20 Things Fans Ignore About Harry & Dumbledore's Relationship

Even though it's been over a decade since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows hit bookshelves worldwide and brought J.K. Rowling's beloved series about the Boy Who Lived to an end, us fans have understandably refused to move on. We still jump on any chance to learn more about the Wizarding World, whether these updates come from a Fantastic Beasts film, new entries published, or even mere Twitter posts by Rowling herself.

While readers and viewers alike appreciate every new addition to Rowling's ever-expending world of witches and wizards and magical beasts, nothing can ever quite stack up to the original Harry Potter books and films. We'll always long for a learning experience like the one Harry received at Hogwarts, for friends like Ron and Hermione, and for a mentor like Albus Dumbledore.

Harry's bond with Dumbledore was far stronger than the one typically shared between a student and his headmaster, and many fans envied their close relationship. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite as healthy a connection as some people make it out to be. Here are 20 Things Fans Ignore About Harry & Dumbledore's Relationship.

20 DUMBLEDORE KNOWINGLY LEFT HARRY WITH A BAD FAMILY

When Lily and James Potter lost their lives trying to protect Harry from Voldemort, their baby was left without parents. Albus Dumbledore knew all about Lily's wicked, envious sister Petunia and was seemingly aware that Vernon Dursley was an equally cruel man, but he left Harry in their care anyway.

Lily's blood sacrifice did ensure that Harry would be protected so long as he remained under his sister's roof, but Albus was also considered to be one of the world's most powerful wizards. Surely he could have protected Harry, while also providing him with a happier, healthier childhood.

19 ALBUS FAVORED HARRY AND HIS FRIENDS

As Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Albus Dumbledore was supposed to be a fair, unbiased leader. The school followed a House Points system which rewarded good behavior and punished wrongdoing, but Albus totally abused that system and favored Harry and his friends.

Slytherin earned the House Cup in Harry's first year at Hogwarts, but at the last second, Dumbledore decided to award Gryffindor some fairly random points to ensure their victory.

18 DUMBLEDORE HIRED TERRIBLE PEOPLE TO TEACH HARRY

Several of Dumbledore's bizarre hiring decisions either put Harry's life in danger or deprived him of a proper education. Gilderoy Lockhart was an obvious fraud, Hagrid had no teaching experience, Sybill Trelawney barely had a grip on her sanity and Dumbledore failed to recognize that for an entire year, a Death Eater had taken the place of his Defense Against the Dark Arts hire.

It's no wonder why Harry relied so heavily on Hermione's independently-gathered knowledge.

17 ALBUS DIDN'T DO ANYTHING TO STOP HARRY AND SNAPE'S RIVALRY

For years, Harry had a rivalry with Severus Snape. Harry was suspicious of the Potions professor's true allegiance, and Snape blamed Harry for Lily's death. Dumbledore knew both sides of this feud, but did nothing to help Harry and Snape get over their issues with each other.

If Snape didn't give Harry some of his memories in his final moments, Harry never would have known about Snape and Lily's connection or Snape's years of trying to honor Lily by protecting Harry behind the scenes. Dumbledore's secrecy kept Harry from appreciating Severus until he was already gone.

16 DUMBLEDORE LIED TO HARRY ABOUT HIS HEART'S DESIRE

Dumbledore typically chose to withhold the truth from Harry over outright lying to his favorite student, but when Harry asked Albus what he saw in the Mirror of Erised, Dumbledore gave him a completely dishonest answer.

He claimed that he saw himself holding a pair of socks, when in reality he likely saw himself with former flame Gellert Grindelwald. There really wasn't any reason for Dumbledore to hide this side of himself from Harry.

15 DUMBLEDORE GAVE HERMIONE, NOT HARRY, A TIME-TURNER

Dumbledore seemed to trust Harry above all of Hogwarts' other students, but when it came time to give someone one of the most powerful magical objects in existence, Albus actually handed it over to Hermione Granger.

Dumbledore let Hermione use a Time Turner to take multiple classes at once, instead of giving it to Harry so he could use time travel to stop Voldemort or save innocent lives. Fans will understandably never quite understand this decision.

14 THE HISTORIC GOBLET OF FIRE INCIDENT

The Dumbledore of the Harry Potter books and the Dumbledore of the films aren't always identical. Take for instance one of the most controversial scenes in Goblet of Fire, when Albus asks Harry if he put his own name into the goblet to be entered into the dangerous Triwizard Tournament.

In the novel, Albus asked this of Harry in a calm, patient manner that fit the headmaster's typical personality. In the film, however, Albus sounded furious and demanded an immediate answer, putting his hand aggressively on Harry's shoulder.

13 ALBUS DIDN'T KEEP HARRY SAFE DURING THE TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT

When Harry made it clear that he didn't enter himself into the Triwizard Tournament, Dumbledore knew that something was wrong and that Harry's life might be in danger. For some reason, though, he didn't go on to do everything in his power to ensure Harry would make it out of the dangerous event alive.

Harry still found himself facing off against a dragon, mermaids and a frightening enchanted maze, and could have perished at any point. At the event's conclusion, he ended up in a graveyard with Voldemort and his followers, and Dumbledore did nothing to help.

12 ALBUS SPENT MONTHS REFUSING TO LOOK AT OR SPEAK TO HARRY

When Voldemort returned, Harry yearned for Dumbledore's support and wisdom more than ever before. But since Albus worried that the Dark Lord would use his connection with Harry to enter the teenager's mind, he spent the first several months after Voldemort's resurgence completely ignoring Harry.

Dumbledore wouldn't talk directly to Harry or even look him in the eye, and since he didn't bother explaining why he was acting so strangely, Harry was incredibly hurt and assumed that he'd done something wrong.

11 ALBUS MADE HARRY TAKE PRIVATE LESSONS WITH HIS LEAST FAVORITE PROFESSOR

In order to keep Voldemort from entering Harry's mind, Dumbledore arranged for his prized pupil to learn the mind-shielding art of Occlumency. Instead of teaching Harry himself or arranging for Harry to take lessons with someone the teenager trusted, however, Albus selected Snape as Harry's tutor.

Harry and Snape hated each other, so their exceptionally-important lessons went poorly. If Harry actually learned Occlumency properly, he might have been able to shield himself from the mental manipulations which led to Sirius' death.

10 DUMBLEDORE SHOULD HAVE TOLD HARRY ABOUT HIS IMPENDING DOOM

When Dumbledore's yearning to see his dead sister convinced him to put on an enchanted ring which contained the Resurrection Stone, he was immediately subjected to a fatal curse. Snape did everything he could to contain the curse and buy his friend some time, but nothing he could do could delay the curse's effects for long.

Albus knew his days were numbered, so he did nothing to stop Voldemort's plan to bring about his elimination. Instead of just telling Harry the truth, though, he let Harry believe that Snape unjustly ended his life.

9 ALBUS USED HARRY TO MANIPULATE SLUGHORN

Dumbledore and Harry didn't really spend all that much time together. On the few occasions that they did actually socialize, it was often for a particular purpose and not just because Albus enjoyed Harry's company.

Dumbledore needed Horace Slughorn to return to Hogwarts so he could procure his knowledge about Voldemort's Horcruxes, so he used Harry to manipulate the old Potions professor. He brought Harry to Slughorn's home during his hiring pitch, and used Slughorn's love for "collecting" influential people in his Slug Club and his old fondness for Lily Potter to convince Horace to teach again.

8 ALBUS ASKED A TEENAGER TO EMBARK ON AN INCREDIBLY DANGEROUS MISSION

Harry and Dumbledore barely survived obtaining a fake Horcrux from an enchanted cave in Half-Blood Prince, but that didn't stop Albus from telling Harry that he had to continue the search for the rest of Voldemort's Horcruxes... without help from experienced adults.

Harry was only allowed to entrust Ron and Hermione with this mission. Surely someone like Kingsley Shacklebolt or Arthur Weasley could have been filled in on the Horcrux hunt and would have made for valuable allies in such a seemingly impossible and wildly dangerous task.

7 DUMBLEDORE DIDN'T TELL HARRY HE WAS A HORCRUX

Dumbledore figured out that when Voldemort cast a Killing Curse on baby Harry, he accidentally turned Harry into his final Horcrux. Instead of telling Harry this, Albus did everything he could to manipulate Harry into sacrificing his own life when the time came so the Dark Lord could finally be destroyed.

Even Snape pointed out that this was like leading a lamb to slaughter, but Dumbledore didn't seem to care. He believed that lying to Harry was the only way to get him to do the right thing when the moment for Harry to die arrived.

6 HARRY DIDN'T REALLY KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT HIS FATHER FIGURE'S HISTORY

Many fans view Dumbledore as a father figure to Harry, but their relationship was incredibly one-sided as Albus never actually let Harry know anything about himself. He told Harry the bare minimum necessary to lead the teenager down his desired path, so Harry didn't learn important details about Dumbledore and his complicated history until the headmaster was dead.

Rita Skeeter's biography about Dumbledore's life was filled with embellishments, but it also contained quite a bit of truth and was Harry's only real way of obtaining knowledge about his idol's past.

5 ALBUS COULD HAVE JUST ADOPTED HARRY

When Albus initially left baby Harry in the Dursley's care, he might have thought that parenthood would change Vernon and Petunia's personalities. It didn't, of course, and they were absolutely horrible to Harry throughout his entire childhood.

Dumbledore could have, at any point, taken Harry away from his abusive aunt and uncle and simply adopted him. He could have protected Harry himself, and taught him powerful magic that'd ensure Harry would be better suited to take care of himself as well.

4 DUMBLEDORE WAS RARELY THERE FOR HARRY WHEN HE WAS NEEDED

Some fans try to defend Dumbledore by saying that he always did what he could to keep Harry safe. Sure, he sent Fawkes and Dobby to Harry in moments of danger, but the only time he actually showed up in person to assist the teenager was the Ministry of Magic showdown against Voldemort in Order of the Phoenix.

When Harry found himself facing Professor Quirrell, Barty Crouch Jr., a basilisk, a dragon and a cemetery full of Death Eaters, his headmaster was nowhere to be found.

3 ALBUS FAILED TO TEACH HARRY ANY POWERFUL SPELLS

Albus was one of the most powerful wizards in the entire world, and his magical skill made him the only wizard that Voldemort feared. He knew countless powerful spells that couldn't be found in a book, but he somehow failed to teach Harry a single one of them.

Throughout the entire series, "Expelliarmus" seemed to be the only spell Harry knew how to cast. Disarming is definitely useful, but it's nothing compared to the magic Dumbledore could have taught him if he'd only taken the time.

2 DUMBLEDORE HAD SEVERAL OTHER TOOLS HE COULD'VE GIVEN HARRY, BUT DIDN'T

The magical world is filled with useful spells, potions and items, and Dumbledore knew every trick in the book.

If he and Harry truly had a good relationship, he would have taken the time to whip Harry up some Liquid Luck to swing the odds in his pupil's favor or equip Harry with other powerful potions or tricks, but he instructed Harry to put himself in harm's way without assisting him in any significant manner.

1 ALBUS DIDN'T BREAK THE ELDER WAND TO ENSURE VOLDEMORT COULDN'T USE IT AGAINST HARRY

For decades, Dumbledore used the all-powerful Elder Wand to solidify his place as one of the world's most formidable wizards. He knew that his death was looming and that Voldemort would want the Elder Wand if he ever figured out its true nature, but instead of destroying the wand to ensure it'd never fall into the wrong hands, he used it until his final moments.

Pure luck ensured that Harry would be the wand's true owner and that it couldn't be used by Voldemort to eliminate him. Albus should've just broken it.

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