Was it really a secret? Hard core Harry Potter, you should know. I mean, really, how many of you were that surprised when J.K. Rowling revealed last night that one of her main characters, Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, is gay.
According to news reports, it shocked the heck out of thousands of fans who gathered to engage in a Q& A session with Rowling at Carnegie Hall Friday night.
After reading portions from her final book, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” the mega-selling author fielded questions from devoted Potter fans.
One young fan asked Rowling whether Dumbledore finds “true love” and that’s when it happened.
“Dumbledore is gay,” the 42-yer-old author replied, prompting gasps and applause.
Rowling went on to say that Dumbledore was infatuated with rival Gellert Grindelwald, who was later offed in a battle between the good and bad wizards.
“Falling in love can blind us to an extent,” Rowling said of Dumbledore’s feelings, adding that Dumbledore was “horribly, terribly let down” and that his love was a “great tragedy.”
So the rumors were true after all–Dumbledore, master wizard and Headmaster of Hogwarts–is in fact gay. Did you buy into the speculation? I know a number Internet websites run by devout Harry Potter fans raised the question of Deumbledore’s sexuality in the past, noting that he had no meaningful relationships with women and a “mysterious, troubled past.”
If you were thrown by Rowling’s revelation, you certainly weren’t alone. The author told fans at Carnegie Hall while working on the sixth Potter film, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” she spotted a reference in the script to a girl who was of interest to Dumbledore. Rowling says she immediately contacted the movie’s director and told him the truth about Dumbledore’s sexuality.
After setting last night’s audience straight about one of her most popular characters, Rowling added that the Potter series should be regarded as a “prolonged argument for tolerance” and urged her fans to “question authority.”
So how many of you had a feeling that Dumbledore was gay?
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