For All You Potter Fans Out There: Dumbledore Is Gay

Joanne Rowling's love for shocking twists and surprise revelations sure managed to take us all by surprise again. And there was me thinking that the Harry Potter surprises were over. I must confess, the only big surprise I still had in mind (after waiting patiently for almost 10 years to find out the series' outcome) was Rowling announcing she would be coming up with an eighth book. Well, wrong again - which goes to show (again) that underestimating the bright and witty British writer is a bad thing.

The creator of the boy-wizard who charmed the world has embarked on an Open Book Tour of the US - her first there in seven years. It was there that she made the surprising revelation, more precisely in front of New York's packed Carnegie Hall last Friday. Rowling's appearance included her doing a brief reading from the seventh book in her best-selling series, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows". She then answered questions from the audience and at one point was asked if Dumbledore, the brilliant but mysterious headmaster of the wizard school Hogwarts, ever found "true love".

"Dumbledore is gay" she said, adding that the Hogwarts headmaster and one of the main characters in the series was in fact in love with his friend, then bitter rival Gellert Grindelwald, whom he eventually beat and sent to prison. The audience first gasped, then broke into applause. "I would have told you earlier if I knew it would make you so happy", Rowling commented, and then went on to say that "falling in love can blind us to an extent" and also revealing that the young Dumbledore was "horribly, terribly let down" and his love for Grindelwald was his "great tragedy". "Oh, my god", Rowling concluded with a laugh "the fan fiction".

Yes, well, it's interesting to see that the creator of Harry Potter soldiers on with her message of tolerance and acceptance. Rowling is notorious for regarding her novels as a "prolonged argument for tolerance" - and she's not letting her fans down. I only hope this "gay Dumbledore" revelation will not eventually turn into a starting point for even more controversy, which might prevent fans form enjoying the books' message. It's going to be interesting to see how this turns out - so if you're a Potter fan stay tuned, I'm sure we haven't seen the end of Harry yet.