paradisa

[aphoenixsong]

PERSONAL
NAME: Riddle
PERSONAL JOURNAL: order_of_the_phoenix
EMAIL: Sycophantism@hotmail.com
AIM: iridescentgnome
CURRENT CHARACTERS: None!


CHARACTER
CHARACTER NAME: Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
SERIES: Harry Potter
CANON POINT: After speaking to Harry in the Deathly Hallows (i.e. the infamous train station scene).
LOSS: His memories of his little sister, Ariana. Those memories are precious to him because he loved her and he has blamed himself for her death all of his life. I would like for him to retain that sense of guilt, but he won't remember what is causing it. Yes, I know I am a horrible human being.

ABOUT THE CHARACTER: Albus has been through far more than his share of woe during his lifetime. He was drawn into the company of a rather clever and inquisitive Wizard by the name of Gellert Grindelwald when he was young and that alliance led to him thinking of Muggles and those who didn't use Magic as lesser than those who did. However he saw the error of his ways when a fight between himself and Grindelwald ended with his sister - the sister who adored him - dying. He still doesn't know if it was his spell that took her life or Gellert's spell, but that matters little. Because of his ambition and his blindness, he lost her and that is something that will never change.

Ridden with guilt, he even hunted down his once friend - the boy he truly loved - and led to his lifetime imprisonment. There was no feeling of victory after winning that duel - only the sadness of loss as he grew distant from his parents and his older brother, Aberforth, who never truly forgave him for Ariana's death either. Albus doesn't blame him one bit, of course, but the distance hurts nonetheless.

Around the same time he was dealing with Grindelwald, Albus attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. There, he was Sorted into Gryffindor. He excelled brilliantly and graduated at the top of his Year. After graduation, it is possible he traveled and added to his knowledge - or perhaps he simply traveled as a respite from what he had done to his sister (though, of course, Dumbledore is not the sort to give himself or anyone else a break).

Sometime later, he returned to Hogwarts and was hired as the Transfiguration Professor. While under the employ of Headmaster Dippet, Albus met a fascinating and mysterious boy named Tom Marvolo Riddle. In fact, it was Dumbledore who collected Tom from the orphanage and brought him to Hogwarts. It didn't take long for Albus to notice that Tom wasn't like the other children. He was brilliant, of course, but there was more to it than that.

He was dangerous.

Albus didn't know how far the boy would go, but he did his best to keep an eye on him. Yet he was unable to stop the death of a Muggleborn named Myrtle when Tom opened the Chamber of Secrets and he was helpless when it came to the deaths of Tom's father and grandparents.

Tom was very good at keeping secrets - a trait Dumbledore recognized and grew concerned over. However, despite Dumbledore's power, he made no move to interfere with Tom's life - at least not until Tom returned to Hogwarts and asked for a position. At that time Dumbledore had become Headmaster and he knew the danger of allowing Tom to work with impressionable minds. Thus he rejected his application, causing Tom to leave enraged.

What followed was soon called a war: the First War to be exact. Tom - who changed his name to Lord Voldemort - amassed followers and began to prey on both the Wizard and Muggle communities. Many innocent people died and Dumbledore could only do so much while he guarded Hogwarts. He did, however, amass his own group (called the Order of the Phoenix), which fought Voldemort and his followers passionately. He was also able to keep the castle untouched, which ensured the children, at least, were safe while they learned.

It was said even then that Albus Dumbledore was the one Wizard that Voldemort truly feared. And he had good reason to. Albus kept many useful people close by. One of those useful people turned out to be none other than Sybill Trelawney. While most considered her a hack, Albus knew that she, once in a blue moon, could make real prophecies.

On one night, while in the Hog's Head pub in Hogsmeade, she came through and made a prophecy that would change the course of the war:

"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 ..."

Unfortunately their meeting was overheard by a Wizard named Severus Snape. He was, at the time, one of Voldemort's followers. He relayed the message to his master, but immediately regretted it. His feelings for a certain red-haired Witch named Lily Evans - Lily Potter - caused him to do the right thing and tell Albus the danger she, her baby and her husband were in.

Needless to say, Albus did not use kid gloves on Severus. He wanted to see the extent of his emotions and how far he was willing to go to be worthy of forgiveness. Severus eventually became a double agent for Albus and, even though Lily and James lost their lives, thanks to his efforts, Albus was able to ensure Harry met Voldemort on the battlefield properly.

Yet that is over-simplifying the events of all seven books. During each year Harry spent at Hogwarts, Dumbledore watched over him and guided him, hoping to toughen him up for the war to come. He did many things to the boy that he regrets, yet even now, he will not apologize for them. He believes Harry understands why he was so hard on him.

However, in truth, even if Harry understands Dumbledore's line of reasoning, it can only be said that Albus was a strict tactician during all seven of the books. Oh, he showed sympathy and even love for Harry in particular here and there, but in the end, his eyes were set on the prize. He knew Voldemort had to be killed and that his reign of terror had to end.

Albus is the sort of person who carries the burden of each death and each catastrophe on his shoulders. He remembers the faces and names of all of those who have died because of Wizard pride - something that hits close to home because of Grindelwald and Ariana - and he knows he is in a prime position - or, rather, was in a prime position - to end at least one Dark Lord's reign.

That mindset is what led him to push Harry and Severus and everyone else under his care to do their best and to reach for nearly impossible goals. That mindset is also what led him to his death too. It can be said that Dumbledore wanted Harry to see his parents and those he had loved and lost one last time before he too experienced death, but the truth of the matter is that while his body was able and his wits were about him, he wanted to kill as much of Voldemort as he could. That is why he killed the piece of Voldemort's soul (Horcrux) living in Slytherin's ring.

Unfortunately the result was that Dumbledore had reduced his lifespan to one more year. While his body rotted away - first his hand and then his wrist and arm - he set his sights on another Horcrux. He even took Harry so that he would know what he was up against in the future.

In the end, it was a combination of ambition, empathy, poison and, finally, the Killing Curse that ended Dumbledore's life. He has no regrets about dying. As far as he is concerned, it was likely overdue. But he does hate that he put Severus in the position as murderer - though he knows that if Severus truly understands his words, he will realize that it wasn't murder at all - and he hates that he had to leave Harry alone to face inevitable slaughter.

Perhaps all of those feelings are the reason why he is the one who visits Harry in death*. Regardless, his affection for the boy is clear in that brief conversation and, for once, the tactician gives way to someone who almost resembles a grandfather.

Therefore, even if his actions may seem cruel or unusual on the outside, Albus does consider the consequences and he readily accepts them onto his soul and his person. He doesn't particularly care what people think about him. In his mind, he would much rather people live and hate him than people die while he did nothing. After all, how can a brilliant mind like his ever meet its equal?

* I say death, but it's more likely that Harry was simply knocked out when the piece of Voldemort's soul within him died.

ADDITIONAL PERSONALITY INFORMATION: What has befallen Albus and how he deals with it only touches on one side of his personality. The only side shows that he has quite a good sense of humor and he is eager to learn - even at his age. For example, when he told Harry about needing to use the bathroom and finding a lovely room filled with chamberpots (i.e. The Room of Requirement) or the time he said he preferred socks over books as presents. He also seems to have a mischievous side - why else would he give Harry the Invisibility Cloak at such a young age?

He also found himself feeling a lot of emotions he hadn't thought he would feel when he was around Harry or worrying for Harry's safety. In a way, he felt very much like a parent - especially when Harry was young. Thus even Albus Dumbledore can be surprised now and then and it is usually the lighter or more emotional side of life that bewilders him.

ABILITIES: Dolores Umbridge: "But I dare say the Ministry of Magic will track him down soon enough..."

Griselda Marchbanks: "I doubt it, not if Dumbledore doesn't want to be found! I should know... Examined him personally in Transfiguration and Charms when he did N.E.W.T.s... did things with a wand I'd never seen before..."

I will copy/paste them below for ease of reading:

"Dumbledore was considered by many to be the most powerful wizard of his time, and his extraordinary powers were greatly admired and greatly feared by many, even others of outstanding magical talent. Even Voldemort, who thought himself as the greatest and strongest wizard of them all, had acknowledged that Dumbledore was a very great wizard.

Magical mastery: Albus Dumbledore was considered to be the most powerful wizard of his time, and he lived up to this title on many occasions. After his first year at Hogwarts, he was considered nothing more or less than the most gifted student the school would ever see. He returned to the school later to serve as Professor of Transfiguration, a complex and difficult field of magic. Dumbledore was known to be prodigiously talented magically, and was admittedly more skilful than the second most powerful Dark Wizard of all time, Gellert Grindelwald. He was also the only wizard to ever be feared by the most dangerous Dark Wizard of all time, Lord Voldemort, whom he forced to retreat during their only known duel. This act was aided by Dumbledore's wielding of the Elder Wand, unknown to Voldemort at the time, although Voldemort noted that Dumbledore was not actually trying to kill him.

Intellectual genius: Dumbledore was not only a great wizard, but also possessed an extraordinary intellect, capable of devising an elaborate master plan to defeat the seemingly unbeatable Lord Voldemort and was also particularly brilliant at guessing, hypothesizing, and predicting. This was seen quite predominantly during the events surrounding the Second Wizarding War, when Dumbledore, through various strategical plans and an almost Machiavellian manipulation of key persons (such as Severus Snape) before his death, is able to set the path for Harry Potter to locate Lord Voldemort's Horcruxes. His intellect, or at least his strategic thinking, is one of his key talents. His genius was mainly noticeable even after his death through his will. He bequeathed Ron Weasley his Deluminator, understanding that even though Ron would initially walk out on the Horcrux hunt, he would be just as likely to return to it. He knew that Hermione Granger's thirst for knowledge would lead her to investigate the symbol that he had drawn in the copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard that he left her. This ultimately brought Harry to not only learning of the Deathly Hallows, but of how to obtain the Resurrection Stone through the Golden Snitch Dumbledore had left him, giving Harry the emotional support he needed to sacrifice himself to the Dark Lord.

Duelling: Dumbledore was an exceptionally skilful duellist, capable of capturing several Death Eaters at once and duelling Lord Voldemort to a stalemate during the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, however, it should be noted that he was wielding the Elder Wand at the time, though he didn't want to kill Voldemort. He also easily defeated Cornelius Fudge, Dolores Umbridge, Kingsley Shacklebolt, John Dawlish, and Percy Weasley when they attempted to arrest him (though Kingsley, who was probably the only exceptionally powerful Duelist of the five, was secretly on Dumbledore's side). The most impressive display of his duelling skills were shown when he defeated Gellert Grindelwald, despite the fact that Grindelwald was the master of the Elder Wand. Eyewitnesses claimed it was the greatest wizard duel ever fought. Albus described himself as being "a shade more skilful" than Grindelwald. Dumbledore's duelling style often involved employing the element of fire, though he used water during his duel with Voldemort.

Invisibility: Albus had the ability to render himself invisible without the use of an Invisibility cloak. To achieve such a state, Dumbledore merely used an extremely powerful Disillusionment Charm. He was also capable of using the Human-presence-revealing spell, wandlessly and non-verbally to detect the presence of people who were invisible, even if they were under an Invisibility Cloak.

Occlumency and Legilimency: Dumbledore was also accomplished in both Occlumency and Legilimency. Many people, particularly Harry Potter, often noted that Dumbledore sometimes seemed to see right into their mind and correctly decipher what they were thinking. However, some of Lord Voldemort's followers, such as Barty Crouch Jr, proved to be excellent Occlumens capable of effectively hiding their thoughts from him.

Master of the Deathly Hallows: Albus Dumbledore should be noted as the only person besides Harry Potter to possess all three Deathly Hallows, although like Harry Potter he did not possess all three Deathly Hallows at the same time. He first obtained the Elder Wand after he defeated the infamous Grindelwald. He had possession of the Cloak of Invisibility after he borrowed the Cloak from James Potter, and after the deaths of James and Lily Potter he kept it safe until he returned the Cloak to Harry Potter on Christmas in his first year at Hogwarts. Finally he obtained the Resurrection Stone after locating and destroying the fragment of Voldemort's soul contained within the ring when it served as a Horcrux.

Wandless and non-verbal magic: Albus could produce magic without the use of a wand, and was highly skilled at non-verbal magic. While some people, such as Antonin Dolohov, as seen during the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, seemed to produce lesser magic when using it non-verbally, Dumbledore was capable of extraordinary feats such as conjuring hundreds of squishy purple sleeping bags to accommodate the students of Hogwarts, without saying a word. While in the Horcrux cave, Dumbledore proved capable of foiling the defences set up by Lord Voldemort, using wandless magic. He also performed the Aresto Momentum spell, without a wand, to save Harry from falling to his death at the hands of the Dementors. He could also light and put out candles, both with the wave of his hand.

Spell creation: Dumbledore was known for having created unique magical spells and devices. His deluminator was considered to be unique, and was of his own invention. Furthermore, after it had been bequeathed to Ron Weasley, he discovered that he could sometimes hear Harry and Hermione's voices through it, and that it also allowed him to Apparate to their location. He also developed a method to communicate using Patronus charms, which he taught to the members of the Order of the Phoenix.

Fire magic affinity: Albus' weapon of choice appeared to be fire. In his duel against Voldemort he used a fiery rope; when he displayed his wizarding powers to young Tom Riddle, he did so by setting Riddle's wardrobe on fire, without actually burning anything; he once used a vast amount of fire to hold off a throng of Inferi. He is known to be able to conjure Gubraithian Fire. His magical pet, Fawkes, is a phoenix, which dies and is reborn from the ashes. Although Dumbledore favoured fire, during the Battle of the Department of Mysteries he used water to encase Voldemort; that was possibly because he did not want to harm Voldemort, but only protect Harry.

Magical multilingualism: Dumbledore could also speak Mermish and Gobbledegook. He can recognize Parseltongue, the language of snakes, as he demonstrated while he and Harry were inside Bob Ogden's stored memory; he was able to quote verbatim a Parseltongue phrase uttered by Morfin Gaunt in a later stored memory.

Potioneer: Dumbledore was also proficient at Potions, as, according to the obituary written by Elphias Doge, his papers were published in The Practical Potioneer. This was likely instrumental in his discovery of the Twelve Uses Of Dragon's Blood.

Charms: Albus was known to be a master in Charms, as, his papers were published in Achievements in Charming. He could cast a corporeal Patronus charm (in the form of a phoenix) and created new parameters for said charm, allowing it to be used as a form of communication (with the caster speaking with their own voice through the Patronus). He was also capable of performing the extremely complex Fidelius Charm.

Transfiguration: Before becoming headmaster, Albus was the Hogwarts Transfiguration teacher, showing that he had a high level of skill in that area. During his battle with Voldemort in the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, Dumbledore was even able to cast a glass to sand shield that immediately transfigured the thousands of glass shards that were directed at him and Harry by Voldemort into mere sand en route.

Apparition: Dumbledore could transport himself from one place to another with pinpoint precision, even when locked in combat. He used this ability to avoid some of Voldemort's spells during their duel before counter-attacking. He could also apparate silently which only a master of Apparition could do.

Flying: Dumbledore was a skilled broomstick flyer. Shortly before his death, he flew to the Hogwarts Astronomy tower, despite being weakened by a potion. He also was able to cast jinxes during flight.

Leadership skills: Dumbledore was considered by many to be the greatest Headmaster in Hogwarts' history. He founded and lead the Order of the Phoenix against Voldemort and his Death Eaters in both the first and second Wizarding Wars. He was also offered the position of Minister for Magic several times, but declined as he felt he could not be trusted with that sort of power. Following his death, he noted that he considered himself an inferior leader compared to Harry Potter, as he deliberately sought power where Harry led others only after he was elevated to the position of leadership by outside circumstances."

THIRD-PERSON WRITING SAMPLE: The tower was empty and ghostly quiet. Quite fitting, really. Albus wondered, briefly, if this very tower would be the location of his death. He couldn't have asked for a better view - Hogwarts had always been beautiful and this tower was one of his favorites.

But he didn't allow himself to stay in that mindset. It would be dangerous to become distracted. He had promised himself and he would promise Harry that he would keep him safe no matter what. In the end, he knew his life was far less valuable than Harry's.

The boy had to live; the plans he had spent a year compiling must be put into play. Otherwise he feared Voldemort would never meet Death.

It was strange to hope for the death of one of his brightest and most able pupils. Harry and Tom were so alike and yet their choices separated them dramatically. Harry had already earned the right to shape the future; Tom had done nothing but trample upon his chances and leave bodies in his wake. Albus wanted the world to be free from him; Albus wanted their world and the Muggle world to have a chance at a brighter future.

A future that he wouldn't see. At least not in this body. Albus glanced down at his withered and aged hands. The blackened skin on the hand the ring had touched fortified his resolve. Tonight it would end. His part in the war and in the world would be over. He would leave the world to Harry and his friends and allies.

His blue gaze took in the horizon and then the sky. He had said his farewells to Fawkes, his beloved Phoenix, only moments before he had climbed the tower steps. It was likely the bird would take flight towards that very horizon, searching for a new life amongst the rubble.

Good luck, my friend. This war is not for you. Let the Wizards and the Witches see to its conclusion. My dearest wish is that you seek freedom.

FIRST-PERSON JOURNAL SAMPLE: I have found myself in the most curious sort of predicament. One moment, I was dead and the next, I am standing in the middle of what I can only describe as a room with a remarkable view. To further complicate matters, I have located this device which is all too foreign to me. Thankfully, I am in full possession of my wits - which are substantial - and I was able to turn it on.

[He pauses to let his words sink in before continuing, his tone as light and unassuming as ever:]

My name is Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, though that is rather much to remember. There was a time that I simply responded to Albus, so I think that shall do for the present time.

What I seek are answers and I will patiently await them until either they drift my way or I discover them on my own.

INTENT: I love Dumbledore and the environment is perfect for him. ♥