Dumbledore: The Life and Lies

“This carefully researched and brilliantly written walk through all seven novels […] is a must-read for any serious Harry Potter fan.”
— Steve Vander Ark (The Harry Potter Lexicon)

“An engaging, in-depth, comprehensive and unique examination of one of J.K. Rowling’s most enigmatic stars.”
— Leanna Renee Hieber (author of Darker Still & Strangely Beautiful)

“Dumbledore’s invisible hand was always at work, and Khaytman teases out the threads in that plan with superb analysis.”
— Cathy Leogrande (professor of “Harry
Potter Across the Curriculum”)

“The most fun you’ll ever have reading a book of critical essays.”
— Sarvenaz Tash (author of The Geek’s Guide to Unrequited Love)

“Will make you want to reread the series again and allow you to feel a sense of connection with the characters.”
— Dr. Janina Scarlet (author of Harry Potter Therapy:
An Unathorized Self-Help Book )

“Even readers on their own 14th rereads of the series will find new insights to ponder.”
— Kirkus Reviews

“If your understanding of love, death, and goodness have been influenced by these stories — if you’re part of the Harry Potter generation — then this book is for you.”
— Lorrie Kim (author of SNAPE: A Definitive Reading)

“Get ready to see Dumbledore in a whole new light.”
— Andrew Sims (MuggleCast & Hypable)

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, is one of the most recognizable and mysterious figures in the Harry Potter series. As an unscrupulous beetle-like journalist once said, he’s “a biographer’s dream.” Is he omniscient or limited? Is he benevolent or malevolent? What really drove him in the last years of an extraordinary life?

This book will dive between the lines of the Harry Potter books to create a portrait of the controversial Headmaster. Through analyzing the careful clues buried in the Harry Potter text, we deduce what Dumbledore knew, what he planned, and why he made the choices he did. We find Dumbledore’s hand in every seeming coincidence, and we consider the impossible decisions he had to make. This book casts events in the Harry Potter series in a new light, resolving unanswered fan questions that linger to this day.