The Marauder Monologues

ALBUS DUMBLEDORE: "Wisdom"

Wisdom is a precious commodity. There are very few who truly possess any, and quite a few who possess none.

Wisdom is not the same as foresight. So few of us possess the foresight to pick up the clues and decipher the future. Foresight is different from Seeing, of course; foresight is merely common sense. Foresight would have done all of us, the Order of the Phoenix included, much good. There are many things that I see now, that we missed during their time. Foresight may be foggy, but hindsight is always perfectly clear.

Wisdom is not the same as good judgment, either. Wisdom means you know from experience which decisions are profitable. Good judgment is the ability to make decisions well without having made them before. There are many poor decisions that we made in those days, as well.

This is not to say that our time spent together was not profitable or put to good use. The Order of the Phoenix was responsible for the capture of nearly half of Lord Voldemort's followers; no small feat for an organization that began with only eight members. There were many strong, brave, good-hearted people who gave their time and, in some cases, their lives, to our ranks. We learned much together.

We often confuse wisdom with knowledge. This is not true either. Knowledge is easy to pick up, easy to lay down. It may come and go. Wisdom, however, is gained through sweat and blood, tears and smiles, trials and accomplishments. Wisdom, once gained, remains forever.

I cannot say that any period in history has been solely good or evil. There has always been a measure of both. This is the nature of life, of time. When I think back on the years of the Order, and the price we paid for what we learned of magic and life, I cannot say that it was good or evil. It was both.

It was truly an evil time, I will agree. There was much to fear, much to despise, much to fight against. Time may not be purely good or evil, but on occasion people may be, and I am willing to say that at that time, Lord Voldemort was completely evil. He had to be stopped. However, many years before, I believed that Tom Riddle was a little misguided, but not beyond redemption. That was a difficult lesson to learn.

But it was a good time as well. Life continued as it always did: there were friendships, marriages, children born, happy times had. Love may break through any difficulty or wickedness and work its own magic on the situation. We would all do well to learn and remember that.

The world will forever be learning, making mistakes, succeeding or failing upon occasion, but the world will always continue in this manner. We must learn to live this way.

Wisdom comes only at the price of having to learn the lesson. That is where we all are the students, and time our only teacher.