Chapter 1
**The following line is taken from J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince**
Snape raised his wand and pointed it directly at Dumbledore.
“Avada kedavra!”
Albus Dumbledore mentally smiled as the jet of green light raced towards him. ‘Thank you, Severus. And I’m sorry for everything.’
His eyes shifted to look at the sixteen year old raven haired boy frozen under the invisibility cloak, whose eyes were wide in horror, ‘I’m so sorry Harry. But it falls to you now. Good luck. And I hope that you will forgive me someday.’
He smiled sadly at Harry and looked forward just as the spell hit him. He was blasted backwards, over the rails of the Astronomy Tower. He hung in the air for a few seconds, and then fell, like a ragdoll, over the battlements and out of sight.
****
Dumbledore opened his eyes, only to immediately close them. Wherever he was, it was bright. Too bright even. He slowly re-opened them and decided to take a look around.
The place was white; though not all of the whiteness could be attributed to the fog that surrounded him. It cleared up slowly to reveal what looked like a train station.
He felt the cool air around him, and he realised that it was naked. He immediately wished he was clothed.
As soon as he finished the thought, a set of robes appeared out of thin air. Quickly donning them on, he proceeded to walk through the fog.
‘So is this what the next great adventure looks like?’
“Not quite.”
Dumbledore turned to the voice, and his heart nearly stopped, which wouldn’t matter since he was already dead.
Standing before him was a girl with blonde hair and blue eyes that usually gazed upon people with a vacant sweetness. However, none of the sweetness was present in her eyes as she looked upon him with an angry expression.
“A-Ariana…” Albus stammered.
“Would you look at that; the great Albus Dumbledore stuttering.” The girl identified as Ariana snarked as she marched up to him. Albus expected many things; however, a punch to his stomach was not in the list of things he expected.
The force of the punch he got was so great he doubled over. He felt his beard being yanked as he stared into the eyes of his sister.
“WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!” Ariana Dumbledore screamed. “FIRST YOU DELAY YOUR MEETING WITH THAT FOOL GRINDELWALD, AND LET HIM ROAM ABOUT FREELY KILLING PEOPLE! I COULD UNDERSTAND NOT KILLING HIM AND INSTEAD IMPRISONING HIM, BUT THEN YOU HAD TO GO AND DROP THE QUAFFLE WITH THAT RIDDLE BOY! SENDING HIM BACK TO MUGGLES WHO PRETTY MUCH TORMENT HIM EVERY YEAR AND DENYING HIM SANCTUARY IN HOGWARTS! NO WONDER HE SNAPPED AND BECAME A DARK LORD! THEN WHEN HE LOSES HIS BODY TRYING TO KILL BABY HARRY, WHAT DO YOU DO?! YOU DUMP THE POOR BABY WITH MAGIC HATING MUGGLES, WHO PRETTY MUCH ABUSED HIM! AND WHEN HE TRIES TO TELL YOU WHAT HAPPENS THERE, YOU CLAIM HE’S EXAGGERATING AND KEEP SENDING HIM BACK THERE! SO I ASK YOU AGAIN, ALBUS DUMBLEDORE! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!”
Albus was shocked and terrified to see his usually sweet sister going at him; granted he was shocked seeing her after a long time and the guilt he carried with him all these years had resurfaced seeing her. The ranting that she did registered with him.
“Ariana, please let me explain-“
“I’m waiting, Albus. And it better be good.” Ariana said as she released him.
“I delayed with Gellert because I…I was afraid.”
“Afraid of what?” Ariana raised an eyebrow.
“Of finding out the truth.” Sighed Albus. There was no going back now. “The truth of who…who cast the spell that brought about your death. I was afraid that it was me.” He finished, tears in his eyes.
Ariana’s eyes softened, “Oh, Albie…it wasn’t you. It was Gellert himself who cast it. For what it’s worth, I forgive you. So don’t blame yourself.” She said as she gave him a hug.
On feeling his sister’s arms around him, the floodgates opened, and Albus Dumbledore, former Headmaster of Hogwarts, defeater of Grindelwald, Order of Merlin first class, cried his heart out for the first time. His sobs echoed throughout the place they were in. Ariana just held him as he cried, her eyes full of love for her older brother.
After a while, Ariana released the hug and asked, “And what about Riddle and Harry?”
Albus sighed; though she had forgiven him for her death, she still was angry about Tom and Harry. Deciding to be truthful, he said, “Tom was bullied by the muggle children. However, he was more cruel to them than they were to him. I remember the matron of the orphanage saying that Tom had tortured two of his bullies in a cave; they hadn’t recovered from it since. I wanted him to change his ways and see that muggles aren’t all bad, but, well…” he shrugged lightly.
“As for Harry, after Voldemort, that is, Tom, fired the Killing Curse at him and vanished, he had to be safe from his followers; and the protection Lily had placed on him upon her death meant that he had to be near his maternal relatives. Though Petunia hated Lily, I believed she would take Harry in, though not treat him well. I knew he wouldn’t be happy, but he would be safe. It was the only place safe for him at that time. He has grown into a remarkable man despite his circumstances, though I fear his journey will be short. But for Voldemort to be defeated, Harry must die. It’s for the greater good-“ Dumbledore couldn’t finish due to the slap that came courtesy of his sister, who glared at him murderously.
“Greater good? GREATER GOOD?! YOU CONDEMNED AN INNOCENT BOY TO DEATH JUST FOR THE SAKE OF YOUR GREATER GOOD?! HOW ARE YOU ANY BETTER THAN GRINDELWALD?! THE ONLY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN YOU AND HIM IS THAT HE KILLS HIS OPPONENTS DIRECTLY WHILE YOU TRY TO REDEEM YOURS WHILE SACRIFICING YOUR ALLIES!”
“But Ariana-“ Albus started.
“NO! You can’t redeem those who don’t want to be redeemed! Face it, Albus. Had they wanted to do so, they would have done that long ago!”
“But I believe Harry may survive. Due to Voldemort taking his blood, he may be able to survive and Voldemort can still be defeated!” Albus stated confidently. He was right. He had to be!
Ariana sighed, “Very well. Since you’re being stubborn about this, I’ll show you what happened, or rather, will happen.” Ariana stepped aside and a crystal ball showed what looked like events that would happen. It showed Harry fighting Severus Snape and losing, leading to Severus and Draco Malfoy escaping Hogwarts; his burial and Harry’s resolve to hunt the Horcruxes, breaking up with his girlfriend Ginny Weasley while at it; his friends Ron and Hermione affirming that they would come with him for the hunt; his last few weeks at the Dursleys, his departure from the Dursleys via broom which ended up being an ambush by the Death Eaters where Alastor Moody lost his life; Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour’s wedding where they found that Voldemort took over the ministry, Harry, Ron and Hermione being on the run while hunting the Horcruxes; finding out that Regulus had stolen Slytherin’s locket and getting Kreacher to come around; stealing the locket from Umbridge and how the locket affected them; how Harry and Hermione fought Nagini at Godric’s Hollow, with Harry having his wand broken; having Ron come back and destroy the locket; meeting Xenophilius Lovegood and finding out about the Deathly Hallows, how Harry was able to figure out where they were, being captured by snatchers and taken to Malfoy Manor, and then escaping.
It continued to where they found that a Horcrux was in the Lestrange vault, making a deal with the goblin Griphook to find it, only to have the goblin double-cross them when they had found it; going to Hogwarts to find the final Horcrux which was Ravenclaw’s Diadem; the battle of Hogwarts; Severus sacrificing himself (which saddened Albus), Harry finding out he had to die and then sacrificing himself; Harry miraculously returning to life and finally ending Voldemort, causing the Light side to win.
Albus was pretty confident that his plan worked until he saw what happened next.
The Death Eaters ended up buying their way out; purebloods still ruled the country, making it difficult for muggleborns and half-bloods. Harry was nearly persecuted by the Dark faction of the Wizengamot but was saved; he went on to be an auror; however, he wasn’t able to advance due to his status as a half-blood, despite being the best in the force. He was eventually assassinated by a Neo-Death Eater who had emerged as part of the new movement; his friends didn’t fare any better. The scene ended with the Weasley family along with Hermione being tortured and wiped out by the new movement.
Dumbledore stared at the crystal ball which showed him the events that happened.
“Now you know what happens thanks to your policy of second chances and letting criminals escape. Had you been more proactive in apprehending them, none of them would have seen the light of day. And Harry’s so called protection was useless after Voldemort returned. The piece of Riddle’s soul could have been easily removed by either the goblins of Gringotts or by the Unspeakables. But you in your infinite wisdom believed only you knew best. And look what happened.” Ariana said.
Albus was stunned. He had messed up big time. And what’s worse, he couldn’t do anything about it.
As if reading his mind, Ariana said, “There is one way to fix this.”
Albus head shot up, “Fix this? How?!”
“You could go back in time, to the day the Potters were killed. Unfortunately, you can’t go beyond that. It seems Death favoured you enough to grant you this one boon due to not completely succumbing to the Elder Wand’s power.”
Albus was stunned speechless. Seeing this, Ariana continued, “You could save Sirius Black, and have Harry raised by him. You forget, Andromeda Tonks was once a Black, and her husband is a muggleborn. So having Harry be raised in both worlds should be easy. You claim love is the power Riddle knows not, but love can only do so much. Harry’s role in vanquishing him was done that day. The rest could have been done by you and the adults. You could even team up with the goblins and Unspeakables to eliminate the Horcruxes.”
“But Harry’s-“
“-could have been easily removed if you had taken him to Gringotts.” Ariana finished sharply. “This is your one chance at fixing this Albie. Don’t mess it up. As it is, James, Lily, Nicholas and Perenelle aren’t really happy with you right now.”
Albus paled quickly, “I-I don’t know. I have always thought what I knew was best. And that I always did what was best for others.” He whispered.
Ariana patted his shoulder, “That’s a problem you can fix, Albie. When you get back, talk to Director Croaker and Crouch, as well as the goblins. You know that they would help you; well the goblins would for a price,” she grinned.
Despite the situation, Albus couldn’t help but chuckle. Soon, he turned serious, “So, how do I get back?”
Ariana’s face lit up with the brightest smile he had ever seen, “I knew you would accept! Don’t worry, our time was almost up anyway. Don’t forget Albie; do what is right instead of easy. You can do it Albie! Good luck!” She hugged him.
As soon as she released him, the fog surrounded him, and everything went dark.