5. Bloomsbury Live Chat with J.K. Rowling; July 30th, 2007,
Allie: What did dumbledore truly see in the mirror of erised
J.K. Rowling: He saw his family alive, whole and happy – Ariana, Percival and Kendra all returned to him, and Aberforth reconciled to him.”
6. In Sorcerer’s Stone, the other centaurs (namely Bane) are upset at the meddling in what happens to Harry in the Forest. Ironically enough, many years later Dumbledore would set things in motion to fulfill what the centaurs saw in the heavens. Harry supposes that “Bane thinks Firenze should have let Voldemort kill me.... I suppose that’s written in the stars as well.” (SS260) Indeed, that is probably what was written in the stars, as Harry lets Voldemort kill him in that very forest during the Battle of Hogwarts. Bane was just trying to rush things along instead of waiting another six years. (Credit to Eileen Jones at the Lexicon for this observation, in her piece “Bane Was Right All Along.”)
7. For more about Dumbledore’s conversation with Harry, see Appendix B.
8. Josie Kearns writes about this in “What Did Dobby Know?” at the HP Companion. Steve Connolly also wrote about this, pre-DH, over at MuggleNet.
9. It’s telling that in Sorcerer’s Stone, Dumbledore making an appearance at a Quidditch match has all of Hogwarts in a tizzy. There are six Quidditch matches per year, so it doesn’t seem like an unreasonable burden for a headmaster to be present at all of them. But Dumbledore makes it clear that he cannot be bothered to watch his students play Quidditch, remaining aloof and distant from the student body.
10. It is unfair to the other houses, who are not allowed to play any promising first years of their own. It is unfair to the older students in Gryffindor House, many of whom never got the chance to join the team—since the whole team aside from Oliver is third year and under, the entire Quidditch team must have graduated in 1990/1991, leaving students in the Class of 1992 through 1995 out of luck after Harry and Katie Bell joined the team.
11. This is some of the first evidence that we should approach Hagrid’s broad declarative statements with skepticism. Hagrid’s worldview is simplistic, as one can tell both here and in the wholly incorrect statement: “there wasn’t a witch or wizard who went bad who wasn’t in Slytherin.” (SS80)
12. The notability of this moment was first brought to my attention by Eileen Jones in a Harry Potter Lexicon Minute. “What a beacon of hope the Headmaster must be to illicit this kind of reaction,” she writes.
13. The reader is treated to a rather delightful pun here: the knocker on the door to Dumbledore’s office is shaped like a griffin (CS204), making it a literal Gryffindo[o]r. I’m inclined to think this was Dumbledore’s creation; he certainly seems the type of headmaster to make his office door into a pun.
14. Tom Riddle charms every member of the faculty except Dumbledore. This is an ironic role reversal of what happens in the books’ present day: where usually Snape is railing to Headmaster Dumbledore against his favorite; back then Dumbledore kept trying to convince Headmaster Dippet not to favor Tom Riddle so much.
15. A pre-DH theory that I found engaging comes courtesy of Maline Freden at MuggleNet (North Tower #27: “Wands and Where to Find Them”). She suggests that Hagrid’s umbrella contains not his own broken wand, but Moaning Myrtle’s entirely intact wand—given that she would have had no more use of it at exactly the moment when Hagrid’s was snapped. It can’t be proven one way or the other unless Jo says so, but I’m fond of the theory.
16. We don’t know Grubbly-Plank’s house, but a commitment to teaching regardless of politics suggests Ravenclaw.
17. This also explains why Dumbledore was unable to come to Harry’s rescue in the graveyard in Goblet of Fire. Even if Dumbledore was once again using this spell during the Third Task, Voldemort is the only one to say his name during the proceedings (many times, in fact, during his monologue to the Death Eaters). As GumWrappersAreLove1 put it, “Harry doesn't say Dumbledore's name (or much of anything) in the Little Hangleton graveyard. I wouldn't be surprised if Dumbledore was anxiously fingering the Deluminator in his pocket while Harry was in the maze.”
18. Some argue that the language in Sorcerer’s Stone indicates Quirrell had already been the D.A.D.A. professor before Harry’s first year, including the fine folks over at The Harry Potter Lexicon, but I’ll take the path of least resistance and assume Dumbledore accurately described the effects of the curse.
19. It is possible that he does know, due to either performing Homenum Revelio, or even just seeing Harry outside Hagrid’s Hut (though I find the latter option unlikely). However, his behavior makes sense even if he doesn’t know, but merely supposes.
20. Credit for this brilliant catch goes to Daniela Teo in The Two-Way Mirror #10: “The Triwizard Tasks and the Seven Books”
21. To recap: He relived one of the worst nights of his life. He failed to get revenge on his childhood bully. He failed to avenge Lily’s death. And he was foiled by his three least favorite students. All in all, not a good night for him.
22. Credit for this brilliant observation goes to D.W. Hill, who wrote a riveting series of editorials about the Dumbledore/ Snape relationship pre-DH.
23. “The Dark Lord will rise again with his servant’s aid, greater and more terrible than ever he was.” (PA324)
24. This is probably my favorite essay that I’ve ever read about the Harry Potter series; it completely opened my eyes to
