The Name Game

[dcgmck]

No: HPFGUIDX 110051

>"Amey Chinchorkar"  <sherlockholme_ac at r...> wrote:
> 
> I could not make anything out of Dumbledore
. 
> 
> Geoff:
> Dumbledore is an old name for a bumble bee. In the village where I 
> now live, one of the older cottages is called "Dumbledory"; I 
assume this is where the beekeeper lived.

dcgmck:
While many of the posts I've read on various sites generally accept 
the definition of Dumbledore as bumble bee, the ensuing discussions 
have never really satisfied me.  Inspired by Amey, I ran a few 
Internet searches on "dumble" and "dore".  

"Dumble" is a pretty elusive word, but what I've found of interest is 
not so much the Texas geologist as the brand-name association with 
amplifiers for musical instruments.  

Now, if one understands "Dumbledore" to be a golden amplifier, things 
get really interesting.  DD's clearly a master strategist, a 
canonically adept legilemens, and "the only one he (TR/LV) ever 
feared."  Despite all this, we have only only seen him engage in 
actual physical combat once in OotP and heard about his late arrival 
in PS/SS when he is helping Harry get caught up on three days' lost 
time in the hospital ward (wing?).  We hear of his dedication to his 
position as headmaster of Hogwarts and we hear from his own lips that 
precious little can pry him from his post.  The two times he is 
forced out of office (CoS, OotP), his spirit (and presumably spies) 
retain a close watch on all that is happening and he himself is 
within short hailing range.  His primary function, then, seems to be 
that of an educator, one who helps others to "amplify" their own 
potential into useful skills for future endeavors.  Unlike LV, who is 
also eager to make use of others, DD's aim is positive (golden), like 
his search for helpful uses of dragon's blood, like his co-creation 
of the philosopher's stone.

(I use the term 'golden' instead of 'gilded' because of the negative 
connotations that have crept into contemporary understanding of the 
latter term.)

Thoughts?