Found this while cleaning and finally throwing away old notebooks from high school. Didn't make any changes so grammatical errors and typos are mine.
Thanks for reading!
Albus Dumbledore had few regrets in life. He was a driven and everything he did, he did for the greater good. There were pains and sacrifices along the way but Albus knew they had to be done. If he had to say what he regretted, truly regretted, he knew that his failure to protect those who had trusted him would weigh heavily on that scale. He was saddened, yes, by Arianna's death but he found some comfort in not knowing who's spell hit her. At the very least it could possibly not be him.
However his handling of the three boys who had trusted him implicitly weighed heavily on his soul. He had failed them, broken each one until he could no longer recognize the boy they once were. They were extraordinary children, each destined for greatness in his own path.
They could have done so much.
But Albus was blind and later prideful and then selfish. He'd ruined them each. Broken a child's spirit so thoroughly he was sure Arianna was cursing him from beyond the veil. But he could not mourn them, not when the wizarding world needed him so. Not when he needed to clean up the mess he'd made.
No, Albus Dumbledore had few regrets in life. He buried them beneath smiles and kindness and his drive to work for the greater good. He did not have time for regrets. All he did, he did in the name of the greater good.
Albus Dumbledore failed Tom Riddle. Looking back on their meeting Albus knew his mind was too crowded with Grindelwald to see Riddle as anything else. He would not be able to handle another Parselmouth. Another boy with bright eyes and even brighter ambitions.
He had condemned Tom Riddle there in that orphanage. Chose the boy's path for him in that very moment. Tom Riddle reminded him too much of Gellert Grindlewald for Albus to think straight. But if he had payed attention, if he'd truly seen the boy for who he was and not some pale imitation of someone long past he wondered if he could have saved him.
The way he had handled Severus Snape was regrettable. He knew he had wronged the young man deeply. Severus was a sensitive child, so hurt at such a young age and yet so willing to trust. By some miracle Severus had trusted his Headmaster despite how often the man had ignored and refused him.
Every request to spend the summer at Hogwarts ignored and every gently worded plea of concern from Slughorn refuted. Dumbledore remembered Eileen Prince, such a dark and arrogant woman. Her son would be no different. It wasn't until he had seen the broken man Severus had become that Albus truly realized his fault. By then it was too late.
When it came down to Harry Albus was well aware of his wrongdoings. He remembered pleading for forgiveness as he left the boy on his relatives' doorstep. He remembered looking at the small child hunched over and shaking with fear in his office as the boy recounted his encounter with Quirrel and Voldemort.
He had hurt Harry the moment he took custody of him. But he could not dwell on that now. Not when Tom Riddle's soul resided in Harry. Not with the Prophesy looming over them. Not when a sacrifice needed to be made. No, he needed to do this. Harry was born to do this, to be this.
Albus had no time for regrets. Everything he did, he did for the greater good. A dear friend had once explained that to him.