Dumbledore As A Mentor

Dumbledore as a Mentor

Dumbledore is the most well executed mentor figure for Harry in the series, for two reasons.

First is what he represents. Since the very beginning of the series, he trusts him absolutely, and is along with the Weasleys the only adult with whom he shares that title. But Harry trusts Dumbledore even though he doesn't know anything about him. Harry, who has a pathological mistrust of adults, always feels that he can rely on him. He's the only wizard that Voldemort ever feared, and his very presence at Hogwarts makes it so that there is at least one place which Harry knows is safe.

And then he's killed. Just before the final book, before the last confrontation Harry and the Dark Lord will have, the man whom Harry though he could most rely on dies. The warm blanket of comfort and safety that Dumbledore provided is suddenly gone, and Harry must face Voldemort as his own man, no mentors to guide and protect him. His final challenge. "The last and greatest of his protectors had died, and he was more alone than he had ever been before" Of course, there was another protector left still, but Harry didn't know that at the time.

Dumbledore is also unique among Harry Potter characters in that he's the one who most understands the Harry Potter settings supernatural elements.

Fantasy and supernatural are not the same. Fantasy is when things that would not be possible in our world, indeed, what in the real world would be classified as supernatural, are mundane elements of the setting, as real and part of nature as anything else. Magic, dragons, spells, potions and house elves and all, is part of the nature of the world. They are not considered supernatural elements for wizards, the way they are for muggles. Supernatural elements are those that surpass what is perceived as natural in any given setting. Harry Potter as a series has both, and Dumbledore is the only character who truly understands them.

What am I talking about? Mainly (though not exclusively) Love, capital L. In Harry Potter, Love, unconditional, true, Love is more than just an emotion. It has magical reality, it tangibly affects the world. While it falls under the umbrella of magic, It is the most mysterious and least understood of the magics. It is ancient, and powerful beyond belief. It is what made Harry's mind agony for the Dark Lord to touch. What permitted Dumbledore to trust Snape absolutely (and if you want a more detailed analysis of how Love and Snape are fundamentally intertwined, and how his arc is among the most important in telling the message Rowling wanted to tell, read this meta by rex-luscus), what allowed Harry to survive the unstoppable Killing curse, when no one had ever done it before.

Most powerful mentor figures in fiction teach the protagonist powerful spells and magic. It's expected. After all, in most stories, the hero defeats the villain by growing to match them in power. Not so in Harry Potter. Harry, while a powerful wizard, and very talented in DADA, is nothing out of this world. He never approaches Voldemort's league. Whenever his killing curse fails, it is by supernatural mechanisms, that Voldemort cannot fathom but that neither fully understand. Lily's protection. Priori Incantatem. The supernatural phenomenon of the magical world. In both these scenarios, the first to understand what truly happened and explain is Dumbledore. In their private sessions, Dumbledore never teaches Harry powerful spells, or Potions, as many would expect him to (that role is left to other mentors of his, mainly Lupin and Snape). He teaches him philosophy, how to understand the mind of Tom Riddle, and about the nature of magic itself as a phenomenon. He teaches him wisdom, to understand the world. That's why, when Harry comes into his own, it is no surprise that he defeats him by understanding, on a deeper level, the Deathstick. Another of the myths and legends of the magical world, that is nonetheless real. When Voldemort casts at Harry his third and last killing curse, he dies, with only Harry understanding why. He has learned all that Dumbledore wanted to teach him. He has taught him to be wise.

Voldemort's main flaw is that magic only has value to him in so much as it is a tool that he can bring under his control to increase his power. He views it almost like a scientific discipline. And in those areas, the non supernatural ones, he is unrivalled. Dumbledore is at most his equal, but probably not. When they fight, they are evenly matched, even though Dumbledore has the Elder Wand. Dumbledore acknowledges him as the most brilliant student that Hogwarts has ever seen, a tacit admission that he is his superior. And yet, Dumbledore is the greatest sorcerer to ever live. Why? Because he understands the mysteries of magic, knows that magic is a fundamentally supernatural force. Voldemort opened his mind to the power of magic, but could not see what lay beyond. His mind remained shackled, and he never did understand magic beyond what is conceivable by science. Dumbledore did, and that's why he's the only one he ever feared. And it's what makes him the perfect mentor for Harry.

More Posts from Mae-mae-me and Others

1 month ago

Jazz is an Al Ghul.

She should have know something was up when the seventh ninja cosplayer tried to kill her. But with her life it honestly wasn't even a blip on her rader.

Sure, it was odd.

But not as odd as her parents being ghost hunters.

However ninja wannabes were one thing, guy in furry suit showing up on her doorstep saying "I am your father, Luke." Was another.

Jazz could practically smell the trauma wafting off her so called new family members (half of her believes it's fake, she's been tricked before.)

And is having her siblings not die too much to ask for?


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1 year ago

DC x DP fic idea: Love Among Fans

Damian Wayne would be the first to admit he had difficulty connecting to others his age. The only thing he knew well was the unforgiving bloodlust of battle and while that helped him fight as Robin it didn't mean it made a well liked Robin.

Civilians flinched away from him, and Police officers stood weary around him. He cares not for the crooks' opinion of him, but he knew it is low.

Worse, other teenage heroes didn't like him around. The Teen Titans had rejected his membership after the three months trial run. Young Justice made excuses after the first two. Even the Outlaws said he was too much to be around, and Todd ran that one.

Of course, his brothers did their best to let him down gently but they could not force the rest of their teams to accept him.

That's why Jon meant so much to him. His best friend had been displeased initially with Damian's behavior, but he had been willing to still get to know him.

Jon had the patience of a Saint. He discovered what worked for Damian and how to help him breach the gaps between them. Damian knew little of what he had missed as a kid, but Jon never made him feel less for it. He carefully explained, opening his world to wondrous new things and Damian tried them all because Jon asked him to.

There was very little he wouldn't do for Jon.

"Have you ever read fanfiction?'" Jon asked one afternoon in the Kryptonian's room.

"No." He grunts, knowing the other wouldn't take offense to the short reply.

Jon smiles, pushing the tablet he had been scrolling on. "You should! This is my current favorite. It's about the show Space Ninjas, you like."

Damian appreciated the show's art and animation, so he took the tablet and clicked on the first chapter. Jon pulled out his phone, and got comfortable on his bed as Damian read.

And read and read and read.

Three days later, he lay on his bed staring at the ceiling, unsure how to deal with real life until the author posted another chapter. He been texting Jon about the story and hosting over amazing character interpretation, theories on what the upcoming twist would be and just about how amazing this piece of art is.

Jon sent back multiple reaction gifs and links to the author's blog, where fans had posted art of the fic. Damian scrolled through them, amazed by how well every piece was, and his eyes caught the drawing Tabet Drake given him a year ago that he had ignored for his paints.

After a moment of thinking, he picked it up, hooked up his computer, and tried to draw the one scene that made the whole fic his newest obsession.

It took three days before he was satisfied with the results. He showed Jon who gushed over it for hours. He convinced him to open a blog to post it and when Damian couldn't bring himself to, Jon tagged the writer in it.

The writer sent him a heartfelt message equally moved by his drawings as Damian was by his writing.

It was the start of his second friendship.

Over time Damian drew more and more. His fanart blog grew in followers as his skills sharpened with practice. He made more pieces of other fanfiction he read, but he always fell back to making unique fan art for GlaxeyAstronaut.

He and GlaxeyAstronaut chatted for years. He didn't know his real name- he could find it easily enough with the Batcomputer but felt it would ruin things if he did- but he knew about him. His online friend was the same age as, Damian, who identified as male, had an older sister and two scientist parents, lived Minnesota and dreamed of being a astronaut.

Damian likewise told him things about himself, mindful never of revealing anything that could pinpoint him a Wayne. And that's how their relationship was for two years.

The writer and his artist.

At one point, Jon had pointed out that Damian messaged GlaxeyAstronaut daily and talked about him just as much. He pointed out how Damian's heart beat raised whenever he saw that silly icon on his notification. He pointed out how flustered he became when he read GlaxeyAstronaut's messages.

But Damian ignored him beacuse surely he was only excited to have two whole friends now.

When they turned fourteen, things changed. GlaxeyAstronaut stopped replying to his message for a week, nearly causing Damian to go find him as Robin until his friend returned to the chat room with a short "I had an accident in my parent's lab. Electric accident. It was bad. It is bad. I may not be able to get on here as much"

His friend became somewhat distant after that, replying three or four days after. Damian figured it was because he was recovering from his accident. Still he tried to be there for him and one day, almost a year after GlaxeyAstronaut's accident he received the message.

"I can't be an Astronaut. My heart will always be too slow to apply"

Damian stared at the words feeling ice cold. Being an Astronaut had always been his friend's dream since he was five, and he could point at the glowing dots to his parents on a camping trip. The fact a medical condition acquired from a lab accident ruined it just left Damain feeling cheated.

He had no idea what GlaxeyAstronaut must feel but he guess far worst.

He had sent a message asking GlaxeyAstronaut if he wanted to call him and talk about it without much thought . They had never done a voice call before, never wanting to breach that uncharted area of online and real life friendship.

But GlaxeyAstronaut agreed, and hesitantly, Damian sent him a link to a chat room with a call option.

The call connected, and the two spoke about the writer's condition how the electricity had run amok in his body, slowing his heart and killing him for a few seconds until his friends were able to bring him back using CPR.

When that became too heavy, they switched to their favorite shows, then brainstormed ideas for collaboration and everything else under the sun.

Damian felt like no time had passed when Father came to warn him to get ready to head out soon, and GlaxeyAstronaut told him he should get started on his homework anyway.

"My name is Danny, by the way," the voice from his speaker said softly. "You don't have to tell me your name. I just....thank you for listening. My best friends and sister hear me but they don't listen to what I saw about.....the accident. It means a lot to me."

"You are most welcome" He pauses for a few seconds before he tacks on "My name is Damian. It is a honor to meet you Danny"

He heard the other boy laugh before the call disconnected any Damian was left staring at his ceiling like he did three years ago.

Back then, Damian's life had changed upon discovering fanfiction and fandoms. Today his life changed upon the startling discovery that Jon had been trying to tell him since he was twelve.

He had a crush on Danny.

How would ge deal with this?

4 months ago

Penelope’s screaming at her husband,

“Only my husband knew that, so I guess that makes him you!”

She’s trying to get it into his head, that he’s held her close in her heart all these years. He’s gone through all of this to get to HER. Her husband is not lost, has not been made into a “monster”. 20 years have gone by, and yet he still remembers the blood sweat and tears that went into making their wedding bed.

‘You are not a monster. You are my husband. You know this incredibly niche thing that you haven’t forgotten in over 20 years, that I have kept secret, and I have been waiting for you this entire time’


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1 year ago

“But if you forget to reblog Madame Zeroni, you and your family will be cursed for always and eternity.”

image
1 month ago
I Can Never Understand How Snape Apologetics Can Stand Up For Him When He CANONICALLY Does This Shit.
I Can Never Understand How Snape Apologetics Can Stand Up For Him When He CANONICALLY Does This Shit.
I Can Never Understand How Snape Apologetics Can Stand Up For Him When He CANONICALLY Does This Shit.
I Can Never Understand How Snape Apologetics Can Stand Up For Him When He CANONICALLY Does This Shit.
I Can Never Understand How Snape Apologetics Can Stand Up For Him When He CANONICALLY Does This Shit.
I Can Never Understand How Snape Apologetics Can Stand Up For Him When He CANONICALLY Does This Shit.
I Can Never Understand How Snape Apologetics Can Stand Up For Him When He CANONICALLY Does This Shit.
I Can Never Understand How Snape Apologetics Can Stand Up For Him When He CANONICALLY Does This Shit.
I Can Never Understand How Snape Apologetics Can Stand Up For Him When He CANONICALLY Does This Shit.
I Can Never Understand How Snape Apologetics Can Stand Up For Him When He CANONICALLY Does This Shit.

I can never understand how Snape apologetics can stand up for him when he CANONICALLY does this shit.

I can maybe, maybe, understand those who haven’t read the books standing up for him, because honestly the movies don’t cover all the horrible stuff he does. But those who have read the books and still stick up for him baffle me.

I mean, you don’t see anyone sticking up for the Dursley’s or Umbridge, when they do the same stuff to Harry as Snape. How is Snape any different?


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7 months ago

Shazam AU, where Billy keeps his powers even when he’s not Shazam. The only reason he turns into Shazam is to keep a secret identity.  Imagine a villain “depowering” him, only to get curbed-stomped by a 10-year-old.

11 months ago

Love how tumblr has its own folk stories. Yeah the God of Arepo we’ve all heard the story and we all still cry about it. Yeah that one about the woman locked up for centuries finally getting free. That one about the witch who would marry anyone who could get her house key from her cat and it’s revealed she IS the cat after the narrator befriends the cat.

1 week ago

Marinette has great friends but they often encourage her stalker behavior and are too willing to be apart of or even come up with plans, like in Gigantitan and Backwarder. Though in Backwader they didn't go through with it, their first thought when hearing Adrien and Kagami going on a trip was to come up with plans to stop them. They obviously mean well and want to support her but take things a bit far. So, i wrote this in the context of them meaning well and wanting to support her but unknowingly took things too far

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Marinette Has Great Friends But They Often Encourage Her Stalker Behavior And Are Too Willing To Be Apart

Rachel and Adrien have been friends for a long time and sometimes modeled together. When she had called telling him that she would be going to his school he was excited. For the first week she stuck close by him since she didn't know anyone else. She got along great with the class and the girls were fun to hang out with

The second week she branched out a bit more and made friends with people outside of the class. She still stuck by Adrien because she was still a little shy but he was glad that she was making new friends. At the same time Marinette was not having a great time. When Rachel first came she didn't think anything of it until she saw how close her and Adrien were. The girls reassured her that it was fine and that she was a sweet person. Still, Marinette couldn't help but spiral, they modeled together and she was also famous. She thought of this leading to her getting Gabriel's approval and them getting married

Then a picture came out of Adrien and Rachel together at a cafe. Marinette immediately called the girls over to her house to show them. The girls saw that Marinette was miserable over the picture. They felt bad for telling her that she had nothing to worry about now seeing the picture, but at the time they really didn't think Rachel had a crush on Adrien. The girls wanted to comfort her and fix this so they came up with a plan. What the girls didn't know was that the picture attached to the article said nothing about them being a couple. In fact it was about the cafe they frequently visited stating that it was the new popular place to go

When school came the next day Rachel was surprised to find her classmates ignoring her. Even Rose and Juleka ignored her when she greeted them. The guys also ignored her when she tried to talk to them. Adrien was just as confused as she was. He tried talking to Nino but he never got a straight answer before he made an excuse to leave. Through out the entire week the class ignored her and stopped inviting her to things. Thankfully, she wasn't alone since she made friends outside of the class but it still hurt because she didn't know what she did wrong. Rachel had told Adrien that she was going to transfer classes. He was upset but he understood, he was distancing himself from the class and hung out with other friends. He no longer went out when they invited him, the one time he did he saw that Rachel wasn't there and they gave an excuse that she couldn't make it. He may be oblivious sometimes but he knew that they didn't invite her

It wasn't until one of the girls overheard Adrien teasing Rachel about her and her boyfriend that they realized they made a mistake. The girls met up talking about what they overheard. They were confused since the article pictured them together on a date, but looking up and reading the article they realized that it had nothing to do with them as a couple. Looking up Rachel, they see that she's been in a relationship for years with her actor boyfriend. After talking with the rest of the class they decided they needed to apologize. Meeting up with Adrien and Rachel they apologized and confessed they misunderstood and thought she and Adrien were dating. Adrien and Rachel were baffled, why did them thinking they were dating make them ignore her. Adrien was confused, they did this because they thought they were dating and now he can't help but think that the same thing will happen when he does get a girlfriend. Rachel didn't want anything to do with this anymore. She was hurt and confused but more importantly she just wanted to move on

In the end, Rachel had thanked them for apologizing but she wasn't comfortable being friends with them anymore. Word spread quickly around school about the reason why they were ignoring Rachel, and because Marinette's crush on Adrien was well known in school it wasn't hard to figure out why they did this. A lot of people looked at them weirdly, it was one thing to want to support your friend but instead of comforting Marinette and helping her move on, the first thing they came up with was to stop being friends with Rachel. Even if they were dating what were they hoping to accomplish by excluding her, for her and Adrien to suddenly to break up so they can all go back to being friends. The whole situation was confusing, they meant well and were trying to support their friend but went about it the wrong way


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4 months ago
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mae-mae-me

what up, I’m mae, I’m 19 and I never fucking learned how to read | SHE/HER | AO3 FANATIChttps://maeswriting.carrd.co

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