On Bathilda Bagshot, Dumbledore, and sexism
On the note of the inherent misogyny of how Grindeldore is written (see this addition to my meta by @thephiesintheforest), I think the way Bathilda's age is emphasized before her death, and her death itself, in DH is pretty sexist but easy to overlook.
Most main male characters' arcs in HP come at the expense of dead women, but Dumbledore is potentially the worst, where we are introduced to three dead women in service of Dumbledore's arc in DH - Kendra, Ariana, and Bathilda - and all three murdered.
Particularly notable is this: notice how with Dumbledore, his age being a problem is a red herring - we are NOT supposed to take it seriously when Dumbledore is called old, it's a lie he tells to manipulate Voldemort & Co. In reality, it was only an extremely powerful curse by Voldemort himself that caused these reactions (though if even that actually caused him to slower is dubious). This is emphasized in the description of Dumbledore's movements swimming towards the Slytherin locket cave as being those of a younger man, even with the curse:
“Dumbledore has been a great wizard — oh yes, he has,” (for Bellatrix had made a scathing noise), “the Dark Lord acknowledges it. I am pleased to say, however, that Dumbledore is growing old. The duel with the Dark Lord last month shook him. He has since sustained a serious injury because his reactions are slower than they once were.” (HBP) “Is it love again?” said Voldemort, his snake’s face jeering. “Dumbledore’s favorite solution, love, which he claimed conquered death, though love did not stop him falling from the tower and breaking like an old waxwork? Love, which did not prevent me stamping out your Mudblood mother like a cockroach, Potter — and nobody seems to love you enough to run forward this time and take my curse. So what will stop you dying now when I strike?” (DH) And with the sudden agility of a much younger man, Dumbledore slid from the boulder, landed in the sea, and began to swim, with a perfect breaststroke, toward the dark slit in the rock face, his lit wand held in his teeth. (HBP)
And there is emphasis on how powerful Dumbledore is until the last moment - he’s heavily weakened by the potion (and the curse) but he still manages to save Harry and drive back the Inferi with fire.
But then, through the darkness, fire erupted: crimson and gold, a ring of fire that surrounded the rock so that the Inferi holding Harry so tightly stumbled and faltered; they did not dare pass through the flames to get to the water. [...] Dumbledore was on his feet again, pale as any of the surrounding Inferi, but taller than any too, the fire dancing in his eyes; his wand was raised like a torch and from its tip emanated the flames, like a vast lasso, encircling them all with warmth. (HBP)
Dumbledore gets to assert his agency as he dies - and he in fact dies very similarly to Lily: wandless, helpless, essentially begging Snape for mercy, his last words pleading "please", his last act being to save Harry. But with Dumbledore, this is all an act, because his death was planned beforehand (Although for various reasons I do think JKR intended something more with Lily's death too - i.e. see how she makes Lily the figure of Death / the true Master of Death).
Likewise, Grindelwald is emphasized as old and wasted away but he is still very lucid when Voldemort visits him, and gets to make a last stand and die with honor and intent.
In contrast, we have Bathilda Bagshot, whose death is simply humiliating. We only meet her in death, and the age and decay is emphasized at every point. And most notably, there's the constant diminishing of her intelligence and sanity:
“Unfortunately, the brilliance that Bathilda exhibited earlier in her life has now dimmed. “The fire’s lit, but the cauldron’s empty,” as Ivor Dillonsby put it to me, or, in Enid Smeek’s slightly earthier phrase, “She’s nutty as squirrel poo." (DH)
I get that Bathilda is naturally older than Dumbledore, she is Grindelwald's great-aunt after all, but like, there is no specific average lifespan given for wizards (JKR has even given multiple wildly different ages for Dumbledore). And the Flamels lived until 600, so (Nicholas Flamel also given a choice and agency when he dies).
True, there is some tongue-in-cheek stuff with her too - i.e. when Lily says “I think her mind’s going, personally”, obviously there is irony there, Bathilda’s mind is not going, her story about Albus and Gellert’s past is correct. But the rest of the references to her mind as deteriorated seem to be intended to be taken seriously (as far as I can tell, someone correct me if I'm wrong).
Lastly, on a similar note, Bathilda is literally the one who taught Albus, and yet appears only to highlight how brilliant Albus and Gellert are. And compare this to, for example, Voldemort as teacher to Bellatrix and Snape, and how that position as teacher (reiterated by his desire for the DADA job) highlights his own intelligence and immense power. It all fits the pattern of how women who are responsible for men’s successes are overshadowed and minimized and erased by history.
