Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Chapter 18
Chapter 18: The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore
Still not a ton happening in this chapter, although we learn some important things. The thief isn’t Aberforth Dumbledore (oops), it’s Grindelwald, who was friends with Albus Dumbledore during their youth.
I’m inclined to agree with Hermione that Dumbledore’s affinity for Grindelwald’s aim is, at worse, a youthful indiscretion. In his later life, Dumbledore never showed any desire for power over wizards or Muggles.
Anyway, that’s chapter 18. Dumbledore wasn’t perfect, Grindelwald was the thief, and Harry’s an adolescent. Next?
No spoilers for later chapters in the comments!
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What do you think Grindelwald stole from…ummm…wand maker dude? Because Voldemort wouldn’t even have been born when it was stolen, yet he seems only to be looking for it now. Very curious.
I thought that Harry was ridiculously overreacting about Dumbledore’s letter to Grindewald. While such utopian philosophies when put into practice are a slippery-slope that can justify a police state and imprisonments/deaths for non-compliance to that vision, it seemed that Dumbledore was advocating that wizards have the power, and therefore a right or responsibility, to protect muggles more than he was suggesting that wizards have the right to round-up and slaughter the non-magical.