That Fall, Back In Germany…
Summary: /1899 AU/ A glimpse of the current activities of a certain would-be Dark Lord.
Fandom: …What? This isn't the Albus Dumbledore series? Who's this "Harry" twerp again?
Date Written: Sometime before September 20, 2011.
Rating: T
Word Count: 756
Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter and all related characters.
As everyone knew, the Grindelwalds' son was an aggressive, likely-unstable troublemaker, and a constant plague upon his parents. Whether he was preaching the value of magical power over blood purity during a social gathering, busy trying to kill one of his peers (a characterization to which he always objected, claiming that firstly, he was just trying to experiment on the unfortunate soul, not commit murder, and secondly, he didn't have any real peers anyway), or showing utter disrespect to his elders, he strained the poor Grindelwalds to their limit of endurance. And then, of course, he became even worse after his trip abroad…
At first, he seemed improved. His temper took a full ten seconds longer to run out when he confronted former classmates, he spent more time at home than getting into trouble, and he generally made less of a nuisance of himself. Owners of rare magical artifacts noticed increased attempts by unknown individuals (or one unknown individual in particular, one of the Dolohovs commented sourly, although she had no proof) to break into their houses, but ah, that was part of the price of owning rare magical artifacts. Some members of the old families even hoped the boy might be settling down to a traditional, shifty life of scheming, squabbling with enemies, and stealing whatever he could from the less competent. It was a perfectly dishonorable Dark wizarding tradition.
Unfortunately, then he began preaching and attending social gatherings again, although at least this time he had the decency to separate the two. Even worse, he brought his heretofore-unknown pet English half-bloods with him.
The boy introduced the older of the two, the brother, as his "good friend, Albus Dumbledore". That, of course, raised suspicion, and when the boy actually praised Dumbledore – repeatedly – many nodded wisely and complimented Dumbledore on his flawless Imperius Curse. (The boy was not amused.) Other, feeling similarly wise, guessed that the Grindelwalds had hired Dumbledore in order to bring their wayward (to put it mildly) son under control. The Grindelwalds were not amused.
The sister was not worth much noting. She looked like death warmed over ("She's improved greatly," claimed Dumbledore, though that was likely poor spectacles speaking), clung to her brother's robes the entire time, and appeared simple-minded. About the only interesting thing she did was tell one wizard in a very sweet voice that he would be reduced to a unrecognizable mass of blasted flesh if he didn't leave her alone, but then again, the boy was probably the one who taught her German. For all anyone knew, she might have thought she had only told him that he was making her uncomfortable. It was a bit of a mystery why the two wizards kept her around – unless, of course, she had meant exactly what she had said, in which case the boy had found a kindred spirit.
Of course, the boy being the boy, he flaunted the two half-bloods, telling anyone who would listen that Dumbledore was equal to himself (given the boy's arrogance, this was the highest praise he was capable of), so anyone must conclude impure blood had little effect on ability. The sister, he declined to explain, though he alluded to an unpleasant incident in her childhood. "She's recovering, however," he said proudly, patting her on the back. She had looked up and given the wizards and witches to whom he was talking a wild-eyed, too-wide smile, and they had all found excuses to be elsewhere.
To the aggravation of good, respectable folk at the gatherings, Dumbledore shared the boy's radical beliefs (which might have been why the boy thought well of him, actually), and was eager to spread the word. If anything was more irritating than one wet-behind-the-ears, too-smart-for-his-own-good, self-righteous brat with no respect for tradition attempting to corner one and force one to counter his every argument, it was two wet-behind-the-ears, too-smart-for-their-own-good, self-righteous brats performing pincher maneuvers on anyone who tried to flee. Particularly when one of them was a half-blood. To make matters even worse, Dumbledore did not just preach at the masses and then sulk off in a snit when dismissed, but stayed to try to persuade some of the more rash and easily-swayed youngsters. To pour the salt on the wound, he even made progress on some. Responsible parents kept their children clear of the maniacs. Honestly, those two were menaces to decent Pureblood society.
It was a relief to hear the Grindelwalds had finally summoned their courage and booted the boy out. Really, he was a bad sort.
Author's Note: In case you're wondering how they got out of Godric's Hollow in one piece, the point of divergence for this AU was that Gellert Stunned Aberforth rather than using the Cruciatus on him.