Outside the castle in Hogsmeade, there were sounds of great celebration, all over the United Kingdom a very great many people were doing a very great deal of ill-conceived actions after feeling finely freed from the hard shackles of terror that had bound the magical population for so long. It was unfortunately not a feeling I could afford to share in, because the harsh truth of the matter was that Tom remained in the world through some spell or ritual that was quite probably dark in magical nature that currently escaped my knowledge. This was merely the occurring of a stalemate in the game, a resetting of the board for the next round in the war for the very soul of the magical world, and quite possibly the muggle one as well. Decisions needed to be made immediately, plans put into place, safeguards insured, and his people to look after. Brushing the itchy tears out of my eyes, it was horrible to have lost so much simply to gain a small reprieve. James and Lily were a bright star in a rapidly darkening sky, and to see that star snuffed out before it could truly shine a light and cleanse some of the stain that had grown into magical society over the ages was tragic. I had expected great things from this generation and a great many wrongs finally righted, but Tom had seen fit to tear this generation apart himself and prevent any chance of that. No, most now would enjoy the peace they had now received and be grateful and unwilling to risk forfeiting it for themselves or their children. There was one child who would never have the opportunity of having peace with his parents, though the course of the war had ensured there were countless others. I was minutes away from a very important meeting with one of the men responsible for this particular beginning.
Severus, his soul already stained from his past choices was hanging to life by a thread, and if any possible healing were to occur, a difficult conversation was to be had immediately face to face. Some would call me naïve for trying to save the souls of those who call me their enemy, but I have seen with my own eyes the power that redemption brings and the healing that genuine remorse can bring. Many of my greatest allies and triumphs between Gellert and Tom had only been possible due to the applicable use of mercy. It had actually been John Ronald who I met sometime after my fight with Gellert that helped me put my thoughts into words, "Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment. For even the very wise cannot see all ends." He really had a gift with words that surpassed even my humble gifts. But the ones who live that deserve death were bitter in his memories as he thought of one who judgment would soon be at hand if he had anything to say about it. For the very much doubted even he could rehabilitate such a person.
The soul of Sirius was almost certainly forfeited already. Still, the feelings of shock and disbelief would not leave upon the knowledge that he had betrayed his all but in blood brother, surely there must be some other reason or explanation. But James had told me himself, the memory of him laughing in my face when I suggested that he use some less obvious route to attack him feeling so painful now in reflection. No there was no coming back from such a willing and duplicitous act. While it was possible that Sirius may have given the information after torture, for even though the safeguards of the Fidelius spell were many, there were weaknesses in it. While the information could not be taken through the use of the Imperius curse or Veritaserum and could only be given willingly, it would take days of carefully controlled torture to break a will as strong as Sirius's to get him to willingly turn over the information, and Sirius and Augusta had been carefully protected and accounted for to make sure that would never happen. Though now that Tom was temporarily defeated he was certain Augusta would release the Fidelius Charm. Peter and Remus would need to be informed as soon as possible, though Peter had been uncontactable for the last week as he completed what was considered the most important mission of the war prior to these latest events.
The mission that now had been made in vain as we no longer required the location of Tom so I could finally capture the man myself. If Peter had been successful in his efforts Tom would have had nowhere to run as the many magics that he could have used to flee were blocked and finally, Tom would be forced to fight me instead of always flowing around me and attacking the very fabric that was holding the Ministry of Magic together. No matter how powerful I was, I could not be everywhere, and while I needed to protect the people and government to keep our way of life, Tom only had to attack and destroy until they lost the will to fight, and no matter how many followers he lost there was always more waiting to join the ranks for an easy chance to wealth and glory. Irritation was my primary emotion as I thought about all the times Tom had stayed just one step ahead of me, always just out of arms reach, retreating from the field every time I thought I finally would be able to bring him down.
Peter had been instrumental in locating and finding the weaknesses in Death Eater strongholds that had eluded us time and time again. And with every success we had burned one of Tom's escape tricks. When the last time he simply portkeyed away I knew we had him. He never would resort to so basic and simple a maneuver if he had any other choice. I had worried the strength of the previously scared little boy I had previously taught that had grown with help from his friends would wane after so many years of close calls and certain torture and death upon failure. The last time had not been so lucky for Peter, who had suffered from the Cruciatus for well over an hour before I had managed to arrive to rescue him. The courage of any normal man after that would have been shattered, but Peter had found the strength to rebuild himself, if perhaps far more timid and cautious than before. Peter almost had not been willing to go on this next mission, but James had talked him into it I was told. If we had finally found this last stronghold the war would be over. If only Peter had returned a few hours earlier, perhaps this never would have happened.
Hagrid was already on his way to the Potter residence to take charge of the boy and take him to his aunt's house where I had already erected the strongest magical wards I had the power to do, and it had consumed quite possibly some of my remaining magical strength forever, but a true analysis of the cost would have to be performed later. As long as the boy called that place home, in a particularly clever bit of magic I was quite proud of. The wards caused the magic of those intending to harm the boy would redirect upon themselves causing them an equivalent amount of harm they themselves were attempting to do. Of course, the strength of the effect would be proportional to the strength of the attacker's magic. Lily's sacrifice had opened this avenue to the greatest possible effect, blood magic had always been full of strength, even if its history was stained by its many dark uses that had been performed. The only magic stronger than blood magic was divine magic, and that was cast using the very soul itself as fuel. Treating the essence of your existence as tinder was a very risky and foolish thing to do. Only seers could use it without risk as they themselves were only conduits, not the source of the magic. This branch of magic came from across the barricade that death formed and as such could not be explained as to where it originated. All that was known was that prophecies were like offers from the other side by whatever God or Gods existed there. A prophecy only came true if it was accepted as true by one of the participants in the prophecy. The department of mysteries is filled with prophecies that people had widely decided to not be part of.
But Tom had done the most foolish thing of all and accepted the prophecy by acting on it, assuming that it would make it impossible for me to finally deal with him once and for all. Perhaps it was actually my fault for trapping him in a corner where he could not escape me by any other means. Once he acted on the prophecy, he removed my ability to stop him myself. Once a prophecy was started, it would occur no matter how much outside interference was performed. On more than one occasion individuals had burnt their soul out of existence trying. Now I could only direct my efforts in making sure that when Harry got to the point of fulfilling the prophecy, he would be the one who won. I feared all of my efforts would be in vain, and one day little Harry would have to be the one who fell and Tom triumphed. But even the very nature of the prophecy was sinister to my thinking. The wording, neither can live while the other survives worried me deeply. Would Harry be unable to live a happy or even normal life before Tom was vanquished? Was he doomed to some sort of half-life surely different than what Tom suffered now but possibly no less terrible. Hopefully, even though his aunt and uncle were fearful of magic, they would not take it out on an infant. There was unfortunately no better option.
There were none I trusted to help the boy the way Harry needed most, the opportunity to be raised as a normal child, not as a savior. Even those such as Minerva, Molly and Arthur, or Frank and Alice, would fall prey to treating the child differently or seeing qualities or motivations in actions that were not truly there. No, if Harry was raised Magical, he would believe he was fated to succeed or die before he even reached school age and such a folly would allow Tom to lure him into a trap and give him the victory he needs to achieve his goals. If only there was a way to place him with a muggle family that would not have the previous baggage that Petunia had undergone. Such a shame such a beautiful young girl had allowed jealousy, envy, and fear to take up residency within her. Alas, even if I were to find one that I could guarantee would be better for Harry, the rest of the Wizengamot would overturn his decision and possibly allow some of the Dark Families that may still escape justice an opportunity that was too terrible to consider, the raising of Harry as the next Dark Lord. By that time even I must admit in my growing age and diminishing power I would be unable to defeat a third even if by some chance I lived long enough to see Tom defeated.
Even now here I was spending far too much time plotting and resting when I needed to go out to attempt to save what was left of Severus's soul. I hoped it was not too late.
Hi everyone, I really wanted to write the original seven books from Dumbledore's perspective, this will mostly be snippets, as there is not a lot of material to go off of what was occurring with Dumbledore during the series. I plan for the series to mostly be dealing with politics and known scenes though there will be the occasional opportunity for Albus to show off why even now Voldemort fears him. Hope y'all enjoy, and I am sorry but I do write more when I get more reviews, so please feel free to leave what you think, I do not mind negative criticism.