Albus Dumbledore

"I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!"

- Albus Dumbledore

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore (1881- June 1997) was the Head Of Gryffindor House; Transfiguration Professor; Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Order of Merlin, First Class; Supreme Mugwump; and Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. He was considered to be the most powerful wizard of his time.

Early Life
Little is known about Dumbledore's early life. He was born in July or August 1881. He began his education at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in approximately 1892, where he was placed in Gryffindor House.

His extraordinary magical talents were apparent from an early age, as later described by the elderly Griselda Marchbanks, Head of the Wizarding Examinations Authority, who personally examined the school-age Dumbledore for his N.E.W.T.s in Charms and Transfiguration. Marchbanks recalled that the young, talented Dumbledore had "done things with a wand I'd never seen before."

Family Life
Dumbledore's family history was marred by tragedy. His sister, Ariana Dumbledore, was emotionally scarred at an early age by an attack by three Muggle boys who were scared of her abilities as a witch. Dumbledore's father, Percival Dumbledore, retaliated against the Muggle boys and was sent to Azkaban for the rest of his life. Meanwhile, Dumbledore's mother, Kendra, concealed Ariana from public eye to prevent her from being sent to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, as after the attack, Ariana had very little control over her emotions and her magical talents. Eventually, this inability to control magic caused an accident that resulted in Kendra's death.

At this same time, Dumbledore was making ready to graduate Hogwarts and had planned to tour the world with Elphias Doge. As a result of his mother's death, however, Dumbledore was forced to remain and help to take care of Ariana. He neglected his duty to his family and instead pursued powerful ideas about the world, which he later came to regret.

These pursuits included exploring the Deathly Hallows with Gellert Grindelwald, with whom Dumbledore fell in love. Dumbledore and his brother Aberforth argueed over Albus' neglect of Ariana. When the argument became more heated, Grindelwald attacked Aberforth with the Cruciatus Curse, and a duel ensued. Albus rushed to protect Aberforth, and curses were cast in every direction amongst the confusion. A Killing Curse hit Ariana; though the caster was unknown and the targeting was purely accidental, this haunted Dumbledore for the rest of his life.

Career at Hogwarts
At an unknown point in his life, Dumbledore returned to Hogwarts as Professor of Transfiguration. He later became Deputy Headmaster, in which capacity he also served in recruiting students for the school. Most prominent among the students he recruited was Tom Marvolo Riddle, who would eventually take on the name Lord Voldemort. Eventually Dumbledore was appointed Headmaster of Hogwarts.



Dumbledore's final years at Hogwarts were rocky due to the circumstances surrounding Lord Voldemort's second rise to power. The death of a student Cedric Diggory during the Triwizard Tournament compelled Dumbledore to announce the return of Lord Voldemort. The Ministry of Magic balked at this news and Dumbledore was removed from the position of Headmaster, and forced into hiding. The position of Headmaster was then temporarily usurped by Dolores Umbridge. In the fullness of time, Dumbledore's truth was recognized and he was reinstated as Headmaster in time for the Second War to break out in Britain.

Leader of The Order of the Phoenix
Dumbledore has been credited as the founder of the Order of the Phoenix and the only wizard Voldemort was ever truly afraid of. He was known to be a strong leader and significant contributor to the fight against Voldemort until his untimely demise at the hands of Severus Snape.

Other Career Accomplishments
"You know, Minister, I disagree with Dumbledore on many counts ...but you cannot deny he's got style..."

- Phineas Nigellus to Cornelius Fudge



Dumbledore was a famous alchemist who has worked with Nicolas Flamel, the only known maker of the Philosopher's Stone. Dumbledore was credited with discovering the twelve uses of dragon's blood. He was also capable of conjuring a Patronus, one that took the form of a phoenix.

In 1945, at the age of 64, Dumbledore was so powerful he defeated and imprisoned his former childhood friend, Grindelwald, who had become, by that time, a Dark Wizard. Dumbledore claimed Grindelwald's weapon, the Elder Wand, for his own.

Dumbledore became the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards. He was removed from these posts during his conflict with the Ministry of Magic under Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge, but was reinstated when the Ministry was forced to concede that he had correctly warned that Voldemort had returned. He holds the Order of Merlin, First Class, for Grand Sorcery.

Dumbledore refused the position of Minister for Magic at least four times, believing the temptation for power-mongering was too strong in such a position.

Death
"It is the unknown we fear when we look upon death and darkness, nothing more."

- Albus Dumbledore

Dumbledore died at 116 years of age as a result of a killing curse cast by Severus Snape. Dumbledore planned for his death a year ahead of time with Snape One must forever wonder how long his natural life would have been otherwise. He is survived by his brother, Aberforth Dumbledore.

Appearance


Albus Dumbledore was tall and thin, with long silver hair and a long beard. He had brilliant blue eyes, which usually twinkled with kindness and mischief. During the few times he became angry, his eyes would burn with a cold blue fire that made even Lord Voldemort falter. Dumbledore had a long and crooked nose, which looked as if it had been broken at least twice. His fingers were also long and skilled with holding a wand. He wore half-moon spectacles. He once claimed to have a scar above his left knee in the precise shape of a map of the London Underground.

Traits and Personality
Considered the most powerful wizard in the world, Dumbledore was benevolent and eccentric, an archetypal good wizard in the style of Merlin. It is said that he is the only wizard Lord Voldemort ever feared.

Dumbledore's Chocolate Frog card mentions that he enjoyed chamber music and ten-pin bowling. The card also reveals that he had a sweet tooth for treats both magical and non-magical. He frequently set the password for the entrance to the Headmaster's office to the name of one of his favourite sweets. However, he disliked Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans after coming across a vomit-flavoured bean in his youth.

He was a fan of knitting patterns and once told Harry that one could never have enough woolen socks. His favourite flavour of jam is raspberry.

As a supremely talented wizard, Dumbledore showed numerous examples of extraordinary powers. His abilities as a wizard are combined with a cunningness and subtlety of mind that allows him to comprehend human nature and turn the better aspects of humanity (trust, love, and friendship) to Voldemort's disadvantage in particular. Yet despite his many talents and accomplishments, Dumbledore is never in the least arrogant, self-important or pompous and in this he stands above the other great wizards of his day.

Trust
Dumbledore believed in the good in everyone. For example, he hired Sybill Trelawney as a Divination professor even though her abilities as a seer were scant because he recognized a real, if highly sporadic, gift of prophecy. Similarly, he hired Rubeus Hagrid as Hogwarts Gamekeeper after he was expelled because he had no family to turn to. Additionally, Remus Lupin, a werewolf, was given education at Hogwarts despite the potential backlash from the public, if they were to find out. Dumbledore believed each of these people had goodness within them and encouraged their goodness to come out.

His knowledge of people's true personality appears to go beyond being simply a good judge of character. Despite Snape's background as a Death Eater, and despite strong incriminating evidence, Dumbledore trusted him with many important tasks.

Love
In addition to Dumbledore's great trust in the power of the human spirit, he also had a deep understanding of the power of love. This perhaps stemmed from his "great tragedy" of his affections being spurned by Gellert Grendelwald, who Dumbledore not only loved, but greatly admired for his innovative ideas.

Dumbledore showed Petunia Dursley love when, during her childhood, he sent her a personal letter tenderly explaining why she would not be admitted to Hogwarts along with her sister Lily Evans. It is exceptional that a Headmaster would send a Muggle girl such a gesture of kindness.

Although he tells Harry that what he sees in the Mirror of Erised is himself holding a pair of thick socks, something no one ever gives him as a present, what Dumbledore sees is in fact his mother and sister living, his father free and living, and his brother on once more established terms with him. Dumbledore's sorrow for the pain in his family reveals his great love for them.

Dumbledore admits to Harry that he has also withheld from him knowledge of Sybill Trelawney's prophecy which marked Harry as the only wizard who could destroy Voldemort. He did so out of love, in an effort to protect Harry from fear in his childhood. This was the same reason for which he hid Harry's true identity from him during his early life with the Dursleys.

Dumbledore continually reminded Harry that love is the greatest magic of all. After one such reminder, Dumbledore immobilised Harry to save him before Dumbledore is killed by Severus Snape.

When the screenplay for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film) was written, it was written in that Dumbledore had memories of a love life, but J.K. Rowling crossed out the entire section and wrote in the margain "Dumbledore is gay."

Humour
Dumbledore is known for his odd displays of his whimsical sense of humour. This humor is sometimes considered inappropriate by some of the other teachers, such as Professor Minerva McGonagall, who is serious at all times. Dumbledore uses humour to include people and make them feel more comfortable in his presence.

Flaws
Dumbledore's personality flaw, which he explained to Harry in 1997, was his desire for power. Although he only ever desired to use this power for good, he found that those best suited for power are those who do not desire it. This desire led to a life-threatening injury when Dumbledore attempted to destroy Gaunt's Ring, which left his hand horribly black and withered. Some would argue, however, that Dumbledore's mistake with the ring was due to his unrealistic desire to see the deceased members of his family once more (Gaunt's Ring held a stone that gave the bearer power to bring the dead back to life). A better example of his desire for power would be when he and Grindelwald made plans one summer to take over the Muggle world, and re-establish wizards as the natural rulers of the world. Dumbledore fell from this fantasy after his beloved sister Arianna was killed during a duel between himself, Aberforth, and Grindelwald.

Unique Wizarding Powers
Dumbledore devised a method of sending messages via Patronus, a skill he taught only to members of the Order of the Phoenix. He claimed the ability to render himself invisible without the use of an Invisibility Cloak. Dumbledore was also skilled in Occlumency and Legilimency. He could produce magic without the use of a wand, and was highly skilled at nonverbal magic.

His weapon of choice appeared to be fire. In his duel against Voldemort he used a fiery rope; when he displayed his Wizarding powers to young Tom Riddle, he did so by setting Riddle's wardrobe on fire, without actually burning anything; he once used a vast amount of fire to hold off a throng of Inferi. He is known to be able to conjure Gubraithian Fire. His magical familiar, Fawkes, is a phoenix, which dies and is reborn in flames.

Dumbledore had several signature spells: One that stuns several people at once, bearing the sound of a gunshot; he also used a spell in the Battle of the Department of Mysteries to yank a fleeing Death Eater back to him with zero physical effort.

Dumbledore used a Pensieve as a means to study the past in greater depth. He used his stored memories to study the history of the Horcruxes and their creation.

Among all these talents, Dumbledore also posesses the ability to speak Mermish and Gobbledegook. He can recognise Parseltongue, the language of snakes, as he demonstrates while he and Harry are inside Bob Ogden's stored memory; he is able to quote verbatim a Parseltongue phrase uttered by Morfin Gaunt in a later stored memory.

While he was by no means vain, Dumbledore also exhibitted no false modesty, readily acknowledging that he was unusually intelligent and an exceptionally powerful wizard. He admitted that he made the occasional mistake, and since he was rather more clever than most, his mistakes tended to be "correspondingly huger".

Dumbledore and Harry Potter
Dumbledore was well known for his steadfast championing of Harry Potter. It was Dumbledore who arranged for the infant Harry to be rescued from the cottage at Godric's Hollow where Harry's parents had been murdered. He then left Harry in the care of Harry's Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon in Surrey. Throughout Harry's years at Hogwarts, Dumbledore provided him with protection and guidance, and supplemented Harry's schooling with additional training against the forces of Darkness.

By Harry's sixth year, Albus Dumbledore took on the role of providing Harry with additional insights into the origins of Lord Voldemort, as Voldemort's power was growing enormously stronger. He did this largely through the use of the Pensieve. He entrusted Harry with the task of getting a final, crucial memory from Horace Slughorn regarding Voldemort's knowledge of Horcruxes.

Harry and Dumbledore forged a bond comparable to that between two brothers, in spite of their great age differences. Harry felt comfortable enough around the impressive, intimidating figure of Dumbledore to shout at him in frustration, cry out of grief, admit to his fears, and entrust him with his life.

During the events of the Second Battle of Hogwarts, Harry was struck by the Killing Curse and nearly died. His soul went to a place resembling King's Cross Station, where Dumbledore was waiting to speak with him. The fact that Dumbledore himself was there to meet Harry in a place between life and death attests to the bond of fellowship between them.

Role in the series
Dumbledore is clearly one of the most important characters in the Harry Potter books, as much for the significant role he plays in the fostering and education of Harry Potter as for his leadership in the struggle against Lord Voldemort. Drawn from the archetype of the wise old wizard, Albus Dumbledore is reminiscent of characters such as Merlin from the medieval tales of King Arthur, of Gandalf from the more recent Lord of the Rings trilogy, and, to a lesser extent, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda of the Star Wars films. Yet J.K. Rowling has nevertheless created a character that lives with his own literary life.

In this series, Albus Dumbledore takes on the role of the mentor or teacher, and although there are obviously many of those at Hogwarts, Harry is more attached to him than any other. The teacher must help their pupil to grow and learn as much as they can, but eventually, the pupil must make the journey without their teacher, just like, as previously mentioned, Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Etymology
Dumbledore's given names could be interpreted as representing the four primary divisions of the British Isles:
 * 'Albus' may be the masculine form of "Alba", an ancient name for Scotland; It is also a Latin word for white, traditionally representing the forces of Good.


 * 'Percival' is a legendary Arthurian knight from Wales involved in the Grail quest. In Le morte d'Arthur by Thomas Mallory, Percival is both hero of the quest for the Grail and narrator of the tale, as is the case for Dumbledore in parts of the story. It is a name which presumably comes from his father. Percival is also a name from old French meaning 'pierce the veil'. Percy Weasley's first name is a derivative of Percival, indicating they could be related; Dumbledore once had auburn hair as well.


 * 'Wulfric' is an Anglo-Saxon name found in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and could be representative of England. Wulfric translates literally as "wolf-power", and is reminiscent of another similar name, Beowulf, which means "powerful wolf-bear". The legendary hero Beowulf slew the monster Grendel as a youth, a name similar to Gellert Grindelwald, the dark wizard Dumbledore defeated in his own youth. Beowulf was fatally wounded by a dragon in a sea cave, and the only one who would help him was his squire, an orphaned son of some loyal followers. This is a parallel to Dumbledore's life, as he was mortally injured by the potion protecting the fake Horcrux in a sea cave as well, and the orphaned son would of course be represented by Harry.
 * 'Brian' is the name of the legendary Irish high-king and hero Brian Boru who defeated the Vikings at the Battle of Clontarf near Dublin. Dumbledore himself was a veteran of many wizarding battles against the forces of Darkness.

'Dumbledore' is an old 18th century English word for 'bumblebee'. Rowling stated she imagined him flitting about the castle humming to himself.

Appearances

 * Wizard of the Month