Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore's private lessons

"I spend time with Harry because I have things to discuss with him, information I must give him before it is too late."

- Dumbledore explains their lessons to Severus Snape.

These private lessons took place during the course of Harry Potter's sixth year in 1996-1997 between him and the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Albus Dumbledore. The purpose of these lessons were to teach Harry about Lord Voldemort's past in an attempt to figure out to defeat him, further discuss the prophecy that caused Harry's destiny, and unriddle an important secret of Voldemort's, guessed at by Dumbledore, that possibly involves Voldemort being immortal. The answers to these questions and mysteries were attempted to be found using the Pensieve, a memory-storing device in which Dumbledore and Harry could delve into memories (sometimes of the Headmaster himself and sometimes belonging to others) that would help unravel the secrets involving Voldemort, his birth, his rise to power, and his weaknesses.

First Lesson
The first lesson took place at 8 p.m. on a Saturday in early September 1996. The password to Dumbledore's office was Acid Pops.

Bob Ogden's memory
In this first memory, Harry witnessed an encounter between Bob Ogden, an employee of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and the pureblood Gaunt family. Ogden, as head of the Magical Law Enforcement Patrol, was sent to the Gaunt shack to tell Morfin Gaunt, to attend a hearing for using magic against a Muggle. The Muggle in question, Tom Riddle Sr., was attacked by Morfin by means of an unidentified jinx or hex that gave him painful hives.

Ogden was not recieved well by the Gaunts, who conversed with each other in Parseltongue, and Morfin ended up sending a spell that made yellow goo come from Ogden's nose, and Morfin's father, Marvolo Gaunt physically and verbally abusing his daughter Merope Gaunt while brandishing Slytherin family heirlooms, a ring and his locket at Ogden. At that moment, Tom Riddle Sr. and his girlfriend, Cecilia, drive by and scoff at the Gaunt Shack, and Morfin reveals that his sister is in love with the Muggle, Tom Riddle Sr. Marvolo Gaunt, a pure-blood supremacist and a fanatic for his Slytherin family heritage, is furious, and Ogden stops him from throttling Merope with a Revulsion Jinx. Ogden runs from the shack into Tom and Cecilia's carriage, and then Apparates. Dumbledore and Harry exit the memory, with Dumbledore then revealing that Ogden came back with reinforcements from the Ministry who overpowered Morfin and Marvolo and sent them to Azkaban, albeit with Morfin's sentence longer than Marvolo's.

Other discussions
After seeing the memory, Dumbledore explains to Harry that Marvolo Gaunt was Voldemort's grandfather and namesake for his middle name, and Merope was his mother, thus making Morfin his uncle, who he would encounter later. Tom Riddle Sr. was Voldemort's Muggle father and namesake. This memory also saw the introduced of Salazar Slytherin's Locket, an heirloom marking the familial link of hte Gaunts to Salazar Slytherin, and Marvolo Gaunt's Ring, the familial link of Gaunts to the Peverells, both of which would later become some of Voldemort's Horcruxes.

"I believe that Merope, who was deeply in love with her husband, could not bear to continue enslaving him by magical means. I believe that she made the choice to stop giving him the potion. Perhaps, besotted as she was, she had convinced herself that he would by now have fallen in love with her in return. Perhaps she thought he would stay for the baby's sake. If so, she was wrong on both counts. He left her, never saw her again, and never troubled to discover what became of his son"

- Albus Dumbledore explaining Merope and Tom Riddle Sr.'s tragic relationship

This memory also introduced the Resurrection Stone as the black stone within the ring, though this would not be realised by Harry much later. Dumbledore and Harry talked about Merope's use of a Love Potion to seduce Tom Riddle Sr., but because of her deep love for him she chose to take him off the Potion, thinking or perhaps hoping that the effects of the potion would be permanent. She was incorrect, and Riddle abandoned his wife and unborn child. Dumbledore then tells Harry he should only confide in Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger about what they talked about in the lessons.

Second Lesson
The second lesson took place at 8pm on a Monday in mid-October 1996.

Albus Dumbledore's memory (#1)
During this lesson, Harry witnessed Albus Dumbledore's first meeting with the eleven-year old Tom Marvolo Riddle. Dumbledore arrives at Wool's Orphanage with an appointment there to speak with Mrs. Cole. While talking to Mrs. Cole, she reveals some of the incidents that have happened with Tom over the years, including the the circumstances in which he was brought to the orphanage and "funny things" he has done to the other children. Dumbledore meets Tom, who is at first wary that Dumbledore is someone from the asylum, that Mrs. Cole and the others want him locked up.



By lighting Tom's wardrobe on fire, and forcing him to return trinkets he stole from the other children (undoubtedly by misusing his magical abilities). Dumbledore offers to help Tom with Diagon Alley and buying school books, but Tom assures him he can manage alone, and so Dumbledore informs him that the Hogwarts Express will leave from King's Cross Station on September 1. Riddle informs Dumbledore, as the man turns to leave, that he has the rare gift of speaking to snakes, which Dumbledore tells him is unusual but not unheard of.

Other discussions
Before seeing the memory, Harry and Voldemort discuss Merope's refusal to any longer use magic, the sale of the locket to Borgin and Burkes, and her death shortly after giving birth. It is revealed that Voldemort had an uncommonly powerful control of magic at such a young age, a cruel and controlling nature, and had a preference for acting alone and without a desire for friendship. When Dumbledore mentions that the barman of the Leaky Cauldron is also named Tom, Voldemort visibly showed his contempt for anything that tied him to other people, anything that made him ordinary. Riddle wished to be different from others, separate and notorious. Thus, he soon shed the ordinary name of "Tom" and gained the title of "Lord Voldemort".

The memory showed that Tom Riddle was already highly self-sufficient, secretive, and preferred to operate alone. This foreshadows the adult Voldemort; while many Death Eaters claim that they are in his confidence and are close to him, Voldemort has never had one friend nor did he ever want one. The third important quality of this memory was Voldemort's tendency to collect trophies, such as the box of stolen articles he had hidden in his room. Many of them were taken from victims of his bullying, souvenirs from magic used against them. This magpie-like tendecy is important later when Dumbledore and Harry begin to unravel the secret of Voldemort's Horcruxes as it gives them an idea of the type of objects Voldemort might use to contain parts of his soul.

Third Lesson
The third lesson took place at 8pm one evening in early January 1997.

Morfin Gaunt's memory
"I was very lucky to collect this, as you will undoubtedly understand when we have experienced it. Shall we?"

- Dumbledore invites Harry to witness this memory in the Pensieve

For this lesson, Dumbledore and Harry delve into the memory of Morfin Gaunt, Voldemort's uncle. The scene in question was when the sixteen-year old Tom Riddle encountered Morfin as he sought out his heritage. The memory shows that, in the abscene of Merope, the Gaunt shack has gone to seed. Riddle enters the house, and because he so resembles his father, Morfin mistakens him for a moment as his hated, Muggle brother-in-law. Riddle proves to Morfin that he speaks Parseltongue, and Morfin informs Riddle at Marvolo is dead and tells Riddle the story of Riddle Sr. leaving Merope and Merope subsequently robbing them of Slytherin's locket. Tom Riddle, learning that in fact his father, a Muggle, left his mother was furious, and as Voldemort moves forward the memory ends.

Discussion
"Whatever Morfin was, he did not deserve to die as he did, blamed for the murders he had not committed."

- Albus Dumbledore on Morfin's fate

Dumbledore informs Harry that the reason the memory went dark is because Morfin could not remember anything from that point onwards. When Morfin woke up, he was alone and the ring was stolen. In Little Hangleton, the murders of Tom Riddle Sr. and his parents were revealed, and the Ministry suspected a Muggle-hater who lived across the valley from the Riddle House: Morfin. When they found him, he admitted to the murders immediately, giving details and being boastful about his deed. Upon handing over his wand, it was shown that its last spell was the killing curse on the Riddles. He was led to Azkaban without a fight, and died there forever lamenting the loss of the ring. Before Morfin died, however, Dumbledore visited him and used skilled Legilimency to extract the true memory, but Morfin passed away before Dumbledore could give this proof to the Ministry.

Through this memory we understand how Voldemort learned the truth about his mother and father, and his own status as a half-blood, as well as that he Stunned his uncle, took his wand, proceeded to the Riddle house, and murdered his father, as well as his paternal grandparents to obliterate the Riddle line and get revenge on the father who never wanted him. He returned to the Gaunt shack, performed a False Memory Charm on his uncle, laid Morfin's wand beside its unconscious owner, grabbed the ring, and left.

Horace Slughorn's memory (fake)
Harry witnessed Tom Riddle question Horace Slughorn about Horcruxes. Significant revelations included:
 * Key parts of the memory omitted, as the memory had obviously been tampered with.
 * Dumbledore assigning Harry the task of obtaining the real memory from Slughorn.

Other discussions

 * Tom Riddle's years at Hogwarts, under the watchful eye of Albus Dumbledore.
 * Tom Riddle's school "friends", the forerunners of the Death Eaters.
 * Underage magic in wizarding homes.

Fourth Lesson
The fourth lesson took place at 8pm on a Monday in mid March 1997. The password to Dumbledore's office was Toffee Eclairs.



Hokey the House-Elf's memory
Harry witnessed the young Tom Riddle, then an employee of Borgin and Burkes, as he paid a visit to the elderly witch Hepzibah Smith. Significant revelations included:
 * Salazar Slytherin's Locket, a relic of the Hogwarts founders and Voldemort's birthright.
 * Helga Hufflepuff's Cup, another relic of the Hogwarts founders.
 * Voldemort's first known murder committed solely for personal gain, as he once more collects "trophies" and the subsequent framing of a House-Elf.

Albus Dumbledore's memory (#2)
Harry witnessed the man who began openly calling himself Voldemort as he returned to Hogwarts with the intention of taking up a teaching position. Significant revelations included:
 * Voldemort's intention to gain influence over young wizards and witches, as he continued to build his power.
 * Voldemort's fondness for Hogwarts, and his desire to continue studying its secrets.
 * Voldemort's interest in obtaining more artefacts of the Hogwarts founders.
 * Voldemort's dispute with Dumbledore over the power of love in magic.
 * Voldemort's curse placed upon the D.A.D.A. position after Dumbledore turned him away.
 * Although not realised until later, Voldemort's placement of Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem, now a Horcrux, in the Room of Requirement.

Other discussions

 * Dumbledore tried to impart to Harry the vital importance of Slughorn's memory to everything they were discussing, not so much scolding him, but openly showing his disappointment, as Harry had yet to obtain it.

Final lesson
The final lesson took place shortly after midnight on 22 April, 1997. The password to Dumbledore's office was still Toffee Eclairs.



Horace Slughorn's memory (real)
Harry witnessed Tom Riddle question Horace Slughorn about Horcruxes. Significant revelations included:
 * The nature of Horcruxes.
 * Voldemort's intention of creating a seven-part soul to attain immortality, through the use of six Horcruxes.

Other discussions

 * The status of Tom Riddle's Diary as a Horcrux, and its destruction.
 * The status of Marvolo Gaunt's Ring as a Horcrux, and its destruction.
 * The status of the locket and the cup as Horcruxes.
 * The likelihood of Nagini as a Horcrux.
 * The likelihood of an object of Ravenclaw's as a Horcrux.
 * The possibility, although unlikelihood, of an object of Gryffindor's as a Horcrux.
 * The importance of love in Harry's fight against Voldemort, and the difference that choices make in the destiny foretold by the prophecy.

Behind the scenes

 * In the film version of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, only Dumbledore's first memory (at the orphanage) and both the fake and real versions of Horace Slughorn's memory are shown. All of the other memories are omitted.
 * In the film, only the diary, the ring, and the locket are discussed. No mention is made of the cup, the object of Ravenclaw's, or Nagini.
 * In the book, Dumbledore says how Voldemort would collect "trophies", and therefore would not use random items (like tin cans and old potion bottles) to make Horcruxes, however, in the film, Dumbledore says that Horcruxes "Could be anything. Most common place of objects.", and then lists a ring and a book as examples. Though in a deleted scene for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, Harry says that Dumbledore's theory was that Voldemort would not make random objects into Horcruxes.
 * Furthermore, in the Half-Blood Prince film, Dumbledore says that the Horcrux ring belonged to Voldemort's mother, not his grandfather, though later in Deathly Hallows: Part 1, Harry says that, according to Dumbledore, the ring belonged to his grandfather; also, he had knowledge that the locket belonged to Voldemort's mother, even though no Gaunt memory was shown in the film.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Leçons de Dumbledore