13

13

James and Lily died nearly ten years ago and not a single day went by that someone didn't mention them in some capacity. Their names spoken in hushed reverence, as if their deaths were of any real use. It was their son, Harry Potter, that was the important one. He was the one chosen by prophecy, not them. Not that any of that had actually mattered over the years.

Tom was still searching for the answer to Sybill's prophecy. The prophecy that had been delivered to him by Snape. Dumbledore knew that there were two children born that could have been the chosen one. He had been watching both the Potter house and the Longbottom house very closely since they had gone into hiding, but it was clear to him that Tom would choose the Potter child over the Longbottom child. It didn't matter to Tom Riddle if Frank and Alice had worked so diligently against him. The Halfblood would undoubtedly be seen as the true threat to his power rather than the Pureblood. Tom was like that, seeing such significance in such small things.

Dumbledore had implored the Potters to choose him as their secret keeper. He was the only one that Tom and his followers truly feared. But no. They chose one of their friends, like the immature children they were, thinking they knew better. Everyone assumed they chose Sirius, James' best friend, but while young they were clever. Sirius and Remus would slit their own throats before they would even think about betraying the Potters to Tom. Peter, ever the follower and coward, would betray them to someone more powerful, and therefore, more capable of protecting him.

The Potters may have been considered 'capable' by others, but Dumbldore had no such faith in those foolish children. He had secretly placed many wards around the house before the Fidelius Charm was placed, mostly to circumvent the Charm and maintain his surveillance of the family. His wards were tripped the night of Hallowe'en, but there was no way for him to investigate without arousing suspicion, so he did the next best thing. He sent a loyal pawn to the house to investigate on his behalf and, if necessary, collect the child. Hagrid had reported back later that night. James and Lily found dead with no signs of violence and their child was gone. It didn't take much effort to deduce what had happened. Tom had gone to the Potter house and murdered both the Potters. But the child was gone, not dead with his parents. Tom had gone to the house alone that night, since he rarely involved his followers in his personal business, so the Death Eaters and Tom weren't responsible for the boy's disappearance.

When he tried to find Sirius to answer his questions, he found only dead ends and empty safe houses. Dumbledore then tried to tap Remus to figure out where Sirius or Harry might be, but he too had completely disappeared with little care. The longer Dumbledore searched, the clearer the answer became. Sirius must have come to the Potter house just after the attack and had taken Harry on the run. Remus was soft-willed enough to simply go along with that sort of madness. Curse that Black boy and his deep streak of recklessness! That child was important! Peter was useless to him. He had spun a tale of woe being the poor survivor of Sirius' betrayal. His connection to the Potter family left him in an advantageous position with the Ministry.

Through the years that followed, Dumbledore kept a watch for either of the missing Marauders or the Chosen One that they had stolen. He kept in touch with many disreputable characters in the underworld for any hint of information on the trio. Mundungus Fletcher had always been a good criminal to turn to for that sort of information, but even he came up with nothing. That could only mean that they were no longer in the country, and while he had sway with many countries he didn't have the clout to get all of them on a worldwide manhunt.

So Dumbledore did what he did best. He waited while tending to his many machinations going on behind the curtain. The grand chess game never stopped being played just because some of the pawns went rogue. There were many little plans in motion but the biggest one right now involved the Philosopher's Stone. It took the involvement of some rather unsavory characters and a whole vault of Galleons to convince his old mentor Nicolas Flamel to allow Dumbledore to store his precious stone at Hogwarts. Dumbledore may have told Nicolas that it was to keep the stone safe, but it was bait. Bait set for either Tom himself or one of his delusional followers, one never could tell when fishing what kind of fish would bite the line. Only time would tell if anyone would be stupid enough to actually take it. Minerva had several good ideas for defenses to protect the stone as did Severus. In the end, they chose to hide it within the Mirror of Erised in a room full of identical mirrors.

It was clear to only Dumbledore that Tom did not fully die the night Harry Potter defeated him. Tom had left many clues indicating that he had somehow done something to prolong his own life. The how was a mystery, even if Dumbledore had his theories. If it was a horcrux, the lead that he had from that simple man Slughorn, the number of horcruxes was unknown, but Dumbledore could guess that it was three or seven. Tom was so drawn to making everything surrounding him mean something magically significant since he was born from nothing.

Years went by with no word on the Chosen One he needed. Dumbledore held onto the vain hope that Harry would turn up on what would be his first year at Hogwarts. Minerva ushered the tiny first years into the Great Hall like a mother duck with a trail of ducklings following dutifully behind her and with a scan of the new children his hopes were dashed. He sat and watched the sorting apathetically behind his grandfatherly mask, now thinking about coming adjustments to his plans and changes he was going to have to make very quickly.

He did make note of the students and the houses they were sorted into. Several of them were of no real surprise to him. Ronald Weasley was just the latest Weasley that went into Gryffindor. Susan Bones in Hufflepuff, he nodded internally since many of her family had been in the same house that espoused such a drive in the House of Bones. Draco Malfoy going into Slytherin was cause for a small amount of concern. His father, Lucius, was a Slytherin and a part of the original gang of Death Eaters and had managed to evade punishment following Tom's downfall. But ah, then there was Neville Longbottom. He could have also been the Chosen One, had Tom decided to go after the Pureblood rather than the Halfblood. Without Harry around to take Tom's attention, he would go after the best alternative. That meant Neville was already in danger. And of course an animal in danger could be a weapon. Dumbledore decided that he would need to train the boy. He could tell from this distance that the boy needed confidence. With the loss of Frank and Alice, Augusta had not raised the child boy was a Gryffindor however, so Dumbledore had time. The Headmaster pushed those thoughts away for now, there were plans in motion that required his full attention.

Dumbledore had filled the vacant Defense Against the Dark Arts professor with Quirinus Quirrell during the summer. At the time, he was a stuttering fool that appeared harmless. Now though, there was something wrong about him. There was an air of evil that wasn't there before. So Dumbledore kept a close eye on the professor. Once the centaurs began reporting unicorn deaths in the Forbidden Forest though it made things much more clear. Tom had possessed Quirrell and was now using him to try and gain a new body. Dumbledore decided that he liked fishing.

In the end, it didn't work. Dumbledore had received an obviously fake letter summoning him to the Ministry headquarters in London on June 4th. He left the school, but not before informing Severus that an attempt would be made for the stone and to keep his guard up, but not to interfere. He didn't expect to return to the school and have to identify the mummified and disfigured body of the now former Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. According to Hagrid, he had been attacked and partially eaten by the illegal Acromantula colony he had helped establish in the Forbidden forest. Severus had reported that what was left of the body showed severe signs of both prolonged possession and contact with Unicorn's Blood.

"The Dark Lord is trying to acquire a new body, it seems," Severus murmured as he came up behind Dumbledore atop the astronomy tower. It was one of the few places where it was difficult for children to 'accidentally' stumble into their conversations. "He will try again. Perhaps not so brazenly, but he will. Somehow." Severus drawled in his typically irritating way.

"He will no doubt find another minion to do his dirty work for him. There are so many people out there wanting just a taste of his power," Dumbledore sighed unhappily, going over the many chess pieces he had in play. He would need to change certain reports and fabricate some memories to better accommodate Tom's attempt at acquiring the stone.

"Then what shall we do?" Severus turned to him with a sneer, eyeing him with a critical gaze that was never going to pierce Dumbledore's defenses. "Your 'Chosen One' has not returned and the Dark Lord is making moves to regain his power. We need a plan in place to work towards while events unfold."

Dumbledore remained silent for a moment, wondering if he should let his double agent of his into his plan. "We will train the Longbottom boy. Get him ready." He instructed with a gentle insistence that didn't fool the potions master.

"Neville?" Severus hissed. His anger to any non-Slytherin got under Dumbledore's skin. It was that kind of hatred that allowed people like Tom Riddle to flourish. "Why do we need to waste our time on such a weak child?"

"Without the one that defeated him before available to him, Lord Voldemort will go after what he perceives as the next greatest threat. Which is the Longbottom heir." Dumbledore explained without looking at the other professor.

"What makes Neville 'this next greatest threat', Headmaster?" Severus drew a sarcastic emphasis on the old man's title even as he attempted to probe his mind for the true answer.

"The prophecy you overheard that night at the Hog's Head Pub…" Dumbledore paused for just a moment and he could see Severus' entire body tense up. "It could have been either the Potter boy or the Longbottom boy. Lord Voldemort himself created his nemesis, but he certainly affected two. With our Mr. Potter not here to stand against him, he will no doubt turn to the one he didn't chose for his purposes," Dumbledore finally turned to look at Severus. "We need to train him and quickly."

"Of course, headmaster," Severus was not pleased with this order, but he knew better than to fight Dumbeldore on most subjects. "When shall we begin?"

"The fall," Dumbledore turned and began to walk away from his dark shadow. "Let the boy have one last summer to be innocent."