Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. In today’s video, we’re going
to be discussing the events of the Order of the Phoenix. More specifically- we’re going
to taking a closer look at Dumbledore.
We know that it was during this school year that Dumbledore was ousted from Hogwarts.
This was a terrible year for the school- not only was Dumbledore gone, but Umbridge was
put in his place- eventually being appointed headmistress. This of course all transpired
due to the ministry (namely Fudge) continually butting heads with Dumbledore. Fudge was lashing
out-He was blinded by fear, and in utter denial that the dark lord Voldemort had returned.
Dumbledore, continually tried to convince Fudge of the truth, but his efforts were futile,
and Fudge continued to punish Dumbledore in whatever way he could. Eventually things escalated
to a futile arrest attempt on Dumbledore by the ministry (who were they kidding), and
a fantastic exit from the Hogwarts grounds.
But all of this raises one very big question: where did Dumbledore go? He’s kicked out
of Hogwarts and doesn’t turn up again until his duel with Voldemort in the ministry atrium.
What gives?
The only place that we can truly rule out is Grimmauld place- as he immediately rejects
that notion when questioned by McGonagall:
"Where will you go, Dumbledore?" whispered Professor McGonagall. "Grimmauld Place?"
"Oh no," said Dumbledore, with a grim smile. "I am not leaving to go into hiding. Fudge
will soon wish he'd never dislodged me from Hogwarts, I promise you."
While under pursuit from the ministry Dumbledore didn’t have too many options for safe-havens-
as it’s likely that the ministry would find him in some of the more obvious spots. However,
I’m not sure that Dumbledore was even particularly concerned that they would find him. After
all- if they did find him, what on earth could they possibly do to detain DUMBLEDORE?
Now, my first assumption would be that Dumbledore simply went horcrux hunting. This seems like
the obvious answer- Dumbledore was wise, powerful and had plenty of time on his hands. Why would
he waste his time doing anything else? To add to this, later that same summer Dumbledore
was able to effectively destroy Marvolo Gaunt’s ring, which suggests that the topic was on
his mind.
The issue with this, however, is that Dumbledore horcrux hunting doesn’t provide any kind
of problems for Fudge. Before leaving, Dumbledore very clearly says to McGonagall:
“Fudge will soon wish he'd never dislodged me from Hogwarts, I promise you.”
This seems to imply that Dumbledore had intentions of making Fudge’s life difficult. But, what
did he mean by this? What action did he take?
One thing I’d like to add is that for the duration that Dumbledore was gone, the ministry
had absolutely no idea where he was. This is reinforced by the following conversation
between Marchbanks and Umbridge:
“Journey was fine, journey was fine, we’ve made it plenty of times before!” she said
impatiently. “Now, I haven’t heard from Dumbledore lately!” she added, peering around
the hall as though hopeful he might suddenly emerge from a broom cupboard. “No idea where
he is, I suppose?”
“None at all,” said Umbridge, shooting a malevolent look at Harry, Ron, and Hermione,
who were now dawdling around the foot of the stairs as Ron pretended to do up his shoelace.
“But I daresay the Ministry of Magic will track him down soon enough . . .”
Here are the facts: -Dumbledore was wanted by the Ministry
-He expressed that he had no intention of hiding
-He vowed that Fudge would regret his decision and
-He destroyed the Gaunt ring shortly after his departure
What’s the best way that Dumbledore could make Fudge regret his decision? Proving him
wrong. I think that, while away, Dumbledore spent his time doing a few things:
-working to raise awareness about Voldemort’s return
-hunting horcruxes and
-trying to expose Voldemort
The best way to make Fudge regret his decision would be to expose him as WRONG- effectively
jeopardizing the safety of the wizarding world because of his own denial. Furthermore, Dumbledore
was the only wizard that could properly challenge Voldemort- the most powerful wizard on the
‘good’ side, and I think that becomes abundantly clear to Fudge when he finally
arrives at the ministry atrium and feasts his eyes on Voldemort once more.
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Until next time
It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live