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An old wizard in violet robes stands beside a curtained hospital bed where a boy's hand rests on the blanket, a phoenix by the window.

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Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone · 1997

Albus Dumbledore

Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself.

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What it means

Our interpretation.

Dumbledore turns a magical taboo into a lesson about courage: the name is only dangerous because everyone has agreed to be afraid of it. It is the series in miniature, with Voldemort's power resting partly on other people's terror, and the book returns to it when Harry and his friends refuse to use euphemisms. Readers quote it far beyond Hogwarts, about any fear that gets worse when it goes unnamed.

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In context

Spoilers for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's StoneShow the scene

Chapter 17, "The Man with Two Faces". Harry wakes in the hospital wing after the confrontation with Quirrell and Voldemort, and Dumbledore, sitting by the bed, tells him what happened while he was unconscious: the Stone is destroyed and Voldemort, though gone for now, is not dead and can find other ways to return. Dumbledore says this line while discussing Voldemort with Harry. The wizarding world still says "You-Know-Who" rather than the name.

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