The Grand Chessboard
Chapter 14: The Grand Chessboard
The golden ink on the parchment rippled once more, shifting and reshaping itself into new revelations.
Harry braced himself.
He had already learned too much—more than he thought he could handle. But this? This was the final nail in the coffin. The moment that would prove just how much of his life had been orchestrated, manipulated, controlled.
And the mastermind behind it all?
Albus Dumbledore.
Cassia was rigid beside him, her sharp grey eyes locked onto the parchment, her mind undoubtedly putting the pieces together faster than he could.
But Harry…
He wasn’t sure if he could take another piece of the truth.
And yet, as more words etched themselves onto the parchment, he forced himself to keep reading.
Binding Contracts and Stolen Freedom
Magical Guardianship Contract – Placed by: Albus Dumbledore
Status: Active (Can Be Contested)
Effect: Grants Albus Dumbledore full authority over the legal and magical affairs of Harry James Potter until the age of seventeen. Overrides parental wills and bloodline inheritance.
Hogwarts Attendance Binding – Placed by: Albus Dumbledore
Status: Active (Irreversible Without Formal Challenge)
Effect: Prevents Harry James Potter from attending any other magical institution or receiving private tutelage in areas outside of Hogwarts curriculum.
Controlled Prophecy Influence – Initiated by: Albus Dumbledore
Status: Active (Records Sealed)
Effect: Direct intervention in the events surrounding the prophecy made by Sybill Trelawney regarding Harry James Potter and Tom Marvolo Riddle.
Harry’s vision swam.
He barely registered the sharp inhale Cassia took beside him.
"That… that bastard," she breathed.
Harry gritted his teeth. His fingers trembled against the desk, his breathing ragged.
"Dumbledore made himself my guardian?" he whispered, his voice hollow. "He… he made it so my parents’ wishes didn’t matter?"
Ragnok nodded, completely unmoved by the revelation. "It appears so. By doing this, he ensured that he had full control over your upbringing—legally and magically."
Harry felt sick.
Cassia’s expression darkened. "And the Hogwarts binding—" She narrowed her eyes. "That means he made sure Harry could only be trained under his system. No private tutors, no alternative schools—"
"Only what he deemed appropriate," Ragnok confirmed.
Harry fought the urge to slam his fist against the desk.
All those years at the Dursleys—his suffering hadn’t been an accident. Dumbledore had placed him there. Kept him there. And he had done it with the knowledge that Harry had other options.
That he had other people who could have taken him in.
His body trembled with anger, but he forced himself to keep reading.
And then he saw the last line.
Controlled Prophecy Influence.
His stomach dropped.
Cassia’s eyes flickered to his, sharp with realization.
"You were never meant to fight Voldemort, Harry," she said, her voice quieter than before. "Dumbledore made sure you would."
Voldemort’s Manipulation
Harry swallowed the bitter lump in his throat.
He had spent years hating Voldemort—fearing him.
And yet…
He wasn’t the only one Dumbledore had played.
Harry’s voice was hoarse when he finally spoke. "Ragnok. What does this mean?" He gestured to the Controlled Prophecy Influence. "What did Dumbledore do?"
Ragnok tapped his long fingers against the desk. "There are sealed records regarding this matter. However, from what I can deduce, Albus Dumbledore did not merely discover the prophecy about you and Lord Voldemort." His silver eyes gleamed. "He controlled how it unfolded."
Harry’s blood turned to ice.
"What?"
Cassia’s expression was unreadable. "You mean… he let Voldemort find out about it?"
"More than that." Ragnok exhaled slowly. "He made sure Lord Voldemort would see it as a threat."
Harry’s hands clenched into tight fists.
The prophecy. The one that had supposedly dictated his entire life. The reason his parents had gone into hiding. The reason Voldemort had come for them that night.
The reason he had this damn scar.
"You’re saying," Harry forced out, rage bubbling beneath the surface, "that if Dumbledore hadn’t meddled, Voldemort might never have come after my parents?"
Ragnok’s expression was unreadable. "There is no definitive proof, but given the information available… it is very likely."
A heavy silence filled the room.
Cassia leaned back in her chair, staring at the ceiling for a long moment before whispering, "He created his own war."
Harry felt like the air had been knocked from his lungs.
Dumbledore had set Voldemort on this path. He had ensured the prophecy would be acted upon. He had manipulated both of them.
The world had always painted Voldemort as the villain.
And maybe he was. Maybe he was a monster.
But the one who had shaped him into a monster…
Was Dumbledore.
Harry could barely think. His mind reeled, rage and grief and disbelief choking him all at once.
Cassia’s voice cut through the chaos.
"He never intended for you to win."
Harry looked at her, wide-eyed. "What?"
Cassia exhaled slowly. "The prophecy. It said neither of you could live while the other survived, right?"
Harry nodded slowly.
Cassia’s lips curled in disgust. "Then Dumbledore always intended for you to die."
The words hit like a curse.
Dumbledore hadn’t just been manipulating him.
He had been raising him for slaughter.
Harry’s chest ached with fury.
But it wasn’t wild, uncontrolled anger anymore.
No.
This was something cold. Focused.
He would not be Dumbledore’s pawn.
Not anymore.
He turned back to Ragnok, his voice calm but deadly.
"What else?"
Because if there were more lies to uncover, more pieces to this game Dumbledore had been playing—
Harry was going to burn it all down.