Disclaimer: So, I'm not J. K. Rowling, blah-di-blah. I get it; I have zero rights to anything written here. Please stop rubbing it in. :-)
The Greatest Wizard Who Ever Lived
Glaring at the blank roll of parchment sitting in front of him, Harry gave a loud groan. He had been asked to write an article for the Quibbler in Albus Dumbledore's memory. The article needed to be written by midnight tonight to go to layout, and the task was proving itself much more difficult than he had ever imagined.
When Luna Lovegood had told her father, Xenophilius Lovegood, about how close Harry and Dumbledore had been, Xeno had figured that since Dumbledore had been such a huge influence in Harry's life, Harry would be the perfect candidate to write about who Dumbledore really was. Harry had been hesitant at first, but Hermione convinced him. Even in his frustration, Harry had to smile as he remembered her reaction: "Come on Harry, you've got to do it! Someone needs to publish something worthwhile to read. I'm going positively insane trying to read all this rubbish that The Daily Prophet is putting out these days…" Harry eyed the pages strewn haphazardly around his room, describing Dumbledore's "superior intelligence," "prestigious awards," and many other comments, just as meaningless as the first. Harry had been struggling for… almost two hours, he realized with a jolt, as he looked at his glowing alarm clock - trying to figure out a way to represent the legacy that Dumbledore left on the entire wizarding community, yet somehow, his quill had not made a single mark on the parchment.
Harry began to realize with an uneasy feeling that no words could possibly describe the extraordinary wizard Dumbledore had been. Sure, he could mention the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon blood, the defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald, and many of Dumbledore's other remarkable feats, but anyone could have done that. Mr. Lovegood had not asked Harry to write a research paper about a famous, powerful wizard; he had asked him to write a piece about Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. Who was he, really? Harry wondered. Pondering this, he was forced to conclude that in all the years he had known Dumbledore, he had never really bothered to get to know the individual behind the fame and glory. Harry had always put Dumbledore on a pedestal and viewed him as this extraordinary, super-human, perfect being. It never occurred to him that even Dumbledore could make mistakes sometimes, and that was partly why his death came as such a stunning blow.
In Harry's mind, Dumbledore simply could not possibly be dead! It was an inconceivable truth, because to admit that he had been defeated would be to admit that Dumbledore had weaknesses, which would cause Harry's world to spiral out of control. As Remus Lupin had once articulated perfectly, "If we can't trust Dumbledore, we can't trust anyone." If Dumbledore was wrong about Snape, perhaps he could have been wrong about everything he had taught Harry last year as well. Harry's entire purpose to life was now built around destroying Voldemort's four remaining Horcruxes. How was he supposed to go on if it was all just an old man's delusions? Harry shivered. No, he told himself firmly, and forced himself to stop thinking that way. So, perhaps Dumbledore wasn't invincible after all, but that in no way changed the incredible wizard he was. Harry would always look up to him, and Albus Dumbledore would always be his hero, no matter what. He was indeed "Dumbledore's man through and through," and that was not about to change now.
Unfortunately, the fact still remained that in the process of trying to write about Dumbledore as a person, Harry had come to a horrifying realization about himself that he would never be able to go back and fix. In all his years of knowing Dumbledore as a teacher and a fantastic wizard, he had never bothered to get to know him as anything but that. Harry and Dumbledore had never had conversations about Dumbledore's past; all they ever discussed was Voldemort's past and Harry's future. It was mind-boggling to him, but the only personal question that Harry had ever asked Dumbledore was also the only question that he had asked the headmaster that he suspected had not been answered quite truthfully:
"What do you see when you look in the mirror?"
"I see myself holding a pair of thick, woolen socks."
Harry sighed and paced around his room for a moment. He came to a halt in front of his wardrobe and glanced at his reflection, wrinkling his eyebrows at himself in disapproval. This shouldn't be that hard, he decided. Just sit down and write, he told himself stubbornly. Whatever comes, you'll just have to use that. You're running out of time! he added with a worried glance at his clock. Sitting down at his desk again, Harry finally decided that all he could do was write about the Dumbledore who he had known. Harry never got to know the teenage Al who had joked around with friends at Hogwarts, or the middle-aged Albus Dumbledore who had discovered the twelve uses of dragon blood, or even the older, respected Dumbledore who was nominated for Minister of Magic. Harry only had known the white-haired and wizened but also vibrant, compassionate, sensitive, and understanding Professor Dumbledore who had been the man behind the curtain during all of Harry's endeavors growing up as a young wizard, so that was the man who he would write about.
--
Three-quarters of an hour later, just a few minutes before he needed to send Hedwig off with the final copy, Harry finally threw down his quill with a satisfied sigh and reread the last paragraph of his article.
I speak the truth when I say that I would not be alive today if it were not for Albus Dumbledore. Throughout my entire life, he has guided me and kept me on track, sometimes without my even being aware of the part he was playing at the time. Professor Dumbledore has been my mentor ever since I came to school, and he will continue to lead me through my life long after I graduate. As he said during a horrible period in my second year when the Ministry forced him out of Hogwarts for a time, Dumbledore will never be truly gone as long as there are still those at Hogwarts who are faithful to him. I took those words to heart, and they stand true even today. Perhaps Dumbledore was not perfect, much as everyone who knew him insisted he was, but he came closer than anyone else I have known. The overwhelming compassion and bravery that he showed until the moment of his death will always remain an inspiration and motivation for me throughout all my endeavors. Besides being a brilliant wizard, he had an astonishing capability to see the best in people, and to put others before his own welfare. Dumbledore always made it very clear to us that he cared very much about each and every student; no matter how difficult the task was, he would go to any lengths to protect us. He devoted his life to fighting the evils of the world and making the world a better place, and the greatest honor he could have given me, which he did give me over the past few months, was to give to me the tools to carry on that battle. The entire wizarding world has lost a powerful ally and a great friend in Albus Dumbledore, and he will be sorely missed. Not because of the advances he made in wizarding science or the awards he won from the Ministry of Magic, but because of the countless individuals' lives he has changed for the better, including my own, Albus Dumbledore truly was the greatest wizard who ever lived. I consider myself very lucky to have known him, and I hope that we can all find a way to do justice to his memory by carrying out his life's work and defeating Voldemort once and for all.
Harry rolled up the parchment, trying to keep himself from shedding any tears, and tied it to Hedwig's leg. "Send that to Xeno right away, all right?" he asked her. She chirped agreeably. "Thanks, Hedwig," he said, as she gave him a reassuring nip on his hand. "Yeah, I know, we'll get along all right… it's just going to be tough, you know?" Harry took a deep breath as he watched Hedwig soar out of his window into the cold, clear night, and began his new stage of life as an adult, facing the world by himself without Dumbledore to protect him anymore.
AN: Thanks for reading! This is just a little something that came out of what was going to be the first chapter of a novel length fic I was going to write but fell apart… I had the beginnings of what I thought could be an interesting piece anyway, so I figured I'd take a shot. Please review and tell me what you think! Thanks!