deathtocapslock | A Headmaster other than Albus

So here is an idea for an AU scenario. Anyone is free to develop it into a fic, but we can just discuss the what-if:

Sometime between November 2nd 1981 and July 1991 Albus Dumbledore died suddenly. Maybe in some magical mishap, maybe a sudden heart attack, whatever. The important bit is he didn't expect this to happen and had no time to do any ad-hoc cover-ups nor did he have a chance to influence the choice of his replacement or to incorporate his death into some plot. The permanent replacement is chosen by the Board of Governors. If this happens early enough Lucius isn't yet on the board, if later he is on, but probably still trying to earn a reputation as an outstanding member of society who would have never joined forces with Voldemort willingly so I don't think he'd support anyone blatantly against the inclusion of Muggleborns. Anyway, the replacement turns out to be someone not as outwardly impressive as Dumbles - not so showy, with perhaps average or slightly above average magical performance, but a capable administrator with good organizational and interpersonal skills, but most importantly someone who cares about the students' well-being and education. It can be someone from Slughorn's network or even someone who thought well of Albus as long as s/he didn't have a chance to look too closely at how Hogwarts was run, but definitely not an Order member or any other close associate of Dumbles. Maybe an older, more experienced and less idealistic version of Percy.

The members of the Hogwarts staff are as we know them in PS (Care of Magical Creatures is taught by Kettleburn, Hagrid is still a groundskeeper), except for DADA. Depending on timing, Quirrell might be the Muggle Studies teacher. I think the DADA curse should still be active, so the teachers are still being replaced annually (we don't want the new school Head to have it too easy).

So I think this new person shows up and tries to run Hogwarts like a normal school. Some teachers object because that's not the way it was always done, some are relieved to have a professional in charge for a change. The handling of disciplinary matters changes. The inter-House politics change.

And then in the summer of 1991 Quirrell comes back from a sabbatical with a personally transplant. And one Harry Potter oddly doesn't reply to his acceptance letter to Hogwarts. (I doubt the new Head had a reason to look into Harry's situation of hir own initiative earlier, but maybe someone can make a convincing argument for that?) So what now?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

madderbrad.livejournal.com

... of course Albus knew.

Well, do you know that for sure?

IMO the purpose of the obstacle course was mostly to slow Quirrell down so that Albus would have time to capture him.

And then he takes off for London leaving no-one the wiser.

Well, Snape knew ... but Snape never shows up at the end of the book to save the day in Dumbledore's absence, does he?

So ... the position of the canon faithful ends up as one of benign, benevolent but incompetent headmaster? I've been criticising the stupidity of Dumbledore so long it's hard to remember that we're not supposed to see his incompetence.

From:

oryx_leucoryx

The reason I believed Albus knew about Quirrell, even before reading later books, was that he knew Harry had left the invisibility cloak on the Astronomy Tower (and returned it to him). And that night Minerva heard Neville and Draco talking about Harry and Hermione possibly having a dragon with them. Sure, she didn't believe them, but the fact is Harry and Hermione must have been doing something illicit. So what if Draco was in the right direction? Well, how would they get hold of a dragon? Why not ask Hagrid some questions?

Anyway, if he didn't know about Quirrell why the need to change the Stone's location in the first place? What made him think someone would try to get the Stone from Gringotts after it had been lying there for who knows how long? What changed?

Well, Snape knew ... but Snape never shows up at the end of the book to save the day in Dumbledore's absence, does he?
So? Quirrell was supposed to be stopped by the mirror and whatever it was Albus was going to do with him. There was no need for anyone else to be there. The only reason Voldemort nearly got the Stone was because Harry was there.

From:

madderbrad.livejournal.com

The only reason Voldemort nearly got the Stone was because Harry was there.

Interesting. But you're right, of course.

So ... is it your opinion that Dumbledore was competent, then, on this matter? In the fine detail of the trap? Even if, standing back further, he was grossly negligent in (a) stashing the Stone in a school, (b) not destroying the Stone anyway (author Perceval23's point that I mentioned earlier), and (c) not just walking up to Quirrell and capturing him then and there any time during the school year?

From:

oryx_leucoryx

Since Tom got away then no, the whole thing was pointless. I don't believe Albus cared about Quirrell and wanted to free him, he never does anything similar. The closest is that claim that the Order could hide the Malfoys from Voldemort if Draco only agreed - and IMO the claim was empty, especially regarding Narcissa, since as far as we know Voldemort was living in her house.

Albus succeeded in getting Quirrellmort into his trap and in arriving there, but he didn't manage to capture Vapormort.

The best explanation I have ever seen for the trap scheme is that the mirror was supposed to trap Voldie's soul. It has no support in canon, but it is a folk belief about the power of mirrors (for example among Jews there is a custom to cover all mirrors in a house where a dead body is lying, apparently to prevent the departed soul from getting trapped there). I doubt Rowling thought about it because when she wrote the story she already knew Tom had to escape so she didn't even bother to make Albus appear to have a plan that made sense, because it was not going to work. But that's really not how to write character-driven stories. A story should be written such that at least each of the major characters would appear to be acting with motivations that are consistent with how the world looks from that character's POV. So while Rowling knew Albus' plan was going to fail, he did not, so he should behave like he was trying to make his plan work. And if it was too early for Harry to hear about it then it should have come up in a later book.

From:

madderbrad.livejournal.com

I doubt Rowling thought about it because when she wrote the story she already knew Tom had to escape so she didn't even bother to make Albus appear to have a plan that made sense, because it was not going to work. But that's really not how to write character-driven stories. A story should be written such that at least each of the major characters would appear to be acting with motivations that are consistent with how the world looks from that character's POV.

That, right there, is Rowling's greatest flaw. (Which is quite saying something.)

I call it her 'tunnel vision'. Which is, like most of her other mistakes, most visible in DH, where the pressure was on and she failed on most counts. Harry (and Ron and Hermione) go from A to B to C ... and they almost never explore their options. Consider what else they could be doing. Because Rowling didn't want them to. Or because she just didn't think of it herself; she had her plot worked out - A, B, C - and, by design or incompetence, never thought about what her characters might think about it.

From:

borg-princess.livejournal.com

A story should be written such that at least each of the major characters would appear to be acting with motivations that are consistent with how the world looks from that character's POV

Yesss, this exactly. It's a major problem she has, not just in one book or one situation, but all the damn time.

I was thinking CoS probably erred the least in this regard- but even in this book, there's the wtf-ery of Harry and Ron insisting on Lockhart accompanying them to save Ginny. O.o So the kids FINALLY go to a teacher for help, but they pick the one they KNOW is an incompetent fraud?! It's one thing if Hermione were there with her crush on the man to cloud her judgment, but they've sneered at him from the start and that's their choice?!

Then again, I think it had to be him so that he'd try to overpower them and thus take Ron out of the equation- because he had to stay behind to mind Lockhart, y/n? Or at least, his wand was completely destroyed (as opposed to being 99% ruined, which, how could a student go throughout the whole year with their most important tool being broken and nothing's done?!) so he couldn't go on with Harry, leaving him to be the hero forging valiantly forth on his own. *eyeroll*

From:

sunnyskywalker

It might look more competent if he suspected Quirrell was possibly Voldemort's agent, but didn't know he was possessed. Then you're dealing with a normal mortal wizard - one you can watch to see if he really is after the Stone, if he seems to be communicating with anyone in secret, if he'll break and come confess and ask for protection, or try to enlist Snape, etc. And also if it's partly a trap/test for Harry, as well as Quirrell - is he an evil Tom clone? (That's probably what the Christmas mirror test was about, even if Dumbledore later let Harry believe he was giving him clues so he'd have a chance to be a hero.)

It's still a plan as full of holes as Swiss cheese, but it makes slightly more sense than if he knew Quirrell was possessed all along and designed the trap around that. (And since Quirrell wasn't actually possessed until after Harry met him in the pub iirc, though it looks like he was preparing to be with the turban already in place so no one would notice a change, Dumbledore would have been kind of right when he started designing the trap.)

From:

madderbrad.livejournal.com

That's an interesting slant on it. The second goal, though - checking Harry - is something that's never hinted at in the slightest in the canon. In fact it's one of the glaring errors of the series, don't you think? Merely wearing the locket can cause Harry to fail at casting a Patronus, can make a significant (and noticeable by him) change in his demeanour, can cause Ron to abandon his mates - but the boy had a horcrux embedded in him for sixteen years with nary a notion. Yeah, right.

As to Quirrell ... if I was in charge of a school full of innocents, and suspicious of a teacher, why, I'd call that teacher in for a bit of a chat, ask him to take off his turban, etc. Maybe Hogwarts in 1991 was very much PC and observant of dark lords' rights. :-)

... if he seems to be communicating with anyone in secret ...

Okay, I get it; see if you can uncover more of the DE network.

I suspect you're exhibiting more intelligence than both Dumbledore and Rowling, but yes, it's a possible explanation. Now if only it was actually in the text ... :-)

From:

borg-princess.livejournal.com

The Horcruxes were rather uneven in their responsiveness, though, no? Like, the Locket had noticeable side-effects, as did the Diary, but the others...agh, my memory's horrible, but the ring and the cup only had spells cast on them for safe-keeping, to attack people who interfered, but the soul fragment in them wasn't self-aware. So I can see Harry's being that type of inert Horcrux, with no outward signs.

What I dislike is that JKR tried to ascribe his less desirable traits to the Horcrux- Parseltongue, I can understand, it's a magical ability (for all Ron manages to duplicate it *headdeskwallfloor*), but to chalk his temper tantrums up to it?! The kid's gone through a lot of trauma, him losing his temper and being all emo makes sense, no need to pin it on the fragment of Voldy's soul in his scar!

The second goal, though - checking Harry - is something that's never hinted at in the slightest in the canon

IA that the Mirror of Erised seems to me to be a likely test for Harry, to see what his greatest desire is. His family? Well, that's understandable and not evil. He even brings his friends back to share it with them! Not very Riddle-like. And after he braved the obstacle course and tried his hardest to keep Quirrellmort from obtaining the stone, I'm sure Dumbledore was satisfied he wasn't under the Horcrux's influence at all.

From:

sunnyskywalker

Yeah, I think the Mirror satisfied Dumbledore that Harry was a relatively normal kid.

I think watching Quirrell to see if he's in contact with any other Voldie agents is still a terrible plan, at least if you're worried about the school full of kids - but at least it has some logic to it. There's at least a goal you could claim is the Greater Good.

Of course this also adds to the argument that Dumbledore was not such a great Legilimens at all, unless someone can think of a workaround for that too. Maybe nice professor Quirrell was actually an amazing Occlumens? They are supposed to be rare arts, though...