Albus Dumbledore

"No spell can reawaken the dead, Harry. I trust you know that. Dark and difficult times lie ahead. Soon we must all face the choice between what is right and what is easy."

I'm afraid we live in a world that has constant evil. It's true that we've never had to battle a dark wizard bent on destroying non-magical people, but we as a race, have faced many a foe who hated others because they were different, "impure," or thought of as one to be envied. The world is full of evil intentions. It's always been hard for me to claim that any one person is "evil." It seems so finite, too concrete for me to give anyone this label, but I do believe their are evil intentions. Fear and the inability to understand others, or even oneself, causes such violence and despair among people. I believe life is about learning and learning to love all. But sometimes people just can't see beyond themselves or really see the big picture, and they get lost. I don't hate these people, I pity them. Dumbledore once told Harry, "Do not pity the dead Harry. Pity the living, and, above all, those who live without love.”

 I believe that even as evil as Voldemort's intentions were, that Dumbledore (or J.K. Rowling if you want to be more realistic about it) wanted us to pity this man of dark ways. He was an orphan, a tormented, unloved boy who could never grow up because he did not know who he was. With no one to show him what was good within himself, only what was "wrong" (being weak, alone, and a half-blood) he could not love himself, nor others. His life was built on the only thing he know for certain had good results- power. Now there is nothing inherently wrong with power, it is the desire for power above all else that is evil. Tom Riddle's every waking moment was obsessed with the idea of keeping himself on top of the food chain. What a miserable existence, constantly worrying about whether or not you're the most powerful in the world and all the while wondering how you could be so strong and yet still be so unhappy. Hence, the madness. Obsession of any kind is never healthy, but to obsess over power most be the most lonely for there is no one to trust for everyone you bring up with you in strength then becomes a competitor.

Everyone has problems or maybe minor obsessions that drag us down. Sometimes, we end up feeling as alone and crazy as Voldemort, but what sets us apart is our choices.

"It is not our abilities that show us what we truly are, it is our choices." We are no more immune to the mistakes and sadness that is our imperfect human nature than Voldemort was, but we do not have to decide to take the same path. Harry Potter worried constantly about his similarities to the darkest man ever to walk the face of the earth. He was an orphan and from the time he was a baby was tormented and unloved by what was left of his family. He could talk to snakes, a Biblical evil (yet realistically misunderstood) creature. He was ambitious and had a "thirst to prove himself" and was even offered a place in Slytherin House. But he turned it down. He felt alone in the world, but choose to turn down Malfoy's friendship in his first year at school and instead surrounded himself by kind, brave, and loving people. He wanted to prove his bravery, but instead of keeping the world's most powerful wand, he got rid of it. It was his choices that set him apart. For those of us that may have a little more trouble then Harry in finding good fortune to help us along the way, Dumbledore tells his students this, "Happiness can be found in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light." He means to say, do not wallow in the darkness, as is easiest to do. Surround yourself with good people to support you. Search for love in the world and you will find it. It may not always be where you wanted it to be or where you expected it to be, but it is there. "Help will always be given at Hogwarts, to those who ask for it." There is always help, in some form. Sometimes it comes from within ourselves, a strength we didn't know we had. To me, I believe this hidden power is our very essence, our soul, and the part of our creator that insists on staying with us, even if no one else does. 

"Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it."
Dumbledore pets Fawkes, who would later rescue Harry from the Basilisk. 

Of course, we cannot fight the evil forever, unlike our good Earth, we cannot simply recycle ourselves very spring and be born anew. Our bodies grow old and tired of standing up to the graceful yet cruel world we inhabit. And even more so, our minds grow old of what the Earth has to teach us. Still, we hang on as long as we can because this home is all we've ever known. What if there is nothing else afterward? What if we are not reborn, go to heaven, find peace in our final resting place? "It’s the unknown we fear when we look upon death and darkness, nothing more," Dumbledore says reassuringly. All that is truly holding us back from our next chapter, is the fear of what is to come. Simply because you cannot see it, doesn't mean their is not something there to catch you when you fall- like walking up a staircase in the dark. The next step is there, its just so hard to trust it. When Harry has his brief experience with death, Dumbledore tells him that he was two choices, he can simply stay at King's Cross Station, or he can board the train. "And where will it take me?" Harry asks, most likely expecting either "Heaven" or some location on Earth, but instead Dumbledore simply smiles and says "On."

It will take us onward. It doesn't matter where, and in fact, you couldn't choose not to go even if you didn't want to. But it will take you on. “After all to the well organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.” An adventure! Sometimes fear of the unknown can be exciting. If you knew what was around every turn...wouldn't your existence get a little boring? When it is time, we move on to the next big thing.

More me, I believe that "heaven" is simply whatever is next. It means at least a brief moment of rest after our life-long marathon and hopefully, it means being surrounded by the love and peace we sought throughout our lives. And then something new to continue onto. 

I believe that there is something beyond because someone like Rowling could create a character that puts us at ease. Here's a man that doesn't even exist, except within Rowling's mind, and he feels so real, so wise, so loving. I trust him even though he barely exists. As Harry turns to continue his own journey, he calls to Dumbledore, "Professor, is this all in my head?" Dumbledore looks back at him and says, "Of course it's all in your head, but why should that mean that it's not real?" He may be a made up character, but he exists in Rowling's mind. He exists in mine, and in the minds of millions of eager little boys, girls, and their parents who grew to love him. Love is always real. It may be in our minds, but it's also in our souls. I believe in him, just as I believe in love, goodness, and the journey beyond. 

He lives within us. 

 "This kind of mark cannot be seen. It lives in your very skin. 

 Love, Harry. Love."