Prologue
The death of one Harry James Potter was something entirely avoidable, a tragedy born of both the actions of a Dark Lord and the negligence of those who should have been supervising the students under their care. Surprisingly, the blame lay primarily on the latter, and not the former.
Had the staff of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry been doing their jobs correctly, there would have been no possible way that a compulsion-charmed ransom letter could have made it into Hogwarts with the morning post. Had they been doing their jobs correctly, there would have been no secret pathways and tunnels out of the school- let alone ones that the staff were aware of and ignored, as surely none of the students could know about them, could they? Had they been doing their jobs correctly, they would remember that Hogwarts was a fortress before it was a school, and that the alert wards that informed them exactly who crossed the school's ward lines and when were actually a very important piece of magic that they should have renewed each year.
So, yes, whilst the actual death of Harry James Potter lies mainly on them, we must not forget about the reason it all happened.
The Dark Lord, Gellert Grindelwald.
Had Gellert Grindelwald been as sane as he once was, he would have easily been able to track down the very ritual that had allowed the Potter family to survive his attack on Samhain Night of 1981 to ensure it never happened again. Had he been as sane as he once was, he would have realised that a family surviving a targeted attack from him would only garner as much fame as his reaction allowed them to. Had he been as sane as he once was, he would have realised that trying to kill the eldest child of the family that had survived his attack upon his escape from Nurmengard was actually quite fucked up, Gellert, the boy had been one when the attack happened! He had nothing to do with it!
Had Gellert been as sane as he once was, he would have realised that luring a fifteen year old out of his school with a fake compulsion-layered ransom note saying that his parents were being held hostage and would be murdered if he didn't rescue them was insane, even by Dark Lord standards.
Had Gellert been as sane as he once was, he would have realised that murdering a fifteen year old Heir to a titled family would not gain him the favour of the British public.
Had Gellert been as sane as he once was, he would have researched who exactly the Potters are descended from.
Had Gellert been as sane as he once was, he would have remembered that the dead are truly only as dead as they want to be, that cold-blooded murder can oftentimes create an enemy hellbent on revenge that does not abide by the rules of the living.
After all, you cannot kill what is already dead.
Perhaps there was one other person to be blamed, though he does fall under the 'Hogwarts Staff' banner.
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore.
Headmaster of Hogwarts, Grand Sorceror, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, and Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards.
Oh, and none other than Gellert Grindelwald's ex-boyfriend.
Of course.
A man, not a God, no matter how much he acts otherwise, who turned against his lover after a duel gone wrong. A man who treats those around him like mere pawns on a chessboard. A man with more power than he knows what to do with.
A man who will stop at nothing to defeat his opponent, no matter who dies and whose lives he has to ruin.
Always several steps ahead of everyone else, every loss is a calculated one.
But enough about dear Albus.
The death of Harry James Potter was a calculated loss.
It just so happens to be one that backfires rather spectacularly.
After all, being dead does not mean being gone.
And the dead do not always remain dead.
After all, you cannot kill what is already dead.