Chapter 261: Aberforth Dumbledore
The weather had long begun to warm up as there were more sunny days in between the storms. Making sure to wear a warm jumper to keep the early morning chill away, Rowan made her way down to the carriages and is the first one to depart for Hogsmeade. The morning air felt rather cool against her face, but nothing that made her shiver from bitter chills. Across the lake ripples could be seen as the Giant Squid moved beneath the inky black waters. The bare trees were full of tiny green buds that were preparing themselves to unfurl as the early spring flowers were already in bloom.
The carriage rolled to a neat stop as Rowan jumped out and briskly headed over to the Hogs Head Inn. She had received a rather abrupt letter from Alphard requesting that she visit the inn again. Though she had not heard a word from Moody, it couldn't be anything dangerous. Still, she had met with Alphard not too long ago. Why the urgency?
Turning the corner, Rowan paused to glance back as was her custom to see if she was being followed. She did manage to glimpse someone hurriedly pressing themselves into the corner. Narrowing her eyes, she quickly walked around the corner and ran towards a large statue in front of a shop.
Ducking down behind the large marble part, Rowan hid and waited, trying not to breathe or move a muscle. From her hidden vantage point, she manages to glimpse a hooded figure running past where she was hidden. It was a student from Slytherin, she could tell by the colored scarf in the Slytherin house colors peeking through at the edge of the cloak.
Rowan furrowed her brow and frowned. She truly thought her stalker had been Damian Mulciber and Evans Avery with possibly the help of T. Rosier. Yet T. Rosier didn't even dare stay in the common room with her since the cross-dressing incident. However, with Mulciber and Avery gone from Hogwarts, it couldn't be them. And moreover, the hooded figure was much taller than both of them including Rowan.
The footsteps began to fade away and Rowan waited and tried to listen for returning footsteps. She heard none and darted back the way she came taking an alternate path to the Hogs Head Inn. She would need to be more careful and limit any possible meeting unless it is truly urgent. Stalker or not, someone is following her. She needed to find out who and why.
Unlike the time before the Hogs Head Inn was closed with a sign that read in bold letters, "CLEANING."
"Cleaning?" Rowan muttered in disbelief, and she wasn't the only one. A crowd of people was staring in disbelief as some muttered in all their years of living that they had never seen the Hogs Head Inn close for anything, much less for something as trivial as cleaning. But then again, maybe the owner had finally been visited by the Ministry of Magic and had been given a stern warning as unsavory transactions regularly transpired on the premise.
About to leave after seeing the inn is closed, Rowan heard a rather pointed psst. Glancing around, she sees a rough hand gesture made to her from around the building. Rather wary at this point she cautiously approaches holding her wand tightly in hand. Turning the corner, she is roughly pulled into the barn filled with goats. She wrinkles her nose at the smell staring up at the figure before her, a wizard with long, wiry, gray hair, Aberforth Dumbledore.
"Hurry up and follow me," Aberforth roughly grunted leading the way through the barn and into the back of the inn.
Rowan did as she was told following the grumbling bartender/owner into the inn and up the stairs. Aberforth leads her to the living room that holds a warm crackling fire. In an armchair set-in front of the fireplace, a very weary-looking man dozes tiredly in the armchair.
The furniture is slightly dusty including an old bookshelf that stood in a corner of the chamber. The rest of the furniture is old including the ancient, dusty carpet strewn across the wooden floor. The only regularly dusted item in the entire room was hanging over the mantelpiece, a painted portrait of a girl with chest-length golden hair that is pulled back. Her bright blue eyes stared straight ahead as she protectively cradled a book in her arms.
Rowan's eyes widened in recognition of the girl in the portrait, Ariana Dumbledore. Luckily, Aberforth had his back turned towards her and failed to see her shocked reaction. She quickly masked her expression and turned to gaze at the dozing man in the armchair.
Glancing over to him, Rowan froze at seeing how sickly Alphard looked. He truly looked like death warmed over. And she hadn't even seen him that long ago. His sickness shouldn't be progressing so drastically, but then again, he would be dead before the end of her 5th year. And there was no telling if he would die even earlier than that.
Aberforth's blue eyes seemed rather cold today from behind his spectacles. His gray beard that reached his chest was actually neatly combed as if he'd at least bothered to run a crush through his hair. Aberforth motioned for Rowan to step inside as she walked over to Alphard to gently wake him up. Aberforth locked the door behind them and leaned back to rest against the locked door.
With a tired start, Alphard awoke, before saying, "Thank you, Rowan."
"You look worse, Alphard," Rowan said a bit more harshly than she intended to.
"I look near death, don't I?" Alphard chuckled with old bitterness and exhaustion.
Not caring if he was rude, Aberforth loudly interrupted them. "I closed my pub for this, Black? You said that it was URGENT!"
"It is," Alphard wheezed to only be overcome by a spasm of coughs. The fit lasted for more than a minute before Alphard wiped his mouth clean and tiredly leaned back in his seat. "I need you to replace me as a Secret Keeper, Aberforth."
"What?!" Both Rowan and Aberforth shrieked. They both paused to stare at each other as if not trusting the other.
"Why me?" Aberforth asked. "Dumbledore would be much better for this than me! And besides, exactly what am I keeping a secret?"
"Me," Rowan softly answered as she stared at Alphard in understanding. There was less time left than she had initially thought. Alphard might die before the year was up. And if so, he was most likely to die in bed too weak to move or do anything. He most likely wanted to put his affairs in order before he was confined to a bed.
"You?" Aberforth asked in confusion as he stared into the eyes that reminded him of that bastard, Grindelwald.
"Grindelwald," Aberforth whispered not realizing he had done so.
"What of him?" Rowan sharply asked having seen a disturbed look in his eyes.
Aberforth is silent, before glancing up at Ariana, who nods at him. "You have the same eyes as Gilbert Grindelwald," Aberforth mumbled as something about his words struck a chord inside of Rowan.
"She's a farseer," Alphard rasped. "If Rowan's eyes remind you of Grindelwald, it is because both of them have a touch of the gift."
"My father is a muggle, it is not an impossibility," Rowan mused out loud causing both to glance at her. "If I remember correctly there was a time period, when Gilbert Grindelwald experimented on the subject of transferring magic, bloodline so to speak. Perhaps, there was a survivor of the experiment, a failure, a squib child. Yes, it would make sense, now that I think of it."
Rowan paused, "But then again, my brother and I both belong to an old powerful line, the Prince's. We are both naturally brilliant as our grandfather. And I can be quite persuasive and even manipulative when I wish to be, but those are all Slytherin traits, I suppose."
Turning to stare Aberforth straight in the eye, she says, "And yet, I cannot ignore the words of the man that once knew Gilbert Grindelwald in person. If there is any truth to that, it frankly does not matter to me. I am a Prince, not a Grindelwald."
"Well said," Alphard approvingly said with a faint smile as Aberforth apologetically nods his head at her.
Rowan glances away as she puts that seed of doubt away in her mind. Perhaps, there was some truth to Aberforth's words and her own spoken conjecture. She'd only found out about the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor lines because of the Basilisk. Those two lines must have come from her father. And Aberforth wasn't a man to be discounted off lightly. After all, Aberforth had once dueled to a standstill both Gilbert Grindelwald and his brother, Albus Dumbledore, for neither of the three could beat the other.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
EsliEsma
EsliEsma One of the most underrated characters of all time is Aberforth Dumbledore. Need I repeat it, Aberforth kept both, his brother, Albus, and not-so-good friend at the time, Gellert Grindelwald at bay!
Aberforth likely had the same capacity as Albus, but Aberforth lacked Albus's ambition. Though Albus improved it isn't as though Albus wasn't in a position of power, the Headmaster of Hogwarts is its own power in its own right not to mention Albus is also the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamont and the Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards.
On the other hand, Aberforth is content just to run an inn. So Aberforth does have the potential to be great. However, Aberforth did not have the desire to be great, he just wanted to be with his family. This is why Aberforth never truly forgave Albus for the death of Arianna, who was all they had left after the death of their father in Azkaban and their mother accidentally being killed by Arianna from a magical outburst.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone