Harry Potter, the protagonist, was not Dumbledore’s puppet
Just like I did with another post, I decided to make my own bringing up the same points, because I think they’re relevant enough to stand on their own. So I genuinely don’t understand where this idea comes from —that Harry was manipulated by Dumbledore from the very beginning, that he should never have trusted him — and from these ideas, people somehow jump to the conclusion that Harry was Dumbledore’s puppet the entire time, caught in some political game between him and Voldemort, while ignoring Voldemort being Harry’s equal, something confirmed in the books:
“He chose the boy he thought most likely to be a danger to him,” said Dumbledore. “And notice this, Harry. He chose, not the pureblood (which, according to his creed, is the only kind of wizard worth being or knowing), but the half-blood, like himself. He saw himself in you before he had ever seen you
OotP
Why did Voldemort pick Harry and not Neville?
JK Rowling: Dumbledore explains this in 'Order of the Phoenix'. Voldemort identified more with the half-blood boy and therefore decided he must be the greater risk.
Reinforced by the author herself.
‘The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives ... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…’
And the quote above was even pointed out in an article on the official Harry Potter site that literally says: 7 times that Professor Trelawney actually got it right.
It’s worth noting that the same quote explicitly says “The one,” which refers to Harry himself, not to him as a tool for another character, or even for those who stood by him and helped him along the way. I’ve seen people try to lean on the idea of collectivity and the lesson on friendship of the series to argue otherwise, as if the core of the saga didn’t begin with Harry and Voldemort being marked as equals. It’s not about a collective standing above the individual and diluting the protagonist’s agency; it’s about how that very collective forms and organizes itself around him.
So, it doesn’t make sense for a series called Harry Potter to have its own protagonist reduced to being groomed into Dumbledore’s puppet. Harry didn’t even trust Dumbledore with everything, and he spent a good part of the series trying to hide things from him. Like in GoF, when he never told him about his dreams or the pain in his scar. In HBP, he fully disagrees with Dumbledore about Draco and Snape, proving he doesn’t always trust his judgments. He also sees Hermione as the one who trusts Dumbledore’s authority the most. Even if they share similar values, Harry literally grew up wary of Dumbledore’s secrecy, and he wasn’t one to be restrained when it came to pursuing things on his terms.
Harry has immense respect for him, not just because he believes in his intentions — in the cause behind them — but because there’s an almost paternal bond there. So why is that framed as blind trust? Their relationship is more complex than that!
It’s always about reducing things into easily digestible concepts— the same way people take the good vs evil framework, rendered as Harry (the hero) = pure and naive, Voldemort (the villain) = impure and heartless. And that’s the same logic here, because Dumbledore is a manipulative – “impure” – figure, Harry is then positioned against him, cast as the “pure” counterpart and automatically reduced to a passive lamb. All the nuance gets ignored, as if actions could only exist in a single, illogical dimension.
That kind of interpretation fails to account for Harry Potter himself.
Harry was a soldier— DA’s leader, carrying out a mission he believed in, just as much as Dumbledore did. And he had plenty of personal reasons for it; to end the war that had defined his entire life, and to make sure no one else had to die for something that was always meant to end with him. His sacrifice was a choice — one he had the courage and honor to make himself. Again, like a soldier, like a hero — not because he was being manipulated by Dumbledore.
Yes, Dumbledore is an extremely manipulative individual, but implying Harry’s choices were a product of that entirely misses the point of his character. The lack of actually reading the books— where the narration is centered on Harry— leads some people to come up with random theories that erase defining elements of the story.
I remember seeing a post some time ago from a Dumbledore fan(No shade intended of course!!) referencing Dumbledore's stoicism, and it made me think, stoicism really isn't something I attribute to Dumbledore's personality as a usual position for him in my opinion.
First to say what I think stoic means, The definition for Stoic (noun) from the Cambridge dictionary is
someone who does not complain or show their emotions
And Yes, Dumbledore does indeed have moments of stoicism, but they are few and far in between, and even in those moments you still see his emotions breaking through.
But for his regular state though..
When he is happy, you'll know it
Professor Dumbledore, though very old, always gave an impression of
great energy. He had several feet of long silver hair and beard, half-moon spectacles, and an extremely crooked nose. He was often described as the greatest wizard of the age, but that wasn't why Harry
respected him. You couldn't help trusting Albus Dumbledore, and as Harry watched him beaming around at the students, he felt really calm for the first time since the dementor had entered the train compartment.
If he is angry, even for your sake, you'll feel it
At that moment, Harry fully understood for the first time why
people said Dumbledore was the only wizard Voldemort had ever
feared. The look upon Dumbledore’s face as he stared down at the
unconscious form of Mad-Eye Moody was more terrible than
Harry could have ever imagined. There was no benign smile upon
Dumbledore’s face, no twinkle in the eyes behind the spectacles.
There was cold fury in every line of the ancient face; a sense of
power radiated from Dumbledore as though he were giving off
burning heat.
Dumbledore paused, and although his voice remained light and calm, and he gave no obvious sign of anger, Harry felt a kind of chill emanating from him and noticed that the Dursleys drew very slightly closer together
Yes here it says that his face doesn't show signs of anger, and his voice is calm, but the feeling of anger he is giving off is felt by both Harry and the Dursleys.
If he is passionate about something, then he his voice will raise, he will exclaim, he will emphasize, and if he does not, then his eyes will give it away.
‘Yet again, Cornelius, I tell you that taking Hagrid away will not
help in the slightest,’ said Dumbledore. His blue eyes were full of
a fire Harry had never seen before.
.
‘And what exactly did you want with me, Lucius?’ said Dumbledore. He spoke politely, but the fire was still blazing in his blue eyes.
“You are blinded,” said Dumbledore, his voice rising now, the aura of power around him palpable, his eyes blazing once more, “by the love of the office you hold, Cornelius!
And of course the biggest example for passion for me would be his speech to Harry about prophecies not being absolute, you see him shouting,
“Of course you would!” cried Dumbledore
You see the amount of exclamation points used
“Got to?” said Dumbledore. “Of course you’ve got to!(1) But not because of the prophecy!(2) Because you, yourself, will never rest until you’ve tried!(3) We both know it!(4) Imagine, please, just for a moment, that you had never heard that prophecy!(5) How would you feel about Voldemort now? Think!(6)”
You see how he paces while doing it
Harry watched Dumbledore striding up and down in front of him, and
thought
If he is touched, if he is sad, or if he is vulnerable, you also see it. He is, I think, only second to Hagrid as the male character with the most crying shown in relation to his presence by word count, it breaks through not only when he isn't trying to hide his emotions,
Dumbledore opened his mouth to speak and then closed it again. Behind Harry, Fawkes the phoenix let out a low, soft, musical cry. To Harry’s intense embarrassment, he suddenly realized that Dumbledore’s bright blue eyes looked rather watery, and stared hastily at his own knees. When Dumbledore spoke, however, his voice was quite steady.
“I am very touched, Harry.”
.
But Harry had eyes only for the man who stood in the largest
portrait directly behind the headmaster’s chair. Tears were sliding
down from behind the half-moon spectacles into the long silver
beard, and the pride and the gratitude emanating from him filled
Harry with the same balm as phoenix song.
But even when he is trying to act calm and nonchalant
“See what they’ve named themselves?” said Fudge quietly. “Dumbledore’s Army.”
Dumbledore reached out and took the piece of parchment from
Fudge. He gazed at the heading scribbled by Hermione months before and for a moment seemed unable to speak. Then he looked up,
smiling.
Yes him smiling shows that he regained his composure quickly, but he was still shocked speechless
And these are not just things only seen by Harry, everyone saw him angry at the quidditch pitch when the dementors almost killed Harry, and Hagrid was able to sense Dumbledore's worry
“How dare he,” Hagrid growled as they strode past the lake.
“How dare he accuse Dumbledore. Like Dumbledore’d do anythin’
like that. Like Dumbledore wanted you in the tournament in the
firs’ place. Worried! I dunno when I seen Dumbledore more worried than he’s bin lately.
And all of this isn't mentioning King's Cross, where Dumbledore goes from radiating happiness like light to sobbing his heart out.
Like I said above, Dumbledore does have moments of stoicism, but again, even in those moments you see emotions, like with his terrible anger with Barty, and his fear showing before he goes on to calmy (or softly to be more accurate) interrogate Barty, or with his duel against Voldemort where he is described to be extremely calm, but again at the end when Voldemort possesses Harry you see fear in Dumbledore's eyes (Though to be fair, only the most extremely stoic would see someone they love being hurt like that and not show emotion.)
And the final example to that is Dumbledore's confession to Harry in OOTP's "The Lost Prophecy", where Dumbledore tries very hard and succeeds in being calm, detached, and serene, but still breaks at the end, shows how vulnerable he is, and even sheds a tear.
(After I wrote those next two paragraphs, I realized that I shifted from just 'not showing emotions in general' which is untrue given how Dumbledore is almost always smiling and very rarely shows an emotionless face, to Dumbledore hiding his emotions in general and masking them with his smiles and such, but I still think this applies so eh.)
I'm not saying that Dumbledore is so open with his emotions that he cries in front of everyone or something, he has an extremely close relationship with Harry that would make him show more emotions to Harry, and Harry himself, even discounting him knowing Dumbledore better and thus being able to read him better, is also generally observant.
However, that only extend to the moments where Dumbledore is showing extremely vulnerable emotions that cause him to cry or almost do so, and I don't think the students caught his worry in GOF and just saw him smiling as usual, only people close to him such as Hagrid could see that.
But other emotions such as happiness, anger, and passion? Any character in the HP world could see that I think.
jbbartram-illu
origamiaround
ellievsbear
romaincrisis
areudirty
kianamaiart
