Dumbledore was a human and by increasing his life span, he was defying nature like Voldemort. Why wasn't there any curse or negative effects from that?
asked Jun 18, 2012 at 1:37
4 Answers
One major reason members of the Wizarding world live longer than normal humans is very simple: they have much better medicine than we do. We see Madam Pomfrey completely regrow Harry's arm bones from nothing, at one point, and she's a school nurse. I imagine the things that commonly lead to death of old age in humans (cancers, heart disease, neurological conditions) really pose no difficulty to magical medicine, especially at someplace like St. Mungo's.
As an aside, this can be seen in our world, too. If you look at the life expectancy of the Dark Ages (around mid 30's on average), we have made much progress towards a Wizarding lifespan. The medical community has been postulating for the past decade that if we could overcome a few of the more troubling diseases we commonly face, then we could live lives well over a hundred years long.
answered Jun 18, 2012 at 2:38
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2Old answer, but I felt like commenting: Madam Pomfrey may be just a school nurse, but she is the school nurse at Hogwarts. Faculty and Staff at Hogwarts seem to be (with a few plot-driven exceptions like Lockhart and Trelawney) the best in the wizarding world at what they do. You have Dumbledore, Flitwick, McGonagall, Snape, pseudo-Moody, Hagrid, etc. All very talented in their fields and very capable in practical applications of their magic ability and knowledge (if you're wondering why I included Hagrid; he has an amazing affinity with magical beasts). Pomfrey should be no different.– TylerHCommented Oct 20, 2014 at 15:06
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1Even though old question and answer, I cannot stop myself from adding a little comment due to a common misconception about the very short life expectancy during the Dark Ages. In fact the average age of adults easily went up to 50/60 and more. Issues of the low average arise from a high death rate of new-borns and children. Commented Sep 9, 2015 at 18:17
Dumbledore's lifespan isn't unnatural for a wizard. Other wizards who have naturally lived to a similar age to him or older include:
- Grindelwald was his childhood friend and doesn't die until Deathly Hallows when Voldemort kills him.
- Griselda Marchbanks was his N.E.W.T. examiner -- so she's presumably significantly older than him -- and she still serves on the Wizengamot and does N.E.W.T. exams as of Order of the Phoenix.
Presumably wizards simply live longer than Muggles.
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You have just increased the question's domain... Nothing more. Commented Jun 18, 2012 at 2:04
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2@SachinShekhar If you're implying that Micah didn't answer the question then I disagree. You're the one making the assumption that wizards and muggles have the same life span. It would appear that this is an incorrect assumption so they aren't "defying nature" like you imply.– DasonCommented Jun 18, 2012 at 2:33
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@Dason Do you have canonical reference of that? Or, give me example of an old magic user who isn't skilled.. Commented Jun 18, 2012 at 2:55
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@Dason I see what Sachin Shekhar is saying: there aren't many examples of witches or wizards living as long or longer than Dumbledore does that aren't also very skilled/powerful, so it seems to lead more toward his interpretation that these wizards are living longer due to something they proactively do/are, and not simply innately longer lives because they are wizards.– NominSimCommented Jun 18, 2012 at 19:31
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1@SachinShekhar: Aberforth Dumbledore is not particularly skilled, and is only three years younger than his brother. For that matter, I'm not sure how much evidence there is of Marchbanks being magically skilled (as opposed to politically savvy/well-connected).– MicahCommented Jun 18, 2012 at 20:05
I guess it helps when you are friends with Nicolas Flamel ;)
answered Nov 15, 2014 at 19:19
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2This does not provide an answer to the question. To critique or request clarification from an author, leave a comment below their post - you can always comment on your own posts, and once you have sufficient reputation you will be able to comment on any post.– StanCommented Nov 15, 2014 at 20:34
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@Stan how isn't it an answer? It is short, but answers the question...– nicaelCommented Nov 15, 2014 at 21:44
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2@nicael - because there's about ZERO canon information that being friends with Flamel in any way helped extend Dumbledore's life. 100% canon points to the fact that Elixir was only taken by Flamel and his wife. Commented Nov 15, 2014 at 23:24
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3well, there is ZERO canon information about from where the food in Hogwarts comes too, but people haven't given up SPECULATING, have they? And if u had a friend with Elixir of life, won't you request for some? Commented Nov 16, 2014 at 4:01
wizards has better medicine, if a wizard avoid magical illness, he should be okay, in the books, hardly any wizard suffered from magical diseases unless it was caused by a spell (or human accidents), and most diseases that we suffer can be healed by magic i presume,
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1Welcome to the site. In the future, when you answer an old question it is preferable that you add new information.– numarothCommented Oct 20, 2014 at 16:09
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i guess you ignored the in the <<books, hardly any wizard suffered from magical diseases unless it was caused by a spell (or human accidents)>> part, i didn't see anybody talk about that so it's new I'm sure if wizards found a way to teleport and read minds or regrow skeleton or create perfect camouflage cloaks, i'm sure we can cure AIDS when we get to a stage where our technology includes all that I've mentioned Commented Oct 23, 2014 at 15:13
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Wizards do have a longer life expectancy than their Muggle counterparts for reasons explained below. If you believe Dumbledore used something like unicorn blood or horcruxes to extend his own life, state that in the question, then ask why he didn't suffer any ill effects. (Preferably with a quote, because AFAIK, there was never anything of the sort in the books or movies)