A Story of Mortality

Chapter 8

Albus Dumbledore – Uncovered
by Linda Corner

We all know the man. Even the most uninformed of us will have had him as a Professor of Transfiguration or Headmaster of Hogwarts. Those of us who are fans of Chocolate Frog cards will know a couple more details about his defeat of Grindelwald and his achievements in alchemy. Those of us involved in politics will be aware of his active role in the Wizengamot, working with many of his colleagues to assume a Light agenda in Britain – successfully so, despite the many setbacks presented by Dark Lord Potter and his pressure group. With such a man there seems to be a great many things to know – for example, did you know that Albus Dumbledore is the first recorded wizard to have had an academic text published while he was still attending Hogwarts? – and yet no matter how much one learns about him, one never learns about him. Because who is Dumbledore, anyway, and why is he such an important part of our lives? Most significantly, however, is the question of should he be so important? Recently sources have been leaked to the Daily Prophet about the man's past that I don't think you'll be expecting... Though, let's be honest, we all knew that nobody could be as perfect as Dumbledore seems to be.

The first reports that we received were centred around Dumbledore's powers as headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As headmaster, it is Dumbledore's duty to create a balanced curriculum (which is approved by the Board of Governors), and to protect his students. Obviously he has other responsibilities, but this is the role of the headmaster in its simplest form. We have reason to believe that Dumbledore is failing in both of these aspects.

When we first received information on Dumbledore's questionable behaviour (the real scandal, readers, which will be revealed to you in due time), we wanted to do some digging. The first place we went to was the Hogwarts Board of Governors, knowing that they would work closely with the man. Many of them seemed just as enamoured with the man as the rest of the country is, but a few were willing to anonymously reveal to us that they frequently have to turn away curriculums due to them being too biased towards the Light. As disappointed as I was to learn this, I was not surprised. With Dumbledore's activities in the Wizengamot, it is not hard to believe that he wants to bring politics into his headmaster role, indoctrinating his beliefs into the malleable minds of our children.

This already having weighed on the conscience of these poor souls, fearful of speaking out against the admired man, they had something else to tell us, of the most alarming nature. According to these anonymous Governors, it is said that while it is fortunately uncommon, there will occasionally be a student who confides in the staff about living in an abusive home. As you can imagine, these children see Hogwarts as a safe haven from their lives of abuse, but towards the summer dread returning home.

It might seem natural to us that the best course of action would be to relocate these children to a safer home – find kind hearted wizarding families to take them in, or allow them to stay at Hogwarts over the summer (as there is almost always members of staff still present, preparing for the coming year). Not to one Albus Dumbledore; a man with the staunchest belief in love, reportedly cannot comprehend how one's own family could be abusive, and so disregards these children as over exaggerating or lying, repeatedly sending them back to their abusive families each summer.

Terrible news indeed, readers, and I am sure that you are already disturbed to the extreme from my reports. I wish as much as you do that they were untrue, but I am equally unwilling to silence the troubled voices that these reports have come from. But prepare yourselves – there is worse to come. We may at this point be questioning Dumbledore's ability to empathise, despite him seeming such a grandfatherly character. Well, readers, from an anonymous source we have uncovered information on an illicit love affair with none other than Gellert Grindelwald in his youth.