Recently J.K. Rowling publicly outed Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts. According to the author, the character was a homosexual and his great love in life was the evil wizard Grindelwald, whom Dumbledore defeated as a young man.
While I think all this politicization and hype of what is clearly a character in a book (not, incidentally, a living breathing human being) is a bit ridiculous, I think that it does change the character, at least for those of us who actually follow this sort of thing. It changes Dumbledore; before, we thought he was seduced by evil — and the message that even the very great and very good can be seduced by evil is an important one. That seemed to be what happened to Dumbledore and Grindelwald; instead we find that Dumbledore was simply seduced. While infatuations can be destructive, and it is a useful message, it is not quite as deep as the first. (You can see another Rowling fan vehemently disagreeing the comment section).
Having spent some moments pondering the announcement, Marti brought up another character who lived alone, seemingly without any life partner — that of Albus’ brother, Aberforth. The one who loved goats. Did Aberforth, Albus’ brother, love his goats? Or did he love his goats? Perhaps this mystery, too, can someday be solved by the author.
See full-size image here at Best Week Ever.
October 25th, 2007 at 11:31 am
From a friend of mine:
DUMBLEDORE DID NOT KILL GRINDELWALD! Dumbledore defeated Grindelwald, who was then imprisoned in his own prison, Nurmengard. (Note: this has now been corrected).
Voldemort killed Grindelvald while searching for the Elder Wand. Even while Voldemort tortured him, Grindelvald did not reveal that Dumbledore had taken the Elder Wand from him.
I have to disagree with you about Dumbledore. Even though he was a great wizard prodigy when he met Grindelwald, the 17 year old Dumbledore was not the wise and benign wizard he later became. He resented that he had to return home and care for his brother and sister and did it out of duty instead of love. Dumbledore’s affection and love for Grindelwald made him over look Grindelwald’s evil deeds, but Dumbledore was not seduced by Grindelwald. I think he truly believed at that point in his life that wizards had a responsibility over muggles and the necessity of force “For the greater good.” Dumbledore was seduced by the deathly hallows and the idea of power. It was only after the death of his sister and having his heart broken by Grindelwald, that seemed to cause Dumbledore to reflect and change.
The Leaky Cauldron is still working on the complete transcript of the Carnegie Hall presentation, but they do have a preliminary transcript. Here is what JK Rowling said in reference to the goats…
“Q: In the Goblet of Fire Dumbledore said his brother was prosecuted for practicing inappropriate charms [JKR buries her head, to laughter] on a goat; what were the inappropriate charms he was practicing on that goat?
JKR: How old are you?
Eight.
JKR: I think that he was trying to make a goat that was easy to keep clean [laughter], curly horns. That’s a joke that works on a couple of levels. I really like Aberforth and his goats. But you know Aberforth having this strange fondness for goats if you’ve read book seven, came in really useful to Harry, later on, because a goat, a stag, you know. If you’re a stupid Death Eater, what’s the difference. So, that is my answer to YOU.
[loud applause]”