Chapter 2-Machinations
Dumbledore sat alone in his office, helping himself to yet another lemon drop as he considered events of the past few months. The months had flown by under Dumbledore's quiet watch and quickly the prophecy had been narrowed down to a mere two families. Out of all those who had opposed the dark lord in the three major battles of the war thus far, only two had children at the end of July. Either the Potters or the Longbottoms had the child of the prophecy. "Although, things became rather complicated with the Potters, " Dumbledore recalled with a grimace as he thought back on his meeting with Severus Snape, a mere few days after both Lily and Alice had given birth.
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Dumbledore sat peacefully at his desk, pondering the meeting about to take place. Last night he'd received a letter from Severus Snape of all people, a former student that he was fully aware had gone straight into the Death Eaters after Hogwarts, that requested a meeted. Though calling it a request was a stretch, the man had begged, coming across as completely distraught even through a letter. Snape had claimed to have important information in the fight against Voldemort.
"Of course, he was also the very one who gave that information to Tom in the first place but still, I could hardly pass up such an opportunity to potentially turn someone against Tom. I need every resource I can get if I'm going to beat him," Dumbledore thought to himself. Sensing an alert from the edge of castle wards Dumbledore snapped himself out of his thoughts, McGonagal was escorting the death eater to his office at last. Waiting patiently, several minutes later the wards altered him again as the gargoyle moved aside and two wizards entered the stairwell. Shortly after, a sharp knock sounded on his door.
"Come in Minerva, thank you for escorting my guest, I can take over from here," He greeted his deputy, smiling slightly as she stepped into the room, followed by Snape. She'd come far from the young girl he'd taught during her first years here at Hogwarts. She was, perhaps, the closest thing he had to a friend anymore.
"Of course Albus," She said, a slightly nervous lilt to her voice as she glanced towards the guest in question. She quickly left the office and a moment later he sensed the gargoyle step aside once more as she headed back to resume her normal duties. Snape remained where he'd first entered the room, standing quietly as he eyed Dumbledore warily.
"Please, sit down Severus, would you care for a lemon drop?" Dumbledore said politely, breaking the silence as he gestured towards one of the chairs in front of his desk. Snape shook his head slightly, walking forward until he stood in front of Dumbledore's desk, an ashamed expression appearing on his face.
"Dumbledore. I… I made a horrible mistake," He cracked out in a whisper, "On the night Trelawney delivered that prophecy, I heard it. I heard the first few lines, up until the line about being born as the seventh month dies and I reported it to the Dark Lord. Lily gave birth to twins last month, Albus! Killing the Potters has become his top priority… He's hunting Lily now, Dumbledore! He wants to take them out first and eliminate two-thirds of the potential candidates for the prophecy, I can't allow him to hurt Lily!"
"What makes you care to begin with?" Dumbledore questioned, rather confident he already knew the answer. Legilimency on the students as children, while not something he enjoyed, tended to give him rather good insight into their motivations as they grew older and it had helped him to prevent more than one incident at the school. It was a necessary precaution he'd started to take shortly after Tom left the castle in an effort to avoid another Dark Lord's rise. Both of the most infamous Dark Lord's of the past century had risen under his watch and he refused to allow another to do the same.
"I love her Albus! I always have and I always will! Lily must be kept safe!" Snape replied desperately. Dumbledore had to resist the urge to grimace. The obsession he'd seen in the man's mind as a child wasn't anything remotely close to love, he doubted it had changed since the man left Hogwarts. Still, it was something he could use.
"What would you have me do, Severus? As I'm sure you're aware I'm already taking steps to protect both the Potters and the Longbottoms," Dumbledore answered serenely. Snape shook his head vigorously.
"It's not enough, it's never enough and you damn well know it. If the Dark Lord wants someone dead, they end up dead. I want your word, you'll do everything in your power to get Lily out of this war alive," He begged, his desperation bordering on fanatical.
"While I certainly have no intentions of allowing Lily Potter to die, why should I give you such a promise?" Dumbledore asked calmly.
"I'll tell you anything you wish to know, I'll report anything the Dark Lord says to you, I'll become a spy!" Snape said desperately.
"And you don't think Voldemort would notice if you suddenly started reporting to me?" Dumbledore questioned curiously, ignoring Snape flinching as he spoke Tom's self chosen name. Tom was many things but stupid wasn't one of them, he would notice a spy almost immediately. Snape straightened his posture and locked eyes with Dumbledore.
"I've been practicing Occlumency for years, feel free to test me. I can keep things secret," He answered confidently. Dumbledore took the opportunity he was offered, sending a legilimency probe into the man's mind, only to be stopped short as he came across something occlumency shields of significant strength. They were surprisingly well developed, he'd only encountered a couple of individuals with shields of the same level, and one of them was the Dark Lord Severus was offering to spy on.
"Occlumency? It will certainly help but are you confident enough in your acting to fool him? Voldemort's legilimency skill surpasses even my own Severus, and if he suspects anything he will torture you until your shields fail," Dumbledore argued calmly. Snape nodded his head slowly, not looking completely certain, but agreeing anyway.
"He won't find out anything if I don't want him to, I can be the spy you need Dumbledore," He replied.
"Are you sure of this Severus? You would become a spy for a cause you fought against? A cause fighting to end the very beliefs you claimed to follow?" Dumbledore retorted, seeking confirmation. Snape took a deep breath.
"For Lily? I'd do anything," He responded simply. Dumbledore bit back a smile at the man's words. He always did love when a plan came together so nicely.
"Very well Severus, you have my word, I will do everything I can to ensure Lily survives this war," Dumbledore promised. Hook, line, and a sinker. He had his spy. The stage was set.
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"It was bad enough when I had two children to choose between when deciphering who this damned prophecy was referring to, but three? Of course things just had to get needlessly complicated with Lily giving birth to twins. I need to figure out which one of them will be marked as his equal and fast. Once I find who it is I need to prepare and guide them down the right path," Dumbledore pondered to himself. The Potters were under the Fidelius Charm due to their lack of faith in their ancestral manor's wards after Voldemort's personal attack on James' parents in that very home. Meanwhile, the Longbottoms were holed up in their own ancestral manor, which, with his own additions, had some of the strongest wards in the country aside from Hogwarts. However, he needed to get things moving soon. The sooner that prophecy could come to pass, the sooner Tom would be dead for good.
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Voldemort stood in front of the small cottage the Potters had chosen to call their home and sneered in disgust. It was a quaint little house with wards to match; clearly the family had been overly reliant on the Fidelius Charm. Still, he admitted to himself regretfully, the wards were skillfully made even if they weren't particularly strong. While woefully insufficient to prevent him from entering the property, they were enough to slow him down, at least slightly. They were clearly Dumbledore's work and despite his opinion of the man, Dumbledore was a fellow mage-tier wizard with experience to match. That the man wasted his time acting like he was a doddering old fool at Hogwarts to make the sheep forget that he was dangerous didn't make his power any less significant.
Taking out his wand with a flick of his wrist, he began casting, rapidly shattering the wards on the property one after another. He'd need to remember to reward Wormtail; he wouldn't have been able to get to the Potters behind the Fidelius without his assistance. Of course he'd have to kill the man shortly after, anyone willing to betray their supposed childhood friends so easily was far more liable to hurt his cause than help. All it would take for him to spill secrets was to be captured and threatened by just about anyone, the man's cowardice would do the rest. Still, the rat's assistance had saved him the time he'd been dedicating to creating a ritual to shatter the Fidelius's protection.
He scowled to himself, still attempting to bring down the wards as he pondered the few lines of prophecy one of his faithful, actually competent, servants had overheard at the Hogshead. One born with the power to destroy the dark lord? He could count on one hand the number of people in the world capable of even tying him in a duel; he who had delved deeper into the dark arts than any in history. But for someone fifty years his junior to one day best him? The thought was absurd!
Still, precautions had to be taken, hence his hunt for these children. Once the three possible children of prophecy died, he could pick off the few remaining threats to his reign in Britain, Dumbledore chief among them. From there, the International Confederation of Wizards would be next, though he'd need to prepare himself more for that confrontation. While the ICW refused to intervene in the war while he kept matters contained to Britain, they would be a problem once he turned his attention away from the Isles. Smiling as the last on the property fell, he slowly walked towards the front door. As he approached, it swung open, revealing Wormtail awaiting inside.
"I trust things have gone as planned on your end Wormtail?" Voldemort questioned, his voice coming out unnaturally high, an unfortunate side effect of a ritual he'd undergone shortly after graduating before he'd truly understanded the art.
"Of course my lord, the Potters remain out on their first date in months, they leapt at the chance to get out and about for an evening once I volunteered to watch the children. It was just as your greatness predicted my lord. I felt you break the wards and knew everything had gone as planned," The man replied, smirking slightly. Wormtail was a short man and far more heavy set than was healthy, with a look about him that vaguely reminded Voldemort of the rodent that was the man's animagus form. Still, the man had his uses, for the present at least.
"Where are the children, Wormtail?" Voldemort asked, rapidly growing impatient with the man's time wasting words. While he never minded being reminded of his greatness, even had limits to his ego. He didn't need worthless trash to remind him he was great, he already knew as much, he was Voldemort! The greatest dark lord in history!
"Of course, right this way my lord," Wormtail responded, turning rapidly and scampering off into the house. Voldemort followed after, his eyes lighting up as he thought of putting an end to two of the possible subjects of the prophecy that predicted a child would have the power to destroy him. He followed Wormtail up the stairs of the small home as he was led into a child's bedroom. Once inside, he saw his objective, two babies lying in cribs right next to each other, a boy in one, a girl in the other. Wormtail bowed slightly as he gestured towards the children from his position near the door.
"Here you are my lord," Wormtail said proudly. Voldemort, in a rare show of human emotion, smiled with sheer, sadistic, joy as he neared the very children he'd been hunting for months..
"Thank you for your service Wormtail," Voldemort replied simply, "Avada Kedavra."
Before Wormtail had so much as a moment to react, the green light of the killing curse flew into his chest and he was no more. "Useless filth, I have no use for traitors in my ranks, at least you served your purpose, unlike far too many of my followers," Voldemort thought to himself. His eyes flicked back towards the two babies resting in the crib, noticing one of them slowly awakening, the boy he believed. His eyes seemed alight with intelligence as he stared up at the Dark Lord, eyes tracking Voldemort's movements as he looked at him in curiosity. It was a shame to murder a child so clearly intelligent when he might have been converted to the cause one day instead, but no one could be allowed to threaten his power.
"Avada Kedavra," He said simply, aiming at the boy's sister to start, who was still soundly asleep next to him. To his shock, as the spell flew towards the child the boy's eyes lit up, whirlpools of green shining similarly to his killing curse before the curse reflected off the girl, a huge flash of magic his only warning before the spell began flying towards him faster than he could dodge. The pain he experienced in that moment was beyond words, beyond his comprehension, he felt his mind snap and repair itself repeatedly as it shattered from the pain, the rituals he'd done attempting to preserve his mind and instead only continuing the torture for longer. Eventually though his soul finished ripping from his body before being blasted far away from the cottage by the spell. His spirit drifted, temporarily aimless as he attempted to repair his mind subconsciously, unthinking nor aware of anything around him.
Meanwhile, the small cottage seemed to be shaking from the sheer amount of magic used inside it, the walls shaking as it seemed the house would collapse. Harry slumped down in the crib, falling unconscious and unaware of what he'd just accomplished in turning away the killing curse with accidental magic in order to save his sister's life. His mind was rapidly overwhelmed as something unnatural flew into his body, hiding away in his mind. His sister on the other hand, stirred awake, her small hand clutching at her forehead where mere moments ago the explosion of magic had been blasted towards her, creating a lightning shaped scar on her head.
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Mere minutes after Voldemort's failed murder of their children, the Potters arrived home, their wards breaking having alerted them that something was amiss mid-way through their night out. Seeing their door wide open, they looked towards each other, panic and fear coloring their expressions before rushing inside. Looking around for a moment and seeing no sign of a struggle they hesitated for a moment, confused. "There's no sign of a fight and Fidelius is intact, did Wormtrail betray us?" James wondered to himself, his auror training kicking in quickly as he evaluated the area.
"The house seems oddly undisturbed, especially since I can feel the Fidelius still in place. If Voldemort didn't get rid of it somehow, he must have learned the secret from Pettigrew," Lily noted, doing her best to stay calm, voicing James' own darker thoughts aloud. James grimaced slightly at the thought. He'd been wondering how Voldemort had found them mere months after they'd put up the Fidelius Charm, but if Peter had been the spy, it would explain things. Hearing crying coming from upstairs, both he and Lily ran towards the source, hurrying up the stairs and into their children's bedroom. Laying in the front of the room, right next to the door, Peter lay dead, an expression of smug satisfaction on his face.
"You-Know-Who must've killed him once he showed him the way to the children, look at his expression, he looks happy!" James spat furiously, spotting the look on his childhood friend's face. He owed Remus an apology, not only was the man not the spy, a man he'd trusted to watch his own children was instead. Still, his supposed friend was hardly the most important thing in the room at the moment.
"James," Lily whispered, her eyes locked on a spot right in front of their childrens cribs. Following her eyes, he looked towards where she was staring, taking a step back slightly in shock. A black robe and wand laid empty in front of the cribs. Taking a deep breath James began planning their next steps immediately, considering the implications of what that robe and wand meant. Of the implications of Voldemort himself somehow disappearing.
Almost immediately though, his child's cries pulled him from his thoughts as his daughter screamed once more, continuing to clutch at her forehead.
"Lily, Holly's head, the prophecy…" James began, trailing off, unsure of how to continue. With a grimace, he stepped over the body of what had once been his lifelong friend, carefully inspecting the cut Holly had been reaching towards. There on her forehead was a bloody lightning bolt, the magic in it so strong that it was easy for James to feel, despite making no attempt to detect it.
"Yet the chosen shall be marked an equal," Lily recited breathlessly, approaching Holly's crib as well. Taking out her wand, Lily began casting detection spells rapidly as James picked up Holly, smiling down at Harry who seemed to be sleeping peacefully.
"There's traces of the killing curse all over the room James," Lily said breathlessly, freezing for a moment as the results from her spells came back to her.
"What? You mean Holly here somehow survived a killing curse being cast straight at her?" James questioned, gently tracing the small cut on his daughter's forehead where he could sense dark magic residue. Shuffling Holly into one arm, he drew his wand as he began attempting to heal the cut on her forehead, frowning slightly as it resisted his attempts. Lily, noticing James struggling, frowned slightly in concern.
"It might not be so simple to heal James, curse scars rarely are and if it IS from the killing curse like my spells are telling me, it's about as powerful of a dark curse as you can think of," She interrupted worriedly.
"We need to talk to Dumbledore, I know we sent him a patronus when we felt the wards fall but given that he still hasn't shown up, he probably never got the message. Could you go floo him Lily?" James asked, attempting to rock Holly back to sleep as he spoke. Lily stopped casting spells, nodding her head shakily in response.
"Right, of course, he needs to be informed," She said nervously, walking out of the room. After a few more minutes of calming his upset daughter, James cast a quick calming charm to put her back to sleep, smiling down at both her and Harry's sleeping forms one more as he turned away, his expression hardening as his eyes settled on the body of Pettigrew.
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"I'm afraid, news of what transpired here won't be secret for long," Dumbledore began, his mind racing as he planned around what he'd learned. Several quick spells to analyze the children had revealed much of the situation to him, but not everything. Both were scarred, in a way at least. Holly's was more obvious, a massive lightning bolt scar on her forehead that seemed to contain a huge amount of magical residue.
On the other hand, Harry seemed to have a permanent leech attached to his soul, a horcrux, he believed. He'd suspected for years that Tom had attempted to gain some form of immortality, and a Horcrux would certainly explain the line in the prophecy about a mage falling instead of dying. It was an odd choice of words to use, but if Tom wasn't dead, and instead he was merely temporarily taken out of the picture, it made more sense. Still, the very idea that a horcrux existed in Harry implied more, intentionally made ones existed. It was the only way Tom's soul would be so unstable as to fracture off during an attack gone wrong. Either way though, there was no saving the boy. He would need to die for Voldemort to finally be vanquished for good.
"Holly will need to be the one to defeat Tom one day, she'll need all the training I can give her to defeat him. Assuming I guide her on the right path, she should be suitable to take my place one day, watching over the wizarding world. Still, Harry will be a problem. How will she view killing him for the Greater Good? Perhaps isolating the boy would help? Making him distant from the family? She might be more willing to do what needs to be done that way. I need Harry to be willing to sacrifice himself," Dumbledore pondered, considering his next move.
"It seems that Holly is the target of the prophecy. The one with the power to vanquish the dark lord," Dumbledore said slowly.
"The prophecy, Headmaster? Surely it must be over, his robe and wand are in the other room. He wouldn't have left those behind if he was still alive would he?" James asked in confusion. Dumbledore shook his head, a sad smile appearing on his lips.
"I'm afraid that Voldemort has taken extreme measures to ensure he won't die quite so simply. He may be without a body, but that's only temporary for him and I'll need to prepare Holly for when he returns. That said, the next few months are going to be messy. With him gone the Ministry is going to go on the offensive against the Death Eaters and they're going to get desperate. You'll need to be wary of attacks from his followers that are trying to either avenge him or figure out what happened to him," He warned the couple.
"Is there no way to hide exactly who it was that brought down you-know-who to keep the attention off of us?" Lily asked desperately. Albus shook his head, frowning in response to her use of 'you-know-who'.
"Use his name Lily, he is gone for now and continuing to fear him will only give him more power over you. As for your question, I'm afraid not, my sources are already hearing whispers of Dark Mark's fading and they're going to ask questions and dig into matters until they find out why, they'll figure out where Voldemort was when he disappeared," Dumbledore said.
"What should we do, Headmaster?" James asked nervously, taking a breath to calm himself.
"While you should be safe in the cottage, I worry over your children. Holly is certain to have an abnormal childhood with her status as the defeater of Voldemort, there's not much you can do about that aside from protecting her as much as you can until she's ready. Her being the subject of a prophecy only makes her childhood even more complicated. You're going to have to dedicate a lot of time and attention to making sure she's safe and ready for the challenges that lie ahead for her. But Harry could be spared that, along with much of the danger that living with you would provide. He could live the life of a normal child, without having to grow up jealous of the fame his sister will doubtlessly possess, " Dumbledore replied, watching the pair's reaction closely.
"What do you have in mind to help him, Headmaster?" Lily asked quietly. Dumbledore let out a sigh, not quite sure how to answer without angering the pair. He took no joy in consigning a child to death, even if it was necessary for the Greater Good. He would allow the boy to grow up and live his life for as long as he could first, there were surely other horcruxes to destroy before the boy had to die.
"Hide the child, let him grow up peacefully and live a normal life among muggles, tell the world he died tonight," He elaborated. Lily began turning red and James' open expression instantly dropped into a scowl.
"You can't seriously expect me to abandon my child Dumbledore!" James yelled. Dumbledore flinched slightly at their hostility. Still, he needed to push them for this. He needed them to be ready for when Harry had to die. He drew on his magic as subtle as he could, wandlessly sending a compulsion towards both James and Lily to make them more open to the idea.
"Holly will already be in danger, trying to keep another child safe, one that doesn't need to be consigned to the fate she will have of growing up much too young would be a mercy," Dumbledore argued, "It's going to take most of your time to simply raise Holly while managing your job as an auror and helping me prepare Holly for what's to come."
"Perhaps… Harry could stay with Sirius, he is the godfather. He'd be safer there, but he'd also be able to see us occasionally," James said slowly. Lily turned toward her husband, clearly angered.
"James! We aren't sending Harry anywhere!" Lily yelled furiously, only for Dumbledore to cut her off before she could continue.
"It's a mute point I'm afraid. Harry would be in danger if he remained in the wizarding world, death eaters might try to use him as bait to draw you out, or worse, to get to Holly. Harry is better off outside the magical world," Dumbledore interrupted.
"If you see him regularly, it's only going to be harder when he has to die. I need a child who I can guide into doing what's right for the wizarding world, one that I can influence easily," Dumbledore thought privately. He did his best not to think about just what path he'd be leading that very child down. Eyeing James, who seemed less reluctant about sending Harry away, he subtly cast yet another compulsion charm.
"Dumbledore is right, Lily. I know it's awful to think about but it's what's best for Harry," James said after a moment of silence between the three. However before he could speak further, Lily interrupted him, sounding furious.
"I won't abandon my son Dumbledore! I can't believe you're agreeing with him James!" Lily said coldly, her fury obvious. Dumbledore mentally grimaced, Lily was a good parent to be against the idea even through the compulsion but that wasn't helping him right now. "I'm sorry Lily, both for you and your child," Albus thought, slipping past her rudimentary Occlumency shields and weakening her views on the issue by planting a fear of Harry's childhood being ruined from constantly living in fear of being attacked as well as doing his best to suppress her mounting anger..
"Lily, it will keep him safe, if the death eaters attack your home, and we both know they will, this way at least Harry will be out of harm's way," Dumbledore argued, playing on the fear he'd planted in her mind. Lily seemed to crumble at his words. She looked towards James for a moment before the couple nodded slightly.
"Very well Albus, do as you must," She said softly, a tear rolling down her cheek. Dumbledore smiled towards her, feeling himself dying a bit further as he compromised his morals once more. "Tom must fall, no matter the cost,," He thought to himself. It wasn't the first time he had justified doing something terrible for what he knew deep down was necessary, nor would it be the last. Anything for the Greater Good.
The next morning, in York, England, a baby with bright green eyes and black hair was found on the front step of New Dawn Orphanage. While no-one knew it at the time, that moment would be the beginning of a new age for the wizarding world.
AN: I promised you guys another chapter of this story by today, and here it is, almost 1k words longer than the previous chapter too! Hopefully you enjoyed it and whether you did or didn't, if you made it this far, please leave a review and tell me what you thought, I want to improve as a writer and feedback is one way of doing that. I'll be posting a chapter of Alter Forte next, so expect a post from this story in about a week's time. Hopefully I'll see you there.
Special shoutout to Drew1998 for being the first review on my story!