- Like, when he wanted to help Thorin and Company take their home back from a dragon, he first spent weeks with his crystal ball spinning different probability scenarios, such as:

Gandalf: Okay. What if Thorin goes to fight Smaug with a small army of Dwarves? Likelihood of success?

Magic 8 Ball: 0%

Gandalf: What if he has a gigantic army of Dwarves?

Magic 8 Ball: 0.000001% chance of success

Gandalf: Hrrrmm... what if I unite all the forces of Middle Earth to stand side by side against the dragon?

Magic 8 Ball: 0%

Gandalf: How is it lower now?!??

[Weeks Later]

Gandalf, increasingly frazzled: okay okay. What if I accompany Thorin and 12 Dwarves on the quest?

Magic 8 Ball: .... 0.2% [the highest so far]

Gandalf, getting desperate: fine... how about me, Thorin, 12 Dwarves, and uhhhhh..... a Hobbit?

Magic 8 Ball: 60%

Gandalf: I'm sorry WHAT

----

Decades later, when the events of the trilogy are about to begin and force Middle Earth to face an even greater challenge than a dragon in a mountain, immediately Gandalf is just like,