Our mutual attraction was undoubtedly due to the fact that we both felt ourselves to be outsiders. I had contracted dragon pox shortly before arriving at school, and while I was no longer contagious, my pock-marked visage and greenish hue did not encourage many to approach me.
For his part, Albus had arrived at Hogwarts under the burden of unwanted notoriety. Scarcely a year previously, his father, Percival, had been convicted of a savage and well-publicized attack upon three young Muggles.
Albus never attempted to deny that his father (who was to die in Azkaban) had committed this crime; on the contrary, when I plucked up courage to ask
him, he assured me that he knew his father to be guilty. Beyond that, Dumbledore refused to speak of the sad business, though many attempted to make him do so.
Some, indeed, were disposed to praise his father's action and assumed that Albus too was a Muggle-hater. They could not have been more mistaken. As
anybody who knew Albus would attest, he never revealed the remotest anti-Muggle tendency. Indeed, his determined support for Muggle rights gained him
many enemies in subsequent years.
In a matter of months, however, Albus' own fame had begun to eclipse that of his father. By the end of his first year he would never again be known as the
son of a Muggle-hater, but as nothing more or less than the most brilliant student ever seen at the school.
Those of us who were privileged to be his friends benefited from his example, not to mention his help and encouragement, with which he was always generous. He confessed to me later in life that he knew even then that his greatest pleasure lay in teaching.
He not only won every prize of note that the school offered, he was soon in regular correspondence with the most notable magical names of the day, includ‐
ing Nicolas Flamel, the celebrated alchemist; Bathilda Bagshot, the noted historian; and Adalbert Waffling, the magical theoretician.
Several of his papers found their way into learned publications such as Transfiguration Today, Challenges in Charming, and The Practical Potioneer.
Dumbledore's future career seemed likely to be meteoric, and the only question that remained was when he would become Minister of Magic. Though it was often predicted in later years that he was on the point of taking the job, however, he never had Ministerial ambitions.
Three years after we had started at Hogwarts, Albus' brother, Aberforth, arrived at school. They were not alike: Aberforth was never bookish and, unlike
Albus, preferred to settle arguments by dueling rather than through reasoned discussion.
However, it is quite wrong to suggest, as some have, that the brothers were not friends. They rubbed along as comfortably as two such different boys could do.
In fairness to Aberforth, it must be admitted that living in Albus' shadow cannot have been an altogether comfortable experience. Being contin‐
ually outshone was an occupational hazard of being his friend and cannot have been any more pleasurable as a brother.
When Albus and I left Hogwarts we intended to take the then-traditional tour of the world together, visiting and observing foreign wizards, before pursuing our separate careers. However, tragedy intervened.
On the very eve of our trip, Albus's mother, Kendra, died, leaving Albus the head, and sole breadwinner, of the family. I postponed my departure long enough to pay my respects at Kendra's funeral, then left for what was now to be a solitary journey.
With a younger brother and sister to care for, and little gold left to them, there could no longer be any question of Albus accompanying me.
That was the period of our lives when we had least contact. I wrote to Albus, describing, perhaps insensitively, the wonders of my journey, from narrow escapes from chimaeras in Greece to the experiments of the Egyptian alchemists.
His letters told me little of his day-to-day life, which I guessed to be frustratingly dull for such a brilliant wizard. Immersed in my own experiences, it was with
horror that I heard, toward the end of my year's travels, that another tragedy had struck the Dumbledores: the death of his sister, Ariana.
Though Ariana had been in poor health for a long time, the blow, coming so soon after the loss of their mother, had a profound effect on both of her brothers.
All those closest to Albus – and I count myself one of that lucky number – agree that Ariana's death, and Albus's feeling of personal responsibility for it (though, of course, he was guiltless), left their mark upon him forevermore.
I returned home to find a young man who had experienced a much older person's suffering. Albus was more reserved than before, and much less light-hearted. To add to his misery, the loss of Ariana had led, not to a renewed closeness between Albus and Aberforth, but to an estrangement. (In time this would lift –in later years they re-established, if not a close relationship, then certainly a cordial one).
However, he rarely spoke of his parents or of Ariana from then on, and his friends learned not to mention them.
Other quills will describe the triumphs of the following years. Dumbledore's innumerable contributions to the store of Wizarding knowledge, including his discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, will benefit generations to come, as will the wisdom he displayed in the many judgments while Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot.
They say, still, that no Wizarding duel ever matched that between Dumbledore and Grindelwald in 1945. Those who witnessed it have written of the terror and the awe they felt as they watched these two extraordinary wizards to battle.
Dumbledore's triumph, and its consequences for the Wizarding world, are considered a turning point in magical history to match the introduction of the International Statute of Secrecy or the downfall of He-Who-Must Not-Be-Named.
Albus Dumbledore was never proud or vain; he could find something to value in anyone, however apparently insignificant or wretched, and I believe that his early losses endowed him with great humanity and sympathy.
I shall miss his friendship more than I can say, but my loss is nothing compared to the Wizarding world's. That he was the most inspiring and best loved of all Hogwarts headmasters cannot be in question.
He died as he lived: working always for the greater good and, to his last hour, as willing to stretch out a hand to a small boy with dragon pox as he was on the day I met him.
The Seven Potters
The six fake Potter decoys: Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, Fleur, and Mundungus with help from the Polyjuice potion.
Mundungus travelled with Moody by broom.
Fred travelled with Arthur.
George travelled with Remus.
Fleur travelled with Bill by Thestral.
Hermione travelled with Kingsley by Thestral.
Ron travelled with Tonks.
The real Harry travelled with Hagrid by motorbike.
Harry's Seventeenth Birthday
Presents
A book from Ron called 'Twelve Fail-Safe Ways to Charm Witches' (apparently explains everything you need to know about girls).
A gold watch with stars circling around the face instead of hands (that once belonged to Mrs Weasley's brother, Fabian).
A new Sneakoscope from Hermione.
An enchanted razor from Bill and Fleur.
Chocolates from the Delacours.
An enormous box of the latest Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes merchandise from Fred and George.
A small drawstring pouch made out of mokeskin to be worn around the neck, from Hagrid. Hides anything in there and no one but the owner can get it out.
Birthday cake
In the shape of a giant, beach-ball-sized Snitch.
The Last Will and Testament of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
To Ronald Bilius Weasley, I leave my Deluminator,
in the hope that he will remember me when he uses it.
To Miss Hermione Jean Granger, I leave my copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, in the hope that she will find it entertaining and instructive.
To Harry James Potter, I leave the Snitch he caught in his first Quidditch match at Hogwarts, as a reminder of the rewards of perseverance and skill.
Dumbledore's second bequest to Harry was the sword of Godric Gryffindor. Unfortunately, the Ministry of Magic deemed this item an important historical artefact and not Dumbledore's to give away.
Harry's most prized items that he stores inside the mokeskin purse
~ Marauder's Map
~ The shard of Sirius' enchanted mirror
~ R.A.B.'s locket
A reminder of what Dumbledore said to Harry
Call him Voldemort, Harry. Always use the proper name for things. Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself.
Quotes and signs found in Godric's Hollow
Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
On this spot, on this night of 31 October 1981, Lily and James Potter lost their lives. Their son, Harry, remains the only wizard ever to have survived the Killing Curse. This house, invisible to Muggles, has been left in its ruined state as a monument to the Potters and as a reminder of the violence that tore apart their family.
The Three Handpainted Signs at the Lovegood family home
THE QUIBBLER. EDITOR, X. LOVEGOOD
PICK YOUR OWN MISTLETOE
KEEP OFF THE DIRIGIBLE PLUMS
Xenophilius' Pet Invention
A headress modelled upon the head of Rowena Ravenclaw.
Wrackpurt Siphons
Two objects that resembled golden ear trumpets
curved out from the sides. This removes all sources of distraction from the thinker's immediate area.
A Billywig Propeller
A tiny pair of glittering blue wing was stuck to a
leather strap that ran over the top of the head. This induces an elevated frame of mind.
The Dirigible Plum
One of the orange radishes had been stuck to a second strap around the forehead. This enhances the ability to accept the extraordinary.
What Harry thinks of the Gurdyroot infusion
The stuff was quite disgusting, as though someone had liquidized bogey-flavoured Every Flavor Beans.
The Tale of the Three Brothers
There were once three brothers who were traveling along a lonely, winding road at twilight.
In time, the brothers reached a river too deep to wade through and too dangerous to swim across. However, these brothers were learned in the magical arts, and so they simply waved their wands and made a bridge appear across the treacherous water.
They were halfway across it when they found their path blocked by a hooded figure. And Death spoke to them. He was angry that he had been cheated out of the three new victims, for travellers usually drowned in the river.
But Death was cunning. He pretended to congratulate the three brothers upon their magic, and said that each had earned a prize for having been clever enough to evade him.
So the oldest brother, who was a combative man, asked for a wand more powerful than any in existence: a wand that must always win duels for its owner, a wand worthy of a wizard who had conquered Death! So Death crossed to an elder tree on the banks of the river, fashioned a wand from a branch that hung there, and gave it to the oldest brother.
Then the second brother, who was an arrogant man, decided that he wanted to humiliate Death still further, and asked for the power to recall others from
Death. So Death picked up a stone from the riverbank and gave it to the second brother, and told him that the stone would have the power to bring back the
dead.
And then Death asked the third and youngest brother what he would like. The youngest brother was the humblest and also the wisest of the brothers, and
he did not trust Death. So he asked for something that would enable him to go forth from that place without being followed by Death. And Death, most unwillingly, handed over his own Cloak of Invisibility.
Then Death stood aside and allowed the three brothers to continue on their way, and they did so talking with wonder of the adventure they had had and admiring Death's gifts.
In due course the brothers separated, each for his own destination.
The first brother travelled on for a week more, and reaching a distant village, sought out a fellow wizard with whom he had a quarrel.
Naturally, with the Elder Wand as his weapon, he could not fail to win the duel that followed. Leaving his enemy dead upon the floor the oldest brother proceeded to an inn, where he boasted loudly of the powerful wand he had snatched from Death himself,
and of how it made him invincible.
That very night, another wizard crept upon the oldest brother as he lay, wine-sodden upon his bed. The thief took the wand and for good measure, slit the oldest brother's throat. And so Death took the first brother for his own.
Meanwhile, the second brother journeyed to his own home, where he lived alone. Here he took out the stone that had the power to recall the dead, and
turned it thrice in his hand. To his amazement and his delight, the figure of the girl he had once hoped to marry, before her untimely death, appeared at once before him.
Yet she was sad and cold, separated from him as by a veil. Though she had returned to the mortal world, she did not truly belong there and suffered. Finally
the second brother, driven mad with hopeless longing, killed himself so as to truly join her. And so Death took the second brother from his own.
But though Death searched for the third brother for many years, he was never able to find him. It was only when he had attained a great age that the
youngest brother finally took off the Cloak of Invisibility and gave it to his son.
And then he greeted Death as an old friend, and went with him gladly, and, equals, they departed this life.
===
Antioch, Cadmus and Ignotus Peverell were believed to be the original owners of the Hallows.
The Deathly Hallows
~ The Elder Wand (variously known as the Deathstick, the Wand of Destiny)
~ The Resurrection Stone
~ The Cloak of Invisibility
Shell Cottage
Bill and Fleur's cottage stood alone on a cliff overlooking the sea, its walls embedded with shells and whitewashed. It was a lonely and beautiful place.
From inside the cottage or from the garden, you can hear the constant ebb and flow of the sea, like the breathing of some great, slumbering creature.
There is the cliff-top view of open sky and wide empty sea, and the feel of cold, salty wind.
One of the Five Principal Exceptions to Gamp’s Law of Elemental Transfiguration
(Categories of substance which could not be created from nothing).
~ Food
Rowen Ravenclaw's diadem
WIT BEYOND MEASURE IS MAN’S GREATEST
TREASURE.
Plot Twists!
