Do we like Albus Dumbledore?
A character from Harry Potter (book series) (1997–2007)
Our score: 8 out of 10. Mostly yes. He's wise, kind and brave, and he's the reason the good side has a chance. But he keeps too many secrets and leaves a child to carry too much.
Dumbledore is the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He's famous as a great wizard with a half-moon-spectacles twinkle, a long beard and a fondness for Muggle sweets. The story opens with him bringing the orphaned infant Harry Potter to his aunt and uncle's door. He then watches over Harry from a distance as Harry grows up and arrives at Hogwarts. He becomes Harry's mentor and something close to a father figure.
His strengths are obvious: deep wisdom, real courage, humour and a gift for seeing the good in people. He is also the founder of the Order of the Phoenix, the group set up to oppose Voldemort. His flaws are just as plain. He plays a long game and often chooses not to tell Harry what's going on, so Harry has to find things out the hard way. He trusts his own judgment a lot, and sometimes that trust is misplaced. That keeps him from a perfect score, but he is still someone you'd gladly follow.
Later books show that Dumbledore carries guilt from his youth. As a young man he was drawn to the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald, and a tragedy in his family followed. That history explains why he distrusts his own hunger for power. It also explains why he is so careful, and so secretive, about Harry's fate. His death in the sixth book leaves Harry to finish the fight, but his plans and lessons carry on after he's gone.