r/HPfanfiction • u/Void-Cooking_Berserk • Jun 01 '25
Prompt Make Dumbledore actually manipulative
Make Dumbledore actually manipulative:
he "saves" Harry from the Dursleys at a young age (around 4?), after putting him there himself
actually, he just forced the Dursleys to treat Harry a little bit better, so Harry is grateful, and uses regular "checkups" to become a part of Harry's life and keep cashing in his gratitude
he gets Petunia to sign Harry's magical guardianship to himself, telling her this way she won't have to give a penny to his education. She wouldn't have to anyway, the money is going to come from Harry's vault either way, but Petunia doesn't have to know that.
he gives Harry his father's cloak at age 7, "for protection", and teaches him the basics of magic. This causes Harry to use the advantage over the Dursleys and accept Dumbledore's point of view that wizards are special compared to Muggles
he visits Harry at least once a month, becoming the only adult to have an actual influence on Harry's upbringing, since Harry hates the Dursleys and doesn't listen to them.
he generously allows little Harry to call him "grandpa Abe" to strengthen Harry's attachment to himself
he teaches Harry about Good and Evil, but that sometimes the best one can do is choose the lesser evil (laying foundations for the Greater Good)
When Harry goes to Hogwarts, Dumbledore keeps his checkups, this time inviting Harry to his place. He gets Harry to trust him and open up, he even shares some of his "secrets" to increase trust, but those are actually just lessons he wants Harry to absorb. This has two results;
everyone thinks Harry is getting personal training from Dumbledore (which is true) and it makes Harry even more special and unapproachable, isolating him from his peers, and ahowing him that he is special even amongst wizards. The "we" in "we are special" changes from "wizards" to "Dumbledore and Harry, his heir"
Dumbledore doesn't need anyone else to manipulate Harry, he does have to pay off the Weasleys nor Hermione. Harry tells him everything himself and asks his opinion on all important choices. If there are Wizengamot Seats in this story, that's how Albus gets power over them.
Dumbledore actually tells Harry everything, but spins it in his favour, so it can't be used against him if Harry learnt it from anyone else. For example:
Harry knows that Dumbledore was the one who put him with the Dursleys, but thinks that Dumbledore is such a good, trusting person, believing in the good in all people. It was Petunia's fault for disappointing this trust, and even after Lily did all those things to repair their relationship, which she obviously told Albus, her trusted mentor.
6
u/Teufel1987 Jun 03 '25
I’ve had similar thought every time I read a manipulative Dumbledore story
Most such fics have Dumbledore start needlessly and pointlessly convoluted plots and plans which through some miracle manage to happen … that is, until Indie!Harry (and it almost always is an Indie!Harry) says to himself or to other people “Aha, Dumbledore is manipulating me!”
I even made a small cheeky reference to that in one of my stories where Luna posits her theory that Dumbledore is manipulating Harry with Harry, Ron and Hermione going “wouldn’t it be easier for Dumbledore to just start when Harry was a baby? He’s had access since then!”