Dumbledor

An illustration of a typical scholar dumbledor, wearing simple trimmed robes.

### Distinctions

Large, translucent wings, soft and thick fur, three pointed grabbers at the end of each leg, retractable stinger

## Sociocultural characteristics

### Language

Youmyi, though many are capable of "speaking" English through magic

## Overview

**Dumbledores** (singular **dumbledor**, taxonomically ***Bombus nobilis***) are a species of giant, highly intelligent bees within the genus Bombus, originating from their homeworld Cora. Dumbledores appear to be most closely related to the buff-tailed bumblebee, though the dumbledor is so genetically distinct from all its relatives, the similarities it shares with the buff-tailed bumblebee appear ultimately inconsequential. Additionally, the dumbledor shares characteristics with bees of the genus Apis, including hive building and honey production. The dumbledor evolved in conjunction with several species of giant flower, the most prominent of which are species of starflower and burlybear, as without these giant flowers, a bee of such size as the dumbledor would not have a sufficient food source on which to sustain itself.

The dumbledor is unique from all other bees in many ways, from the obvious (superior intellect, dramatically larger size), to the subtle (thicker and softer fur, smaller and rounder faces, quieter wings). Due to the dumbledor’s superior intellectual capacity, the species is known to form complex societal structures similar to those of humans (dumbledorian scholars note that early dumbledores observed humans and are thought to have structured their society similarly, and early dumbledorian scholars such as Oubwey frequently cooperated with humans in their studies). These societies invariably value arts, including theatre, visual art such as painting, and music, as well as scholarly pursuits, most notably devoted research, though popular fields of study vary between cultures and times (though magical studies maintain fair popularity mostly everywhere). Their natural peacefulness and contemplative nature earned them their taxonomic name, noble bumblebee (or, noble drone).

### Society

Dumbledores are social beings by nature, highly so but not quite so highly as humans. Their society is greatly evolved from the nest colonies from which they originated, but some similarities remain, most notably their continued collection of nectar and creation of honey, which all members of dumbledorian society continue to perform. Their society is based on cooperation and harmony, and due to their low requirements for comfortable living (merely a nest and food) these core tenets of society are easily upheld. Dumbledorian groups range from brotherhood (a group of three or more male dumbledores willfully bound by shared pursuits or affections, typically but not always of the same colony) to alliance (a grouping of two or more brotherhoods) to colony (the offspring of a single queen) to colonial unit (a grouping of two or more queens and their colonies, typically not exceeding five queens - typically, a dumbledorian city will comprise a single colonial unit) to nation (a grouping of two or more colonial units).

Dumbledorian instinct provides that, though cultures between groups vary, enough similarity exists between them that cultural dispute is unheard of within dumbledorian society. Much of dumbledorian culture is perpetuated through social learning, a trait which is also observed (albeit to a lesser extent) in the buff-tailed bumblebee, which learns how to most effectively gather nectar by observing elder colony members. The dumbledor reaches adolescence at the age of eight years and, though certain cultures may have differing views on reaching adulthood (for instance, the Ouwou poet nation considers an adolescent’s growth into adulthood to be characterized by his shift from desiring to write poetry for the purpose of sharing with others to desiring to write poetry for the sake of the art, whereas the Youmyiuwey, as a multidisciplinary society, hold the much simpler belief that an adolescent reaches adulthood when they turn seventeen). The life expectancy of an average dumbledor is around 55 years, though queens often live through two generations, usually living to be about 103 years of age.

 Population density
 Largest cities
 Most commonly spoken languages
 Most popular religions

### Language

Unlike other bee species, the dumbledor has evolved a sophisticated vocal tract and sound producing organ known as the volynx. The anatomy of their larger, stouter, rounder heads allows for the possibility of hindmandible speech. Dumbledores are capable of a limited number of sounds compared to humans, and are typically only capable of producing soft sounds, with the notable exception of the *t*, a sound which the dumbledor can produce by clicking its mandibles (note that the dumbledorian *t* quite closely resembles human click consonants). The language of the dumbledorian people is known as Youmyi, the script of which contains eleven characters.

### Gender roles

As the overwhelming majority of dumbledores are male, with the only females being queens, gender roles are effectively non-existent in dumbledorian society.

### Trade and economics

The dumbledorian people are largely unconcerned with economic endeavors; however, dumbledor entrepreneurs are not unheard of. Many such dumbledores who seek entrepreneurial pursuits make their money selling specialized honeys made from the nectar of giant flowers (starflower honey alone typically accounts for just over half of dumbledorian GDP), though magic-using dumbledores are also known to run magic shops; Ouyuboumwe Bouyou is a famed dumbledorian magician and owner of Bouyou’s Oddities and Wonders, a magic shop known for frivolity.

### Body culture

Body culture is found in dumbledorian societies most commonly in the form of frons markings, which are typically used to denote a brotherhood, though this practice has fallen out of style in recent years. Clothing is not common among dumbledorian societies outside of scholarly circles, where robes are standard work wear.

### Philosophy

Philosophy is a highly regarded subject within dumbledorian society; many dumbledores hold the belief that philosophy is the father of all disciplines and that the study of philosophy leads to improvement in all other fields. In addition to schools of thought developed by other species, dumbledorian philosophers commonly study in the fields of singular processionism, cooperatism, and the individual-universal branch of vitinfinism. Cooperatism is a school of thought derived from the writings of Oubwey ca. 550OT, from which singular processionism, a more precise school following the same principles, was developed.

### Art, music, and literature

Dumbledores have been producing art since at least the OT first century. Sculpture has long been a staple of dumbledorian art, likely due to the prominence of wax sculpting in early dumbledorian society, before collaboration with other, more advanced species led to their development of more advanced techniques. Great dumbledorian artists include the sculptors Seseouwey (ca. 700OT) and Ounyiu Yiubewey (915 - 978OT), the painter Moubey Eyiuwey (ca. 750 - 800OT), and the visual artist Boulesou Moubounyiuney (488 - 525NT).

Literature is one of the most commonly practiced artforms in dumbledorian society, the most popular forms of which are poetry and theatre.