Dark Lord Dumbledore

By the time Amelia Bones returned after tracking down Trelawny, Fudge was already eager to leave and implement some of the new ideas he suddenly came up with 'by himself'.

Now that he knew he didn't even need the subjects of the prophecy to view the orb, it bothered him not at all when Bones reported that the batty Divination Professor had no clue of any augury she supposedly gave to Dumbledore.

Chad had already suspected that she would have no idea about it, as the woman would have repeatedly bragged about it otherwise, and Dumbledore could not have that!

This woman took great p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e predicting peoples death in each and every one of her classes, after all. Purely for clout.

With Bone's news of a dead-end in their investigation, Fudge, almost giddy with the d.e.s.i.r.e to leave, used it as the perfect excuse to be on their way. He thanked Harry Potter for his time as he disappeared in a flash of flame with a confused Amelia, after practically impelling her through the Floo Network.

Chad could only sigh at the future drama this event would cause. He prefered to work from the shadows and strike at unaware targets, not act publically for everyone to watch and take note. This was how he had accomplished so much without being challenged at every turn.

Australia was the perfect example of what happened when someone tries to do things out in the open. It forces everyone affected by your decisions to defend their own interests, and thus, oppose you.

Too many times, in either fiction or non-fiction, was this exposed as the natural laws of the universe. Humanity was selfish, and if someone bit off more than they could chew, they would be b*tch slapped back into place by those affected.

And even though Chad had managed to muddy his involvement with the prophecy by refusing to pick up the orb and confirm his association, the public would speculate. Especially now with Fudge on the warpath and Trelawny was aware she wasn't a complete hack.

Dumbledore's prophecy that he used to lead Voldemort around like an idiot would be spread throughout the community before the end of the week. Chad was unsure if it was actually real or not since it was way too convenient.

An experienced Dark Lord against a schoolboy with prank spells would never work, and only someone set up to fail would ever be trained how Harry Potter was. If you want someone to survive and fulfil a prophecy, you don't lock them in a cupboard for ten years and then teach them school level spells.

But it mattered little at this point, Voldemort only existed as a Horcrux in the Lestrange vault, and Chad held the only people that could access it. He was not worried about the 'resurrected Dark Lord' that would suddenly focus all of his energy trying to kill him because of it.

What did annoy him though, was that it would bring more attention, from both the media and the loyal Death Eaters still running around free. Maybe he could sacrifice Neville to the populous that would be searching for someone else to worship before they inevitably turned on them.

Other than being marked by Voldemort, he did fit the other criteria. But to be honest, so did a lot of people if you squinted hard enough when reading the poem of vagueness.

There was no mention of which year the person must be born, nor the Dark Lord in question! For all Chad knew, if Dumbledore didn't make it all up, then it could possibly be about him! Trelawny was sitting right in front of him, Dark Lord Dumbles was most likely the trigger to her prophetic episode.

That was the problem with prophecies, the interpretation would never be clear and could be forced to suit any scenario.

"Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies...

And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not...

And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives..."

Because of Horcruxes and Harry Potter's parasite, not to mention his scar, it was often immediately attributed to him. But nowhere in the text did this give specifics answers or confirmation.

One way to look at it, if you chose to view it as about Harry Potter, was that his parents disobeyed Dumbledore's orders three times and Harry would have to kill Dumbledore if he ever wished to be free of his manipulations.

After all, Dumbledore did way more harm to Harry Potter with his deliberate actions than Voldemort ever did!

He had no idea what the "power the Dark Lord knows not" referred to. Other than it certainly wasn't love, that would be ridiculous. Still, Chad fully believed that the poorly written poem was contrived by Dumbledore to play Tom Riddle like a chump.

-Meeting Trelawny at the pub owned by his brother that hates him, when all other interviews are held at Hogwarts.

-Snape 'overhearing' only the first sentence before running off to tell Voldemort.

-The most likely subjects of the prophecy being children of Dumbledore's burnt chicken lackeys.

Sure sounded like Fate loves Dumbledore and hates Tom and Harry.

Still, after thinking about misdirecting the target of the prophecy onto Neville for a minute, he ended up deciding to just let everyone believe what they wanted without confirming anything.

Although Neville had come a long way under his tutelage, the boy was not ready to be made the centre of attention of the wizarding world. Plus his overbearing Grandmother might start to cause problems.

Of course, he would also be starting rumours that it was fake and merely a ploy by the 'power-hungry' Dumbledore to regain his fame and influence. No point in not using the situation to his benefit.

Glancing around at the McGonagall's modestly decorated office and finding nothing of interest, he decided to give the old woman her room back and head off to his own. He would need all the sleep he could get in the coming days of turmoil.

Sure enough, the next day saw Trelawny strutting around like she was the best thing since sliced bread, and dropping hints at the power her third eye was capable of.

Things only got worse a day later when the Daily Prophet came in the morning with news of Dumbledore's claims and Fudge adding more charges to the old man's rap sheet.

While he was now gaining many new looks and whispered conversations from the students at Hogwarts, Fudge had done his best in separating him from any excessive involvement.

[ "Dumbledore claims to have not been involved in poor Harry Potter's kidnapping, yet then insists that there is a prophecy about He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's return, and he has known about it before his death!

Personally, I think it is all made up for the old fool to try and save his own skin after being revealed as a crook. But if he insists it real, it only further proves Dumbledor is guilty of a lot more than we first thought!

Therefore, with the full support of the DMLE, if Dumbledore doesn't turn himself in by tomorrow at 6pm, all of his assets will be seized, and anyone found colluding with him guilty of accessory to his crimes!

Furthermore, a reward of 50,000 Galleons will be offered for any information leading to his arrest." ]

The Dining Hall erupted into chaos when that bit of the article in the newspaper was read, as it would practically damn anyone still trying to stand up for Dumbledore.

The 'Dark' faction of the Wixengamot would be out for blood with Fudge's declaration since it was basically giving them free rein to hunt down their political enemies on the barest of suspicion they would be hiding the fugitive Albus Dumbledore.

Though many of them were still confused why Voldemort had yet to show himself to his marked Death Eaters, they were practically creaming their pants with his brilliant destruction of their most hated and feared enemy.

While the magical world was losing its mind, Chad was cursing his inability to control the situation. This was precisely what he didn't want to happen.

R.O.B had given him only one objective, for Dumbledore to get his comeuppance. But since this was now his new life, he wanted to benefit from the power vacuum such a thing would create.

However, Dumbledore had forced his hand, and now Fudge was off doing his best to see the old man destroyed. Sure it was a good thing, as Chad would have to do it himself eventually anyway.

But there would be so many missed opportunities and problems created from the rushed job, that he would rather Dumbledore had remained hidden for a few more years.

Even if now he didn't actually have to lift a finger to see Dumbledore brought down by the masses, and could just sit back with a bag of popcorn to watch the show.

Still, he wasn't going to complain too much about it. Things were otherwise going well in his conquest of both the mundane and magical world, and Britain was purely for his entertainment.

He didn't actually need to take it over diplomatically.

It was the equivalent to playing an RPG computer game, failing a dialogue choice and missing out on a piece of loot that would only be relevant for a couple of more levels before he outgrew it.

What was Dumbledore and the British Ministry of Magic when he planned to enslave the entire world's magical population?

Hell, the only country's magical community he was wary of was the Magical Congress of the United States of America. But that was only because they were so over-policed that exposure was higher if he came in enslaving people willy-nilly.

For that reason, they would be left until last.

What were they going to do against the rest of the world if it was under Chad's control? Even if the muggles found out by that point, they would still be aligned against numerous enemy countries that had their leaders taking orders from his people.

After all, most muggle governments were aware of their magical counterparts. And if Chad took over the magical side that protected the muggle government, how easy would it be to usurp them as well?