Albus Dumbledore | |
---|---|
Harry Potter character | |
First appearance | Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone |
Last appearance | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows |
Created by | J. K. Rowling |
Portrayed by |
Richard Harris (adult, films 1–2) Michael Gambon (adult, films 3–8) Toby Regbo (youth, film 7) |
House | Gryffindor |
Information | |
Species | Wizard |
Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore is a fictional character in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. For most of the series, he is the headmaster of the wizarding school Hogwarts. As part of his backstory, it is revealed that he is the founder and leader of the Order of the Phoenix, an organisation dedicated to fighting Lord Voldemort.
Dumbledore is portrayed by Richard Harris in the film adaptations of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. After Harris' death, Michael Gambon portrayed Dumbledore for all of the remaining films.
Rowling stated she chose the name Dumbledore, which is an Early Modern English word for "bumblebee", because of Dumbledore's love of music: she imagined him walking around "humming to himself a lot".
The author has stated that she enjoys writing Dumbledore because he "is the epitome of goodness." Rowling said that Dumbledore speaks for her, as he "knows pretty much everything" about the Harry Potter universe. Rowling mentioned that Dumbledore regrets "that he has always had to be the one who knew, and who had the burden of knowing. And he would rather not know." As a mentor to the central character Harry Potter, "Dumbledore is a very wise man who knows that Harry is going to have to learn a few hard lessons to prepare him for what may be coming in his life. He allows Harry to get into what he wouldn't allow another pupil to do, and he also unwillingly permits Harry to confront things he’d rather protect him from." In a 1999 interview, Rowling stated that she imagined Dumbledore "more as a John Gielgud type, you know, quite elderly and – and quite stately." During his time as a student, Dumbledore was in Gryffindor House. Rowling said in an interview that Dumbledore was about 150 years old. However, on her website, she states that Dumbledore was born in 1881, making him either 115 or 116 when he died.