Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory.
Today we’re discussing Albus Dumbledore and 9 AWFUL things he did in the name of ‘the
greater good’.
Albus Dumbledore was the greatest Wizard of the 20th century… but he was also, strangely,
one of the most reckless.
In fact, if you took a look at a full list of the headmaster’s decisions, you’d find
yourself shaking your head quite a lot, wondering how someone so smart, could simultaneously
be so awful.
Today, we’re going to take a look at some of these choices.
We’ll break down why exactly Dumbledore thought he was in the right… and why his
decisions ended up being so awful.
Sent Harry to the Dursleys
If you know the true reason why Dumbledore sent Harry Potter to live with the Dursleys,
then you might be wondering why it would be considered awful.
After all, living with the Dursleys might have been the only thing protecting Harry
during his childhood.
Thanks to an ancient form of magic, if Harry lived with a blood relative of his mother’s,
then the same power that prevented Voldemort from killing Harry as an infant, would carry
over to his new guardians.
Unfortunately for Harry, his mother had no other family besides Aunt Petunia.
If Albus Dumbledore could have found Harry Potter a less abusive home, then he surely
would have.
But with no other way to maintain the protection around Harry, the Hogwarts headmaster was
forced to compromise with himself.
In order to save Harry’s life, he had to condemn him to a childhood of neglect and
abuse… a fact that he often felt guilty about.
Had Harry Potter been anyone else, he might not have survived such a traumatic childhood
within the Dursley home.
In a more emotionally unstable child, such abuse would have resurfaced as terrible, violent
traits.
Voldemort, himself, developed many of his murderous beliefs after surviving his own
brutal, childhood.
Neglected Tom Riddle
It’s hard not to compare Harry Potter’s childhood with that of Tom Riddle.
Often, when contrasting the two, you can't help but wonder what Tom would have been like,
if only a single adult had cared about him.
Even after Albus Dumbledore arrived at the orphanage that housed Riddle, he rarely offered
the boy any type of affection…
quite a contrast to how he treated Harry a few decades later.
In his first interaction with Riddle, Dumbledore marveled at his natural ability in magic.
And he was also disheartened by the darkness that seemed to surround Tom.
In that moment, and the years that followed, Albus might have been able to undo all of
the years of abuse that Riddle had suffered.
If he only showed some compassion, might Riddle have learned to quiet his rage?
But in the end, Albus didn’t do anything of the sort.
He simply recruited Tom for Hogwarts, and gave him a small stipend with which to buy
supplies….
Sending the child alone to Diagon Alley to figure out the wizarding world for himself.
Even in later years, as Dumbledore suspiciously watched Tom manipulate the other Hogwarts
staff, Albus remained quiet.
Instead of addressing the issue, Dumbledore hoped that Tom’s darkness would resolve
itself on its own…
By the time Dumbledore realized Tom’s psychosis would lead to the rise of Lord Voldemort,
it was too late.
Treated Snape Like a Pawn
After Severus Snape realized the error of his ways, and abandoned the Death Eaters,
he sought help from Albus Dumbledore.
In the years that followed, Dumbledore ensured that Snape would have a place at Hogwarts
School of Witchcraft and Wizardry… a kind gesture, to be sure.
But the headmaster also planned to use Severus Snape to further his own agenda: the continued
fight against the Dark Arts.
When forces conspired to steal the Philosopher’s Stone, and later, when Voldemort’s return
was confirmed, Albus Dumbledore leaned on Severus more than any other ally.
The weight of Albus’s friendship, along with the grief he still bore for Lily Potter’s
death, meant that Severus could never live a normal life.
Perhaps, if Albus was anyone different, he would have realized that the burden he placed
on Severus was too great.
Instead, if Dumbledore helped Snape process his guilt, then the Potions Master could somehow
live a normal, fuller life.
But Dumbledore’s own life was far from normal.
And he saw no problem with leading Snape down a similar path.
Responsible for Sirius’s Death
Albus Dumbledore wasn’t directly responsible for Sirius Black’s death, but he certainly
had a role to play.
During the events of the Order of the Phoenix, Albus Dumbledore strangely decided to ignore
Harry Potter.
The elderly headmaster believed that by neglecting Harry, he could somehow protect the boy from
the horrors of the war to come.
As you can probably tell by now, Albus Dumbledore often kept his own counsel.
He would consider a scenario, rely on himself to come up with a solution, and put it into
effect without getting a second-opinion from anyone else.
And that’s why he ended up hurting so many people.
By simply cutting Harry out of the picture, he spurred the young wizard to investigate
matters on his own.
That, eventually, led Harry into a trap that Voldemort and the Death Eaters had lain.
In order to save Harry’s life, Sirius Black and the other older members of the Order of
the Phoenix blindly leapt into action.
In the end, Black lost his life, and Harry nearly lost his…
all because Dumbledore thought he could do everything on his own.
Lied About Harry’s Fate
Did Harry Potter need to die?
In the story, it seems that way.
Or, at least, that’s what Albus Dumbledore communicated to Severus Snape in his memories.
But when Harry learned that he needed to give his life, he presumed that it was a one way
ticket to the afterlife.
He had no idea that he would be able to survive the duel with Lord Voldemort.
When Voldemort fought against Harry in the Deathly Hallows, the Dark Wizard merely managed
to kill the accidental horcrux that resided as part of Harry.
And since Voldemort had reconstructed his new body, using Potter’s blood, then he
inherited the protective spell that Harry himself had been given, in the moment his
mother died over a decade prior.
All of that might sound a bit confusing, but it simply meant that Harry actually didn’t
face certain death if he dueled Voldemort… something that would have been nice to know
prior to the battle.
Ariana’s Death
During Albus Dumbledore’s youth, he made one of the most foolish decisions of his life:
he conspired with Gellert Grindelwald to take over the wizarding world.
Albus was young, dumb, and infatuated with Grindewald.
During that era, there was very little hope of changing Albus’s mind, but his brother
Aberforth tried to anyway.
The young brother confronted both Albus and Grindelwald about their plan, and after heated
debate, the situation devolved into a duel.
It’s hard to know who would have won, but before the conflict came to an end, Albus’s
sister, Ariana tried to intervene.
In the process, the 14 year old sibling died.
Her life, which had already been filled with innumerable tragedies, was cut short by Albus’s
own recklessness.
Something he would never forget.
Although, throughout the rest of his life, his same bad habit… of taking on leadership
roles… would always seem to be his undoing.
The Ring
Decades later, still devastated by the loss of his sister, Albus Dumbledore foolishly
tried to destroy Voldemort’s horcruxes all on his own.
But once, when he finally located the ring of Marvolo Gaunt, Dumbledore let his guard
down.
Voldemort didn’t realize it at the time he transformed the ancient black jewelry,
but it actually wasn’t just a simple heirloom.
The stone within the ring was none other than a Deathly Hallow.
According to myth, that rock, the resurrection stone, had the ability to recall spirits from
the dead.
Desperate to see his sister again, Dumbledore forgot all reason, and slid the ring along
his finger.
In an instant, he was struck by the deadly curse Voldemort had placed on the ring.
And even though Albus managed to halt the spread of the curse, thanks to Snape’s help,
the damage was already done.
Within a year, Dumbledore would die, leaving the defense of the wizarding world in the
hands of Harry Potter, who was only a school boy at the time.
Entrusting Hagrid With Security
Nobody likes to criticize Rubeus Hagrid.
Even though the Hogwarts groundskeeper was often reckless with magical beasts, Albus
Dumbledore felt a special fondness for the half-giant.
But that fondness often exposed Hogwarts, and its students, to life-and-death risks.
During Harry Potter’s very first year at the school, Dumbledore’s decision to trust
Hagrid’s guard dog, a three-headed hound named Fluffy, proved nearly fatal.
Hagrid revealed the secret to bypassing the dog in a game with Professor Quirrell, which
ultimately led the possessed wizard to the same room as the Philosopher’s stone.
Bringing Philosopher’s Stone to Hogwarts
But utilizing Fluffy wasn’t even Dumbledore’s worst decision that year.
The Headmaster was the one who brought Nicolas Flamel’s Philosopher’s stone into Hogwarts.
By placing such a powerful alchemical relic within the school, Albus placed the lives
of each and everyone of the students at risk.
Dumbledore felt that Hogwarts was a safer place than Gringotts… but the headmaster
also foolishly believed that Professor Quirrel was an upstanding instructor.
Both lapses in judgment nearly cost Harry Potter his life.
While trying to prevent Quirrell from getting his hands on the stone, Harry and his friends
ended up in the hospital with serious injuries.
It was only the start of their long journey of cleaning up Dumbledore’s messes.
And that’s it for this video!
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Until next time
Remember
It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live