Harry Potter is one of the biggest franchises in any medium, whether it is book, movie, or even games. The series comprises a colorful cast of characters, including Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley and of course – Albus Dumbledore. Dumbledore has been portrayed as a hero by the franchise, but some believe Dumbledore has still done some questionable things over the course of the long-running storyline.

Harry Potter remains iconic not just for its amazing worldbuilding and ability to make fans feel they are in Hogwarts, but also the fact that the franchise makes one thing critically about various decisions taken by its characters, whether good or bad.

Daniel Radcliffe in the first Harry Potter movie

Albus Dumbledore Has Done Notably Shady Things In Harry Potter

Albus Dumbledore was the Headmaster of Hogwarts and was portrayed as someone who always did things for the betterment of everyone. However, he has also done some notably shady things over the course of the franchise.

Dumbledore kept Harry Potter as a pig for slaughter, which was revealed in Deathly Hallows as Harry himself was a Horcrux, so part of Voldemort’s soul was in Harry, so Harry needed to be destroyed. Dumbledore never told Harry Potter any of this.

Michael Gambon as Dumbledore

Dumbledore asked Harry to know about the Horcruxes from Professor Slughorn, but he never told Harry Potter how to destroy them. In Order of The Phoenix, Dumbledore kept on avoiding Harry Potter by giving the excuse that he was trying to protect him. But, he ended up throwing Harry into grave danger as he essentially threw Harry Potter into Voldemort and Bellatrix.

Several Harry Potter Fans Were Bothered By Dumbledore’s Decisions In The Series

As pointed out earlier, Albus Dumbledore was no saint in any way. After all, Dumbledore might have done a lot of things for the greater good, but he has always managed to make Harry Potter fall into peril in the series.

Dumbledore in Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part II

A recent post on Instagram pointed out a few instances where Dumbledore didn’t do right by Harry Potter, as he didn’t give him proper information and left him to fend for himself. The main question was whether Dumbledore was actually evil. Many fans flocked to the comments section of the post, with some defending Dumbledore, while others agreed that he was evil.

”Dumbledore wasn’t a villain…he was simple was playing chess with the pieces he had. If you want to defeat your opponent, you sometimes have to sacrifice a piece at the right moment. He set Harry up to have the best chance of survival, but knew in the end he had to make the right move to win the game. Like Ron he saw the correct line of play. Was he honest? no. Did he conceal information? of course…but he was playing to win a game over the fate of the Wizarding world.

I never particularly liked Dumbledore (neither the book and much less Gambon’s movie version). What I never understood was how did he not realize what was going on with Quirrell? I mean Snape clearly did, so the oh-so-wise Dumbledore should have as well (or did I miss some hints that he actually knew what was going on)?

Release Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore… I need this gossip book…

To all the peuple saying he wasn’t a vilain, he was.

Not exactly a villain but he sure as hell was no hero. Grooming kids for suicide missions is not okay in my book.”

Harry Potter will forever have diehard fans who love the series to death, but that doesn’t mean they won’t question character motives and the overall direction some specific characters took, especially when they are as important as Dumbledore.