Hey guys,

Some of you might be aware, and some not so aware but I'm in the midst of writing an Abhorsen/HP crossover. It's in the WBA and my sig, but I'm posting because I need help with writing Dumbledore. I'm really bad at getting his calm demeanor and incredibly wise persona correct. I just need a bit of help structuring my next scene. If you are interested, please PM me and I'll let you know what's happening.

Also if you're interested, it might be easier to read at least the latest scenes I posted so you have some reference.

Thanks for any assistance any one can offer.

 

MattSilver had some great thoughts about Dumbledore in this post.

In general, if you're trying to reproduce the feel of canon Dumbledore, some things to keep in mind about how he's used, on-screen:

- He's polite. Dumbledore can be quite cutting at times, but he'll never insult you outright. He even couches his debates with Death Eaters / Voldemort in semi-polite terms.

- He's always one step ahead. Dumbledore, in canon, is never caught flat-footed. Even moments of stress where time is a factor - like when Moody is outed as Crouch - he's never baffled or confused (or, if he is, his poker face is excellent.)

- He's verbose. In general, he likes whimsical phrases and 50-cent words. (This is best kept in moderation when trying to emulate him.) He likes broad, sweeping statements that set up a concept, and then pithy one-liners to knock them down.

- He's not direct. (Except when he is, and it's correspondingly epic for its scarcity) For the most part, he likes working through proxies. Most of the time, his approach to Harry seems to be less "explaining" and more "letting Harry get the insight on his own." At times, like when they're talking about Voldemort, Dumbledore will switch to straight exposition, but in general he seems to favor the approach where, instead of teaching something directly, he sets up the conditions where a student is in a good position to learn something on their own.

Just a few rough thoughts. And that's not all there is to Dumbledore's character, of course, these are more like surface-level, how he appears to an outside observer (or a reader.)

 

Cheddar, thanks for the suggestion, I actually have been in PMs with Alb since last year but he's busy with RL from what I can tell. I didn't want to bother him too much when I have a wider community to get info from.

Thanks Newcomb, I'll have to look into that.

 

I'll add on my own observations to what Newcomb has mentioned about the illustrious Dumbledore.

- He's intelligent. It's clear to anyone with a discerning eye that he is an intellectual and more importantly a wizardly intellectual first and foremost. He lives and breathes magic in both it's concrete and theoretical aspects. Whether it be obscure tomes on lost and ancient magic long forgotten or the simplest of magical applications, it all has a place within his mind. This leads to the understanding that he appreciates magic in all it's capacities and fully comprehends the what they're able to accomplish, whether or not it be for destruction, creation, preservation, etc.

- He's creative. There's really no other way to say this other than he tinkers. Like Voldemort and all great wizards and men in general, he tests the boundaries of magic as best he can, twisting it in various different manners to see the results. In this instance he can be likened to that of a scientist of sorts. It can be inferred that he's created a wide plethora of spells and more than likely reinvented quite a few others. And due to his age and ever increasing knowledge and understanding of magic, it can be assumed that he's got quite a good imagination. As Eilyfe said in Magicks of the Arcane (another author who you should speak to concerning Dumbledore) which I really do agree with, a wizards skill with magic is determined by knowledge, creativity, and power.

- He's cultured. He takes great pleasure in understanding the world and it's people, having an interest in how various different cultures work together and relate to each other. Due to his history of travel and his status in the wizarding world, it can be gathered that whether it be German, Romanian, American, French, etc Dumbledore has a rather good handle on the culture. That's not to mention his understanding and respect shown towards the various magical communities. The fact that he speaks Mermish and Gobbledegook, which very few wizards would take the time to learn due to the rampant discrimination towards those magical races, and his implied relationship with the herd of Centaurs in the Forbidden Forest is a great example of this.

This was all I could come up with off the top of my head and it's pretty rough, but hopefully this helps.