Nice chapter. Obviously you are setting up a lot of stuff happening in future chapters and making us readers want even more. You of course succeeded. I like your back story of Skeeter, even though it was pretty dark. It goes to show that Dumbledore really is a cause of a LOT of things going wrong. We know he is a wizarding supremacist (HP Wiki "Pure-Blood Supremacy" even confirms this) when he was younger, and that his sister's death changed him. However, we also know that he resented his sister from keeping him from exploring the world upon his mother's death. Then the duel between Grindelwald, his brother, and himself happened that caused Ariana's death. Did he really change, or did he realize that being a known supremacist would hinder the God image he wanted for himself? Maybe this can be a possible back story for him in your fic?
Anyway, I am greatly looking forward to more!
Author's response
Heya Slayer!
Thank you! I have a few things set up, but I’ll be moving from scene to scene. Next up will be Harry, Some Hermione, and a Sirius cameo, and possibly the scene with Sirius and Remus, but I haven’t decided.
All very good questions.
Rita’s potential back-story has been niggling at my mind for a long time. Why would she be so anxious to hammer Dumbledore? Even Harry didn’t rate so high, until Fudge got involved. On the other hand, she considered Hermione a stunningly pretty muggleborn until Hermione told her off for her article about Hagrid. Then, she was a plain but ambitious mudblood (unstated) who would use lust potions…simply because Hermione pissed her off.
With the Dumbledore I’ve created, here, I can see how he’d do such a despicable thing as if not actually raping, at least -coercing- a student into sexual relations with him.
I was unaware of the article in Wiki, however, due to my training, I’ve seen Dumbledore’s actions as ‘suspicious’ for a long while. (One of the best stories to illustrate this idea is ‘The Pureblood Conspiracy’ by Nom9de9plume, where the question is raised; why did Bellatrix only stun Sirius while she was sending lethal spells at everyone else?)
The problem is, as someone said; “Rowling left us with a half-finished chess game.” There was no completion anywhere. Was Dumbledore a delusional madman, or a benevolent leader who simply trusted the wrong people? There are quite a few things in all the books that lead the reader to the former.
Dumbledore’s back-story will only be touched on lightly, and only inasmuch as it affected canon. However, your supposition about Dumbledore’s image and motives, is an intriguing one…
More is on the way.
Alorkin