The Life and Lies of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore by Irvin Khaytman (ereader with dictionary txt) 📕

Elder Wand shows just how much faith Dumbledore had in him. He essentially painted a bulls-eye on Snape’s back when he conceived of this plan. Dumbledore says he knew Voldemort would go after the Elder Wand (DH721), as soon as he realized that a borrowed wand would not work against Harry’s wand. In other words, after the very next time Harry and Voldemort interacted, Voldemort would set out to get the Elder Wand.

Dumbledore knows that Voldemort cannot resist magical MacGuffins when they present themselves (see: Sorcerer’s Stone, prophecy). Dumbledore would surely not underestimate Voldemort’s intelligence and ability to figure out that Snape was the wand’s master.37 So he put his faith in two things: in keeping Harry away from Voldemort, and in hoping that Snape had enough cunning to keep himself alive once Voldemort does set out on the quest.

As mirrormere astutely pointed out in “The Flaw in the Plan,” that first objective could help explain the reasoning behind the wholly idiotic Seven Potters plan—send Voldemort on a wild goose chase after the wrong Harry (gee, sounds familiar) to prevent him finding out that borrowed wands don’t work.38 The second part—believing Snape can stay alive once Voldemort’s on the trail—speaks volumes to how highly Dumbledore thinks of Snape’s abilities and cunning. But if it were me, I’d forego compliments that come with a death sentence.

This all seems to me the most reckless part of Dumbledore’s plan. As previously mentioned, all his plans hinged on keeping two people alive through the war: Harry and Snape. And while he did his utmost to keep Harry alive, he seemingly trusted that Snape would be able to stay alive despite overwhelming odds. This was perhaps his most serious misjudgment, and it was only chance that ended up saving the day at the end.

On the upside, this plan would have offered Snape a chance for redemption should he live long enough to see it through. If Snape defeated Voldemort using the Elder Wand, he would be hailed as a hero by the good side, who would then forgive him for killing Dumbledore. Perhaps this was Dumbledore’s small gesture of atonement for the hell he had just sentenced Snape to by requesting Snape kill him—a year of loneliness and exile, devoted to keeping the students as safe as he could with no one but Dumbledore’s portrait to talk to.

There is also some beautiful mirroring happening here: if Draco were to fail to kill Dumbledore on Voldemort’s orders, Snape would kill Dumbledore for him (as, indeed, he did.) If Harry were to fail to kill Voldemort on Dumbledore’s orders, Snape would kill Voldemort for him. Either way, Snape gets an awful lot of responsibility and risk thrust upon him.

So Dumbledore has his overarching plan ready, and can be reasonably confident in Voldemort’s downfall whether Harry lives or not. He prepares Harry to hunt the Horcruxes, and even enlists Ron and Hermione as backups should the unthinkable happen. Thus far, it’s all been perfectly logical. Now all he has to do is set the stage for Harry to sacrifice himself. But this is where Dumbledore’s emotions got in the way, and he started messing with his plan.

Dumbledore the Machiavellian

Before we continue with Dumbledore’s plans, we need to talk about his character. Because all this talk of sacrificing Harry and endangering Snape is a very stark departure from the Dumbledore of the previous books, who was “white as his beard.” (DH25) How can this be the same wizard who goes through a lot of hassle to save a condemned hippogriff, who does his best to protect everyone? These are the two Dumbledores I have trouble reconciling.

The death count in the first six books is so comparatively low because Dumbledore works for the good of everyone, rather than for the greater good. . . but in Deathly Hallows that’s turned on its head. In fact, Jo signals this to us in the first twenty pages of the book, buried in Elphias Doge’s sappy obituary: “He died as he lived: working always for the greater good.” (DH20) Of course, we as readers interpret this in the benevolent way that Elphias intended, but it foreshadows much of what we come to learn later about Dumbledore.

The deconstruction of the “wise old mentor” archetype in Deathly Hallows remains some of Jo’s finest work. It’s the culmination of a thread running through the latter half of the series: part of growing up is realizing that grown-ups are only human. James Potter and Sirius Black are both knocked off their pedestals. And in the final book, Dumbledore comes crashing down from the biggest pedestal of all.

Dumbledore does not become a villain for a simple reason: given the chance, he will save everyone. That’s what reinforces our original impression of Dumbledore in the first six books as one of the ultimate good guys. Dumbledore works tirelessly against Voldemort and to help Harry. The things he does are what’s right, no question about it. And that’s because he is fortunate enough not to have to make tough choices back then between the greater good and what’s good for individuals.

But Deathly Hallows presents us with a spectacularly different issue: what happens when there’s a very real human cost to the greater good? Voldemort’s resurrection is the turning point: with him back in action, it’s no longer possible to tie things up in a neat bow for all the good guys. We suddenly realize that Dumbledore is not working to help every single person; rather, he is now sacrificing individuals for the good of all. And this is a much harder pill to swallow.

The first indication we have is Dumbledore’s ruthlessness in keeping up the ruse of the prophecy in Order of the Phoenix. For those in fandom, that flew under the radar as we busily debated prophecies and Horcruxes and Snape until the last book came out. And talk of Severus Snape. . . while I hold no great love for him, one paragraph of his dialogue rings unpleasantly true on