Yup. I mean the title says it all really. Personally? I think Dumbledore is more of a villain than any other Harry Potter character. Sometimes he is downright cruel, and callous, but other times he just seems to be, for lack of a better word, unbalanced. Honestly, I did not realise when starting these posts that I’d be hating on Harry Potter so much. I grew up with the books, so issues with the author aside, I have a soft spot for them and the films especially. It doesn’t change the fact that when you read them back years later though, Dumbledore has made some…questionable…choices. Also, make sure to check out Matt Bentley on tiktok for his take on all things HP (@mattbentley_). His Dumbledore issues come across as way more fun and more like shenanigans than they really are. I’d have paid good money for that Dumbledore to feature, but…Alas.

We’re going to go Year by Year, because there is a surprising amount of content when discussing Dumbledore’s mishaps. This pains me greatly, because I love Richard Harris’ portrayal, and I’m sad we never saw past Film no.2 with him. Sadly, even Marcus Aurelias himself couldn’t disguise his dark side. So let’s look at Harry first year of Hogwarts. The philosophers Stone. Hopefully we know the reason the book is called that; Nicholas Flamel, part time alchemist, full time immortal, has created a Philosophers Stone. This is the secret to his longevity, but he fears for its safety in the Gringotts bank. Enter our man Albus here. He snaps it up, keeps it all hush hush and takes it into his School for underage witches and wizards. For me, first red flag there; he has something that the unbreakable bank can’t even protect, and he takes it with him into a school? Endangering his students?

Fine he’s supposedly the greatest wizard ever, so he’ll just keep that on his person because he’s practically untouchable like Elliot Ness right? Nope. He’s going to involve the entire faculty and hide this treasured item behind some elaborate homework. Okay, but of a weird one, but he totally has that locked down safe and somewhere hidden? Right…Right? NOPE. In the very first assembly/feast Harry attends, Dumbledore stands up and says “Oh by the way? 3rd floor? There’s a door that is holding back certain death. Please don’t go in there. It doesn’t even have a good lock on it. We’re literally going to teach you the lockpick spell within a week or so. Shit, you could even open this lock by sliding a ruler in there. But yeah, don’t do it.” C’MON. What kind of a warning is that?! It isn’t even like a room in the sub basements basement, or in a dead end, it’s just Middle of the castle, casual as you like.

Let’s talk about his methods of protecting it too. Room number 1 is a huge, three headed dog. Impressive right? Yeah. Fucked up? Totally. Bear in mind that a normal, average dog needs plenty of exercise, he locks god damn Cerberus in a small room that it can’t even stand up in, for the entirety of the school year. He’s hardly sneaking him out for walks in the evening and letting him run around the grounds. That’s animal neglect and abuse, Albus! The stone itself is hidden in a mirror that for the first half of the book is just chilling in an unused classroom. Harry stumbles upon it one night, and thank god his hearts wish is about his dead parents and not the mystery of the stone (as it later it) or he’d have found it in his pocket 3 acts too soon!

Something else that never made sense to me; Dumbledore is pretty nonchalant about the Primordial Forest of Darkness they have on their doorstep. I can sort of excuse how laid back he is in the first half of the film, but after Harry sees a mysterious figure that is DEFINITELY VOLDEMORT feeding off a Unicorn, Dumbledore does precisely nothing. SO that’s the biggest bad apparently is just IN YOUR GARDEN committing what amounts to Wizard Cardinal sin by feeding off a unicorn (which also grants temporary immortality) and Dumbledore is just like LOL sounds like a problem for some underage and underqualified teenagers. Voldemort has been missing presumed dead for 10 years, and Albus is one of the few people who thinks he is still out there. His whole questionable Leaving Harry with the Dursleys shit was based on the protection they could give him, because he was so sure Voldemort was still out there, but when he then gets the closest thing to proof he can get, he just ignores it and does nothing! When Harry and the gang survive the final fight (Because Dumbledore has flown to London on a broom – Not the floo network, not heading to Hogsmeade and apparating, a god damn broom) he just doesn’t acknowledge that he made some boo boos, he just thanks Harry and raids his sweets. Year 1 Dumbledore was a complete asshat.

I would like to say he got better, but year two, Chamber of Secrets, he seemed even more incompetent and less caring. Again, quick run down. A ghost of Voldemort possesses a student into opening a mysterious chamber that hides a beast and tries to kill a bunch of students; the last time this happened was 50 years ago, when Voldemort was still in school. Surely he’d recognise a pattern and think “Hmm. This could be the work of that guy who tried to kill my students last year again…” but that gives him too much credit. Side note – that guy was knowingly calling himself Lord Voldemort at that time, and went on to kill a bunch of people. Surely that isn’t a coincidence, he was enrolled at school the year Death visited?!

His first big issue in this school year? He hires Gilderoy Lockhart. The wizard equivalent of Jay from the fucking inbetweeners. Honestly, this guy has made a career of just mind wiping famous heroes and taking credit for their work. So of course, who better to fill the position of the recently deceased Voldemort husk Quirrell than this compulsive liar? It’s bonkers. There’s no way Albus doesn’t see right through his shit, and yet he’s like “Perfect. You’re just what my school needs.” I could even sort of get him just pulling the ultimate troll to fuck with the teachers by hiring him, because the others ALSO all know Lockhart is a douche, but when it gets serious and people start relying on him, they just buy into his shit. When Ginny is in the chamber, Minerva, who again, definitely knows Lockhart is a liar, tries to ask him to save her like she’s calling his bluff, hoping he’ll confess he is a nobody. Forgetting, ya know, there’s a students life at stake here. Dumbledore is absent because he’s trying to clear up the Hagrid issue. Which brings me on to point number two.

This whole palaver regarding the Chamber first opening was at a time Dumbledore was actually a professor at school, 50 years ago. Hagrid was framed for this because admittedly he was harbouring a highly illegal unknown entity. However it wasn’t the illegal entity that was out here trying to kill people. This leads to Hagrid being expelled, and there is nothing Albus can do about this, fine. However in the 5 decades following, where Hagrid became a close friends of his, he didn’t once pull him aside and say “Hey, I know you didn’t release whatever was in the chamber, but what did you have hidden at school? Ya know, in case this comes back to bite us in the ass at a later date.” He would have then known about Aragog, he would likely have had an easier time clearing Hagrids name – In fact, he probably could have got him reinstated as a wizard retroactively – and maybe Harry wouldn’t have had to save the day again by putting himself in Moral peril. Also, is no one either at the time, or when looking back, thinking it’s the least bit FUCKING suspicious that the person who outed Hagrid as being a killer is the guy who grew up to supposedly be the worst wizard ever?! After he was very public about trying to become Wizard Hitler, did no one look into his life and think “Hey should we re-evaluate all these times we trusted little Magic Adolf…?”

Throughout the entire school year when it’s apparent SOMETHING is up and trying to kill people he just doesn’t do anything. At all. He’s so absent throughout anything big happening, he doesn’t even react to the apparent fact someone has put a professional hit out on Harry. That’s right; Dobby has insider knowledge of the chamber opening, and so decides the best way to save Harry is to cripple him so badly the school will have to send him home. One of these attempts is an errant bludger during a quidditch match. Even the students come in and say “Hey that thing was cursed to come after just you!” and the headteacher doesn’t chase this up.
Side note – Dobby tries to sabotage Harry getting to Hogwarts and getting him sent home because he KNOWS the chamber is opening this year – Dobby lives with the Malfoys, and it was Lucius putting the diary in with Ginnys things that started the whole events of Chamber – Did Lucius know then that Voldemort was going to work through the diary to possess Ginny? Had Voldemort left a god damn Horcrux with Lucius? Or was is that Lucius got his Myspace on and started journaling and Riddle answered back and they planned it together?

Also, and this is less about Dumbledore as a villain more just something I can’t understand – When Harry is first due to get his letter, the Dursleys go to extreme lengths to hide from Albus and Hogwarts, even going so far as moving to an abandoned light house island with no electricity – but Albus knows, and sends Hagrid. Yet in Chamber, when Harry and Ron don’t board the train, he is none the wiser. This might seem like a leap, but considering Harrys supposed importance to Dumbledore and the fact there is at least 1 wizard at large that wants to kill him, you’d think he’d keep a closer watch on him.

So what’s your take? Dumbledore – Sociopath or purely incompetent? Villain or regular menace? Or even none of the above? Be sure to let me know, and I’ll return soon with Michael Gambons take on the wizard we all love and yet would hate to ever actually meet.

-BrightstarFOX
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