The Life and Lies of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore

by Irvin Khaytman

  Unfortunately for Dumbledore, Lupin is not as forthcoming about Sirius as one would hope. Lupin does not tell Dumbledore the most crucial bit of information: that Sirius is an Animagus. Why? Lupin confesses, “It would have meant admitting that I'd betrayed his trust while I was at school, admitting that I'd led others along with me. . . and Dumbledore's trust has meant everything to me.” (PA356)

  But Dumbledore gets something even better out of Lupin’s appointment: Lupin’s mentorship of Harry. In this, Lupin acquits himself stupendously, teaching Harry Defense Against Dark Arts and reining in his more reckless impulses.

  Dumbledore would have loved to keep Lupin around for another year, but he knows he cannot because of the curse. When Lupin hands in his resignation at the end of the year, Dumbledore somberly accepts it—a sharp contrast to his refusal of Hagrid’s resignation half a year later.

  Dumbledore’s actions throughout Harry’s third year don’t really need explaining, until the fateful events of June 6, 1994. By examining what occurs that night, we not only get a further feel for how Dumbledore operates, we also examine his evolving relationship with two people: Harry and Snape.

  The Matter of Buckbeak

  When looking at the climaxes of the Harry Potter books, this is the one that I believe has generated more discussion than any other. It takes up a full quarter of the entire book and is largely viewed as the point where the series grew up. Many essays have been written about Dumbledore’s seeming omniscience at the end of Prisoner of Azkaban. Fans theorized that maybe Dumbledore has a Time Turner of his own, which allows him to go back in time to tell himself things, which is a big headache for all of us.

  I do not subscribe to this Time Turner theory (nor am I a fan of the “everyone has a Time Turner” gimmick used in Cursed Child). I think that everything in Prisoner of Azkaban can be explained by Dumbledore just being incredibly clever and always thinking many steps ahead.

  First, let us look at Buckbeak’s would-be execution. Dumbledore decides to join Hagrid for Buckbeak’s execution, he “said he wants ter—ter be with [Hagrid].” (PA328) Is Dumbledore already scheming to send Harry and Hermione back in time to rescue Buckbeak? No. I think that Dumbledore really did want to comfort Hagrid. But also, Dumbledore probably thought that if there were a way to save Buckbeak, it would help for him to be onsite.

  Once the Ministry officials arrive at Hagrid’s hut, Dumbledore does not do anything at first, other than watch the proceedings. But then Dumbledore begins stalling for time just as Harry and Hermione are freeing Buckbeak.

  “One moment, please, Macnair,” came Dumbledore’s voice. “You need to sign too.” The footsteps stopped. Harry heaved on the rope. Buckbeak snapped his beak and walked a little faster. [. . .] Harry could still hear Dumbledore’s voice talking from within the cabin. (PA401)

  Does Dumbledore know what it going on? Not necessarily. He does not need to.19 He knows that there is a certain trio of students who care very much about Hagrid and who have an Invisibility Cloak. He knows that if there were an attempted rescue of Buckbeak, it would have to happen in the short interval between Macnair seeing Buckbeak tied up and all the paperwork being filled out. Therefore, it’s just good sense to delay things a bit and give any would-be rescuers an additional bit of time. So Dumbledore stalls for time, just in case. And what do you know, he was right to do so!

  “Where is it?” said the reedy voice of the Committee member. “Where is the beast?”

  “It was tied here!” said the executioner furiously. “I saw it! Just here!”

  “How extraordinary,” said Dumbledore. There was a note of amusement in his voice.

  [. . .]

  “Someone untied him!” the executioner was snarling. “We should search the grounds, the forest—”

  “Macnair, if Buckbeak has indeed been stolen, do you really think the thief will have led him away on foot?” said Dumbledore, still sounding amused. “Search the skies, if you will. . . . Hagrid, I could do with a cup of tea. Or a large brandy.” (PA402)

  To Harry, and to readers who believe in Dumbledore’s omniscience, this certainly looks like Dumbledore knows everything that’s going on. Why else isn’t he surprised? How else would he know to badly advise Macnair to “search the skies”?

  Because Dumbledore is exceedingly clever, and a master of deductive reasoning. To reiterate, he knows there are three students with an Invisibility Cloak who would very much want to free Buckbeak and who are the adventurous sort that would attempt to do so. It’s not difficult to deduce that the Trio managed to free Buckbeak in the time that Dumbledore bought them.

  Dumbledore is also relying on the Ministry’s stupidity here. In fact, Dumbledore relies on this a lot that evening and later in the series as well; he will later deride the idea that “Harry and Hermione are able to be in two places at once” (PA420) in front of the Minister of Magic, assuming correctly that Fudge would not consider the possibility of Time Turner use. If one thinks about it, no thief in his right mind would try to fly away on Buckbeak right after stealing him. The execution was to take place “at sunset,” (PA325) so one could still see in the twilight. There is almost no chance that a hippogriff could fly fast enough to be out of the field of vision in a minute.

  Therefore, the logical conclusion is that Buckbeak was led away on foot. Dumbledore realizes this and banks on the Ministry officials not thinking it through. In their minds, of course a thief would fly away on a stolen flying animal. Dumbledore also realizes that Buckbeak would not be covered by the Invisibility Cloak and is likely still close by. He therefore hurries to get Macnair and company back inside Hagrid’s hut to give Buckbeak’s saviors more time to get away.

  This is such classic Dumbledore! He is certainly having a lot of fun here. In fact, Dumbledore often seems to derive great pleasure in making a mockery of people he dislikes, which we’ll see later in this very chapter with Snape and repeated throughout the series. Dumbledore keeps Fudge and Macnair occupied for the evening, and then all hell starts breaking loose two hours later.

  Dumbledore is running around dealing with Sirius and Snape and all the ensuing mayhem. What does he know about Buckbeak? He knows that Buckbeak managed to escape. He knows that the Trio are the most likely candidates to be Buckbeak’s rescuers; in fact, who else would do it? But the Trio has made no mention of Buckbeak, the timing does not really line up, and where on earth is Buckbeak now?

  Dumbledore is also trying to figure out a way to get Sirius out of Hogwarts safely and quickly. Apparition does not work. There is likely a guard outside Flitwick’s office, so if one were to get to Sirius inconspicuously, it would have to be through the window. There is also no time, so he will have to rely on Hermione’s Time Turner. Dumbledore puts two and two together the way only he can and realizes that he has two refugees on his hands, one of whom can fly. He realizes that if the Trio currently in the hospital wing did not rescue Buckbeak, maybe that is because the time-travelling version did. And that is how he comes up with his brilliant plan to have Sirius escape on Buckbeak and gives Hermione the slightest of nudges: “You will be able to save more than one innocent life tonight.” (PA393)

  Coming Up With the Plan

  There are two other possibilities for how Dumbledore thought of the plan to rescue Sirius and Buckbeak by using Hermione’s Time Turner, aside from relying solely on his innate brilliance.

  The first possibility: that Dumbledore actually sees the time-traveling Harry and Hermione flying on Buckbeak. The timing is such that it could work. We are given three facts:

  - Flitwick’s office is not too far from the West Tower (from whence the time-traveling Harry and Hermione run back to the Hospital Wing)

  - Dumbledore arrives at the Hospital Wing one or two minutes before the time-traveling begins.

  - Dumbledore had “just been talking to Sirius Black” (PA390) when he arrives.

  This means that Dumbledore would be finishing his interview with Sirius moments before Harry and Hermione fly
in to rescue him. It is possible that Dumbledore saw Harry and Hermione flying by in one of the windows on the thirteenth floor, but knowing that Harry and Hermione are also in the Hospital Wing, he realizes that there must be time travel involved in rescuing Buckbeak and Sirius.

  The second possibility relies on some more conjecture: that Dumbledore utilizes the Deluminator magic we discussed in Chapter 2 with some regularity, such as on evenings when he suspects Harry will be going on an adventure to save a hippogriff. Assuming the magic will pick up on all Harrys present at a moment in time who say Dumbledore’s name, this is what Dumbledore would hear shortly before Buckbeak’s execution:

  “Dumbledore just said—just said we could save more than one innocent life. . . .” And then it hit him. “Hermione, we're going to save Buckbeak!”

  “But—how will that help Sirius?”

  “Dumbledore said—he just told us where the window is—the window of Flitwick's office! Where they've got Sirius locked up! We've got to fly Buckbeak up to the window and rescue Sirius! Sirius can escape on Buckbeak—they can escape together!” (PA396)

  Of course, the mention of Sirius would lead Dumbledore to be concerned and confused when he first hears it. He may even have thought the magic was malfunctioning. And Harry does not say Dumbledore’s name during the entire Shrieking Shack scene, so that’s no help at all.

  But once Dumbledore spoke to Sirius and understood that Harry and Hermione believed his innocence, then he would remember the weird conversation he’d overheard, and realize that he had already heard what his plan was going to be!

  These two possibilities are not mutually exclusive —either, neither, or both could be true. It does not have much bearing on the story either way, but it is entertaining to consider the possibilities that open up when Dumbledore gets involved in time travel.

  Dumbledore Deploys Harry

  It’s worth noting how Dumbledore’s treatment of Harry and his friends is slowly changing. Dumbledore is now entrusting important missions to the Trio, missions where a man’s life hangs in the balance. This is a far cry from the micro-managed controlled experiment of Sorcerer’s Stone. If we read closely, we can continue to see Dumbledore’s burgeoning affection for and trust in Harry throughout the series.

  If it still seems ludicrous to entrust these kinds of missions to thirteen-year-olds, one can look to Dumbledore’s background for an explanation. Albus’s father, Percival Dumbledore, was incarcerated when Albus was around eleven, which would have made Albus (the oldest sibling) the “man of the house.” This independence and responsibility at a young age may have skewed Dumbledore’s perspective on what an appropriate amount of responsibility is for a young teenager.

  In an echo of things to come, Dumbledore gives Harry and Hermione the bare minimum of required information to proceed—if we’re being charitable, we can say in this instance it’s because Dumbledore is wary of messing with time. And there is another key aspect of Dumbledore’s scheme in Prisoner of Azkaban that will echo in Deathly Hallows: he entrusts Hermione to be a moderating influence on Harry.

  “What we need,” said Dumbledore slowly, and his light blue eyes moved from Harry to Hermione, “is more time.”

  [. . .]

  “But remember this, both of you: you must not be seen. Miss Granger, you know the law—you know what is at stake. . . .” (PA393)

  Dumbledore realizes that Harry is far too emotional at the moment. He knows that Harry has a reckless Gryffindor streak, which we see on display when Harry wheedles Hermione to snatch the Invisibility Cloak or Wormtail and change time. Meanwhile, he knows that Hermione has a higher regard for the law, and a cooler head on her shoulders—she’ll be able to keep Harry in check, give or take one impressive stag Patronus. Dumbledore’s plan in Sorcerer’s Stone, to give the Trio experience working as a team to perform dangerous tasks, has borne fruit, and he believes Hermione is up to the challenge. So Hermione gets to lead the mission.

  Either way, Dumbledore has sent Harry and Hermione off into the past to save the future and turns around to see Harry breathlessly say, “We did it! Sirius has gone, on Buckbeak. . . .” (PA418) Dumbledore’s plan succeeded! There’s just one loose end. . . Severus Snape.

  Snape’s Anger

  Thus far, I have avoided discussing Severus Snape, as there are entire books wholly devoted to the Potions Master. However, Snape is now unavoidable, because Dumbledore’s relationship with him proves key to much of the story.

  Snape is in a towering rage for much of the night, which is unusual for him. While he is never happy, he usually maintains his composure, even when fireworks are set off in his class or when someone literally sets fire to him. So when he makes a dramatic entrance in the Shrieking Shack, we must consider what is going on. Of course, it all comes back to something Dumbledore did or did not do.

  When Hermione implores Snape to hear Sirius out, instead of the usual cutting remark, he goes into CapsLock mode (giving us, in fact, the first instance of CapsLock in the series).

  “KEEP QUIET, YOU STUPID GIRL!” Snape shouted, looking suddenly quite deranged. “DON’T TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND!” (PA360)

  Jo is always deliberate in her choice of words. Her word choice gives us a subconscious cue that Snape is the villain in this scene, because his language (“you stupid girl”) echoes Voldemort’s language from Harry’s dementor-induced flashbacks: “Stand aside, you silly girl. . .” (PA179)20

  Snape may be many things, but he had never been described as deranged before. In fact, he never shouts, since he has “the gift of keeping a class silent without trying.” (SS136-137) However, in this scene, “there was a mad glint in Snape’s eyes that Harry had never seen before. He seemed beyond reason.” (PA360) Upon further provocation, Snape gets even crazier.

  “SILENCE! I WILL NOT BE SPOKEN TO LIKE THAT!” Snape shrieked, looking madder than ever. “Like father, like son, Potter! . . . You would have been well served if he’d killed you! You’d have died like your father, too arrogant to believe you might be mistaken in Black—now get out of the way, or I will make you. GET OUT OF THE WAY POTTER!” (PA361)

  Snape says some pretty awful things to Harry over the course of six years, but never that Harry should have been killed. . . In fact, Snape’s only reason for living these days is to ensure that Harry isn’t killed.

  But in the context of “The Prince’s Tale,” it makes sense. Snape says James died because he was “too arrogant to believe [he] might be mistaken in Black.” And who else died because of James’s perceived arrogance? Lily, Snape’s only love.

  Snape blames Sirius for causing Lily’s death by his supposed betrayal, which is a huge factor in Snape acting so unhinged. Snape wants revenge on Sirius for Lily’s death. And he is livid that Harry is repeating his father’s mistakes by trusting Sirius.

  For many years, I assumed that was all there was to it. But in SNAPE: A Definite Reading, Lorrie Kim makes a great argument that Snape was traumatized by The Prank. When he looks “quite deranged,” Lorrie attributes it to him “entering a state of post-traumatic flashback.” (p. 71) And that is what eventually leads to a big mess for Albus Dumbledore—but one that, rather like the Lucius Malfoy debacle, Dumbledore inadvertently brought upon himself with his anti-Slytherin bias.

  The Prank

  During the Marauders’ fifth year, there was an incident where Sirius attempted to play a prank on Snape. In Lupin’s words:

  “Severus was very interested in where I went every month. [. . .] Snape had seen me crossing the grounds with Madam Pomfrey one evening as she led me toward the Whomping Willow to transform. Sirius thought it would be—er—amusing, to tell Snape all he had to do was prod the knot on the tree trunk with a long stick, and he’d be able to get in after me. Well, of course, Snape tried it—if he’d got as far as this house, he’d have met a fully grown werewolf—but your father, who’d heard what Sirius had done, went after Snape and pulled him back, at great risk to his life . . . Snape glimpsed me, thoug
h, at the end of the tunnel. He was forbidden by Dumbledore to tell anybody, but from that time on he knew what I was. . . .” (PA357)

  Snape, as he tells it, seems to agree with most of the facts.

  “Your saintly father and his friends played a highly amusing joke on me that would have resulted in my death if your father hadn’t got cold feet at the last moment. There was nothing brave about what he did. He was saving his own skin as much as mine. Had their joke succeeded, he would have been expelled from Hogwarts.” (PA285)

  Snape believes that if he had actually been killed or turned into a werewolf, the Marauders would have been expelled. But attempted murder only gets a slap on the wrist for Sirius.

  The fandom’s perception of The Prank has undergone a fascinating evolution of late. It was almost a decade after DH was published that a majority of fans came around to realizing that what Sirius did was absolutely not okay. He should have received a major punishment—instead, any punishment he received was mild enough to not even merit a mention in the narrative, presumably no more than lots of detentions.

  Rather, it’s Severus who was punished with a gag order, forbidding him from telling anyone about what happened. It should not be understated how much of a profound impact this would have had on teenaged Snape, especially occurring no more than half a year before his break with Lily. The champion of the fight against Voldemort, a beacon of virtue for the “good side,” just showed that he did not care about an attempt on Snape’s life.