Lets discuss a bit about how Dumbledore manipulated everyone around him and how cold he seemed at times:

1)He used Lily to manipulate Snape and make him a servant

When Snape asked Dumbledore to help Lily, Dumble coldly replied "and what will you give me in return Snape?" and Snape desperately answered "Anything" basically making himself a servant.

When Lily died, Dumble used Lily to manipulate Snape once again and make him protect Harry.

"Her son lives. He has her eyes, precisely her eyes. You remember the shape and color of Lily Evans's eyes, I am sure?"..... "You know how and why she died. Make sure it was not in vain. Help me protect Lily's son."

2) He used Harry to manipulate Slughorn.

Not only did he use Harry to get Slughorn back at Hogwarts but he also tried to turn Harry into a manipulator to get the memory. The most stupid thing is that Dumbledore already knew about the horcruxes anyway.

3)He was never completely honest with Harry.

Especially in OoTP. In my opinion it's partially Dumbledore's fault that Sirius died and that Harry didn't bother to learn occlumency as he never bothered to explain anything to Harry and left Snape to teach him such an important thing even though he KNEW Harry and Snape didn't get along and that Harry didn't trust Snape. He also never told Harry he needed to die and left Snape to do the dirty work.

4)He kept Draco at Hogwarts during the 6th year

Ok, so Draco would get killed if he got expelled...but what about all those people who ALMOST got killed because of Draco, like Katy or Ron or the others who got in danger when the Death Eaters got into Hogwarts. Dumbledore never bothered to talk to Draco before it was too late even though he KNEW what Draco was up to and he KNEW people almost got killed because of him. He could have talked to Draco earlier and try to persuade him but instead he left Snape to do the hard work again.

5)He left Harry with the Dursles supposedly to keep him safe

Was Harry safe with the Durlseys? Nope. His cousin would beat him up at every chance he got and his uncle and aunt were starving him. He also forced the Dursleys to keep Harry when they obviously didn't want him, so in a way the Dursleys were Dumbledore's victims too.

I will not even talk about how he was a dick in his youth and planned world domination with whateverhisnameis.

 

Dumbledore shouldered the hopes and dreams of an entire people for generations, and by the end of his life they were still democratic, and free to pursue their lives as they pleased. Despite serious opposition.

You hate him because he is the edge of your world. Look past him and you will weep.

You dumb motherfucker.

 

Look, a manipulativ! Dumbledore mouthbreather. Let me guess, your other favourite tags/tropes include Weasley and Dumbledore bashing, noble houses and hidden bank vaults stolen by Dumbledore?

 

DLP, thus is thy penance for hoarding TheSanti's cursed legacy. Just slap the thing somewhere public and get done with it.

 

I mean, he was missing a crucial bit of information. Without Slughorn confirming 7 horcruxes, and Albus wasn't able to get the info in any other way - Slughorn was an accomplished occlumens - I bet Dumbledore would have eventually predicted that LV made 3.

 

Loved this. 5/5

Other than that, unfortunately Dumbledore is rarely well done in fanfiction. And my stomach doesn't take well to rare.

 

Spoiler

Hey man you ever tried watching paint dry? I think you'd enjoy it.

 

I think the key here imo is you are HALF right. HE is *manipulative* but he is anything but cold. The key imo to a good dumbledore characterization is none of his manipulation is for his personal benefit or part of cold calculation, it is all born of his desperate caring and trying to help. When it goes awry (in his youth) it takes the form of "for the greater good".

Thats not to say you cant write a realistic dumbledore where he is the 'bad guy' because his manipulation hurts harry. ITs all interpretation. But I think the authors who make that believable have him not *cold* and manipulative but a genuinely warm and caring individual who is manipulative because he loves and wants to help... and it goes awry

He is no Littlefinger or Varys.