So now that you know....

[palsgraf_polka]

What do you think about it?

J.K. Rowling outs Hogwarts character

By HILLEL ITALIE, AP National Writer

"Harry Potter fans, the rumors are true: Albus Dumbledore, master wizard and Headmaster of Hogwarts, is gay. J.K. Rowling, author of the mega-selling fantasy series that ended last summer, outed the beloved character Friday night while appearing before a full house at Carnegie Hall.

After reading briefly from the final book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," she took questions from audience members.

She was asked by one young fan whether Dumbledore finds "true love."

"Dumbledore is gay," the author responded to gasps and applause.

She then explained that Dumbledore was smitten with rival Gellert Grindelwald, whom he defeated long ago in a battle between good and bad wizards. "Falling in love can blind us to an extent," Rowling said of Dumbledore's feelings, adding that Dumbledore was "horribly, terribly let down."

Dumbledore's love, she observed, was his "great tragedy."

"Oh, my god," Rowling concluded with a laugh, "the fan fiction."

Potter readers on fan sites and elsewhere on the Internet have speculated on the sexuality of Dumbledore, noting that he has no close relationship with women and a mysterious, troubled past. And explicit scenes with Dumbledore already have appeared in fan fiction.

Rowling told the audience that while working on the planned sixth Potter film, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," she spotted a reference in the script to a girl who once was of interest to Dumbledore. A note was duly passed to director David Yates, revealing the truth about her character.

Rowling, finishing a brief "Open Book Tour" of the United States, her first tour here since 2000, also said that she regarded her Potter books as a "prolonged argument for tolerance" and urged her fans to "question authority."

Not everyone likes her work, Rowling said, likely referring to Christian groups that have alleged the books promote witchcraft. Her news about Dumbledore, she said, will give them one more reason."

I'm still not sure what I think.

Comments

[rattleback.livejournal.com]

I'd assumed he was having it off with Prof. McGonagall, myself. Go figure.

[palsgraf-polka.livejournal.com]

I just thought of something....this totally explains the scene between Dumbledore and Slughorn in the beginning of Half Blood Prince. Their little banter was so intimate and friendly, like you talk to someone who was your ex-boyfriend 50 years ago. I also wondered at the time (and now on my recent re-listen of the audiobook of HBP) how Dumbledore managed to convince Slughorn to give him the intimate (albeit heavily edited) memory of him and Riddle about the Horcruxes. Wow.

All in all, I like her being brave like this. Dumbledore being gay makes sense - although Sirius being gay makes much more sense. Sirius was so in love with James. But then again, so were Lupin and Pettigrew. Just as Ron & Hermione were in love with Harry. In that childhood innocent kind of way.

I do not like, however, what the xtian right is going to do with this admission. It's going to get ugly and a whole generation of children might not get to read Harry Potter if their parents feel it's "wrong".

I'm torn.

[cyberbertha.livejournal.com]

Don't really care either way. As much as I enjoy the books, he is a fictional character--what does it matter to me, really?

[iron-chef-gein.livejournal.com]

Puts a whole new light on the dream sequence in the final book when Dumbledore shows up naked.