[M]ost of the questions we still have (are) about the one character who Rowling has never properly explained, the one she has only revealed in second hand writings by his friends and enemies, and in a series of intentionally cryptic conversations.
With that headline, you’d probably be thinking that this is about Snape. But you’d be wrong. Snape was only mysterious while we were reading the books. Now that we’re finished, we have Snape pretty much figured out. Rowling did one of her classic “here’s all the answers, you’re welcome” chapters with him at the end of Deathly Hallows, just like she did with Kreacher and others.
But wait, you say, I still have questions about Snape.
Do you? Because I’m guessing that most of the questions we still have aren’t really about Snape, they’re about the one character who Rowling has never properly explained, the one she has only revealed in second hand writings by his friends and enemies, and in a series of intentionally cryptic conversations.
I’m talking about Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore.
Oh, we know a lot about Dumbledore, sure. There are several whole chapters devoted to him. Even Snape’s chapter, “The Prince’s Tale,” is just as much about Dumbledore as it is about the Potions Master. But so much of what we read in those chapters is either incomplete, contradictory, or just plain baffling. We’re left wanting to know more, and feeling like maybe all the clues are out there if we could only track them all down and pin them together. But that sounds way too complicated for anyone to actually accomplish.
Except someone has. That would be Irvin Khaytman, known in fandom as hpboy13. Irvin writes for some of the premier Potter sites on the web (including the Lexicon). He is a dogged researcher and brilliant analyst. He make connections and teases out details that most of us miss. And Irvin has spent the last year or more collecting all that research and analysis into what is without a doubt a must-read book for any Potter fan whose interest goes deeper than what Emma, Rupert, and Dan are doing these days.
I can’t recommend this book enough. Irvin has done a masterful job of connecting the dots and has presented us with the ultimate gift (after a Cloak of Invisibity, of course). It’s entitled The Life and Lies of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. You just have to click the link below and order your copy immediately. I mean it. Click now. (Yes, you’ll be helping out the Lexicon by using this link.)
