A/N Wow, nearly a month now. I know this looks like a sign of abandoning the story but, man, I am not going to do that. Its just that I have been studying for an exam which just keeps getting postponed, so its tough to balance between this and that, along with all the other stuff. Needless to say, The story will continue. I have got like 45 people following and I do not want to disappoint them.

Reading the reviews and people saying that they can't wait to see my main plot are people after my own heart. A part of me just wants to upload the main chapter, damn that is a good one. I have like two main chapters, which are set much later already written and I have to remind myself that I have built a structure for the story.

This is a Dumbledore POV chapter and I got stuck in between writing, which probably the reason I am half a month late. It was fun to write, though and interesting to explore his POV.

Enjoy and Review!

Chapter 12: Dumbledore: Daring or Deranged?

He paced around his office, an act which was becoming more and more common these days. There were too many things on his mind. Too many things to do. Every decision had to be thought through or else...well, he couldn't trust the Wizengamot and the ministry of magic to act unbiased and just.

This had been one of the first things he had learnt when he had started to become more active in the politics and the governance of the wizarding world. Be it the ICW or the Wizengamot, there were always powers and factors at play behind the scenes and the only way to counter them was to get your hands dirty too. Or else, the alternative would be to watch on as the whole system is mocked by blatant corruption.

This, of course, did not mean that he actively threatened or bribed anyone. He was more subtle, a figure to be relied upon, a figure who people listened to. It lessened the bout of shame that he faced, because in the end, the system was flawed and he broke it's fundamental values everyday.

Even after becoming the Supreme Mugwump and the Chief Warlock, he had tried to bring more transparency and more clarity to the workings of both the systems and, yet, people resisted. Perhaps, he could have done more? No one could answer that.

It seemed like no matter what he did, another issue or problem always came up. Like Hydra, cut off one head and two more sprout up in its place. He walked faster, his mind racing on.

Some days-to be very honest, most of the days- he questioned himself incessantly. Why was he even playing the puppeteer? After all, the ministry and the Wizengamot had existed for centuries and survived. The magical civilization had survived and was thriving, to some extent. There was no need for him to pull the strings, was it? He was satisfied with teaching, with promoting learning. He had been for nearly three-fourths of a century. Why, then?

And his brother's voice gave him the answer as always. A whisper, full of bitterness and agony, "When you can do the things that only you can, Albus, but you don't, and then the bad things happen? They happen because of you."

It was true. He remembered the first half of the century, with Grindelwald. How many years had he stalled, staying out of the conflict, suggestion resolution, when he knew and the ministry knew that he was the only one who could duel him and stop him?

How many lives did his cowardice cost? How many families torn apart? How many dreams unfulfilled?

Ariana may have been the first casualty that was his fault, but she certainly wasn't the last. Gellert had done well to remind him of that. Of course, he had attributed it to him not joining the cause rather than his reluctance to act.

He had promised himself that he wouldn't let it happen again. That he wouldn't just stand still and watch innocent people die.

"Innocent? None of these scum are innocent. And what's your word worth, Albus? You promised mother you would take care of Ariana. And we all know how that turned out."

The last two surviving members of an ancient family, living a few kilometers apart but estranged. He was still tolerated at the bar, though.

Briefly, he hadn't, when his brother kicked him out. " Lies and deceptions, Albus. Secrets and lies, that's how you operate. Your words mean nothing. "

Tom Riddle had been an enigma since the start. No child, at the age of 11 at least, could be condemned as a dangerous murderer and narcissist, an irredeemable evil and yet, Tom radiated malevolence. The memory of their meeting was as clear as if it had happened yesterday.

It wasn't the abject curiosity of Gellert, the indifference to emotions but a fascination to understand. That he could understand; unfortunately, he could relate; but Tom…

Tom had been a master of control, an expert in projecting whatever he wanted to be seen as, adept at charming anyone and yet, you could see the real person underneath...His charm had been just a snake skin, to be shed when no longer needed.

Despite all of it, he had treated Tom as any other pupil and not mentioned any of his suspicions to any other professors. He still wondered whether he should have done anything different. It was nigh impossible to prevent his rising, barring death or incapacitation. He had realized that when Tom had framed Hagrid. Opening the Chamber of Secrets; indifferent to the chaos, it was only means to an end.

His rise to all his positions had happened roughly around Tom's shedding of his snakeskin, no longer interested in charm. Power was more attractive for Voldemort. Fear was a better weapon, more suited to his workings.

It was a sign of the workings of some higher power - a guardian angel maybe, if you may- that Voldemort had not won the war. Had Eugenia been left to her own workings, Voldemort would have ruled the wizarding world without even raising her wand. Harold Minchum on the other hand was the war-minister. Minchum's policies were brutal and ineffective, the worst combination in a population teeming with insurgents and rioters.

Albus wiped his head with his sleeve and sat down, looking at his phoenix, trilling softly. He had realized early on that talking to Fawkes helped him stay grounded and not trail off in his thoughts and what-ifs.

The truth was that it was too much. Aside from these diplomatic maneuvers, his official positions ate a lot of his time. It had worsened in the past decade.

Bagnold had been manageable but Fudge was a born politician. It did not help that Lucius had a hand in the pot as well through him. At least, his position in the Board of Governors was gone after the Chamber of Secrets debacle had been enough. Albus had had suspicions from the start on the petrifications and the reasons but could not find the relevant information. It had taken him tracking down one of his contacts in Prague and then confirming with Newt Scamander to be sure.

But before he could do anything, he was removed and Hagrid taken to Azkaban. His plan had been to double back the next night and find the chamber. Harry beat him to it, and Harry's courage in the face of evil gave Albus the boost he needed to search more, to prepare more, to be ready for the day when Lord Voldemort would return.

The diary had opened a whole set of possibilities, each more gruesome than the other. He had theories but he hoped he was wrong. The scar in particular was something else, something he hadn't noticed before. He hoped he was wrong…

He had thought that Tom couldn't surprise him anymore but he always did. Possessing Quirinus and drinking unicorn blood? Tom didn't care at all, breaking natural magical laws set in stone. Killing something that pure was a crime. It was a cursed existence but it was his hubris.

His plan for that year hadn't worked as well as he would have liked it too. He had known by Quirrell's behavior that he was possessed by Voldemort. Moving Quirrell to Defense Against the Dark Arts was elegant too as it ensured that he and Tom would be removed from the school by the end of the year, thwarted by Tom's own curse. He knew that though it would affect the teaching standards of the subject, he would try and cover it the next year.

The only hitch in the plan had been Harry's initial reaction to the mirror. When he had asked him of his first encounter, he had immediately realized that Harry, like him, had been shown his family. He had thought that his desire would prevent him from taking the stone. He had been wrong about it and that had changed the equation.

He had subtly put everything in place for Harry and Quirrell to meet underneath the school, believing that neither of them can get the Philosopher's Stone, and for Harry to get a shot at defeating Voldemort before his 17th birthday, while nothing bad can happen to him. The blood protection was intact and if Voldemort actually died, Harry could be spared of his awful destiny. But it did not work. And yet, Harry had shown himself to be more like his mother. His goodness shone through him and Tom's darkness was no match for it.

For now.

It had been more difficult to replace Quirrell though. Albus had finally decided to employ Lockhart. It was partly due to lack of applicants and partly due to Lockhart's fraud. But to prove that Lockhart was, in fact, committing illegal actions in order to further his own reputation would be more difficult. The two wizards Albus knew, from whom Lockhart had stolen their accomplishments, no longer had their memories, and it would simply be Dumbledore's word against Lockhart's. Yet Lockhart had to be stopped. His Memory Charms were criminal, not merely unethical.

So, he employed him. Lockhart would be no worse than Quirrell, and he believed that having him teach would expose him as a fraud. Furthermore, Lockhart could not steal other wizards' memories and accomplishments if he was teaching at Hogwarts. Short of having him tried and thrown into Azkaban proving him a fraud was the best way of protecting the wizarding community.

The only problem was the effect on the education of that subject. Albus knew that he really needed to get a good teacher for the subject for the next year. Luckily, he had someone in his mind.

Thinking about Remus took him back a full circle to Voldemort and the prophecy- and the fall of the Potters.

October 31st, 1981. Everyday he wished they had listened to him. He had offered to be the secret keeper because he knew Tom would never be able to get the location from him.

But James and Lily had trusted their friends and had paid the price. The matter seemed simple in this regard and yet some things hadn't added up.

Had Peter not died, Albus was now sure that Pettigrew was the spy. It had been difficult to analyze everything during the war but in the aftermath, every information leaked and every operation failed, all had led back to Peter. But Peter was dead. Curious.

Sirius had killed him. Sirius Black, the loyal Gryffindor had killed one of his best friends. It was almost impossible to believe, even after all these years.

Albus looked out of the window at the night sky, spread out stark-black, twinkling with stars, looking as if they were winking at him.

When the Fidelius charm had been performed, Sirius had been designated the secret keeper. The protector. He was the most obvious choice, someone who would never betray you.

So what happened afterwards was... inexplicable. It didn't match Sirius's character. He wasn't the type to betray his best friends.

He had a hunch that the Potter's will would have the answer but herein was the crux of the matter, the reason why it was hard for him to determine whether Sirius was innocent and Peter was alive.

If he had opened the will in the Wizengamot, under laws for minors, a number of families could have had the chance to adopt 'the-boy-who-lived' and the best-placed among them were those who were under the dark lord. He would have no legal basis for keeping Harry away from the Malfoys; even though anyone who knew James and Lily would have been sure that Malfoys would have been the last place they would have wanted Harry to go.

He was sure the will would have mentioned the Marauders as the surrogates but out of the three, one was supposedly killed by the other while the third was underground and a werewolf. Malfoy and his deep pockets would have won. Even at the cost of the identity of the spy, Harry would have been condemned to live with the people, indirectly, responsible for his predicament.

He played the odds. He cared about the boy.

Sending them to Dursley's had been quite a legal maneuver, including sealing James and Lily's will and using muggle laws to bypass the Wizengamot. In the mess of the fall of the dark lord, it had worked. It had kept him under the radar. Though he would have never ever thought how Harry would have been treated. It had been a result of taking too much load. He didn't have time to check on Harry throughout his childhood. It was just 11 years of keeping out one fire and then the other and then the next and so on.

The work was taking a toll on him. Thirteen years and he was still stuck on unravelling the mystery. It wasn't just the matter of justice, if Sirius got free, Remus would be better and Harry would finally have someone who knew his parents close to him. It would no doubt make it tougher for him to convince them to let Harry go back to the Dursleys but it would be worth it.

He cared about the boy. He cared a lot and he hoped everyday that Harry Potter would not suffer any more pain. He had had enough for a lifetime.

He got up from the chair and walked to the corner of the room, when one of his portraits told him that the potions master was coming to meet him. He acquiesced and walked back to his seat, waiting for Severus to come up.

They had a lot to discuss, including the curious actions and reactions of Messrs. Weasley and Potter.


A/N I hope you liked this chapter. Something different, eh? Next time we go back to our favorite protagonists. And finally, Christmas time, which means...horcruxes. I don't know when the next update will be but I'm guessing atleast 10 days and hopefully, no more than 15.

Reviews:

Elstan I agree with the ships things man. OP ships all the way! I like your idea regarding Luna but at 13, I find this hard to believe. Maybe the next year, with S.P.E.W and all? It would have taken too much time to show his degradation but I think it is improbable that only Draco was all out for antagonizing the trio. There must be more. Maybe even good Slytherins?

The Sound Shaman Alright man, but read the content before giving up or sm. I was just excited and didn't think how an AN would like as a first. I mean, it's like 2 paragraphs and then go to the prologue. I hope you do read the story.

destroyerofxx it wasn't exactly my intention to 'put her in her place'. It was more like showing different sides of the reactions which had had to happen. Plus, Hermione's reaction wasn't exactly textbook perfect either. Balance makes things better and real.

Sparkling Ramtemis Again, all my love for reviewing multiple chapters. Its so awesome to read so many reviews. Mate, you get me. A twist on time travel with its limitations makes it much more realistic. Draco is complex. He has got a great arc. Harmony eh, but thanks a lot. I love your reviews. Also, I don't know why my source got deleted, I will check it again. And the history lesson is just me experimenting with different writing styles. I hope its not boring. It plays a role though.

Please follow, favorite, and review!