How did Dumbledore know that Voldemort would return?

[YouKnowWho]

I did a search on this but I found nothing.

My question is: How did Dumbledore know that Voldemort would return? If I heard the prophecy and saw what happened, I would assume that the prophecy was fufilled....

So how did Dumbledore know that Voldemort wasn't dead?

[natemac]

Dumbledore seems to know everything.

On page 10 of the SS U.S. version, he says that he thinks LV is gone. However, he might have had a hunch that LV was beyond human, and could not be killed. So, I think he did some checking, eavesdropped on some conversations, etc. and found out that LV was actually lurking around without a body.

He also knows that Harry's scar is a communication device between LV and Harry. I think he might have watched Harry every once and a while at #4 Privet Drive. WHen he saw that Harry's scar was hurting, he realized that LV was not gone.


I think Dumbledore has been outside of Hogwarts more than we know.


-natemac

[Barbara Kennedy]

Maybe these can help? (References?)

Unexplained Series of Events (http://www.cosforums.com/showthread.php?t=24380) (Prophecy until Potter’s deaths)
Is Dumbledore a seer? (http://www.cosforums.com/showthread.php?t=27723)
How did Dumbledore know that Voldemort had found the Potters? (http://www.cosforums.com/showthread.php?t=8077)
Dumbledoors Secret Plan (http://www.cosforums.com/showthread.php?t=31002)(misspelled)
One more prophecy? (http://www.cosforums.com/showthread.php?t=33439)
Part of another prophecy (http://www.cosforums.com/showthread.php?t=30885)
Almighty Dumbledore (http://www.cosforums.com/showthread.php?t=30592)
Voldemort’s Greatest Skill: Retreating? (http://www.cosforums.com/showthread.php?t=29582)
How Harry and Voldemort both survived-the “crucial and central” question (http://www.cosforums.com/showthread.php?t=23956)
Theory on “The Crucial Question” (http://www.cosforums.com/showthread.php?t=29583)
Dumbledore’s previous battles with Voldemort? (http://www.cosforums.com/showthread.php?t=34298)
Voldemort’s fear of death (http://www.cosforums.com/showthread.php?t=25506)
Voldemort’s Weakness (http://www.cosforums.com/showthread.php?t=7909)

[YouKnowWho]

Yeah, but in OotP he said he always knew Voldemort would return. Wether it was a month, a year, 10 years, 50 years... he just knew LV would return.

It seems that he was certain of it without spying. He knew it because of something else.

[crookshanks1177]

Maybe there was another prophecy of some sort that we haven't been told about. Or maybe Dumbledore can see visions of the future.

[tH3 PAtR0NUs x]

I agree with crookshanks1177, it took him 5 years to tell him about the prophecy, so who knows, there might be another answering this question and millions of others.

[Seamok]

The Force allows Dumbledore to see into the future...
Oh wait...that's Star Wars... :blush:

Maybe Dumbledore thought a powerful Dark Lord would not simply vanish like that? Or maybe he left no corpse...

[anabel]

That's right, there was no corpse. Without a body there was no reason to assume he was dead. He had just vanished. As Hagrid said "Dunno if there was enough human left in him for him to die." Wizards can disappear in the swish of a cloak so everyone assumed Voldemort had fled.
And Dumbledore in CoS says "my sources tell me he is currently hiding in the forests of Albania" (Bloomsbury paperback p.242). So he had information of Voldemort's whereabouts.

[Spathic]

well it is plain that dumbledore knew it from the first... If he didn't suspect it why send him to the dursleys? Why put a powerful old magic charm to protect him specifically from lord voldemort? It is because the prophecy was obviously not met... The curse rebounded, not because of what Harry did, and therefore he was not killed by harry's hand... Since prophecies are true this is also why Voldemort did not die. He can only be killed by the boy he marked as equal (and not by his mommy's sacrifice)...

[anabel]

It is clear from Dumbledore's actions that knew Voldemort would come back, but the question is HOW DID HE KNOW and how did he know where Voldemort was hiding?

[Manwë]

Well, as LV had lots of spies, why do we asume the Dumbledore was playing following the rules? he could have spies too, or something similar. Maybe Dumbledore followers did the imperius charm to DE they catched to make them confess. (Now, don't try to kill me, please, this theory is rubbish).
And here goes the greatest of paranoias: As Dumbledore and LV are the metaphore of the fight between good (I'm sure it's not said like that but I can't remember the word and I haven't got my dictionary, sorry) and evil, what if they were sort of connected? they are all powerfull wizards and all, so they can't practice occlumency the one to the other, but maybe after trying for so long they have a sort of connection.
Hey, this is really weird, but think about it.

[anabel]

It's hard to see how you can spy on someone who is "less than the meanest ghost". What were they looking for - rodents and snakes acting up in the forest?

[Dark Arts]

Dumbledore knows with whom he is dealing. There are layers with in layers of webs woven by both of them. Just because it appeared he had won, I can not see Dumbledore not playing the game, as long as there was even the slightest chance that The Dark Lord would return. He may have stayed on alert in case a "new" dark lord appeared on the horizon. <insert random dramatic sound affect>

[Lorimel]

uhm dude
Dumbledore heard the propechy and aqppointed madam dingbat to hogwarts just in case she had another * vision* and probably to keep her from Voldy's attention, tho one wonders how voldy KNEW of the propechy yet didnt go after trawlaney. Anyways knowing the propechy big D knew voldy MUSAt return and couldnt be dead

[hpfan_08]

I think that Dumbledore is a seer, because he seems to know everything that has happend and everything that will happen, or at least major things.

Also it could be that he would return since the prophecy might not be 100% fulfilled yet.

[rotsiepots]

I think Dumbledore is a very intuitive wizard.

Haven't you ever had those uncertain feelings relating to something that should have been accomplished, but for some reason wasn't? I think Dumbledore just felt that Voldemort hadn't been defeated and thus knew he would return.

Besides, in my opinion, Voldemort attacking Harry was only fulfilling part of the prophecy. Dumbledore would have soon realised that there was more to come.

[hallowgal]

i think that dumblelore has known that vl would return ever since harry was little but will LD kill one of harrys friends in book 6 i hope not but what if harry is really dead since he has 2 souls in him when your only aloweedto have one

[Kalth]

Dumbledore is the greatest wizard of the world... not only for his "casting spell" abilities.

He created the OotP. and he said that Snape was a SPY. so, I can imagine that he have followers around the world who's watching for every move of LV.

who he knwo LV wasn't dead. that's DD who eard the profecy, he had time to analysed it. try to look further the words. ( He warn James and Lily that they could be them who LV looking for).

he have many means to have information. all those intrusments that we don't know theire purposes...

I think DD is very aware of the "magical flow" in the world. I mean, (theory) Everythings are bounded in the world, so there is maybe magical energy which can be feeled by powerfull wizard like DD, like jedi with the force.
so when LV, James and Lily died, DD feel what Happend. that why he was able to tell to Mac Gonagal what happend in ht Godric Hollow, not precisly, but very closely.

[anabel]

How does anyone know what happened in Godric's Hollow? There were no witnesses, except perhaps Wormtail and he didn't tell anyone. Voldemort tells Harry that his mother died to save him and Dumbledore confirms it.
In order to come up with the blood protection charm at Privet Drive, Dumbledore had to have known how Lily saved Harry. Did he help her to plan her sacrifice, probably not as a first line of defence but as a last resort? Did he also plan the Privet Drive protection at the same time and that is what he was writing to Petunia about? He didn't waste any time over it - Harry was on the doorstep about 24 hours after his parents had been killed.
Did one of the devices in Dumbledore's office allow him to witnes what had happened at Godric's Hollow?

[Fantaloonastic]

Maybe not one of the devices, but I think that it's a combination from a lot of things mentioned above..

Dumbledore knew the prophecy, had inside information, knew Lily and James well, maybe had some use of the devices in his office... I don't think it that strange that he knew Voldemort would return, specially because someone like Hagrid knew it as well.

[Meghan73211]

The prophecy said that LV would "mark harry as an equal"(rough quote) before the battle between them. I think Dumbledore knew that the first fight between Harry and LV, was just that, the first. It only fulfilled the first part of the prophecy.
Dumbledore told Harry that they weren't even sure the prophecy was about Harry until after the Godrics Hallow incident.
That may not make sense to anyone else, but I tried :shrug:

[nano]

The curse rebounded, not because of what Harry did, and therefore he was not killed by harry's hand... Since prophecies are true this is also why Voldemort did not die. He can only be killed by the boy he marked as equal (and not by his mommy's sacrifice)...This is also what I have thought all along.
How does anyone know what happened in Godric's Hollow? There were no witnesses, except perhaps Wormtail and he didn't tell anyone. Voldemort tells Harry that his mother died to save him and Dumbledore confirms it. This also made me wonder, why & how DD knew what Lily had done.

My theory is that what Lily did when Voldy turned up, was something she and DD had carefully planned and they both knew what the outcome of it would be. They knew there is no way of escaping the AK-Curse, so something had to be done to actually void the curse when it was thrown. I think something along the lines of the ancient magic being Lily begging 'Dont' kill Harry - Kill me for instead' - Voldy did, and by doing so sealed the ancient contract Lily had invoked. After that, by trying to kill Harry he kind of breached that contract, which was why the curse rebounded on him.

Paired with the upper quote - Voldy's curse rebound - due to the prophecy Voldy can only be killed by 'the one' - it seems he can't even commit suicide. So when his curse rebound, it didn't kill him, because it wasn't HARRY who had thrown the curse.

I think DD knew this all along, and becuase of it he also knew, that Voldy was not dead and Voldy being his mouldy old self would try and make a comeback to get his revenge at least!

nano

[JennThomas]

Yeah, but in OotP he said he always knew Voldemort would return. Wether it was a month, a year, 10 years, 50 years... he just knew LV would return.

It seems that he was certain of it without spying. He knew it because of something else.

He knew the Prophecy hadn't been furfilled yet. He whitnessed, so obviously he knew!

[thedarklord_89]

maybe he knows more about the prophecy than he told harry in OotP. That means he knew that wasnt gonna kill voldemort

[NeuroComp]

I'd have to say by the prophecy it self..."one must die at th ehands of the other"

well HP wasn't exactly able to lift his hands back then was he?

[FlyersFan]

Even Hagrid thinks that Voldemort lived, and he wouldn't have know about the prophecy. If he thought it possible, then surely Dumbledore would have known more.

[phoenixgrl]

I have always wondered alot of things about DD. Just as some of the other references mention, I too have toyed with the idea that DD may be "God" in the wizard world. Maybe he has come down to their realm in order to guide the next "savior", Harry. He knows of what is too happen and will only interfere so much. But he does try to guide Harry to prepare him for the ultimate end. He just seems to know everything and see everything, and he seems much more intelligent than the past headmasters.

[b00kw0rm]

*dumbledore has his ways of somehow knowing everything!*

[Lawrence]

Dumbledor probably realized that Voldy wasn't dead. Maybe from Harry's scar.

[tarachristwen]

he knows voldermort too well to know that he will return..

[Spirit]

I think Dumbledore is a very intuitive wizard.
I agree. He may be a seer, he may not be, but he definitely trusts his own guesswork, and he is often right. We see Dumbledore being intuitive in the end of book 1 when he suddenly realized that he needed to go back to Hogwarts. There was no reason to think this. He just felt that he needed to go back right when he got to London, and he followed his gut feeling. Most of us wouldn't have.

I think Dumbledore knew that Voldemort would come back because he is very intuitive/or perhaps a seer. There really wasn't anything to go on. The prophecy could have been completed. Voldemort could have died at Godric's Hollow, and because Harry, and because of love. It could have fit. Also, Dumbledore taught Voldemort back in school. He knows who he is dealing with. And he also has a lot of spies out there, telling him about Voldemort's accomplishments of immortality.

[AndyRFan22]

Dumbledore knows everything! :agree:
He had spies set up everywhere and they probably told him about how Voldemort had taken the steps to become immortal. Dumbledore also knows him well enough to know that Voldemort is not going to give up that easily. Why let a tiny little thing like losing his body and becoming a vapor stop him from returning? :p

[Bunny]

Dumbledore seems to have many ways of gathering information.
He was there when the prophecy was told, so he knew that there was a child about to be born who would ultimately defeat Voldemort.
The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ... And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not ... And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives ... The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies... and it would appear, reasoned that Voldemort would again return for a final battle.
Bearing that in mind he set his spies looking for tell tale signs of Voldemort any where in the World.

Dumbledore often appears to "know" things.
In Philosophers Stone Harry was given his dads old cloak, and when Harry left it behind it re-appeared.
Again in PS Harry "discovered" the Mirror of Erised.
When Dumbledore felt that Harry (sort of) understood how the mirror worked he took it away and it was how Voldemort was defeated for the second time.
I think it continues through the books.
In GoF you have Dumbledores small smile after he discovers that Harrys blood has been used to regenerate Voldemort.

[LedZeppelin]

Yeah, but in OotP he said he always knew Voldemort would return. Wether it was a month, a year, 10 years, 50 years... he just knew LV would return.

It seems that he was certain of it without spying. He knew it because of something else.

I think that Dumbeldore knew lord voldemort would return at some point because he knows the lenghts that lord voldemort has taken to cheat death(though we are never told what they are just hinted to by voldemort in the end of GoF that he did something to thwart death)...i think that is voldemorts ultimate gold is to never die. i think dumbeldore who referd to voldemort as tom in the Ministry in the end of OotP knows him to a certain point to know that because of the prophesy and of voldemorts aims at cheating death he would return. I guess when you have a mortal enemy for so long then you get to know who is trying to kill you.

[Danielf22]

Dumbledore is a very smart and clever man- I dont think it has anything to do with him being a seer as to why he knew Voldemort would return. I mean even Hagrid said that there wasnt enough human left in Voldemort to die, so it seems that those with common sense and who werent blinded by there happieness over VM defeat, actually saw that he wasnt gone forever.

[r2e]

He is a pretty smart fella and he doesnt miss much + plus with the spies and The Order, he might of found out about the ritual LV performed to stay alive...