Dumbledore & the Rejected Drink
So there's this little character quirk Dumbledore has. He really likes offering, and asking for drinks. It's his go-to social ice-breaker. BUT there's also a motif of that drink... not happening. And it's not a children's literature thing, there are plenty of scenes of the Order drinking, Harry, Ron and Hermione drinking, Hagrid, Slughorn, Narcissa, the Fat Lady all drinking. Mundungus, Trelawney, and Winky drink *too much.* It's just a Dumbledore thing! No one wants to drink with Dumbledore!
In Book 4 he invites Barty Senior, Madame Maxime and Karkaroff to have "a nightcap" with him after the Goblet of Fire ceremony, they all turn him down. :(
When he goes to pick up Harry in Book 6, Dumbledore pours mead for all three Dursleys, which they obviously don't drink. (And the longer they don't drink the more insistent the glasses get, until they're bouncing on the Dursleys' heads.)
In the next scene, he asks Slughorn for a drink, which he does get... but Slughorn doesn't drink with him.
Slughorn will later plan to give Dumbledore a bottle of mead for Chirstmas, and then just... not do that. This is a huge plot point too. Like with the bouncing glasses at the Dursleys, the narrative is drawing attention to the fact that no one is drinking with Dumbledore.
Dumbledore mentions that if anyone sees him leaving the castle, they'll think he's "off into Hogsmeade for a drink (...) I sometimes offer Rosmerta my custom, or else visit the Hog’s Head... or I appear to." So again with this "thwarted drink" thing. He's not actually drinking at the Hog's Head. (We learn later that the Hog's Head belongs to Aberforth so that's like... he's not even drinking with his brother. who owns a bar.)
There's a bit in Book 3 which *might* count, where Dumbledore asks Hagrid for "a cup of tea. Or a large brandy.” And Hagrid agrees, but we don't see him actually drink with Dumbledore (and we don't know for sure that he's going to go with the alcohol.)
Dumbledore drinks with exactly two people in the entire series:
1. Harry
“Madam Rosmerta’s finest oak-matured mead,” said Dumbledore, raising his glass to Harry, who caught hold of his own and sipped. He had never tasted anything like it before, but enjoyed it immensely.
2. Voldemort
“May I offer you a drink?” “That would be welcome,” said Voldemort. “I have come a long way.” Dumbledore stood and swept over to the cabinet where he now kept the Pensieve, but which then was full of bottles. Having handed Voldemort a goblet of wine and poured one for himself, he returned to the seat behind his desk. “So, Tom . . . to what do I owe the pleasure?” Voldemort did not answer at once, but merely sipped his wine. “They do not call me ‘Tom’ anymore,” he said. “These days, I am known as —” “I know what you are known as,” said Dumbledore, smiling pleasantly. “But to me, I’m afraid, you will always be Tom Riddle. It is one of the irritating things about old teachers. I am afraid that they never quite forget their charges’ youthful beginnings.” He raised his glass as though toasting Voldemort, whose face remained expressionless.
Then, the only other time Dumbledore and Voldemort actually meet face to face, we see this dynamic continued:
“There is nothing worse than death, Dumbledore!” snarled Voldemort. “You are quite wrong,” said Dumbledore, still closing in upon Voldemort and speaking as lightly as though they were discussing the matter over drinks.
Like, I get it. Dumbledore is put on a pedestal by most people who know him (I'm also thinking of his comment about how people always give him books as gifts, when he really wants socks.) He's just a person, he's just a guy, but the vast majority of people in his life treat him as this all-knowing powerhouse and maybe... aren't that motivated to break that illusion by getting to know him on a personal level. No one is drinking with him (this symbol of connection and equality) even though he keeps offering.
So, it does make a lot of sense that Harry drinks with him in Book 6. Book 6 is where Dumbledore finally decides that he can tell Harry his secrets, and pass the torch onto him. In the French translation, this is where he and Harry start using informal pronouns with each other. He sees Harry as his equal.
But Voldemort.... like. The idea of him and Dumbledore drinking together is brought up twice. It's also interesting that at one point Dumbledore had a drinks cabinet in his office, but doesn't during the main series. Did Dumbledore have (or want) more of these 'equal footing' connections before the first Voldemort war? I wouldn't be surprised.
So we have Voldemort and Dumbledore: the two brilliant, powerful, goody-two-shoes students who won every award in the school, then opted for jobs they were aggressively overqualified for after they left, learned to read minds, spent Books 4, 5 and 6 battling it out through proxies. They're oddly similar people. And they treat each other as equals.
I'm not totally sure what I'm supposed to do with this info, to be honest. I guess, start shipping Dumblemort?
EDIT: Have been informed that this ship is called Riddledore, which does sound much less stupid.
