True Potter geeks can unite one more time over J.K Rowling’s shocking announcement to a sold out audience at New York City’s Carnegie Hall in Friday night. The truth is finally out about Dumbledore – that’s right, the Hogwarts wizard bats for the other team.
The announcement came after a young fan asked whether Dumbledore ever found true love. J.K Rowling replied, as quickly and easily as if she were saying her own name, “Dumbledore’s gay.”
Immediately after the announcement cheers and applause filled the hall.
“If I would have known it was going to make you this happy I would have announced it earlier” Rowling said to her first U.S. audience in seven years, noting that Dumbledore had fallen in love with fellow wizard and friend, Gellert Grindelwald.
But for the geekiest of the geeks, the announcement wasn’t all that surprising. Throughout the entire series Dumbledore hasn’t been romantically linked to any female characters. The last book seems to expose Dumbledore’s weakness, a very strong friendship with infamous dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald. Their friendship began with casual debates about wizard supremacy. Although Grindelwald was obsessed with immortality and a dark wizard, which was obvious to everyone else, Dumbledore maintained a strong friendship with him.
Rowling even describes Grindelwald as Dumbledore’s “handsome companion” on page 353 of the seventh book,Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The announcement only reinstates Rowling’s main theme, which is that you choose your own path. Harry Potter chose to be good instead of evil, even though he had dark powers and Dumbledore chose to kill Grindelwald even though he loved him, because he also chose good over evil. Rowling also exposes Dumbledore’s weakness; love, which blinded him from making the choice sooner. Rowling added Friday night that Dumbledore’s love was his “great tragedy.” Dumbledore and Grindelwald are described as having a very close friendship, spending days together and sending letters to each other at night. Then suddenly their “friendship” is over and they barely speak again.
Also in the seventh book, a close neighbor of Dumbledore’s describes the relationship between Dumbledore and Grindelwald, “Dumbledore, who was missing the company of lads his own age. The boys took to each other at once,” as described on page 356. “They got on like a cauldron on fire.”
Good Harry Potter sleuths should know that Dumbledore, most likely, isn’t the only gay character in the series. Rowling put a large amount of hidden messages in her books, and since the series has ended, I suspect she has many more announcements to make.
