The Worst Instructions Dumbledore Gave To The Gang In Harry Potter

It's been 10 years since the final installment of the Harry Potter movies wrapped up the wizarding saga of our time, and it seems just like yesterday that the central trio was walking the halls of Hogwarts. It really seems like no time has passed at all since Albus Dumbledore (Richard Harris and Michael Gambon) was preaching his age-old advice, for better or for worse. 

Dumbledore is a man of many mysteries, and he can be quite wise at times, but just like any mortal man, his actions and decisions are sometimes off. Dumbledore, like the good Merlin archetype he is, still has feet of clay. His love for Gellert Grindelwald arguably sets the whole decades-long morality play in motion, and some of his choices as they relate to one Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) are equally — if not more — suspect.

Be that as it may, there are still questions fans have about one particular decision that almost caused Harry to meet an untimely end. Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione (Emma Watson), and Ron (Rupert Grint) are the best of friends, and they provide a support net for each other throughout the series. So why in the world would Dumbledore want to drive a wedge between them? What did he think would happen?

This is without a doubt Dumbledore's worst call in Harry Potter history.

After Harry has a terrifying run-in with the Dementors, he's saved by Nymphadora Tonks (Natalia Tena) and the rest of the wizarding good guys from the Order of the Phoenix. He is taken to Number 12 Grimmauld Place, a place where wizards meet up to strategize and resist Voldemort and his nefarious band of wizard racists. When Harry is welcomed by Hermione and Ron, Hermione immediately tells him that they weren't in contact with him all summer because they were told to avoid him — by Albus Dumbledore, no less.

Later on, Dumbledore finally sits down with Harry (after also avoiding him, but for different, somewhat more reasonable reasons) to address Sirius' untimely death at the Department of Mysteries. He gives Harry a very late explanation for the book-length cold shoulder, which Harry accepts at face value like a mensch. The problem here is that Dumbledore's justified avoidance (to keep Voldemort from spying on him through Harry's eyes) coupled with his friends' neglect left Harry feeling totally isolated, alone, and ignored. This is no way to treat the Boy Who Lived — especially considering all the responsibility about to be thrust upon him vis-a-vis Voldemort's Horcruxes.

It was a bad call all around, and Dumbledore even admits as much. He should never have told Ron and Hermione to give Harry some space.