Dumbledore, and the majority of the Wizarding world, felt that Azkaban was the best solution for dealing with hardened criminals and it allowed them to feel no guilt for the fate of the prisoners.
Sometimes ending a life was the better choice, but it was never the easier one. Not everyone was worth redeeming.
Dumbledore stopped his pacing in front of the shelf of silver instruments. Everyone assumed that the relics were from his long life. What they did not realize was that each one tied to Harry Potter in some fashion. They monitored his location, health, magic use, and the wards at his aunt and uncles house.
He frowned when he noticed that the orb tied to the wards at Privet Drive was spinning slower than usual. With a shrug of someone used to getting their way, Dumbledore decided that Harry would have to stay there longer during the summer in order to recharge them.
The orb showing Harry's health was also returning to its normal machinations. Which meant Harry was quickly recovering from his encounter with the dragon.
What Dumbledore failed to notice was that the device tied to Harry's magic use was no longer functioning properly. It still emitted small puffs of smoke from time to time but the spells cast no longer registered. In fact, since Harry and Hermione bonded it had not reported anything. Further complicating matters for Dumbledore was that the trace had also broken on the two teens, further removing them from his influence.
Just as Albus was settling back into his desk chair one of the portraits spoke up, interrupting his reverie. "Excuse me Headmaster." Once Dumbledore found the correct portrait on the wall, it continued speaking to him. "There was an altercation in the hospital wing between a Mr. Harry Potter and Mr. Ronald Weasley about an hour ago. I only just heard about it from one of the other portraits as I was passing through."
"What happened?"
"The other portrait didn't see the entire encounter because she was not in her frame when it started. She saw Mr. Potter raise his wand and banish Mr. Weasley into the hospital wing doors, bind him, summon his wand and snap it before approaching him while he was on the ground. Mr. Potter whispered something to Mr. Weasley and then stunned him and walked away." The portrait of the former headmistress said importantly.
"Very well, see if you can discover what caused the altercation. From now on, I want at least one portrait occupied at all times in all of the main areas of the castle. Keep tabs on Mr. Potter and if he does anything suspicious please let me know right away." Dumbledore sighed in resignation.
This new development was not good in the headmaster's mind. Snapping the wand of another wizard was tantamount to saying that you felt that he, or she, was not worthy enough to practice magic. If this was Harry's new viewpoint towards his friends what did that say of how he would treat someone that he considered an enemy?
Leaning back in his high backed chair, Dumbledore removed his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his, long, crooked nose trying to stem the headache that Harry Potter caused. He had taken extreme care in molding Harry to ensure that he would sacrifice himself for others in order to fulfill the prophecy. Things were spiraling out of control and his carefully laid plans were unraveling bit by bit, as Harry traveled down a darker path.
Fortunately, Albus Dumbledore learned the value of manipulation, keeping secrets, and planning for multiple events at a young age. There were other ways to ensure that Harry Potter fulfilled the prophecy and now he had to begin setting them in motion. 'A kind word here, a veiled threat there, and the promises of aid in the future would get the ball rolling nicely. ' he thought to himself as he went over the myriad of schemes he was going to employ.
The morning after the first task did nothing to improve Harry's mood, which darkened considerably with the delivery of the Daily Prophet. Whispers were breaking out all over the Great Hall and people began pointing and staring at Harry and Hermione.
Harry pulled a copy of the Prophet towards him and his arm froze when he saw a picture of him and Hermione kissing on the front page with the headline 'Harry Potters Heartache.' He groaned when he read the title and realized that Rita Skeeter, his least favorite reporter, wrote it.
He actually laughed aloud when he read the part about him being a glory seeking, no talent, wizard. When he got to the part where the article declared Hermione a, ' plain but ambitious muggle born witch ' that was dosing him with a love potion to make Viktor Krum jealous he became enraged. The article presented Hermione in the worst light possible and there were some nasty quotes from some of their Slytherin year mates thrown in to make it look even worse.
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