It's High Time to Jump Off the Dumbledore Hate Bandwagon

The main reason is that the headmaster knew Harry's fate all along and made sure the boy sacrificed himself at the right moment.

Was he a cold-hearted strategist or just a man faced with an impossible choice? People seem to be on the fence about it.

More than a decade after the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part, some fans seem willing to forgive the poor old man, saying that he was indeed "playing this chess match against Voldemort (and Grindelwald before him)", so it makes sense that he had to resort to manipulating people.

When you have to beat the master of manipulation, what choice do you really have but to outmanipulate them?

Fans agree on the fact that it is okay to love Dumbledore as a character while criticizing his actions and acknowledging his faults.

People state that the only major thing that he had messed up was completely ignoring Harry without any explanation during Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which ultimately led to Sirius's death.

There is also a general consensus that young adult, teenage and/or children's novels need to be taken in with the understanding that the children in them will act more responsibly than the adults themselves.

That is just how these books work. Otherwise, most of these novels would just be boring. That makes sense! Who would read Harry Potter and the time Dumbeldore defeated Voldemort once and for all back in the '70s?

Many fans come to the headmaster's defense, believing that in the end he still left the final choice to Harry. It is just that Harry is a selfless hero who would rather sacrifice himself (repeatedly) than let anyone else get hurt.

The question is – is Dumbledore really to blame here? Or to thank?

What would you do in his place? Probably, not tell an 11-year-old kid that he has to die in a few years. Well, unless you have Voldemort sticking out of the back of your head…