Fans Roast J.K. Rowling for Saying Dumbledore and Grindelwald Had 'Intense' Sexual Relationship
Fans Roast J.K. Rowling for Saying Dumbledore and Grindelwald Had 'Intense' Sexual Relationship

Really? Because nothing in the books or movies has suggested that.
When J.K. Rowling announced in 2007, after all the Harry Potter books had come out, that Albus Dumbledore had just always been gay, fans were torn.
On the one hand, confirmation that a character beloved by millennials everywhere was queer!
On the other hand…does it really count as LGBTQ representation if it was just a non-canonical afterthought mention?
But Rowling didn’t stop there. Over the years, she’s added so many details to the world of Harry Potter that, again, are in no way canonical since they weren’t in the books or films, that it’s essentially become a meme format.
With the Fantastic Beasts HP-spin-off franchise in progress right now, many fans were hoping that this would be an opportunity for to show Dumbledore and his BFF Gellert Grindelwald in an actual relationship…or like, hinting at one…or even just kissing…literally anything.
The latest film, The Crimes of Grindelwald , included nothing to suggest there was any sort of romance between the two.
But of course, Rowling did her thing again, stating on the blu-ray:
“Their relationship was incredibly intense. It was passionate, and it was a love relationship. But as happens in any relationship, gay or straight or whatever label we want to put on it, one never knows, really, what the other person is feeling. You can’t know. You can believe you know. So I’m less interested in the sexual side — though I believe there is a sexual dimension to this relationship — than I am in the sense of the emotions they felt for each other, which ultimately is the most fascinating thing about all human relationships.”
tl;dr — Rowling confirms Dumbledore and Grindelwald fucked, wants us to know that their emotional relationship was more important, but also…none of that was shown in canon.
Both tired and unsurprised, the internet is completely roasting Rowling for her comments, making a mockery of how she continues to add commentary about things that aren’t canon, as well as expressing frustration with the continued lack of LGBTQ representation in the Harry Potter universe.
\u201cYou sit down on a couch in JK Rowling\u2019s house and she\u2019s like, \u201cCareful, Dumbledore got railed there.\u201d\u201d— Louis Virtel (@Louis Virtel) 1552785605
\u201cMe: I \u2014 \nJK Rowling: Hagrid has paid for feet pics\u201d— Dani Fernandez (@Dani Fernandez) 1552787983
\u201cMe: how about some lesbian representation in \u2014\n\nJK Rowling: Hermoine\u2019s first vibrator was a wired bullet she got for free in a raffle at an L Word screening party in 2003 but then her ex got a job at Babeland and she used the discount to invest in a rechargeable Hitachi\u201d— Mary Emily O'Hara (@Mary Emily O'Hara) 1552851350
\u201cnobody:\n\njk rowling: hagrid moonlights as an anti-semitic drag queen named louise farrah khan\u201d— Slade (@Slade) 1549210091
\u201creporter: hello\n\njk rowling: there was actually a fifth hogwarts house that no one knew about. it was called sex house and it was where the horniest wizards were sorted into. they spent their days fucking and sucking and not learning much magic at all\u201d— Bob Vulfov (@Bob Vulfov) 1552785890
\u201cNobody: \n\nJ.K. Rowling: Dumbledore ate the peach from Call Me By Your Name\u201d— Jon (@Jon) 1552787456
\u201cNobody:\n\nJK Rowling: You know what else was nine and three quarters?\u201d— Ian!\ud83d\ude80\u2728 (@Ian!\ud83d\ude80\u2728) 1552844736
\u201cno one: \n\nJ.K. Rowling: the Weasley twins once did a CockyBoys Exclusive for $10,000\u201d— Justin Randall (@Justin Randall) 1552842839
\u201cNo one:\n\nJK Rowling: Actually, Dumbledore was once set up on a blind date with known Hufflepuff Pete Buttigieg but then ghosted.\u201d— R. Eric Thomas (@R. Eric Thomas) 1552838909
As amazing and horrifying as all the clever tweets are, some folks are also taking the time to point out the actual issues with the things she said in this particular instance.
\u201cit\u2019s going to be super awkward when JK Rowling realizes that if she wanted to make intense sexual relationships canon she could like have written a book\u201d— Alexandra Petri (@Alexandra Petri) 1552851248
\u201cpeople are acting like JK Rowling randomly brought up Dumbledore's sex life. in fact, she said she *isn't interested* in exploring Dumbledore's sex life, because she thinks that's what people are asking for. she assumes that any depiction of queerness must be adult rated.\u201d— Gavia Baker-Whitelaw (@Gavia Baker-Whitelaw) 1552843946
\u201cjk rowling can log on here and tweet \u201cdumbledore was a dom top\u201d all she likes but the fact remains she actively leaves out any LGBT rep in her books and films so her profit isn\u2019t affected\u201d— sister laura (@sister laura) 1552829205
Will we ever get any explicit queer rep in the Potterverse? Will J.K. Rowling ever realize that “explicit representation” doesn’t mean we need to see two dudes actually banging on screen?Will these “revelations” ever stop???
No one knows, but please, please keep the memes alive.