I don't own Harry Potter.
Please let me know what you think.
Harry Potter - Thinking like a Thief.
Following the argument he'd had with Dumbledore in the Headmaster's office, Harry hadn't seen much of the old wizard. He had been worried that after their initial talk/argument, Dumbledore would go out of his way to keep calling for him to return to his office for pointless talks. But it hadn't happened. That alone had him suspicious, and so he'd had the house elves keep watch over him and report to Harry in case Dumbledore came up with some newest scheme to cause problems for him in the future.
That was the last thing Harry needed right now. The OWLs were getting closer and closer and since they were an important part of his plan for freedom he had no intention of worrying about Dumbledore.
He had hoped when Voldemort had died, the old wizard would find something else to occupy his time without him acting like Winston Churchill and the Duke of Wellington rolled into one.
He had gone for the plan to end Voldemort because he was tired of not only the never-ending petty schemes from both Riddle and from Dumbledore, but he was also tired of the pointless pains and stupid visions in his scar, but he had thought the old man would have seen it was pointless to go on obsessing over Tom Marvolo Riddle after he had fucked up so badly with the evil bastard in the past.
In Harry's mind, Dumbledore was just not justified in what he'd done. Oh, he could understand him trying to make amends for not doing anything against Riddle if that was what it was, but that was an excuse in Harry's mind because he didn't think Dumbledore regretted anything he had done in all the years since, but he had just done it so badly and Harry didn't like how the Headmaster justified every single thing he had done as some kind of sick destiny that he believed was Harry's own natural path.
But he was wrong. Dumbledore, for reasons Harry had problems understanding or even working out, was convinced Voldemort had survived death yet again, and ever since the argument he had come to realise something about Dumbledore.
The old man was not only a control freak, he seemed desperate for some reason for Voldemort to be alive, and be someone to fight.
During the talk he'd had with Dumbledore, Harry had been listening in disbelief and horror. Dumbledore was obsessed with the idea of fighting Voldemort. He believed he was Alexander the Great, or Napoleon Bonaparte. He believed Voldemort was the best enemy he'd ever fought, but Harry had started to wonder if Dumbledore's desperation stemmed from a need to be the one to save the day and have all the answers. In his first two years, Harry had never seen so much as a hint that the old wizard had given Amelia Bones or the ICW information about Voldemort's survival.
In fact, he doubted he had done any such thing, to say nothing of his nonchalant attitude with the Tournament and the basilisk. Harry had seen no sign of any auror present, even when Fudge's insane decision to get Hagrid out of Hogwarts happened. Or even afterwards. It wasn't hard to imagine being possible; with his power base and his connections, it wasn't impossible for Dumbledore to set up several roadblocks to stop the authorities from taking an interest.
But would they have done?
Almost everyone in the magical world had been taught to revere the old wizard; it was hard for them to shake off that kind of belief.
No matter. Harry wasn't interested in Dumbledore's mindset, only what he planned to do later on. That was why he had a house-elf watching the old wizard, and he also had one spying on the Order of the Phoenix sessions.
Harry was just relieved some of the more intelligent members of the Order were just as confused by their leader's stance and were convinced about Voldemort's death especially since the mysterious deaths of so many of the Death Eaters, although the division was there for all to see. Some of the weaker members of the Order were convinced by Dumbledore about Voldemort's continual living.
Harry wasn't bothered about them. Even if they initially assume that Voldemort had tricked the magical world and killed a large number of his followers to confuse his enemies, eventually they would realise he was really dead, especially when the ICW had finished its job.
Either that or they simply ignored the proof because Dumbledore disagreed with it. Then again there would likely be the proof with the Death Eaters, and Harry hoped the proof made the magical world wake up.
The house-elves welcomed the work; around the time of Voldemort's death, the house-elves had been given only a few tasks and they hadn't been sent out to commit any burglaries beyond spying on Voldemort. Harry had decided not to bother committing any more thefts now; they'd gathered enough over the year and he wanted to concentrate his energy on studying for the OWLs. That was all he wanted to do. And it was highly unlikely Dumbledore would get in the way of anything like that, but at least he had the house elves spying on Dumbledore to come to him if the Headmaster came up with something quickly so he was forewarned.
There was no doubt in his head Dumbledore would try something, the only problem was it was only a matter of time.
That was why he had taken steps. After Dumbledore had brought him to his office and told him that Voldemort was still alive, Harry had sent Dobby with a copy of the horcrux book and sent an anonymous note to the ICW telling them that Voldemort had used horcruxes to live forever. The house-elves had been ordered to keep watch there, too and what they came back with was enough to make him thankful there were wizards who had some degree of intelligence. They had conducted a massive search of the British isles, looking for every single horcrux they could find. And they destroyed them even if it was actually a redundant thing to do with their creators had long since been dead. It was purely a matter that horcruxes were an abomination against magic.
Horcruxes were evil, pure evil and nobody in their right mind would ever want them around. While their creators made them on the false premise they would grant immortality they had a number of terrible side effects like the diary horcrux that had affected Ginny Weasley.
But that wasn't all. Harry had made sure to include in the letter that Dumbledore was likely labouring under the foolish notion Voldemort was still alive. It wasn't a particularly wise thing to do on his part but Harry felt it was a good idea since the old man had taken his views Voldemort was still alive somehow in the Daily Prophet. Harry guessed Dumbledore was trying to rally some kind of support to protect them from further attacks from the Dark Lord later on. Unfortunately, Harry wasn't surprised when the prophet, instead of respecting Dumbledore, had claimed he was becoming even more senile. They'd had plenty of practice thanks to Fudge over the last few months, and with Dumbledore missing so many of his titles and roles in magical society barring the Headmaster's position, the Prophet felt they could publish anything about the old wizard and get away with it.
Dumbledore was making it too easy for him to be denounced as a senile old crackpot. He was simply too narrow-minded and his lack of foresight had clouded his reality. He simply didn't realise that people were beginning to see that people were throwing off the yoke he had placed on the country with his talk about the 'Greater Good' and the myth that he was Merlin reincarnated. That was one of the reasons why he had sent the ICW the book and the note telling them to seek out proof Voldemort had used horcruxes so they could verify it, and get Dumbledore out of his hair.
But the news of Voldemort's 'death' at the Ministry had been met with derision by Dumbledore, and now he wondered if anything could move Dumbledore on.
Harry eventually decided Dumbledore wasn't at the top of his priority list. He would have the house-elves keeping a watch on the old wizard and he would focus on his education. In the meantime, Harry was keeping his head down so he could look at the way the magical world was evolving with the death of Voldemort and the loss of so many Death Eaters who ran pureblood families. Even now Harry wasn't worried. The ICW investigation team had begun looking into the actions of the Death Eaters who'd survived and had questioned them. There were likely ICW members worldwide who shared the same fundamental beliefs muggles were animals and wizards were superior, but even they were sickened by what the Death Eaters had done.
Torture. Rape. Kidnapping children and forcing them into brothels or other forms of sick slavery. The former Death Eaters were horrified by what they had become, they had become much the same people they had been hating for so long now but their innate superiority complex would likely not leave them for a long time. The ICW had spared no expense in breaking the myth the Death Eaters were victims under the Imperius curse or compulsion charms. And they had spared no expense in punishing the Death Eaters for their crimes, but the more Harry observed the ICW were more concerned with the Statute of Secrecy. For that, the former Death Eaters were executed.
Their families had their remaining fortunes ripped away and they were not alone. The pureblood elite of Britain was treated harshly by the ICW, and it was beginning to show in the rants of several of the purebloods in Hogwarts and the angry protesting of the Ministry, but they were quickly silenced. The ICW harshly reminded the British Ministry that their job was the maintenance of the Statute of Secrecy, which members of their 'august elite' had been proven guilty of breaking. The ICW was going to make Britain an example of those who tried to break the Statute. And they were going to make the punishments long, hard, harsh and monumental.
Harry didn't know what the ICW would do. The newspapers wouldn't give the stories, but he had learnt from the house elves the ICW was going to be looking at every possibility.
But in the end, Harry eventually decided that the problems within the magical world were of their own design. His priority now was to focus on his exams and escape.