Dumbledore

[Run Away!!!]

Anybody elses views of DD slightly distorted after reading DH? Of course everybody has their faults.. but DD was so awesome as a old man.. but I just can't see myself likeing the teenage one very much.

[Christo]

Yea he was ace, shame about the secrets but noones perfect.
Why are there hardly any posts in this section? nobody bothered to read the book?!

[digby202]

I liked, but also disliked, the new light shed on Dumbledore.

It proved he was a human, and gave ALOT more information about him, which was definitely interesting.
Unfortunately, it kind of shattered that whole perfect image i had in my mind about him haha. He was so damn awesome and wise and noble!

[DucksRMagical]

I loved learning more about DD's life. Even though it did make me realize that he was not as perfect as everyone thought he was. But I think that's all right. No one's perfect.

[Scellanis]

Hmm, I went from not believing it was true to disliking it a bit but still trusting he'd turn out good to hating him when I discovered how he had manipulated Harry and Snape because he sounded so cold and hard and uncaring in those memories and it sort of seemed to make Rita's book true but then when he explained it all to Harry I found myself liking him again, especially when he gave the reason for not taking the Minister of Magic position, that made him good and intelligent again, it showed he had learnt from his mistake and become a better person. Voldemort and Grindleward would have taken the job. Thats the difference, just like what Dumbledore said to Harry about his sorting, its the choices you make that show what type of person you are and he made the right ones after his early mistakes. Which means Dumbledore is wise and good.

[Run Away!!!]

Yup DD knew what might happen if he was put in a position of power which makes him a much better person than Grindelwald or Voldemort even though their flaws are much the same.

[Simatra]

They say that with age, comes wisdom, and that means that for the more you are put though, with ageing, the wiser you become. Dumbledore was a genuis, respected thoughout his years. If nothing happened that stuck Dumbledore, that lend to his proper genius, we wouldn't have the same Dumbledore. So I'm glad that he the way she made it, not trilled about Dumbledore mistake but glad of what he learned from that.

[Athena Appleton]

Anybody elses views of DD slightly distorted after reading DH? Of course everybody has their faults.. but DD was so awesome as a old man.. but I just can't see myself likeing the teenage one very much.

I always like the flawed heroes best. Dumbledore's always been great (well, old Dumbledore has always been great -- in the books), but his past mistake a few things to happen.

Flawed heroes are SO much more complex and interesting than the naturally good heroes. It really gave him more depth as a character for him to have "a past".

Also, it's much more difficult -- and much more commendable -- to recognise your faults and correct them. Dumbledore not only did that, he went the complete OPPOSITE way -- he didn't just recognise and overcome the flaws, he was the number one leader against who he was originally.

[Phoenix in the Ashes]

I thought it was great. It proved beyond all doubt that Dumbledore is a complete hero... he was the most powerful wizard in the world and he definitely knew it, yet he resisted the temptation of evil when he could have done the very opposite.

It proves he was as wise as we all knew he was. It helps that he was right about Snape, too.

[DucksRMagical]

Okay, people! Someone's got to have an opinion about Dumbledore being gay! There's so much argument and discussion about it on other HP forums, but none here.

I personally don't care if Dumbledore's gay or not. I think it's great that she told us, though. I do think it's nice that he once loved someone, even though it was Grindelwald. It is sad how he never loved anyone else. He's kind of like Snape. Snape never loved anyone after Lily. Dumbledore went on the rest of his life talking about how wonderful love is, but Snape was just mean afterwards. They're alike, but different.

Fawkes has a great theory about DD and Grindelwald, but I'll let her post it.

[Athena Appleton]

Personally, I don't like it.

It's not that I have a problem with gays or lesbians, or that I consider it a character flaw or anything like that. But I liked the fact that Dumbledore was just eccentric. Finding out that he's a gay character kind of puts a twist on that eccentricity, and however stereotypical or ignorant it may be, in my mind, learning that he's gay took him from being an offbeat, eccentric man to a flamboyant homosexual.

It was nice to learn that he had loved before. He spoke so much of love, I had actually begun to wonder if he had ever experienced it himself. Like, maybe it was something he held so high on a pedestal because he spent his whole life yearning for it.

It does make it have a new, meaningful twist that he ended up having to fight and defeat Grindelwald. It really brings out the dedication he had to doing the right thing, regardless of how he felt about it personally. By that time, they were not all that close, but I know that I could never have a real fight like that, that could possibly end in death, with my first love.

As someone says in the epilogue of DH (new information does not mean we don't watch ourselves with any spoilers!!!), Severus Snape was an incredibly brave man. But if he had learned that Voldemort was planning to kill Frank, Alice and Neville Longbottom, not Lily Potter, he would have done nothing to stop him. In fact, if only James and Harry were the targets, he woudl most likely have done nothing. After Lily died, he had no real interest in helping protect Harry until Dumbledore talked him into it.

It really emphasizes how brave and responsible Dumbledore was, to go up against the only man he had ever loved.

[Cougie]

Dumbledore being gay is irrelevant to the storyline. It wasn't mentioned in the books hence it's not canon and it doesn't matter one way or another.

Only thing is that you may get new meanings (minor) or interperate things slightly differently from rereading the books.

And there's nothing wrong with him being gay of course though some may disagree.

So why did JK announce this? To cause controversy? Sell more books? Who knows? Personally I think it was an unnecessary move. I believe Dumbledore being gay is as irrelevant as whether or not he likes Star Wars...

[DucksRMagical]

So why did JK announce this? To cause controversy? Sell more books? Who knows? Personally I think it was an unnecessary move. I believe Dumbledore being gay is as irrelevant as whether or not he likes Star Wars...

I was at Carnegie Hall when she announced it. They were doing a question and answer session. One girl (I think she was in her mid teens?) told J.K.R. how much the books meant to her and how they helped her so much in understanding human relationships. She said how they were more helpful in her growing up than her parents were and they taught her so much. The girl was on the verge of tears. Then she said her question was, 'Did Dumbledore ever fall in love?' Then J.K.R. said 'I think you deserve the truth, so I'm going to tell you. I've always thought of Dumbledore as gay.' Then the audience applauded and cheered and then she said that he was in love with Grindelwald.

It was not a publicity stunt or a joke or anything like that. Listening to what that girl said and seeing her, you'd understand that J.K.R. had to tell the truth. A couple people I've talked to on other forums thought it was a joke, but it wasn't. No way would J.K.R. joke about something like that after what that girl said.

[Simatra]

That's interesting and everything, but really, it's not like it matters! I mean, there's no more books and he's dead so it's not like it's character devolpment. This is stupid, sometimes JKR makes me mad......

[DucksRMagical]

Personally, I love hearing more about characters. Even if they're dead. Sirius, Lily, James, and Remus are dead but JKR announced their jobs to everyone at Carnegie Hall. I don't see this as any different than what she said about Dumbledore.

I think that people can read the books and enjoy them without really thinking about Dumbledore's orientation if they don't want to. Kids can read them and understand the books and never realize that DD is gay. Others can use this new piece of information to analyze the books again and find the subtle hints.

JKR said in Toronto, "I think a child will see a friendship and I think a sensitive adult may well understand that it was an infatuation," she said.
( http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/269527 )
I definitely agree with that.

What gets me is the people who say that we didn't need this piece of information and she just shouldn't have said it because the books are over. But then they don't say anything like that when they learn other information like who Neville married and whether Harry became an Auror or not. To me, there's not much difference in learning this as opposed to DD's orientation.