Title: The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore
Author: trip-trap
Rating: T
Genre: General
Words: 2,181
Published: January 26, 2011
Status: One-Shot
Library Category: General
Pairings: Mentions of Albus/Gellert
Summary: Albus does not love easily, or deeply.
Link: The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore

With all the recent debate on Dumbledore's character (not that the debate ever stopped, really), I thought to post a one-shot of the story of Dumbledore's life that I read a couple of years back. Love him or not, Dumbledore is one of the most complex characters in the HP series, and any stories that give us a glimpse into his mind should be very good. This story deals with Dumbledore's experiences and feelings, his thought processes during the important moments of his life, his relationship with his mother and sister, with Aberforth and Gellert, and with Harry. Dumbledore's head is a fascinating place to be in, and his guilt and despair, his pride and arrogance, his fears and desires, are beautifully depicted in the story.

In barely 2k words (and only 5 reviews ), it did what so many long fics utterly fail to do - write Dumbledore effectively without making him out to be a superhuman saint or an evil monster. Easily one of the best characterizations of Dumbledore ever. 5/5.

 

I don't know. There's something about it I didn't like, though its that kind of spooky oneshot that might stick with you as you write Dumbledore's character. It's certainly not a 5/5 in my book; technically, the writer is more than sound, but I wasn't fond of the numbered bullet points, the repetition of certain words, or the fact that... we already knew all of this shit because we read canon. He's conflicted.

3/5

 

It wasn't bad, but lacked the extraordinary spark that makes me consider one-shots for the library.

3/5

 

I think, weirdly enough, that the order of the points took away the most from the story. The part where Albus talks about love, in my opinion, should have ended it. Everything after it seemed a tad pointless, which is why I say the order of the points should have been different.

I'd say 3.5/5 rounded up to a 4 because I did enjoy it, and the writing was sound.

 

I agree with the OP. Haven't read anything like this before, not on Dumbledore at least. It captures the headmaster in a way most authors wish they could, but end up writing someone evil. This one does the job perfectly, showing us what he feels from inside.

Contrary to what others feel, I think the points were ordered in the best possible way. Especially the last three - Albus's secrets.

5/5 from me.

 

I agree with this. I thought the bit about love was 4/5 at least, but the following points lost my interest and I just ended up skimming.

3/5

 

Fair enough. Re-reading the story I couldn't quite understand the author's rationale for ordering the points as he did. It didn't really affect the story for me since I loved all the points - but I can see where the difference in opinion comes from. I still maintain this story to have the best characterization of Dumbledore in his youth - no other story shows this youthful arrogance so well without making him unrecognizable from canon Dumbledore.

Perhaps the reason I love this story so much is that it perfectly fits my own personal interpretation of Dumbledore's character and his relationship with Harry. Other people might have different interpretations of his character - canon did leave a quite a bit of space to wriggle when it came to Dumbledore's character - they probably didn't enjoy the story as much.

 

That's the thing though - no matter how many times you make that assertion, it simply isn't true.

As to the story itself - meh. As noted, the author is technically competent, but I just wasn't ever drawn in. 2.5/5.

 

Am I the only one who didn't like this one at all?

Technically it was alright, but I didn't find any substance in it. Not even sure what purpose it's trying to serve. There isn't really a story in it, and it's not a description of Canon Dumbledore. It's more of an essay on an imaginary non canon Dumbledore, without a world to put him in.

What's worse is that it failed to even provide the slightest entertainment to me.

I'd give it a 2/10 at most, probably less.

 

I don't mind you not liking the story - its certainly not for everyone and is more of a character sketch than a story anyway. But I must ask, which part of this story doesn't fit canon Dumbledore's characterization? His love for Harry is canon, as is the burden of his many regrets that he has accumulated over the years. His youthful arrogance and ambition is canon, as is his love for Grindelwald. For fucks sake, he was planning to take over the world and subjugate muggles at Seventeen. Did you take him for a saint?

Zennith : We certainly don't know everything about teenage Dumbledore. we know he wanted to take over the world and rule over Muggles, but how much of that was love for Gellert and how much of it was ambition and/or naivety is certainly questionable.

 

I'll give you just one thing that should be more than enough to make him not canon Dumbledore at all. An obvious falsity, since there is nothing that even hints at this being true, even remotely.

That fact that canon Dumbledore has killed an opponent is in itself hard to believe, but I guess that could still be realistic if it was written right. But the idea that 'something in him trills' when he has killed someone is ridiculous when it comes to canon Dumbledore.

EDIT: Yes, Dumbledore wanted to take over the world and subjugate muggles, but even when he wanted that, it was not in a ruthless lunatic way. Quote from DH, a letter written by Dumbledore:

 

Hardly inconceivable. A lot of versions of Dumbledore (even Shezza's, who has the best Dumbledore characterization ever) live for the adrenaline and thrill of a magical duel. Considering the number of transfiguration techniques he has perfected in duels, he has spent a lot of energy into dueling. The people he duels (and may be kills) would be enemies, not innocent people. Either way, there is nothing to suggest that he has killed a lot of people, it could very well be a guilty pleasure for him - something that he tries to avoid as much as possible. There are more than enough hints in DH to Dumbledore having a dark side.

Also, I would say that canon Dumbledore having not killed an opponent to be more unrealistic -- he led two wars. Wars tend to, you know, kill people.

 

First of all Shezza's Dumbledore has a world in which he exists, and does not necessarily need to be Canon Dumbledore. I've never considered him as such, so that is fine.

Secondly, while it is not hard to believe that Dumbledore likes the thrill of a magical duel, it is impossible to believe that Canon Dumbledore derives it from not just the duel, but the death of his opponent, irrespective of whether they are enemies or not.

There are a lot of things that suggest canon Dumbledore tries hard not to kill people, and there isn't a single kill made by him mentioned in Canon. He didn't kill Grindelwald, he always avoided killing DEs in duels. So it's not that hard to believe that he didn't kill anyone (at least on purpose), in the two wars.

Also, like I said, while it could be written realistically that he did in fact kill people, there are a lot of things to suggest that he definitely doesn't derive pleasure or thrill from it.

I guess we'll have to simply agree to disagree on this. To me, this Dumbledore is not the one from canon, but also has no world in which he exists. Yes, it might fit Shezza's Dumbledore, but the fic isn't about him, is it?

 

It's also entirely possible that he abhors and avoids killing so much in his later years because when he was younger he did otherwise, and he's changed greatly since then and really regrets it.

 

I am guessing you didn't read my quote in an earlier post -his letter to Grindelwald- where he specifically speaks out against excessive force. That was in his early days, when he was at his worst (wanting to take over the muggle world), and he still didn't advocate excessive force. Does that sound like someone who finds pleasure in killing?

 

It is implied in canon that Dumbledore has killed people. He tried hard to subdue his opponents but sometimes killing really couldn't be helped.

 

While I'm not aware of it, whether Dumbledore has killed or not is not an issue for me. Even if it wasn't hinted in canon, it can be written realistically and still fit canon. The problem is more that the fic suggests that Dumbledore finds thrill in it, which just isn't canon Dumbledore.

 

I haven't read the fic. It doesn't sound like something I'll like. I decided to put in my two cents when the discussion meandered into whether Dumbledore has killed people.

 

Please give me your source for this, because otherwise I'm calling bullshit.

 

Check out the DH scene where Harry and Dumbledore converse in the pre-afterlife and when Albus is having a
breakdown about how he'd have been no better than Vodemort or Grindelwald if he was given power and Harry comforts him by saying that he never killed anyone. Not if he could help it. Strongly implying that there were times when Albus was forced to take lives.