Albus Dumbledore

## Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore

Dumbledore (c.1994)

 International Confederation of Wizards

**Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore**, O.M. (First Class), Grand Sorc., D. Wiz., X.J. (sorc.), S. of Mag.Q. (b. 18 August 1881) was an English half-blood wizard, who was the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor, later the Transfiguration Professor, and later the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Professor Dumbledore also served as Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards (1965–1995) and Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot (1967–1995). He was a half-blood, Muggle-supporting wizard considered to have been the greatest wizard of modern times, perhaps of all time. The son of Percival and Kendra Dumbledore, and the elder brother of Aberforth and Ariana. His father died in Azkaban when Dumbledore was young, while his mother and sister were later accidentally killed. His early losses greatly affected him early on, even at his death, but, in turn, made him a better person.

While initially unable to directly act against Gellert Grindelwald, due to their past Blood pact, the Ministry's surveillance of him, his lingering feelings of love toward Grindelwald, and his lingering guilt over Ariana's death, Dumbledore sent Newt Scamander to New York to release the Thunderbird Frank, and later sent Newt to Paris to rescue Credence Barebone. After the tragic death of Leta Lestrange in Paris, Dumbledore became determined to contribute helpful advice to the resistance against Grindelwald, notably Newt, Theseus, Tina, Jacob, Yusuf, and Nagini in the First Wizarding War. Initially unbeknownst to Dumbledore however, Grindelwald intended to use the former's alleged Obscurial relative, Aurelius Dumbledore, as a weapon against him.

Following the First Wizarding War and the end of the *For the Greater Good* revolution, regardless of Aurelius Dumbledore's fate, Dumbledore became most famous for defeating Grindelwald in arguably the most epic duel of all time. Dumbledore also gained much more recognition with his involvement in the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood and his work on alchemy with Nicolas Flamel.

It was through Dumbledore that resistance to the rise of Lord Voldemort was formed. He founded and led the Order of the Phoenix against Voldemort during the British Wizarding Civil War. Following Voldemort's sudden return and the start of the Second Wizarding War after the resignation of Cornelius Fudge, Dumbledore swiftly formed and lead the second Order of the Phoenix. He would also support Alex Williams in the latter's quest for the Cursed Vaults, and consistently aid the trio of Harry, Ron, and Hermione during their first six years at Hogwarts, thus leading them to name Dumbledore's Army after him.

Due to the fact that he had a keen mind and legendary power, Dumbledore became the only wizard that Voldemort ever feared. He was the wielder and the master of the Elder Wand from 1945 and considered by many as the greatest Hogwarts Headmaster.

## Biography

### Early Life (1881-1892)

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore was born to Kendra and Percival Dumbledore in the summer of 1881, in the mainly wizarding village of Mould-on-the-Wold. The early years of Dumbledore's life were marked by tragedy when his younger sister, Ariana Dumbledore, was attacked by a group of Muggle boys, who saw her performing magic and were frightened by what they saw.

Ariana was left mentally and emotionally scarred by the event and her magical powers were left severely altered and would manifest themselves on rare occasions usually in random or destructive ways. Albus's father, Percival Dumbledore, was heartbroken and set out in search of his own brand of justice. He located the Muggle boys and attacked them, as they had his daughter. For this, Percival was sentenced to Azkaban where he later died, choosing the sentence over explaining why he had attacked the boys as it would have meant Ariana being taken away.

To escape the accusing eyes of the local community, Kendra Dumbledore moved her young family to the village of Godric's Hollow which, like Mould-on-the-Wold, was a part-wizarding village. Fearing - like her husband - that the ousting of her daughter's inability to control her magical ability would see her confined indefinitely to St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, Kendra rebuffed all her neighbours, with the eventual exception of Bathilda Bagshot, preferring to be left alone: and Albus learned not to mention his sister or father in public.

### Hogwarts Years (1892-1899)

Dumbledore began attending Hogwarts in the autumn of 1892 and was Sorted into Gryffindor house. Dumbledore's first year was met with much whispering about his father's crime. Many of Albus's fellow students mistakenly believed that, like father like son, Albus too hated Muggles. Some praised his father's actions, hoping to gain his trust, but they would not find favour with the young Dumbledore this way. Though later in his young life, under the influence of his love for Gellert Grindelwald, some anti-Muggle prejudice did develop, but he soon saw the error of his intent. He befriended a young Elphias Doge on his first day at Hogwarts; Doge was suffering from the aftermath of Dragon Pox at the time (greenish skin and pockmarks), which discouraged most from approaching him. Dumbledore, however, demonstrated his uncommon kindness and willingness to look past the surface and find inner beauty in people.

In his third year, Dumbledore presumably took Study of Ancient Runes and at least one other subject, which was known not to be Divination. During his fourth year, he accidentally set the bed-curtains in his dormitory on fire, (although he admitted that he had never liked them anyway). and, being the single most outstanding student in the school at the time, was made both a prefect during his fifth year, and Head Boy in his seventh. As an exceptionally gifted student of predigious talents, Albus' aptitude for magical learning was such that he would eventually grow up to become arguably the greatest wizard of his day through largely his own efforts, he was noted to have had access to various highly accomplished teachers in his youth, who each would have played a part in nuturing his magical skills and helping him reach his full potential. Indeed: At some point over the course of his school career, Albus even won the Barnabus Finkley Prize for Exceptional Spell-Casting, became the British Youth Representative to the Wizengamot, and received the Gold Medal for Ground-Breaking Contribution to the International Alchemical Conference in Cairo, and considered by some to have been the most brilliant student to have ever attended the school. In addition, Dumbledore also became very well-connected during his Hogwarts years, making notable friends such as Nicolas Flamel, Bathilda Bagshot, and Griselda Marchbanks, who marked him in his N.E.W.T.s for Charms and Transfiguration and later recalled that he did things with a wand that she had never seen before. He also had several of his papers published during his studies and exchanged letters with theoretician Adalbert Waffling.

### Tragedy and Romance (1899)

> "*So that, when my mother died, and I was left the responsibility of a damaged sister and a wayward brother, I returned to my village in anger and bitterness. Trapped and wasted, I thought! And then, of course, he came."*
> — Dumbledore discussing his harsh past
>
>

After graduating from Hogwarts in June 1899, Dumbledore planned to take the traditional "Grand Tour" of the world with his friend Doge. However, tragedy ensued on the eve of the departure when Kendra Dumbledore was killed by an outburst of Ariana's uncontrollable magic, leaving Albus the head of his own broken family and now in charge of his younger siblings. Albus returned to Godric's Hollow full of bitter resentment at his situation, feeling trapped and wasted, although he refused to let Aberforth quit school and insisted he complete his education first before taking care of Ariana. Fortune finally appeared to shine on Dumbledore, however, when a foreigner arrived at their little village, by the name of Gellert Grindelwald.

> "*The summer Gellert and I fell in love, my brother fell in love as well, with a girl from the Hollow. She was sent away, there were rumours about a child. He's a Dumbledore. If I had been a better friend to Aberforth, if I had been a better brother, he might have confided in me. Perhaps things would have been different, this boy could have been part of our lives, part of our family.*"
> — Albus Dumbledore telling Newt about Credence's rumoured birth.
>
>

In the summer of 1899, Albus was introduced to Gellert by his great-aunt Bathilda Bagshot. After a day of knowing each other, they struck up a close friendship. The two of them spent days together, sharing ideas and talking, and building their relationship. They learned a lot about each other and even shared the same inspirations and what they wanted to spend their lives doing. One night, Albus sent a letter by owl to Gellert in the 'dead of night'.

A young man around Albus's age, he lived for the next two months with his great-aunt, the celebrated magical historian and family friend of the Dumbledores, Bathilda Bagshot, who introduced the two soon after Grindelwald crossed her doorstep. Thrilled to realise that the newcomer was every bit as brilliant as himself, the two young men took to each other right away and quickly struck up a close friendship, unified by the revelation of Grindelwald's research into the existence and whereabouts of the fabled Deathly Hallows. Dumbledore also quickly became fascinated by Grindelwald's ideas of wizarding domination, obviously considering Grindelwald an unexpected new chance to show his own brilliance and come out of the local misery. Over the course of the two months Grindelwald stayed in Godric's Hollow, the two young men's friendship became romantic, with Albus ignoring any misgivings he had about Gellert's dark intents by convincing himself the revolution they were planning to embark on was truly "For the Greater Good", and that any harm caused would be repaid a thousandfold after its conclusion.

One night, Albus and Gellert walked to a barn in which they went inside with plans to create a blood pact together, forming a love bond that could never be broken.

Sometime between Albus and Gellert's relationship, Aberforth fell in love also, with a girl from Godric's Hollow, and their relationship led to her becoming pregnant with Aberforth's child. However, the girl was "sent away", presumably by her family, and Aberforth wouldn't see his son again for over thirty years. Albus was aware of rumours that there was a child from the relationship, but he never knew for sure as the distance between the brothers resulted in Aberforth not confiding in or seeking Albus' help with the situation.

> "*Gellert and I had made plans to go away together. My brother didn't approve, one night he confronted us. Voices were raised, threats made, Aberforth drew his wand, which was foolish, I drew my wand, which was even more foolish. Gellert just laughed. No-one heard Ariana coming down the stairs. Can't say for certain it was my...spell. Doesn't really matter. One minute she was there, and the next, she was gone.*"
> — Albus Dumbledore recalling the duel to Newt
>
>

Near the end of the summer, after Albus and Gellert both completely knew and agreed upon everything, with their blood pact in hand, they had plans to start a global wizarding war, and to break the International Statute of Wizarding Scerecy, with full intent on becoming the great leaders of the revolution. Aberforth knew he had to stay behind, for his sister Ariana. With his brother about to leave, Aberforth had to stop him and young Grindelwald from leaving him and their sister. He confronted them one night and was told that he was a stupid little boy by Gellert for doing so. After Aberforth and Gellert yelled and made countless threats, Aberforth drew his wand and was cruciated by Gellert, though he laughed. Albus realised then how horrible a person Grindelwald was and stepped in to defend his little brother, and a three-way duel broke out between Gellert Grindelwald, Albus Dumbledore, and Aberforth Dumbledore. Ariana Dumbledore ran down the stairs to see what was happening and to try to help the ruckus, but did not know what she was doing and was inadvertently killed by one of the teenagers' stray spells. Gellert retreated quickly to his great-aunt's cottage, where he had her make him a Portkey to take him back home. Albus and Aberforth both rushed towards their sister's body, and cried in regret and pity.

Soon after, they held a funeral for Ariana, at which Aberforth broke Albus's nose out of pure anger and sadness at what he had done.

### Early Career at Hogwarts (1910's-1925)

Shortly thereafter, Albus, who had been exchanging owls with the famous researcher as far back when he had been a student at Hogwarts, travelled to France and spent some time in Paris studying the ancient art and science of alchemy under the tutelage of Nicholas Flamel. He presumably did so in order to both give his brother some space, as well as to get away for a bit and spend his time grieving more productively than he otherwise would have done simply wallowing in his own misery. It is unknown when exactly he returned to Britain, but around the time he did, Albus had become intrigued with the study of dragon's blood, and was ultimately credited with the discovery of no less than twelve new uses for it (even though a wizard by the name of Ivor Dillonsby would later claim that he had already discovered eight of them when Dumbledore "borrowed" his notes); an accomplishment that earned him widespread recognition and ultimately played no small role in the subsequent offer he received of a teaching position at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Having always had a deep fondness for the old school and felt drawn towards teaching even as a student, Albus was happy to accept. At some point after this, he had the unfortunate experience of tasting a vomit-flavoured Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Bean, as a result of which he lost his liking for the sweets.

And so it was that Albus Dumbledore returned to Hogwarts Castle, not to learn this time, but to teach. Burdened by the secret knowledge of Grindelwald's imminent rise to power and wanting to rectify past mistakes, it was natural, perhaps, that he felt drawn towards the job of Defence Against the Dark Arts instructor, a position in which he could most easily prepare his charges for the dangers he knew one day would come. Albus, who would henceforth come to be known to successive generations of students as 'Professor Dumbledore', was granted Classroom 3C on the third-floor and an office. Around the same time, the bookish young educator also procured and read a copy of *The Predictions of Tycho Dodonus*.

At some point early on in his teaching career, Albus became aware of the existence of an ancient magical artefact of unknown origin within the school; a looking-glass with a grim history that was far more revealing than most. Having once been kept out in the open where hundreds of people could discover the apparent delights of the Mirror of Erised, it had since been given a new home after a large number of them had become so entranced by what they had seen as to waste away before it. Some had reportedly even gone mad; not knowing if what it showed them was real or even possible. He eventually found it, however, safely tucked away in a hidden room on the uppermost floor of the castle that would only reveal itself to someone if they were in great need of it. The device, however, which upon closer examination turned out to have been bewitched with the tantalising power of showing those who stared into its surface a vision of their heart's deepest desire, proved interesting rather than useful. Intrigued by the mirror as a fascinating piece of magical ingenuity, Albus was nevertheless painfully aware that his greatest yearning at the time was for something impossible, and that clinging on to a wish that could never – and for obvious reasons ought never – to be fulfilled could only hurt him, Dumbledore eventually decided to leave the mirror where it was, covered by a curtain of black velvet. It would take many years before he went to visit it again.

Even though the freshly hired instructor would henceforth largely busy himself with the training of young witches and wizards, Albus would continue to keep in touch with Nicolas Flamel, alongside whom he would eventually achieve a number of advancements in the field of alchemy over the years as their relationship blossomed from that of student-and-mentor, to that of an equal partnership and near life-long friendship. At some point after this, Albus would visit his old friend and pose for a photograph in Flamel's workshop alongside his celebrated mentor, with many of his alchemical tools and equipment being visible in the background, as well as crystal ball and a book with a phoenix on the cover.

In the 1910s, Dumbledore taught Hufflepuff Newton Scamander and Slytherin Leta Lestrange. One of his lessons involved confronting a Boggart and learning the spell to banish it. When Newt's Boggart turned into a desk, Dumbledore commented on its unexpected nature and kindly inquired why it took this form: Newt confessed that his greatest fear was being stuck working in an office. After Newt successfully dispatched the Boggart, Dumbledore encouraged Leta to take her turn, reassuring her that being afraid of something wasn't shameful; everyone was afraid of something. The form of Leta's Boggart surprised both Dumbledore and the entire class: a white sheet containing an undistinguishable, slight form floating through a dark blue glow. The event badly shook Leta.

In 1913, one of Leta's experiments with a Jarvey went too far endangering the life of another student. Newt decided to take the blame and was sentenced to expulsion. Dumbledore, however, argued strongly on his behalf. Whether Newt's expulsion was enforced or not is unknown, but Dumbledore succeeded in at least allowing Newt to keep his wand.

During his time at Hogwarts, Dumbledore also developed close relationships and friendships with wizards and witches throughout the world. Among these friends, he counted the French alchemist Nicolas Flamel and Ilvermorny Charms Professor Eulalie Hicks. He maintained close contact with these friends in the form of enchanted books they all possessed which allowed them to speak despite the distance. The British Ministry of Magic, which was already suspicious of Dumbledore because of his past connection to Grindelwald, was wary of these relationships, believing that he used these contacts as spies to allow him to act as an independent authority to theirs, and maintained a close watch on Dumbledore and his allies. Chief among Dumbledore's rivals within the Ministry was Torquil Travers, the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, who never tried to hide his dislike for the Hogwarts teacher.

### First Wizarding War (1926-1945)

*Main article: "First Wizarding War"*
Throughout the early days of the global wizarding war, a series of devastating attacks was perpetrated by Gellert Grindelwald and his cadre of followers across Europe, and rumours begun circulating that his former friend had procured a wand of immense power, which Albus, who was privy to the aspiring revolutionary's Quest for the Deathly Hallows, understood to mean that he had successfully obtained the Elder Wand. Sometime afterwards, word reached Albus through his extensive contacts that Grindelwald had had another vision: He had seen a powerful Obscurus kill the man he feared above all else; and even though the pact they had made all those years ago not to fight one another had ultimately worked in Grindelwald's favour by effectively preventing Albus from coming after him, it was clear that he still harboured fears that Dumbledore might still find a way to overcome it and move against him. Only too aware that he was quite possibly the only wizard alive capable of bringing a definitive end to Grindelwald's reign of terror, however, Dumbledore continued to monitor and to try to anticipate Grindelwald's activities in the hopes of intercepting the attempted recruitment of the Obscurus.

It was only years later, around December of 1926 that Dumbledore's patient monitoring of Grindelwald's movements through second-hand accounts paid off; when he heard about the series of magical disturbances that were causing severe devastation throughout the city of New York that risked the exposure of the wizarding world. Having correctly guessed that the mysterious attacks to be the work of a powerful Obscurial and, forever mindful of the fact that if he could figure out where the prophesied entity was located, so could Grindelwald. Hence, Albus decided to arrange for his plans to be thwarted. To this end, he contacted his old student, Newt Scamander, who had become a Magizoologist in the employment of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures at the Ministry of Magic in London and had been travelling throughout the world, locating and rescuing magical creatures from his fellow wizards; whether it was because they were greedy poachers seeking to profit off of them, or otherwise targeted them for the perceived threat they posed to the Statute of Secrecy.

Dumbledore told Newt of a Thunderbird that was being held captive in Egypt, knowing he would not stand for such an injustice and would not only rescue him but also return him to his native Arizona. To accomplish this, Newt would have to pass through the Muggle customs in New York; where his visit would co-concur with both the Obscurial attacks and Grindelwald's scheme to locate, identify and ally himself with the culprit. Trusting Newt to do the right thing and protect the Obscurial from Grindelwald, it turned out that his confidence in Newt's character and ability was well placed: Newt's involvement resulted not only in the discovery of Credence Barebone, the most powerful Obscurus ever recorded (the only one to survive into adulthood), but also in the capture of Grindelwald, who had been disguised as a high-ranking official at MACUSA by the name of Percival Graves to find the Obscurus. While there, however, Newt got in trouble when a number of the magical creatures his case escaped and ran loose in areas of the city inhabited mainly by Non-magical people.

For his role in the incident in New York, as well as his reluctance and evasiveness in providing his superiors at the Ministry details about why he had been in New York in the first place, Newt was banned from travelling internationally by the Ministry, a ban they offered to lift if he confessed that Dumbledore had been the one to send him to New York. Although he realised that Dumbledore had covertly sent him to New York, Newt remained loyal to his old teacher and refused to confess his role in the affair. Even in later years, when the rumours were published by Rita Skeeter in a biography of Newt called *Man or Monster? The TRUTH about Newt Scamander*, he continued to deny that Dumbledore was responsible for his trip to New York in the foreword of a new edition of *Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them*.

In the same year Dumbledore became a regular columnist for *Transfiguration Today*, with the *Daily Prophet* quoting him as saying he was "enraptured!" to be writing for the magazine.

### British Wizarding Civil War (1970-1981)

*Main article: "British Wizarding Civil War"*

## Physical Appearance

Albus Dumbledore was tall and thin, with silver hair and beard (auburn in his youth) so long that they could be tucked into his belt. He had a very long and crooked nose that looked as if it had been broken at least twice. (It appears and is implied that his brother's punch during their sister's funeral played a role in shaping his nose.) He was also said to have long and skilful fingers. His eyes were described to be a brilliant, soul-piercing shade of blue, and usually twinkled with kindness and mischief.

When he became genuinely angry, however, Dumbledore would transform from a benign-looking, bright-eyed old man into a wizard even more terrifying than Lord Voldemort himself, with a face that was a classic portrait of cold fury and an aura of power that made him seem as if he was giving off burning heat. Indeed, Harry had — after witnessing a rare moment of Dumbledore's furious rage — confessed to fully understanding why people always said that Dumbledore was the only wizard Voldemort had ever feared.

Dumbledore wore half-moon spectacles and a colourful array of robes, ranging from purple to crimson-red. He once claimed to have a scar above his left knee in the precise shape of a map of the London Underground, but whether or not he actually did is unknown. His demeanour was often — if not always — serene and ethereal, and he usually spoke in a calm, pleasant voice even when Harry thought that he was actually furious.

## Personality Traits

Considered by many to be the most powerful wizard of all time, Dumbledore was benevolent and wise, a great wizard in the vein of Merlin. He had an almost unearthly calm and relaxed demeanour and almost constantly gave off an aura of serenity and composure, rarely displaying intense emotions of anger or fear. He was known for typically speaking in a calm, collected voice, and being firm, but reasonable and kind. He was always courteous, even to people who he found rude or in the case of Fenrir Greyback, disgusting. However, despite his benign nature, it is said that Dumbledore was the only wizard Lord Voldemort ever truly feared.

Dumbledore was notably eccentric. He was quite fond of knitting patterns and frequently wore flamboyant clothing (at one point, he is seen wearing a flowered bonnet that he received from a Wizard Cracker). In particular, he had a somewhat odd taste in sweets: he enjoyed Muggle sweets relatively unknown in the wizarding world (particularly sherbet lemons) and the password to his office, supposedly that of his current favourite sweet, was often peculiar choices such as Acid Pops and Cockroach Clusters. In addition, he had a liking for chamber music as well as ten-pin bowling. He often used humour to make people feel comfortable in his presence. Dumbledore has been known to be quite philosophical; often, very few people have the understanding (or patience) to comprehend his philosophies.

As a supremely talented wizard, Dumbledore showed numerous examples of extraordinary abilities. His capabilities as a wizard were combined with his extraordinary intellect and extremely cunning and subtle mind that allowed him to comprehend human nature and turn the better aspects of humanity (trust, love and friendship) to Voldemort's disadvantage in particular. Due to this, Dumbledore wielded extraordinary powers of deduction that allowed him to be completely unfooled by any charades who could fool even the entire wizarding world and recognise instantly any deception that may have initially fooled him at the slightest of slip ups, as shown repeatedly when he quickly figured out Quirell was distracting him with a letter he faked was from the Minister of Magic, was never fooled by Lockhart's books due to having knew what he truly was and quickly realised the truth, and deduced that Moody was actually Crouch Jnr the moment he asked Harry to be brought to his office. During his Hogwarts career, especially as headmaster Dumbledore always maintained his composure, even in situations that would terrify others. Being attacked by Ministry officials and the opening/re-opening of the Chamber of Secrets.