Title: The Greatest Headmaster of Hogwarts
Author: z'yiandria
Rating: K+
Genre: Drama
DLP Category: General
Pairing: none
Chapters: 9
Words: 31,202
Updated: February 21, 2007
Published: September 22, 2005
Status: Abandoned
Summary: He'll be studying under the greatest headmaster Hogwarts has ever seen: Albus Dumbledore. And so Harry Potter arrives at Hogwarts, keenly watched by the one person who has heard a hint of the future in store for him.
Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2590180/1/

This fic is basically a story with a good-intentioned Manipulative!Dumbledore told from Dumbledore's point of view. It goes through each scene in canon with a fine-combed brush and inserts Dumbledore in the background influencing Harry. Note the fact that Dumbledore has good intentions and that the story is told by him; this means that Harry won't be independent and that the author likes Dumbledore. Therefore, the story portrays Dumbledore in a very good light. Dumbledore-bashers, this is not your genre; go somewhere else to read. Actually, never mind. This is your fic to read, if you want to read about the most well-written Manipulative!Dumbledore ever; one that has the best -written reasons for doing what he does.

DLP discussions have panned Dumbledore numerous times for being stupid in the books, usually to support a Manipulative!Dumbledore viewpoint. For example, one of them is the fact that he didn't force Harry to quit the Triward Tournament. This story addresses these concerns; Dumbledore is shown as very smart and a quite capable wizard. A major example of this is when he suspects Quirrel of plotting to steal the stone when Snape informs upon him, although without evidence he can't do anything. There are others scattered throughout the story, such as when Dumbledore hired Lockhart.

However, an important note is that Dumbledore is not all-powerful in this fic, although it may seem like that sometimes. There are some events that aren't under his control; for example, in the end of the 1st book the ploy Quirrel made - forging a letter by the Minister saying Dumbledore was needed urgently - truly works.

I love the characterization of Dumbledore. Underneath the twinkling eyes and appearance of a jolly old man, the author makes him a true human being. Often, he is annoyed and irritated by others, although he doesn't show it. A major part of his personality is a great desire not to see Harry become besotted by his celebrity status; this aspect, while very rarely mentioned in fanfiction at all, is an important part of canon itself.

There are no grammar or spelling mistakes. The author's writing style is one that naturally draws you in and hooks you to the fic.

As I said before, the plot follows that of the books. This story, in a sense, is canon. It just adds plausible scenes and things that the books don't have as this story's content.

The main reason I recommend this story is because of it's unique and very interesting rendition of the Hogwarts years. I think it utterly fascinating to read about a very manipulative Dumbledore - one that sends portaits to spy upon every action of Harry Potter - that is written as a hero and all-around good guy. In fact, I'd say that his manipulativeness is greater in some ways than IP82's Dumbledore(s). You can disagree greatly with Dumbledore's actions involving Harry (I particularly do with Dumbledore's Big Brother routine), but it doesn't change the fact that the story is very intriguing.

4.5/5


Checked by Minion, July 27, 2013

 

Read a bit of it, just not my cup of tea. It's well written, I'll give it that, but I'm not a fan of it. 3.7/5

 

it is really well-written but i lost my interest in it quickly. maybe it is due to not an harry centric fic. 4/5

 

It's pretty interesting getting a Dumbledore-POV. I give it 3.5/5 for now, as it's still early times yet for the fic.

My one concern is if the author pulls a Dzeytoun and starts giving Dumbledore a rather maudlin outlook generally.

 

I was suprised when i liked this, and i liked it alot in truth. Normally this really would not be my cup of tea but i found this to be engaging and very well written. would very much recommend to anyone, even if like me there normally a harry centric only fanfiction reader. It has converted me somewhat.

 

This is a neat little fic. It's a rewrite of canon from Dumbledore's POV, and you get to see what he was thinking during Harry's first-year adventures. Sadly it was abandoned at the start of his second year, but this is well-written and interesting enough to justify its place in the library.

4/5