[In August 1991, Daily Prophet features writer Jackie Grinlow sent a draft of an upcoming profile on H.J. Potter to A. Dumbledore with a request for notes. Dumbledore responded to the following letter, received by Grinlow on 9 August 1991. Grinlow’s profile was published 25.8.91 under the headline ‘The Boy Who Lived Turns 11: The Post-You-Know-Who Generation Prepares for Schooling’. Dumbledore’s notes were leaked by an anonymous source in 2021.]
8 August 1991
Dear Miss Grinlow,
Thank you for sending along the draft of your upcoming feature. I found it an absolute delight, a marvellous work of constructive historicism. The world may not know Mr. Potter yet, but by the end of your article they will believe that he has been a household face since birth.
I have several limited but quite consequential notes for your characterization of the boy, and of the events leading up to his impending matriculation. I list them here, not as criticisms of your fine work, but as necessary guidelines in these crucial weeks of history.
- You note, in par. 21, that the Dark Lord’s curse left ‘not a mark’ on the boy. It is imperative that you discuss the hideous scar that mars the child’s face. It is quite centred on his forehead, ending almost exactly between the eyes, and has the distinct shape of a lightning bolt. So significant is this fact that ‘detail’ hardly describes it – I suggest not only that you discuss it in par. 21, but that you move discussion of the boy’s appearance and its component scars to the forefront of your article. Every feature that I have just described is essential.
- Remove mention of the Potters’ relationship with Black.
- Similarly, limit the extensive discussion of the destruction of Godric’s Hollow house. There are days to discuss these dark details; the boy’s debut is not the time.
- The adjacency of your discussion of James Potter’s financial background beside his appointment to Head Boy suggests nepotism. Reconsider.
- The details about the boy’s close resemblance to his father are both accurate and delightful; might you add a reference to his physical similarity to his mother? Perhaps, ‘. . . but he has his mother’s eyes.’ (They are, I believe, green.)
- Note too his father’s intelligence and his mother’s considerable wit, while you’re at it.
- In consideration of their privacy, close any potential investigation into the boy’s adoptive family. ‘For the past ten years, the boy has grown up under the comfortable care of his mother’s sister, her husband of 12 years, and her son, a close peer and playmate’ will do. This upstanding foster family must not suffer an unwarranted investigation.
- Remove, on request from the DMAC, any reference to the Tilgate Nature Centre incident.
- In your allusion to active interest about his impending house placement, perhaps mention that both his parents were Gryffindors.
- Remove all allusions to Quidditch; I acknowledge that this goes contrary to previous suggestions from myself, and I apologize for the confusion.
- My final request perhaps makes the most work for you – for that, I apologize. I find your discussion of the Dark Lord’s demise quite strong (prior notes notwithstanding). I fear, however, that you rather overplay it. We needn’t present the boy as having soundly defeated the Dark Lord; this narrative we’ve heard plenty over the years, rather to our detriment. I suggest, instead, that you remind the reader – subtly of course – of the ever-impending threat. That is to say, present this threat in opposition to the boy. Present the boy as a hope, a talesman, an avatar for the future. I lack the narrative groove that your pen so delightfully scratches along. But I daresay you can find the words to present this matriculation, not as a carefree occurrence in a time of peace, but as an assurance to our community that, even if these happy times cannot last forever, the powers of the Ministry, of Hogwarts, of light, and of love, enduringly protect us.
Again, thank you for your thoughtful work. I hope you will make these corrections promptly and without difficulty.
Kindly,
A. Dumbledore
THE PENSIEVE PAPERS 