Chapter 205: Tempest
If you want to support me check out my patréon at https://www.patréon.com/athassprkr
I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.
I would like to thank my beta, Akisu, for his help in this chapter.
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29 April 1994, Hogwarts, Scotland
Alastor Moody walked up to the headmaster's office feeling far more tense than he expected to be. Dumbledore had given him the task of following the Potter boy around and finding out more about him, and what he discovered disturbed him.
Oh, it wasn't Potter. The boy had undoubtedly a lot of secrets, but it was Albus' obsession with the young man that rattled Alastor. Sure, the brat was good at magic, a prodigy the likes he had never seen before. He was very much just as skilled as Dumbledore proclaimed in his guardianship hearing. Hell, if anything, the whole thing was watered down.
And that made all his victories in the school tournament all the more amusing. The brat could have just taken the direct route; and defeated his opponents who were very much his lesser. Yet, he chose trickery and deceit. At first, Alastor assumed that it was just to make people underestimate him, as well as humiliating Dumbledore – and that was definitely one of the boy's goals – but the main reason was something that took the former Auror a lot to figure out. The Potter boy just didn't like the spotlight all that much. He actively disliked the very idea of being involved in politics and of people being interested in him and using him to push some political cause.
In terms of magical skill, Alastor imagined that this was what Albus was like when he was still a young student. But in terms of ideology, they couldn't be any more different. For all of his talk of refusing power, Albus Dumbledore held enough positions and had enough connections, to be considered one of the main powerhouses in magical Britain. There was no doubt that he loved power, and his controlling tendencies, even when it came to his allies supported that.
Maybe that was why he was so obsessed with the boy? Perhaps he saw the boy replacing him in the future and wanted to remove a rival?
Alastor didn't know, but the whole thing put a bad taste in his mouth.
He huffed for a few seconds, pausing as he went up the spiralling stairs. The damn things seemed to twist endlessly upwards. Dumbledore often used a tactic to get ready and modify the length of the stairs enough to prepare himself. The former Auror decided to not waste the effort and stood where he was for a good minute, before going up once more. He was at the entrance in less than ten steps afterwards.
The doors opened without him knocking like the headmaster always liked to do. As usual, the office was just a seemingly random collection of magical artefacts and magical books. The walls were filled with portraits of former headmasters and headmistresses, their eyes following Moody with a mix of curiosity and dismissal. These portraits collected and went through the information from the entire network of paintings in the castle and informed Dumbledore in case they overheard something critical.
Alastor kept a privacy bubble whenever he saw a painting near him. For all he trusted Dumbledore, he knew that the man had his faults, and he would allow any sensitive information to slip.
Speaking of the headmaster, he was sitting behind his desk, "Ah, Alastor, I must say that I did not expect you to come see me today. I'm afraid I must ask you to make it quick. With the third task being so close, I have very little free time, even to speak with old friends such as yourself."
"Fine," Alastor responded, "I don't like dancing about shit. What are your plans with Potter?"
The headmaster froze suddenly, his kindly smile disappearing immediately, "That is none of your concern, Alastor."
When people spoke of Dumbledore outside the castle, they always imagined him as this kindly half-mad old man who has a lot of eccentric habits than most of the patients in the Janus Thickey Ward at St. Mungo's, but with more knowledge and magical power than the rest of the population put together. They were wrong.
Very few had the misfortune of seeing what was underneath the kindly mask Albus wore. Alastor was one of them. The mask was off, and the defeater of Grindelwald showed himself. It would be a lie if he said that he wasn't intimidated whenever Dumbledore did that.
Still, he had to push through, "I don't care if it isn't. I spent a month following the boy around. He's a good kid, normal. He has friends, and he helps them with their schoolwork. He likes flying and has no interest in politics. Hell, he even refused a position in the Court of Slytherin, and I remember how desirable a position was when I was still a student. I can see why you would be interested in following his progress, but you're treating him like he's your sworn enemy. You were even kinder with Death Eaters during the war…"
The Potter brat was fascinating to watch, yes. It was more of a challenge than Alastor expected. The boy had some kind of magical sensing, that was for sure. For all his intelligence, whenever Alastor was near, the boy would clam up slightly, and become a bit tenser, recognizing being watched. He could also detect and disarm most spying spells near him, even artefacts designed for reconnaissance Auror missions.
It was far more challenging than most of his recent missions. The only results he had gotten were with muggle recording devices made entirely with lead, the least magically absorbent material in the world. He planted the recordings in places he knew the boy would hang out every day since they would be fried quickly since the boy tended to channel magic into his clothes in a few bursts every few minutes. For some reason, his friends did the same. He later learned that it was some kind of magical exercise he was teaching his friends, something to improve their magical control. Still, it was very annoying to deal with.
The intelligence that Alastor had wasn't foolproof, but the few things he was able to discern showed a picture of Potter that was completely different from the one Dumbledore showed. Oh, he was a magical prodigy and everything, but he was mostly curious about exploring magic more than anything. He was also very wary and very scared of Dumbledore, convinced that the man just would not leave him alone. There was even talk of changing schools, and that the Greengrass girl would follow him. All in all, the whole thing wasn't flattering for Dumbledore.
The boy definitely had a magical crest, though. However, he didn't speak much about it, and Alastor could never tell when he was training it. That was another thing; sometimes the boy just disappeared for hours on end. Alastor just couldn't cast a tracking charm without the brat detecting it somehow. He even tried using an invisible potion that would show shoe tracks when they were exposed to a certain spell, but the boy must have noticed something was wrong because nothing ever came of them.
Any other information he had on the boy, he had gotten by intercepting his mail, which happened to be mostly mundane stuff. The only interesting piece of information was that the boy was heavily invested in the Firebolt Company. But even then, the boy's owl was a tricky bugger. She avoided his spells, learned to counter wards… Alastor had learned about pets becoming smarter by bonding with powerful mages, but he'd never seen something this drastic before in his years as an Auror.
He hadn't told Dumbledore about the magical sensing. Even if it was slightly naïve of him, Alastor sympathized with the boy. Albus was just as obsessed with him, as he predicted. The former Auror just couldn't help but dread what the headmaster had planned for him.
Alastor's recollection was interrupted by Dumbledore's voice, "I know that it may look harsh, but I want you to trust me enough to believe that I would not be cautious of a child without cause."
"So, it's not about getting back at him for embarrassing you?"
The headmaster took a deep sigh, "I will admit that I was in the wrong in the guardianship hearing. However, forcing students to compete in the tournament was necessary. I made a few projections on the number of potential participants if it was optional, but they were not optimistic. The entire event would have been a disaster. The raw truth is that the school needed the gold, and this was the only way to do it."
"So, what is it? Why are you so fixated on him?"
"A Prophecy."
The former Auror stiffened and furrowed his eyebrows, "You're planning on ruining his life for a Prophecy?"
"The situation is complex. Do you know who Perenelle Flamel is?"
"She's dead, isn't she? So is her husband. I remember the French being up in arms about it, especially when they never found out who did it, especially since no one could find the Philosopher's stone."
Albus nodded, "That's correct, Alastor. But what most people don't know is that Perenelle was a seer, one who had centuries to hone her skills. Before her tragic death, she predicted that someone would rise to power and undo everything I ever worked for. All my efforts in making the magical world safer, are gone, just like that. I never heard the full prophecy, only Nicholas did, and he died before repeating it to me. I started to suspect that young Harry was that mysterious enemy after his guardianship hearing. I had just wanted to make sure that he wouldn't be influenced by Arcturus, but the way he reacted was the first time someone successfully hurt me politically. I will admit to being angry at what happened to my sister being brought up, but it made me focus on the boy… His lineage sealed the deal for me. I have studied the Potter family, and it fits the prophecy. I am sure of it now: I don't know when and I don't know where, but one day, Harry Potter will destroy everything I ever worked for. He will render the sacrifices I made meaningless, and it will cause my death."
"He's just a boy," Alastor protested, "Did you not think that you were turning him into your enemy, your opponent…"
"Perhaps, but so far, I have done nothing more than ask you to observe him… Wouldn't you keep tabs on a potential threat as well?"
"I would," Alastor grudgingly answered, "So, you're not planning on doing anything to him during the third task."
"I do not plan on killing him, no. I am not a monster. If I had my way, Harry Potter would live a long and prosperous life, just far away from here."
That was probably the best he could have gotten out of Dumbledore when it came to Potter. He had to accept that. People forgot just how little they could do to change Dumbledore's mind. The headmaster was always there as the reasonable voice in conflicts, so much so that people never assumed that he could be just as stubborn and irrational at them at times…
"Alright, with that out of the way, I assume you know about the Warrington boy filing a claim against you and the school?"
Dumbledore nodded with a dismissive look on his face, "They're probably looking for more gold to squeeze out of the affair. The whole thing will be resolved after the third task…"
"Don't be so certain. Public opinion hasn't been in your favour for a while. If it wasn't for your prison…"
"Why do you think I built it in the first place? I expected something like this to happen sometime..."
"Well, you better prepare for some more, because I'm hearing a lot of angry chatter about it. You're still vulnerable until the prison actually opens. The ministry is taking its time with the inspections, though and that's not a coincidence. Personally, I think that Nott is involved," the former Auror stated, "I think something is going on, in the background. I can feel it coming."
"You're not the only one who thinks so," Albus responded. He took a look at the grandfather clock in his office and stiffened, "Oh, look at the time. thank you for your opinion, Alastor. But I'm afraid I'm already late for my meeting with the warding team. Do you mind if we continue this conversation later tonight?"
Before Alastor could protest, the headmaster just got up and left his office with large and measured steps. The former Auror found himself sitting alone in an empty room, and murmured, "I certainly hope that you know what you're doing Albus…"
He couldn't help but feel like Dumbledore had kept a lot of things hidden during their conversation, enough for a small pit to grow in his stomach. He had never seen Dumbledore act irrationally before and it was worrying to see someone with so much power acting this way.
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AN: I hope you enjoyed this chapter, but I was just letting you know that I might not upload one tomorrow. Yeah, I just left the hospital and I have kidney stones. Trust me, you do not want to have them because holy shit they're painful. Anyway, whether I upload tomorrow's chapter will depend on how I feel tomorrow. Have a good day, everyone.
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If you want to support me check out my patréon at https://www.patréon.com/athassprkr
I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.
Thank you guys for your support in these hard times.