Because We Are Snakes

Chapter 5

Because We Are Snakes - The Maker of Dark Lords

Dumbledore sat drinking tea in his office, he was pleased with himself. The Dark Lord had returned to corporeal form just as he had expected, and even though Fudge was making things difficult for him and smearing his name in the papers, things were moving along just as Albus had predicted they would.

From the moment he had heard the prophesy he knew what he would have to do to ensure the future of the Wizarding World and the prevalence of the Light over the Dark. It pained him some times that he had had to sacrifice so many of his followers to secure his end goal but sacrifices did indeed have to be made for the future to prosper. It was one of the reasons he let Sirius go to Azkaban when he knew for sure Pettigrew was not only the Secret Keeper but also the spy in their mids. He had known all along that Voldemort had taken the man's mother hostage and forced him to join his ranks as well as serve as a spy within the Order. Unlike Voldemort though, he also knew that the boy would not likely die from the Dark Lord's visit, he had taken a peek at Lily's mind and known what she had been working on to ensure Harry's survival and even though he did not approve of such methods he allowed it because it would fit his goals. Even if the boy did die, he would be able to tweak his plans quickly enough to reach a desirable outcome, after all, he did have a spare if the boy died.

But Harry didn't die and the Dark Lord lost his body giving him more time to groom the boy to the weapon he needed.

It was perfect.

Once he solved the matter of Sirius of course and ensured that Remus, due to his status as Werewolf, could not take custody of the boy.

Once or twice he had questioned if the Dursleys were the best place to put Harry at, he promptly dismissed his doubts, it was the most fitting place to make sure the boy turned out to be just what he needed.

He knew those muggless were particularly aweful, he knew Harry would suffer and know no love from his bigoted, jealous, and hateful aunt and her husband but it was all for the best in the end because such a rough life would teach Harry to be meek and soft. The lack of care from his family would push him to seek love from any and all available sources; their cruelty would make him want to be as far from alike to them as possible. The boy who knew no compassion would be compassionate, he would be beaten down so much he would be submissive to those in authority without question, but most of all Harry would be self sacrificing for those who counted on him.

He would be everything Dumbledore needed him to be so that the boy may take on the evil in the world for him.

Albus remembered a time when he had wanted to shape Tom much the same so the boy could get rid of Gellert for him. He had seen a Darkness in Tom, a need to prove himself, and had thought it was what he would need to take on the current Dark Lord. He had continued to send Tom to the orphanage in the middle of the muggle Second World Ward to teach him the same lessons Harry had taken to so well. Sadly, Tom began going darker and darker each year and Albus knew then the boy would be the next Dark Lord if he had the chance.
He supposed the boy had always been beyond redeeming.

In the end he had had to do the deed himself, though it worked out for the best in that case seeing as he gained something truly wonderful from defeating Gellert and that was without factoring in the renown and power that came with being a vanquisher of Dark Lords and beacon of the Light.
Gellert... what a waste that had been defeating him so thoroughly and locking him in his own prison.

But it had to be done. After he had met Gellert and encouraged him to embark in a journey of world domination with him he had told Gellert again and again that if they were to take the Wizzarding World at large, force was not the way to go. All their planning had gone down the drain after his sister's death and Gellert's run-away act. It would have been a glorious moment, him and Gellert, hand in hand as the Dark and Light Lords ruling the magical world together and in love for the rest of their lives.

But Gellert had not seen reason and refused to heed his advice and left him to cause chaos in mainland Europe. In the end, Albus was the one who got the power they both craved and is the head of the most important magical bodies in Britain and the ICW. He would make the laws British and international and bring the world to heed for a brighter future in which the Dark did not exist.

As he took a sip of his tea his thoughts went back to Harry.

This time, he was sure he had gotten it right. He had shaped Harry to end Tom even by cost of his own life. It was all for the greater good and he was prepared to make the sacrifice of one child for the sake of many. Tom was very powerful indeed and Albus was powerful as well, but he was getting old and there was still so much to do to shape the perfect world, he could not put his life in jeopardy.

The world needed Albus Dumbledore to guide them toward the light and to look up to.

He could not feel sorry for Harry, could not allow himself to, because in the end he needed Harry to die and take Voldemort with him to end the cycle and ensure Tom could not return ever again.

He suspected from the very first time he held the boy as a baby that there could be a darkness in Harry from his exposure to Voldemort's darkness that needed to be kept in check. This was why he arranged to influence Harry's first view of the magical world during the boy's first trip to Diagon Alley. A small compulsion was all it took for Hagrid to say all the right things and plant the seed of dislike for all things Slytherin within Harry. Then all he had had to do was to make sure the first friend Harry made was a supporter of Griffindor and the Light and held Albus in high esteem. A small arrangement with the Weasley matriarch took care of that and then the youngest boy who would begin his first year along with Harry was too compelled to do and say the right things to Harry once they met at Platform 9 ¾ . Lastly a final compulsion which would stick to Harry's magical signature upon arrival at the antechamber before sorting would make sure that the boy denied his Slytheirn side and leaned more toward Griffindor where he would be influenced by kind, light-oriented witches and wizards and most of all sympathetic to the cause and followers of his ideals.

Even the Slytherins themselves had aided his goals unknowingly with their treatment of Harry. Severus was the best ally he had in this aspect.

He had needed Severus to be as biased and hurtfully awful to Harry as possible, with the enmity between Severus and James Albus didn't even have to compel the man to treat Harry horribly. Unknowingly Severus had continued to discourage any Slytherin tendencies. Severus had been just what he needed to make the boy hate the house of snakes.

Then there was Minerva, she had too been instrumental in his control of Harry. He had needed Minerva to not believe the boy's words if he came with complaints or problems nor have ever any time to give the boy any sort of advice. This would serve to push Harry to rely on seeking Albus for any and all advice or aid.

Compulsions.

Compulsions.

Compulsions.

The subtle art of manipulation and the world at his hands.

It saddened him that he had had to take Sirius out of the picture back then when he discouraged a trial and now by limiting the man's time with Harry and his influence over the boy, he quite liked Sirius but the man was wild and unpredictable at best and at the core he knew Sirius was still Dark and not fit for caring for a boy meant to serve the goals of the Light.

Harry was Albus' property and only he should be able to influence the boy, only he had the right to dictate the boy's life. It was for the best, Albus always knows best.

The boy had suffered, yes, but it would not be a suffering he would have to endure forever and it was for the benefit of Wizarkind at large.

He would forever remember the boy's sacrifice and know that what he had done to the boy was in the end the right thing to do, the right path to take and everyone would see it his way once they lived in a world of peace.

It might have seemed cruel to others how he manipulated the boy's entire life from his conception, but he was trying to save the world, it was all for the greater good and he knew in the end his way was the right way.

He would rid the world of all Darkness and in the end the world would be a better place because of the one who rules it from behind the scene, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore.