But he knew he couldn't show up here still reeking of dark magic. Too many of the students had dark magic detectors these days and though he'd set the school wards to disable as many of them as he could, that didn't mean the wards caught all of them. After all, you had to know what the items were and how they functioned; what particulars the objects were set to detect to set the wards properly. For him though, it'd only take one student with a working detector for it to be a 'shows over folks' ending to his long and lustrous career as the Greatest Light Wizard ever.
The people wouldn't accept it from him. Just as they wouldn't accept it from the boy. The good news to Albus though was the knowledge of how he believed the people would react when he exposed the Potter boy as a dark magic addict. He believed the people wouldn't only reject the boy but they'd probably demand he be thrown through the veil or cast into the deepest, darkest cell Azkaban had, never to be released alive. He didn't even want to think about what they'd demand should anyone ever discover his own addiction.
But first he had to get him addicted to it. It'd do no good to simply hint at it without being able to back it up. And it was a foregone conclusion they'd test his wand and his magic for dark residue should he hint at the addiction. If they didn't find residue, it'd be Albus who'd bear the scorn of society. Not the boy. Because Albus had been very vocal in assuming guardianship over the boy. They might even demand he undergo testing himself as a possible reason for why he'd accused the boy. If that happened Albus knew it'd be all over for him. That test would show all his secrets and his worst nightmares would come true with the results. It never even occurred to him there would be nothing for a test to pick up on as he hadn't actually done any dark arts recently.
But first he had to hire the right person to teach the boy the spells. And that person was not Cornelius' woman. She could barely even do light magic spells. Forget about doing dark magic ones.
Or any other Ministry worker. Those who could do the spells weren't likely to teach them to society's savior child. Unless they worked for Tom. But even those people had shown they couldn't be relied upon to taint his enemy. Probably because they feared Potter would defeat their Lord and Master if they did. Not that he could. Learning a few spells here nd there would never be enough to combat years upon years of learning and battleground experience.
It never occurred to him for a second it was too late to hire a teacher for this year. That the Ministry had already installed Delores Umbridge to teach the Defense Against Dark Arts class. Even as she was currently sharing a table with him. Or that he might have a major problem brewing in the Castle. Just like it didn't occur to him his problems at the Bank weren't over. Because he still thought he was only having a temporary problem due to the audit they were performing.
Normally Albus was very aware of everything that happened in the Castle. This Castle was his domain and he was a very controlling person. But Albus was currently out of touch with reality. For him, reality was on vacation in an undisclosed location and couldn't be reached.
Ever since Harry James Potter had survived the night Tom Riddle had attacked his home and killed both his parents, turning the young child into something larger than life to the people, Albus had become obsessed with the child. Well, really his obsession with the boy had begun long before that night. His obsession had begun the moment he'd heard a prophecy regarding the coming of a person with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord. But until Tom had decided to kill Harry Potter, he hadn't known who the special person actually was.
Like the rest of society, it never for a second crossed his mind that Tom Riddle wasn't the Dark Lord the prophecy had spoken of either. At the time Tom had been making great strides to change the British Magical society and he'd just assumed it was about Tom. Just like he'd assumed the word 'approaching' in the stated prophecy meant their savior would be a soon to be born child and not an adult. In that assumption, he'd been correct. So he just assumed he was correct in his other conclusions about that prophecy as well. Though Divination wasn't and never had been his strongest talent.
But he knew one thing for certain. Harry James Potter had the power to destroy all of Albus' hard work. Everything he'd spent his life working to achieve. Harry Potter could ruin it all and leave him as nothing more than a relic from a bygone era no one really remembered any more. It was bad enough the brat was rich. Rich beyond measure while Albus wasn't and never had been. He should have been wealthier than he currently was but an error in judgement while he was naught but a child himself had destroyed his life. And if his life could be ruined, due to a decision he'd made as a child, he saw no reason why others shouldn't also suffer forever for their own bad choices made in childhood. It was the reason he kept his Potions Master on such a short leash reminding him frequently he owed Albus for his current level of freedom.
.....
Join my p@treon and read ahead by more than 60+ chapters.
Link : [email protected]/Sonic_Spectre
Free members can read the next two chapters for free on my p@treon