When we first meet Dumbledore, in book 1, he is delivering Harry Potter to Vernon and Petunia Dursley since his parents were murdered. Dumbledore leaves the small Harry Potter at their doorstep with a letter explaining the situation that has happened, and why he leaves him there. After Harry has arrived at Hogwarts, Dumbledore tells him the secrets of  the Mirror of Erised, and also tells him that when he looks into it, he sees himself holding a pair of thick wollen socks. He enchanted the Mirror of Erised so that it was hiding the Philosopher’s stone, and only a person who looked into the mirror with the desire to find the stone, but not use it, would be able to get it. A false message leads Dumbledore to think he is called to the Ministry of Magic, on the same night that Quirinus Quirrell, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley goes to the dungeons to retrieve the Philosopher’s stone. However, during the trip Dumbledore realises he is needed at Hogwarts and travels back to the castle to aid young Harry Potter.

In book 2 Dumbledore suspects Tom Riddle to be involved in the attacks on muggle-born students. He appears much younger in Riddle’s diary, and asks Riddle if he knows anything about the attacks on the students. Dumbledore is suspended as headmaster since the Basilisk attacked people while it was in the school, he gets his position back when it is discovered that Ginny Weasley has been taken to the Chamber of Secrets. In the beggining of book 3 he is forced to accept dementors onto school grounds, to protect the students from Sirius Black, who escaped Azkaban. He issues orders to close every entrance to the school and grounds after Black breached into Hogwarts. Later Dumbledore suggests that Hermione uses her time-turner to go back and save Buckbeak and Sirius Black from their executions.

Dumbledore introduces and is a judge of the Triwizard tournament in book 4. When Harry Potter’s name comes out of the Goblet we read that Dumbledore remains calm and asks if he put his name, or asked another student to put his name, in the Goblet of Fire. However in the film version he is not so calm as in the book. Harry sais that he didn’t put or ask another student to put his name in the goblet, Dumbledore believes him. When Mad-Eye Moody takes Harry away from Dumbledore, he immediatly becomes suspicious and brings Severus Snape and Minerva McGonagall to Moody’s office, to save Harry and interrogate Barty Crouch Jr. who had impersonated Moody. We see Dumbledore and McGonagall argue with Cornelius Fudge, the minister for magic, about Voldemorts return, in the end Dumbledore and Fudge part ways.

In the 5th book we see Dumbledore being demoted from Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, voted out of the Chairmanship of the International Confederation of Wizards, and is almost stripped of his Order of Merlin First Class. This is all because of his speeches regarding Voldemort’s return. The Ministry of Magic tries to do everything they can to discredit Dumbledore, mainly through the Daily Prophet. Due to the Ministry’s passing of Educational Decree Twenty-two, Fudge places Dolores Umbridge as Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher since Dumbledore couldn’t find a suitable candidate. Fudge gradually gains power over Dumbledore and Hogwarts through Umbridge. Fudge also fears that Dumbledore is building a Wizard-Army to overthrow the Ministry, it doesn’t help that Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger founds an organisation called Dumbledore’s Army. They did so since Umbridge didn’t allow them to practice DADA practically, but it made Dumbledore falsely admit to having made the organisation, and being suspended again, instead of letting Harry be expelled. Next time we see him is in the Department of Mysteries to aid the Order of the Phoenix in the battle against Death Eaters. Dumbledore ends up in a duel against Voldemort after he protected Harry from a killing curse coming from Voldemort.

In book 6 we see Dumbledore trying to convince Horace Slughorn to rejoin the Hogwarts staff as potions master. During the year Dumbledore tells Harry about events in Voldemort’s life that he thinks is important for Harry to know. He takes Harry to a cave where he believes a Horcrux is hidden, and while there he drinks a potion that is in the Horcrux’s container. This leads him to screaming from probable mental torture. Dumbledore calls out for water, and when Harry goes to get it from the water in the cave a large amount of inferi starts attacking him. When Dumbledore got better from the water he conjures a fire lasso around them. They manage to escape from the cave, and go to the Astronomy Tower, where Dumbledore tells Harry that he shall not intervene in the events about to take place. After Harry has hidden, Draco Malfoy appears, to kill Dumbledore, he disarms Dumbledore, but hesitates on the killing, and then Severus Snape appears and kills him instead of Malfoy.

I think Dumbledore is a noble person, always trying to do the best for everyone, even though sometimes it doesn’t seem that way until a long time afterwards. It can be a bit confusing to try to categorise him, but I would say he is a good person.

We asked Emmeline Umbridge what her opinion of Dumbledore was, and here is her answer:

Well my opinion is that Dumbledore was the greatest Headmaster Hogwarts could have. He was such an impressive man with so much love in his heart. He gave everyone a chance, a second and a third even. He always believed in the good in men. But I hate him because he let Severus kill him... it always makes me cry when i read that part.

 Kind regards, Bob Higginbotham and the Social Media Team