Times of Trouble

Albus was finding Hogwarts to be a glorious experience. He could tell, after just a day, that the people he was meeting in Slytherin were the sort of people that would help him achieve his goal.

His fellow first-year Slytherins all had lots of potential. Albus knew that they would go far if they learned how to use this potential, and he was sure that with his help, they would figure it out.

Albus knew that he wasn't precisely a leader; rather, he was an academic, best suited as a mentor. Maybe, one day he'd be able to lead others without effort, but he had yet to learn how. The thought of standing in front of a group of people and telling them what to do sent a shiver of fear down his spine, and Albus did not like to feel afraid. That was why he'd attached himself to Robert Thompson. The boy was a born leader and very intelligent, but he also lacked the creative spark necessary to keep people following you as you gain new followers.

This was first noticed by Albus on the third day of school.

"I can't believe it," Robert groaned as he slumped into an empty chair near Albus in the Slytherin common room.

Albus looked up from his Transfiguration essay, "What can't you believe?"

"Phineas Black. I heard from Gerald, who heard it from Brittany, who heard it from Alyssa that Sirius was hexing Phineas in the common room this morning. According to Alyssa, Phineas is out of favor with not only his brother, but also his aunt and father."

Albus carefully raised one eyebrow, as he had seen his father do, "So?"

Robert rolled his eyes again, "Don't you understand Albus? I can't have someone Headmaster Black doesn't like hanging around us! Just think how that would make us look!"

Albus put his quill down on the table and tried to think of the right words to say. He'd have to do this delicately. While it might be a bad idea to keep Phineas in their inner circle, it couldn't be a good idea to chase him away during the first week of their first week at Hogwarts.

"Robert, have you given a thought to the future?"

"What? The future? What does that have to do with Phineas?"

"Well, think, family dynamics are constantly changing. Phineas may be out of favor now, but that may change in the future. If it changes and we've shunned him, then he won't forget, or forgive. Blacks never forget anything, especially when they've been wronged."

Robert grew quiet at that.

After a minute Albus went back to his essay – he wanted to finish it before they went up to Astronomy.

After maybe twenty or so minutes Robert finally spoke again, "Alright, he can join us, but he won't be part of us. We won't go out of our way to include him or shun him. Think that's safe?"

Albus slowly nodded, "Sounds safe to me."

"Good. Now, can you help me with this Charms question? I really have no clue what Professor Weasley was talking about."

He started pulling papers and books out of his schoolbag while Albus resisted the urge to sigh in annoyance.

He really just wanted to finish this essay.

XXX

Albus realized something after the first week of school.

Harry Potter was an atrocious student.

So, it was with great happiness that he sat down on his first Friday afternoon to write a letter to his family.

Dear Mother and Father,

I hope you are doing well. Hogwarts is rather splendid, from the top of its towers to the deepest dungeons. I don't know if you've heard, but I was sorted into Slytherin. I know everyone else in our family has been in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw, but I must say that I like it here. I've made some good friends and with my ambitions I know that this house will be a good fit. I hope you're proud of me.

I'm not sure if you've heard from Harry, but he doesn't seem to be doing as well. I only have two classes with him, Potions and Astronomy, since he's in Gryffindor and they did not go well at all. In Potions today he managed to destroy the classroom and almost kill us in the process. In Astronomy he almost fell of the tower and died. I'm not sure what's wrong; I haven't been able to talk to him.

I hope Ariana and Aberforth are doing well. I can't wait until they're old enough to come to Hogwarts. I want to show them everything!

Love,

Albus

He grinned down at his letter. He didn't think it carried any of his anger at Harry or his delight that Harry wasn't doing well. It also didn't give away that he knew that Harry shouldn't be doing so badly, after all, he was really sixteen.

Though, come to think of it…Albus frowned. Why was Harry doing so badly? Sure, he hadn't expected him to be stupid enough to show how easy he found the material, but he still shouldn't be the worst in the class.

Really, Harry should've been up at the top, challenging Albus, Richie, Neville, and that Gamp girl in Ravenclaw for the top few slots.

Now that Albus had realized this problem he couldn't stop his brain from trying to solve it. Why was Harry doing so poorly?

This problem tumbled through Albus' mind as he sealed his letter and headed up to the Owlry to find his owl, Myrddin.

As he approached the stairs to the Owlry he heard a cheerful voice whistling as it descended. Due to the narrowness of the staircase Albus moved off to the side and waited to go up.

He was glad he did.

Coming down the staircase was none other than Harry Potter.

Albus hurriedly backed up and flattened himself against the wall. He didn't feel liked dealing with Harry, especially when he was in such a good mood. That's when it was worst. Harry didn't seem to realize that he was slowly destroying Albus' life.

Harry walked by, continuing to whistle, and completely oblivious to Albus. Once Harry rounded a corner and disappeared out of sight Albus breathed a sigh of relief.

As he sent off his letter with Myrddin he couldn't help but wonder - who was Harry sending a letter to? And why had it made him so happy?

Albus loved information, he'd heard his father say several times that knowledge was power, and he firmly believed this to be true. After all, what separated a great wizard from a mediocre one? It wasn't their bloodline or power, though that did help, no, what truly made one great was knowledge.

It was for this reason that Albus made sure to be waiting outside of Professor Rosier's office on Saturday afternoon. His heart was beating hard inside of his chest as he waited in the shadows. He'd had to run here from the lake since it had taken awhile to ditch Robert and the others without gaining suspicion and he'd been worried that he'd be late.

What he was planning to do probably wasn't his smartest idea, but Albus knew that he had to learn why Harry had been so happy after sending that letter, and also, who he had sent the letter to.

The door to the potion master's office opened and Albus pushed himself deeper into the shadows. Harry emerged and, despite the exhaustion on his features, he still looked extremely happy – too happy that had just served detention for almost killing everyone.

Albus' eyes narrowed as he watched Harry walk off. What was he so happy about?

As he followed Harry through the corridors he couldn't help but wish that he knew more magic – there had to be a better way to spy on someone.

Albus was just peeking around a corner after Harry when he heard someone shout, "Expelliarmus!"

A moment later he pressed himself flat against the wall as Harry and another boy raced by. Albus frowned, it looked like the other boy was Phineas Black…

He didn't have time to think about it because as he stood there watching Harry and Phineas run off someone grabbed him by his collar and threw him up against a wall. His head swung back hard and hit the wall, immediately the edges of his vision turned fuzzy and black as he blinked blearily down at the boy holding him.

"Sirius! I got him!"

Another boy, as well as a girl, appeared in Albus' vision as it continued to grow darker. He thought the boy holding him was Blysin Rouge, a fifth year. If that was true, then the other boy had to be Sirius Black, and the girl was Rosalee Selwyn. The three of them went everywhere together.

Dimly Albus saw Black punch the back of Rouge's head, "You imbecile! This brat's hair is the wrong color! Put him down!"

Rouge immediately complied, and Albus dropped to the ground, his head hitting a protruding stone in the wall as he went.

His last thought before darkness overtook him was, "Harry Potter, now you're REALLY going to pay."

XXX

Albus was having a wonderful time. He was in his parents' garden with Ariana and Aberforth. The three of them were racing around, chasing the garden gnomes that had recently moved in.

Naturally, Albus was the first one to catch one. He let out a whoop of joy and swung the creature over his head, as fast as he could. Then he opened his hand and let it fly.

Then a funny thing happened. There was the sound of shattering and someone shouting.

Albus frowned, and as he did so the garden disappeared. Instead he was looking at the inside of his eyelids. And that made him frown even harder.

Why was he looking at his eyelids? The last thing he remembered he'd been…

Albus shot up, his eyes flying open as he looked around him. He was in the hospital wing, next to his bed was Madam Abbott. She was cleaning up something on the floor. Looking down, Albus could see a pillow, water, and some broken glass.

"I'm glad you're awake!"

Albus turned from the mess to the other side of his bed, where a small, pock-marked boy sat with a broad grin on your face.

"You were barely breathing when I found you and your head was the wrong shape, too. Luckily Professor Malfoy was walking by. He brought you up here and Madam Abbott fixed you up ."

Albus started at the boy, "Uh, who are you?"

"Oh! I'm Elphias Doge! I'm in Hufflepuff, we have History of Magic together. You're Albus Dumbledore, aren't you?"

Albus was saved from replying by Madam Abbott.

"Well, I'm glad yeh woke up! Yeh took a nasty blow ta the head. I've ne'er seen a head tha' badly squished at Hogwarts before. Now, no more throwin' yer pillow 'round, yeh hear?"

Albus nodded.

"Good, now, let me look at tha' head of yers."

As she studied his head he studied Doge. His first thought was that he'd have to thank this boy for saving him. His second was him wondering if this boy would be of use in his quest to make everything the way it was.

"All righ', yer good to go. Supper was served long ago, but there are sandwiches on the table. Eat up, then get ta bed. It's late."

With these words she walked off. Albus watched her go until he found a plate full of sandwiches stuffed into his face.

"Have one?"

Albus looked over at Doge for a moment before grabbing a couple sandwiches. Now that there was food in front of him, he was famished.

After a couple minutes of stuffing their faces Albus asked, "Why'd you stay?"

Doge shrugged, "Nowhere else to go. Anyways, I was worried about you. You were barely breathing when I found you."

"Well, thank you. I'm glad you found me."

Doge gave a toothy grin, "So am I."

For one wondrous instant, all of Albus' plans for the future and revenge against Harry disappeared and he grinned right back at Doge.