Albus Dumbledore (character sketch)

[Caius Marcius]

No: HPFGUIDX 14119

ALBUS DUMBLEDORE 

DEFINITION (Float like a cockchafer, sting like a bumblebee)

Always use the proper name for things.
              - Dumbledore, HP/SS, Chap. 

Albus  –a –um      (1) white, dead white, often in proverbial 
phrases; Albus an ater sit nescio, I know nothing about him 
(Horace);  (2) pale: albus ora pallor inficit (Horace);  (3) bright: 
admissio Lucifer albus equo (Ovid)
	
	- Cassell's Latin Dictionary

Dum-ble-dore  (n) 1. A cockchafer [Brit. Dial.] 2. the bumblebee

Cock-cha-fer (n) The May Bug or Dorbeetle, Melolontha Vulgaris it is 
a large European beetle whose grubs live in the soil for three years 
feeding on the roots of plants. 

     - Webster's Dictionary (1952)

BIOGRAPHY

"Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore 
is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald 
in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and 
his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor 
Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling."  (HP/SS, Chap. 6)

We also know, via Tom Riddle's diary flashback that Dumbledore was 
the Transfiguration Professor at Hogwarts in the early 1940s.  And 
that shortly after the collapse of Voldemort, he testified in and 
attended the Death-Eater trials. He may or may not have a brother 
named Aberforth. But – in contrast to the extensive background 
material we have regarding his arch-rival Voldemort, virtually all we 
know of Dumbledore's pre-1980 existence is on the back of Ron's 
trading card. 

HIS INITIAL APPEARANCE

"He was tall, thin, and very old, judging by the silver of his hair 
and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt. He was 
wearing long robes, a purple cloak that swept the ground, and high-
heeled, buckled boots. His blue eyes were light, bright, and 
sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and 
crooked, as though it had been
broken at least twice. This man's name was Albus Dumbledore." (HP/SS, 
Chapter 1)

TAKE ONE

We shall attempt to display the infinite riches of Albus Dumbledore 
within the little room of HP/SS Chapter One.  i.e., it will be our 
thesis that the most significant strands of Dumbledore's character 
are adumbrated in Chapter One Book One of the JKR Chronicles



..


THE MASTER OF CEREMONIES

"Sorry to disappoint you and all that, but the greatest wizard in the 
world is Albus Dumbledore"
                              - Harry Potter, CoS, Chap. 17.

The JKR narrative begins, of course, firmly ensconced in the world of 
the Muggles (our world). And November 1, 1980 is a day when the 
Muggle world is compelled to take some notice of the parallel magical 
world. 

Albus Dumbledore is the first denizen of JKR's alternative world 
specifically identified by name. We first meet him on Privet Drive, 
Ground Zero of the anti-magical universe, in which Muggledom and all 
its prosaic values reign supreme. "Albus Dumbledore didn't seem to 
realize that he had just arrived in a street where everything from 
his name to his boots was unwelcome."  Our narrator is (not for the 
last time) being a tad disingenuous here. McGonagall in the same 
environment retreats into the camouflage of an Animagi; Dumbledore on 
the other hand, perfectly aware of the inhospitable world he is 
entering, arrives in his own person, while seeming as relaxed and 
comfortable as he might in the confines of his own circular office. 

Dumbledore in this chapter remains – as usual - emotionally equitable 
in the face of the extraordinary events of the day ("If you can meet 
with triumph and disaster/And treat these two imposters just the 
same"). He does not celebrate the downfall of Voldemort 
improvidently, in the manner of Dedalus Dingle, nor does he mourn the 
loss of the Potters noisily, as does Hagrid. (He does, to his credit, 
give a "great sniff," as he reaches for his watch, in reaction to the 
Potters' demise). Dumbledore is in command of himself, and can 
thereby take command of the situation, by virtue of the fact that 
already knows what he has to do. He tells Hagrid that he's received 
at least one owl a week criticizing his performance since becoming 
Headmaster, but does not let disturb him (GoF, Ch. 24)

One of Dumbledore's job responsibilities as Hogwarts' headmaster is 
to preside as Master of Ceremonies over all of its formal occasions, 
a task he dispatches with energy and enthusiasm. Additionally, we 
again and again see Dumbledore acting as the MC behind the scenes as 
well. He successfully disposes of the stone in HP/SS, and coolly 
turns aside Lucius Malfoy's attempt to oust him from Hogwarts in CoS. 
This does not mean that Dumbledore's leadership can convert those who 
doubt him " I have no power to make other men see the truth, or to 
overrule the Minister of Magic...."  he tells Harry and Hermione in 
PoA, Chap. 21. We know of course that such powers exist, but as 
McGonagall says, Dumbledore is too noble to use them.  Dumbledore 
wants those who follow him to do so out of faith in him and what he 
stands for.   Harry shows that faith in the Chamber of Secrets, and 
both Hermione and Harry show it with the Time-Turner.  But faith is 
not sufficient: Harry and Hermione must also bring their own skill 
and courage.  Dumbledore again assumes MC duties at the end of GoF, 
when he rallies the anti-Voldemort forces for a renewed campaign over 
the refusal of Cornelius Fudge and the ministry to deal with the 
emerging crisis

..  

NITWIT! BLUBBER! ODDMENT! TWEAK!

"I did hear an excellent one over the summer about a troll, a hag, 
and a leprechaun who all go into a bar

"
                                     - Dumbledore, GoF, Chap. 12

One of Dumbledore's most salient characteristics is his rather 
perverse sense of whimsy.  Even on so solemn an occasion as the 
Potters' demise and Voldemort's disappearance,  he tries to distract  
McGonagall's serious question about the fate of Voldemort  by 
offering her a lemon drop, ("a Muggle treat I'm rather fond of"); 
and, in discussing Harry Potter's scar, makes the preposterous boast 
of having a scar of his own shaped like a perfect map of the London 
Underground above his left knee.

He tells Harry that he sees himself in Erised with an old pair of 
socks- certainly an evasion  ( "It was only when he was back in bed 
that it struck Harry that Dumbledore might not have been quite 
truthful") , or his claim to have discovered  "a beautifully 
proportioned room  I have never seen before, containing a really 
rather magnificent collection of chamber pots (GoF, Ch. 22 -  
a "chamber of secrets, " indeed!).  In GoF, Ch. 24, he reassures a 
distraught Hagrid with a outlandish story about a family member "My 
own brother, Aberforth, was prosecuted for practicing inappropriate 
charms on a goat. It was all over the papers, but did Aberforth hide? 
No he did not! He held his head high. Of course, I'm not entirely 
sure he can read, so that may not have been bravery
."  And there are 
all those outlandish jokes that he uses to greet new Hogwarts 
arrivals "Welcome," he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! 
Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And 
here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!  This is the aspect 
of Dumbledore that leads Percy to call him "a bit mad", Rita Skeeter 
to call him "an obsolete dingbat," or Dobby to call him a "barmy old 
codger," (with Dumbledore's permission of course).  

Here, we see a major difference between Dumbledore and Voldemort:  
The sarcastic and scathing Voldemort is like the poet in Baudelaire's 
Fleur de Mal, "Condemned to eternal laughter/And who can never smile 
again."   Dumbledore can both laugh (often at his own expense) and 
smile. 

THE SECRET HOLDER

"And I don't suppose you're going to tell me why you're here, of all 
places?"
                                                                      
         - Minerva McGonagall.(HP/SS, Chap.1)

The key to Dumbledore's character may lie in his declaration 
that "The truth is a beautiful and terrible thing, and therefore be 
treated with great caution" (PS/SS Ch. 17).  This sounds an awful lot 
like a less corrosive paraphrase of Mark Twain's acid declaration 
that "Truth is a rare and precious thing – and, like all rare and 
precious things, we should use it as sparingly as possible."  If ever 
there was a man who played his cards close to his chest, that man is 
Albus Dumbledore. The stereotype of Dumbledore as a benign kindly 
(even somewhat bumbling) "Father Christmas" figure does not quite 
jibe with his rather surreptitious approach toward sharing 
information. 

In HP/SS, Chap. 1, Dumbledore is evasive when McGonagall asks why 
Harry must be left with the conspicuously unmagical Dursleys. "It's 
the best place for him," said Dumbledore firmly. "His aunt and uncle 
will be able to explain everything to him when he's older. I've 
written them a letter." The idea that arch-Muggles Vernon and 
Petunia, armed with Dumbledore's missive, would cheerfully provide 
Harry with a full explanation of his magical origins when the time 
arrived is rather risible, and it seems most unlikely that Dumbledore 
was unaware of this. Dumbledore does offer the very sensible 
objection that Harry is likely to be spoiled by the wizard world's 
adulation if it arrives at too early an age, but even this is 
disingenuous. –Surely another couple (whether magical or Muggle) 
would have provided Harry with a warm and loving home which could 
have preserved,  via the mechanism of The Secret Holder, Harry in a 
comfortable obscurity until he was ready to face the world and the 
truth about his parents.
.    
Not until Book Four do we learn, from no less reliable a figure than 
Voldemort, that Harry enjoys a special protection when he is under 
the roof with blood relatives. Sounds like a good sound magical 
rationale for keeping Harry on Privet Drive to me – but why did 
Dumbledore feel the need to conceal this?  It might have been 
Dumbledore realized that Harry needed to be raised in a abusive and 
hostile environment, in order to learn a humility that might 
counterbalance his exceptional magical skills, which in turn might 
have fostered a Slytherin-like pride.  As necessary as this may have 
been for the shaping of Harry's character, it does sound rather cold-
blooded, calculating and unpalatable, and the rationale for it would 
hardly have been accepted as a valid by McGonagall or Hagrid.  

When Harry asks "why would [Voldemort] want to kill me in the first 
place?", Dumbledore sighs, "Alas, the first thing you ask me, I 
cannot tell you. Not today. Not now. You will know, one day... put it 
from your mind for now, Harry. When you are older... I know you hate 
to hear this... when you are ready, you will know."  Dumbledore also 
does not share with Harry that Voldemort was once called Tom Riddle - 
or what is going on between him and Severus Snape that makes 
Dumbledore think him so trustworthy?

And what is that now infamous triumphant look (GoF, Ch. 36) all 
about? I won't rehash here all the immense speculation – but one 
thing we know for certain: it sure is a secret.  

SAYING VOLDEMORT'S NAME

"It all gets so confusing if we keep saying 'You-Know-Who
            -Dumbledore, HP/SS, Chap. 1 

We learn in the first chapter from McGonagall . "Everyone knows 
you're the only one You-Know- oh, all right, Voldemort, was 
frightened of."  Dumbledore modestly brushes aside the remark without 
denying it.   Over the course of JKR's narrative, we learn that 
Dumbledore spear-headed the initial anti-Voldemort campaign (maybe we 
can it Vold War One, to differentiate from Vold War Two which is sure 
to dominate Books Five-Seven)

Although it is apparent that Hogwarts was the center of the anti-
Voldemort campaign, we are not so far we entirely clear on just why 
Voldemort so fears Dumbledore; nor do we know the specifics of how 
Dumbledore fought against Voldemort.  Still, in the preliminary 
skirmishes of Vold War II, we see Dumbledore as once again the 
guiding force.  It is Dumbledore who thwarts Voldemort/Quirell at the 
end of Book One, and who (apparently) sends Fawkes and the Sorting 
Hat to Harry in the Chamber of Secrets (or at the least, Harry's 
loyalty to Dumbledore). He makes it plain to Hermione that the time-
turner can be used to save Buckbeak and Black (something she would 
probably not have though of on her own). He rallies the anti-
Voldemort forces to forge an alliance at the end of GoF, and suggests 
such controversial steps as reconciling with the Giants, and casting 
the Dementors out of Azkaban, causing a perhaps irreconcilable split 
with Fudge.  

While Dumbledore usually presents a kindly, beneficent face to the 
world, we occasionally glimpse his more incandescent side as well. 
Harry notes his eyes flashing when he confronts Lucius Malfoy (CoS, 
Ch. 14).  When Dumbledore bursts in upon the disguised Barty Crouch 
(GoF, Chap 35), Harry sees the "cold fury" in his face, and realizes 
for the first time why Voldemort was frightened of him alone among 
wizards.  This "indefinable sense of power" continues to radiate from 
him in his confrontation with the willfully blinded Cornelius Fudge 
(Ch. 36) 


TWELVE HANDS, NO NUMBERS

One thing was certain: of all the teachers' offices Harry had visited 
so far this year, Dumbledore's was by far the most interesting.
                                                                      
           - CoS, Chapter 12

Every Hogwarts Prof. worth hizerer salt has marvels and wondrous 
gizmos galore, and Dumbledore is no exception. Some of the most 
wondrous contraptions of the JKR chronicles belong to him (or at 
least are housed in his office).  In the initial chapter, one of the 
first actions he performs is to use his Put-Outer to extinguish the 
Muggle streetlamps; several moments later, he takes out a  " very odd 
watch. It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little planets 
were moving around the edge."  It somehow let Dumbledore know that 
Hagrid was late. 

Harry learns during each visit that there is a lot of cool stuff in 
his office: "It was a large and beautiful circular room, full of 
funny little noises. A number of curious silver instruments stood on 
spindlelegged tables, whirring and emitting little puffs of smoke" 
(CoS, Ch. 12) . The 1000-year-old Sorting Hat sits on one of his 
shelves, and the Phoenix Fawkes perches nearby. These knicknacks do 
not seem to come with the office, either: when Harry sees 
Dumbledore's predecessor Dippet  in Tom Riddle' diary, he sees that 
there is "no Fawkes the phoenix - no whirring silver contraptions". 
In Book Four, Ch.30,  during a return visit, Harry encounters the 
extraordinary Pensieve, which allows him to witness first-hand  the 
judicial system of the post-Voldemort wizard world in action. (as 
William Gaddis wrote in his legal satire A Frolic of His 
Own, "Justice is what you get in the next world, what you get in this 
world is the law.")  Unlike the Riddle diary, we can presume that the 
Pensieve of Dumbledore's memories provided an accurate reconstruction 
of events (or can we?)

EOE

Albus Dumbledore
has never been afraid to make controversial staff 
appointments.
		 -Rita Skeeter, GoF Chap 24

The arrival of the grief-stricken Hagrid in HP/SS bearing  the infant 
Harry - at once majestic, pathetic, and preposterous – reminds us of  
another facet of Dumbledore, alluded to much later by Rita Skeeter. 
We all know Hagrid to be a wonderful and lovable soul with a heart 
even more gigantic than his body, but


.well, competence is not 
exactly his strong suit, and he would not be most people's first 
choice to carry out an important and potentially dangerous mission. 
McGonagall questions whether Hagrid is really the best person to 
bring the infant Harry to them

"You think it -- wise -- to trust Hagrid with something as important 
as this?"

I would trust Hagrid with my life," said Dumbledore.

"I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place," said Professor 
McGonagall grudgingly, "but you can't pretend he's not careless. He 
does tend to

"   Well, no doubt he does tend to, and perhaps Hagrid 
was not the best choice, but after all he did accomplish his mission.

Dumbledore exercises an exceptional degree of tolerance in the highly 
prejudicial world of the Wizards.  No doubt a more exacting 
Headmaster would not have let Hagrid near Hogwarts.  For not only was 
Hagrid expelled as a student for some very suspicious activities, but 
as we later learn, he is also half-giant (a race not held in high 
repute). Dumbledore not only allows Hagrid to remain  as  
Groundskeeper, but later allows him to take on a teaching position, 
(something in which he proves to be endearingly and predictably  
inept).  How many other places of learning today would be similarly 
flexible with their hiring?

Dumbledore also willingly "mainstreams" the young werewolf Lupin into 
Hogwarts first as a student (even creating the elaborate ruse of "the 
shrieking shack") and later as a faculty member. He is willing to put 
house elves Dobby and Winky on the payroll when he could have easily 
refused their admission.  And of course nothing makes Dumbledore more 
hated and despised around the Slytherin dorm and the Malfoy estate 
than his Muggle and Mudblood-loving tendencies. In the words of Draco 
Malfoy, "Father's always said old Dumbledore's the worst thing that's 
ever happened to this place. He loves Muggle-borns. A
decent headmaster would never've let slime like that Creevey in." 
(CoS, Ch. 13)

Dumbledore's tolerance extends to individuals as well: his staff 
consists of out and out frauds such as Lockhart, sweet incompetents 
like Hagrid, sinister incompetents like Quirrell, as well as grumps 
and petty tyrants like Snape and Filch. He seems as amused as any 
student over the antics of Fred and George. Dumbledore seems to be 
willing to give everyone a chance, both groups and individuals. 
Hagrid says of Dumbledore that he "
trusts people, he does. Gives `em 
second chances."  (GoF, Ch. 24) Everyone he hires at Hogwarts gains 
that chance for a fresh start; some are able to use that opportunity 
more or less successfully (Hagrid, Snape, Lupin), while others fail 
(Lockhart, Quirrell).  But as CS Lewis' Screwtape said of "The 
Enemy,"  "He wants them to learn to walk and therefore must take away 
His hand; and if only the will to walk is really there, He is pleased 
even with their stumbles"

WILD ABOUT HARRY 

Good luck with the third task
            - Dumbledore, GoF, Chap. 30 

At least from the day that he gently deposits Harry at the Dursley's 
doorstep (but probably before that), Dumbledore has maintained an 
intense interest in Harry.  One of Book Five's many revelations will 
no doubt include Arabella Figg: it would be my guess that she was 
specifically placed near Privet Drive by Dumbledore to keep tabs on 
Harry.  A very interesting commentary on Dumbledore's refusal to 
share information, if Hagrid showed up at the Dursley's expecting a 
fully-informed Harry.  And of course Hagrid himself no doubt serves 
Dumbledore as a conduit of information regarding Harry. And there are 
many others who keep Dumbledore informed. We learn in GoF from Mr. 
Ollivander that he notified Dumbledore as soon as Harry purchased his 
wand. We learn that Sirius Black is in regular correspondence with 
Dumbledore, and my guess is that Buckbeak is probably not their No. 1 
topic of conversation. 

Dumbledore first meets Harry one-on-one at the Mirror of Erised 
(HP/SS, Ch. 11). Harry is somewhat slow to fully trust Dumbledore, 
and even in CoS (Ch. 12), he hesitates to tell Dumbledore about the 
disembodied voices he hears. But by the final chapter of CoS, when he 
is able to share his fears about the Sorting Hat and Slytherin, 
Dumbledore's response is a genuine epiphany for him. He learns that 
he has the ability to make meaningful moral choices, and it was that 
decision alone which placed him in Gryffindor. No wonder Harry felt 
stunned! At the end of PoA, when Harry despairs that his mistakes 
allowed Wormtail to return to Voldemort, Dumbledore (no doubt in the 
belief that Voldemort was returning one way or the other no matter 
what) reassures him by connecting the event to the larger world  of 
magic "Pettigrew owes his life to you. You have sent Voldemort a 
deputy who is in your debt.... When one wizard saves another wizard's 
life, it creates a certain bond between them... and I'm much mistaken 
if Voldemort wants his servant in the debt of Harry Potter." By 
confiding his fears in Dumbledore  - the appearance of Prongs as his 
Patronus, the pain from his scar, etc., Dumbledore can usually 
provide an answer, or point toward a resolution.

                      BARTLETT'S FAMILIAR

And it is always Dumbledore who  - at the end of the story – provides 
Harry with the Meaning Of It All, in  a concise and elegant epigram. 
This more sententious side of Dumbledore can (and has been) easily 
parodied. Yet we can scarcely deny the aptness or the wisdom of these 
axioms

"As much money and life as you could want - the two things most human 
beings would choose above all.  The trouble is that humans do have a 
knack for choosing precisely those things that are worst for them."  
(HP/SS, Ch. 17)
 
"There are all kinds of courage.  It takes a great deal of bravery to 
stand up to our enemies - but it takes just as much to stand up to 
our friends."  (HP/SS, Ch. 17)
  
"It's our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our 
abilities."
 (CoS, Ch 18)  
 
"You think the dead we love ever truly leave us?  You think that we 
don't recall them more clearly than ever in times of great trouble?  
Your father is alive in you, Harry, and shows himself most plainly 
when you are in need of him." (PoA, Ch 22)

"We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are 
divided."."Differences of habit and language are nothing if  our aims 
are identical and our hearts are open."
 (GoF, Ch 37)
 
OTOH, we do have to take some of his adages  with a grain of 
salt "Curiosity is not a sin, but we should exercise caution with our 
curiosity."  (GoF Ch 30) is not especially convincing from a man who 
gives away Invisibility Cloaks. 

WHAT DID DUMBLEDORE KNOW AND WHEN DID HE KNOW IT?

Dumbledore already knows you're here, Harry - doesn't miss a trick, 
that man.
           - Arthur Weasley, CoS, Ch. 4

Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself
           - Dumbledore, HP/SS, Ch. 1

Dumbledore is seen by some readers of the JKR novels as a fatigued 
over-the-hill wizard well past his prime. Sister Mary Lunatic ably 
sums up this view in an HP4GU essay "Can WE Believe in Dumbledore?," 
posted  on February 3 "I find Dumbledore very fallible and sometimes 
frighteningly ineffective  He provides Harry and the others with many 
opportunities to make fatal mistakes, for example: giving an 11-year-
old boy an invisibility cloak, allowing detentions to be spent in the 
Forbidden Forest at midnight, letting Harry and Hermione play with 
time in an effort to rescue Buckbeak and Sirius, failing to prevent 
the Dementors from entering Hogwarts on two occasions (once when they 
came to get Sirius, and again when they came to get Barty Crouch 
Jr.) . He also fails to spot the impostor Moody during an entire 
school year, and fails to prevent Voldemort from kidnapping Harry 
right out from under his nose at the end of Goblet of Fire.  Again, a 
VERY fallible Dumbledore. Perhaps he has been lulled into 
carelessness by the preceding decade of peace.   If Dumbledore  is 
such a great wizard, why didn't he know what was happening?"

 But Sister Mary also briefly considers a second possibility. "Or 
worse, DID he  know, and left Harry to deal with it because it was 
good training?"  Except for the leaving out the "or worse," this is 
the interpretation of Dumbledore that I favor.  I believe that 
Dumbledore always expected to face Voldemort again.  Dumbledore, for 
reasons which will no doubt be fully explained later, believes that 
Harry is predestined to be the instrument of Voldemort's final 
destruction, and thereby restore peace and harmony to the Wizard 
world.  In order to guide him toward this destiny, Dumbledore must 
think in strategic terms.  This entails a certain necessary degree of 
cold-bloodedness of his part. If crushing Voldemort requires leaving 
Harry in an abusive Muggles home for 10 years when every sentiment 
would have demanded placing him in a supportive loving Wizard home: 
then so be it.   "Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on 
yourself"  

His presentation of invisibility cloak to Harry is similarly intended 
to give him an extra impetus to explore his new habitat unbound by 
the restraints imposed upon other first-years. Thanks to Dumbledore, 
Harry gains permission to play Quidditch, which our ever self-
deprecating hero will nevertheless acknowledge as "the only thing I'm 
good at." Harry is, with Dumbledore's tacit or (in PoA) explicit 
approval, sent out to do battle with the Dark Forces in the climax of 
every book.   But Dumbledore does more than to simply serve as 
cheerleader. Somehow, he is magically watching over Harry even in the 
direst straits.  When he is temporarily dismissed as Headmaster via 
the machinations of Lucius Malfoy, Dumbledore says "You will find 
that I will only truly have left this school when none here are loyal 
to me. You will also find that help will always be given at Hogwarts 
to those who ask for it. (CoS, Ch. 14). When Harry invokes the name 
of Dumbledore in the Chamber of Secrets, he is saved. "You must have 
shown me real loyalty down in the Chamber. Nothing but that could 
have called Fawkes to you." (CoS, Ch. 19).

The second theory doesn't necessarily mean that Dumbledore "knows" 
everything – but it does suggest that he too practices "constant 
vigilance," and is prepared for every encroachment of the Dark Lord.

Questions

1. We all remember the chilling scene in GoF, when Barty Crouch Jr. 
explains to Harry how each of his actions as Moody was coldly 
calculated to advance Voldemort's agenda.  Will there someday be a 
parallel scene where Dumbledore will explain his own coldly 
calculated behind-the-scenes maneuverings to Harry? 

2. Dumbledore, Harry and Fawkes. Elderly man, young man and bird. Any 
similar trinities come to mind?

3.Will Dumbledore survive the series? Will he hang in there until 
Book Seven, or perish earlier? Will be die with harness on his back, 
like good king Macbeth, or peacefully in his bed? 

4. If Dumbledore dies, who will succeed him as Headmaster? 

5. Voldy loves nothing more than to talk about himself (see Chapters 
32-34 in GoF).   By contrast, most of what we know of Dumbledore's 
past was on the back of a trading card.  What is the significance of 
Dumbledore's consistent refusal to talk about himself?

6. How did Dumbledore defeat the Dark Wizard Grindelwald?

7. In the passage describing his physical appearance, it is said that 
Dumbledore's  nose looks to have broken twice. Did Dumbledore play 
Quidditch as a younger man? 

8. Did Dumbledore really forget to shut the door on the Pensive? Or 
did he mean for Harry to find it?  Does the flashback to the Crouch 
trial suggest that Dumbledore was considering the possibility that 
Crouch might be lurking about? 

9. "I did hear an excellent one over the summer about a troll, a hag, 
and a leprechaun who all go into a bar

"  Does anyone know how the 
rest of the story goes?

10. Dumbledore tells Harry that the one thing Voldemort cannot 
understand is love.  Does Dumbledore understand love?  How does he 
demonstrate (or fail to demonstrate) it? 

11. Does Dumbledore really have a brother Aberforth? And how does 
cast an inappropriate charm on a goat? (And please remember this a 
family-oriented chat group).