Dumbledore’s triumph; the secret victory that changes everything

Ok, ok, ok! So – I am currently re-reading the Harry Potter series (shockingly it is only the first time I have done this since my original readthrough as a child) and literally a few minutes ago I was curled on the sofa reading the penultimate chapter of The Goblet of Fire, listening to ambient Hogwarts music (naturally), and I came across a sentence that puzzled me for a while. But then, I realised: this sentence changes everything.

Dumbledore, sitting on the steps of his office, Google images

I don’t know about you, but since discovering that Dumbledore knew all about the Horcruxes and that Harry Potter would eventually have to die in order to finally and completely destroy Lord Voldemort, I had developed some mixed feelings about the headmaster of Hogwarts. How good could his intentions truly be, if this entire time he knew the path he was setting Harry on? How could he allow himself to be so careless with his handling of the ring, knowing he would be leaving Harry with a ridiculously small amount of information on how to find and destroy the Horcruxes if something happened to him? We all know Dumbledore has had some difficulties with self-control in his past, and I wondered if maybe this was not another manifestation of that same temptation which fuelled his previous obsession –  with the deathly hallows. The temptation now, however, being the power that comes with having Voldemort wrapped around his finger.

It seems to me that you cannot help but question Dumbledore’s motives when you get to The Deathly Hallows, and read about how much our trio go through and suffer because of Dumbledore’s apparent oversight. What were you thinking Dumbledore?  Because the thing is… he knew he was dying for a while. Since his hand became corrupted, Snape told him it was pointless. Yes, Snape could keep the curse contained, but he could not eradicate it. Dumbledore was going to die. Now is the time to tell Harry everything, right? Apparently not.

But, I have discovered a reason to believe that Dumbledore should not be so readily labelled a guilty man, who merely wanted to keep Harry alive long enough to die at the right moment. Let me give you some context: Harry has just returned from the graveyard, from watching Voldemort resurrect before his eyes, and he is recounting what he saw to Dumbeldore in his office. Harry explains how Voldemort, small and frail and less-than, uses some of Harry’s blood to help bring him back to his full power. And then we get the following lines.

For a fleeting instant, Harry thought he saw a gleam of something like triumph in Dumbledore’s eyes. But next second, Harry was sure he had imagined it, for when Dumbledore had returned to his seat behind the desk, he looked as old and weary as Harry had ever seen him [p.604]

First of all, I quickly rescanned the prior paragraph. Just before this reaction, Harry was remembering Voldemort’s reasoning for needing Harry’s blood; the protection his mother’s sacrifice has given Harry would be broken. I can imagine this happening in two ways: either Voldemort having taken some of Harry away from himself (Harry being the protected entity) has diluted this protection, or the protection has extended to include Voldemort himself under its protective care, making the protection redundant; why would you need to be protected against yourself? But why would Dumbledore be happy about any of these scenarios? The whole point is that the protection is broken; Voldemort can touch Harry, he can harm Harry, and Harry’s life is on the line. What is there to be so triumphant about?

This is what I figured. Yes, in the end, we learn that Dumbledore knows Harry will have to die in order to make Voldemort mortal and have any chance of defeating him. Yet, this is the moment that Dumbledore learns that Harry will survive this blow. Dumbledore has figured out that even after he dies, Harry’s blood will run through Voldemort’s veins, and with it, Lily’s protection. We don’t even know if Dumbledore has completely figured out the Horcruxes at this stage… he doesn’t really have reason to be looking into it, as up until right now, Voldemort’s whereabouts have been unknown. Dumbledore may not, in fact, know that Harry himself is a Horcrux. Now, he may have simply realised that if Voldemort were ever to attempt to murder Harry, there is still hope for his protection.

And so I think that through taking Harry’s blood, Voldemort has both diluted Harry’s protection – enabling Voldemort to eventually curse him – and extended his protection; meaning that he cannot be killed by Voldemort so long as Voldemort is alive. Dumbledore knew that this would save Harry. And if he was already aware of the Horcruxes at this stage, his triumph is born from the fact that he no longer has to worry about Harry’s inevitable death. Harry will survive it. Although we do not even know if he had reached this conclusion yet. Now we can see why Dumbledore is not so guilty as we may have imagined but was actually aware the entire time that Harry had a chance to survive.