Does Dumbledore Ever Accomplish Anything?

A recurring theme in fan fiction is Dumbledore’s inaction. Not only is this a theme in fan fiction, I question it time and time again as Dumbledore interacts with Riddle, with Harry and the Dursleys, and even with Grindelwald. Dumbledore has three jobs, each of which is the sort of prestigious position that influences a signature line of a letter, in some cases even when someone else is signing the letter in question.¹ What does he do with these positions to shape society? How does he use them to advance reform, battle injustice, or steer the wayward towards the light? Is the sum total of his accomplishments in his tenure as Headmaster at Hogwarts that he allowed one werewolf to be educated? Were there no other were-children in the many years he was there?

The Eleven Lost Years

Dumbledore knows that Riddle will return: this is his justification for leaving Harry with the Dursleys. Yet Dumbledore seemingly does nothing about this for eleven years. He not only does nothing about Riddle, he allows Malfoy and others to be a continued influence on society. He conveniently sets up a situation where Riddle will be at Hogwarts the same year Harry starts.² He learns of the Horcruxes no later than the end of the second book, yet it is not until the summer between the fifth and sixth that he has found even one.

Dumbledore was approximately 100 years old when Riddle disappeared that Halloween in 1981. If he was too tired to deal with things, he should have retired. If he was not going to retire, then he should have acted. The whole Riddle situation reeks.

The end of Chapter 4 is too long to block quote and expect my point to come across, but it does convey what I am thinking fairly well. This train of thought leads this version of Sirius to the following:

“No one will be hurting Harry even if I couldn’t get rid of the Horcrux- Oh I know Albus, one of the perks of coming from a family such as mine,” he finished leaning back again and continued studying his hand instead of looking at Albus, as if he was remembering something far away. “I never believed in that prophecy and will do everything to make sure that adults take care of the problem, not a child,” he turned to look Albus in the eye, “You can work with me or against me. But think on this, right now Voldemort is a disembodied spirit, have you thought of what might happen if we get rid of all the Horcrux he has made? Because I’m sure there wasn’t just that one. But tell me, what are you waiting for? You’ve had eleven years more than I did to figure all this out and act, what have you been doing? Waiting for Harry to grow up and do your job for you?”³

Fan Fiction on the Theme

Some fan fiction works that have built on this theme:

• on the idea that Hogwarts should offer languages because while pure-bloods might learn a second language at home, not every student at the school has that opportunity.
• secondly on the idea that Bill Weasley can be trusted to investigate the curse on the defence position, since Dumbledore has already trusted him to help with the wards on Harry’s house (in this story).

Albus was truly dumbfounded. He wasn’t used to being talked to in the manner these two were doing. He wasn’t accustomed to others coming up with ideas with merit. He wasn’t used to people not taking what he said as the complete truth. He had been offering empty promises for so long he had quit trying to actually do anything about the problems.⁴

For several years now I have been silently observing everything and anything that takes place at Hogwarts. And every time I noticed something wrong, I often spent many restless nights thinking of how the problems could be fixed and the issues could be solved.

But it became obvious to me early on, after first year was over, that Dumbledore wasn’t going to be interested in fixing these issues until after Voldemort was gone. And the longer this lasted, the longer Dumbledore kept reacting to Voldemort’s plans instead of trying to prevent them, the more I grew to resent him.

Over and over again I saw evidence that the man would just let Voldemort do whatever he wanted.

Over and over again I saw the teachers just follow the man’s example without questioning the wrongness of it all.

Over and over again, it was up to me and my friends to do the job of the staff, to save and protect the students that were their responsibility.

Over and over again my friends and I were rewarded for our efforts, but the teachers also neglected to think of how these events might have scarred us.⁵

The quotes attributed to the Oracle of Delphi in The Greater Will put it well:⁶

“Power is always useless when it is just possessed, merely collected like a bauble. The honors were meant for a protector. One must wonder how you ended up with them.”⁷

“Mimicry may be the highest form of flattery,” she replied pointedly, “but mockery is just an insult. Goodness is not served by denying innocents their rightful protections in order to advance your own agenda. Goodness is not served by denying justice to those who have been wronged in order to purchase personal favors to be named at a later date. Goodness is not served when knowledge is hidden and innovation stifled in order to preserve the oppression which allows you to keep a hold of all your worthless titles and stolen honors.

You are not a good man, Albus, warlock of Britannia.“⁸

“Warlock fits you better than you know,” she stated in echoing tones. “The wizards of Britannia claimed it as a martial title for honoring feats of battle, but it has a far older meaning to Mother Magic, as a title for those who had forsaken their oaths of fidelity and protection, just as you have done.” She sliced her hands through the air as he opened his mouth to refute that accusation. “You will not attempt to spin your inaction as anything but a betrayal. A false show of humility is not a valid excuse for not using the authority granted to you in order to serve the needs of the people who trusted you to act in their best interests over your personal desires. If you truly did not believe you could be trusted with the power imbued in the roles, you should have passed them to another who could.”⁹

Interestingly, Wikipedia confirms that “Warlock” does in fact imply both male magic user and betrayer.¹⁰ This contrasts interestingly with “witch,”¹¹ “wizard”¹² and “sorcerer”¹³ that apparently have an etymology of simply being a magic user. Any work trying to work in the Harry Potter universe has to go fictional at some point, since in true history magic is always associated with the pagan, the satanic, or both. So it is noteworthy that the common titles they use, “witch” and “wizard,” have no negative connotation outside of theology and theologically influenced culture, but that “warlock” would be used as a title when it does. My guess is that Mrs. Rowling though did not do this on purpose. It is merely an interesting coincidence that the Wizengamot would choose “warlock” as one of its leadership positions.

It offers an interesting alternative. As stated above, we have no idea what the powers of the ‘Chief Warlock’ are. But perhaps it is more akin to “Sergeant at Arms” than it is to “Speaker of the House.” Perhaps it is a martial title, almost purely honorary, thus worth taking away from Dumbledore in book five, but with little actual power (explaining why he was sitting next to Moody during the trial for the Lestrange couple and Crouch Jr.). If so, that may explain some of the inaction.