Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore (Born c. 1840) is a fictional character in the Harry Potter series of books written by J. K. Rowling.
Dumbledore is benevolent, slightly eccentric, and powerful. As such he resembles an archetypal good wizard in the style of Merlin or Gandalf. He is often sympathetic to Harry Potter's difficulties, and, as such, occasionally allows the young wizard more leeway than he would with others. He is also the only wizard Lord Voldemort ever feared.
The name Albus is from the Latin word albus ("white"), a frequently used symbol for good; "Dumbledore," which means "bumblebee," was picked by the author because she imagines him humming while strolling along the halls of Hogwarts.
In the movie versions of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001) and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), Dumbledore was played by Richard Harris, who died in 2002 of Hodgkin's disease. In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), Dumbledore is played by Michael Gambon.
Early life and career
Comparatively little is revealed about Dumbledore's early history or family, but he is known to have entered Hogwarts around 1851, perhaps being sorted into Gryffindor House. His brother, Aberforth, was prosecuted for "practising inappropriate charms on a goat," may be illiterate, and (as confirmed by Rowling) is the bartender at the Hog's Head Inn in Hogsmeade. Dumbledore's extraordinary magical talents were apparent from an early age, as later described by the elderly Griselda Marchbanks, Head of the Wizarding Examinations Authority, who had personally examined the school-age Dumbledore for his N.E.W.T. exams in Charms and Transfiguration. Marchbanks recalled that the young Dumbledore had "done things with a wand I'd never seen before."Template:HP5
Some time after his graduation from Hogwarts, he returned to the faculty as Professor of Transfiguration, and in this capacity also served in recruiting students for the school. He identified Tom Marvolo Riddle and offered him a place at Hogwarts, glimpsing the true nature of the boy who was to become Lord Voldemort. His keen observations of Riddle's student years led Dumbledore to influence Hogwarts' headmaster, Armando Dippet, not to offer Riddle a faculty position.
In 1945 Dumbledore defeated the dark wizard Grindelwald. As J.K. Rowling confirmed, Dumbledore not only exiled but killed Grindelwald, whose name, pronounced as the Germanic "Grindelvald," suggests that he and his followers are meant to be the magical-world analogues of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis, a view supported by the fact that Grindelwald's death coincided with the end of World War II.
Positions held
- Headmaster(1956-1997), Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
- Transfiguration master, Hogwarts
- Order of Merlin, First Class
- Grand Wizard
- Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot
- Founding member, Order of the Phoenix
Dumbledore was offered and refused the position of Minister of Magic on at least three occasions, but nevertheless had much influence in the Ministry.
Magical accomplishments and skills
Dumbledore is widely famous as a legendary alchemist, second only to Nicholas Flamel, the only known maker of the Philosopher's Stone, and is credited with discovering the twelve uses of dragon blood. In addition to these credits, he is known to be able to conjure Gubrathian Fire (magical everlasting fire). His Patronus takes the form of a phoenix, a recurring symbol in the books.
Dumbledore also invented the method of communicating messages using a Patronus, a skill he taught only to members of the Order of the Phoenix[1]. He is able to become invisible without using an invisibility cloak, and there are suggestions that he is capable of seeing through invisibility cloaks. Dumbledore is also skilled in Occlumency and Legilimency.
Among the confirmed languages that Dumbledore can speak is Mermish, the language of the Merpeople.
Magical possessions
- A phoenix named Fawkes
- A Put-Outer - used for switching on and off the electric lights used by muggles
- A pocket watch with 12 hands and the planets instead of numbers, use unknown
- A Pensieve, used for examining memories
- Many other magical objects whose purposes are unknown
Dumbledore also has scar on his knee, its provenance unknown, which is a perfect map of the London underground.
Dumbledore and the rise of Voldemort
It was to Dumbledore that Sibyll Trelawney, subsequently appointed as professor of Divination, revealed the prophecy regarding Voldemort's fall.
Dumbledore was instrumental in the struggle against his former student, working tirelessly against him with the Order of the Phoenix. When Harry's parents, Lily and James Potter, were killed by Voldemort, it was Dumbledore's decision to place the now-orphaned Harry in the safekeeping of Vernon and Petunia Dursley, knowing that Harry would be protected by the special magic caused by his mother's sacrifice.
Throughout the series Dumbledore is portrayed as a wizard with modern/reformist ideas about pure bloodedness and the rights of Muggles, part-humans, and non-humans. Dumbledore does not give importance to the so-called "purity of blood" and believes that an individual's choices reflect his character rather than his birth, blood, or family, saying "it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be." Voldemort angrily refers to Dumbledore as "champion of commoners, muggles and mud bloods.". Unlike most wizards, Dumbledore is not afraid of speaking Lord Voldemort's name.
Dumbledore makes the important discovery that Voldemort has achieved immortality through the use of Horcruxes, one of which was Tom Riddle's diary, destroyed by Harry in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Dumbledore himself destroys a second Horcrux, and is killed after being weakened by attempting to find a third.
Dismissal from Hogwarts
Dumbledore was twice dismissed from his position as Headmaster, the first time during Harry's second year at Hogwarts, when Lucius Malfoy persuaded the school's twelve governors to remove him in the wake of attacks by a basilisk on people in the school. He was subsequently reinstated, but in Harry's fifth year, Harry and other students organised a club called "Dumbledore's Army," the discovery of which by Dolores Umbridge resulted a second dismissal. Dumbledore was again reinstated when it was revealed that Voldemort had indeed returned.
Dumbledore's death
In June, 1997, Dumbledore was killed with an Avada Kedavra spell by Severus Snape, a member of the Order of the Phoenix whom Dumbledore trusts implicitly, at the end of book six. His murder leaves the future of Hogwarts in question, as well as the safety of Harry Potter and the magical population as a whole.
Dumbledore's funeral was attended by students, teachers, members of the Ministry of Magic, giants, ghosts, and other non-humans alike, which conveyed the message that in a time of such uncertainty, the memory of one very great man shines through the quarrels and differences of others to bring about unity that the man advocated for his entire life.
He is said to be the only Hogwarts headmaster who is laid to rest in the school territory. Dumbledore, who is shrouded in purple velvet, is entombed in a white marble tomb beside the lake at Hogwarts.