When the Wicked Rise to Power

Severus couldn't sleep. It was that damned conversation with Malfoy. He'd lain awake for hours staring at the ceiling, turning it over and over in his mind. At three o'clock he gave up on trying to get to sleep. He slipped out of bed as quietly as he could and went to pace his office.

The problem was that he had seen this happen before. He knew exactly what happened when a man seized too much power. It went to his head. And then people ended up living under a tyrant. Worse, people ended up dead.

Of course, he knew he couldn't compare Dumbledore to Voldemort. Dumbledore had fought against the Dark Lord for years, had given him, Severus, a second chance, even protected him against the Ministry.

But the Headmaster had already flaunted his influence over the Ministry when Severus was trying to get Potter and Weasley expelled for flying that ludicrous car. He could still remember the taunt perfectly. 'I am well aware of our by-laws, Severus, having written quite a few of them myself.' Insufferable.

And Severus was worried, no, frightened, honestly frightened, by some of the things Dumbledore had done in the past. The man was a renegade, and renegades were dangerous in power.

Time and time again he had encouraged Potter in criminal behaviour, encouraged him to break rules and even laws. It had been Potter who had formed the illegal defence group in Dumbledore's name, but Severus couldn't believe Dumbledore hadn't known about it. In fact, he definitely knew about it through Mundungus Fletcher, who had overheard the original meeting at the Hog's Head, and yet he let a child go on teaching dangerous spells to other children.

Draco was right: "Whatever happens, we all have to kow-tow to Dumbledore." Everyone was supposed to trust Dumbledore's judgement. And yet Dumbledore's judgement was flawed. He had employed a werewolf. He had failed to spot a rabid Death Eater in a teaching role.

And worst of all, Severus had told Dumbledore over and over again that he should tell Potter about the prophecy, but no, in his wisdom Dumbledore had kept Potter in the dark and, as a consequence, a man had died in a completely unnecessary showdown at the Ministry. Merlin knew there was no love lost between Sirius and Severus, but the fact was, a man had died because Dumbledore would not be told.

How many more would die if this promotion went ahead?

Dumbledore seemed to be unassailable within the magical community, and this had led him to believe he could do whatever he wanted. He was already Chief Warlock, Supreme Mugwump and Headmaster of the only school of wizardry in the country – now Minister for Magic. He seemed intent on gathering as much influence over wizardkind as possible. And Draco was right; they'd all be pawns in Dumbledore's great drive for power.

Severus had always had a sneaking suspicion that Dumbledore enjoyed his position as head of every council, every court, every quango going. Part of him had seemed to revel in those unofficial titles people assigned him: "The Only One Voldemort Ever Feared", "The Greatest Sorcerer in the World".

While he in no way agreed with Lucius Malfoy's suggestion that Dumbledore had taken Voldemort down out of jealousy, Severus did wonder whether he had worked so hard so that he (and Potter, of course) would be remembered forever as 'The One Who Defeated the Dark Lord'. And he would use that fact against the opponents of his new regime to justify whatever he wanted to do.

And yet, was Dumbledore really so different from Voldemort?

What had come out about him in Rita Skeeter's biography last year was nothing short of terrifying. While Severus knew you couldn't believe half of what came out of the objectionable woman's venomous quill, what was worrying him most was that Dumbledore hadn't denied any of it. It all seemed, for once, to be true.

Quotes from the book flashed before Severus' eyes. 'He learned secrecy at our mother's knee,' Albus' own brother had said. 'Secrets and lies, that's how we grew up, and Albus...he was a natural.'

He had been in league with Gellert Grindelwald (by all reports the Voldemort of his day), and intent on the supremacy of wizards and the subjugation of Muggles. Dumbledore's dreams had been of Muggles forced into subservience, of wizards triumphant, of himself as the glorious leader of the new "Magic is Might" order. Nothing mattered to him while he was hatching his plans with Grindelwald – he'd even neglected and abandoned his own sister. This was what happened with ambitious men. They used their popularity as a ladder to power and then ignored and abandoned those they were supposed to care about.

Aberforth had said Albus was more concerned with making speeches and counting his prizes than caring for Ariana. 'Bit of a comedown for Mr Brilliant, there's no prizes for looking after your half-mad sister...'

'He was selfish,' Aberforth claimed, 'more selfish than anyone could possibly imagine. He didn't want the responsibility of a damaged sister. He resented her for trapping him, for wasting his life.'

What if this promotion brought about a resurgence of his supremacist views? Grindelwald had wanted Muggle-borns incarcerated, stripped of their magic, or worse, simply wiped out.

Severus considered last year's Muggle-born Registration Committee an abomination. His nights had been plagued by dreams of Lily Evans up before the Committee, pleading for her life. He had woken night after night, in a cold sweat, having failed to save Lily again. Having condemned her to death. Again. When they were children, he'd told her being Muggle-born didn't make her any less of a witch. How could he sit back and allow the appointment of a man who might undermine that, reinstate the Committee and start the nightmares again?

The biography did say that the death of his sister had changed the Headmaster's views and had led to his famous duel with Grindelwald. If that were true, then Dumbledore's circumstances were not incomparable to Severus' own, but the Headmaster didn't trust him in a position of responsibility, did he? It was well known that the reason Severus had never got the Defence Against the Dark Arts post was that Dumbledore believed it would bring about a renewal of his Death Eater propensities. Well, Severus believed the absolute power of the Minister's post would cause Dumbledore to return to his old ways. Dumbledore had refused the Minister's job before. Several times. Could it not be that he had learned he was not to be trusted with power?

He had seemed very keen on the idea this morning though, asking Finnigan to recommend him. Clearly the lure of absolute power had won out. And he had proved as a youth that power was his weakness and his temptation.

There were even rumours (and this was what made Severus feel truly sick with dread) that Dumbledore had been searching for a way to cheat death. Every wizard knew 'The Tale of the Three Brothers' as a story, a childhood fairytale. But the rumour was that Dumbledore and Grindelwald believed it, that they were searching for the Deathly Hallows to give them mastery over death. Of course, it was only a rumour, but terrifying nonetheless. The entire community had lived in terror of Lord Voldemort for decades – a wizard who had sought to make himself invincible, who had stopped at nothing to achieve immortality. That could not happen again. Severus could not allow it to happen.

Severus had spent years risking his life to bring down Voldemort. After all that, he could not afford to let another with the same intentions take hold.

There was a tap at the window. Several post owls sat on the windowsill. What the hell were they doing delivering mail at this time of night? He opened the window, took the letters and ripped them open impatiently.

Once he had lit his wand, he could see they were all, in essence, the same. They were all reminding him of his position as Head of House at Hogwarts and urging him to take care of his students. He crumpled them up with a snort and was about to throw them into the fire, when he stopped and smoothed them out again. What if these letters had been sent by the governors? Or parents? They were right; it was his duty to protect his students. He had to act in the best interests of the school.

And the best interests of the school were the best interests of wizardkind as a whole: stop another tyrant coming to power. Which meant that Dumbledore could not, under any circumstances, be allowed to take up the Ministry's offer. It was up to him, Severus, to do anything necessary to prevent that. And if that meant Severus had to go along with what Draco suggested, if that meant the Headmaster had to die and Severus himself had to kill him, so be it. It was, after all, for the greater good.

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A/N Dumbledore's line about the by-laws comes from the Chamber of Secrets film.

The quotes in Rita Skeeter's book come from DH Ch 28 & 35

The chapter title is a biblical quote from Solomon 28/28: 'When the wicked rise to power the people go into hiding, but when the wicked perish the righteous thrive.'