The Calm Before The Storm

Eleven years ago, Voldemort decided to tone down his war. Hostilities still happen, but nowhere near as bad as they once were. Nobody knows why, but many link Voldemort's change in strategy to the death of Albus Dumbledore around the same time. The Wizarding world waits in fear for the day in which Voldemort decides to try once again. What is he waiting for? Meanwhile two boys of prophecy prepare to enter Hogwarts...

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or anything related. All of this is the intellectual property of J.K. Rowling. I am simply playing in her sandbox.

24th March, 1980

The One with the Power to vanquish the Dark Lord Approaches…

Albus Dumbledore ruminated on what he had heard not a week previously in the Hog's Head. One of two children, destined to defeat Voldemort. Until last week, Albus was skeptical about the value of Divination, but when he heard the seer- Professor Trelawney, now- go rigid, and speak as if she were nothing more than a conduit for a Higher Power, well, Albus now was a believer. And he was certain Voldemort was, too. Now, how to use that against him…?

Crack!

A cloaked man approached Albus from down the winding road he was walking past. This wouldn't be out of the ordinary- lots of people apparate around the orchards near Hogsmeade, but this man quickly stumbled towards Albus, and fell to his knees. The man's hood slipped off. It was Severus Snape, the boy who Aberforth caught spying on him during the job interview.

"What do you want?" Albus coldly asked.

The anguish on Snape's face was palpable.

"Dumbledore… the prophecy… I did not know… Lily!"

"Speak up, why are you here in such a state?"

Snape took a deep breath, and tried again.

"Sir, I reported the prophecy to the Dark Lord, but I did not know he would target Lily's child!"

"And why should that matter to you? Still clinging to a schoolboy crush?"

Snape was gobsmacked. Evidently he wasn't expecting this cold reception

"Sir…" he began again, "Please, I beg of you. Save Lily for me… and her child, of course… Please… I'll do anything…"

Albus was intrigued. "Anything?" he asked

"Anything!"

Albus extended a hand. It would be his final mistake.

Snape took Dumbledore's outsretched hand, and both suddenly swirled away into the night.

Disoriented, Albus looked around, but couldn't see much more than a grand, yet dimly lit room, before someone shouted "Stupefy!" and all went black.

When Albus woke, he felt very weak. He had been strapped to a chair, facing the self-styled Lord Voldemort himself, in his throne, twirling the Elder Wand in between his long, bony fingers. Surrounding them both was a crowd of wizards and witches in black cloaks and masks. One stood closer to Voldemort than the rest.

"Ah, yes." Began Voldemort, in the high pitch his voice changed into, becoming as serpentine as his face had, over the years. "Albus Dumbledore. Defeater of Grindelwald. Leader of the Light. The only man I ever feared. Well, no longer!"

The crowd laughed.

"Look at him now! Tied to a chair and unable to escape, like a common Muggle!"

Voldemort turned to address him.

"I hope you noticed you can no longer access your magic. One of the experimental potions Severus cooked up for me. Yes, you almost thought he would turn traitor for a Mudblood whore. You sentimental old fool. Pity is your downfall."

He turned to the Death Eater standing closest.

"Severus, come here, would you? I have need of your talents again."

The man walked forward, no longer in anguish- was all that merely an act? He bowed.

"What does My Lord request of me?"

"Severus, I need the other potion you're carrying on you at the moment. Give it to Dumbledore, whether he likes it or not."

A wave of Snape's wand later, and Albus' head was paralyzed, unable to stop three drops of clear liquid dropped down his throat. He recognized the effects of Veritaserum taking hold over him, before his head was released. But by then, he could not resist. Normally he could, but with the effects of whatever potion Voldemort had used to bind his magic, Albus was helpless. His eyes glazed over, and he expressionlessly looked at Voldemort, waiting questioning against his will.

"What is your name?" asked Voldemort

"Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore"

"How old are you?"

"Ninety-eight years of age"

"State the full contents of the prophecy you witnessed on the sixteenth of March?"

Unable to resist, despite all attempts to struggle, Albus could only submit and recite what he had heard, as Voldemort and his followers watched.

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."

Eagerly, Voldemort went on.

"Do you have any guesses as to who the prophecy applies to?"

"It could apply to one of two children, both due to be born at the end of this upcoming July, the child of the Potters, and the child of the Longbottoms. Both couples have defied you three times."

"Where are the Potters and the Longbottoms presently?"

"I have not been informed of their locations. I was going to suggest they hide under the Fidelius Charm, but as I have not yet informed them, it is not safe for them to stay in one place for any given period of time. No one save their friends and family know where they are."

Disappointed at this lack of information, but not willing to waste the opportunity to gain valuable information from Dumbledore, Voldemort pressed on.

"Where is the current Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix?"

"Hogwarts."

"Who beyond this room knows the full contents of the prophecy?"

"James Potter, Lily Potter, Frank Longbottom, and Alice Longbottom."

"How did you inform them if they are in hiding?"

"A method of communication I invented that cannot be intercepted or falsified."

"Who else knows about the prophecy?"

"The Unspeakables, Aberforth Dumbledore, Augusta Longbottom, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew."

"Who are your spies in my ranks?"

"I have none."

Looking satisfied, Voldemort signaled Snape again, who poured the Veritaserum antidote down Dumbledore's throat. Albus immediately lost the glazed look from his eyes, and looked around sharply, glaring at Voldemort.

"Well, old man, as you have realized by now, I have all the answers I need from you. Your information has been extremely helpful. To think I nearly brought about my own downfall by marking an infant."

And with no more evidence than a flash of green light, Albus Dumbledore was no more.