's Harry Potter
series. For most of the series, he is the headmaster of the wizarding school Hogwarts
. As part of his back-story, it is revealed that he is the founder and leader of the Order of the Phoenix, an organisation dedicated to fighting the main antagonist
of the series, Lord Voldemort
.
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".
According to the author, 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
.
"After all, to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure."
"What happened down in the dungeons between you and Professor Quirrell is a complete secret, so, naturally the whole school knows."
"As much money and life as you could want! The two things most human beings would choose above all - the trouble is, humans do have a knack of choosing precisely those things that are worst for them."
"Fear of a name increases fear of a thing itself."
"After all, it does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live."
"I believe your friends Misters Fred and George Weasley were responsible for trying to send you a toilet seat. No doubt they thought it would amuse you."
"I will only have truly left the school when none here are loyal to me"
"It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."
"You think the dead we love ever truly leave us? You think that we don't recall them more clearly than ever in times of great trouble?"
"If your determination to shut your eyes will carry you so far, Cornelius, then we have reached a parting of the ways.You must act as you see fit and I must act as I see fit."