The Patience of Albus Dumbledore, a harry potter fanfic

One of the earliest lessons any parent teaches their child is about patience. The patience of waiting in line for the register, or the patience of waiting your turn to speak. This concept sits hand in hand with please-and-thank-you's, and next to other mannered concepts, such as table manners and not burping in polite company.

While the majority of people have fallen into habit around these mannerisms (with exemptions present within every population), some excel with these mannerisms, and can turn them into a deadly force. For, what is not a long-term plan if not dedicated and extremely measured patience? And what is patience if not carefully set planning and distractions and divergences until the main goal is produced?

Albus Dumbledore was a man of many things. Names, for one, as well as titles, professions, and masteries. While his defeat of the wizard known as Gellert Grindelwald was publicly known, much of his early life was not, and he preferred to keep it that way, content to be seen as the blindingly white leader of the light. And despite many decades passing since his childhood, he was still the same person unchanged, and held the same curiosities about the world and the magics residing within.

Albus first met Gellert Grindelwald when he was 18, freshly graduated from Hogwarts. Together, a deep interest into rare magics was formed, centered around the Deathly Hallows; three magical items fabled to bring one into the position of Master of Death. These items were featured within the famous children's book compilation Tales of Beedle the Bard, and by their reasoning, every tale has a semblance of truth and history has a complicated story. Thus, Albus' interest into these magical objects began.

Despite a fast and binding friendship between Grindelwald and Albus, nothing more came of it and they soon split, a war dividing the bonds that had formed between the two. After years of fighting on opposite sides of the same front, Albus could not be seen associated with the publicly announced "Dark Wizard" and no contact passed between them there on. However, his enthusiasm and interest in the Hallows remained, and took up the mantle of headmaster of Hogwarts, where he had a number of resources at his disposal for further research into the Hallows.

His first breakthrough with the Hallows comes from an initially unexpected source: The well-known, light Potter Family. Fleamont Potter, the only child of the family, had been sent a Potter heirloom in an invisibility cloak that no discrete enchantment Albus sent worked upon. He inquired about the cloak, but Fleamont was reluctant to give it up. That's alright- Albus could wait.

Further research into the Potter family however, yielded interesting results. In the 12th century, Iolanthe Peverell, granddaughter of Ignotus Peverell, married Hardwin Potter, both creating the current line of Potters and starting a tradition of the handing of the cloak to the heir of the house. Peverell, as Albus was already aware, was a name commonly associated with the Hallows.

And so, plans were made, and the wheels of time steadily churned on.

Albus saw his opportunity for the cloak and stone in a small orphanage in London in 1938. A small boy with dark hair and hard, intelligent eyes would do nicely as his method for success. Tom Riddle, records said his name was, and he was perfect.

Not only was he an emotionally beaten and abused boy, but his mother, a Gaunt, also had connections to the second brother in the story; Cadmus Peverell. While the boy would obviously not have the stone, being an orphan, he may later have access to family vaults that the stone could have been hidden in.

Albus sat next to the boy in the orphanage and told him of his history. How magic exists, and how it can be used to do anything. He told Tom about the magical world, and how he was a half-blood, left in this place where muggles abused him due to his muggle father leaving him, playing on his hatred of the orphanage, and told him how difficult it was to get into any position of power in the wizarding world without a strong, magical name, looking sorrowful as he explained that "Thomas Marvolo Riddle" probably wouldn't cut it even if his mother was a Gaunt.

Albus also explained a simplified version the houses at Hogwarts- Gryffindor, for bravery, often associated with recklessness; Hufflepuff, for those loyal to a fault, but often thought to get those less strong in other attributes; Ravenclaw, those for the intelligent, though often associated with the snobby and uptight; and Slytherin, the house of ambition, where those hid their agendas while working towards them. Albus could see the calculating glance every time Slytherin was bought up in conversation after, and inwardly smirked- yes, Slytherin would be perfect for this boy, and his goals. With any stroke of luck, Tom would hate the muggle world, and hate the magical government too, and something would become from his plans.

Before Albus left, he silently charmed the other inhabitants of the orphanage to have a greater dislike of Tom than they already did.

And time slowly ticked on.

1945 came around and with it, the busiest year that he had ever had. Tom Riddle had been sorted into Slytherin years prior, and with his last year of school, he had amounted a number of followers, made plans for the reformation of magical government, delved into dark arts, and wanted to achieve his goals through any means necessary. Furthermore, he hated the headmaster with a vengeance, and Albus thought quite happily his plans were in motion extraordinarily well.

However, with 1945, the war with Grindelwald came to an end. After a massive show of extreme power from both parties, Albus had disarmed and bound Grindelwald, and walked away with the elder wand. He tried to not let his emotions show as his long-time friend was dragged away, and went back to the school to continue as normal.

One down, two to go.

Albus saw nor hide nor hair of either the stone or cloak for many decades after 1945 but was content to wait. Fleamont and Euphemia Potter had recently given birth to a boy, who would begin attending Hogwarts in the early 1970's, and with him, another opportunity to gain the cloak would arrive.

Just as predicted, James Potter started Hogwarts in 1971, and bought with him the cloak, which was used to wreak havoc with the other Gryffindor boys of his year. Albus recognized he wouldn't be able to get the cloak just yet, especially with Fleamont keeping a watchful eye on it since Albus had asked to borrow it, but kept close to James, giving allowances and letting grievances slip against him and his friends for James' maximum trust.

Interestingly, in the same year, Severus Snape was also admitted to Hogwarts. A broken boy he was, sorted into Slytherin, and attracted much of the ire of James' group. While Albus kept him at arm's length, he constantly reminded the young boy how powerful and protective he was through small actions with detentions and through his housemates, while also nudging him into the arms of those interested in Tom's darker cause.

Albus was so close to succeeding fully. He was literally holding the cloak, though as of yet, it wasn't his to keep.

1978 bought about immense change to his cause. Fleamont and Euphemia Potter were killed in an attack by Tom's followers- the Death Eaters, leaving James as head of house where he had the jurisdiction to lease family items to others. Albus had gently consoled him for his loss, and then a few days later, requested the cloak to see if he could add enchantments for future protection. James had obliged, handing the cloak to Albus in 1979, but on the express condition that it had to be handed back after a period of no longer than 5 years and could not be altered in any way without consultation. Albus gave his word. 5 years was a long time, after all, and anything could happen in the middle of a war.

Armed with 5 years, Albus immediately got to planning. He arranged Severus Snape to be in the Leaky Cauldron with an anonymous tip-off of a prophecy, and enchanted a wishy-washy voice to speak complete nonsense, where it was projected to Severus' hiding spot. As planned, Severus took it back to Tom, where he immediately started planning the attack of the Potter family.

While Tom was scheming, Albus had also visited the Potters, where they were overly concerned of the news that they were being targeted, especially due to their unborn child. They agreed to any security measures needed, and Albus suggested the use of the Fidelius Charm, strong and powerful, though did not mention the large security gap. He lightly nudged them towards making the silent decision of the weakest link, Peter Pettigrew, and set up the trap perfectly.

July 1980 bought about Harry Potter, and Albus thought the plan was working perfectly. He had set a target upon the small boy, and with the deaths of the Potters, no one would keep track of the cloak, with no vows or promises binding him. However, October 1981 bought about the only knot that he had found in his plan as of yet.

Lily Potter had decided to include ritualistic magic in the protections of her son, and the boy had survived the night with no trace of Tom. Albus immediately placed him with his muggle Aunt and Uncle to prevent his knowledge of the magical world, keeping him weak, where he would be reliant on the headmaster once he reached Hogwarts.

And with the death of James Potter, the magic of the vow of 5 years stretched, thinning to encompass a time until when Harry was old enough to begin learning magic.

Time ticked on.

1991 introduced Harry back into the wizarding world. Albus saw a downtrodden boy who was in awe of the wizarding world and was heavily reliant on any kind of affection. Perfect. He had provided Hagrid the chance to introduce the boy to magic, who was heavily biased against Slytherin and Tom's motives since his expulsion 50 years prior. Albus thought his plan was excellent- if Harry could get into Gryffindor, where he would be easily controlled and have a poorer education- with the notable exceptions, Gryffindor usually had lower overall grades in comparison to the other houses due to the parties and social events the house held- and would act in a way he thought was brave, with the boy having a desire to meet expectations. 1991 also bought the return of the cloak to Harry, where Albus' magic had warned him the initial vow with James had stretched thin and he was running out of time.

Harry did indeed get to Gryffindor, and with it, got into trouble, and not the good type, much to Albus' glee. At the end of 1991, Harry had made his way through the gauntlet that Albus had set up for him and had his first proper confrontation with Tom. The two had fought, and Lily's protection seemed to kick in.

Much to Albus' disappointment, Harry did not die, and Tom had fled. No matter, there was always next year.

1992 started to a good start. Hermione Granger, one of Harry's best friends and an intelligent witch to boot had gotten petrified early into the school year, leaving Harry in a low intelligence point. However, Harry was also stocked up on bravery and loyalty to the Weasleys, who had helped him over the summer (with some small nudging on Albus' part- overall, it wasn't too difficult). He had gone running into the Chamber of Secrets after Ginny Weasley, where Albus had set up the second confrontation with Tom- after all, Lucius wouldn't have given away that diary without a bit of nudging- and even if Tom did not manage to kill Harry Potter outright, there was still the matter of a giant, poisonous, snake with a deadly stare. Harry could not possibly survive the night.

1992 also ended on a sour note for Albus. Despite being the headmaster, the school almost had a mind of it's own, and had sent the Sword of Gryffindor to Harry via the Sorting Hat, where Harry impossibly slayed the basilisk and managed to survive the night, as well as destroying the remanent piece of Tom.

Slightly annoyed, Albus consoled himself by promising himself that he would get Harry next year.

Albus had visited the Minister of Magic early morning in April 1993, giving advice that he should visit Azkaban to check up on the inmates, as was his duty. The Minister, a foolish man who was eager to please the great wizard, hastily agreed, and did not notice Albus slip a torn page of the prophet into his pack as the wizard had all but run out the door to comply.

Soon after, Sirius Black escaped, initiating the flee of the rat of Peter Pettigrew, and the resulting confrontation. To Albus' disappointment, Harry did not get mauled by a werewolf, nor murdered by a crazed lunatic without a sense of sanity left after 12 years of wizarding prison, nor a desperate rat clinging onto anything he could get. However, Peter Pettigrew had escaped with a nudge in the right direction of his old master's hide away, and together with the confounding of Bartimus Crouch, had set up a plan for 1994 that would surely end Harry Potter for once and for all.

1994 had dawned spectacularly with the kicking off the of the quidditch cup. Tom's old supporters had raged and burnt down the final of the quidditch cup, catching Harry in the midst. With this came the escape of Barty Crouch Jr, who had teamed up with Pettigrew to get his old master back. The start back at Hogwarts had also introduced the Goblet of Fire with the Triwizard Tournament, where Albus personally placed Harry's name into the Goblet and confounded it. Who, after all, would suspect Albus Dumbledore?

Harry managed to get through the first two tasks with minimal injuries, much to Albus' surprise and slight disappointment. The day of the third task had dawned early and found the other champions severely weakened due to a slipped potion the night before, leaving Harry a clear pathway to the cup.

A small confrontation with Tom the same night had bought back the dark wizard's return, and much to Albus Dumbledore's disappointment, the narrow escape of Harry Potter. However, there was further hope for the future- the protection of Lily was now negated, and Harry could now only rely on his abysmal magical skill for future protection from Tom.

1995 bought about torture for Harry, and Albus set up a confrontation in which he was "forced" to leave the school, no longer trying to protect the young boy. Over the year, the boy got into trouble with the ministry authority residing at the school, and when Harry ran out to confront Tom after a vision, Albus did not try to intervene.

Sirius Black died that night, leaving Harry with less adult support in his life once again. Death was so close to Harry that night, and the only reason he had survived was due to the Minister arriving at an inopportune time.

At this point, Albus was getting increasingly frustrated, and decided that next year, Harry would be set up properly for death.

1996 came about quickly, and Albus quickly began showing Harry about the measures Tom had taken to ensure his longevity. He taught Harry how to dispose of Tom, the objects to look for, and how to go about collecting them. He bought Harry to a cave of inferi, and showed Harry the measures Tom would go to to protect his objects.

Albus also set up the young Malfoy heir with the vanishing cabinet- after all, who else would be able to place such an object into the castle and ensure that it was found?

With this, a confrontation was produced, and a cry of Avada Kedavra was formed. Albus flung himself off the tower and swept into a hideout for the rest of the year, his plans already in motion. A funeral was held with no body produced.

1996 also bought about great news for Albus- he had found the resurrection stone. It had been made into a horcrux by Tom, and Albus had managed to cleanse the stone of the piece of soul residing within. And once Harry was dead next year, he would have finally succeeded in his goals.

Albus stayed hidden throughout 1997, hearing reports of the war through his Wizard Wireless Network. Harry Potter and his close friends had disappeared, with many thinking that the savior of the wizarding world had abandoned them. Albus knew they were busy searching for the objects to bring about Tom's downfall.

These actions eventually bought about Harry's knowledge of the soul piece residing within his own scar, and much to Albus' delight, accepted his death if only to save the rest of the wizarding world.

Albus followed quietly behind Harry Potter as the young man made his way into the forest under the object of Albus' desire: the invisibility cloak. He watched silently as Harry took it off and shoved it under his shirt, and stepped into the light where Tom and his followers were waiting.

He watched without apathy as the green light spilled from Tom's wand, shooting towards the boy with the same eye colour as the deadly curse.

And Albus Dumbledore is a very patient man.

A/N what if everything that had happened over the last century of magical world was entirely Albus Dumbledore's fault.

Basically, Dumbledore always wanted the Hallows, since he heard of them. Therefore, he planned every step and every breath of the people around him in order to get his objects.