Dumbledore = Nicholas Flamel?

[finwitch]

No: HPFGUIDX 36333

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "brewpub44" <brewpub44 at e...> wrote:
> Ya know, I've been on this board for many months now, and I don't 
> think I've ever seen this discussed:
> 
> Is Dumbledore really Nicholas Flamel? We never see old Nick in SS, 
do 
> we? I don't know of any evidence that shows it is not true, do you?
> 
> My theory: DD is Nick. He changed his identity. The trick: first go 
> into obscurity. Notice how much trouble the kids have finding out 
who 
> Nick is? He's obviously been out of contemporary media, even if he 
> supposedly is alive. Then, wait many years, and pop back upon the 
> scene as Dumbledore. Notice no one has ever researched DD's bio in 
> any of the books. Do we even know if he went to Hogwarts? Or any 
> other school? I don't think it's even been mentioned. So he starts 
to 
> get acclaim for himself, and eventually rises to high levels of 
> prominence.

Hermione mentioned he was in Gryffindor. (I /think/ it's in Hogwarts: 
A History). Also, Tom Riddle's Diary shows Dumbledore as a younger 
man, teaching transfiguration, and the Gryffindor Head of House.
 
> Here's a quick list of the relevant anecdotes, pro & con, that I 
can 
> think of at the moment:
> 
> Dumbledore's Chocolate Frog card bio mentions he works with 
Nicholas 
> Flamel, BUT that could be just the cover story he's created.
> 
> Dumbledore battled Grindewald in 1945, this and other anecdotes 
show 
> he's quite old, BUT he could have simply sampled the fruits of 
Nick's 
> potions obtained with the Sorceror's Stone

Well - I think not.
 
> Hagrid slips up a lot in SS, but never slips about DD being Nick 
BUT 
> it is extremely likely DD is very clever about hiding that fact 
from 
> *everybody*. I doubt anyone would be old enough to know.

*except* the ghosts! Prof. Binns might have been teaching Nicholas 
Flamel!

> In Hermione's book, it talks about how Nicholas Flamel & his wife 
> Pernelle live a quiet life in Devon, BUT the book is described 
> as "very old." The quiet life bit corroborates Nick going into 
hiding 
> before re-emerging as DD, and the "very old" bit shows that Nick 
may 
> no longer even be in Devon anymore! He is definitely not mentioned 
in 
> Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry.

Maybe Voldemort or Grindelwald killed him? But - he *could* be the 
monk-ghost!
 
> At the end of SS, DD talks about the stone. "As much money and life 
> as you could want!" Now, reflect back to the Mirror of Erised. DD 
> says he only sees himself holding a pair of wool socks (which I see 
> as him being silly, not really meaning it). So if he doesn't really 
> have those desires, if he really has everything he wants, then 
isn't 
> it likely he can have as much gold as he wants, and is immortal? 
> Taking a cue from the Elves in the Lord of the Rings, nothing 
> eliminates desire like being immortal -- there's simply all the 
time 
> in the world to do whatever you want to do, kind of takes the fun 
out 
> of it.

It doesn't fit Dumbledore's character. He's reached satisfaction not 
because his desires are fulfilled, but because he has learned not to 
desire (or desire things easy to get). A man at the age of 150 or 
more - a man who's ready to die (death is the next great adventure) 
and happens to have cold feet might indeed want a pair of knitted 
socks (ones made with love, just for him) suits AD-philosophy very 
well. Knitted, self-made socks is what you give to a beloved 
grandfather, but the things AD gets: books, valuables... are things 
given to Headmaster. He misses the love. He'd like to be the beloved 
grandfather--- we do know he had a wife, but did does he have 
children/grandchildren/greatgrandchildren - at Hogwarts? Snape? 
McGonagall?

> He does talk about how Nick & Pernelle will die, AND he does seem 
> older to Harry at the end of GoF, BUT that was a very traumatic 
book, 
> so it would only make sense to look older, no matter who you are.

He's talked about how very old he is since book #1!
I don't recall him talking anything about Nick...
 
> Finally (just because I'm tired of typing), many times in the four 
> books it is insinuated that DD knows many of the "ancient magics". 
> Well, he bloody well should if he's Nicholas Flamel!

Or he just listens to the various ghosts, merpeople, centaurs and 
never stopped studying... And "ancient magics" date back to the time 
when Pharaohs ruled in Egypt IMO, before NF was even born...