The Dark Lord's Playbook of Nefarious Misdeeds

WELL APPOINTED PLANS

A/N: This is my new story and I have a rough outline with how I want it to go. Just be patient with my updates I may not be as fast as The Heist! Enjoy and feedback is much appreciated. This is not strictly canon compliant and I haven't put dates and things in because i may reference future technology that doesn't exist in 1998.

Third Person POV (Albus Dumbledore)

A point in the past

Albus Dumbledore thought he was a good man, someone to bring order and a little bit of control to the wizarding world. After all he did beat his previous nemesis Gellert Grindelwald and in such a spectacular fashion one must say, that he found himself a little bored. So, what was one to do if one found himself in need of another nemesis -a challenge?

Create one.

However, this is not as easy as it sounds. Sure, there were plenty of dark wizards running around but none that had the right.... chutzpah. Such a shame really, that no one was intelligent enough, powerful enough and had the right je ne sais quoi. Until....

Until...Tom Riddle Jr.

Yes, Tom Riddle Jr such weird boy, an outcast. Orphan. Misunderstood. Bright intelligent eyes. Perceptive and bullied. A perfect combination if Albus thought so himself to be crafted into the ultimate opponent. With some time and manipulation. Everything would fall into place as if it was meant to be. Of course, he could have used his position and power to better the situation for the boy, but no he already had it all and besides where's the fun in that? The Order of Merlin Medal and full carte blanche as Chief Warlock, no what he needed was to remind these puttock's that he still is the best wizard since the founders. Cement his position for the rest of his life.

And this is perhaps were the plan started to unravel. He got too overconfident. Too cocky from being comfortable, too long resting on his laurels from Grindelwald's defeat. He tried to play the long game successfully....but things didn't entirely go to plan. However, he could learn to adapt to the situation, he was a great chess player. A master manipulator and tactician. He was good at reading the opposition and anticipating the moves. However, what he hadn't counted on was Tom Riddle being just as good at the game as he was. It was frustrating.

It was infuriating.

So, the plan was put in motion, then adapted, then adapted again. Everything was going along relatively fine, except getting 'cursed' and 'murdered', was not on the cards, but Albus played them to his strengths. A year of uninterrupted planning. Plotting. Scheming the demise of the most brilliant student he had ever had not that he would have admitted that out loud to anyone. Ever. A worthy adversary. Even more so than Grindelwald. Which is why this required his most ingenious plan yet! A specially developed...curse? Well he doesn't know if it is a curse per say but a perfect prison built outside of time and space. Trapped inside a time turner. Yes, it is rather the best he has come up with and took, a lot of work. A lot of calculations. Perfecting the 'walls of the cell', the illusion. Yes, when the Wizengamot find out what he did he will be hailed a hero once again, not just a dotty old man. Powerful, but still dotty. He did have to maintain his 'for the greater good' persona after all. No one could be suspecting of his darker side. If it was up to him with no repercussions, he would have murdered that snake faced idiot years ago. Most likely at Hogwarts, when it would have been quick and clean. But then things wouldn't have led us to the situation everyone is now in. Regrettable sacrifices on both sides. Unfortunate collateral damage. That is the price of war. They knew what they were signing up for. Did they think everyone was just shooting sunshine and rainbows? He snorts at that imagery. Idiots if they truly believed just because they were on the good side then everyone would miraculously survive. With their ridiculous self-righteous moral code. While he has to push this code, he doesn't truly believe in it. No. It is a good theoretical exercise on paper but doesn't work well in practice. The problem lies with human nature. We are still savages at heart. No matter how intelligent we are as a species. We are still 98% genetically matched with chimpanzees. We haven't come that far down the evolutionary tree just yet.