Harry now remembers that Marvolo Gaunt had mentioned that the ring was an artifact of the Peverell family, and guesses that the ring, which had been a Horcrux, is inside the Snitch that had been left to Harry in Dumbledore's will. Hermione and Ron, seeing that Harry is becoming obsessed with the Deathly Hallows, feel that he should still be following Dumbledore's instructions to hunt and destroy Horcruxes.

After escaping from Malfoy Manor, Harry meditates on the blue eye, so like Dumbledore's, that he had seen in the shard of the magic mirror. Why had Dumbledore made everything so difficult? Was it because Harry would need time to work things out? He also discusses wands with Mr. Ollivander. While he is determining whether he can get his wand fixed, and whether he can also use the wands that he captured from Draco Malfoy safely, he also discusses the Deathstick, an apparently undefeatable wand that is reported to have passed from wizard to wizard only by means of murder. Ollivander says that forcible removal of the wand is all that is necessary, if the wand will change allegiance at all.

Harry now understands what Voldemort seeks. The final Hallow, the Elder Wand, the Deathstick. He tells Ron and Hermione that Gregorovitch had once held the Elder Wand, but that it had been stolen from him by Grindelwald; that Grindelwald had used it in his conquest of Europe until he was defeated by Dumbledore; and that Dumbledore had held it ever since. Meanwhile, Harry is seeing simultaneously through Voldemort's eyes, as Voldemort goes to Hogwarts, opens Dumbledore's tomb, and removes the Elder Wand from the dead Dumbledore's hands.

Despite his conscious decision to do nothing about the third Hallow, Harry wonders if he has done the right thing by concentrating on the Horcruxes, as Dumbledore wanted. And Ron, in amidst his doubts about Harry's course of action, also wonders in Dumbledore is truly dead – he wonders in particular who sent Dobby?

Some time later, after the Trio have successfully escaped from Gringotts, Harry finds himself looking through Voldemort's eyes as the report of the bank break in is brought to him. Voldemort, after his initial rage-fueled outburst, thinks on the other Horcruxes. Harry has found the Cup, yes, and the Diary has been destroyed, but there is no way that Harry alone could have done this; Dumbledore must be involved. Dumbledore had never trusted him. Would he know if other Horcruxes had been destroyed? The diary, he had not had a body and that might have led him to miss it, but the others... he must check to see that they are still there.

Arriving in Hogsmeade, Harry, Hermione, and Ron are cornered by Death Eaters. They are pulled into the Hog's Head, where the barkeeper, who Harry now recognizes as Aberforth, brings them food. Harry notices the twin to the mirror that Sirius had given him; Aberforth says he had bought it from Mundungus Fletcher, and had been watching them through it. Harry notes that Aberforth's eyes are the same sky-blue color as Albus'. Aberforth recommends that Harry and the others wait until morning, then sneak off into the mountains and Apparate out. Harry says no, Albus had given them a mission. A nice easy mission, then? says Aberforth, one that three underage wizards would be likely to complete? Harry, wracked by doubt, does not answer. Aberforth goes on, saying that the Order of the Phoenix is finished and Voldemort has won. Harry protests that he must complete the task he was set, and Aberforth asks if Albus had been honest, if he had told Harry the full story. Harry cannot answer; Aberforth says that Albus had learned secrecy at his mother's knee.

To defuse the situation, Hermione asks if the one portrait on the wall is Ariana; Aberforth asks if she's been reading Rita's book, and Hermione blushes. To spare Hermione embarrassment, Harry tells Aberforth that they had learned about her from Elphias Doge. Launched into reminiscence, Aberforth reveals the family's past. Ariana was injured at the age of six by Muggle boys who saw her doing magic. She never recovered after that, the magic went inside her and would burst out uncontrollably whenever she go over-excited. Their father, Percival, attacked the boys; arrested by the Ministry, her refused to say why he had done it because Ariana would have been taken from them and confined permanently in St. Mungo's, and so was sent to Azkaban, where he died. Their mother had taken the family to Godric's Hollow, where she could start again. Kendra knew that Ariana would be taken away from them if anyone knew about her state, so she kept Ariana hidden from the neighbours. It was because she was hidden that the rumours began to arise that she was a Squib.

Ariana's care fell to Kendra and Aberforth, as Albus was too involved with his studies and academic prizes, and mostly stayed in his room. Aberforth was Ariana's favorite; he could always calm her down when she started having one of her outbursts. It was while he was away that Ariana went into one of her rages. Kendra was unable to calm her, and the magical outburst accidentally killed Kendra. Albus canceled his Grand Tour, returning home to care for Aberforth and Ariana, but then Grindelwald turned up. The two of them quickly became friends, and hatched an elaborate scheme for creating a new wizarding order. When Aberforth learned of these plans, a fight broke out, and a stray curse killed Ariana. Aberforth claims that Albus was glad to be free of the encumbrance, but Harry tells him Dumbledore was never free of it. After drinking the potion in the cave by the sea, Albus had been pleading with someone not to hurt them; Harry is convinced "them" was Ariana and Aberforth, and Albus was pleading, in his memory, with Grindelwald. Aberforth is not so sure.

Harry now says that whatever Aberforth thinks, Harry will continue his quest. Albus had thought Voldemort could be killed, and had told Harry how. If Aberforth refuses to help, Harry will have to try to make his own way into the school. Aberforth surrenders and shows them a passage.

Aberforth joins in the battle of Hogwarts. Seeing Harry run past looking for the Room of Requirement, he chides Harry for letting all the Slytherin students go, saying he should have kept some of them as hostages. Harry says Albus would never have done that.

Hermione says that just fighting isn't enough; Harry can tell them where Voldemort is, and they can go to deal with him directly. After some urging, Harry seeks Voldemort's mind, and looking through his eyes, finds himself in the Shrieking Shack. Returning to himself, he leads the trio to the Shrieking Shack. Once there, they find Voldemort is talking to Snape about the Elder Wand. It seems Voldemort had expected great things from the Elder Wand, and was not getting them; the wand seemed reluctant to help him. Voldemort says this is because he had not defeated Dumbledore; Snape had killed him, and therefore the Elder Wand currently owed its allegiance to Snape. To gain the allegiance of the Elder Wand, Voldemort then has Nagini bite Snape, and departs. Harry, Hermione, and Ron rush to Snape's side, and Snape, as his last living act, sends out a great flood of memory which Harry captures in a crystal flask provided by Hermione.

In the lull in the fighting that follows, Harry, Ron, and Hermione return to the school, where Hermine and Ron, seeing the Weasley family mourning the loss of Fred, head into the Great Hall. Harry walks the damaged halls until he reaches the gargoyle guarding the Headmaster's office, and is surprised to find that the password that makes the gargoyle step aside is "Dumbledore". Once there, he empties the memories into Dumbledore's Pensieve, and enters them to view Snape's memories. He sees Snape pleading with Dumbledore to protect Harry's mother, Lily, from Voldemort, and Dumbledore asking what Snape would do in return; Snape answers, "Anything." He sees Snape in Dumbledore's office, anguished over Lily's death, and demanding to know why Dumbledore hadn't saved Lily; Dumbledore responds that James and Lily had put their trust in the wrong person, just as Snape had, and goes on to say that if Snape truly loved Lily, he would help protect her son when Voldemort returns. Snape grudgingly agrees but demands that Dumbledore promise never to tell anyone that he is protecting James Potter's son. In the next memory Snape is railing about what a bad student Harry is, to which Dumbledore replies that the other teachers report him as being likable and reasonably talented. He also asks Snape to keep an eye on Professor Quirrell. The scene shifts again, to Dumbledore and Snape watching the students leaving the Yule Ball in Harry's fourth year, and Snape telling Dumbledore that his and Igor Karkaroff's Dark Marks are becoming more distinct; Dumbledore accepts this information without much apparent reaction, then muses that perhaps they Sort the students into houses too soon. Dumbledore here seems to be implying that Snape might have been a better fit in a different house.

Still in Snape's memories, Harry now sees an apparently semi-conscious Dumbledore with his hand blackened and hanging over the edge of the desk; Snape is simultaneously pouring a golden potion down Dumbledore's throat, and working a spell with his wand on Dumbledore's wrist. When Dumbledore regains consciousness, Snape asks why he even tried on the ring? Dumbledore says he was a fool. Marvolo Gaunt's ring, now cracked, and the sword of Gryffindor lie on Dumbledore's desk. Snape says that he has been able to slow the curse, not stop it, and that Dumbledore now has at best a year to live. Dumbledore says that this makes things much easier to decide, and starts discussing Voldemort's plan to have Draco Malfoy murder him. Snape says that it is only being done to punish the Malfoys; Draco is expected to fail. Dumbledore guesses correctly that Voldemort wishes Snape to step in and complete the job when Draco fails, as Voldemort feels that he will not need a spy at Hogwarts soon, because it will be under his control. Dumbledore demands that Snape promise to watch over his students, and asks Snape to kill him when the time comes, both to spare the soul of Draco Malfoy, and to spare Dumbledore the indignity of being murdered by other Death Eaters who believe in playing with their prey. Snape initially argues, what about his own soul? Dumbledore responds that only Snape can know whether his soul will be damaged by agreeing to allow an old man with little time left to live to die with dignity. Snape grudgingly agrees.

Snape's next memory is Snape and Dumbledore walking through the castle grounds, where Snape is asking Dumbledore what he is doing with Harry all those nights. Dumbledore says that there is information that he must give to Harry before it is too late. Snape asks why he doesn't receive the same information, and Dumbledore explains that it is because his mission puts him at much greater risk of detection. Snape, angry at Dumbledore for refusing to tell all the details, threatens to rescind his promise, and Dumbledore somewhat wearily tells him to meet him in Dumbledore's office that night. Later, in the office, Dumbledore tells Snape that if Voldemort suddenly acts protective towards Nagini, Harry must then be told that he is a seventh, accidental Horcrux; and it is necessary that Voldemort kill him before Voldemort can be killed himself. Snape is deeply dismayed to hear that they have been protecting Harry all this time only so that he can be killed by Voldemort, and Dumbledore asks him if he is finally starting to care about the boy? Snape denies this and produces his Patronus, a doe, which leaps out the window and away. Moved to tears, Dumbledore asks Snape, "Still? After all this time?" and Snape says, "Always."

In Snape's next memory, he is talking to the portrait of Dumbledore that now hangs in the office of the Headmaster. The portrait tells Snape that he must give Voldemort the correct date for Harry's departure from Privet Drive, if he is to retain Voldemort's trust. The only chance Harry has is if there are multiple Harrys, disguised by means of Polyjuice Potion. Snape is to plant that idea in Mundungus Fletcher's head. In Snape's final memory with Dumbledore, the portrait of Phineas Nigellus Black has just reported that Harry and Hermione are in the Forest of Dean; the portrait of Dumbledore tells Snape that he must plant the Sword of Gryffindor there for them to find, but he must not be seen himself. Snape says he has that all worked out, and taking the Sword from behind the portrait, leaves the office.

Harry, learning all this, comes to the conclusion that the only hope of defeating Voldemort lies in allowing himself to be killed. Entering Voldemort's camp in the Forbidden Forest, Harry is briefly mocked by Voldemort, who then fires the Killing Curse at him.

Harry finds himself in an otherworldly place which, as he observes it, changes into a simulacrum of King's Cross Station. As he is trying to figure out where he is, what is going on, and what the crying, flayed-looking creature under one of the chairs is, Dumbledore appears, but a Dumbledore in full health, without the dead-looking wand hand. Harry asks if he is dead. Dumbledore replies no, that when Voldemort had taken Harry's blood to re-animate himself, he had tethered his life to Harry's, Harry cannot die while Voldemort lives. Harry's willing sacrifice of himself to protect his friends has also acted to protect them against Voldemort's magic, shielding them as Lily's sacrifice had for so long shielded Harry. What the killing curse directed at Harry had accomplished was the destruction of the seventh Horcrux, the fragment of Voldemort's soul adhering to Harry's; that was now destroyed and gone.

Asked about the interaction between the wands, Dumbledore admits that he is only guessing, but says he believes that the two wands, already sharing a common core, became even closer to each other when wielded in a duel between two wizards who not only shared blood, but also some of the soul. In that duel, Harry was the stronger wizard, because while Voldemort feared death, Harry was prepared for it. Harry's wand thus took in some power from Voldemort's, making it far more powerful than Malfoy's.

Harry asks where they are. Dumbledore says that this is Harry's show, asks what it looks like to Harry, and then is apparently amused when Harry says that it looks like King's Cross Station.

Dumbledore then explains about the Deathly Hallows. Looking uncomfortable at Harry's question, Dumbledore asks Harry's forgiveness for withholding information about the Hallows. As a youth, he had been obsessed with them; eager to escape death, and equally eager to achieve fame and glory for himself. This is why he resented having to take care of his mother, and after her death, his sister. This was also why he was so eager to befriend Gellert Grindelwald. The two young wizards bonded over their search for the Hallows, though they sought them for different ends. Dumbledore was seeking specifically the Resurrection Stone, so that he could reunite his family, while Grindelwald, if he thought of the Stone at all, would have wanted to use it to raise an army of Inferi. Grindelwald also wanted the Elder Wand, undefeatable in a duel, as a means of gaining power in the Wizarding community. Neither of them much cared about the Cloak, as they were both proficient in Disillusionment, but Dumbledore saw it as a way to hide Ariana.

Their friendship was short-lived, however, and the two got into a fight about Dumbledore's family obligations. Aberforth had joined in, and somehow a curse had gone astray and killed Ariana. Grindelwald had fled, as anyone but Dumbledore would have predicted, and returned to Europe. Some time later, he began his rise to domination of the European Wizarding community. Despite many pleas from the English Wizarding community, Dumbledore delayed dueling him, afraid to find out who had killed Ariana. Finally, it simply became too shameful to remain idle, and Dumbledore dueled Grindelwald and won, thus gaining the Elder Wand. Grindelwald had been imprisoned in Nurmengard, where Voldemort had found him; Dumbledore found it interesting that Grindelwald had claimed to have never had the Elder Wand, perhaps trying to protect Dumbledore in a belated act of remorse.

Dumbledore had identified the ring of the Peverells as being another Hallow, the Resurrection Stone, and had given in to temptation and put the ring on, so that he might see his mother and sister again. The ring was a Horcrux, and protected by the curse which had destroyed his hand and shortened his life.

Speaking again directly to Harry, Dumbledore says that he had withheld this information about the Hallows to try and allow Harry to avoid the trap that Dumbledore himself had fallen into. He had hoped that Hermione's investigations would slow down Harry's attempts to seek the Hallows, and that Harry would thus have the opportunity to discover their true nature. Death's true master, says Dumbledore, is the the one who does not seek to run away from it.

Finally, Dumbledore tells Harry that he has a choice. As this is King's Cross, he can continue on to the platforms, and likely will be able to find a train there that will carry him onwards. Or he can return to the living world for a chance to finish Voldemort. Harry chooses to return, but asks Dumbledore if this conversation had been real, or only in his mind. Dumbledore responds that of course, it is all in his mind, but that does not make it any the less real.

As the final battle reaches its climax, with Harry facing Voldemort, Harry tells Voldemort that Dumbledore had outsmarted him: the Elder Wand was never his, or Snape's, it had become Draco Malfoy's when Draco had disarmed Dumbledore. And as Harry had disarmed Draco, the Elder Wand now owed allegiance to Harry.

Finally, in the Headmaster's office, Harry addresses the portrait of Dumbledore. He says that he had dropped the Resurrection Stone in the Forbidden Forest, and did not intend to go looking for it. He also says that he intends to return the Elder Wand to Dumbledore's tomb, in the hopes that it will lose its power there when Harry passes on. And he says finally that he intends to pass the Invisibility Cloak on to his own children when the time comes. Dumbledore indicates his approval.

In the epilogue, it should perhaps be noted that Harry has named his second son Albus Severus, after two headmasters of Hogwarts.

[edit] Strengths

Dumbledore's strengths include experience, scholarship and intelligence. He has demonstrated innovation as a wizard and great power. He has been a rallying point and shown great leadership against an implacable foe. He is the only wizard Voldemort fears.

Perhaps unusually for a wizard, Dumbledore seems to be something of an inventor, specifically of mechanico-magical devices. His office is full of small, clockwork machines performing unknown tasks. We see two of these devices in action: a small device which, when queried, produces a plume of smoke in the shape of the object or entity being asked about; and the Deluminator, which apart from storing light sources within itself, will also allow the owner to hear conversations about him and will take him to the site of that conversation. One gets the feeling that the Ministry of Magic was unsuccessful when studying these devices to determine how they functioned.

Dumbledore is also generous with those disenfranchised from the Wizarding World. He offers jobs to Lupin (a werewolf), Filch and Figg (both squibs), and Dobby and Winky (free elves no one else wanted to employ). He also employs Hagrid after his expulsion from Hogwarts and eventually makes him a professor.

[edit] Weaknesses

Dumbledore's greatest weakness seems to be a certain inevitability about his own failings. This is particularly marked in Book 6, but is foreshadowed throughout the series where he is always preparing Harry as the one who must confront Voldemort.

Dumbledore is aloof and secretive, and while this undoubtedly helps him surprise his enemies, it may also have deprived him of others' assistance had he involved more people.

Dumbledore tends to believe the best in people. This is most evident when, after hearing Severus Snape's remorseful tale for having been a Death Eater, he allowed him to teach at Hogwarts, although this was in part to use Snape as a double agent. Others believe Dumbledore becomes misguided and bestows too much trust in those with questionable pasts.

[edit] Relationships with Other Characters

Dumbledore has a strong relationship with many of the key characters of the books, including (but not limited to): Harry Potter, Severus Snape, Tom Marvolo Riddle (also known as Lord Voldemort) and Minerva McGonagall.

[edit] Analysis

Over the course of the Harry Potter series, Dumbledore has proved to be an excellent advisor for Harry, and in this way has assisted greatly in Harry's victories over Voldemort.

One question that has come up is the issue of Dumbledore's age and accomplishments. It is more or less given that Dumbledore is about 115 years old when he dies, and the author has given his birth year as 1881. It says on his Wizard Card that he is noted for his work in Alchemy with Nicholas Flamel. In passing, we should mention that there is a Nicholas Flamel in the Muggle literature as well; he was a relatively famous alchemist in the 1300s. In that context, we should mention that the Nicholas Flamel in the Wizarding world and the one we know about apparently have similar, but not identical birth dates. One concern is that the book in which Hermione finds mention of Flamel is extremely old, and yet it gives ages for Nicholas and his wife Perenelle; unless the book magically updates ages, which presumably is possible, the ages in the book must be several years out of date. So we can safely say that Flamel in the Wizarding world is at least 665 years old (the age apparently given in the book), potentially as much as 750 years old if the book is only a hundred years old. The question is, if Dumbledore is in fact a mere spring chicken of 115, and Flamel had already been alive for at least 500 years when Dumbledore was born, how could Dumbledore have helped Flamel make the Philosopher's Stone upon which his ongoing life had depended? Careful reading reveals, however, that while Dumbledore worked with Flamel in alchemy, nowhere does it say he was involved in the creation of the Stone. There is insufficient information about the typical lifespans of wizards, but Dumbledore, at around 110 years, is described as appearing old, and he appears more aged than most of the other characters in the books. Only Nicolas Flamel is explicitly described as being older at 665 years old, though Elphias Doge went to school with Dumbledore and should be the same approximate age, and Bathilda Bagshot saw Dumbledore's mother Kendra as a contemporary and thus was likely older than Dumbledore. Flamel ultimately died after surrendering the Philosophers Stone, (also known as the Sorcerer's Stone) which preserved his life, to prevent it falling into Voldemort's possession. Flamel shared the Stone with Dumbledore, but it is unknown to what extent it may have been responsible for extending Dumbledore's life.

During the series, Dumbledore's character changes, to the point that no single analysis can do him justice. It seems reasonable to break analysis of Dumbledore as follows.

[edit] The First Five Books

Dumbledore's character in the first five books of the series seems largely consistent. He seems the slightly dotty, elder genius, whose occasional extremely strange decisions are honoured because of his apparent extreme intelligence. In some regards, his eccentricity is utterly harmless; in other cases, his wisdom is interpreted as eccenticity. And particular choices that he makes – hiring Remus Lupin, trusting Severus Snape – are accepted purely because of his historical genius. His strength of character is particularly tested in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, where he is personally attacked because he chooses to report, repeatedly, an unpopular event, namely the return of Voldemort.

We can see that Dumbledore cares about Harry, more than any other student at the school. We see that Dumbledore is gently, or not so gently, educating Harry as to his place in the Wizarding world, that he is trying to train Harry for the role that has been revealed for him by the prophecy, as the one who will have to stand against Voldemort. It is at the end of the fifth book, in Dumbledore's office, that Harry's importance in Voldemort's career is revealed, and this is where we learn why Dumbledore is so interested in Harry.

[edit] Half-Blood Prince

On many fan sites, it was remarked after the publication of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince that Dumbledore was acting out of character. In retrospect, we can see that his character had changed; however, there was a real reason for it. When he re-enters the story, his hand is already injured, which means that he is now aware that he has only one year, at most, left to live. As such, he is no longer willing to wait; things that he must do, now have a definite deadline. On a number of occasions he has commented on not being afraid of death, and this might appear to be a contradiction. However, he is not actually acting out of fear of death, but rather out of a need to get a certain minimum amount of knowledge imparted before his time on earth ends.

Dumbledore, knowing that Harry must stand against Voldemort, concentrates some part of his energy on teaching Harry what he has learned about Voldemort in the hope that this will assist Harry in eventually defeating him. He is also working on uncovering enough of Voldemort's past himself that he will be able to assist Harry. It is during this time that, aware of the existence of multiple Horcruxes, Dumbledore will carry out the research that will lead him to the ring Horcrux and the resting place of the original locket Horcrux. We also will learn later that it is during this time that he is preparing Snape for his role in supporting Harry.

It is interesting to note that Dumbledore values Harry more highly than himself in the cavern of the locket Horcrux. Likely this is due to the prophecy, but Harry has not yet recognized this.

Many people believed, at the end of this book, that Dumbledore had erred badly in placing his faith in Snape. Whether or not that had been a mistake is not learned definitively until near the end of the final book.

[edit] Deathly Hallows

It is in the final book of the series that we are finally granted some glimpse of the true depth of Dumbledore's character. Elphias Doge's eulogy reminds Harry that he had never known anything about Dumbledore's past, perhaps assuming that he sprang from the earth, full grown with long silver hair and beard. Rita Skeeter's muck-raking biography, referred to at various times in the course of events, tells us that there might be something unsavoury in Dumbledore's background. But finally it is Aberforth telling the family story to Harry, that reveals that Dumbledore had been a schemer and one who by and large kept his own council, that brings us to the realization that Dumbledore has been manipulating Harry to get him into a place where he can act directly against Voldemort. In King's Cross, Dumbledore tells Harry that the attraction of power proved too much for him as a youth, so he had carefully avoided it in his adult life; however, it seems he was not averse to being the power behind the throne, driving Fudge, and Harry, in the directions that he felt they needed to go.

[edit] Questions

1. Do we really know that Dumbledore is dead?
2. Did Dumbledore know he was going to die?
3. What about Dumbledore caused Tom Riddle to fear him so much?
4. How will Dumbledore's apparent death affect Harry's life?

[edit] Greater Picture

[edit] The Ending of Half-Blood Prince

One of the biggest issues at the end of book six was the apparent death of Dumbledore at the hands of Snape. Perhaps it was wishful thinking, perhaps it was the feeling that Dumbledore's part was not yet played out, perhaps it was clues dropped either deliberately or accidentally by the author, but between the release of the sixth book, and the release of the seventh, many of the readers of the book were convinced, or at least hopeful, that Dumbledore was in fact not dead, that he had arranged something with Snape to make it appear that he was dead, but that he would somehow come back to support Harry through the seventh book.

While there are a large number of things that suggest that Dumbledore's death were not all it seemed, the author has stated many times that Dumbledore definitely died in the sixth book. This is not to say that Dumbledore will not have any further influence past his death. The author has admitted that she had trouble writing some of his scenes in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (The Observer, 6 February 2007). As we do still have his portrait in the Headmaster's office, we can conclude that, through this portrait (at least), he will still play a part in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. An interesting point that has come up is linked to another statement of Dumbledore's in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, where Dumbledore says "I will only truly have left the school when none here are loyal to me." Harry echoes this statement at the end of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, in a context which leads us to believe he is truly loyal to Dumbledore. We know that it was that loyalty that brought Fawkes to Harry in the Chamber of Secrets; perhaps it will have the same effect again in the final book?

One interesting theory has surfaced about Dumbledore's death at Snape's hands. Going back to Harry's first Potions class, back in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Snape says: "I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death..." This scene is apparently very important as readers have been referred back to it time and time again.

Now, let us look at the effect of the cursed opal necklace on Katie Bell in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Quoting Professor Dumbledore: "She appears to have brushed the necklace with the smallest possible amount of skin: there was a tiny hole in her glove. ... Luckily Professor Snape was able to do enough to prevent a rapid spread of the curse—" So we have the information that the type of curse that was on the necklace spreads from its contact point, and that Snape can stop the spread of the curse.

From elsewhere in that book, we have the information that it was Snape to whom Dumbledore went when his hand was injured. Is it possible that the ring which contained the Horcrux, or some part of its surroundings, was similarly cursed? It is possible, given that Dumbledore would have felt duty-bound to destroy the Horcrux before seeking assistance, that the curse had acted upon him to an extent that it was irreversible by the time he got to Snape. In fact, it is entirely possible that the only thing keeping Dumbledore alive at this point is the potion that "stoppers death". This would explain why Dumbledore was acting so differently in this book; he knows that his time is very limited, and he is in a great hurry to pass on all he knows before his inevitable departure.

Snape knew that he was not killing Dumbledore, because Dumbledore was effectively already dead, being kept alive only by the effects of a potion that Snape himself was providing. There may well have been some other arrangement between them; it is possible that Dumbledore planned to have Snape do this in order to solidify Snape's position in Voldemort's hierarchy. It is important to note in this context that Dumbledore did not fear death; we see this on several occasions, most notably at the end of the first book, where Dumbledore says, "after all, to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure." This also tallies with the look of extreme distaste on Snape's face as he was killing Dumbledore – was he in fact doing this because he had to, rather than because he wanted to? It also dovetails with Snape's actions while he was running away at the end of that book. Knowing exactly what Harry was doing, instead of blocking Harry, he could have injured him, Stunned or even killed him, but he chose not to.

This theory rests on the idea that "stoppers death" means that the potion can stop or delay death; however, the word 'stopper' in this context could mean 'put a stopper on,' as in to brew and contain a potion capable of killing the drinker. While it is possible that "stopper" is merely a construction parallel to "bottle" and "brew," this seems unlikely given the emphasis; poisons are so very common that being able to brew one is hardly something worth boasting about, certainly not on a par with bottling fame and brewing glory.

[edit] Gellert Grindelwald

Through the course of the seventh book, it is gradually revealed that Dumbledore and the evil magician Grindelwald were friends when Dumbledore was seventeen. We can see, though the young Dumbledore cannot, that Grindelwald is power-hungry, and his overall aim is to set himself up as dictator. Dumbledore believes that the ultimate aim is to make it safe for people like his sister Ariana to exist; he believes that with the wizards in charge, and Muggles living with the benevolent supervision of Wizard-kind, that it will be possible for wizard children and Muggle children to co-exist. One very simple test of personality is the selection of the specific Hallow that you think is most valuable, and why. Grindelwald clearly thinks the Elder Wand, unbeatable in a duel, is the best, with the Resurrection Stone running second. Albus thinks the Resurrection Stone is the more important. To Grindelwald, the Resurrection Stone means an army of Inferi; to Albus, it means the return of his loved ones, his parents. Why does Dumbledore not see that Grindelwald is choosing the course of power? The author has said that Dumbledore was infatuated with Grindelwald, and points out that love is blind. He chose to overlook Grindelwald's faults, and with the foolishness of youth, perhaps thought he could change Grindelwald to his own, somewhat more gentle ends.