Theowyn; “The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore”
Theowyn talks about Dumbledore manipulating things, much as this book does, but with the least charitable reading of Dumbledore I’ve found. Fans who are skeptical of Dumbledore’s goodness and still have a hard time forgiving him will enjoy this one.
Sarah Putnam Park; “Dumbledorian Ethics”
In perhaps the most charitable reading of Dumbledore post-Deathly Hallows, Sarah argues that Dumbledore is really the Ultimate Utilitarian. It’s worth reading in conjunction with Theowyn’s to get both ends of the spectrum regarding Dumbledore.
Joyce Odell (a.k.a. Red Hen); “The Quirrell Debacle”
Red Hen (in her signature snippy tone) offers an alternate reading of Sorcerer’s Stone, one where Quirrell is a victim whom Dumbledore is trying to rescue, and Harry is largely beside the point. Most interesting is a section near the end where Red Hen claims that Dumbledore was worried about Harry being like Tom Riddle and tested him with the Mirror of Erised.
D.W. Hill; “Snape and Dumbledore: The Unnecessary Bargain”
This piece was among the first to use the new information from Deathly Hallows to talk about the relationship between the Dumbledore and Snape, focusing specifically on Dumbledore’s trust in Snape. My favorite bit is when Hill claims that Dumbledore trusts Snape because he relates to Snape’s remorse over a loved one’s death.
Avogadro; “Choice or Chance?”
This essay, published very soon after Deathly Hallows, examined the worthwhile question of what ended up as the driving force in the final battle: choice or chance? That debate is a proxy to all that we’ve discussed here: how much of what happened was influenced by Dumbledore’s efforts (choice), and how much of it happened regardless or despite his plans (chance)? Avogadro reaches a similar conclusion to me: it’s both choice and chance working in conjunction that allow Harry to prevail.
Lady Lupin; Spinner’s End #26: “Finite Incantatem”
It has taken me a decade to puzzle all this out about Dumbledore, yet Lady Lupin arrived there exactly a month after Deathly Hallows was published. Her MuggleNet column, Spinner’s End, correctly predicted more things in the last book than anyone else’s. This, her reaction piece to the last book, has a wonderful section on Albus, going over his motivations and his character in much the same way I did (though with fewer words). She, too, admires Dumbledore for his flaws and remains convinced he cared about Harry above all else.
Pre-Deathly Hallows Era
D.W. Hill; “Dumbledore’s Trust in Snape Part 1: Headmaster and Schoolboy”
A month before Deathly Hallows was released, D.W. Hill wrote a wonderful trilogy of editorials titled Dumbledore’s Trust in Snape. The publication of Deathly Hallows made much of it moot, but there are some excellent points in there.
D.W. Hill; “Dumbledore’s Trust in Snape Part 2: More Than a Potions Master”
Hill makes the very intriguing claim that Snape is so nasty to Harry in order to get Harry emotional, allowing Snape to read his mind (on Dumbledore’s orders).
D.W. Hill; “Dumbledore’s Trust in Snape Part 3: Riffs and Curiosities”
Hill continues in the (rather charitable) vein that Snape is only being nasty for Harry’s own good, and has some great insights into the end of Prisoner of Azkaban in particular.
D.W. Hill; “Severus Snape: A Portrait in Subtlety”
Hill wrote this essay in defense of Snape several months before Deathly Hallows, and there is an especially interesting section predicting that Snape is Dumbledore’s Plan B for destroying the Horcruxes and so on.
Steve Connolly; “Dumbledore’s Master Plan” (7 parts)
Steve Connolly essentially did what I attempted to do with this book—find Dumbledore’s hand in all the events of the HP books—in a seven-part editorial (first part in the link). However, he does so several months before Deathly Hallows was published. To that end, the speculation in the first and last part largely proved to be inaccurate but is worth reading to see how intricately Rowling wove her tale. However, in the middle parts, Steve Connolly figures out many of the things I’ve written about, without the hindsight of Deathly Hallows! For example, in Part 6, he writes about how the prophecy is a decoy set up by Dumbledore.
Felicitys_mind; “Dumbledore’s Boggart”
This essay puts forward the theory that Dumbledore’s boggart is harm coming to the children under his care, which is well-reasoned even if it turned out wrong. More interestingly, this piece brings forth the still valid theory that the potion in the cave that Dumbledore drank made him relive the torture of Amy Benson and Dennis Bishop.
Felicitys_mind; “Fantastic Potions and How They Helped Albus Dumbledore in HBP”
The first part of this essay builds on Cathy Leisner’s “Stoppered Death Theory,” which isn’t available online. That theory accurately predicted that the curse on the Ringcrux was deadly and that Snape had “stoppered” Dumbledore’s death (harkening back to Snape’s speech in Harry’s first Potions class). The Stoppered Death Theory successfully explained just about everything that went on in Half-Blood Prince. This essay then veers off into the theory that Dumbledore took Felix Felicis the night of his death, and how everything that happened actually helped him achieve his ultimate objectives.
Andrew Cooper; “Machiavelli’s Half-Blood Prince”
This is my favorite of the many essays written between HBP and DH about Snape being Machiavelli’s Prince—it turned out very wrong but is no less clever for it.
B.J. Texan; “Machiavelli’s Half-Blood Prince”
This is another essay marking Snape as Machiavelli’s Prince, and claiming he would be the Big Bad of the series. However, there are a few extra gems in here. In particular, the essay correctly theorizes that Snape’s Patronus is a big spoiler, though it guesses that the Patronus is a fox and therefore reveals the motif of The Prince.
Corinne Demyanovich & Michael Hagel; “Did Albus Dumbledore Set Up Events So That Harry Potter Would Go After the Philosopher’s Stone?”
This is one of the earliest essays I found that really goes in-depth about Dumbledore orchestrating things in Sorcerer’s Stone, and much of it is really spot-on.
Robbie Fischer; “He
