sarashouldbestudying:

I am firmly convinced that every time Dumbledore comes across as too cold and/or manipulating it’s because he’s actively trying to suppress his own emotions. 

Of course, Dumbledore has some dark shit in himself: he spent a whole summer planning to take over the world with his boyfriend, and his own bother says of him: “Secrets and lies, that’s how we grew up, and Albus… he was a natural”, but there’s a lot more to this than Dumbledore being a genius who can manipulate people very easily. 

Dumbledore canonically fucks up every time he lets feelings of any nature - love, affection, guilt - guide his actions. He’s in love with Grindelwald, so he ignores his siblings and ultimately leads to his sister’s death. He’s still in love with Grindelwald years later, so he avoids confrontation with him, leaving him to wreak havoc across the wizarding world. He knows he should tell Harry about the prophecy, but he waits because he can’t bear to burden little Harry with that knowledge. He’s so overwhelmed by his guilt and his desire to apologize to his family, that he tries to use the Resurrection Stone even though he knows the ring is cursed. 

Albus knows his heart is a dumbass, so he tries to rely on reason alone, analyzing situations as coldly as possible, because he knows he’ll lose sight of the bigger picture if he doesn’t. 

greatergrindelgood:

Aberforth and Gellert

It’s strange that Aberforth and Gellert were basically the same age (would’ve been in the same school year. Both 16 in 1899). It helps explain Aberforth’s suspicion of him. I mean, if you’d just finished Year 11 (for non-Brits think OoTP) and your brother had just finished Year 13 (non-Brits: DH), you’d find it a bit weird if he started dating someone your age. And the same-age thing could add to Aberforth’s envy. It’s even possible that Aberforth was a few months older than Gellert, which would make the whole dynamic seem even weirder.

lyrics-and-music:

Lucky Bastard // All Get Out