The elements I mentioned so far were present from book one; but I guess I got my confirmation in book 5. There is something about Dumbledore's discussion and confession to Harry at the end of OotP that made me think, "yep, I knew it." It's Dumbledore's attitude towards and feelings for Harry. Don't get me wrong: I don't think Dumbledore is in love with Harry. What I do think is that in this passage, and subsequent interactions between the two of them in HBP and DH, show that Dumbledore's relationship with Harry is - well, let's say that he doesn't behave like a general towards a soldier (because he cares too much about Harry for that); but neither does he behave like a father or a grandfather (because he does not care the way a parent or surrogate parent would; I think the difference with Sirius is striking), who would refuse to sacrifice their (grand)son, like Lucius and Narcissa will do everything to keep their son alive. Harry is dear to Dumbledore as a young, plucky, and reasonably good-looking stranger. He's Dumbledore's type. And it is clear to me that Dumbledore doesn't understand how Snape (whom I perceive as a little effeminate, but very straight, as opposed to Dumbledore, whom I don't think effeminate at all) can look at beautiful, spirited Harry and not like him.
I am not at all sure that when JKR created Dumbledore, she thought, "Well, he's gay and I'm going to write him like that"; I think it quite probable that she wrote him with all his quirks and his strange affection for Harry and no family life and then thought, "Hey look, he's actually quite gay." Dumbledore's feelings for Harry seem to be to a large extent JKR's own, and she is a straight woman who said in the same interview that she married Harry - her husband is like him. Dumbledore's attraction to Harry is JKR's attraction to Harry; therefore Dumbledore is homosexual. The point is, for me, that homosexual Dumbledore is on the whole plausible. The characteristics she has given him didn't need to point at homosexuality, but Dumbledore's homosexuality is not hard to believe in view of how he has been pictured.
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winterfish
(part 2)
Date: Sunday, 21 October 2007 01:24 pm (UTC)I am not at all sure that when JKR created Dumbledore, she thought, "Well, he's gay and I'm going to write him like that"; I think it quite probable that she wrote him with all his quirks and his strange affection for Harry and no family life and then thought, "Hey look, he's actually quite gay." Dumbledore's feelings for Harry seem to be to a large extent JKR's own, and she is a straight woman who said in the same interview that she married Harry - her husband is like him. Dumbledore's attraction to Harry is JKR's attraction to Harry; therefore Dumbledore is homosexual. The point is, for me, that homosexual Dumbledore is on the whole plausible. The characteristics she has given him didn't need to point at homosexuality, but Dumbledore's homosexuality is not hard to believe in view of how he has been pictured.