The beginning of Albus Dumbledore's teaching career

[oryx_leucoryx]

Some of this will be highly speculative, but I will try to justify speculation with canon as much as possible. There will also be plenty of open questions. The goal is to fill in the missing years, between the moment Albus parted ways with Gellert in the summer of 1899 and the moment we see him going to meet Tom Riddle at the orphanage in 1938.

The biggest question I have is about the influence Albus Dumbledore had on headmaster Armando Dippet. We see that in the 1940s Albus had significant influence on the headmaster - he convinced him to remove certain Dark Årts books from the library and to not hire recent alumnus Tom Riddle when veteran DADA prof Merrythought retired. What I find curious in the situation is that Armando listened to Albus' views regarding Dark Arts when Albus was the Transfiguration teacher, while the school had a professor who was a specialist in DADA - above mentioned Galatea Merrythought - who was senior enough to have taught Albus himself back in the day. It would be as if Albus as headmaster preferred the opinions of Severus on the Charms curriculum over those of Filius. How did that come to be?

We don't know what Albus did after his sister's death in August 1899, nor do we know when he started teaching, except it was well before 1938. I'm guessing Albus' time as alchemist under Nikolas Flamel's mentorship took place in the early part of those years. I doubt he had time to do alchemy seriously while teaching a required subject! We don't know anything about Potterverse alchemy except for the fact that Flamel created a working Philosophers' Stone, but if there too alchemy requires a high level of purity from the practitioner then perhaps Albus' reputation as alchemist contributed to him being perceived as an authority in opposing Dark magic? (I wonder if Albus ever confessed - knowingly or unknowingly, willingly or due to some influence - his planned adventures with Gellert to his mentor. Perhaps that was the reason he was called to solve the Dark Lord problem in Europe - because Flamel knew about their shared past and expected some emotional reaction from Gellert.)

But then, if his reputation was in alchemy - and Potions (uses of dragon blood?) - why was he hired as Transfiguration prof? Note that Molly says in HBP that Albus and Horace started teaching at the same time. This sounds like both the Transfiguration and the Potions posts were available. Why not hire the brilliant new teacher for the job that most suited his recent experience? As far as one can tell from canon Albus doesn't claim any public achievements in Transfiguration since those prizes he earned at school. Does this mean that whoever hired him (whether Phineas Nigellus Black or Armando Dippet) had known him in his student days?

So when were Albus and Horace hired? And by whom? Does Molly know of the beginnings of their respective careers because she heard from Muriel, who attended Hogwarts from 1902 to 1909? Or perhaps from her grandparents, who may have attended in the second decade of the 20th century? In that case they were hired by Headmaster Black and started teaching as Armando Dippet's peers. Alternatively they may have been originally hired by Dippet. And depending on what Dippet himself taught, maybe they were hired in 1925 when Dippet became headmaster, with one of them taking Armando's former job. Any indications as to what he might have taught?

But maybe this is the wrong question to ask. If Albus was working with Nikolas, why did he switch to teaching? I seriously doubt canon!Albus would prefer teaching to research, unless something came up that made the research situation unpleasant. Like a reminder that he really shouldn't be involved with this kind of thing that may lead to immortality (of sorts). In the form of news of Gellert's rise in Europe.

So this is my proposed scenario: September 1899, after Aberforth went to Hogwarts for his 5th year, Albus became an apprentice with Nikolas Flamel. They worked on assorted projects. Then news started coming from Europe about what Gellert was up to. At some point, whether because Flamel started hinting that Albus might be able to do something about Gellert or because Albus was becoming uncomfortable with the news and what it implied about his own past, he went to interview for the next teaching job that opened. We don't know when this was because it isn't clear how long it took from the moment Gellert stole the Elder Wand from Gregorovitch until his exploits became newsworthy. Though canon suggests enough time went by for Gellert's appearance to have changed beyond recognition as neither Gregorovitch nor Tom make the connection (is this a theme with Dark Lords?). But this could still have happened while Phineas Nigellus Black was headmaster (say in the early 1920s; 1923 if we want any kind of equivalence with Hitler's timeline). Albus arrived at the school with a reputation as an alchemist. This got him the admiration and following of some teachers, in particular those who were personally or politically uncomfortable with the Dark Arts. While Phineas was still headmaster there was little Albus could do besides networking (besides, he was the new guy around), but once Armando took Phineas' place (presumably in 1925) the time was ripe for Albus to collect the rewards in the form of influencing the new headmaster's policies. And perhaps it was a gradual process, because Merrythought stayed around for 20 more years, so I don't think she wasn't feeling abruptly sidelined.

Somewhere during these years Albus was offered the Ministry - twice, as Tom remembers. I'm guessing the third time was during Tom's absence, which is why he wasn't aware of it when he met Albus again. The Albus of King's Cross exaggerates this number - I think he was trying to impress Harry with how much he believed himself undeserving of power (protesting too much). Of course in the long term he had more influence putting down the Dark Arts at school than by running the Ministry for a decade or so. I tend to think the offer of the
political position came from those who ended up being Dumbledore's supporters in the Wizengamot for decades to come, people like Griselda Marchbanks and Tiberius Ogden. Their support must have been based on his various magical achievements, maybe also the recommendations of Albus' various correspondents. The fact that he had worked with Flamel must have been significant regardless of whether the latter was directly involved. And starting from 1940 these people also called him to take on Gellert. Of course, the two may have been connected - maybe the line was 'if you take care of the European Dark Lord we'll make you Minister'. Or perhaps 'look how we trust you - we want you as Minister! Just go and finish of Grindelwald (before he starts causing trouble here too)'.

Of course in 1945 Albus became the hero of the day and got his own chocolate frog card. From then on for 50 years he got everything he wanted, including controlling any powerful position he could use long term and the upbringing of 2-3 generations of British wizards.

Who else taught at Hogwarts during those years:

Phineas Nigellus Black: Born 1847. Died 1925. I'm guessing he was headmaster until his death. We don't know when he started teaching (but we do know he taught at some point, and loathed interacting with students), nor do we know what he taught nor when he was promoted to headship. Slytherin. We do not know if he was Head of House at some point either. He probably was headmaster when Albus was a student, or at least in Albus' later years as a student.

Galatea Merrythought: Taught DADA from 1895 to 1945. Which means she taught Albus from 4th year on. (Following Terri's proposal that in the past Hogwarts actually taught Dark Arts the transition, if there was one, happened during her tenure. Certainly Horace asks Tom if his interest in Horcruxes was for a project in Defense Against the Dark Arts.) If Phineas taught (DA)DA then maybe she was hired to replace him when he became headmaster.

Armando Dippet - Hogwarts headmaster, probably from 1925 until his death - either in December 1956 or a winter a few years later. It isn't clear what he did before that. Was he a teacher? For how long? What did he teach?

Herbert Beery - taught Herbology when Albus was a young(ish) teacher. Aspiring thespian.

Kettleburn - Care of Magical Creatures. Ended up retiring in 1993. Lost several limbs over his career. The description in 'Tales of Beedle the Bard' makes him appear to have no more common sense than Hagrid wrt the various creatures, but at least he took the risks himself.

Horace Slughorn - taught Potions. Started around the same time Albus did, but was younger (by how much?). Retired in 1981. At some point (before 1940s) became Head of Slytherin. Also founded The Slug Club - an in-House cross-generational networking system.

Someone I believe did not yet teach in those days is Binns. At least not in his ghost form. We know Harry studied from Bathilda Bagshot's textbook, which was published din 1947. This means that as late as 1947 there was a history teacher at Hogwarts who was aware enough of his surroundings to know a new book was published which would suit the curriculum better. Of course this implies that Tom Riddle had a live history teacher who was more involved in teaching than what we see in Harry's days. And puts most of the responsibility for ruining the teaching of history on Albus as headmaster.

Comments

[mary-j-59.livejournal.com]

My guess is that Albus was not hired to teach Potions because he was not a Slytherin. This watery, feminine subject is probably always taught by a Slytherin.

I know - we've speculated that Dumbledore actually was a Slytherin, and full of self-loathing. If that were true, though, Potions would be a far better fit for him than Transfiguration.

[oryx_leucoryx]

Mary, are you making this point from a Doylist or Watsonian perspective? That is are you saying 'Rowling has a strong association of Slytherins and Potions' or 'Dumbledore wouldn't want to be associated with something as feminine as Potions'? what about alchemy - is that manly enough for him?

[mary-j-59.livejournal.com]

I'm saying that Rowling has a strong association between Slytherins and Potions. We never see a Potions teacher, as far as I know, who was not also at one point head of Slytherin house.

Dumbledore, OTOH, though he has many Slytherin characteristics, is associated with fire, as well as with Transfiguration. We never actually see any alchemy in the books, which was one of my many disappointments, actually.

[danajsparks.livejournal.com]

One possible meaning that I've considered for Albus's title of "Grand Sorcerer" is that he achieved some level of mastery in every branch of Western magic. This would mean that he would have been qualified to teach any of the subjects at Hogwarts.

[oryx_leucoryx]

Except Divination! He never studied Divination.

[danajsparks.livejournal.com]

true, does that mean my theory for what grand sorcerer means doesn't work?

[lynn-waterfall.livejournal.com]

Two thoughts:

1) It seems to me that Dumbledore's suggestion that information on horcruxes be removed from the library has less to do with Dark Arts knowledge, and more to do with things like "children shouldn't be exposed to such things." If so, then you wouldn't need to be an expert in either the Dark Arts or Defense in order to be listened to, and the opinion of someone who *did* specialize in the Dark Arts might not be valued as highly as someone with "more perspective."

2) It's possible that Binns is actually using a different textbook/edition than the rest of the class. Would anyone know? I think that most of the history we hear about happened well before not only the 20th century, but probably the 19th, and if the page numbers didn't match up, I doubt Harry would have noticed or cared. Maybe Hermione would've, but I don't know that Harry would have noticed *that* enough for us to have heard about it.

[oryx_leucoryx]

If Binns is still using the older textbook, who made the decision to switch to a different one? At least in the case of DADA the book(s) are selected by the teacher.

As for the Horcrux books - Why would Albus be considered as having a better perspective about what is appropriate for children?

[lynn-waterfall.livejournal.com]

(shrug) If the old textbook went out of print, they wouldn't've had a choice about switching to a new one.

I don't know why he'd be considered to have a *better* perspective, but better than whom? There's no particular reason to expect controversy; I doubt that the books had been recent additions to the library. I don't think it *has* to have been a matter of having authority of any kind.

[malic-ba.livejournal.com]

The WW runs on personal connections. The driving force behind the adoption of Bagshot's textbook was undoubtedly linked to the author or publisher. (There would be plenty of galleons in textbooks.) The easiest answer is that the headmaster made the decision, having had the excellent new book drawn to his attention by a trusted advisor ...

I rather like the idea that Binns died after 1947, though, as it hints at the human side of the cipher.

Bagshot's was a new book, not just a new edition, wasn't it? In that case, there would be much more difference between it and the textbook a 19th century Binns might be using than just the page numbers. Some student would surely notice if the chapter numbers, or (if he doesn't lecture directly to the textbook) the material was totally different. Maybe that's a reason to think that the books are the same, making it more likely that Binns chose it himself and died later.

Re the horcrux books. I'm not convinced that it was about suitability for children. They were also removed from the restricted section, weren't they, which is the reference area for staff and students with special approval only? Do we know what else is or isn't in there?

I wonder what faction Albus was in early in his career. Surely in the twenties he would be linked to more powerful figures from all that correspondance, and only became the kingpin sometime after 1945.

Was Dippet chosen as headmaster because he was easy to influence, or is that a fanon idea?

[terri-testing.livejournal.com]

Dumbledore's academic research, per his frog card, was in alchemy and blood-based magic, neither of which is taught at Hogwarts. Alchemy, in my view, is one of the Dark Arts, and straddles the Hogwarts-taught disciplines of Potions and Transfigurations. (Its techniques are closer to potions-making but not identical--we never see a still in Severus's classroom--while the Philosopher's Stone is the ultimate transfigurative agent.) So a partner of Nicholas Flamel seeking a position teaching might perhaps be equally qualified for the posts of Transfigurations, Potions, and (DA)DA.

And might, therefore, simply have slotted into which one happened to be vacant. Or, if his reputation was high enough, which he preferred, if there were two openings.

In our time, the four heads of house do teach appropriate classes, do they not? I think it's worth considering whether Mary's idea has merit and instructors for the core disciplines are chosen by (apparent/proclaimed) house affiliation.

We know that house affiliation must be considered to some extent, since it seems that the heads of house are normally alumni of that house. Presumably a thoughtful Board of Governors would want at least two staff member from each house at all times. As in, who was Acting Head of Gryffindor while Minerva was at St. Mungo's?

[lynn-waterfall.livejournal.com]

It might not be about house affiliation. They might want heads of house to teach a core subject simply so that they taught all of the students in their house for years 1-5, so they'd know them better. Not that Dumbledore would necessarily care about this point, but with faculty leaving only occasionally, it would be unlikely to change even over the course of decades.

I don't know if it's worth taking the founders' skills into account, but according to the Harry Potter Lexicon, Godric's primary mentioned skill was dueling (more DADA than Transfiguration, sounds like), and Helga was particularly famous for her dexterity at food-related Charms (possibly related to Herbology, but more immediately involving Charms).

There are also two or three other core subjects other than the four currently taught by heads of houses: DADA, history, and astronomy. Astronomy might not be a good choice, because that teacher only sees students once a week (at most), but History would work, and so would DADA if it weren't cursed.

[oryx_leucoryx]

Godric also created the Sorting Hat, so he must have been good with Legilimency, and probably the Dark Arts.

Salazar was the Magical Creatures fan. It isn't clear what kind of magic he used for the locket (or what it did before becoming a Horcrux).

Rowena designed the castle, including all those crazy magical passages and dungeons. So that would be both Charms and Transfiguration.

[terri-testing.livejournal.com]

Regarding Albus's influence on Armando--remember what Jodel said, that Dumbledore's influence was waning by the opening of canon, and that "his greatest fans had always been the people who had been dazzled by him when he was the shining new star."

Armando's the right generation to fit into that pattern. If he'd taught Albus himself (and we never saw a head whom we know never to have previously been a teacher), he might have devoped a habit of exaggerated respect for young Albus, so much brighter than anyone he'd ever taught (up until that orphan came along).....

And I suspect Albus really was as clever as he thought he was, as long as the real world wasn't involved. His intelligence is fine, it's his judgment one must question. So someone who knew him first in an academic context would develop more respect for him. Griselda Marchbanks is still going on about his NEWTs a century later, after all.

[terri-testing.livejournal.com]

Here's another thing to consider. The examiners for the OWLs & NEWTs are "a small group of ancient-looking witches and wizards."

However, one of them at least (Marchbanks) had examined Albus in Transfiguration and Charms when he did NEWTs; she's still raving about his performance.

Therefore, in 1899 at least one of the examiners was quite a young witch. So it's not the case that the examiners have always been elders. Presumably Marchbanks was chosen for the honor in the 1890's because she was up-to-the-minute in her knowledge of recent advances in magical technology.

It's wildly unlikely that that's still the case. (And Tofty seems to Harry to be even older than her.)

These ancient examiners are probably setting the same tests in 1995 as they did in 1977 as they did in 1899.

And we know some of the questions: Give the incantation and describe the wand movement required to make objects fly. Learned in the second month of school. Give five signs that identify the werewolf. Covered in 3rd year DADA. Give the definition of a Switching Spell (Harry muffed this one)- which Minerva publicly ridiculed Neville for not performing properly near the beginning of fourth year.

And the practicals for charms included levitating an object, making it do cartwheels, and changing an object's color--which Harry totally messed up, enlarging it instead, while Ron accidentally turned a plate into a mushroom in his practical. Yet despite these mistakes, Harry and Ron both passed, Harry at least with an Exceeds Expectations. Considering that Professor Flitwick's practical exam for FIRST YEAR was making a pineapple tap-dance, the examiners' expectations aren't at all high, are they?

Well, there are two options here.

Maybe it's the case that being an examiner has always been a lfietime tenured position, and by sheer chance there happened to be a mass die-off early in Phinea's regime (perhaps he poisoned them all to get competent new blood in?), and no one's happened to die since to be replaced by someone younger.

Or, they would normally have retired and been replaced, but they're staying on as a favor to their much-admired Dumbledore. And any who HAVE died or retired in the last fifty years have been replaced by their contemporaries, not by younger witches and wizards who might have new-fangled ideas. And not invariably worship Albus as the most talented wizard they ever saw.

In which case Wizarding education in Britain may have utterly stagnated in all fields, not just history and Dark Arts, and the fact that the examiners are all elderly dodderers has obscured that fact. People assume that if the correct number of O's and P's are being awarded, that means that the (passing) students have been learning what they ought. But are they?

Maybe there's a reason besides sentiment that Tom Riddle, after travelling far and wide and learning what other wizarding cultures had to teach, returned to take over Wizarding Britain. Just when Albus moved from influencing the Hogwarts headmaster, to assuming that position of power himself.

[condwiramurs.livejournal.com]

Oooh, now this is getting fun! Are you suggesting that Tom saw an easy target, or that he wanted to shake up the regime back at home? Or both?

[corycides.livejournal.com]

I could see that line of argument getting Tom some followers anyhow. How much innovation was there in British wizarding society over the last few decades? How many new spells and potions? It wouldn't be hard for Tom to blame that on Dumbledore and his muggle-loving ways? He was dumbing down the curriculum for muggle-borns - who would otherwise be at a disadvantage against them and their future children. Play to their frustration from school - the doors that were closed - and their prejudices.

Of course, my very far from canon fic idea, is that Dumbledore - with the best intentions in the world - set Tom up to become the next Dark Lord. Only Tom turned out to be difficult to keep leashed.

(it's way off-canon, but in a nice dark AU it isn't hard to remap the plot points to get there.)

[terri-testing.livejournal.com]

An easy target, set to get easier over time.

[oryx_leucoryx]

If Dippet had lived a bit longer Tom might have gotten his wish to teach at Hogwarts. I can see him sneaking in some Dark Arts, whether via the DADA class or in a special club - while looking for ways to lay hands on Gryffindor's sword. But Dippet died, Albus was headmaster so Tom threw a tantrum and cursed the DADA teaching post. Which on the one hand gave him a way to sneak supporters in as teachers and on the other allowed the continuation of the decline of Hogwarts as the country was drained of people with knowledge and wish to teach the subject. We see the evidence: Severus and James cursed each other non-verbally as 5th years, but in Harry's days even Hermione had yet to hear about non-verbal casting by the end of 5th year.

[terri-testing.livejournal.com]

Yet Tom re-applies precisely when Albus becomes headmaster. Interesting timing, wouldn't you say?

I mean, Armando was old in Tom's fifth year; he knew the guy wasn't going to last forever. All he needed was to come back six months before he did and he could have applied to Dippet. If he wanted the post that badly, why did he wait for Albus?

[terri-testing.livejournal.com]

True regarding non-verbals, but that incident also shows Hermione's reluctance to trust experience over books. She's seen older wizards cast non-verbally, but since she's never read about it, it doesn't occur to her that silencing Dolohov might not incapacitate him.... (Go read the Wife of Bath, Hermione!)

[oryx_leucoryx]

What about Potions? We know that Eileen Prince's book dated from the mid-1940s. swythyv once proposed that Horace changed the book he used to teach the NEWT classes (and maybe the ones he used with younger ones too) following the Horcruxes conversation with Tom, thinking something in the books may have inspired him. Thus the books Horace had used originally (swythyv thought Moste Potente Potions was among them) were replaced by more anemic ones in hope of preventing a future student from taking a similar path.

[terri-testing.livejournal.com]

Interesting thought, but we'd have to get hold of a copy of MPP to verify it!

For it to work, there would have to be something in a Potions book that might stimulate a student's interest in immortality....

Oh, dear. What if MPP (or whatever was being used as the NEWT text) had a section--the only chapter in any of the Hogwarts set texts--on the related-to-Potions discipline of ALCHEMY?

That's what got Tom thinking about immortality, and then he started looking into the Hallows, and finally he got onto the concept of Horcruxes.....

You know, that does work.

[terri-testing.livejournal.com]

Here's another thing to consider: why did Nicolas & Perenelle trust Albus, apparently implicitly? They literally placed their lives in his hands.

I mean, they've probably shut themselves away from most of Wizarding society since the Ministry refused to spare their friend (and last-before-Albus partner) Isaac from Obliviation, so maybe it's partly lack of practice at dealing with people.

And the impression made by Albus's early promise, of course--at 17, according to Skeeter, he did win a "Gold Medal for Ground-breaking Contribution to the International Alchemical Conference in Cairo."

And yet for all his brilliance at alchemical theory the boy was utterly unable to create a Philosopher's Stone.

My distant memories of the theory (a college friend wrote on it) include the fact that as well as purification there's a lot of jargon about a mystical marriage. The gold king/the sun uniting with the silver woman/the moon. Spirit and body.

What if Albus turned to teaching when he discovered his impurities (or rather, his inability to purify himself now) made him incapable of the ultimate achievement in his chosen field?

Taking the line that "to a wizard such as myself, there can be nothing more important than passing on ancient skills, helping hone young minds" would be a graceful way to exit his apprenticeship without having to admit to being an actual failure, wouldn't it?

And--if Nicolas and Perenelle thought they were privy to what his weakness WAS--I don't think anyone born about the time of Dante's death would have any problem believing a sodomite too impure to make a Stone. At the same time, I should think two six-hundred-year-old lovers have seen enough to be tolerant about a mere carnal weakness. Especially if acting on it was firmly in the past.

If Albus told them about his one romance, and how tragically he had been mistaken in his inamorato, and how he'd vowed himself to celibacy ever since....

And left off the bits about sharing Gellert's political agenda, and grossly neglecting his young brother and dependent sister, and refusing to face the responsibility he bore for the sister's death....

I mean, if someone sobbingly confesses a dirty secret and a shameful weakness to his mentor and master, M&M doesn't usually stop to wonder if the penitent is covering up for worse actions. Or inactions.

[oryx_leucoryx]

Interesting ideas. Very much so.

So do you think Flamel was among those who expected Albus to please do something about the European Dark Lord?