The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore is a biography of Albus Dumbledore that was written by Rita Skeeter.[1]
Though it ran nine-hundred pages in length, Skeeter completed the book only four weeks after Dumbledore's death in June 1997, meaning that it was probably published in July of that year.
The book contained some controversial, though partially true, revelations about Dumbledore and his family, for example, the story of covering up the "sickness" of Dumbledore's sister Ariana. It also talked about how Dumbledore's father was imprisoned in Azkaban for attacking three Muggles. Also discussed was Dumbledore's relationship in his younger days with Gellert Grindelwald, who would later become a Dark Wizard and would be defeated in 1945 by Dumbledore himself. As such, it was widely discussed, and opinions toward it were polarised. Some people, such as Ron's Auntie Muriel, praised Skeeter, while others, such as Elphias Doge and Harry Potter, were furious over Skeeter's conspicuous attempt to impugn Dumbledore's character, Elphias Doge stating that "Skeeter's book contains less fact than a Chocolate Frog Card."
An article concerning The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore was published in the Daily Prophet, which was made more-so into an interview of Rita Skeeter about her views on her book. This, of course, was also a bit of an advertisement, as the interview was published before the book was released.[2]
In a sneak peek in the Daily Prophet, Rita says that there is a whole chapter on the Dumbledore/Potter relationship. In this article, Rita also comments on the speculation that Harry may have been involved with Dumbledore's murder.
During the search for Voldemort's Horcruxes, Hermione Granger obtained Bathilda Bagshot's copy of the book. From this, she and Harry Potter learned of Ariana's mysterious death and Dumbledore's relationship with Grindlewald. This part of the book at least was confirmed to be true by Aberforth Dumbledore, and later by the spirit of Albus himself (who explained himself to Harry about what he'd learned), showing that Rita did get at least some of her facts straight despite not knowing the whole story.
Notes and references
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