Draco Malfoy. Rhea Potter. Neville Longbottom.
They were a trio Dumbledore had never expected.
He’d made plans, you see, for Rhea to befriend only those loyal to himself. Hagrid should have planted enough ideas in her head, for her to naturally incline towards Gryffindor rather than any other house. Something that evidently worked out, as Rhea had been Sorted into the House of Bravery. But Hagrid’s suspicion of Slytherins had clearly not translated, as the girl spent more time with the Snakes than she did her own Housemates.
She spent most of her time with one Snake in particular. Draco Malfoy. The son of a Death Eater. They hadn’t been friends to begin with – Rhea sticking largely to herself and Malfoy rarely socialising with the Gryffindors – but then the stupid girl had started spending more time with the Slytherins, and a confrontation had occurred between her and the Weasley boy. Dumbledore didn’t know the exact details of the incident – even the paintings were unaware – but it was clear that Potter had chosen Malfoy over Weasley. Since then, the two had been inseparable, and the perfect image of the Slytherin-hating Saviour that Dumbledore had been carefully fostering for the past ten years was destroyed.
Neville Longbottom was, at least, a Lion, and from a famously Light family, though Dumbledore had hoped the two wouldn’t grow close. It wouldn’t do for Rhea to realise their familial connection and seek to leave the Dursleys in favour of staying with her godbrother (not that Neville’s childhood had been much better than her own). Nor could she find out about her parents’ Will, and their wish for Rhea to go into the care of the Longbottoms, as this would only raise questions that Dumbledore had no wish to answer.
In short, the Headmaster was rather ticked off that Rhea Potter would choose the two friends he disapproved of most. And to see Malfoy and Longbottom actually getting along – despite the rift between their families – only added insult to injury.
He had tried, on multiple occasions, to divide them.
At first, he had hoped that a simple conversation with the Potter girl, explaining how the Malfoy family had worked with Lord Voldemort against the Light, would do the trick. But no. Rhea Potter was as stubborn as her mother. Just as Lily Evans had refused to end her friendship with Severus Snape, her daughter refused to cut contact with Draco Malfoy.
Dumbledore should have realised then, that his attempts would all be for naught. But he did not. Instead, he decided to play on the hostility between House Black and House Longbottom, to force the trio apart.
This did not work either. While the friendship between Malfoy and Longbottom seemed tense for a while, it eventually settled back into comradery, and Potter remained a constant fixture between them.
To make matters worse, Rhea ignored every ‘adventure’ Dumbledore laid out for her. She paid no attention to the issue of the Philosopher’s Stone, and barely blinked an eye in second year when the petrifications began. She did find the Chamber of Secrets, but instead of fearing it and the basilisk within, the girl began visiting it frequently, often taking Malfoy and Longbottom along with her. And, as Dumbledore received no confirmation that the basilisk was dead, he could only assume that Potter had tamed it somehow, earning herself a rather dangerous pet.
By her third year, the Headmaster had all but given up on ending the trio’s friendship, and had started focussing more on getting the girl to conform to his plans.
When it was announced that Sirius Black had received a trial and been found innocent (much to Dumbledore’s annoyance), he hoped to use Black to control Potter, bringing her back under his command. He hadn’t considered that the Black Heir would be angry at him, ignoring all his letters and demands in favour of finding and securing his goddaughter.
Even when he’d tried to use Remus Lupin to tempt Black back to the Light, things did not go as Dumbledore planned. The Last Marauders no longer bowed to his whims (he lost them the day he left Rhea on the Dursley’s doorstep) and his Gryffindor Saviour refused to play her role.
All his plotting and scheming, all his guidance and manipulation… it was all falling apart.
He floundered, trying everything he could think of to gain back some semblance of control.
But that was just it…
The new generation didn’t want to be controlled.
Not even for the Greater Good.