Some adults in Harry Potter help Harry in many ways, and plenty of others make you scratch your head and wonder, “How the heck does Harry put up with all of this?” Looking back, that’s how it feels with Albus Dumbledore.
Dumbledore is widely considered one of the greatest wizards of all time. The headmaster of Hogwarts is still just a man. He may be part of so many key moments in this story, but he’s not some god who’s perfect all the time and never makes a poor decision because, trust me, he very much does.
There were a few moments throughout Harry's story that prove he didn't always make the best decisions.
Leaving Harry with the Dursleys
I wanted to preface this by saying that leaving Harry with the Dursleys wasn’t just because they were his last living relatives. It was because, in Lily’s self-sacrifice, a blood protection spell was placed over Harry. Dumbledore knew this, and he later explained that, basically, as long as Harry lived with someone under his blood protection, neither Voldemort nor the Death Eaters would harm him until he became an adult and the spell wore off.
This feels like a worthy explanation for why he was left there, but I must admit, I’m not a fan of it. Sure, it let Harry grow up in a humble environment and kept him away from the world of magic so he would be safe. But in doing so, he suffered years of abuse from his relatives, including Petunia, who had a distaste for the world of magic, a world he didn’t even know. It led to a miserable childhood. He could have at least been happier if he had been kept at Hogwarts.
Also, you’re telling me that there were no other blood relatives anywhere in the U.K.? Not even a distant cousin or something? I don’t know; it just feels like we could have avoided this.
Hiding the Philosopher’s Stone in Hogwarts
Why did Dumbledore think this was a good idea? Why are we keeping an ancient artifact that is capable of great power locked up in a castle behind a series of tests that 11-year-olds could bypass? Because that’s exactly what Harry, Ron, and Hermione did.
In Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the three of them bypass these traps easily to find the stone. People say Dumbledore did this to protect the stone, but if the kids can get past it, it feels more like a test than anything else. It’s just pointless.
His hiring process for Defense Against the Dark Arts
The movies never really covered this, but Voldemort cursed the Defense Against the Dark Arts position. No one could properly teach it because something would always go wrong, and they would have to leave the school after a year, which is what every Defense Against the Dark Arts professor had to do.
But Dumbledore could have done at least a little more screening to find more capable people and looked a little deeper. You went from a supporter of Voldemort to a fraud to a werewolf to another supporter of Voldemort in a Polyjuice potion disguise, and then to the worst person ever, Dolores Umbridge. Then, to Snape! There are so many instances where this was a bad decision. He needed to do some more research.
Allowing Draco to do what he did
Dumbledore knew that Draco Malfoy was tasked with killing him. So why on earth would he let this 16-year-old kid walk around, fix the Vanishing Cabinet in the Room of Requirement, and cause all this mayhem? Why not just speak to the boy? Maybe put him into custody somewhere so Voldemort wouldn’t get to him if he didn’t kill Dumbledore?
He prioritized the long game over what was going to happen, because both attempts to kill Dumbledore ended with other students nearly dying. This was a severe lack of judgment, and I will never quite understand why he didn’t just talk to him.
Withholding so much from Harry
The biggest issue I will never understand about Dumbledore is why he withheld so much from Harry. I understand the idea of attempting to protect him when everything in the wizarding world was against the young wizard. But because of this, Harry was essentially blindsided by most of what happened during the war.
It wasn’t really until much later that Harry finally started asking questions and demanding the answers that he rightfully deserved. Dumbledore even knew that Harry was a Horcrux, of all things. Harry always wondered why his scar hurt so much. And yet, here we are. This could have been good information to know.
The moment he found out for sure in Order of the Phoenix, he should have told Harry, but he didn't. It bothers me so much. But hey, at least we get to watch him be a cool wizard in the movies, even if he makes some really horrible mistakes. Let’s hope the TV version that John Lithgow will play does better (somehow).
You can watch all eight Harry Potter movies on HBO Max.
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