Is Dumbledore really a hero?

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MadLibraryScientist
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Re: Is Dumbledore really a hero?

Post by MadLibraryScientist »

Hell no. If anything, Dumbledore is as Lawful Evil as they come.

He purposefully allows Sirius Black to go to prison, specifically to deprive Harry from having a loving home. He allows Harry to remain in an abusive household for eleven years. And why? Because he knew that Harry would swear allegiance to whomever rescued him from this hell. And who does he send to collect Harry? Hagrid, who sings his praises. Surely it would make more sense to send McGonagall, who could have sat down calmly with the Dursleys? Or who would have been permitted to use magic if it was necessary? But no, he sends Hagrd. And one of the first things Hagrid tells Harry? "Great man, Dumbledore."

Dumbledore regularly puts Harry in danger. He withholds crucial information. He deprives Harry from relationships that would provide Harry with another perspective other than Dumbledore's. And the entire time he feeds Harry just enough affection to maintain his undying devotion.

And that's just some of what he does to Harry. He also maintains and feeds interhouse rivalry at every turn. First year, Slytherin won the House Cup--relatively fair and square. And Dumbledore turns around and awards just enough points to steal it from them. He's basically setting up an entire class to be vulnerable to serving Voldemort by making them the bitter underdogs.

In case you can't tell, I've thought about this far more than is healthy.
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AbbyScuito1414
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Post by AbbyScuito1414 »

I think Dumbledore is a hero, but yes, him not defeating Voldemort may call that into question. Dumbledore is the type of person who thinks before he acts, making sure that he knows what he is getting into. As others have pointed out, he did not have much knowledge on the horcruxes, and he spent years learning more about them in order to help Harry defeat Voldemort.

Dumbledore also put his own life on the line in order to help Harry, and ended up losing it to protect him. Dumbledore faced off many times with Death Eaters and Voldemort in order to protect not only Harry, but his students as well. He also severely injured his hand in an attempt to destroy one of Voldemort's horcruxes. He even claimed responsibility for the unapproved Defense Against the Dark Arts club known as Dumbledore's army, forcing him to go on the run or face jail time in Azkaban.

So yes, Dumbledore is a hero for loving and protecting his students and his school.
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Kel808
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Post by Kel808 »

I think that Dumbledore made mistakes in his decisions with Tom. Dumbledore, whatever doubts he had about Tom, saw a great potential in him. That was seen throughout some of the flashback moments that occurred in the books. Once the rise of Voldemort occurred, I think it may have been greater than Dumbledore anticipated. It wasn't just going after Tom at that point, it was going up against a mini army of wizards. Now Dumbledore is powerful, but it would have been a strategic move that may have resulted badly and maybe that risk outweighed the benefit (at the time). As many people have said, I don't think he was ever meant to be a hero. The correlation between him and death may have been the explanation to this. There were prophecies that may have existed and interference could result in more detrimental effects than good ones. Dumbledore achieved collecting the Elderwand, the resurrection stone, and the invisibility cloak. He greeted Harry at Kings Crossing when Harry died. I believe it was his destiny to become death personified and without things playing out as they did, that might not have happened.

He gave Harry the tools to defeat Voldemort because that was Harry's destiny. Like the three brothers, he presented Harry with these gifts, but always knew where they were. Dumbledore was meant to be the master of death if not death himself, in my opinion. Maybe that was what would truly defeat Voldemort and why he couldn't interfere earlier. Voldemort had to not only be defeated, but to be defeated by his own doing. His followers had to see him fall for the whole movement to cease. When it was starting, he was already powerful and incredibly confident with himself and his followers fed off that confidence. HE had to feel defeated. Outright killing Voldemort wouldn't truly stop the movement, someone else would have risen in Voldemort's name. Now there will always be someone rising up with a mentality similar to Voldemort's; but at that moment he was defeated, Voldemort's people abandoned him, essentially abandoning the movement. Whoever would pop up next would have to start from the ground up which may act as a deterring factor to most. This is all my own speculation and I haven't really gone super in-depth to the history or the backstories (a process I am going through now); the other explanations here are pretty good and are probably more informative. But I think much of this depended on destiny and I think Dumbledore acknowledged that. I think he had to learn and come to that understanding along the way; I don't think he just knew right off the bat.
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Bhavna Aburani
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Post by Bhavna Aburani »

A hero? I don't know. But he was just a human :) An old man who was wiser than almost everyone around him which meant he made graver mistakes than almost everyone around him. But good thing was, he learnt from those mistakes. At the outset, you feel he is a hero. You actually want to believe he is a hero, that he'll always be there to protect you, to save you from all the evil. But as the story progresses, you realize he is building you into a hero yourself, so that you don't need any saving from anyone, so you can in fact save others. He may be a flawed hero or a human for that matter. But he was the greatest wizard of all time ;) No one can argue that, not even Voldemort.
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Post by Amagine »

I dont know, I wasn't a big fan of Dumbledore in the first place. There were times when I felt he should have told Harry the truth rather than keep secrets from him. Also, as a hero, he didn't really do much. In fact, of all the characters, I felt like Hermione was more of a hero than even Harry.
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Post by Melissa Breen »

I found dumbeldore to be very selfish and manipulative to everyone, particularly Harry and Snape. He constantly lied to them both and put them under pressure all the time. Despite how much he changed over the years I think still, right to the end, he was willing to sacrifice people "for the greater good".
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Sarziesarah
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Post by Sarziesarah »

Dumbledore has the wise grand fatherly likeness about him that make a security blanket for Harry and the other people at Hogwarts like him.For guiding Harry makes him a hero ,for without him Harry would be lost really.
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Post by Jyockel08 »

When I first read the books, I thought Dumbledore was beyond reproach. But as I’ve grown older, I see him as a flawed person. It’s like when you start to realize the adults in your life aren’t perfect like you once thought they were.
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Tavaiel26
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Post by Tavaiel26 »

Definitely not a hero, and also definitely not as smart as he was made to look. He spent the whole series pulling the string for everything and so many of the problems would have been avoided if he had just interacted with others as his equals. In context, He was doing what he could but that wasn't necessarily what "needed to be done"
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Brooke_4
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Post by Brooke_4 »

I do not believe Dumbledore is a hero for many reasons, but him not going after Tom Riddle is not one of them. There was a legend and a destiny that would need to be filled, ensuring almost every one else that tried to stop him before hand would die. Dumbledore needed to continue running Hogwarts and prepare students instead of trying to stop a child.
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Post by Musk doaab »

I think Dumbledore is an only dynamic character in Harry Potter, so much to explore deep down the surface. His character shows that someone has to do the dirty work, you cannot expect to win a war against evil by being all goody good, pure and innocent. You have to make some sacrifices and you got to step up and steel your heart for it.
Why Dumbledore is not a villain than: because he question himself and his genius instead of blindingly following the faith: I am doing it for the good of people. In my opinion, it is because he exactly knew how much power and genius combined could be a source of corruption and destruction that he shied away from it.
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Post by VSuraj »

Dumbledore had flaws and he knew it. He regrets certain mistakes he made. When he and Harry was in the cave to get the locket, he knew his demons would come back to haunt him. But he still tried to help, with forming the Order and allowing an unauthorized club in his name to continue at the school. And remember, he practically plotted his death with Shape to allow him to help Harry on the Death Eaters side.
Concerning Grindelwald and Riddle, I think his connection with them prevented him from taking action against them. One was his best friend and the other was a brilliant student, so he probably did not think they would have descended into so much darkness. By the time it hit home now truly far gone they were, it was way too late.
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Post by Jessicalaurenw1 »

I agree with you in questioning the term ‘hero’ for Dumbledore. I believe he was quite flawed. That is apparent to me in what I read of his younger years in the books. He clearly went through at least a phase of craving power and knowledge. He stretched his abilities enough to become one of the greatest wizards of all time and work on projects such as the sorcerers stone with other bright minds. He clearly allowed these desires to cloud his judgement with the situation surrounding his sister. I believe he is completely aware that he is not infallible which makes him an even better mentor to Harry, by teaching him everyone has good and bad in them.
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Post by unpocoraro »

Wow it never occurred to me that Tom Riddle would have been born in the 1920s. It make sense now but reading it as a kid I imagined Voldemort as maybe in his 30s...not sure why. I see something new every time I read HP. I would need to reread The Deathly Hallows to be able to really answer your questions...so much is packed into that one.
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Post by HanElizabeth397 »

Yes, Dumbledore is a hero of these books. Sure some of his methods were questionable but his intentions were always good and the aim was always to make the wizarding world a better place. He was incredibly brave and stood up for the OOTP and Harry whenever they needed someone
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