Chapter 22— Interlude: For the Greater Good

~Fun Fact: The Muggle news reports an unusually large number of owls awake and flying around in the daytime. They don't mention any letters those owls carry though which should be, by muggle standards, way stranger than just owls being awake during the day

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It was the night after the Sorting Ceremony and Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, sat behind a large desk inside his office. All around him were portraits of previous Headmasters, placed there to offer the current Headmaster counsel. In the corner of the room next to the window was a perch and atop it, the majestic figure of Dumbledore's phoenix familiar, Fawkes. His claws and beak were a gleaming gold and his eyes a smouldering obsidian. He stoop atop his perch, gazing into the night, his scarlet body glowing faintly amidst the darkness.

Dumbledore absentmindedly sucked on a lemon drop as he had yet to fully process his shock at what had just happened. Around his office sat small contraptions designed to emit different coloured puffs of smoke or create different noises depending on certain conditions. Every single instrument had one thing in common. They were all completely silent.

That was not a matter of concern to him, though. For he knew that the boy that they were set to monitor, Harry Potter, was completely safe from harm.

Dumbledore had chosen to leave Harry with the Dursleys eleven years ago in the hopes that his loving family would form Harry into a selfless boy, determined to not allow the wizarding world to suffer at the hands of another Dark Lord— his wayward ex-student, Tom Marvolo Riddle. But that was obviously not the case and it would be something Dumbledore would always regret. The signs of hatred towards magical folk were always there. It was apparent in Petunia Dursley's treatment of her own sister, Lily Potter. Yet he chose to blind himself to it in the hopes that amongst the hatred and prejudice of the world, the Family and all that it stood for would prevail. Evidently he was wrong, and Harry's sorting was clear evidence of that.

Of all the houses for Harry to be sorted into, he did not plan on Slytherin being the one and now Dumbledore's plans for the foreseeable future we all for naught.

Were Harry to end up in Ravenclaw he would have deduced his plan and devised a viable alternative, that would be fine as in the end their goals aligned. In Hufflepuff he would gain the absolutely loyalty to him that would be crucial in defeating Lord Voldemort. In Gryffindor where bravery was paramount, Harry would be able to follow the path that Dumbledore had carefully laid out for him and when the time would come, he would be willing to sacrifice himself for the future of Wizarding Britain. But Slytherin? As a snake, Harry would no doubt slither his way from the light into the dark, creating his own side to the war as was a Slytherin's disposition. And that was what Harry James Potter was— a Slytherin.

Dumbledore picked out another lemon drop from his jar, unwrapping it as he began to suck idly upon it, his mouth twitching at the sourness. Picking up a yellow folder, he flicked through the record of this year's new students. 'Draco Malfoy, Ernest Macmillan, Neville Longbottom, Daphne Greengrass, Zacharias Smith...

.

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Seamus Finnigan, Hermione Granger... Selina Moon, Tracey Davis...

.

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Blaise Zabini, Susan Bones, Aayan Barak.' He paused, 'Barak...'

Aayan Barak.

If he was not mistaken, was the son of Sophia and Adam Barak, two who had refused his invitation into the Order of the Phoenix on multiple occasions. Dumbledore was wary of them, they seemed to gravitate between the path of light and dark, preferring to stay away from him and all that he entailed. He snorted amusedly. They were similar to the grey faction in the regard. Furthermore, during the First Wizarding War, they did not shy away from ending the lives of Lord Voldemort's Death Eaters. He would have to keep an eye on him since his close relationship with Harry was troubling; but for the moment he had more pressing issues to worry about.

Every passing moment, Harry's image overlapped more and more with the visage of his old student. The similarities were already there. Eyes that shone with a hunger for knowledge and power, confidence and charisma that seemed to draw in those around him, and both were sorted into Slytherin. Dumbledore would not be the progenitor of a second dark lord and he would do his utmost to prevent that from ever happening again.

Leaning back wearily in his armchair, Dumbledore massaged his forehead; an exhausted sigh escaping his lips.

At that moment, Fawkes hopped off of his perch and approached him, singing an ethereal yet beautiful melody. Dumbledore felt the pulsing pain in his head ebb away; a smile on his face as he looked at his Phoenix gratefully.

"Thank you, old friend." He said, stroking Fawkes' feathers.

The majestic bird nodded its head imperceptibly, flying back to his perch and continuing to stare out into the night.

Getting up from his seat, Dumbledore made his way over to the window and gazed at the Forbidden Forest's canopy in the distance. He sighed once more, his breath steaming the window as the night gazed back at him.

"Perhaps all is not yet lost. Merlin himself was a Slytherin after all..." Mused Dumbledore, stroking Fawkes' feathers as he stared into the night.

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*A/N: Alright everybody! Sorry for the short chapter, but this was mostly just a look into Dumbledore's thoughts and stuff. I find it hard to write chapters unless there's a looming deadline over me, it's just the way I am. Anyways, the next few chapters will be mixed POVs. I'll try to experiment with third POV chapters and see if you guys prefer that or the original first person POV writing style. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy today's chapter and I will hopefully see you tomorrow!

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