Every Harry Potter fan... is left with a sense that there's a lot more to the saga. No worries, leave it to Irvin Khaytman... to present this carefully researched and brilliantly written walk through all seven novels, laying out a very plausible scenario for what Dumbledore knew and when.
—Steve Vander Ark, The Harry Potter Lexicon,
In Search of Harry Potter
Between his deep understanding of the Harry Potter series and his excellent writing skills, Irvin's "The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore" is a must-read for Harry Potter fans. The book impressively explores the most fascinating character in the series. Get ready to see Dumbledore in a whole new light.
—Andrew Sims, Hypable.com, MuggleCast
Dumbledore: greatest of teachers or Machiavellian schemer? Irvin Khaytman reconciles these aspects of the character through an investigation of Dumbledore's final years, particularly his last great project: the race to identify and destroy Voldemort's Horcruxes... If your understanding of love, death, and goodness have been influenced by these stories—if you're part of the Harry Potter generation—then this book is for you.
—Lorrie Kim, SNAPE: A Definitive Reading
Potterheads rejoice! Longtime Harry Potter fan Irvin Khaytman has provided a deep investigation of all things Albus Dumbledore in his new book... The intense scrutiny provided here helps us see the entirety of Dumbledore’s character. Khaytman pays Dumbledore the greatest compliment of all: the proof that he was human after all.
—Cathy Leogrande, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Education, Le Moyne College, Syracuse NY
Irvin Khaytman provides a thorough analysis of Albus Dumbledore's history, intentions, and plans throughout the series. The reading will make you want to reread the series again and allow you to feel a sense of connection with the characters.
—Janina Scarlet, Ph.D., Harry Potter Therapy: An Unauthorized Self-Help Book from the Restricted Section
An engaging, in-depth, comprehensive and unique examination of one of J.K. Rowling's most enigmatic stars. Its premise and execution has the polish and power of an academic dissertation while being an extremely accessible, enjoyable read. [...] This book is an impetus to engage further with a dynamic, enthusiastic global community who knows that books and love are the most powerful magic of all.
—Leanna Renee Hieber, Darker Still,
the Strangely Beautiful saga
I’d like to venture this might be the most fun you’ll ever have reading a book of critical essays. Like Dumbledore himself, this book is both insightful and delightful and written with an abundance of charm, intelligence and a great deal of love for Harry Potter. I’ve reread the HP series probably around a dozen times, and this presented me with theories I had never considered before.
—Sarvenaz Tash,
The Geek’s Guide to Unrequited Love
Copyright 2018 by Irvin Khaytman
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
For permission requests, write to the author at [email protected]
Cover Design: Irvin Khaytman, Copyright ©2018
Portrait of Dumbledore (cover) by Sheila Simmons.
Photo of author by G. M. Courtemanche.
Ordering Information:
Quantity sales. Special discounts are available on quantity purchases by corporations, associations, and others. For details, contact the publisher at [email protected].
The Life and Lies of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore/ Khaytman, Irvin.—2nd ed.
ISBN: 978-1-7335141-1-8
Library of Congress Control Number: 2019900922
www.lifeandliesofdumbledore.com
CONTENTS
Dedication
Author’s Note
Introduction
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Epilogue: Judging Dumbledore
Appendix A: The Timeline
Appendix B: Dumbledore’s Most Puzzling Lie
Appendix C: Dumbledore as Death
Bibliography
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Dedication
Dedicated to the memory of my dad, who nurtured the beginnings of my love for writing and for Harry Potter.
And to my Harry Potter family, The Group That Shall Not Be Named, who have kept that love alive all these years.
Author’s Note
The Harry Potter fandom is an extraordinary thing—in its breadth, its longevity, and its boundless ingenuity. This is a book first and foremost for the fandom, by a fan. Consequently, it will use a host of jargon developed by the fandom over the last twenty years: abbreviations, portmanteaus, and clever nicknames. While most of them are hopefully self-evident, below is a list of abbreviations frequently used in this book.
There was also a choice to be made about what to call the author of Harry Potter throughout the text. Joanne Rowling has had a closer relationship with her readers than most authors who came before her, and her readers engaged with the material more than most readers had before. One of the things the fandom had to decide relatively early on was what to call her given how often we referred to her—“Rowling,” “JKR,” or something else.
The question was resolved when she launched her official website in mid-May 2004 and signed the welcome message "With love from J.K. Rowling (Jo to you)." The fansite MuggleNet immediately adopted the convention of calling her “Jo,” “because she said to.” The entire HP fandom followed suit, and the convention has stuck ever since. I am going to stick with that convention in this book—who am I to argue with the author’s chosen name?
Not to mention, it feels pretty good to be on first-name terms with someone like Jo!
Fandom Terminology
Books
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone: Book 1, Book One, SS, 1991-1992, first year
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: Book 2, Book Two, CS, CoS, 1992-1993, second year
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: Book 3, Book Three, PA, PoA, 1993-1994, third year
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Book 4, Book Four, GF, GoF, 1994-1995, fourth year
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: Book 5, Book Five, OP, OotP, 1995-1996, fifth year
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: Book 6, Book Six, HBP, 1996-1997, sixth year
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Book 7, Book Seven, DH, 1997-1998, seventh year
- The Tales of Beedle the Bard: TBB
- Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: FB
- Quidditch through the Ages: QA
The Battles
- Battle of the Department of Mysteries—climax of Order of the Phoenix
- Battle of the Tower—climax of Half-Blood Prince
- Battle of the Seven Potters—the aerial battle to get Harry out of Privet Drive in Deathly Hallows
- Battle of Hogwarts—the final battle in Deathly Hallows
The stages of Voldemort. (Please note that “Voldemort” will often be used interchangeably with most of them, unless the context matters.)
- Tom Riddle—when he’s young, up until the murder of Hepzibah Smit
h, give or take
- Vapormort—when he’s “less than the meanest ghost” after the rebounding Avada Kedavra destroys his body
- Quirrellmort—when he’s possessing Quirrell
- Babymort—when he has a “rudimentary body” in Goblet of Fire
- Voldy—when discussing Peeves’s musical stylings, or when he feels cuddly
The Horcruxes, in order of creation
- Diarycrux—Tom Riddle’s diary, destroyed by Harry in CoS
- Locketcrux—Slytherin’s locket, destroyed by Ron in DH after a very convoluted history
- Ringcrux—Peverell ring (a.k.a. Resurrection Stone), destroyed by Dumbledore between OotP and HBP
- Cupcrux—Hufflepuff’s cup, destroyed by Hermione in DH
- Diademcrux—Ravenclaw’s diadem, destroyed by Crabbe’s Fiendfyre in DH
- Scarcrux—Harry’s lightning-bolt scar, destroyed by Voldemort’s Killing Curse in DH
- Nagini—Voldemort’s pet snake, destroyed by Neville in DH
Referring to events by chapter title
- “The Prince’s Tale” (DH)—the twenty memories of Snape’s that Harry views in the Pensieve
- “Snape’s Worst Memory” (OP)—the memory of Snape’s that Harry views in the Pensieve after an Occlumency lesson, when a teenage Snape called Lily a “Mudblood”
- “King’s Cross” (DH)—Harry’s discussion with Dumbledore in DH after he’s been hit with a Killing Curse
- “The Egg and the Eye” (GF)—the congregation of Snape, Filch, Mrs. Norris, Crouch Jr. masquerading as Moody, and Harry under the Invisibility Cloak after Harry goes bathing with his Triwizard egg
- “Padfoot Returns” (GF)—the Trio’s meeting with Sirius in Hogsmeade after the Second Task, where they discuss all the mysterious goings-on surrounding the Triwizard Tournament
- “The Madness of Mr. Crouch” (GF)—when a crazy Mr. Crouch shows up at Hogwarts, presents himself to Harry and Viktor Krum, asks for Dumbledore, and then mysteriously disappears (murdered by his son)
Online Resources
The following are the Harry Potter websites frequently mentioned in the text as sources for quotes or ideas; below is some context for each.
Jkrowling.com—Jo’s official website from 2004 to 2012, where she would leave puzzles for fans to solve, answer FAQs, dispel rumors, and reveal things like book titles. This was one of the best sources for apocrypha, given that the information came as the books were still being written, and Jo was very meticulous about what she wrote.
MuggleNet.com—Founded in 1999 by Emerson Spartz, MuggleNet was one of the leading HP fansites for the entirety of the Potter fandom. It was most renowned for its editorials, which even Jo mentioned when giving them their fansite award: “. . . wonderful editorials (more insight there than in several companion volumes I shall not name).” Some of the more frequent contributors to the editorial section became regular columnists.
The Leaky Cauldron (the-leaky-cauldron.org, aka Leaky)—The other big fansite of Potter’s heyday, Leaky, was launched in 2000. In 2006, Leaky launched their own essay initiative called Scribbulus, which had monthly “issues” of a handful of essays, often focusing on a particular topic or prompt.
The Harry Potter Lexicon (hp-lexicon.org)—The Lexicon is the supreme online reference tool for Potter canon. Founded in 2000 by Steve Vander Ark, the Lexicon was especially lauded for its painstakingly researched timeline (which was coopted by WB for one of the DVDs). There was also an essay section, which aged well because it was more concerned with parsing the details of the books than with predicting future books.
The Harry Potter Companion (hp-companion.com/)—The HP Companion was launched by a former Lexicon editor, Josie Kearns, in 2009. It is first and foremost a fanart website, presenting fanart for each chapter in the Harry Potter books. However, after all the fanart, Josie Kearns would provide some commentary about each chapter, which spurred very active fan discussions. There’s also a small essay section, all written by Josie Kearns, notable for coming after Deathly Hallows when most book discussion had quieted.
Should you wish to follow any of the online links provided in the text, they are all provided for your convenience on this book’s official website, LifeAndLiesOfDumbledore.com.
Introduction
“There have been about a hundred books written on what Dumbledore knew, how he knew it or why he did what he did.”
—Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, page 263
We in the Muggle world are not privy to all those books, so this is my attempt to write one. There are many incredible characters in the Harry Potter series, but none has fascinated me as much over the years as Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. He is, in many ways, a contradiction: the greatest champion of love, yet a ruthless Machiavellian; seemingly omniscient, yet often making mistakes.
Much like Harry, I revered Dumbledore as the embodiment of all that is good for a solid six and a half books. Then, it turned out Dumbledore was using Harry, “raising him like a pig for slaughter.” (DH687) I reread the series half a dozen times after Deathly Hallows came out, and I could never reconcile the two. Every time, I would be suckered into loving Dumbledore and would cry at his death; every time, I felt the sting of betrayal in The Prince’s Tale and grew furious with him. Once the reread was done, I faced a conundrum: do I view Dumbledore as a saint-like father figure or as cold-hearted and calculating?
To make sense of it all, I embarked upon a mission to unravel just what Dumbledore was up to in the last year of his life: what his plans were and where they went awry. It was quite the undertaking, but it allowed me to make my peace with Dumbledore. As a columnist for the fansite MuggleNet, it was not long before I turned to the earlier books and started the same exercise with each. Sorcerer’s Stone. Prisoner of Azkaban. Every book I turned to, every part of the story, had Dumbledore pulling the strings behind the scenes. Every odd coincidence and puzzling decision could be explained logically.
I kept writing essays. I started giving presentations at fan conventions. Now, it is time to bring it all together into one coherent narrative. I did my best to follow events chronologically, bringing all my essays together to provide the full story of what Dumbledore was up to during Harry’s seven years at Hogwarts. I will present what Dumbledore was doing throughout those years, and only at the end (once we have a better understanding of his actions), will I tackle his character.
I do not claim this to be the definitive story of Dumbledore. Because it’s all happening behind the scenes—precisely what makes it all so fascinating—there is a lot of conjecture involved. Assumptions are made, leaps are required, and what I consider the only logical conclusion you may consider poppycock. The astute reader is encouraged to read this book and challenge every bit of it. Every single time I’ve presented about Dumbledore, a panel attendee has made a brilliant point that opened my eyes to something new.
I am by no means the first to analyze Dumbledore’s machinations—I owe a debt of gratitude to many exceedingly clever Harry Potter fans. While I cannot recall every essay I’ve read on MuggleNet and other websites since 2003, I will highlight some of the most interesting ones in the bibliography. However, I owe a huge debt of gratitude to two writers in particular who have continued to analyze Dumbledore after Deathly Hallows was released. I very often disagree with their conclusions, but I love examining their reasoning and engaging in the debate. They will be referenced directly in the text, because I’ve no wish to claim credit for others’ ideas.
First, thanks to mirrormere, whose 2011 essay, “The Flaw in the Plan,” first fired in me the desire to analyze Dumbledore’s actions.
The biggest debt of all, though, is owed to Josie Kearns, whose essays at the HP Companion, which analyzed the behind-the-scenes of the HP books, were always thought-provoking and often unassailable—on some issues, I disagree with her; on others I just provide concurring opinions and flesh them out.
A note on sources: this book concerns i
tself with the seven Harry Potter novels (page references are to US paperbacks). I will often take J.K. Rowling’s words in interviews and her websites to clarify parts of the books that would be murky otherwise. But this book won’t engage with other sources of potential canon (whether you acknowledge them as such or not): Pottermore, Cursed Child, Fantastic Beasts, etc., do not apply.
So, to Dumbledore.
The series opens with him calling the shots right away in a manner very indicative of how the whole series operates. Hours after an incident occurs (the murder of Lily and James Potter), Dumbledore has a plan in motion to respond. This plan utilizes some arcane magic with which almost no other wizard is familiar: the bond of familial love between the Evans sisters, however strained that relationship was.
And right away, we see Dumbledore covering it up in half-truths: he tells McGonagall that Harry is going to the Dursleys purely to escape his own celebrity. We will come to see this as classic Dumbledore: plausible, even somewhat true, but nowhere near the whole truth. In fact, less charitable readers might call Dumbledore a hypocrite on the subject of honesty. He tells his students, “It is my belief, however, that the truth is generally preferable to lies.” (GF722)
Further setting the pattern for the series, McGonagall defers to Dumbledore almost without question. Dumbledore has absolute loyalty from most people on the side of good and is not afraid to use it.
Harry is left with the Dursleys, and Dumbledore has a decade of respite, locking up Death Eaters, rebuilding the wizarding world, and generally not focusing too much on Harry or Voldemort. But in the back of his mind, he knows that eventually the two will have to face off. He keeps tabs on both and perhaps starts brainstorming. But Dumbledore does not have all the information here.
This is a very important point: what Dumbledore knows and when he knows it is as important to figure out as what he was planning and how it went wrong. Many fans operate under the assumption, created by Harry in Sorcerer’s Stone, that Dumbledore is magically omniscient. He is nothing of the sort—he just has a lot of knowledge and an incredibly impressive analytical mind. We will see both at work throughout this book.
The Life and Lies of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore Page 1
