Fate
Karma
Doom
The entity known as 'Destiny' was known by many names, some flattering and some not, but regardless of what she was called there were certain truths about her existence:
First, she controlled the 'fate' of humans and allowed those known as 'Seers' to view parts of her plan.
Next, there was always a plan.
Third, prophecies could, and would, be as vague as possible.
Finally, meddling old bastards would always be trying to figure things out before they were to happen, and then try to change the result. The purpose of prophecy wasn't to know the future but to be aware of all the paths that life might take. Instead the man known as 'Dumbledore' had proclaimed that one of two children would undoubtedly be the ones to bring down the Dark Lord through the power of love. Which promptly caused said Dark Lord to try and interfere and kill the child, or make his own selection before it was time.
That meant that this had to be changed, because Destiny was, if nothing else, a bit of an asshole to those who sought to cheat, or think too highly of themselves.
Looking at the scene before her, as time slowed to a crawl, the Goddess began to ponder the meaning of the words she had given to the woman named Trelawney.
" The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches… Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies… and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not… and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives…"
How best to screw with humanity? Luckily the wording was vague and up for interpretation, even luckier was the fact that Destiny herself was the one doing the interpretations.
" And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal"
That was the most interesting line of all. Because how does one define 'equal'. Slowly the pale green energy continued on its path across the room, preparing to take the infant's life.
Obviously the two were not equal in anyway shape or form. But then again the prophecy didn't say when they would be equal… just that the Dark Lord would mark the boy.
As the spell reached the baby, and created a small scar on his forehead, reality came to a halt. Destiny strode casually through the room, stepping over the body of the boy's mother which lay on the ground nearby.
The boy was marked, yet the Dark Lord remained. Even if he was about to be destroyed… at this moment they were not equal.
Voldemort was more powerful magically and had more experience using that magic. He was physically larger and stronger. He was more intelligent, he had an army that would answer his every call, he had political power, fame, fortune, wealth, knowledge, charisma, and even magical artifacts that could be used. He also had the element of surprise, as well as the whole 'immortality' thing going for him.
What did the child have?
Two dead parents… that was about it. Sure, others could, and probably would, come to his aide, but they weren't his followers. They would not blindly charge into battle by his orders, or torture and kill for him.
He had no access to his family's wealth or artifacts, at least not until he had reached adulthood, he had no knowledge of magic, or anything else for that matter, and was rather 'average' in terms of power.
Yes, they truly were the definition of 'unequal'.
So how to change that?
Destiny grinned, it was always so much fun to screw with the preconceived notions that those 'all knowing' assholes always had. To take what they 'knew' was true, and then flip it completely upside down.
Normally, Destiny was limited with her interactions in the world, but not when it came to the future and fulfilling prophecies. In these cases her ability to alter reality skyrocketed.
The boy couldn't be given knowledge, such a thing would change him into someone else and thus could not be allowed. His free will was also off the table, for not even the divine could take away Mankind's ultimate gift. Immortality was not a gift either, for death too was gifted to the race of man by the Creator.
So what did that leave?
Power.
A snap of the fingers and Harry Potter's magic was raised to the level of Voldemort at his peak, aka this very instance. Of course this meant that the boy would grow in power proportional to the fact that this was his 'weakest' but that wasn't Destiny's concern.
Intelligence.
He couldn't be given knowledge, but the potential could be granted. An eidetic memory, the potential for above genius level intellect, a future inclination towards tactics, book smarts, street smarts, magical knowledge, biology, chemistry… and whatever the hell else Humanity placed value on.
Charisma.
Human's could not be made into followers, because that would interfere with free will, but he could eventually be charismatic enough that people would simply flock to him, be manipulated by him, and deceived by him. Increase that with an aura that would draw others to him, whether in servitude or lust it didn't really matter.
Talent.
The boy would need a natural gift in the magical arts to compete with someone who had a sixty year head start on him. Perhaps a natural gift never yet seen in the magical world would balance things out a bit?
Still it wasn't enough.
The scales weren't quite balanced out, even with all of these gifts… so what else ?
" Power the Dark Lord knows not" Well that had been vague enough to be of use. Never said it had to be something that anyone knew right? A few new magical abilities never conceived of and the boy would be in a considerably better situation to defend himself.
But still…
He needed something more . A guide to take him on this journey, a companion that would forever be by his side to support him no matter what happened. The problem remained with that pesky 'free will' nonsense…
A slight glance out of a nearby window had the entity grinning. A beautiful snow-white owl sat on a nearby tree.
Perfect.
As for the rest of the imbalances… eh those could be rectified by increasing the boy's magic and natural talent with it… right?
Close enough.
Stepping back Destiny once more allowed time to flow, and watched as the Killing Curse reflected back onto its caster by an act of self-sacrifice.
She grinned.
Hopefully next time Humans would learn to let fate continue naturally, rather than try and screw with it.