Characters' pasts and Dumbledore's future

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 126862


Lupinlore:
> And yet Dumbledore, one of the most important characters of the 
> series, has a past of which we know little.  Is this to set him 
> apart?  To let him "float above" the kind of entanglements with 
which 
> other characters wrestle?
> 
> Or is his past simply yet to be revealed?  Is the humanizing of 
> Dumbledore in OOTP a prelude to further revelations that will 
bring 
> him, in this regard, more in line with the other characters?
> 
> Personally, I lean toward the latter, but what does everyone else 
> think?

Jen: On one hand JKR has used DD for a very specific purpose so far: 
He is the actor behind the scenes who brought Harry to this 
juncture, and his purpose may therefore be ending. OTOH, there could 
be a future for his role that only his back story can explain. For 
instance if Dumbledore is the HBP, we might hear how he came to be 
the 'champion' of muggle-borns and the disenfranchised groups of the 
WW population. He's such a different character from the others in 
how he views the WW, mainly because he views it within the context 
of the larger world. How Dumbledore became that person, given the 
confines of the WW, could be important information for Harry's next 
struggle and so we would hear the story.

There is some weight to the idea that Dumbledore will be important 
in Book 6, given the alchemical references in the series. If OOTP 
was the first stage or nigredo stage in the series, symbolized by 
the dissolution (death) of Black, then the next step in the 
alchemical process is the albedo stage or the stage of purification, 
represented by Albus Dumbledore.* 

My extrapolation is that Harry must pass through the stage of 
relying on Dumbledore's explanations and plans in Book 6. This could 
mean a literal death of DD, or a figurative one for Harry. We've 
already seen those moments when Dumbledore is 'dying' to Harry in 
the sense of viewing him as omnipotent. Like this moment in POA:

"Harry stared up into the grave face and felt as though the ground 
beneath him were falling sharply away. He had grown used to the idea 
that Dumbledore could solve anything. He had expected Dumbledore to 
pull some amazing solution out of the air. But no...their last hope 
was gone." (POA, US, Hermione's Secret).

The turn of events in Book 6 could come from Harry realizing DD's 
interpretation of the prophecy is misleading or outright wrong. It 
could be that Harry merely makes a choice to rely less and less on 
DD for the 'answers' as he has in the past. Possibly DD will 
actually die. 

I would sorely love to hear Dumbledore's back story, but waver on 
whether this is in the cards. Just as with more information on the 
Marauder generation, it may just not be important to the larger 
story.

Jen

*Reference for this info is an article by John Granger
http://www.touchstonemag.com/docs/issues/16.9docs/16-9pg34.html