2 Deliberating as Dumbledore

Dumbledore found the experience hard to describe. Perhaps the closest he could think of was akin to waking up from a lucid dream. As long as he focused on the details, the memories were there, but there was a threat of losing them. He wasn't even sure which set of memories he was trying to hold on to. Was he Dumbledore, gaining memories of past life, or was he a reincarnated soul, assimilating the memories of Dumbledore? Truthfully, it felt as both and neither. It was a fusion of two sets of memories that both opposed and complemented each other.

He was grateful now that he chose Dumbledore. His skills with Occlumency boosted Great Sage's efficiency greatly, allowing him to sort through everything without losing himself. The only other alternative would have been to start of as a baby and completely taking over, as even a young child would've had the risk of being overwhelmed, and potentially both sets of personalities and memories being damaged in the process.

Dumbledore opened his eyes, not remembering when he closed them, and his gaze locked onto the magnificent bird, Fawkes the Phoenix, who seemed to examine him as well. A moment later, Fawkes trilled with such happiness that caught Dumbledore off guard. He expected several reactions, from being angry that Dumbledore's soul was being replaced – untrue, but who knew how it felt to an outsider, to happy that a part of his soul was unlocked, but this reaction felt a bit extreme…

Looking at the bird questioningly, it did not seem inclined to explain, so Dumbledore decided that he would return to this matter when he had more information, and time to deal with it. Voldemort was going to attack the Potters later, so there were other pressing matters he had to consider first.

Pulling out the Elder Wand, Dumbledore allowed the Sage to scan it. His Analysis worked better on things absorbed, but it didn't mean it was completely useless otherwise. In this instance, he picked up that the Deathstick was a superior channeling focus, increasing the power of magic flowing through it, while most foci would somewhat reduce the magic itself due to natural resistance.

Having access to his old wand, Dumbledore simply smirked as shadowy tendrils flowed out of his hand and pulled the Elder Wand into his being. He felt it click, slotting itself into his very soul – something that wasn't supposed to happen. Technically, he was supposed to be given a choice after absorbing something, between Devouring it and storing it. He wanted to store it first so that he could get a complete reading before making the final decision. That was concerning, and the Great Sage went on analyzing the situation quickly.

A frown marred Dumbledore's face at the information gained. There were two revelations that he did not appreciate. For one, it seems that Grindelwald had placed some rather insidious compulsions on the wand that would subvert the wielder's will. Scanning his memories, Dumbledore noticed that his actions and opinions were shifting, he was becoming more passive and allowing the Dark to have more freedom, while weakening the Light with Greater Good nonsense.

The Potters were compromised due to Dumbledore's plan! It was all intentional…

Perhaps it is fitting to discuss some of the nature of the Multiverse that the soul found out during its preparations to reincarnate. One could visualize the stories we read as centers, cores, of many other worlds. The closer these worlds are to the core, the truer events are to the story, barring outside influence.

But two similarly close worlds can still be vastly different, purely because stories can't truly reveal everything about the world. Character motive is one of the easiest things to change simply because it can be hard to spot an effective manipulator, and Dumbledore is often seen as one in many fanfics. In this world, he would have definitely been one, but due to Grindelwald's influence and not of his own free will!

In this world, Dumbledore had interviewed Trelawny in privacy, but when she had given the Prophecy, he had Obliviated her and had her re-interviewed in a more public space, where he also invited Severus. A simple Imperius forced Trelawny to repeat part of the prophecy, which had Severus rushing to reveal to Voldemort. Moving the Potters out of their manor and entrusting him with their defense was easy, as well as the secret-keeper switcharoo. Subtle compulsions and obliviations make it hard to connect the dots that Dumbledore was playing the chessmaster.

At least he can't be blamed for Voldemort's origin. Dumbledore couldn't do anything without proof, and he didn't have the political power to act against the smart and charming image of Riddle at the time he was starting to become truly corrupted. He didn't push Tom on his path to Evil, as happens in some Fanfictions where Dumbledore cultivates the boy so that he has another adversary to defeat and bolster his fame.

The compulsions on the wand were slow and stealthy, so that even his Occlumency did not block their influence. Those same compulsions were cast by the Elder Wand after all, so it is somewhat expected. However, that was still only one of the alarming things Dumbledore discovered after absorbing the wand.

The other thing was that there truly was part of a Spark of Divinity in the wand. That was the real reason why he didn't get the choice whether to devour the wand or not – it decided on its own. Only a part of a part, Death wasn't so foolish as to place a third of his being into each of the Hallows, but it was true that he did place some in each, at least in this world. The problem was that being only a third of a part, they weren't stable. The hallows sought balance, and found it either in the death of their wielder, or being together. Perhaps the wand allowed Grindelwald's curse to be placed on itself for the sake of bringing the usually cautious Dumbledore's death. Being slotted within his soul, Dumbledore could not withdraw the Elder Wand, so his only alternative was to unite the Hallows before it is too late.

The task itself wasn't difficult, and Dumbledore planned on doing it anyway, but the timing was wrong. He wanted to do it in his next life, considering who he was going to be reborn as, but now he would be consuming the Potter Heirloom… He did not want to steal from good people, and felt somewhat guilty, but in the end he didn't have that much of a choice.

With a sigh, Dumbledore found the Cloak of Invisibility within one of his secured drawers and after a quick scan, absorbed it into his being.

The absorbed focus gave Dumbledore what would seem like Wandless magic that was even stronger than usual wanded magic, while the cloak gave him access to powerful invisibility. Interestingly enough, the cloak on its own was somewhat balanced. It did not actively seek its wielder's death – as fitting of an artifact that is supposed to hide one from it. He still needed the stone, but he didn't have much time before Voldemort would attack. Dumbledore tsk'd. Whatever defenses Voldemort placed on the shack, he'll deal with them. With his bond to Fawkes, he was already practically immortal, so he rather risk the shack than fight Voldemort with potentially unstable soul – Tom already demonstrated that as being unwise.

Dumbledore was about to focus on the Gaunt Shack when he paused. Perhaps being a Parselmouth would be helpful? Well, it couldn't hurt, at least. He did know the locations of other Horcruxes. The Diadem was at Hogwarts, but the Room of Lost Things was big, and he did not know the path. Asking the room itself was a possibility, but it may not work, and he did not want to waste the time while knowing the location of another Horcrux that he could get to without any risk or hassle.

Bringing up the image of Helga's Cup and the Lestrange vault into his mind, Dumbledore couldn't help keep the smirk off his face. Phoenix's Flame Teleportation and the House Elf's Popping Teleportation were so much more convenient than Wizard's Apparition. They were harder to ward against, and they did not need to know the exact location in order to get there. The goblins had warder their vaults so that house elves would need to be keyed in so that they could have access (you would never see someone like Malfoy ride on a goblin minecart), but the rarity of phoenixes meant that there were no wards against them, and Dumbledore was going to abuse that.

Activating his Invisibility just in case, the invisible wizard had disappeared from his office in an invisible burst of invisible fire, appearing invisibly within the vaults of the goblin bank, in a similarly invisible burst of invisible fire. He invisibly scanned the room, looking over the very visible piles of gold and quickly found the sought after chalice.

A quick swipe had sent out black tendrils that pulled in the cup into his body, Predator quickly adding any special qualities it had to himself. From the cup he gained the ability to enhance the effects of healing potions and convert poisons into their antidotes, as well as produce any liquid he at had at least a drop of – Hufflepuff's Cup was a really impressive piece of work. From Voldemort's soul piece he gained a lot of knowledge, as well as the Parselmouth ability he came here for, as well as something that was somewhat unexpected.

He did suspect the possibility, seeing as how Diary-Tom was draining the entirety of Ginny's magic, but this did confirm it. The wizard's capacity for magic was tied to their souls – that is what made both ghosts and Horcruxes a possibility, but splitting it did not reduce their capacity for magic, though it did seem to influence their mentality, considering Tom's madness. The boy changed a great deal after the incident with Myrtle's death.

Technically, Voldemort could've had his Soul Pieces drain the magic of others and form their own physical bodies, effectively having seven Voldemorts running about. It is a dangerous possibility, but even if Tom had thought of it, it wouldn't have mattered. Such a thing requires massive trust in one's self, as unlike Naruto's Shadow Clone technique, there is no meaning to being the original, so all seven would have to trust each other and share their power and authority, something that Voldemort wouldn't do. In addition, such use wouldn't form a tether to other souls, making it ineffective as a Horcrux, which is what Voldemort actually wanted. He didn't care if another version of his is still alive, he wanted himself to escape mortality.

What it meant for Dumbledore was a considerable increase in his magical power. Not quite double, since at the time of the Cup Horcrux creation they weren't equal in magical ability, but it was a near thing.

Magic, at least in this reality, isn't "stored" in some sort of core within the wizard's body or soul. It isn't produced and used as some sort of fuel. A wizard's (and witch's) magical capacity is his power and influence over the world. The stronger a wizard is, the easier it is to influence the world in magical means. Casting spells doesn't deplete one's magic, any exhaustion that's attributed to its use is either physical and mental.

This meant that even the most impressive of magical feats that Dumbledore was capable of now, would be massively easier. For such a short detour, the gains were massive and Dumbledore was considerably more confident in breaching the Gaunt Shack wards than he did moments ago.

Dumbledore didn't consume the soul itself, but the process of Devouring a living being with a soul stripped the soul of its special attributes, a process that happens regardless during reincarnation. There were rarely cases where a soul would remain bound without a hard limit on how long it stays around – even Dementors didn't store the consumed souls within themselves and released them after a while. Preventing souls from being able to reincarnate was one of the few actions that the higher plane saw as truly criminal.

With a quick look at the rest of the vault, Dumbledore shrugged and waved his hand, drawing all the gold and miscellaneous treasures filled in the vault into his inner realm provided by Predator. The Lestrange family isn't going to be up and about for much longer, so at most it would upset the goblins or ministry. Making it strictly a "not my problem", regardless of his position within said ministry.

Bringing up a different imagine in his mind, Dumbledore flame-flashed out of Gringotts and in front of a rundown shack just outside Little Hangleton. While Voldemort had apparently warded the place some time after the creation of the cup Horcrux, his warding knowledge didn't seem to have significantly increased between the two events, something that became quite clear to Dumbledore, after several magical scans of the area.

After devouring the soul piece, Great Sage could be used so that his soul would imitate the devoured one to external scans. That ability, in addition to his recently gained Parseltongue proficiency, allowed Dumbledore to be recognized by the wards and walk through without even needing to dismantle them, increasing his appreciation to the foresight of taking the detour. He would still dispel all the wards at a later time, to avoid harm in case someone would stumble upon the place, but at the moment he simply did not have the time to spare, so he was grateful for the confirmation that he saved more time than he wasted on the detour.

Pulling out the box containing the ring from underneath the floorboards – Voldemort was not that clever when it came to actually hiding the items, Dumbledore's shadowy tendrils devoured the Horcrux, box and all. He did not want to test his mental shields at the moment, even if the curse wouldn't be effective on him considering the Phoenix bond, or that his knowledge would make it harder for him to be enticed to put on the ring. He had better things to do than prove that he was stronger mentally than the original.

The magical boost from the Horcrux was expected, more interesting was what he gained from absorbing the last Hallow. That shift within his soul, as the three parts combined into a single spark of divinity, was rather substantial. There was no great display of light or darkness (considering that the divinity came from Death, it was possible), but within himself the change was massive. He did not expect to become a minor (very minor) deity within less than an hour of his first reincarnation!

His abilities as a deity weren't significant, he did not have any divine authority worth mentioning, but his power over his own soul had increased. Specifically, he would not need to wait for death (or hasten it) before he could leave this realm and reincarnate once more. In addition, the connection between his body and soul was much closer than before. It meant that he could keep abilities that depended on his body between reincarnations – whereas before he could only keep abilities that were attached to his soul. It wasn't significant at the moment, but it will be in the future. For example, Ki in the world of Dragon Ball was a rather physical energy, and Chakra in the world of Naruto was flowing through actual physical pathways. Abilities such as these would've been lost to him after being reincarnated, but now he would keep those.

Then there was the change from absorbing the Hallow itself. The three were parts of a whole, and combining them did create something new. He wasn't Master of Death, that would be rather silly, but aside from the balance, the abilities gained from the Hallows were increased in quality.

The stone could call shades of the dead and force them to answer any questions he had. They could not affect the world of the living, nor were they the real deal – they were simply memories of the world. The souls themselves enter the cycle of reincarnation nearly instantly after departing, though there were some exceptions. Also, considering how time flows differently in the higher realm, "nearly instantly" is a rather misleading expression.

The wand's effectiveness was further increased, but he could also draw out its offensive nature and imbue weapons with attacks that are directed at the soul itself. A soul reaper of sorts.

The wand and stone actually interacted in a peculiar manner – when called upon, Dumbledore could use the wand to channel the spells that he did not know of, but the dead did. It wasn't as effective as mastering the spells on his own, but the increase in versatility was a welcome one.

The cloak's invisibility was also improved. Now he truly could not be detected by nearly any sense or spell. When active, he wouldn't even leave footprints on snow. He could even be selective when it came to which senses he wanted to hide from, and with practice even that could improve – silent steps and breath, but his voice still heard, for example. He wasn't intangible, of course. He couldn't pass through anything, and if he touched a person or was touched, he would be detected, but those were some of the few exceptions.

It was lucky that he did not seek a challenge from Voldemort. Fighting for fun could come later, in different lives. He wondered how Observation Haki, which could even see the future, would interact with his invisibility, but that would be an experiment for a later time, probably.

He stealthily Popped to the Potters cottage at Godric's Hallow. He chose the house elf method because phoenix's fire actually produced heat that meant he could be detected accidently (he doubted that the Lestrange vault would be examined anytime soon so that heat wouldn't be an issue, but here he was expected people, so that was a possibility. Besides, he didn't have a choice when it came to the vault), and Apparition was somewhat nauseating compared to elf popping, even if Dumbledore was already used to the feeling. He was bonded through Hogwarts to all the house elves, so even though the connection wasn't direct, he still had their abilities at his disposal.

Voldemort did not have an appreciation for dramatic timing, as he wasn't anywhere in sight. Dumbledore remembered that Tom encountered kids on his way to the cottage, so he knew he knew it wouldn't happen too late, but it was still rude to keep him waiting. Wasn't he supposed to arrive just as Tom was coming, or when he was already attacking, so that the time he saved would be so much more important, or to be just slightly too late to save James Potter, so that the few seconds he wasted on stealing the Lestrange's gold to be so costly, teach him a lesson on greed or something?

He was the hero, arriving at the last moment and saving the day! Instead he was a grumpy old man, standing invisibly outside, glaring at little kids while waiting to ambush Tom. And considering what he planned to do with Tom after defeating him… Well, if Tom was younger, one could accuse him of being Orochimaru! A pedophile… How unpleasant.

He was starting to think that having a house elf watching would be better. Waiting outside, even with the convenience of warming charms and a nice cup of tea brought by one of the elves, and he did gain an appreciation to those lemon drops, was still rather boring. Finally, the coward appeared! Maybe he was overreacting? It was merely five minutes… Gliding slightly because he can't be bothered wearing shoes, there he was, with Wormtail following behind, looking pathetic as ever.

Dumbledore allowed Voldemort to approach the house as he prepared to launch his attack. Wormtail stayed behind, just across the street, so Dumbledore would have to be quick to stun the rat after taking down his master.

As he was gliding towards the gate, Voldemort looked through the window at the Potters, being creepier than a Hinata stalking Naruto. He opened the creaking gate and was drawing his wand as Dumbledore acted instantly. He needed to defeat his enemy before his version of Predator would work, and a piercing hex through the skull seemed to work well enough. Voldemort didn't have a chance to react, his soul not yet leaving the body, thus Dumbledore quickly spun and fired a stunner at Pettigrew that had not yet seen something was wrong, considering he was too far and it happened too quickly for his dull mind to register anything.

So anticlimactic…

As the two bodies fell, Dumbledore wasted no time in sending his black tendrils to devour Voldemort's fresh corpse. He ignored the fact that he was now four times stronger than originally – while dueling they appeared equal in strength, but Dumbledore was using the Elder Wand that bridged the gap, so the rituals that Voldemort undertook between the making of the cup and now were obviously effective. No, what he focused on was the connection between the Dark Mark and Voldemort's soul. He did not want to alert the Death Eaters that something was wrong, as he came up with a plan while waiting that depended on it. Just as with the wards at the Gaunt Shack, establishing the fake connection with his own soul in place of the absorbed soul of Voldemort was rather easy.

A pragmatic and heartless man wouldn't have interfered quite so early. By letting the Potters die and having Harry struck by the curse, Voldemort's soul would have been split even further, which would have given Dumbledore another significant magical boost. But he took over Dumbledore, who saw himself as the Leader of the Light. He wanted to do right by the original character's purpose, at least to a certain extent – not the one that was compromised due to Grindelwald's machinations. The sacrifices in order to receive a large, but otherwise meaningless, increase, were simply not worth it.

Dumbledore stalked away from the cottage with the Potters being none the wiser to what they were saved from. Looming creepily over Wormtail's body, Dumbledore pushed away any memories of Voldemort he had. The mannerisms were leaking through and he was not happy about that, so he ordered Sage to clean up that mess. He could do it manually with Occlumency, but there really was no point to that.

Absorbing Wormtail would really only give him an increase in magical strength – as pathetic as he was, it actually does take some ability in order to become an animagus, and he would also instantly gain a rat animagus form, which did have its uses, though not important considering a plan he would soon be enacting. No, Wormtail will have to wait, since he did need access to a Dark Mark in order to summon other death eaters and might need this one to do so, so he transfigured the rat into a chess piece, a bit on the nose, and placed him in storage before returning to Hogwarts.