I re-read the five Harry Potter novels, and one of the left-over questions I have is which of the four houses Dumbledore lived in when he was a Hogwarts student.
Presuming, of course, that he ever was a Hogwarts student…
Was there anything in any of the five books to answer this? Or suggest an answer? He does seem to be partial to Gryffindor… but his character is more Ravenclaw… he suggests a couple times that he doesn’t think much of Slytherin… and he couldn’t be a (gah) Hufflepuff…
Good question. Let’s see:
Slytherin: Value power and purity. Its’ a very long shot, but Rowling could do a plot where he was Nocht Dumbledore, but though experience became Albus Dumbledore. That’s a bit too LotR/Star Wars for me.
Ravenclaw: Value knowledge. He is pretty smart, but then again…
Gryffindor: Value courage and adventure. He seems to be an adventurer at heart. Maybe he was the Hermoine of his group.
Hufflepuff: Um, yeah. Basicly you aren’t brave enough for Gry, smart enough for Rav, or evil enough for Sly, but you’re a nice person. I don’t see that for Dumby.
If I were a betting man I would bet on Gryffindor, then Ravenclaw, then Slytherin, then Hufflepuff.
He was a Hogwarts student. One of the O.W.L. exam administrators said something about giving Dumbledore his N.E.W.T. exam at Hogwarts. I don’t know if the books explicitly state his house, though, but from his bravery in standing up to Tom Riddle and his actions in the showdown with Umbridge, I would probably say that he’s like Hermonie: Really, really smart, but also grandly brave enough to be in Gryffindor.
Does the fact that Dumbledore is the keeper of the sword of Gryffindor point in that direction?
Just because Hufflepuff seems to have been ignored and underestimated in the books so far, I think there’s going to be a bombshell that exposes the underdog house as the best of them all. Dumbledore having been a Hufflepuff would do it. Also, there’s that thing about the most important characteristic of all being kindness/a pure heart/love/etc.
But maybe that comes with the office of Headmaster. Dumbledore could also be the keeper of the Washboard of Hufflepuff, the Bloodtest Strips of Slytherin, and the Thinking Yarmulke of Ravenclaw. No?
Eliot. Definitely Eliot.
Something tells me that Slytherin wouldn’t need test strips to draw blood 
Anyway, it may be a relic passed down from headmaster to headmaster, but what did the CoS say, something along the lines that only a true Gryffindor could wield it or draw it or something? forgets the rules
No, Eliot is for the Muggle version of Slytherins. Preppies.
Isn’t one of the Slytherin virtues supposed to be cleverness? Considering how easily Dumbledore can outsmart everyone else, I think that it’s possible that he could be from Slytherin. Maybe he’s an example of what a “good Slytherin” would be like.
Yeah, Dumbledore is brave (he’s willing to fight Voldemort mano-a-mano), but when I think of Dumbledore I think of his massive intelligence and his unbeatable cleverness first.
I would say the most likely house is Ravenclaw, then Slytherin, then Gryffindor, with Hufflepuff being the least likely.
My impression of the four houses, if I may apply high school stereotypes, is that Slytherins are the preppies, Gryffindors are the jocks, Ravenclaws are the nerds (and I say that as a nerd myself 
), and Hufflepuffs are eveyone else.
While we’re at it, what about other characters? I bet that Hagrid was a Hufflepuff. As was the nurse. The ghost history teacher was probably a Ravenclaw.
Of course, we don’t know whether Hermione’s sources of information were entirely reliable, but he was probably a Gryffindor.
She probably read it in Hogwarts, A History and simply forgot to credit her source.
Even the best students will do this occasionally.
Dumbledore? He’s a Gryffindor. If something is wonderously good, then it belongs to Gryffindor. They’re like wizard royalty. You get put in that house and you’ll be charmed for the rest of your life. There’s probably Wizard clubs where the following exchange occurs at the door:
Security Guard: I’m sorry sir, I can’t let you in.
Wizard: Well, what if I were to shake your hand like this?
(does secret Gryffindor handshake)
SG: Right this way, Sir. We’ll get you out of the cold and away from all the Slytherin scum loitering out here.
Gryffindors probably get all the best jobs, any upgrades to first class travel going and backstage passes at Wizard concerts.
It’s little wonder that Slythern turns out people like Malfoy. You get put in Slytherin and for the next seven years your life is going to consist of people telling you you’re scum. You’ll be robbed of rightful house-points victories. No wonder you’ll appreciate the one teacher that doesn’t prefer all else to you (Snape) and retreat to your comfortable aristocracy where no-one will tell you that your carrying on the legacy of Salazar Slythern, the one school founder to leave over differences in opinion.
No wonder they end up with Lord Voldemorts all over the place. He probably would have become an account if he’s head wasn’t screwed up by that crazy caste system.
So only Gryffindors can pull it out. There is nothing about wielding it, so in theory Harry could have pulled it out and Cedric could have used it.
I think that there is some secret power of Hufflepuffness that has yet to be revealed. I would be a hufflepuff. But Dumbledore couldn’t be one. In the first book when he was awarding the house cup, he was so unfair and showoffy in the face of the Slytherins. A Hufflepuff would never have been like that. And he sneaks around giving invisibility cloaks to students so they can break the rules. These are Slytherin traits, but in some ways a Gryffindor is just a Slytherin in denial about himself. I think he’s one or the other. Ravenclaws don’t plot and take sides and put use to their knowledge, use it for some great cause. They like the knowledge for its own sake.