Albus Dumledore
Dumbledore is characterised as being old, benevolent, slightly
eccentric, and powerful. As such he resembles an archetypal good
wizard in the mould of Merlin or Gandalf. He is often sympathetic to
Harry Potter's difficulties. He is also the only wizard that Lord
Voldemort fears. Dumbledore also emits an aura of extreme modesty of
his magical abilities. This may be attributed to the fact that he may
feel that he is no match for Lord Voldemort, despite the Dark Lord's
fear of him. Conversely, he may just not feel it prudent to show his
true strengths. There are few occasions where Dumbledore is
straightforward about his superior magic abilities, such as when
Dolores Umbridge and Cornelius Fudge try to have him arrested, and he
replies with "Well - it's just that you seem to be labouring under the
delusion that I am going to - what is the phrase? - come quietly."
Positions held and credits :
Order of Merlin, First Class, and Grand Sorcerer;
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Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards (was
temporarily "voted out" in Order of the Phoenix but reinstated later);
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Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot.
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Known for his work in alchemy -- along with Nicholas Flamel, who is
the only known maker of the Philosopher's stone.
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Credited with discovering the 12 uses of dragon blood.
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Dumbledore enjoys ten-pin bowling and chamber music.
Albus Dumbledore has a brother called Aberforth who was prosecuted for
practising inappropriate charms on a goat and may be illiterate. The
theory that Aberforth may be the bartender at the Hog's Head Inn in
Hogsmeade has been confirmed by Rowling.
Dumbledore entered Hogwarts around 1856. He was sorted into Gryffindor
House and later became the Transfiguration teacher at Hogwarts.
Incidentally, the wand cores of both Harry Potter's and Lord
Voldemort's wands come from the tail feathers of Dumbledore's pet
phoenix Fawkes who shares a bond with Dumbledore. It has also been
established by the author that Dumbledore's Patronus is in the form of
a phoenix.
In the early 1940s, the Chamber of Secrets was opened. When a student
named Myrtle was killed, the school was almost closed; however, Tom
Riddle accused Hagrid of opening the Chamber and thus caused the
authorities to believe that, with the neutralisation of Hagrid, the
school could remain open. Dumbledore was the only one who seemed to
think Hagrid was innocent, and while Hagrid was expelled and his wand
broken in two, with Dumbledore's help he remained at Hogwarts as the
gamekeeper.
In 1945 Dumbledore defeated the dark wizard Grindelwald (which
curiously co-incides with the end of World War II), and before
approximately 1970, he became headmaster.
That year a werewolf named Remus Lupin came to Hogwarts. Most
headmasters would never have allowed a werewolf into Hogwarts, but
Dumbledore thought that as long as special precautions were taken,
there was no reason why Lupin should not attend.
The 1970s were the dark years when Voldemort was in power. Voldemort
was Tom Riddle, who had been a student of Dumbledore's years earlier.
Dumbledore was working tirelessly against Voldemort as a member of The
Order of the Phoenix .
In 1980, Sibyll Trelawney applied to become the new divination
teacher. Dumbledore hired her when she made a prophecy about
Voldemort's fall. Two prominent members of the Order of the Phoenix ,
Lily and James Potter, knew that Voldemort was after them.
Lily and James went into hiding, using the Fidelius Charm, but were
betrayed by their Secret-Keeper - Peter Pettigrew - and killed by
Voldemort; when Voldemort turned his wand on their one-year-old son,
Harry, however, the curse miraculously bounced off of him and back
onto Voldemort, reducing him to a mere shadow of his former self. To
keep the now-orphaned Harry safe, Dumbledore placed him in the safe
keeping of Vernon and Petunia Dursley, his mother's sister and her
husband. This was because Dumbledore did not want the fame of being
"the boy who lived" to get to Harry's head, and because there he had
placed a spell using the special protection of his mother's sacrifice.
As long as Harry was in a shelter where his mother's blood remained,
he would be safe from any attacks (while Voldemort was no longer a
threat, his Death Eaters were still at large, desperate and seeking
revenge, as evidenced in their attacks on Frank and Alice Longbottom).
In 1994, the servant of Voldemort (Peter Pettigrew) escaped, and the
next year Voldemort rose again. Dumbledore then re-founded the Order
of the Phoenix .
Dumbledore was twice dismissed from his position as Headmaster: During
Harry's second year at Hogwarts, Lucius Malfoy "persuaded" the twelve
governors of the school to vote for his dismissal as more and more
attacks were occurring (a basilisk was petrifying people in the
school). In Harry's fifth year, Harry and other students organised a
club called "Dumbledore's Army". When Dolores Umbridge discovered it,
Albus Dumbledore took responsibility for its creation in order to
protect Harry Potter and the other students -- but he refused to be
arrested, and escaped after Stunning all the Ministry employees in the
room. At the end of the school year, when Voldemort's return was
proven, he was reinstated (after Dolores Umbridge was chased out of
the school, of course).
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