I've been toying with this idea for a long time, and had dreamt up several scenes of it. Unfortuanly, with three fics in the works, and an upcoming oneshot (or two, I can never tell), I don't have time to write this.


This is PostHBP, but can easily be adapted to PostOOTP:

Harry had always looked up to Albus Dumbldore. The old wizard always seemed to be right, and was constantly on top of things. But how?

He watches Dumbledore die, resigned to his fate. Why doesn't he fight back? Why doesn't Fawkes help? And why does Fawkes like Harry so much?

--PROLOGUE--

After Dumbledore's death, Fawkes joins Harry on his quest to defeat the Dark Lord. Killing Lord Voldemort, his friends find him dissapearing in a massive flash of light, only to be replaced by a tattered old diary that had been bound to Harry's body by Dumbledore, and to be released after he kills Voldemort.

They open it up, and read it...finding it to chronicle Dumbledore's life...and his beginnings.

---Storyline---

After killing Lord Voldemort, a massive magical discharge sends Harry and Fawkes back in time...all the way to 1850. Magically Exausted and injured and his body a mere 10 years of age, Harry is found and taken to an orphanage, where he resigns himself to stay until he figures out what the hell is going on.

Hiding his wand, Harry recovers his strength, discovers his love for the local bowling alley, and plans his escape. That is, until, a family decides to adopt him.

A family that went by the name Dumbledore.

Desperate to hide himself less the future Dumbledore recognize him, Harry transfigures his eyes blue and his hair a deep auburn, paying homage to his old best friend Ron Weasley.

Only there is no Albus Dumbledore in this family. They had only one son.

A son named Aberforth.

Seeing how closely Harry resembled their family, they adopt him at once.

And so, Harry is left with an odd Ardent, overly cheerful Alissa, and a jealous Aberforth Dumbledore as a family. The ecentric trio insist he get a "Dumbledore" name at once, and christian him Albus.

Harry is frantic, afraid of messing with time. Going to Hogwarts a year later, he desperately searches for the real Albus Dumbledore, asking his new family if they have any cousins named Albus.

Giving up after a long search, he resigns himself to the truth he had denied himself since meeting the Dumbledores. Albus Dumbeldore was none other than Harry Potter.

So, putting a glamor on his wand, and keeping his transfigured features, Harry sets off on the road of becoming Hogwart's Greatest Headmaster, and the defeater of the Dark Lord Grindelwald, and his end at the hands of Severus Snape.

--Epilogue--

Harry's friends reach the end of the diary, where Harry says how he missed them, and how he had to stop himself from approaching his friends when they came to Hogwarts (He was the Headmaster then), gives some tips and lessons learnt, and a heartfelt goodbye.

It ends:

Harry Potter AKA Albus Dumbledore.

Boy-Who-Lived, Order of Merlin First Class, Headmaster of Hogwarts, etc etc.


--Plot Points--

This explains how Dumbledore always knows where Harry is and how he is
doing. The watch he keeps on looking at, the weird moon one, is one that precisely tells the time, so Albus (Harry) can ascertain what Harry is doing at each minute.

He has trouble putting himself with the Dursleys, but "It's for the greater good."

Harry frequently tries to change the timeline, only to be stopped by Time's magic, and is forced to watch helplessly as tragedies unfold.

This is also why Fawkes likes Harry so much, and will respond to his call. Fawkes is perpetually stuck in a timeloop, bringing a new meaning to his monthly rebirths.

Romance is optional, in that he gets a wife and she dies at the hand of Grindelwald. Must follows basic points of Dumbledore's life, such as him defeating Grindelwald, discovering 12 uses of Dragon's blood, becming twelve pin bowling champion, etc.


--Comments--

As I said before, you can adapt the story how you want, ignoring HBP and leaving Dumbledore (Harry) alive, and unaged as he couldn't age outside of his own time (He used an illusion and thats the reason he could, at 156, still move so nimbly). I think my version would be better though, as it has a sense of finality that would remain in the hearts of the reader.

So...will anyone write this?

PM me and give me credit for the idea if you do.

 

Honestly, I don't see the point. This is basically Dumbledore-centric story about his life. The only difference is that he knows what will happen at any given time, which makes some events more frustrating (him getting married, watching Tom Ridley and future death eaters grow up, working with Order members that he knows will get killed/maimed, knowing what will happen to Harry's childhood and Snape etc...).

Dunno, IMO this could work only as a short story, with Dumbledore/Harry's life shown in series of flash-backs (so it wouldn't get too frustrating). And the main point would be the letter left behind to Harry's friends (maybe as a big surprise).

Of course, this would make much more sense if Dumbledore/Harry used his research on the Dragon Blood/Philosopher's Stone and broke the timeline. Than he could adopt Tom Ridddle and prevent the whole misserable past from happening...

 

It really isn't meant to be much more than 10,000 words.

 

Eh... I think no one tried this because it sounds really choppy and potentially far angstier than any emo-Harry out there. I mean Harry doing everything just so he dies at Snape's hand...blah.

Could be an interesting read, but in following the whole "timeline must not be changed" idea, the writer would be forcing the readers to swallow a whole lot of crap. My personal opinion would be for Harry to go crazy being the old codger screw fate and destiny.

 

This is one of those ideas I've heard of many times but have never seen it actually written.

I remember there was some essay with all sorts of detailed arguments on why Albus was Ron. And arguably Hermione McGonagall. Heck in my first fic it was a running gag that Harry was Albus, Hermione was McGonagall, and Ron was Aberforth.

But I'd be curious if anyone could pull it off and make it interesting. The fact that the idea has been around a while and I haven't read one before makes me think people have tried and it wasn't very good. But if anyone gives this a try or knows a fic that actually addressed it, I'd like to read it.

Personally, I've always thought it'd be much more interesting to see one where Ron goes back and is Severus Snape (identical bastions of stubborn fools and yes the idea formed when I was in the mood to bash both of them).

 

What is Ron's purpose in the story?

He is exactly the same as the people he hates: Malfoy and Snape.

On the challenge: How would it work if this was PostOOTP?

Maybe Harry COULD go nuts, killing Flamel, stealing the Stone, keeping himself young, and making himself Ruler of the World (TM).

 

What would /really/ be interesting is writing this from the point of view of Fawkes, as he struggles to break the time loop.

Groundhog day, anyone?

EDIT: I started writing it. Expect it pretty soon ;D
Edit2: My pretty pathetic attempt is posted in Work by Author. It's a one-shot for now, but I tried ;D