There have been many crazy moments in Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore’s life. Arguably the greatest wizard to ever step foot in Hogwarts, Dumbledore is loved and loathed across the world. It’s been a wild ride; from ambitious teen to the wise headmaster, Dumbledore has seen it all and done it all. Whether it’s discovering what dragon’s blood can be used for or simply tutoring students on a Friday afternoon, he has had a finger in many magical pies. But it has not always been successes and triumphs for our favorite Hogwarts headmaster. He has seen the darkness that lies within wizards’ hearts and has more than a few skeletons in his closet. This makes sense, as it is only through experience and failure that wisdom can be achieved.

Dumbledore’s magical prowess and seemingly infinite wisdom raised him onto a pedestal for both wizardkind and us to admire and praise. His love of lemon sherbets, chamber music and odd sense of humor endeared him to us, but his revelations of what he has lived through that humanized him. Many of the entries below were supplied by J.K. Rowling herself after the series was over through tweets, meets and greets. She revealed these sometimes funny, sometimes tragic nuggets over the decades that she has presided over the Harry Potter fandom, to much delight and suspicion. There have been fan theories, fan arts, and fanfictions written about him, but what do we really know about him? Let’s take a peek into the bonkers life and times of Albus Dumbledore.

30 He May Have Hurt His Sister

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Back in 1899 (wizards are old, no big deal), Albus met Gellert Grindelwald. They were young, ambitious and frustrated. Dumbledore’s sister Ariana had been attacked by muggle kids and his father was in Azkaban for retaliating. Grindelwald had been sent home to Godric’s Hollow for practicing the dark arts at Durmstrang. The two were immediately drawn together, planning on leaving Godric’s Hollow and stretch their wings. Aberforth confronted Dumbledore about his plans to leave. A vicious three-way duel occurred between them and Ariana tried to stop it. Someone’s Cruciatus Curse ended her life. Till the end, Dumbledore blamed himself for her passing on.

29 He Wanted To Rule Over Muggles For The Greater Good

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As mentioned above, Grindelwald and Dumbledore were drawn together like moths to a flame. They were enigmatic and intelligent, they bonded over their mutual hatred of muggles. Dumbledore was angry with the muggles who attacked his sister and was hungry for power. Grindelwald could provide that power with his ambition and knowledge of the dark arts. They wrote letters to each other discussing their plans to rule over muggles ‘for their own good’. This is why he feels an affinity for Voldemort - he understands him.

28 Dumbledore Has Possessed All Of The Deathly Hallows At Some Point

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He was obsessed with the Tale Of Three Brothers as a child and knew that there must be some truth to the tale. He hunted for the Deathly Hallows in his youth; little did he know what was to come. In 1945, he battled Grindelwald and won, earning himself the Elder Wand. Then he acquired the Invisibility Cloak from James Potter and held onto it until it was time to pass it on to Harry. Then he found Marvolo Gaunt’s ring in the ruins of the Gaunt house. He said he wanted to complete the collection of artifacts and he definitely achieved that.

27 Turned Down The Minister For Magic Title Multiple Times

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Because of his contributions to the magical community, Dumbledore is considered to be one of the best wizards ever. He has won awards, conquered evil and even bowled, so he quickly gained the notice of the Ministry of Magic.

The man knew his limits.

He has been approached by the Ministry of Magic with an offer of being Minister multiple times over the course of his life but turned it all down due to his past beliefs and his weakness for power. That’s humility right there.

26 Dumbledore Used To Be The Transfiguration Professor

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Now I personally cannot imagine anyone being the Transfiguration professor except McGonagall, but Dumbledore has also held the position. In the 1930s Dumbledore began his career teaching Transfiguration at Hogwarts. Considering his O.W.L. results and magical achievements, this seems a natural step for him to take. He remained in this post until 1966, when he was asked to become Headmaster. I imagine many students were intimidated by him, but how awesome would it be to have him as your teacher?

25 He Wrote For ‘Transfiguration Today’

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Being the wise and talented wizard he was, Dumbledore was a fountain of knowledge, especially when it came to Transfiguration. Therefore it should not come as a surprise that he gave writing a column a try.

You can picture him at his desk, quill dancing on the page as he spoke.

He wrote for ‘Transfiguration Today for a number of years, spreading his wisdom and knowledge across the wizarding world. I wonder what kinds of things he discussed in his column?

24 Dumbledore Wrote To Famous Magical Beings On The Reg

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Back in his youth, when Dumbledore lived in Godric’s Hollow with his family, he could be found doing his favorite things; reading, counting his prizes, and writing to ‘the most notable magical names of the day.’ That’s so him - writing to famous folks as a way of escape from his small corner of the world. Is that how he got to work with Nicholas Flamel? I need to get some networking tips from this guy - it’s a shame he’s passed on.

23 He Was Very Fashion Forward

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We all remember Dumbledore’s outfits from the movies. They look fancy but also comfy, which is exactly what you want from an outfit. Our man Dumbledore, despite being older than any muggle, knew how to dress.

Did the fab four take notes from him?

When he went to visit Tom Riddle in the orphanage he wore a plum suit - that’s some 2018 fashion right there. Can we bring this back in style? Would love to see more plum suits around town.

22 He Battled His Best Friend And Lover To Save The World

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Remember how I mentioned he fought Grindelwald for the Elder Wand back in 1945? Well, the battle occurred at the height of Grindelwald’s power when he was trying to actually go through with the whole ruling over muggles plan. Dumbledore realized that he was the only one powerful enough to stop Grindelwald, so he went into battle with his best friend and the man he loved to protect everyone. Dumbledore finally realized what he had to do for the greater good. It is tragic and beautiful at the same time.

21 Dumbledore Discovered The Twelve Uses For Dragon’s Blood

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Dragon’s blood; the elixir that has bothered wizardkind for generations. It was magical and powerful, but wizards had no idea how to utilize its power.

Now that’s what I call handy!

Enter Dumbledore: he put his knowledge and powers to the test and discovered how we could use dragon’s blood in everyday life. Now, Rowling has not given us all twelve uses, but it has been revealed that dragon’s blood can be used as a spot remover and as an oven cleaner.

20 He Studied Alchemy With Nicholas Flamel

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In case you don’t know, Nicholas Flamel is the man who discovered the philosopher’s stone and the secret to immortality - there’s no messing around with this guy. While he may have perished in real life, in the world of Harry Potter he’s still kicking.

Edward Elric eat your heart out (or just give up a body part).

Dumbledore even studied alchemy with him, which is a pretty awesome claim to fame. Who else can say they personally know the world’s most famous alchemist?

19 He Helped Out With Hogwarts’ One (And Only) School Play

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Ever wonder why Hogwarts never had a drama department? So back in the 1930s, Hogwarts staff and students put on a pantomime of ‘Fountain of Fair Fortune.’ Things did not go as planned, however, as there was a duel between two students and an Ashwinder laid a bunch of flaming eggs that set the set ablaze. The director of the play was caught in the crossfire and had to be taken to the infirmary. Dumbledore had helped with the set, so I’m sure he was sad to see his hard work go up in smoke.

18 Dumbledore Was His Sister’s Guardian - And He Hated It

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The Dumbledore family experienced a lot of tragedy when Albus was young. First his sister Ariana was attacked by muggles, his father was put in prison for retaliating. Afterward, his sister was traumatized and she had a hard time controlling her magic when she was emotional. Their mother worked hard to keep her calm and happy but she in an accident during one of Ariana’s magical tantrums. This left Albus, the oldest, as her legal guardian. Being a young brilliant wizard, he was painted by Aberforth as an arrogant youth who thought the task was beneath him. We’ll never know if this was true, but I imagine it can’t have been easy.

17 He Knew What Voldemort Was Up To With Horcruxes

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So Voldemort was a bad guy - we all know this. And thanks to previous articles like this one, we know that he started his Horcrux collection early on. Dumbledore was the man who saw him at his worst in the orphanage and still invited him to Hogwarts, where Riddle began to gain a following. But did Dumbledore catch on to Riddle’s plan early? In The Philosopher’s Stone, Dumbledore said this: ‘You flatter me,’ said Dumbledore calmly. ‘Voldemort had powers I will never have.’ Interesting…

16 He Loved Going Out Ten-Pin Bowling

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Dumbledore was a busy man. He was always giving sage advice, writing letters and going on secret missions. But even headmasters have hobbies that they enjoy. It turns out that Dumbledore enjoyed chamber music and going ten-pin bowling.

Imagine going on a bowling date with young Dumbledore.

It’s hard to imagine him going out with his pals in the early 20th Century to go bowling - maybe pick up some sherbet lemons and a milkshake on the way. Sounds like a great time, to be honest.

15 Founded The Order Of The Phoenix To Fight Voldemort

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Dumbledore, seeing that the Ministry of Magic was failing to successfully defeat Voldemort, founded the Order of the Phoenix in the 1970s. The Order had members such as Lily, James, the Pettigrews and Sirius, amongst many others. When Voldemort rose to power again in the 90s, the Order was revived to continue the fight against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and many familiar faces joined the Order during this time. There aren’t any quips to be made here - the Order is too cool for that.

14 He Gave Trelawny The Job To Protect Her

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When Dumbledore was in the early years of the headmaster, he actually considered removing Divination from the Hogwarts curriculum altogether. He was not fond of it and thought it would not be popular going forward. However, when Dumbledore meets Trelawny for her interview in the Hog’s Head, she accurately tells of a prophecy - the one about Harry and Neville. When Dumbledore heard this, he knew he must give her the position to protect her from the death eaters that would surely try to end her.

13 Dumbledore Received An Order Of Merlin For Defeating Grindelwald

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An Order of Merlin is a medal awarded to witches and wizards who have achieved amazing things. There are three classes: first, for outstanding bravery, second for extraordinary endeavors, and third for those who have contributed to knowledge or entertainment.

That is pretty amazing - well done Dumbledore!

Dumbledore was awarded a first class Order of Merlin for winning his battle with Grindelwald. This was better deserved that the one Cornelius Fudge awarded himself, despite his awful run as Minister for Magic.

12 He Met With Snape After Snape Betrayed Him

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We all know that Snape was a double spy for Voldemort and Dumbledore. Before he was a spy for Dumbledore, Snape followed him to his interview with Trelawny. There, he overheard the prophecy and rushed to tell Voldemort, who figured out that it concerned a baby born in late July, which only applied to Neville and Harry (of course). Voldemort went after Harry because they were both similar, which put Lily and James in danger. When they met on a hill, Snape begged Dumbledore to save Lily and forgive him for putting the Potters in danger.

11 Dumbledore Received An Award For His Magical Abilities

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As we have mentioned earlier, Dumbledore was considered one of the best students Hogwarts has ever seen. When he sat his N.E.W.T.s in Transfiguration and Charms, his examiner revealed that she has never seen anyone perform magic as he did.

Does this list of awards and achievements ever end?

Dumbledore went on to win a Barnabus Finkley Prize for Exceptional Spellcasting. I mean, the man defeated Grindelwald and does alchemy, pretty sure he deserved to win.