Albus Dumbledore

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore

"I will only truly have left this school when none here are loyal to me... Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it." 

 "To the well organized mind, death is but the next great adventure." 

 "It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities." 

"Fear of a name increases fear of a thing itself."  

"Humans have a knack for choosing precisely the things that are worst for them." 

"It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live."  

"Harry, I owe you an explanation," said Dumbledore. "An explanation of an old man's mistakes. For I see now that what I have done, and not done, with regard to you, bears all the hallmarks of the failings of age. Youth cannot know how age thinks and feels. But old men are guilty if they forget what it was to be young...and I seem to have forgotten lately." 

 "We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided. Lord Voldemort's gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great. We can fight it only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust. Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open."

 "You fail to recognize that it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be."

"--yet, sadly, accidental rudeness occurs alarmingly often. Best to say nothing at all, my dear man."  

"In fact, being - forgive me - rather cleverer than most men, my mistakes tend to be correspondingly huger." 

 "It is important to fight, and fight again, and keep fighting, for only then can evil be kept at bay, though never quite eradicated." 

 "There are all kinds of courage. It takes a great deal of courage to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends." 

 "Even between the best of friends! Each of us believes that what he has to say is much more important than anything the other might have to contribute!" 

 "Voldemort himself created his own worst enemy, just as tyrants everywhere do! Have you any idea how much tyrants fear the people they oppress?" 

 "Do not pity the dead, Harry. Pity the living, and, above all, those who live without love. By returning, you may ensure that fewer souls are maimed, fewer families are torn apart. If that seems to you a worthy goal, then we say good-bye for the present.”"

 "Tell me one last thing,”" said Harry. “"Is this real? Or has this been happening inside my head?”"
“"Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?”"

 "Understanding is the first step to acceptance, and only with acceptance can there be recovery."

 At that moment, Harry fully understood for the first time why people said Dumbledore was the only wizard Voldemort had ever feared. The look upon Dumbledore's face as he stared down at the unconscious form of Mad-Eye Moody was more terrible than Harry could have ever imagined. There was no benign smile upon Dumbledore's face, no twinkle in the eyes behind the spectacles. There was cold fury in every line of the ancient face; a sense of power radiated from Dumbledore as though he were giving off burning heat.

WARNING: THIS BLOG MAY SPOIL INFORMATION ABOUT THE LATER HARRY POTTER SERIES IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE SERIES!!!

I promise this will be the last Harry Potter blog for a while! But I want you to go up and read each of the quotes above. These are quotes in the Harry Potter series from the character of Professor Albus Dumbledore. He has always been by far one of my most favorite characters of all. He is a character I very much would like to be like. But never had I really understood why I relate to this character so much. 

J.K Rowling's brilliant wisdom was conveyed through this character in the series. Dumbledore's was the wisest, most clever, and yet most powerful wizard of all time. He was humble, witty, yet insightful and beyond intelligent. He did not judge others, he was kind to all, and he did not flaunt his power. His love for his school of witchcraft and wizardry was where his heart was at. 

As you read the books, it is hard not to fall in love with this character. The entire wizarding world was in awe of this man, his reputation put him on this pedestal, almost godly and feared in a way. Everyone wanted his advice, everyone knew of his success, everyone wanted his help, and everyone knew he lead you to now wrong ever. The quotes J.K Rowling had for Dumbledore kept the greatest life lessons in the most superb way. 

The image she created for this wizard was that of a sacred father figure. The all mighty go-to person. When Dumbledore was around, you felt safe. You felt you had guidance. You felt you would have answers. You felt nothing could go wrong. He could make anything happen. He would say something that would touch your heart and I would have to run and get a piece of paper and write down some of his brilliance. And the only wizard the evil Lord Voldemort ever feared was Dumbledore. 

For six books, Dumbledore was a saint and all loved him. He is killed off at the end of the sixth book, and so many readers cried their eyes out. Remember, reading these books made you believe these characters were real, as if you knew them. I was shocked and hurt and upset this character was gone. And because of the climate of the books, I also even felt scared that he was gone. His presence was so strong in the books that his absence was truly a void in the story.

Then in the seventh book, J.K Rowling angered some of us readers. Just like in our real world, when a great figure passes away, tabloids and papers and books are printed to sell dirt about these famous figures. Books and publications in the wizarding world are created in the scenes to tell the skeletons of Dumbledore and his dark past, and a history that no one knows about. And some readers were angry with Rowling for tainting the saint like image of Dumbledore. But Jo Rowling was not catering to the audience. She was writing very real things, and these are things that do happen even in our own lives. And so she created a period after his death where people were trying to make a living off his death.

Dumbledore turned out to be, in fact, the most tragic character in the entire series. You discover this more so in the final installment of the series than anything else. We learn of the devastating past that formed the master of master wizards that the entire world knew and loved. His father killed Muggles (non-magic folk) and he had a sister who was ill and dysfunctional he had to take care of, and he was blamed by close family members that his neglect is the reason his younger sister died.

His claim to fame was winning the duel against the evil dark wizard Grindlewald, who in fact we learn was Dumbledore's best friend growing up. He was betrayed and turned on by the one person who promised to stand by his side and he had to defeat him. He and his best friend were on a mission as young boys to gaining the Deathly Hallows to become the master of death. The humble, generous, wise wizard we knew had an old history of being power hungry and selfish motives, and of course the wizards and witches who learned this after his death began to look at him differently and the ones who loved him were angry for the truth and angry for those who DID turn their view of him.

J.K Rowling has said "True heroism is rebuilding after the trauma," and through the character of Dumbledore said that these are the values which see us through and that we live. But she says that the character who gives the greatest lesson to life, he could not do it himself. He was the one who preached but couldn't do, which is where Harry came in. The most powerful wand in the world was in Dumbledore's possession and ended up becoming Harry's later. He rids of the wand in the end of the series to end the cycle of which evil comes in.

J.K Rowling states in an interview about Dumbledore: "I see him as fundamentally a very intellectual, brilliant and precocious person whose emotional life was absolutely subjugated to the life of the mind - by his choice - and then his first foray into the world of emotion is catastrophic and I think that would forevermore stun that part of his life and leave it stultified and he would be, what he becomes. That's what I saw as Dumbledore's past. That's always what I saw was in his past. And he keeps a distance between himself and others through humor, a certain detachment and a frivolity of manner. But he's also isolated by his brain. He's isolated by the fact he knows so much, guesses so much, guesses correctly. He has to play his cards close to his chest because he doesn't want Voldemort to know what he suspects. Terrible to be Dumbledore, really..."

 

Jo Rowling also states that Dumbledore really learned of his weakness by the time he was 17 years old, which was his temptation for power. Readers would never believe it! Even the characters within the book would argue that was ever a weakness of Albus Dumbledore. But Dumbledore knew, and his decision to never become Minster of Magic and to remain at Hogwarts was a deeper, more admirable decision. 

 

Dumbledore's greatest wisdom, in some ways, is the understanding of himself that he ultimately gains.With this he uses the knowledge he has earned from his past mistakes to try and make things right. Though Dumbledore's plans didn't come out exactly as he expected, his guidance, even from beyond the grave, continues to help Harry through his own final mission.

 

So in the end, Albus Dumbledore the most adored and powerful light hearted wizard of the world was also the most tragic character of all. When everyone loved him for all he was and all he has done, he was the most isolated and alone. He lived his entire life that way, but his reputation for doing good preceded him. People looked up to him and respected him above all things. So I have to say, one of my most favorite and beloved characters that I understand most about would be the great Albus Dumbledore. (BOWS)

Yours in service,

MASTER TRENTO