Prologue

July 7th, 1992

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Headmaster Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore sat in his office, thinking. In his office the various doodads and gizmos booped, popped, whizzed, squeaked, and made various other odd sounds. Dumbledore had long since stopped hearing most of them. Fawkes, approaching another burning day, sat on his roost, enjoying the relative calm. The Sorting Hat looked as if it was surveying the room, but not being needed at the moment it was currently dormant.

Dumbledore was currently going over his plans. His plans for the previous year had not quite gone correctly. Young Harry had proven too clever to be influenced by Hagrid's somewhat simple understanding of House Dynamics. Perhaps it would have been better to send McGonagall, giving a more proper demonstration of a good Griffindor, who would present a more balanced understanding of the Houses from the first while still pointing out the tendencies of Slytherin to be evil. But Minerva would more perceptively see the truth of Harry's living situation and with her coddling tendencies, she would never stand to allow Harry to stay with...

"Ugh, even I have trouble thinking of them in any positive way Fawkes."

The phoenix looked over at his master, giving a sad coo. Phoenixes come to those who are brave, who are willing to throw themselves into danger to protect all, but who are also wise enough to plan for the long run. Because Phoenixes understand the limits of their intelligence. They can only rely on their chosen master for guidance. Fawkes cant help Albus with matters this complicated except to advocate the simplest and most moral choice.

"Its crucial that Harry maintains the Blood Ward, without it he might have died this year when he faced Quirrell and Voldemort. I know now that it was right to send him to them so far, that the Ward will protect Harry at least until his 17th birthday. But the influence of his relatives...it drove him to Slytherin. He seems to be trying to reform them, but they in turn are trying to corrupt him."

Dumbledore lamented that his machinations with the Weasleys had been all but pointless. Despite Molly and Arthur's eagerness to take Harry under their wing, being all too willing to virtually adopt him, they had not fully endeared themselves to Harry's heart. Part of the blame fell on Ronald. The boy had quickly latched onto Harry as planned but apparently Dumbledore had placed too much weight on the influence of Harry's first (same aged) friend. Or... was it that Harry considered Draco his first friend? They had met in Madame Malkins but that had only been for a few minutes. Between that and their chilly meeting on the train, Dumbledore had figured that Ron's influence towards Gryffindor would have held sway.

Fortunately, being in Slytherin hadn't immediately caused Harry to go evil. Indeed, Harry's relations with his fellow Slytherins had been awkward for a good bit at the beginning. Torn between their long held notions of disliking the one who felled Voldemort, and desire to suck up to the one most Slytherins were betting would become the next Dark Lord, most had kept their distance and watched. The Duel at Midnight, the Prank War, and the Troll incident all led to further confusion, not just among the Slytherins, but the other houses too. Dumbledore had carefully prodded here and there to manipulate the rumor mill, but Harry kept surprising him with some of his stunts.

What concerned Dumbledore most of all was that Harry had found the Chamber of Secrets and was learning from the Basilisk(that solved a lot of riddles about Riddle). It would be good that Harry would have much of the same magical knowledge as Voldemort, but hopefully Salazar's monster wouldn't drive Harry into Blood Purity nonsense(not likely but it was worrying).

Dumbledore wondered what Harry intended to do when he was done learning from the Basilisk. Would he put it back to sleep or come to Dumbledore to have it killed? Harry seemed to maintain an oddly strong friendship with Hagrid(why hadn't that influenced Harry away from Slytherin?). Having the Basilisk exposed and killed would help clear Hagrids name but Harry might think of the Basilisk as a pet or friend by then. It'll be good to see where Harry's priorities lay when the time comes.

Luckily everything that happened on the third floor went mostly according to plan. Harry managed to overcome the tests through his natural leadership and skill, showing he was on the right path in his skill development for the future war. He'd received the stone from the mirror, showing that he had no greedy desires for immortality and money, at least for now. That could change in the future, especially since he's in Slytherin, but for now he's still a good boy.

Putting aside thoughts of the previous year, Dumbledore started thinking of the next. In the next year it would probably be best to make sure Harry didn't desire fame and glory. He should seek to do good because it's the right thing to do rather than being glorified for it. Dumbledore felt some concern about the previous year and Harry's motivations behind certain actions, but there is a difference between trying to fix a poor reputation and seeking fame, so next year...yes Lockhart will do. It is past time for Dumbledore to deal with that fool, and using the Defense jinx would be an ironically perfect way to deal with him.

Author's Notes:

I'm back! Sorry for how long it's been, but between work and making materials for a couple dnd games I've been dming for, I haven't had the time or muse to work on my fanfics. I actually wanted to finish my LoZ fic before starting on this sequel but for the life of me I can't make any progress. Let's hope that I don't take too long working on this one. I'm excited about some of the ideas this year is going have.