The Reveal of Albus Dumbledore

Individuals aren’t always who they seem to be. Sometimes how people present themselves to us shapes how we perceive them. How can you tell whether someone is good or bad? One character in particular in the Harry Potter series is misunderstood. Dumbledore is initially portrayed as a gentle and compassionate wizard who genuinely cares for Harry. Although he goes out of his way to be courteous, does he really care about him?

In the beginning of The Sorcerer’s Stone. We see that Dumbledore delivers Harry to his aunt’s house and later on invites him to come to Hogwarts. Since Harry was very mistreated while living with his aunt and her family he saw that as something meaningful. He would often rely on Dumbledore whenever he felt lost or was in need of help and advice. He never saw any malice in Dumbledore and saw him as someone who is kind and always there for him. Dumbeldore was Harry’s guide,” Dumbledore is the man from whom Harry has learned most about being a wizard and a human being. Throughout their six years together, Albus Dumbledore spends a great deal of his time teaching Harry about life in the way most parents do.” Although many believe that Dubledore was like a father to Harry, in Deathly Hallows part ll we get to see who Voldemort really is, the villain who was never revealed earlier. 

It is revealed that Dumbledore  was really only preparing Harry for whatever Voldemort was up to. All along he never really actually cared for Harry. It was duty to just prepare him for life and most importantly to defeat Voldemort. In Deathly Hallows part ll Snape reveals “You’ve kept him alive so that he can die at the proper moment. You’ve been raising him like a pig for slaughter!” This reveals so much about Dumbledore since it shows that he didn’t raise Harry because he loved him but rather so that he could die at the right time. This illustrates how you can’t completely recognize someone. People always have a way of surprising you. Even if they are acting with the best of intentions. Harry would get what he wanted from Dumbledore, who would then exploit it for his own benefit. Instead of protecting Harry, he was going to leave him alone and trust that he had adequately prepared him.

This demonstrates that no one is ever truly known. Kind deeds can be used to cover up wrongdoing, but in the end, reality will set in and take hold. This can be extremely upsetting because occasionally, even when someone isn’t the best, we genuinely want to see the best in them. Dumbledore had no desire to raise Harry or take care of him. Dumbledore, however, wasn’t the good guy that everyone believed him to be; in reality, he was the antagonist. Even later, it is shown that several characters we had believed to be bad guys actually cared more about Harry than Dumbledore did.