Albus Dumbledore’s 5 most badass moments from the Harry Potter movies

3. Protecting Harry in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

In the sixth movie, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, Dumbledore finally starts directly working with Harry to deal with the ongoing threat of Lord Voldemort. This work brings the pair to the realization that Voldemort has created several horcruxes where he’s hidden away fragments of his soul, thus making him very hard to kill. Dumbledore determines that Voldemort has hidden one of his horcruxes in a cave. He and Harry pay it a visit.

This film contains some of Gambon’s finest work. Before apparating to the cave, Dumbledore gives Harry an emotional talk about how it seems like yesterday that Harry was just the boy in the cupboard and how much he reminds him of his mother. He then gives Harry strict instructions to do everything he says on this mission, no matter what the cost.

The two arrive at the cave to find a bowl of liquid that had to be drunk in order to gain access to the horcrux beneath. Dumbledore orders Harry to make him drink it all at all costs, and he begins consuming it. Although the movie only shows us that the liquid causes Dumbledore great pain, we know from the book that he also sees a vision of his sister Ariana dying as a result of his duel with Gellert Grindewald and his brother Aberforth.

Gambon again shows off his acting chops as he wretches in pain from the liquid before yelling at Harry to kill him. But Harry is successful at getting Dumbledore to drink it all. They only have a moment to get their bearings before a swarm of reanimated corpses begins to attack them. Harry is knocked into the lake and watches from below as Dumbledore summons a massive wave of flames to ward off the attackers.

It’s a sight to behold, and one of Dumbledore’s final acts in his incredible journey.