Potions: Dumbledore was also considerably knowledgeable and accomplished in Potions, even while still

young, as while still a student, he published good papers in The Practical Potioneer, an academic journal
regarding Potions, according to Elphias Doge. He showed thorough knowledge and understanding of the
properties of Love Potion, as he understood that Love Potion merely brought upon the sensation of
obsessive love rather than true love, and also the Mandrake Restorative Draught's potent healing
properties, which allowed him to have Sprout and Snape begin producing it as the only way to reverse
the Petrification caused by the Basilisik inside the Chamber of Secrets. He instantly recognised the drink
inside Moody's hip-flask that Crouch used to drink unsuspected as the Polyjuice Potion and knew about
Veritaserum's inability to overcome the defences of expert Occlumens, thus first stunning Barty Crouch
Jr before having him exposed to the Truth Potion in order to ensure he could not resist it, with
Dumbledore notably requesting the strongest batch of Veritaserum in order to further maximise
Crouch's inability to overcome it. Dumbledore expressed confidence he could brew the Truth Potion for
himself if he desired to use it against Horace Slughorn to make him confess the real memory but
Horace's Occlumency and ability to make an antidote for it made it null. He also was able to easily
recognise the Ageing Potion as being the primary method under-aged students would use to submit
their names to the Goblet of Fire by physically ageing themselves to overcome his Age Line and
therefore seamlessly created counters to it to seemingly increase the potion's effects to the point of
ageing youngsters enough to make their hair white and give them magnificient beards. In addition, it
was quite likely that Dumbledore was the one who instructed Minerva Mcgonagall on how to brew the
complex Animagus potion that was needed to become an Animagi and may have even been the one
who brewed it for her. He also quickly measured the quality of the Wit-Sharpening Potion Merula
presented before him and Snape as being the best one he had ever seen and should Jacob's sibling
disguise himself as Potion Master Snape to expose Merula's lies as it was actually Penny Haywood who
made the potion, Dumbledore would calmly level with them regarding the Potions curriculum and could
detect that by the time they had exposed Merula's lies, the Potion had began to wear off and thus allow
them to leave before they could be caught for it. It was likely that when he went to the Underground
Chambers, he had no trouble figuring out which one was the Fire Protection Potion needed to pass
through the Black flames Snape had conjured up unharmed and save Harry.

Alchemy: Apparently having always been highly gifted in the ancient magical science art of Alchemy
since his youth, as a student, Dumbledore was already capable enough to earn the intrest of Nicolas
Flamel, who was considered to be the greatest Alchemist in history, being henceforth famous for his
correspondence with the famous Alchemist while still a student, and having also won the Gold Medal for
Ground-Breaking Contribution to the International Alchemical Conference during his participation of the
event in Cairo. By the time he was an adult, Alchemy was one of Dumbledore's most famous areas of
expertise and he contributed considerably to the advancement of the subject alongside his old friend
Flamel.

Magical chemistry: Dumbledore also had a great deal of knowledge on magical substances, particularly
the substance of Dragon's blood, as he was considered the foremost expert of it and managed to
discover twelve ways to use it practically, among them as a spot remover, as an oven cleaner, and for a
potion ingredient. His knowledge and experience in the study of Dragon Blood also allowed him to easily
distinguish it from human blood by tasting a small amount of it.

Magical Law Expertise: Dumbledore displayed outstanding knowledge of the laws of the wizarding
world, owning several books in his office concerning it. His expertise in the law allowed him to
successfully clear Harry Potter of all charges during his trial for underaged magic when he used a
Patronus to defend himself. He also managed to give a convincing enough defence of Morfin Gaunt's
innocence in the murder of Tom Riddle Senior and the rest of the Riddle family after acquiring the
memory that proved it that he would have successfully convinced the Ministry into letting out Morfin
had Morfin not died first in Azkaban. He also displayed his knowledge when taking Harry with him to
persuade Slughorn in which he showed full confidence his permission would be enough to allow Harry
to use underage magic should there be an attack and lectured Harry on how they could not just
apparate to his old friend's house due to the laws banning it.

Care of Magical Creatures: Dumbledore's knowledge and understanding of many magical creatures were
exceptional, even being sufficient to be comparable to outstanding masters of the subject of the level of
Newton Scamander and Rubeus Hagrid. This was shown when he was aware of the old Dumbledore
family legend of a Phoenix coming to any one of them in desperate need being true, and quickly
understood how Newt's pet Niffler had stolen the Blood pact vial from Grindelwald as well as being the
only one alongside Hagrid aware of how to get past Fluffy something that not even Severus Snape or
Lord Voldemort, both highly intelligent and knowledgeble wizards, knew about, with Quirinus Quirrell,
who had knowledge and experience in handling dangerous magical creatures, having to get it from the
drunk Hagrid under Voldemort's orders, with Dumbledore seemingly easily subduing the dog with either
music or other means to get to Harry on time. Dumbledore was also extremely adept at handling all
sorts of magical creatures, such as Phoenixs, Thestrals, Merpeople, Centaurs, and possibly considering
his ability to speak their language, Goblins, as shown by how his pet Phoenix Fawkes was completely
loyal to the point it only remained in the school due to him and after singing a lament upon
Dumbledore's death, flew away and never returned and using it in combat at one point to thwart
Voldemort's killing curse by having him take the attack and Dumbledore employed Thestrals at times
effectively as a mode of transport when not Apparating, successfully communicated with the Merpeople
of the Black Lake to learn the progress of the Second Task of the Triwizard Tournament and was one of
the few wizards that Hogwarts's Centaurs respected and trusted, enough that Dumbledore was able to
convince them to return Umbridge safely without any harm done to him; the Centaurs and the
Merpeople later payed their respects during Dumbledore's funeral. Dumbledore also was a famous
contributor to the defence of Giants from wizarding violence, with his reputation being enough to make
Karkus consider aiding the Order of the Phoenix and his ability to give Hagrid the gifts and instruction
necessary to steadily convince the giant colony, up until Golgomath killed Karkus, with his advice still
managing to convince the surviving giants who didn't join Golgomath to not join the Death Eaters, show
he was also highly competent in handling Giants. He also was one of the few wizards and witches who
interacted with house-elves with kindness and compassion, giving Dobby and Winky jobs at Hogwarts
and encouraging Harry to treat Kreacher more kindly. When Hagrid and Kettleburn unleashed a large
amount of creatures upon Hogwarts, Dumbledore easily dealt with the many Bowtruckles in the faculty
seats of the Great Hall, showing overall, he was exceptionally skilled with handling almost all kinds of
magical creatures.

History of Magic: Dumbledore had excellent knowledge of magical history and lore, having been well-
known for his correspondence with the famous historian Bathilda Bagshot while still young, with
particular specialisation in the portions of it that pertained to powerful magical artefacts, such as the
Deathly Hallows, from his time studying them with Gellert Grindelwald due to their shared obsession of
the Hallows. As such, Dumbledore was able to identify James Potter's Invisibility cloak as the legendary
Cloak of Invisibility of the Hallows and could see that the Gaunt Ring was the Ressurection Stone. In
addition, Dumbledore was able to easily correctly recite the contents of the historical divination poetic
bookThe Predictions of Tycho Dodonus, when questioned by Torquil Travers. He also had thorough
knowledge of the history of the Triwizard Tournament, henceforth effectively explaining the reason why
it was initially decided the Tournament would no longer be held. Having been one of the few to ever
acquire the first-edition copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard and also having translated and red it's
runic contents, Dumbledore was fully aware of the real stories out of the many changed tales in the
world-wide famous Wizarding Storybook and the historical background behind it, therefore publishing
notes regarding said topic.

Astronomy: Dumbledore appeared to be quite knowledgeable and adept in Astronomy, as he owned a

special pocket watch, containing moving planets around the edge, of seemingly unique astronomy
composition, with which he could apparently translate the meaning off to know the current time.

Divination: Although not having taken the subject and admitting to disliking it, Dumbledore displayed
decent knowledge of Divination, as he was shown to be fully familiar with The Predictions of Tycho
Dodonus, a Divination book, correctly answering all of Travers's questions regarding the book. His
knowledge of the subject also allowed him to effortlessly identify the difference between real and false
Seers as well as quickly recognise the usage of the gift, as he was not fooled by Sybill's attempts to
impress him as it didin't truly contain any trace of the gift, whereas apart from Hermione Granger, Ron
Weasley and Harry Potter, most of the students believed her prophecies were real, but immediately saw
her as a genuine Seer once Sybil delivered the Chosen One Prophecy. He was also capable of somehow
accurately deciphering the contents of Prophecies, having successfully figured out that the Chosen One
prophecy about one with the power to defeat Voldemort was about Harry Potter, not Neville
Longbottom, despite both being born almost on the same day, and also that the unique Chosen One
power Harry possessed was love. He apparently had a level of skill in the practical aspect of the subject,
owning at least a single silver device containing the ability to tell him of events happening elsewhere,
which he used to recognise Arthur Weasley had truly been attacked by Nagini and his wounds were
severe.

Muggle Studies: Dumbledore's knowledge regarding Muggles and ability to interact with them was
considerable, with him often employing many Muggle sweets as passwords for the Headmaster's office
and at one point managing to effectively interact with the Muggles controlling Wool's Orphanage to
successfully go to the young Tom Riddle, quickly convincing one of the employers into calling the matron
Mrs Cole, who he calmly levelled with and convinced to trust him, needing little aid of his magic against
the admittably sharp woman. He was also well-known for his great contribution to the support of
Muggles of wizardkind.

Healing magic: Dumbledore was accomplished in healing magic as he managed to temporarily control
the immensely powerful curse on Marvolo Gaunt's ring long enough to destroy it and return to
Hogwarts to receive further treatment from Severus Snape, and easily healed his wound with a healing
spell after using his blood to open the passageway in The Cave when searching for Salazar Slytherin's
Locket. He also appeared to be accomplished in treating magical creatures, as Cecil Lee took Chiara
Lobusca in her wolf form to his office for treatment after she was wounded by Greyback and he
appeared to have succeeded in treating her.
Apparition: Dumbledore was exceptionally skilled in Apparition, as he was the only known wizard apart
from Lord Voldemort capable of Apparating silently.[41] He could transport himself from one place to
another with pin-point precision, even when locked in combat, as shown by how he dodged some of
Voldemort's spells during their duel by teleporting away before quickly counter-attacking.

Flying: Dumbledore was an excellent broomstick flyer, as, despite being considerably weakened from
having drunk the Emerald Potion, he was able to fly from Hogsmeade to the Hogwarts Astronomy Tower
at great speed and was even able to cast a spell while en route to undo the protections around the
Castle. He also managed to fly back from "mid-way" to the British Ministry of Magic to Hogwarts fast
enough to still have the time needed to save Harry from Quirell. In addition, he apparently effortlessly
managed to capture the right key out of the Winged Keys to unlock the door to Mcgonagall's real Wizard
Chess obstacle.

Love: Dumbledore was exceptionally learned and knowledgeable in the nature of love along with the
magic associated with it, and showed a remarkably powerful capability to feel true love. This was shown
when Dumbledore advised Newt Scamander on how to potentially heal the Obscurial Credence of the
latter's Obscurus - by replacing the feelings that made Credence an Obscurial with a sense of love and
belonging. Later he also advised Leta Lestrange to not torture herself over her brother's death, since he
himself had not loved his own late sister Ariana enough. Furthermore, Dumbledore was able to
understand the true magical power behind a loving sacrifice, telling Harry Potter about the magical
protection the latter had inherited when his mother sacrificed herself to protect him from Voldemort,
and was also able to inform Harry that his own ability to love allowed him to close the connection
between him and Voldemort and repel Voldemort's attempted possession of Harry by focusing on grief
when he was unable to perform Occlumency. Due to this, he was also the only person who understood
that Voldemort's act in using Harry's blood to help in restoring him to full power actually strengthened
the magical protection within Harry to the point that Voldemort could not kill Harry while he himself
was still alive.[42] Dumbledore's understanding of love and sacrificial protection also made him cast the
bond of blood charm upon Harry to ensure he had further protection from Voldemort for 17 years
alongside his mother's sacrifice while living with his aunt, Petunia Dursley. Dumbledore was also able to
distinguish between pure, unconditional love which most people felt for each other, and the obsession
which was caused by Love Potions. While Dumbledore became "quite asexual" in his older years, after
the disaster following his romantic interest in teenage friend Gellert Grindelwald, he evidently cared
greatly about his family, close friends, students, allies and the wizarding community. His ability to love
gave him the strength to overcome his selfishness and obsession for power, and stand up to Grindelwald
in order to protect his brother Aberforth when Grindelwald attacked him. His ability to love also allowed
Dumbledore to eventually overcome his fear of learning who really killed Ariana and duel Grindelwald
again at the heights of the latter's power and defeat him when Grindelwald was threatening to take over
both wizarding and Muggle worlds. Dumbledore's ability to love was his most redeeming quality, as it
allowed him to become a far better person by protecting many people he cared about, especially when
Voldemort rose to power. His ability to love also made him concerned about Harry Potter's safety, to the
point that he kept the Prophecy a secret from him earlier on, and distanced himself from Harry during
the latter's fifth year, hoping it would reduce the connection between Harry and Voldemort, along with
protecting Harry several times.

Study of Ancient Runes: Dumbledore was also proficient in Ancient Runes, as he was able to perfectly
understand the contents of his first-edition copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard , which were written
completely in Runes. His ability to read and understand the runic language the book was shown by the
fact that he had written a series of extensive notes on the book's various stories, providing his own
interpretations of the stories' events, as well as recording significant historical background to how the
stories had been changed or adapted over the years from this first edition.

Herbology: Dumbledore had a fair share of knowledge on magical plants and their properties, as he
knew of the healing properties of Mandrakes and therefore began the production of the Mandrake
Restorative Draught to cure the petrification done when the Chamber of Secrets was opened. Although
he was never shown directly handling magical plants, he had no problem bypassing the Devil Snare of
the Philosopher Stone Chambers to reach Harry in time, showing he was at least adequately skilled in
the field.

Wandlore: From his correspondence with Gellert Grindelwald in their youth over the Elder Wand as it
was one of the three fabled Deathly Hallows, Dumbledore became highly knowledgeable of Wandlore.
Henceforth, he was not only able to easily recognise that the effect that happened during Harry's
confrontation with Voldemort was Reverse Spell and explain the reasons of it's occurance to Harry, but
he was also capable of understanding the reason of the unique effect Harry's wand had when
confronted by Voldemort and it's activation only happening when around Voldemort so as to explain to
Harry the reason why he was able to break Lucius's wand but Hermione could break his wand. Finally,
Dumbledore was aware that should the master of the Elder Wand die a natural death, he would remain
undefeated and the wand's powers will be destroyed, henceforth attempting to do so by having Severus
Snape kill him with the Killing Curse, although it failed due to Draco disarming him first.

Indomitable Willpower: Dumbledore, in true Gryffindor fashion, had tremendously strong willpower,
most prominently shown by his ability to overcome strong emotional attachments and desires and
recover from horrendous losses from a young age, and become even stronger from the experience, as
shown by Dumbledore immediately standing up to Grindelwald, despite his crush for the latter and
desire to complete the For the Greater Good revolution they planned when Grindelwald attacked
Aberfoth, later showing determination to find a way to terminate the Blood pact he had made with
Grindelwald, and later still, after the blood pact was somehow overcome, mustering up the willpower to
confront Grindelwald when the latter was at the height of his power in the Global Wizarding War,
despite his strong fear of Grindelwald knowing who had really killed Ariana, all which instead of breaking
Dumbledore, made him the benevolent wizard respected by most of the Wizarding World. Dumbledore
also was confident that he would be able to resist the effect of the Dementors long enough to easily
escape Azkaban and was known for having entered Azkaban at least once to recover Morfin Gaunt's
memory and left without any effect on him. Additionally, Dumbledore was never intimidated when
questioned by high-ranking Ministry of Magic officials, such as Torquil Travers, Dolores Umbridge,
Cornelius Fudge, or Rufus Scrimgeour, even when Travers forced him to wear two admonitors, or when
Fudge tried to send him to Azkaban. A lesser display of Dumbledore's extreme willpower was his
complete mastery of Occlumency and non-verbal magic, both which required high amounts of mental
strength. Additionally, Dumbledore's encouragement aided his allies in developing a similar willpower,
with Leta Lestrange and Theseus Scamander notably resisting Grindelwald's persuasive speech, and
Harry Potter being encouraged by Dumbledore's example to be steadfast against Lord Voldemort
numerous times.
Conducting: Dumbledore was fully capable of single-handedly leading the singing of the Hoggy Warty
Hogwarts song, showing he had apt musical abilities.

Social Networking: Due to his vast reputation, Dumbledore had a vast network of followers and
international contacts around the whole Wizarding World, to the point that he is known for knowing all
that happens. Indeed, even the abrasive Department of Magical Law Enforcement Head Torquil Travers
showed begrudging admiration of Dumbledore's international contacts network while questioning the
Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. Later, during his job application meeting with Dumbledore,
even Lord Voldemort himself was impressed by how well-informed the new Hogwarts Headmaster was.
This is what allowed Dumbledore to be aware of his old friend Gellert Grindelwald being disguised as
Percival Graves and his search of the Obscurial that terrorised New York, of Credence Barebone being
considered by many to be the long-lost Corvus Lestrange, of the feud between the Kama family and
Lestrange family, of Nicolas Flamel being urgently needed at Grindelwald's rally in Paris (communicating
with Nicolas via the latter's phoenix-embossed book), of Leta Lestrange's death at Grindelwald's rally, of
several Death Eaters being at Hogsmade waiting for Voldemort's return, of Lord Voldemort hiding in
Albania, of Frank Bryce's disappearance (from Muggle newspapers), of Harry Potter's arrival at the
Burrow, and, thanks to Severus Snape, of the majority of Voldemort's plans in the Second Wizarding
War. Additionally, Dumbledore's contacts allowed him to provide safe-houses for his allies, such as
Nicolas Flamel's house for Newt Scamander, and Sirius Black's 12 Grimmauld Place house for the Order
of the Phoenix's headquarters. He was somehow aware of Rita Skeeter's Animagus ability too. However,
while this did usually made Dumbledore well-informed, his contacts network was not always a perfect
source of information, since in 1927 he was unaware that his relative Aurelius Dumbledore had allegedly
survived a shipwreck and was now called "Credence Barebone", in 1981 he was unaware of Sirius Black's
innocence, and in 1995 he was unaware of Bartemius Crouch Junior's infiltration of his school in the
guise of Alastor Moody.

Physical aptitude: Despite his advanced age and rather skinny build, Dumbledore was in superbly good
physical condition, as he has been seen to be capable of physically performing feats that should be far
beyond someone of his age and body, rivalling that of a much younger, fit man: his strength was great
enough to raise Harry Potter forcibly off the ground away from Cedric Diggory's body with one hand,
which shocked Harry. Dumbledore was also astonishingly fast and agile for someone his age, as shown
during the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, describing as having sped past Harry and Neville when
they blinked away from his arrival, and he displayed sufficient swimming ability to quickly swim with a
"perfect breaststroke" and speed surpassing Harry, in the churning sea to reach The Cave, with a
considerably large tolerance to climate weathers to be entirely unfazed from the coldness of the waters,
whereas Harry was left shivering upon emerging to the grounds of the cave. He also effortlessly jumped
to the seventh trunk of Moody, which was used by Crouch to hold the real Moody while disguised as
him, and landed gracefully on his feet, with his landing being only of light impact, before climbing back
up with Moody on hand without issue. He also was capable of overpowering the weakened and injured
Quirinus Quirrell to forcibly and quickly remove him from his struggle with Harry. Dumbledore also
displayed considerable endurance and stamina, as after only a brief moment of rest from being
incapacitated by the Emerald Potion, he was able to cast a firestorm to fend off the Inferi in The Cave,
and quickly afterwards fly from Hogsmeade to Hogwarts. In addition, he had a strong tolerance for pain,
as shown when slicing his hand with a knife to use his blood to unlock the Cave, he did not even flinch
and went as far as to soberly say the reason why to the shocked Harry.
Career accomplishments

In addition to a long career as a teacher of at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, first as its
Defence Against the Dark Arts instructor and later as a Transfiguration Professor, (and eventual
promotion to Head of the Transfiguration department), making contributions to such learned, scholarly
publications as Transfiguration Today, Challenges in Charming and The Practical Potioneer, and
ultimately rounding it all off by becoming arguably the finest and most revered Headmaster the school
had ever seen, Albus Dumbledore was also a famous alchemist who worked with Nicolas Flamel, the
only known maker of the Philosopher's Stone, and was credited with discovering the twelve uses of
dragon's blood.

Dumbledore became the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, and Supreme Mugwump of the
International Confederation of Wizards. He was removed from these posts during his conflict with the
Ministry of Magic under Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge, but was reinstated when the Ministry was
forced to acknowledge that he had correctly warned that Voldemort had returned. He held the Order of
Merlin, First Class, for Grand Sorcery.

Relationships

Dumbledore fix "Well, I think we should put it back in order for them, don't you?"

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Family

Parents

"Do not misunderstand me. I loved them. I loved my parents, I loved my brother and my sister, but I was
selfish"

—Albus Dumbledore[src]

Percival Dumbledore

Albus' father, Percival

Albus' relationship with his parents was not very clear. However, it can be theorised that he most likely
did not hold his father in high regard, as he was imprisoned in Azkaban for magically attacking three
Muggle boys who had inflicted permanent psychological damage on Ariana. According to Aberforth,
their mother taught Albus secrecy. Given that she read stories to him, it can be assumed that Albus had
a good relationship with her, or at least a better one than the one she had with Aberfoth. Her death
made Albus feel angry and bitter, as it left him with the responsibility of a damaged sister and a
wayward brother, and he thought himself trapped and wasted.

Kendra Dumbledore

Albus' mother, Kendra

Later on, during his conversation with Harry in limbo, he confessed that he truly loved each and every
one of his family, but was blinded by his ambition and his madness. He had originally intended to use
the Resurrection Stone to bring back his parents, so that the heavy responsibility on his shoulders would
be lifted. After Ariana's tragic and unexpected death, he planned, instead, to use the stone (if he ever
found it, that is) to bring back his parents and his sister to apologise to them. This desire, however,
ultimately caused his death: the Resurrection Stone had become part of a ring whose curse infected him
the instant he put in on, and slowly killed him.

Ariana Dumbledore

"Not as well as I should have done."

—Albus Dumbledore to Leta Lestrange when asked if he had loved Ariana.[src]

Ariana Dumbledore Hog's Head

Ariana Dumbledore, his younger sister

Albus Dumbledore was Ariana Dumbledore's eldest brother, and was not nearly as close to his younger
siblings as they were to each other. Although he loved his younger sister, Albus was resentful when he
had to take responsibility for her after their mother's death, which forced him to stay at home, and thus
abandon his ambitious plans. When he and Gellert Grindelwald made plans to subjugate Muggles and
take power in the wizarding world, Albus planned to bring Ariana with them, but Aberforth pointed out
that she was in no state to go. This launched a three-way duel between the brothers and Grindelwald,
and Ariana was accidentally killed in the fray. Albus was devastated by his sister's death and for the rest
of his life, Albus never forgave himself for the part he played in her death and always felt tremendous
guilt and remorse over it. While he hardly ever spoke of this guilt to anyone, Dumbledore admitted it to
Leta Lestrange in an effort to get her to open up about her own guilt, and admitted that he had not
loved Ariana enough during her life. Dumbledore was also haunted with the fear that it had been him to
kill Ariana, to the point that he delayed facing Grindelwald for years.[42]

From then on, Albus' Boggart would be Ariana's corpse.[10]

Aberforth Dumbledore

"They were not alike: Aberforth was never bookish and, unlike Albus, preferred to settle arguments by
duelling rather than through reasoned discussion... In fairness to Aberforth, it must be admitted that
living in Albus' shadow cannot have been an altogether comfortable experience."

—Description of the Dumbledore brothers[src]

AberforthInfobox

Aberforth Dumbledore, his younger brother

Aberforth Dumbledore was Albus' younger brother. Although Albus loved him, the two brothers were
not close to each other, as they were very different persons in both personality, with Aberfoth resenting
being in Albus's shadow. Despite not being close, it cannot be doubted that Albus loved and cared for
him dearly, evidenced by the fact that even though he resented having to stay at home, Albus still
refused to allow Aberfoth to stop his education out of concern of his brother's future. While Albus likely
alienated him, along with Ariana, during his obsession with Gellert Grindelwald, when Grindelwald
attacked Aberforth, Albus immediately came to his brothers aid and fought against his lover, clearly
displaying that even at the height of his worst years, Albus cared for his brothers' well-being more than
Grindelwald's and his own pride. After Ariana's death, Albus and Aberfoth's relationship becomes very
estranged, as Aberfoth blamed Albus for the death of the sister he and his mother spent so much time
caring for. Although they eventually established a cordial relationship with each other, with Aberfoth
joining the Order of Phoenix when Albus founded it and attending Albus's funeral, Aberfoth and Albus
still remained distant as Aberfoth was not able to forgive Albus. Albus himself made no attempts to
change his brother's opinion about him, apparently acknowledging that he deserved it and accepting it
as his punishment for their tragic family past, which Albus had a hand in. However, Albus was
nevertheless saddened that he and Aberfoth never could reconcile and he did had a strong desire to
make peace with him, as whenever he looked into the Mirror of Erised later in his life, Albus would see
himself and Aberfoth reconciled and all of his family returned to him. Albus also came to believe that
Aberforth was a better person than he was due to his much greater devotion to Ariana, which Harry
Potter disagreed with. Aberfoth himself however, eventually changed his opinions of his brother when
Harry Potter helped him realise what Albus' intention really was and had forgiven him, as he chose to
participate in the Battle of Hogwarts, helping the students and faculty of Hogwarts and the Hogsmeade
residents to protect the school where Albus served as Headmaster for almost half of his lifetime, from
Lord Voldemort, as well as to allow Harry time to find what he thought to be the last Horcrux.

Gellert Grindelwald

"Did I know, in my heart of hearts, what Gellert Grindelwald was? I think I did, but I closed my eyes."

—Albus Dumbledore to Harry Potter, about his friendship with Gellert Grindelwald[src]

Grindelwald-Profile

Gellert Grindelwald, his former lover and great enemy

Dumbledore first met Gellert Grindelwald when he was seventeen. They were introduced by
Grindelwald's great aunt, Bathilda Bagshot. They got along almost instantly, according to Bagshot. They
were ultimately united by their desire to have the Deathly Hallows. They also made a blood pact and
they swore an oath never to fight each other. It is also known that the two were romantically involved. It
is said that their relationship was intense and passionate. This was so much so that Dumbledore would,
for a time, see Grindelwald in the Mirror of Erised as his greatest desire.

"Gellert —

Your point about Wizard dominance being For the Muggle's own good — this, I think, is the crucial
point. Yes, we have been given power and yes, that power gives us the right to rule, but it also gives us
responsibilities over the ruled. We must stress this point, it will be the foundation stone upon which we
build. Where we are opposed, as we surely will be, this must be the basis of all our counterarguments.
We seize control for the greater good. And from this it follows that where we meet resistance, we must
use only the force that is necessary and no more. (This was your mistake at Durmstrang! But I do not
complain, because if you had not been expelled, we would never have met.)

Albus"

—One of Albus Dumbledore's letters to Grindelwald in their school years as they plotted Muggle
domination[src]

They got along for two months until Aberforth, Dumbledore's brother, confronted them over the
neglect of Ariana Dumbledore. Grindelwald lost control during the argument and attacked Aberforth.
Dumbledore rushed forward to defend his brother, and during the duel his sister, Ariana was killed.
Grindelwald fled and Dumbledore ended their friendship, although his romantic desires did not subside.

"Oh we were closer than brothers."

—Albus Dumbledore to Torquil Travers, about his bond with Gellert Grindelwald[src]

Dumbledore Mirror of Erised

For a long and tumultuous time in his life, Albus's greatest and most desperate desire was his former
best friend and lover, Gellert Grindelwald

Grindelwald spent a number of years gaining power in Europe while Dumbledore spent his time
teaching young wizards at Hogwarts. While Grindelwald and his army terrorised Europe, Dumbledore
remained in Britain and refused adamantly to face Grindelwald. While this was partially due to the Blood
Pact, which also kept Britain safe as Grindelwald couldn't attempt an attack as it would mean a duel with
Albus, which would violate the Pact, Dumbledore showed he still had lingering affection for Grindelwald,
as when he looked at the Mirror of Erised at this time in his life, he saw Grindelwald. Nevertheless,
Dumbledore tried to indirectly participate in Grindelwald's defeat and he used Newt to do it by sending
him to America with the injured Thunderbird Frank, knowing somehow Grindelwald had infiltrated
America in search for the Obscurial there, which Dumbledore knew he intended to use against him.
However, after the death of Leta Lestrange, Dumbledore put aside whatever affection he had for
Grindelwald and was determined to break the Blood Pact.

While not having the vial destroyed, he made sure that the wizarding world would survive Grindelwald's
reign of terror by providing whatever intellectual and possibly magical assistance he could. After finally
succeeding, Dumbledore directly tracked down Grindelwald. Upon finding each other, Dumbledore and
Grindelwald initiated a legendary duel of 1945, unleashing all of their extraordinary magical capabilities
on each other, the display being so amazing that it remains among the greatest magical battles ever in
history. Dumbledore eventually triumphed in the end, despite Grindelwald's mastery of the Elder Wand,
becoming the wand's new master and he then brought in Grindelwald to the authorities of the magical
world, who imprisoned him in his own prison Nurmengard.

Years later in 1998, Grindelwald refused to give any information to Lord Voldemort about the Elder
Wand despite the fact that he was imprisoned, wandless and face-to-face with the only Dark Wizard
ever considered greater and more powerful than himself. This seems to indicate that Grindelwald no
longer held the views of those who practised the Dark Arts and had contemplated and felt remorse over
his actions and that his lie was a last act to repent for his sins, something which Dumbledore
acknowledged to be true, implying despite Grindelwald's crimes, Dumbledore still retained some
fondness for him and believed that he truly had felt remorse over his crimes during his imprisonment in
Nurmengard. It was speculated by Harry Potter that Grindelwald had given his life to prevent Voldemort
from desecrating Dumbledore's tomb, possibly indicating Grindelwald still respected and cared for
Dumbledore despite all that happened.

Newt Scamander

"Do you know why I admire you, Newt? More perhaps than any men I know. You do not seek power. Or
popularity. You simply ask, is the thing right in itself? If it is, you do it, no matter the cost."

—Albus Dumbledore to Newt when they met in London

Newt New York

Newt Scamander, his former student and friend

Dumbledore's relationship with famous magizoologist was very close. During Newt's time at Hogwarts,
Dumbledore was his Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor. When one of Leta Lestrange's
experiments involving a magical beast went too far, endangering the life of another student. Newt did
not want to see a friend thrown out of school, so he took the blame for Leta's actions, and was thus
sentenced to be expelled from Hogwarts in her place. Albus developed unending trust and loyalty to him
after he argued strongly against his expulsion. It is unclear whether the expulsion was enforced or not,
or if it was temporary or permanent. However, Newt was allowed to keep his wand. After school Newt
probably was in a regular contact with his teacher. Newt respected his mentor enough to do tasks for
him. Dumbledore told him where to find one ill-bred Thunderbird and later sent his former student to
New York to release this beast, whose natural environment was Arizona. At this time Newt helped
capture Gellert Grindelwald, who was trying to convince Obscurial Credence Barebone to join his ranks.
Newt was extremely loyal to Dumbledore, because when he appealed to his travel ban, he lied to the
committee members that he had gone to the United States on his orders. When Grindelwald managed
to escape, Albus felt that he would not be able to fight the dark wizard, so he asked Scamander for help.
Dumbledore admired him, because he didn't care about power or popularity, which is quite ironic as
Dumbledore once craved at least one of these things. He sent Newt to Paris to rescue Credence, who
survived battle in New York, but Newt was reluctant, nevertheless he was willing to accept the address
of a safe-house. The rumours of Newton's potential travel to France reached the British Ministry of
Magic, and a delegation, including Newt's brother Theseus Scamander, Leta Lestrange and Torquil
Travers, was sent to Hogwarts Castle to question Dumbledore. Albus only pretended that he did not
know anything about it and said that Newt is not a great follower of orders. During the Battle in
Lestrange family Mausoleum, vial of Dumbledore's and Grindelwald's blood pact was stolen from
Grindelwald, however, without his knowledge by a Niffler belonging to Newt Scamander. Shortly
thereafter Scamander brought it to Dumbledore at Hogwarts. Dumbledore expressed regret at Leta's
death in mausoleum. Newt in turn did not ask Dumbledore why he would form a blood pact with
Grindelwald but simply asked him to destroy it, showing respect for his privacy. Although it apparently
took years, Dumbledore clearly managed to abolish the blood pact, allowing him to finally defeat
Grindelwald in a legendary duel.

Tom Riddle (Lord Voldemort)

Voldemort: "You do not seek to kill me, Dumbledore? Above such brutality, are you?"

Dumbledore: "We both know there are other ways of destroying a man, Tom. Merely taking your life
would not satisfy me, I admit."

Voldemort: "There is nothing worse than death, Dumbledore!"

Dumbledore: "You are quite wrong. Indeed your failure to understand that there are things much worse
than death has always been your greatest weakness."

— Lord Voldemort and Dumbledore during their duel during the Battle of the Department of
Mysteries[src]

Tomdh

Voldemort, his former student and greatest enemy

Dumbledore personally approached Mrs Cole, the caretaker of the orphanage in which Tom Riddle
resided to enrol the latter in Hogwarts. Dumbledore met Tom Riddle for the first time there and was
unaware at the time that he had just met the person who would become most powerful and dangerous
Dark Wizard of all time. He was however intrigued by Tom Riddle as his powers were surprisingly well-
developed by such a young wizard who had begun to use them consciously. Dumbledore was also
disturbed by the fact that Tom was a Parselmouth, a rare ability supposedly connected with the Dark
Arts, although not as much as the fact that Tom had obvious instincts for cruelty, secrecy and
domination which was proved by the fact that Tom had used his magic to hurt the other children in the
orphanage. Dumbledore then returned to Hogwarts intending to keep an eye upon Tom Riddle, as he
was alone and friendless, a dangerous situation, but at that point Dumbledore, ever the man who
staunchly believed in second chances and redemption, still considered Riddle as being not a lost cause
and could repent

When then-headmaster Armando Dippet confided in Dumbledore about Tom Riddle approaching him
about staying on after graduation to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts — which he only refused due
to Tom's age, suggesting he ask again in a few years — Dumbledore advised him against it. Though he
explained none of his reasons to Professor Dippet, for the headmaster was just as charmed by Tom as
the other professors, Dumbledore felt uneasy about the request and did not want Riddle back at
Hogwarts in a position of power.

"The time is long gone when I could frighten you with a burning wardrobe and force you to make
repayment for your crimes. But I wish I could, Tom, I wish I could..."

—Albus Dumbledore[src]

While Dumbledore was aware of Tom Riddle's transformation and rise to power, he still maintained
contact with the latter, even allowing him to visit the school for a supposed job interview. When Tom, or
Lord Voldemort as he began calling himself, visited the school, Dumbledore was courteous. However
Dumbledore suspected that Voldemort wanted more than a job, likely wanting to raise an army. He was
troubled at some of the rumours about Tom, these were true of course. When Dumbledore turned
down Voldemort's request, this sealed the deep resentment Voldemort would continue to feel towards
him and he cursed the Defence Against the Dark Arts post out of spite.

It was clear that while many who followed Dumbledore's cause both feared and despised Voldemort
greatly, Dumbledore did not share such views as he had known Tom Riddle personally, and although he
was committed to defeating him, Dumbledore held no personal resentment nor fear towards the Dark
Lord and continued to see him as his former student worthy of being pitied for his childhood and
complete inability to understand love, as he had never received any. He even appeared to feel some
deep-rooted guilt and remorse over his inability to change Riddle, as he noted with great sadness in his
face and tone that he sincerely wished he could have forced Voldemort to repent for his sins in a
peaceful manner. Dumbledore understood the evil in Riddle as a result from a string of unfortunate
events and performed intensive research on him, eventually discovering his Horcruxes. After Riddle's
transformation into Lord Voldemort, contrary to the rest of the wizarding community's fear of saying the
Dark Lord's name, Dumbledore, as the only person Voldemort (secretly) feared, refused to be
intimidated by the Dark Lord, referring to him as "Voldemort" to others and as "Tom" in conversation
with Voldemort himself, a subtle but steadfast refusal to allow Lord Voldemort to dictate the terms of
their relationship and a trait that would later be inherited by Harry Potter.

Movie-duel

Albus Dumbledore locked in combat with Voldemort

In 1996, Dumbledore and Voldemort met face to face in the Ministry of Magic. Voldemort started a
dangerous duel during which he used all of his tremendous magical capabilities in an attempt to murder
Harry Potter along with his former teacher. Fortunately for Dumbledore, he proved himself to be worthy
of his title as the only wizard who was ever feared by Voldemort and maintained The offensive in the
battle, eventually forcing Voldemort to flee. A short while later, Dumbledore became aware of
Voldemort's plan to use Draco Malfoy to kill him, possibly as Voldemort realised from their previous
altercation that he would lose a duel with Dumbledore head on and thus used Dumbledore's empathy
for Draco to give Draco a greater chance to kill him. Dumbledore requested to Snape that he should be
the one to kill him instead of Malfoy. Despite dying to Snape in 1997, Dumbledore's legacy allowed
Harry Potter to defeat Voldemort once and for all in 1998.

Patricia Rakepick

Patricia Rakepick - Hogwarts Mystery

Patricia Rakepick

Albus Dumbledore was, at the time of Patricia Rakepick's arrival at Hogwarts, the school's Head of
Transfiguration under then Headmaster Armando Dippet, until he eventually succeeded the latter in said
post at some point during her magical education. Unlike all of the other staff members, Dumbledore did
not let her rebellious streak, a trait for which, seen as it went beyond mere mischief-making, many of his
colleagues came to distrust and dislike her for, cloud the fact that she was an exceptional student and
spoke highly of her abilities even after her graduation. He welcomed her warmly back to Hogwarts upon
inviting her back to the castle to help the staff in their efforts to put a stop to the threat posed to the
security of the school and those who dwelled therein by the fabled Cursed Vaults, though it is unknown
if he shared Severus Snape's suspicions about her ulterior motives, the latter of whom believed, quite
correctly, that Dumbledore trusted her.

After Rakepick revealed herself to be a traitor working for R, Dumbledore did not seem too surprised,
showing that he did suspect her but just didn't took it to extreme levels. Regardless, Dumbledore didn't
seem to resent her too much for having ruthlessly tortured Merula Snyde, as although he considered it a
major priority to neutralise her, Dumbledore openly suggested against Merula Snyde being too focused
to kill her.