Albus Dumbledore stepped through the Portal and went to work immediately. Since the attack on Arianna, he'd kept his health and fitness mostly through non-magical means. He'd trained for violence as well as diplomacy. It hadn't always been useful. Most years, not at all. So, despite the distasteful list of tasks he had in his mind and backed up in his expandable pouch, this was a bit of an adventure. Not his last one, necessarily, but certainly possibly so.
He found the old wizard in his office. He knew how to enter silently and undetected. A simple cloak over the wizard's old body let him levitate the other Dumbledore out the office window.
He could, of course, put him through what he was planning on putting the boy and his minion through. Give him to the giants as a servant. Keep him in a cell with a Dementor tethered outside it.
Doing that to someone who was, at the end of the day, him would have impacted his sanity. Therefore, it wasn't even in question. No, what he would do was the necessary.
Breaking his own protections against truth serums and mind magics was undoubtedly painful mentally and physically, after all.
It took only an hour in the cave near Hogsmeade that had almost been designed as a hideout to get a run-down of all the "variations" as he thought of them. Most of them were centred on this Albus Dumbledore. Once you've accepted the calculus of one - one guilty one - to save thousands, it wouldn't have been out of the bounds of possibility to end him. If he'd been fifty years earlier.
As it was, taking his place and keeping him imprisoned for information would do.
The Potter boy had barely enough magic to resonate with the Key in this dimension. Any earlier was out of the question. In the headmaster's office, where the lemon drops had been, he put a very special Omniocular that showed various elements of the dimension he'd just come from.
The ceramic urn full of lemon drops was in the cave with this world's Dumbledore. He would dole them out as the old wizard became more cooperative.
He wasn't as creaky as he imagined this Dumbledore was as he rose from his chair and went out and down the stairs past the gargoyle. He set the password to the name of a cinema film that had never existed in this world. It was one of his favourites. He passed the Deputy Headmistress and told her somewhat abruptly that he was off on an urgent matter. Seemingly, she was used to this, as her eyebrow raised only a fraction of a centimetre.
He apparated to the shore of the spur of land nearest Azkaban Island. Since this Dumbledore was Chief
Wizard, his passage to the prison island was taken without protest. He went unaccompanied to Sirius Black's cell. He stunned the poor man instantly, undid the magic on the doors carefully, not skipping steps, dragged Black out, then re-cast the spells in the correct reverse order.
He'd turned an extra cloak he'd worn - of two extras - into a simulacrum of Black. It would lie comatose but breathing and twitching for a week. That had taken a bit out of him, but not enough that he couldn't apparate himself and his cloaked company back to the cave near Hogsmeade. It was time for Black to be the first to know.
Dumbledore Two - after all, who had the upper hand here? - looked appropriately shocked as he levitated the still-unconscious Black into the cave. He gave the new cave-mate the same provisions he had made for the old wizard. Without a wand, no Dumbledore could get past a barrier created by one with a wand. Dumbledore had pocketed the Elder Wand and used his own. No sense in letting that cursed artefact derail a plan that seemingly would be complete in a trice.
It would be a disaster for Black to awaken with a Dumbledore bound to a bed in the same cave.
"Rennervate!" he said, pointing his wand and making a RaidÅ rune in the air.
"I'm fetching your godson. I'm fetching Harry." it was his first real interaction since he'd arrived, and it was all one-way. Black blinked.
According to what the Omniocular in his dimension showed, at this time of day Harry Potter would be slaving away in the backyard at his residence in Surrey.
"Come with me, Harry Potter." The boy looked up. This was another weirdo like those that bowed to him at the market was the clear message on his face.
"Your parents, James and Lily, were murdered. I need you to help find their killer. Grab hold."
Not that the boy did, but at least he didn't shy away, either.
They landed in Little Hangleton in front of the Gaunt hovel. A snake was nailed to the door.
"Talk to the snake as if it were a person. Any old chatter will do."
"There is a barmy old codger and if I weren't so sick of life with the Dursleys I'd be frightened. He wears a dress and a witch's hat but keeps a beard. I suspect Vernon would soon sort him out, and then we could file a complaint against Vernon, I wonder if that can be arranged. If I wasn't still smarting from the rose thorns, I'd think this was a dream. There is a barmy old codger here and SSSSsss sssss sssss is sss sssss sssss s-sss"
The snake on the door hissed back.
"Tell it you are its master, and you demand it open."
The boy's head whipped around to Dumbledore, and there was a long pause. It was noticeable that no insects at all were on the Gaunt property, not even midges. It was as silent as the nearby cemetery.
After a minute, the boy turned around and, probably, complied.
Every step of the way after that, the old wizard would work his magic and the boy would help him find the next problem. It was fortunate that Dumbledore shielded them, as misspeaks by the boy would trigger small reactions that could be unfortunate.
"Take this walking stick and smack me lightly on the shin." Another pause.
"That's the stuff," said Dumbledore, wincing. "If I seem to be unresponsive, whack me again, but hard. Even if you broke something I'd be grateful."
He would have had no trouble ultimately prevailing against the box and the ring. He had no one it was urgent to see. His parents had died of old age, and his sister and brother and his nephew Aurelius were all still around. He had pondered drawing someone back in this dimension as an isolation zone. Herpo the Foul came to mind. Something needed to be done about the Dementors in both worlds. While he was lost in thought, a very hard whack indeed brought his attention back to the problem at hand.
His words belying his thoughts, he thanked the boy for following instructions. The ring ended up in a new box that was enchanted against curses and curse effects.
"I'm taking you to see the only sort-of parent you have left, Harry," he said, as they limped away and he gathered his strength to apparate.
"He's been very ill," he continued, "and was a prisoner of some evil people, so don't fret over his condition."
The boy's eyes widened when he saw the bedridden man. He was too weak to fully sit up, and tears poured down his lifted face. "Ha ... Harry?" he asked, weakly. Harry nodded.
"One last bit of unpleasant business," Dumbledore interrupted. "I'm afraid I'll have to hex Harry for the next part." He tossed the boy his wand. Like his world's Harry, the boy had great reflexes. It was clear to Dumbledore that having to survive in this world had sharpened the boy considerably over the one James and Lily had raised.
As he caught it, Dumbledore showed him, with the Elder Wand, how to hold it. He caught on quickly - he'd probably caught the "hexing" part and assumed whatever that was, it wasn't pleasant, and to be avoided.
It took less than an hour for Harry to have making Ehwaz quickly and saying "Expelliarumus" down pat.
Belying his ancient status, the old wizard moved suddenly and zapped Harry with a small Sowilo rune and said "Spiculus."
"ouch!" said Harry, but quietly. More stinging jinxes followed. Harry tried to avoid them, but Dumbledore was practised and wily.
Finally, Harry tried Expelliarmus, but it had only a small effect.
"Oh, my, I am deeply sorry, Mr Black, but it seems your godson is a failure. I am at a loss to think of a better place for him than the cupboard he currently lives in. At least *STING* the Dursleys *STING* will get some use out of the freak."
The next Expelliarmus would have carried the Elder Wand off, but Dumbledore dodged it.
"Oh my, oh my. It seems this inferior child needs more of a handicap than I thought." With that, Dumbledore seemed to hold rippling air in his hands. He threw it over Harry suddenly and then shot a Stinging Jinx where he remembered Harry being.
After one hit, Harry managed to combine dodging and casting. The wand was yanked out of Dumbledore's hand.
"Catch it!" Dumbledore exclaimed. It was in unison with Black, who had somehow grasped that something was going on.
The wand disappeared.
Dumbledore opened the new box for the ring. He sprinkled a powder made with Phoenix tears and dried Basilisk venom on the ring and cast several enchantments a Parselmouth acquaintance had learned in their Chamber of Secrets.
When it glowed a pure white, Dumbledore grazed a knuckle over the ring. Nothing happened.
"I gift this to you as a reward for being a quick study, Harry."
He reached the ring out into the air. It wasn't until a few minutes had passed that he felt it being gently removed.
"Wear the ring, wave your wand like this," he began, repeating the Mannaz rune several times in the air. It wouldn't matter if it were reversed, fortunately. "Then, say 'Magister mortis esto.'"
"Magister mortis esto!" followed immediately. Even through the cloak, Black and Dumbledore could see a deep, dark, purplish outline.
"If you take off the cloak, now, your god-father can see you," Dumbledore said.
When Harry reappeared, his forehead was glowing. The glowing part lifted off his face and rose up. Then it vanished.
This is unexpected. Dumbledore wondered if he wouldn't get bored replacing this world's wizard, at this rate. Harry was, basically, safe already.
"What ... on Earth ... doing, ... if you ... are ... Dumbledore.?"
"Who else would I be?" he said, turning and addressing Black.
"Grin ... delwald ... some ... wondered."
"Ah!" It wasn't silly, at least.
"He still lives, but I assure you I am not he," he said. "Believe it or not, everything I do now is for young Harry's protection. That said, the same was said by ... him." and he pointed at the other Dumbledore.
"He ... who?"
"Also Dumbledore. But I am from a timeline that is a great deal nicer."
The eyes of the weakened man widened, but he didn't say anything.
"What do you mean?" came a sudden response from the boy.
"I came through a Portal, Harry. My name is Albus Dumbledore. That man over there..."
Harry, surprisingly, had never really examined the unconscious Dumbledore.
"Is he ... a twin?"
"Of sorts. A dimensional twin. In theory, he's the proper wizard called Albus Dumbledore of this world."
Black looked fearful, but Harry Potter was just baffled.
"He's one of the evil people that hurt your godfather."
"But wouldn't that make you an evil people too?"
"Not at all," Dumbledore said, "while imperfect, in my world, I have done very few of the evil things this one has. Nor will I do any of the evil things he has yet to accomplish."
Black was staring at him. He wouldn't use Legilimency on a shattered mind or a frightened man, but he could guess some of his thoughts.
"He was the main instigator of your incarceration," he pointed out to Black. "His main motivation was to control Harry so he could have him abused by the Dursleys then die to a resurrected Voldemort and fulfil a prophecy. Crouch went along with it because it was good press and took the pressure off his Death Eater-friendly child. Before Black could correct him, he added, "whom he did not know to be an actual Death Eater at the time. Also, he has a vendetta against the Black family. Moreover, should the Malfoys be eliminated, Crouch would be part of the Black inheritance struggle. Bagnold was both bribed and threatened, especially by Abraxas Malfoy, who sought control of the Black family money through Narcissa Black marrying his son Lucius. You were in the way of so many people it was hard to pin things on just one person."
"The same could be said of you, Harry," he said, turning to face the boy. "Dumbledore wanted to end the Potter line because it's too unpredictable and too progressive. He wanted your family's prize possessions - a cloak of invisibility hundreds of years old, and your family magic book. Your parents weren't wastrels, they were wizards like I am, like Mr Black here is, and like you will be. A really bad wizard - worse than my twin, here, and that's saying a lot! - and his gang, called the Death Eaters, wanted you dead to fulfil a prophecy. One of those Death Eaters knew your mother and is a favourite of my twin. He wanted you and your father dead and your mother given to him. He knew the prophecy and convinced the really bad wizard to go after you and another boy who fit the prophesy as well. Both of you lost your parents. The others involved were Dumbledore there - he stole your family's cloak, which could have hidden you from Voldemort, he convinced your family to leave their family manor, which was well-protected, he claimed the inhabitant of a house could not be what is called the "secret keeper" of that house - a blatant lie. He suggested they pick another person involved in killing your family instead of your godfather here, and that your godfather would pretend to be the one keeping your family safe. I assume, the easier to blame and smear him after what Dumbledore II here wanted to happen, happened. So you have Albus Dumbledore, the secret keeper Peter Pettigrew, the Death Eater Severus Snape, and the bad wizard, whose name is Voldemort, to thank for not having parents anymore,"
He was, naturally, speaking for Black's benefit more than the boy's. He pulled out a list of topics he hadn't yet grilled this Dumbledore on (which included many he had, but which needed to be repeated for context).
"Black, I want you to grill the other Dumbledore on the topics I listed, and explain them to young Harry. Bear in mind that how you treat a helpless enemy reflects your inner self and sets the best example for your godson."
"Harry, this man is the one designated by your parents to effectively adopt you and be a substitute father if they perished, and they did perish. You can trust him with your life, and more so once his mind, spirit and body are healed. Pay attention to everything. I've left adequate food for all three of you in a hamper. Your hands won't pass through the barrier to the other Dumbledore, but trays of food and flasks of water will."
The last thing he did was ask Harry Potter for the borrow of his new ring. "I plan on summoning Herpo the Foul, Black. Not something Harry needs to see, but we have both a dementor problem and a Horcrux problem, and the sands of time wait for no man." Sirius Black said nothing in response, but when Harry Potter looked at him quizzically, he nodded slightly.
The other Harry Potter had cheerfully said "Open" and "Open for Salazar Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four" to be recorded on a gramophone record. placing it down on the floor in the 2nd floor girls' bathroom worked perfectly. Dumbledore's portkey would be a last-ditch defence, and he would probably seal the entrance in such a way that even a basilisk couldn't force an exit if things went wrong.
Three turns later, Herpo of Anatroxides was there in the Chamber of Secrets.
"The quicker you help me, spirit, the quicker you can leave."
"The folly here is yours, wizard. Compared to my afterlife, even the torment of the Resurrection Stone is nothing to fear."
"Perhaps not now, or soon, but one day, it will exceed any torment imaginable."
"Then, let us compromise, wizard. I help you, and you, in turn, leave me here in relative comfort until that moment arrives."
Bargaining with Herpo wasn't on his list.
Nonetheless, it was a mere hour later that he had insights on both horcruxes and dementors sufficient to advance his program. Unbeknownst to Herpo, his protections on the opening of the basilisk's exit into the Chamber was, indeed, proof against its might. Furthermore, if it used its exit into the Forbidden Forest with ill intent, it would be killed while exiting. He assumed - hoped, at least - that what he'd had his world's Harry Potter record telling the snake as much would do the trick. It would be a pity to slay anything as old and magical as Slytherin's basilisk.
He had also called James and Lily Potter. After all, his Potters were all alive and well. When he briefly explained who he really was, they worked out a protocol where Harry would summon them for sessions no longer than a quarter of an hour, with questions already written out. The Potters told them that both Remus Lupin and Sirius Black were good at the Patronus charm. He would need to recruit very many Patronus casters, so it was lucky to have a good start, he told the Potters.
Lily suggested he do whatever he could to make amends for any issues between him and the Flamels. James agreed, saying, "Your counterpart never realised when he was in over his head, but it's obvious to us, and we hope, to you."
Surprisingly, the Flamels were easy.
It was hard to reconcile the fact that it was still only midday of his first day through the Portal. But since he was completely honest with them, they welcomed the chance to undo both Voldemort's and Dumbledore's mischief through him. They immediately approved of his plan to corral the dementors into fireproof quarries and eliminate them with Fiendfyre. The same method would be fine for the Horcruxes, but they cautioned that Voldemort might realise something was up, so it was best to save them and eliminate as many as possible in one motion.
"Changing hearts and minds in Wizarding Britain will be a much greater challenge," Perenelle Flamel told him. "We believe Harry Potter should be taught at Beauxbatons to remove the temptation to subdue him for others' interests. A Harry Potter who arrives at 17 in Britain speaking mainly French, without glasses or a scar, and with kempt hair, would surely disillusion the generation that grew up on Harry Potter and the Gleeful Ghoul."
Well. Black certainly had no love left for Wizarding Britain. It was ambitious, but fixing things had been a fraction of the difficulty he'd planned for and envisioned. Come to think of it, Britain was a moral virgin field.
The Flamels gave him permission to bring Remus Lupin there. He appeared behind the inebriated werewolf and stunned him that instant. Lupin still managed to turn partly around and start to dodge. He wasn't to be underestimated.
After he'd been healed from the damage he'd done to himself and any compulsions or potions on or in him were cleansed, Dumbledore brought him to the cave. He gave Black and Harry Potter quick, polite greetings, then put Lupin on another cot in the part of the cave behind the barrier. Silenced. Lupin was there to learn, not interfere.
Surprisingly, Black made no motion to interfere, either. They must have made progress, enough to convince Black to play along. Harry Potter had clearly been told something about Lupin, as he looked on the verge of questioning his treatment, but Black shook his head.
It was twenty minutes work to purloin Peter Pettigrew from the Weasley family. It was eerie that Pettigrew would end up in the same place as he'd fled to in Dumbledore's world. The addition of actually being a Death Eater, instead of simply a coward, was shocking to Dumbledore, but it actually was helpful. He'd not be censured for using radical methods to interrogate the somewhat pitiful boy.
After he'd gotten everything he needed, he trussed the animagus in non-magical ropes but put a bracelet on his wrist that inhibited animal transformation. He left him seated (somewhat) in Amelia Bones' chair.
Dumbledore popped all over Europe looking for Tom Riddle. It turned out he was still a wraith in Albania. Dumbledore didn't specialize in either necromancy or exorcism, and the Flamels had told him there wasn't time to train him. Nor were they still strong enough to banish Voldemort themselves. Dumbledore contented himself with setting permanent, rune-based enchantments at the farthest range for the snake Voldemort was currently possessing.
Nicholas Flamel had taught him how to simulate a large magical event. He decided to use an upwelling of magic to strengthen the protections around Hogwarts. It required the destruction of a large number of wands. Twice, scouting in Diagon Alley, he'd sensed a house elf that radiated anger and resentment. The third time he felt him, he secured the elf and whisked him to the cave. Was he behaving like a tourist who feels he doesn't need to obey the laws of the backward country he's visiting? Probably. He'd have to watch that.
The Flamels had given him a "dementor trap" that a strong wizard could use to temporarily capture and transport one of the demons. Since he was killing a flock of birds with each stone, when he was scouting Hogwarts to plan his event, he'd kidnapped Death Eater Severus Snape. The sheer number of people in this dimension who were Death Eaters boggled his mind, he had to say. He didn't plan to ever let Snape wake up. He was bait, no more, no less. The dementors fed on his negative feelings, one by one, and suppressed all the positive feelings as he slept. By the time Dumbledore had what he thought of as a minimum number of dementors, he was exhausted. He was also a bit regretful he had already dumped Pettigrew. Two baits were better than one.
He'd found an abundance of wands at #12 Grimmauld Place, though he wanted even more. Black had given him permission to ransack the place, and his mother, the last Black in residence, had recently died. He used mind-reading on the vicious elf there and came away with another Horcrux. The house elves at Hogwarts helped him find Ravenclaw's diadem - really, elves were a watchword for helpfulness already, but it did not sufficiently cover their helpful potential!
The angry and resentful elf he'd captured ended up rewarding his gamble handsomely. Once the creature, named Dobby, saw two Horcruxes and learned of his plan to destroy them, he overcame pain and trembling to fetch, not only the bulk of the Malfoy collection of wands, but also yet a third Horcrux. After that, the elf went unconscious but was clearly still being ravaged by elf magic. Dumbledore fed him a Draught of Living Death and left him for the Flamels to tend. The rather evil elf at Grimmauld Place had told Dumbledore bits and pieces of a fascinating tale. While he was saddened to learn that one of his favourite students, Regulus Black, had been a Death Eater here, it would cheer Black up as it had him to learn he'd stolen a Horcrux from the Dark Lord.
It was inconceivable to dark wizards that anyone would use a wand-destroying ritual to bolster the protections around a school. Including Tom Riddle. One side effect was breaking the chains of the resentful elf. He was a fan of Harry Potter. Unfortunately, because he'd made a habit of reading the Adventures of Harry Potter series quickly while out on errands for his Dark family. Still.
A quarry near Hogsmeade was his test of the Horcruxes and, unbeknownst to them, of herding dementors.
As Fiendfyre approached, the three Horcruxes - the book, locket and diadem - opened and gave up the spirit inside rather than see it destroyed. Unfortunately for the soul shards, that was where the dementors came in - they gobbled up the shards, having been herded into place by a single Patronus from Dumbledore. He was even able to Accio the diadem, book and locket before they were consumed.
Confidence, alacrity and efficiency were bringing him very far. And the further they brought him, the less the Dark or the subordinates of Dumbledore - who were also his subordinates - would be able to imagine who was doing it, or that one wizard was responsible for all the subterranean shifts he was putting in motion.
Since he had not, in fact, destroyed the Horcrux vessels, he doubted Voldemort would understand what was going on that caused dementors to eat pieces of his soul. He estimated he'd need no more than 20 strong Patronus casters to herd all the dementors in Azkaban to their destruction.
A group of Albus Dumbledores were looking around the Chamber of Secrets and shaking their heads. On the one hand, this Dumbledore had dimension-hopped and summoned, of all things, the spirit of Herpo the Foul. On the other hand, their remit didn't handle such situations. Was it better for the Greater Good to send Herpo back to the afterlife, or keep him here to atone? Was this really atonement or a relief?
There were still some loose ends, though he could see Riddle's end in sight and the ruination of this Dumbledore's worst plans. The Potters had befriended a non-magical couple that they'd taken Harry to for a dental check-up. Visiting their home, something had made their daughter evince accidental magic. That had broken the ice between the families. The two children had become so close that the Potters had eventually convinced the Grangers to enter into a betrothal for their progeny.
And Neville Longbottom was still at the mercy of his rather dotty grandmother and his repellant great uncle. The Flamels had given him a cure for the Longbottoms. He snuck into the Janus Thickey Ward and administered the initial component. When their diagnostics changed, he apparated them both in stages to France, where Perenelle and Nicholas had agreed to nurse them back to health.
The Grangers, it turned out, were at their wit's end. Their daughter's poltergeist activity, as they saw it, was not only frightening, it was embarrassing. Dumbledore offered to bring them in disguise to a cave where he was debriefing several individuals about the magical world. They told him they were exhausted. If he would guarantee Hermione's safety, they'd give him permission to take her along. Her squeal of delight when they said that caused a ringing in the old wizard's ears, which still heard very well.
When they got to the cave, the other Dumbledore had been given a break, and was napping fitfully.
"We'll wake him up in a bit," said Black, in a stronger voice (the potions must be helping). "Meanwhile, who's this?"
"Her name is Hermione Granger, and she is outstanding enough that I deemed her fit to join Harry in observing your interrogation. If you and Harry would be good enough to fill her in on the highlights, I would be very much obliged to you."
He turned to the girl. "Hermione, you must limit yourself to one question at a time. Furthermore, no questions should be asked until you've listened for at least a quarter-hour at a time. Do we have a deal?"
A disappointed look crossed her face, but she nodded. Like Harry, she naturally was taken aback by the other Dumbledore and the scarred man next to him as well as the sickly man who looked like he'd been in one of the concentration camps from the world war. Probably unconsciously, after she sat next to Harry, she moved a little closer to him, so much so that they were touching.
The leader of the Dumbledores couldn't believe what his diagnostics were telling him. A dimension headed firmly towards a Voldemort apocalypse had been completely transformed in less than a day. Rather than admit that one Dumbledore was doing a better job than their entire crew of twelve usually achieved, he simply announced that this world was off limits for them and had them prepare to Portal to their home dimensions.
Niggling though they might be, all the "details" took another eight hours to straighten out, and it was a weary Dumbledore indeed who retired to the cave. The other Dumbledore smiled as he saw that. Not so easy, being me, is it? his expression said.
While the girl was still there, she and Harry had fallen asleep cuddling together. The werewolf submitted meekly to a mental examination, and Dumbledore brought him out from the barrier. He put bracelets on both Harry and Hermione that would let them know when the other was thinking strongly of them, and had their Floo addresses engraved on the sides. He returned Hermione home with a Kneazle cat that had responded so strongly to her blood on a handkerchief that he believed the cat would be a good familiar. An owl at Eylops had had the same reaction to Harry's blood, and he'd left that owl in the cave with a sleeping Harry.
The cat, he told the Grangers, would calm Hermione down considerably. He also left a custom wand that had no Trace on it with them, and some discontinued books on training your underage witch. Done correctly, Hermione's magic training would look accidental. That training, too, would reduce the incidents. The Grangers were embarrassingly grateful. When he gave them a precis of what would be a briefing on wizarding Britain, they agreed to move to France before Hermione's eleventh birthday so she could attend Beauxbatons with Harry Potter. Not only was he famous, Dumbledore told them, but he was very powerful and already inclined to be a protective friend, if not more, to their daughter.
Half of the crew were furious. This violated everything they'd been told when they agreed to band together to preserve the timelines or return them if already compromised. While they dutifully returned home, they'd prearranged a return to this timeline. One of them knew of an abyssal dimension they could probably drag this Dumbledore to. Problems solved, and their leader need never know.
Everything was going well. The less time you spent after Portaling, the better. He had conspired with the Flamels to keep this world's Dumbledore in line, introduced Harry to Hermione, arranged for Neville to have his parents back, eventually cleared Sirius' name and ensured Pettigrew would face justice, made a great start on the Horcruxes that Lupin, Black and their allies could continue.
It was in the Chamber of Secrets he noticed that his magical trace was many times what it should be after being away. Herpo had to obey him, as he was going to give Harry back the ring at the last moment. The malevolent wizard spirit told him about the visitation by a crew of Time-restoring Dumbledores from various dimensions. Dumbledore had often surmised that possibility - he knew "himself" after all - but this was the first time in his life he'd had rather direct confirmation. Shrewd interrogation even told him about the plan by six of the Dumbledores to return and send him to the Abyss.
The Potter family commiserated with Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and family friend. It wasn't that Dumbledore was behaving badly, exactly. And he was still spurning all involvement in politics outside of Hogwarts. However! He had a new routine now. He spent almost exactly half his time doing something with a "portal" that took him to what he called an equally urgent calling, if not more so.
"It gives us half the time to go over budgets, rearrange the disciplinary measures, and I don't know what-not. Also, it's not a restful task he's about. He's often quite weary when he returns."
The Potters couldn't help looking at their son out of the corner of their eyes. He'd had many tutoring sessions with Dumbledore, accompanied by his betrothed (who was next to him on the sofa at the moment). He probably knew more about what was going on than all three of them did, combined. But was literally sworn to secrecy. Even veritaserum wouldn't get it out of him.
Albus Dumbledore made headlines the day he announced he was resigning from the Wizengamot and the ICW. While he said it was to concentrate his efforts on Hogwarts, privately Minerva McGonagall told her friends he was only there half the days. The other days he was off on a mission. It seemed to be something with the Flamels and involved, from what she'd overheard, a portal of some kind. She also suspected it was Dumbledore who'd convinced Harry and his guardian Sirius Black to move to France and sign Harry up for Beauxbatons. It was a terrible overreaction to his blunder of placing Harry with the Dursleys, but if it did keep him away from that awful family, it was perhaps not worth quibbling over.
One day he came in bloody, lacerated, his robes burnt, his leg snakebit - Madame Pomfrey had great difficulty preventing him from long-term consequences there - and his whole body trembling. He brought the body of a Rhesus monkey with a blackened arm and a ring on its hand. It was really a transfigured cursed piece of board, he told her. He was keeping it transfigured as a reminder.
OMAKE: What about Snape?
it took awhile to break Severus Snape. What he got out of him was news even to Black, and certainly educational for Harry Potter. It also made clear the fact that he'd not be able to live his new double life unhindered if he left the wizard as a loose end.
After hours of work, he was finished. He taught young Harry a sealing charm and had him cast it with the Elder Wand. He was only too eager, given what he'd found about the men being connected to the death of his parents. The combination of two wizards and two wands, one of them of such great power, meant Dumbledore's work could never be undone.
Later, when he was old enough to reflect on this, Harry would realise how stern one must sometimes be in times of crisis.
Dumbledore II had been silenced and had to look on in mute horror.
I outgrew that 'bad boy' fixation decades ago, but clearly, he never did, he thought.
"I must refuse your request for aid. The Potters are already dead, thanks in no small part to you, and I won't have a Death Eater in my ranks."
With these words to the stricken man, he reached forward and pinned a translation enchanted earring through Snaoe's left ear. As he clutched at said ear, Dumbledore put a port key in his hand and told him it was taking him to neutral Switzerland, which didn't honour ICW jurisdiction.
That was the last anyone in Britain saw of Severus Snape.
NOTE: I left the ambiguity of the word bad in deliberately. It could even be a bad story about a good Dumbledore. As long as bad is there somewhere.