Claim: Albus Dumbledore is a headmaster for a school of magic.

Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore is a fictional character in J. K. Rowling 's Harry Potter series . For most of the series , he is the headmaster of the wizarding school Hogwarts . As part of his backstory , it is revealed that he is the founder and leader of the Order of the Phoenix , an organisation dedicated to fighting Lord Voldemort .   Dumbledore is portrayed by Richard Harris in the film adaptations of Harry Potter and the Philosopher 's Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets . After Harris ' death , Michael Gambon portrayed Dumbledore for all of the remaining Harry Potter films . Jude Law will portray Dumbledore in the untitled sequel to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them .   Rowling stated she chose the name Dumbledore , which is an Early Modern English word for `` bumblebee '' , because of Dumbledore 's love of music : she imagined him walking around `` humming to himself a lot '' .