Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. In today’s video, we’re going
to be discussing all of the times that Albus Dumbledore was in fact WRONG- or just had
terrible judgement. I know, this is a strong stance to take at the very beginning of a
video…but with the title being what it is, it surely comes as no surprise. So, let’s
get in to it!
Dumbledore was many things throughout the Harry Potter series. Mentor to our young protagonist,
Harry, Hogwarts Professor-turned-Headmaster, loyal member of the Order of the Phoenix – a
wizarding legend in his own right. He was also quite frequently just plain WRONG.
And if you don’t believe me, let’s take a look at all the times – that we know of
– that Albus Dumbledore made decisions that were incredibly questionable, if not altogether
incorrect. I’ve counted 25, and I welcome your additions in the comments below this
video if you think I’ve missed any!
The first instance of Dumbledore being in the wrong, in my opinion, was when he chose
to go on a trip around the world after graduating Hogwarts with Elphias Doge, which would’ve
left his mother, Kendra, alone to look after his unwell younger sister, Ariana, and wayward
brother, Aberforth. Clearly, with his father, Percival, imprisoned, the proper thing to
do would’ve been to help his mother in caring for his younger siblings – not gallivanting
across the globe with his mate to celebrate his graduation.
After Ariana accidentally killed their mother in an uncontrollable outburst of magic, Albus
had to cancel his trip with Elphias, return to Godric’s Hollow, and care for his younger
siblings. His reaction to this was quite obscene, being that he was more bitter at having to
alter plans for his future, than he was saddened by the sudden loss of his mother. This disturbing
outlook is, of course, our second example of a time when Dumbledore was wrong. Certainly,
feeling somewhat resentful would’ve been understandable, but he admits to Harry in
The Deathly Hallows to being more upset at the loss of his freedom than the loss of his
family at the time.
Following the death of his mother, a young Dumbledore formed an intense friendship with
future dark wizard, Gellert Grindelwald. He ended up falling in love with Grindelwald
and put faith in the radical ideologies he presented. As it turned out, Grindelwald wasn’t
just interested in debating the theoretical pursuit of power, but was serious about the
subjugation of Muggles, amongst other terrible things, making it clear that Dumbledore’s
trust in and feelings for Grindelwald were quite misplaced.
This brings us to our fourth example of a time when Dumbledore was wrong. Despite having
recognized Grindelwald’s dangerous and unpredictable nature, Albus engaged in an argument with
Gellert in the presence of his unwell sister, Ariana. This argument turned deadly, as a
stray spell ended up killing the poor girl. Quite obviously, it would seem, Dumbledore
never should’ve jeopardized his family’s wellbeing by being so reckless with their
presence.
Whether it was out of love or fear, Dumbledore waited almost half a century before challenging
Grindelwald, despite the terror Gellert was wreaking on the wizarding world. As the only
living wizard powerful enough to confront Grindelwald, the correct choice for Dumbledore
seems to be that he should’ve done so much sooner, as this single action could’ve saved
many lives.
He brought the future Lord Voldemort, Tom Riddle, from Wool’s Orphanage to Hogwarts.
Now, I’m not saying that bringing Tom to a place where he could further his magical
education was the wrong decision. What I do think was a poor choice was leaving Tom to
his own devices, despite seeing a darkness in him. Dumbledore could’ve mentored him
or asked another professor to help guide him down a better path. Instead, it seems he just
left him to toil deeper and deeper into the Dark Arts.
Next up we have Dumbledore’s acceptance that Sirius Black was guilty of giving away
James and Lily Potter’s location to Lord Voldemort, a betrayal which led to both of
the Potters’ murders. This is a particularly confusing one to me, as Dumbledore would’ve
seen Sirius and James roam the halls of Hogwarts together as best mates, and yet he didn’t
even lift a finger to investigate Black’s wrongful imprisonment. Poor choice.
Further to number 7, Dumbledore chose to believe that Peter Pettigrew died by Sirius’ hand.
Once again, I’m not sure how he could’ve just blindly accepted that Sirius would’ve
betrayed not one, but two of his best friends all in the same evening – with little to
no actual proof. As we know, it was actually Pettigrew who told Lord Voldemort where the
Potters were hiding, after which he faked his own death and framed a devastated Sirius.
Despite protests from Hagrid and Minerva McGonagall, Dumbledore decided the best place to leave
an orphaned infant Harry was with his witch-and-wizard-hating relatives, the Dursleys. Harry’s Aunt Petunia
and Uncle Vernon then proceeded to abu*se Harry for the majority of the next decade,
forcing him to sleep in a cupboard under the stairs and basically be a servant in their
house. With Arabella Figg keeping tabs on a young Harry from just down Privet Drive,
Dumbledore would’ve been aware of the mistreatment Harry was enduring. So, I’m really not too
sure what Dumbledore was thinking here.
Now, I love Rubeus Hagrid (who doesn’t!) but it certainly was a questionable choice
to have him fetch Harry from the Dursleys and be his chaperone to Hogwarts. Sure, they
made it successfully to Diagon Alley and picked up all the necessary items for school. But
then Hagrid just left Harry unattended at King Cross Railway Station with little to
no instruction on how to access the magical Platform 9 ¾ – you know, the one and only
way to board the Hogwarts Express. Surely, there was someone a little more – let’s
say, level-headed – whom Dumbledore could’ve entrusted to pick up Harry. McGonagall perhaps?
Or LITERALLY any other professor?
So, I know Dumbledore knew things about Severus Snape that no one else did until the end of
the series – but was that knowledge of his true nature really enough to allow Snape to
be so horrible to all of the students? Snape was often quick to use his sharp tongue to
verbally abu*se many of the pupils at Hogwarts – particularly those who weren’t in Slytherin
House. In my opinion, this didn’t show the best form of leadership from Headmaster Dumbledore.
Another questionable Headmaster move? Not catching that Professor Quirinus Quirrell
harbored Lord Voldemort on the back of his head! I mean, Dumbledore was a great and powerful
wizard. Did he really not realize that something was up with quirky Quirrell? Pretty poor judgement
on that one, I’m afraid.
Even though he knew the great responsibility that came with owning a Deathly Hallow, Dumbledore
chose to give an 11-year-old Harry the Invisibility Cloak. I know, I know, it rightfully belonged
to him. But honestly, is it ever the right decision to give a pre-teen a magical artifact
that can help them get into MORE trouble?
He allowed detention of first year students to take place in the Forbidden Forest – enough
said on that one, I think. Young kids, dangerous creatures? Clearly, not the best choice.
In The Chamber of Secrets, Dumbledore, despite having worked at Hogwarts for many, many years,
has no idea where the Chamber of Secrets is – and he doesn’t even seem to try and
look for it. I guess I can’t say that he was wrong for not knowing its location – but
I sure can say he was wrong for not attempting to find it…and for not shutting down the
school to protect the students from getting hurt from the Basilisk!
For reasons I still don’t understand, he hired Gilderoy Lockhart. I suppose you could
argue that Lockhart was the only one who wanted the Defense Against the Dark Arts job (with
the exception of Snape, of course). But quite honestly, I think Snape – or even no one
at all – might have been preferable to this bumbling fool who only cared about his reputation.
Even if Dumbledore hired him to expose him, it still wasn’t a good decision.
Dumbledore, still believing Sirius Black to be guilty of crimes he didn’t commit, allowed
Dementors onto school property to “protect” the students. In my opinion, this decision
actually put the children in greater danger from encounters with the Dementors, even if
Sirius HAD been an actual murderer.
Why in Merlin’s Beard does Dumbledore only offer the Time-Turner as a solution once throughout
the entire series? You know, the thing that Harry and Hermione use to go back in time
in The Prisoner of Azkaban? I know you can’t frequently meddle with the space-time continuum
or whatever, but surely there were a few other instances in which they could’ve used it
to go back in time and save a wizard or two? There are, of course, many laws in place around
its use but I personally think it was wrong of him not to have allowed anyone to use this
particular device EVER AGAIN.
He’s wrong about Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody in The Goblet of Fire, as he doesn’t recognize
that an imposter – Barty Crouch Jr. – has used polyjuice potion to take his place. With
all his years of experience, you’d think Dumbledore would’ve noticed that something
was a little off, don’t you? A little bit embarrassing if you ask me!
Dumbledore allowed an underage Harry to participate in the Triwizard Tournament, initially (and
wrongfully) questioning whether Harry entered his own name. Dangerous tournament plus unqualified
14-year-old wizard does not make a good decision.
In the name of protecting Harry, Dumbledore ignored the poor bloke for an entire year.
He claims he did this so that Voldemort wouldn’t know they had a close relationship. But I’m
pretty certain that Voldemort would’ve been aware – or at least guessed – that Dumbledore
had been mentoring the ONLY WIZARD prophesized to be the Dark Lord’s downfall…don’t
you?
He allowed Dolores Umbridge to take up the Defense Against the Darks Arts teaching position
at Hogwarts. Now, I know Dumbledore didn’t hire her, the Ministry did, but you’d like
to think he could’ve done SOMETHING to stop her from being a miserable tyrant in her classroom.
If he was unable to outright dismiss her from her role, he could’ve at least had someone
help protect the children from her abu*sive teaching tactics. Just a thought!
For some reason, Dumbledore asked SNAPE to teach Harry Occlumency. He knew this would
be a painful experience for both Severus and Harry, and yet he still decided Snape would
be the best wizard for the job. In my opinion, he should’ve asked someone else.
Even though he was on the hunt for Voldemort’s Horcruxes and knew that any item he found
at the House of Gaunt would be quite dangerous indeed, when he laid eyes upon Marvolo Gaunt’s
ring, Dumbledore put the cursed ring on. He didn’t just touch it. He picked it up and
PUT IT ON. Obviously, this was the wrong choice on many levels. It was an act that inevitably
led to his death, and it was completely avoidable.
Our final example of Dumbledore being wrong was every single time he simply didn’t TRUST
Harry. Throughout the entire series, he only shared information with Harry in pieces. This,
of course, ranged in degree of severity, with some of the most egregious omissions relating
to topics, such as Voldemort’s Horcruxes, Snape’s true loyalty, the Deathly Hallows,
and – in my opinion, the most unforgivable – Harry’s destiny to die.
And that brings us to the end of this video! Now, if you didn’t agree with some of these,
let me know why in the comments below! But I warn you, even Dumbledore himself admitted
to being wrong every once in a while…
‘But you think you’re right?’ said Harry. ‘Naturally I do, but as I have already proven
to you, I make mistakes like the next man. In fact, being – forgive me – rather cleverer
than most men, my mistakes tend to be correspondingly huger.’
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Until next time…
“WOULD YOU CARE FOR A SHERBET LEMON?”