Wednesday, February 8, 2012

What happened to Albus Dumbledore?

Albus Dumbledore was probably one of the best characters in the Harry Potter series. He was a mentor/teacher, a brother, and a friend. He was smart, clever, wise, and altogether brilliant. That's why when we (the on the edge of our seats, Harry Potter lovers/audience) were shocked by the accusations made about his past, and the fact that he could possibly be one of those "for the greater good" wizards. You know, as in a believer in wizards ruling over Muggles. Or the fact that he allowed his squib sister to be locked up in the basement of his home by his mother. 

The young Albus Dumbledore was a brilliant student, respected and loved by his peers, which isn't that from how it was for him when he was older. His love for Muggles was very obvious to everyone, so it was quite a shock to read his letter to Grindelwald about how they should go about taking over the Muggles. We see throughout the seventh book, Harry questions his faith in Dumbledore and whether he really knew him. But Harry really shouldn't be judging Dumbledore for something he did when he was younger. When we're young, we make stupid and foolish choices that we later come to regret.  We've all done something when we were younger that we regret and ask ourselves,"Why did I do that?"

 Dumbledore is no exception. Harry seems most frustrated with the fact that he knew really nothing about Dumbledore and that he had put all of his faith into him. We all mess up in life. We all make decisions that we later regret, so why should Harry act like Dumbledore is any different. Should we really judge Dumbledore for his decisions as a young man or should we realize that everyone makes mistakes and just except Dumbledore as the lovable old man we knew him as?



5 comments:

  1. I do. I always think of him as the old headmaster, but he says it himself--its our choices who make us who we really are. Our choices--as in his to be for the Dark Arts. I suppose that becoming pro-muggle later on could repair that, but its always hard t let go of the past. Don't criticize Harry too much. He's an overstressed teen trying to deal with matters far greater than himself. Decisions are difficult.

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    1. That is true, but Harry just seems overly critical of Dumbledore in my opinion.

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    2. Well I suppose I can't really blame him for being critical. The entire time he's lived in the wizarding world he has held Dumbledore on a giant pedestal of "goodness" and what he believes is right. And then to discover that one of the few people you looked up to and loved had some dark past that stood against everything they fought for would be an insanely heavy load. Not to mention Harry has to worry about saving the world! I think Harry is definitely justified to be a bit angry and feel betrayed. I know I would, if I was put into his position.
      And you must remember that in the end, when Harry grows up he realizes that Dumbledore has committed mistakes and he came to terms with that. You can see this because he even names his second child after him.

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    3. Taylor: (I couldn't figure out how to reply to you specifically) It's not just Harry, it's EVERYONE who's critical. I personally thought that Harry was more of a supporter of Dumbledore, at least in some parts. He didn't want to believe that Dumbledore said the things that he said.

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    4. I agree with Micah. Harry always saw Dumbledore as a leader, someone who shared many things with him. I mean Dumbledore was the one who sen him on the mission the destroy all the horcruxs! And Harry was kind of shocked and angry when he heard the things that Dumbledore hadn't told him. He had learned so much from Dumbledore, had so many secrets with him that when Harry heard these rumors he believed them! And later in the book Harry starts to understand
      Wait this isn't true Dumbledore made some mistakes when he was young but everyone does!
      And even if Dumbledore hadn't given Harry the mission step by step he was only helping him grow as a wizard. And become a type of young Dumbledore

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