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. Grindelwald and Dumbledore were introduced by Bathilda Bagshot, Grindelwald's great aunt, and they got along great for a few months. Legend stated that the person who had the power to unite all three Hallows would become the "Master of Death".

But later, Dumbledore and his brother Aberforth argued 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. An unknown curse hit Ariana, killing her; 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.

However, as Dumbledore was educating young wizards and witches, Grindelwald was still at large in Europe, building up an army, and had already found one of the Deathly Hallows, the Elder Wand, which he used to terrorize Europe. Dumbledore was afraid to face Grindelwald, not because he thought he couldn't defeat him, but because he was afraid that Grindelwald could reveal to him who had truly killed Ariana. But as of 1945, Dumbledore could no longer look away from Grindelwald's deeds and tracked Grindelwald down. He dueled Grindelwald in what later became a legendary duel. Dumbledore defeated Grindelwald despite Grindelwald's possession of the Elder Wand. Dumbledore had Grindelwald imprisoned in Nurmengard and claimed the Elder Wand for himself.



First Wizarding War
After Lord Voldemort started his first rise to power in 1970 Dumbledore founded the Order of the Phoenix a secret organisation to fight of Voldemort and his Death Eaters. As the only wizard Voldemort was ever truly afraid of he was the perfect leader of the organisation and was a significant contributor to the fight against Voldemort.

Shortly before or after the beginning of the First Wizarding War, Voldemort approached Dumbledore with the same request he had proposed to Armando Dippet before him: to get a job as a teacher at Hogwarts, likely intending to locate ancient wizard artefact to turn into Horcruxes there. Dumbledore, who had heard of some of Voldmemort's activities from his brother Aberforth, denied.

Later on in the war, Dumbledore was approached by another person who also wanted a job at Hogwarts: Sybill Trelawney, who auditioned to become the new Professor for Divination, lessons that Dumbledore disliked and barely considered a part of necessary education for young witches and wizards. When he was interviewing Trelawney at the Hog's Head, he came to the conclusion that she was not a real Seer. However, as Dumbledore was about to leave, Trelawney fell into a real trance and made a prophecy about the birth of the one that would have the power to vanquish the Dark Lord, who would be born to those "who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies". This astonished Dumbledore, but as it turned out, the Death Eater Severus Snape had overheard most of the prophecy, but had been caught in the act by Aberforth.

Later, Snape approached Dumbledore, having already told Voldemort about the prophecy. Snape was shocked by that Voldemort had concluded that the prophecy was about Harry Potter, the son of James Potter, and Snape's own loved childhood friend, Lily Evans. Dumbledore made arrangements to ensure the safety of the three; he advised them to stay hidden in their house in Godric's Hollow, which was protected by a Fidelius Charm. However, their Secret-Keeper (believed by Dumbledore and everyone else to be Sirius Black, but was in truth Peter Pettigrew) betrayed them, resulting in James and Lily's deaths on Voldemort's hands. However, as Voldemort attempted to kill Harry, the curse backfired due to Lily's love for him and destroyed his body, only keeping a part of his soul alive.

Dumbledore, who likely already knew by then that a part of Voldemort's soul had concealed itself within Harry, made sure that Harry would be kept safe with his family, the Dursleys, as his spells ensured that Voldemort could not harm Harry there as long as he could have a home with them. He convinced Snape to help him protect Harry, although Dumbledore secretly planned to allow Voldemort to kill Harry in the end, which would destroy the piece of Voldemort's soul inside Harry. Dumbledore gave Snape employment at Hogwarts as a Potions Professor, and later defended Snape against the Ministry, who were rounding up and arresting remaining Death Eaters.

Shortly before the Potters' death, Dumbledore had borrowed something from James: James's Invisibility Cloak, something that Dumbledore saw was a part of the Deathly Hallows. Although Dumbledore had long given up his desire to unite the Hallows and become Master of Death, he could not resist the thought of studying the Invisibility Cloak. But when they were killed, Dumbledore suddenly had two of the Deathly Hallows under his possession. Only the Resurrection Stone was left.

Later years at Hogwarts
Eleven years later, Harry started attending to Hogwarts, not as happy as Dumbledore had hoped, but alive and well. During that time, Dumbledore's friend Nicolas Flamel had asked Dumbledore to keep the Philosopher's Stone in Hogwarts, fearing that someone was plotting to steal it. Dumbledore and several teachers at Hogwarts planted magical security methods to protect the stone. Dumbledore used the Mirror of Erised to contain the Philosopher's Stone, only to be removed by someone who did not intend to use it. Dumbledore likely knew that the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor Quirinus Quirrell was behind the plot to steal the Philosopher's Stone, while working for the weakened Lord Voldemort, as he gave Snape orders to keep an eye on him.

It ended up being Harry who had to protect the Philosopher's Stone from Voldeomort and Quirrell, who planned to rise again by using the stone. Voldemort failed for the same reasons he had failed to kill Harry previously: Due to Lily's love for Harry. When Harry recovered in the Hospital Wing, he questioned Dumbledore about why Voldemort had tried to kill him as a baby. Dumbledore did not believe that Harry was ready to know the truth about the prophecy Trelawney had made, and told him he would know later.

The year after, Dumbledore was temporarily removed from his position as Headmaster due to the second opening of the Chamber of Secrets. Dumbledore returned to his position after Harry uncovered that a memory of Tom Marvolo Riddle, made real by Riddle's old diary was behind everything.

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 and to reform the Order of the Phoenix. 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 Wizarding War to break out in Britain.

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.

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

During the second Wizarding War, Dumbledore tracked one of Voldemort's Horcruxes down in the abandoned house of the Gaunts. When he found the Horcrux, a ring formerly owned by Marvolo Gaunt, he saw that the stone in the ring was yet another Deathly Hallow. This stone, according to legend, had the power to revive the dead (but in reality, a spiritual form of the person was brought back). Wishing to see his deceased sister, Dumbledore put the ring on and his body in turn was cursed due to it being one of Voldemort's horcruxes. The skills of Severus Snape managed to trap the curse temporarily in Dumbledore's hand before it spread to the rest of his body. Knowing that the curse would kill him, Dumbledore and Snape agreed that when the time came, Snape would end Dumbledore's life. Snape later objected to the plan, but was reminded by Dumbledore that it was the only way to save him great suffering. After a school year of the curse overtaking his body, and his body horribly wounded by the Emerald Green Potion of the Horcrux Cave, Snape finally killed Dumbledore with the Unforgivable Curse, the Killing Curse.

Albus Dumbledore died at 116 years of age. One must forever wonder how long his natural life would have been otherwise. He is survived by his brother, Aberforth.

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. (It is speculated that Aberforth's punch during Ariana's funeral may have played a role in shaping Dumbledore's nose.) 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 Grindelwald, 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 margin "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 1998, 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 possesses 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 exhibited 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 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.

Dumbledore and Grindelwald
Dumbledore first met Gellert Grindelwald when he was seventeen. They were introduced by Grindelwald's great aunt, Bathilda Bagshot. They got along almost instantly, according to Bagshot. They were ultimately united by their desire to have the Deathly Hallows. They got along for two months until Aberforth, Dumbledore's brother, confronted them over the neglect of Ariana Dumbledore. Grindelwald lost control during the argument and attacked Aberforth. Dumbledore rushed forward to defend his brother, and during the duel Ariana was killed. Dumbledore ended his friendship with Grindelwald.

Years later, Dumbledore and Grindelwald engaged in a legendary duel, and eyewitnesses said no greater duel was ever fought between wizards. Dumbledore won in the end, and imprisoned Grindelwald in his own prison.

JK Rowling later revealed that Dumbledore was homosexual and had some romantic feelings for Grindelwald during their brief friendship. While Grindelwald's feelings about Dumbledore are not clear, it can be assumed that he did care about him as a friend at one point because he gave his life to try to keep Voldemort from desecrating Dumbledore's tomb.

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
 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (game)
 * Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
 * Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (game)
 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (game)
 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (game)
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows