Kilgharrah + Dumbledore rant
In my humble opinion, Dumbledore (or as my friend adequately nicknamed him, dumble-dick), and Kilgharrah, are very similar characters, in that they are both ancient lizards with oversized egos and a god complex. They are portrayed as good characters overall, their actions somehow always justifiable or not even being held responsible in any capacity in the first place. When in actual fact, they both manipulate the protagonist toward their own agendas, seemingly for the greater good, when in reality the benefits are pretty selfish. Merlin was young and naïve when he first came to Camelot, and Kilgharrah took advantage of his honest nature, forcing him to set him free in exchange for his help. Kilgharrah often states that he wishes for the golden age of Albion to be brought about, but his earlier actions (Before Merin was able to command him) completely contradict this. He promises Merlin a future that never happens, yet he was still able to be set free, and left relatively out of the way in peace for the rest of his life. Now Dumbledore, despite being the only wizard that Voldemort was afraid of, did very little to stop him, both during Harry’s time at Hogwarts and when he first rose to power. Instead, he left a child and his friends with the job of killing him, traumatizing them year after year, and if that’s not enough, send Harry back to an abusive family every summer (In a very similar situation to Tom Riddle being sent to an abusive orphanage). He raised him like “a pig for slaughter”. Draco Malfoy also suffered at his hands, Dumbledore knew for an entire year what the boy was tasked to do, knowing it would emotionally traumatize him even more than he already was, but did nothing to stop it, becoming a martyr instead, basically getting out before the real war begun. Both Kilgharrah and Dumbledick had tunnel vision when it came to their causes, and as long as Merlin and Harry respectively were able to fulfil their destinies, it didn’t matter what trauma they had to go through, what tough decisions they had to make, or what friends and family they had to lose along the way