Albus Dumbledore's Search for the Hallows: A Harry Potter Series Prequel
Chapter One
"The world breaks us all. Afterward, some are stronger at the broken places." Ernest Hemingway- Farewell to Arms
After 'The Tale of Three Brothers'
Death was disappointed in himself. He had allowed himself to be fooled by three common men. Men, the most imprudent of species in his opinion. He chastised himself for letting pride get in the way of his thinking, then thought maybe it was because he was spending so much time near humans these days that he was acting like this. Pride and foolishness, he thought, the two qualities that made up the pitiful beings known as mankind. Of course, he thought, in the process, he had created the three most powerful objects to ever exist, and as he believed, ever would exist. A long, billowing, water-like fabric known as the invisibility cloak, a long, menacing, and powerful wand that seemed to radiate known as the Elder Wand, and finally, a small, thick slab of rock known as the Resurrection Stone.
He, who shuddered at nothing, found himself committing the very same act in the presence of the stone. The reason, avid reader, is that this stone, this small, seemingly insignificant piece of rubble, was the one thing that could do the thing that men could only dream of doing; conquer death. Which, as you know, means conquering him. That made it his enemy. Which meant it must be rid of. Of course, these objects were created by death, which meant they couldn't be destroyed, only hidden. Death planned on doing just that. He felt that one day, even if they were found, (which he highly doubted) they would be found by someone competent, worthy, and most importantly, selfless.
With that thought, he sent the objects flying away to hide themselves over the Earth. He parted the scene to go take care of some business that had come up at the sight of a large bombing some 30 miles west, only stopping to shudder for a second time that day at the thought of what might happen if those objects somehow got into the wrong hands.
Albus Dumbledore was knocking on the door of a foundationally unstable house. He was trying not to knock to hard in fear the house would crash down as a result, but he was growing impatient. His battered old trunk lay beside his feet, and perched on top of it was a handsome young phoenix with fiery red feathers that answered to the name of Fawkes. He was mewing softly inside his cage, his cry sorrowful; most likely reflecting the current feelings of his sullen, usually cheerful master.
The door opened to reveal a short, muscular teenage boy with a face as sullen as the boy standing in front of him. He was Aberforth, Albus' younger brother, though the only resemblance they bore were the same shocking blue eyes. Albus took him into a rough, wordless embrace. He let go quickly, then asked "Where's Ariana?" Ariana, the boys' 12 year old sister and the reason they were in this catastrophic situation, walked into the kitchen at that moment, answering Albus' question.
He rushed up to Ariana, hugged her, and then asked "How're you holding up?" She blinked, confused. "What do you mean Albus?" He looked at her questioningly, not sure if she was playing some kind of cruel joke then said "I mean, how're you coping with mother being….gone?" Albus had almost said dead, and was glad he didn't. Though 'dead' would've been a very appropriate word for his mother's condition, saying dead would've made it final. Absolute. Definite. Of course, if you asked anyone who knew Albus Dumbledore, they would tell you without hesitation that he was one to face facts. He would admit it himself. But a lot of things had changed about Albus in the past months, and not wanting to face facts was one of them.
Ariana then answered him carefully, as if he was the one who was terribly mistaken and confused and said "Oh Albus, mother's not gone. She's upstairs, in her bed, sleeping peacefully. Now that I think about it, she has been asleep awhile. Oh boy, will she feel rested when she wakes up! She'll also be happy to see you Albus. She always loves to hear about your adventures at Hogwarts." Albus was alarmed. He glanced at Aberforth and he nodded. "Ariana," he said. "Why don't you go and fetch Fawkes here some water? He must be parched after such a long journey." Ariana nodded eagerly then skipped out of the room, humming merrily to herself.
Aberforth spoke before Albus could question him. "She's in denial, Albus. I kept trying to tell her, but it was like she couldn't her me. Dr. Wendell says it's from shock, and should wear off in a while, but I just don't know what to do when it does." Tears swam in Aberforth's eyes. Albus felt a surge of sympathy for his brother. Only a teenager, and he was forced to take care of his mentally deranged sister, isn't allowed to go to Hogwarts because he has to manage the house, and putting on a brave face the whole time. Albus sighed deeply then said "Well you won't have to do it alone Aberforth. That's why I'm here." He clapped a hand on his brother's back and faked a smile. He picked up Fawkes' cage and his trunk then trod up the stairs, only turning around to say "Tell Ariana to bring Fawkes' water up to my room."
He went into his old, faded bedroom, then faced the cold, hard fact that he would probably be living there for the rest of his life. He looked at his dusty old bed then immediately thought of how much he wished he could be in his big four-poster bed back at Hogwarts. He threw himself on the bed without even dusting it off then thought about all the things that was wrong with his life.
His mentally unstable sister killed their mother with her irresponsible use of magic
He didn't know what to do when she found out that she did kill their mother
He had to give up a promising career and life to take care of her.
He didn't know what his next step would be
And he didn't have a single friend to confide in.
Albus usually found that organizing his problems on a list made them easier to solve, but this time it actually made him feel worse. He then did the only thing that he could do that felt right: he cried himself to sleep.