Dumbledore had more experience with seers than most people.
Grindelwald, for instance, had foreseen the rapid development of Muggle technology. Dumbledore had proposed "for the greater good" as a response to that vision.
But it was Grindelwald who had put Dumbledore's idea into practice.
And Dumbledore himself had become the man who stopped it.
Grindelwald's nature meant his prophecies always focused on the grand sweep of things.
The tides of history, the development of humanity, the awkward position of wizards.
He rarely used prophecy to peer into the lives of ordinary people.
Grindelwald was a proud man.
Unlike Grindelwald, the second seer Dumbledore encountered was Professor Sybill Trelawney.
Professor Trelawney had the blood of a seer, but her gift worked only now and then.
What had been an active skill in Grindelwald's hands became a passive one in Trelawney's, and it triggered at random.
What was more, Sybill Trelawney's prophecies were not straightforward. They were the kind of vague pronouncements one expected from a seer.
During her interview with Dumbledore, she had said:
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... Born to a family that has thrice defied the Dark Lord... Born as the seventh month ends...
"The Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not...
"One must die at the hand of the other, for neither can live while the other survives...
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month ends..."
Having seen how Grindelwald prophesied, Dumbledore had initially thought Sybill Trelawney did not deserve her reputation.
But that unconscious prophecy had shown him she truly had the gift.
She simply could not control it.
That hardly mattered. With that one prophecy, Dumbledore could persuade Hogwarts's governors to pay for her keep.
Professor Trelawney was a textbook case of someone who had made a career out of a single sentence.
Dumbledore had expected Isaac's prophecies to resemble either Trelawney's or Grindelwald's.
Reality had proved otherwise. Isaac was Isaac, and his prophecies were like no one else's.
In truth, after learning of Isaac's prophetic talent, Dumbledore had considered asking him to divine Tom Riddle's whereabouts.
In the end, he had abandoned the tempting idea.
For one thing, Voldemort had already suffered badly because of a prophecy.
He was not a forgiving man.
He had cursed the Defense Against the Dark Arts position simply because he had not been given the job. There was no telling what dark magic he might use to shut out a seer's visions.
Besides, Isaac was still only a young wizard—a young wizard who reminded Dumbledore a great deal of Grindelwald.
Age brought its own selfishness. For decades, most of Dumbledore's heart had belonged to the wizarding world.
Surely the small part that remained could belong somewhere else.
He had not expected Isaac to bring up finding Voldemort so openly.
"Child, are you serious?" Dumbledore asked, studying Isaac as he sought one final confirmation.
"Of course. His Death Eaters came knocking on my family's door. Am I supposed to be friendly with him after that?"
Isaac knew perfectly well that magic itself was the only storybook part of Britain's wizarding world. Everything else was a mess.
And Voldemort was the one stirring that mess up.
Who knew whether dark magic had ruined his mind or he had never been particularly bright to begin with?
If Voldemort truly returned, it would do no one any good.
No one—not pure-bloods, half-bloods, or Muggle-borns.
Voldemort might claim to fight for pure-bloods, but the things he had done...
Were those pure-blood nobles really willing to serve as Voldemort's lackeys? Did they have no pride at all?
"There's no time to think about all that, Professor! Voldemort has already returned!
"He's hiding somewhere in Britain's wizarding world right now!"
"Tell me where he is." At that moment, Dumbledore showed Isaac what it meant to be the greatest wizard of the age.
The Elder Wand was in his hand, and the white-haired professor drew his aged body upright.
The force of his presence made Isaac take an involuntary half step back.
Yet even as Isaac stepped back, his eyes shone with fervor.
Yes. Yes, that's it!
This was the presence Isaac had always imagined the greatest wizard of the age should possess.
To deal with Tom, Dumbledore needed precisely that I'm going to drag you out and kill you attitude.
Dumbledore had never backed down from Voldemort when he was whole. Why would he fear a scrap of his soul now?
"Quirinus Quirrell. Voldemort is on the back of his head right now.
"He went into the forests of Albania and brought back what remained of Voldemort's soul."
"Quirinus..." Dumbledore's expression grew complicated.
Quirinus Quirrell had taught Muggle Studies at Hogwarts, a subject notorious for being a joke.
The wizarding world was somewhat separated from Muggle society, but the two were not entirely cut off from each other.
Every year, young wizards from half-blood and Muggle families entered Hogwarts.
Students interested in Muggle society could simply ask them about it.
Those who had no interest would not choose Muggle Studies anyway.
Besides, wizards' knowledge of Muggles was badly outdated. Muggle society changed by the day, and wizards had not kept pace.
In other words, when Quirinus Quirrell taught Muggle Studies, he had been a minor figure among the Hogwarts staff, barely noticed at all.
Then again, if he had been more prominent, Quirinus Quirrell might not have secured a teaching position at Hogwarts so easily.
The previous school year, Quirrell had resigned to travel, broaden his horizons, and gain practical experience.
Dumbledore had supported him. He had traveled in his own youth and had more than his share of practical experience.
During this holiday, Quirrell had asked Dumbledore for the Defense Against the Dark Arts position.
It was a difficult post to fill.
Dumbledore had a great reputation and knew plenty of people. But even his connections could not sustain a turnover of one professor every year.
Once he ruled out those who could not teach, those who lacked skill in Defense Against the Dark Arts, and those who had already taught at the school, the list grew short.
For a while, Dumbledore had genuinely worried about finding a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.
Then Quirrell's application arrived.
In their correspondence, Dumbledore had raised several questions about Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Quirrell answered every one perfectly.
Some of his answers had even pleasantly surprised Dumbledore.
With that level of knowledge, he was more than qualified to teach young wizards, even if he lacked some practical experience.
What Dumbledore had not expected was that Quirrell's search for practical experience would be so much more "ambitious" than he had imagined.
He had faced the Dark Lord of the age, fought with everything he had, failed to win—and surrendered?