Legal Disclaimer: I own my stuff, but not the original source material. That belongs to whoever. Also, the opinions and interpretations I use here may not reflect the same in said whoever that owns the source material. Look, I'm just a poor college librarian. Suing me isn't going to get you anything but tears.

Warning: This work may be offensive to some readers. Feel free to back out if that's you.

Author's Note: In case you haven't noticed: I really don't like Dumbledore.

Submitting Info:
Stacked with: Hogwarts (Term 11); MC4A
Individual Challenges: Gryffindor MC; Durmstrang MC; Sett to Destroy (Y); Golden Times; Short Jog; Ethnic & Present; Two Cakes!
House: Hufflepuff
Assignment No.: Term 11 – Assignment 03
Subject (Task No.): n/a
Other Hogwarts Challenges: Romance Awareness [D31] (Wings Upon Meeting) (Fairytale); Insane Prompt Challenge [660] (Oscar Wilde quotation); 365 [13] (Flavor); Scavenger Hunt [85] (Complete a Monthly/Fortnightly Challenge);
Space Address (Prompt): n/a
Representation(s): Claudia Zabini
Bonus Challenges: Casper's House; Hot Apple; Second Verse (Ladylike; Not a Lamp; White Dress; Found Family; Nontraditional; Unwanted Advice; Lovely Coconuts; Rock of Ages); Chorus (Bee Haven; Tomorrow's Shade; A Long Dog; Larger than Life; Creature Feature; Wind Beneath; Abandoned Ship; Surprise!)
Tertiary Bonus Challenges: HoSE (Sanctuary)
Word Count: 1132

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Flight Preparation
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Albus Dumbledore had carefully crafted his plan. He had been handed a prophecy and while it had taken some maneuvering of pieces about the board, he eventually got his Chosen One. While everyone else had been celebrating Voldemort's defeat or mourning their lost ones, he had been hard at work securing his control over the boy. That had taken a bit of deception on his part, which was unfortunate, but one must do as one must. It was equally unfortunate that young Sirius had to disappear, but at least imprisoned in Azkaban, he couldn't interfere with Albus' placement of the Potter baby.

Everything had gone according to plan for over ten years.

It should have kept going according to plan.

It would have kept going to plan if it wasn't for Albus failing to take soulmates into consideration. It was just that it was so rare for soulmates to actually meet. Well, it was rare for them to meet without concentrated effort in the forms of spells and potions that he had spent most of his life working to obscure or criminalize. Those shouldn't be a problem for years yet, as part of Albus' careful planning had included placing Harry Potter with a guardian guaranteed to chip away at the idea that love was something inherently deserved without sacrifice. That would also be necessary for when it came time for young Harry to sacrifice himself for the Greater Good, along with the spinning of a little tale that made it seem like death was the only option.

The Dursleys, perfect for grooming his Chosen Sacrifice, had reacted to Harry's invitation to attend Hogwarts just as Dumbledore had needed them to and had predicted they would. Then Hagrid had managed to keep any potential unwelcomed influences away from Harry during the trip to Diagon Alley for school shopping. It had been close at one point. If the Malfoy boy had been with his mother instead of alone, things might have been different, given that as a Black in good standing with the family, she could have walked away with the boy without repercussions and there would have been nothing that Albus could have done to regain control.

But all those close calls had come to mean nothing, because the boy just had to be one of those rare incidences of soulmates meeting completely by accident.

Maybe there was something to that saying about Fate playing favorites was both a blessing and a curse.

Now Albus had Claudia Zabini sitting in his office looking for all the world like she owned the place. To make matters worse, not only had she refused his offer of a lemon drop, she had her own house elf serve them tea. She had said it was because her elf was the only one who could get her tea right, but Albus just knew that it was a subtle show of distrust.

"I never expected to be here," she said as she fixed her tea. "It is very exciting, no? To have the opportunity to be present for soulmates meeting the first time, it is magnificent. Both boys went through so many colors, too, before settling as they did." She settled back in her seat, legs crossed demurely at the ankles. She took a sip of her tea and sighed at the flavor. "Tansy really has outdone herself this time. Won't you have any, Professor Dumbledore?"

"No, thank you. I am not particularly thirsty," Albus replied. He leaned forward and folded his hands on his lap. Inwardly, he cursed that he let her talk him into sitting in the arrangement by the fire rather than over at his desk. "I would like to know when to expect the boys to arrive at school. We will, of course, accommodate their need to be Sorted late."

Claudia hummed thoughtfully as she took another measured sip of her tea. Then she returned the cup to the saucer she held in her other hand.

"Didn't I say?" she asked as if surprised. "What with the newly forged soulbond, I believe it would be best if I arrange for them to be privately tutored, at least for this year." She gave him a sympathetic smile. "I'm sure that you understand how delicate the situation is. Harry Potter is the soulmate of my only son. You can just imagine my shock!"

"You are certainly handling it well," Albus commented drily. Her violet eyes twinkled just the tiniest bit. For the first time ever, he understood why people got irritated with him when his eyes did the same thing.

She was certainly prepared for something that had to be as much a shock to her as it was to the rest of them. The boys had shaken hands and immediately both had their wings bursting out of their backs. She had acted quickly, whisking them both away with an emergency Portkey while their wings were still cycling through colors to show the world what their relationship was. He couldn't even argue that she had done anything wrong as it had occurred on the Muggle side of the platform, which meant that he also couldn't verify her version of the event. By the time he had even realized that anything had gone wrong with his plan, the Muggles had already had their memories altered.

"Thank you for saying so," she replied. "You have no idea how much it means to me that you think so."

"You shouldn't deprive the boys of being allowed to study with their peers," Albus tried again. "A few days to allow for the bond to settle should be more than enough and won't put them too far behind the rest of their classmates."

"I will take that under advisement, Professor Dumbledore," Claudia said as she set her teacup and saucer on the low table between them. Then she gracefully stood from her seat, straightening nonexistent wrinkles in her robe. "Now, I really must return to the boys. It's just about the time that the Healer said she'd be stopping by."

Albus watched as she accepted her outer cloak from her house elf. The same elf then snapped away the tea set she had used before snapping away herself and her mistress. Albus wanted to curse and scream, because in doing that, it prevented Albus from knowing which of her many residences she was using at the moment. Just like everything else, it appeared that she was at least three steps ahead of him.

Even worse, she had the law completely on her side rather than needing to manipulate things to appear that way.

Over on his perch, Fawkes gave a tinkling trill that sounded exactly like he was laughing.

Albus shivered at the chill that went down his spine at the sound.