章節 1026: Unexpected Hogsmeade Patrol Ⅱ
There is a creak by the doorway alerting Rowan. "Have you finished snooping?" A frigid voice asked from the doorway.
A sheepish expression flashed across Rowan's face, before quickly stepping away from the Dumbledore family picture frames. "Sorry, they were just a new addition," she gestured to the new picture frames on the mantel, "and I was curious," she ruefully admitted.
Aberforth snorts and closes the door a little too loudly. "And what is so curious pray tell?"
"It's hard to imagine you and Albus as children, Aberforth," Rowan bluntly said, before a sly smile creeps up on her lips. "You were quite adorable back then."
A dark flush crept up Aberforth's cheeks before sending a fierce scowl at Rowan. "Nonsense," he sputtered indignantly.
"Your mother was quite striking," Rowan idly remarked. "Her high cheekbones suggest Native American or Roman ancestry," she quietly observed Aberforth's face tense at the last suggestion. "Hmm, she looks to have Roma in her. Travelers as they say," rather than to use the derogatory term gypsies.
Aberforth's blue eyes flicker for a moment. "Albus-," he paused to acknowledge the truth, "no, we all learned secrets and lies at our mother's knees. That's how we grew up."
Pensively Rowan nods her head. Muriel, Ron Weasley's Aunt had gossiped and declared that Kendra Dumbledore was a proud, terrifying woman who cared a great deal for her reputation and aspired to be that much more than her birth. It could not be an entire lie as Bathilda Bagshot had described Kendra Dumbledore in somewhat of a similar manner.
It certainly made sense why Dumbledore would not have any more living muggleborn relatives especially if their mother had in fact been Roma. The Travelers are disliked in polite society including the magical one. It was not a family tree one was exactly vocal about.
Then there was also Aberforth in Potter's time after his father had been locked up in Azkaban he had said, "We had to keep her (Arianna) safe and quiet. We moved house, put it about she was ill, and my mother looked after her, and tried to keep her calm and happy."
However, from a psychological point of view locking someone up to keep them safe never works out well in the end. Emotions tend to build up, there is a very good reason why in prison isolation wards can ebb and destroy a prisoner's entire psyche. And it certainly made sense why in the end Ariana's emotions had exploded resulting in the death of their mother, Kendra Dumbledore.
It also highlighted the tense relationship that Kendra had with her children. There must have been a part of Ariana that resented her mother, who likely kept her trapped and submissive. Aberforth cared for Ariana and clearly resented their mother for her secretive nature. Even though Kendra clearly cared for Albus more than Aberforth, Albus had resented their mother at that time for dying and leaving him as head of the family.
Family relationships can be quite complicated and difficult to manage. This much Rowan understood better than anyone else. Sometimes only a thin line separates love and hatred.
A crackle from the fireplace breaks the silence returning the both of them back to the present. Aberforth roughly clears his throat, "We are short on time best make this quick."
"How fares Crow?" Rowan quietly asked.
"Crow still lives, but his journey may soon come to an end," Aberforth cautioned.
"He was successful?" Rowan gasped in genuine surprise.
"Not yet, but he has been sufficiently persuasive enough to be concerning," Aberforth's face darkened with old anger. "If it truly comes to that I will personally go to Nurmengard and slit Gellert's throat myself," he hatefully snarled.
Rowan presses her lips into a thin line. There was not much that could be done now. It was better to tackle the present challenge rather than a still uncertain possibility. Still, if there was an opportunity, it would be best to ask now rather than later.
"I have a request to make of Crow," Rowan carefully said as Aberforth expectantly looked at her waiting for further information. "Grindelwald experimented quite a bit in the past. I need Crow to quietly seek out anything related to Creedence Barebone during his residence at Numengard. It is not implausible and if anything did transpire it would be during this interval of time. Furthermore-."
"Creedence-," Aberforth let out a low hiss unable to fully hide his reaction at the name of his son. A child, he had not known existed until far too late. A child, who had been hidden away and only returned to die in his father's home. The child of the only woman he had ever loved. His son.
Albus had not been the only one to fall in love that summer. Maybe, if he had not been in love and blind himself, things would not have ended either. Perchance, she would have willingly told him if not for the death of Ariana. He would never know; she had left without so much as a goodbye. And there was no amending the past, she was long gone from this world as well.
Aberforth comes too at hearing the word, "possessions." "Possession?" Aberforth arched his brow feigning having been paying attention. "I would have never taken you for believing in such superstition, child. Muggles believe in demonic possession, but Demons are simply magical creatures, there's nothing otherworldly about them. Not that they can't be dangerous mind you, but there's nothing supernatural about them."
"Call it a curious fancy of mine," Rowan replied with a straight face.
Aberforth wrinkles his nose but is unable to argue otherwise. "Fine, I'll let Crow know, but mind you, he'll tell you the same thing. Now possession of the Spirits, there are still some folks who believe in that sort of thing." However, he frankly didn't believe in all of that pish posh.
Seeing that Aberforth is at ease once again, Rowan feigns disinterest. "On that note did Grindelwald ever show much interest in Ariana?"
Aberforth gives Rowan the stink eye. "Albus and Gellert were far too wrapped up in each other," he snorted. "I never trusted him further than I could throw a Kneazle. I didn't like him hanging around Ariana the least bit. I always did my best to ensure she wasn't alone."
"That still didn't answer my question."
"And that's all the answer you're going to get."
Taking a hint, Rowan changes the subject. "The giants have fallen quiet again and return to small raids and skirmishes. It is only a matter of time until their Gurg leads them in another large attack."
"The Aurors and the Order are working on it," Aberforth huffed. "There's only so much that can be done. However, once the Ministry of Magic finishes setting up the Magical Brain and the Wizard Link communication and response times will become immediate. The tide of war will turn in our favor."
"But that will make the giants that more dangerous," Rowan cautioned. "They will stand to lose, and they cannot afford to do so late in the game."
"We know," Aberforth grumbled. "However, their Gurg is cunning and far from easy to trap. And even then, we alone can't capture him. The aid of the goblins, hags, and trolls will be needed."
"What of another giant?" Rowan asked with a calculating gleam in her eye.
"You know of such a giant?" Aberforth inquisitively asked.
"I may," Rowan tentatively admitted.
"Where?"
"The question isn't where but rather whose?"
Aberforth's blue eyes darken in thought before his eyes widen. "That clumsy oaf of a boy, yes," before he frowns, "however, Hagrid is only half-giant."
"Hagrid's father was a muggle farmer," Rowan drily remarked in a hint.
It takes a moment before it dawns on Aberforth's face. "Hagrid's mother is the giantess."
Rowan gestured in confirmation as Abeforth furrows his brow. "Even if Hagrid's mother is a worthy foe, the giantess cannot take the Gurg on alone."
"Hagrid's mother is not old by giant standards," Rowan pointedly looked at her nails.
"The giantess took another mate," Aberforth quickly concluded. "A giant."
Rowan gestures again in confirmation before Aberforh pensively eyes the young witch. "Considering that you are stuck at Hogwarts year long, you could not have met Hagrid's mother anywhere else but nearby." He paused and concluded. "They can only be residing within the confines of the Forbidden Forest."
Rowan confirmed with a side glance. "I have revealed nothing," she murmured which technically was true. She had broken no vow of secrecy.
Aberforth pensively tugs on his beard resembling his older brother Albus far too much at that moment. "The Order is in need of more members," he slowly said. "Hagrid would be more than a welcome addition."
Rowan tactfully keeps her face blank. Hagrid had been a member of the Order of the Phoenix in Potter's time. He had been a blabbermouth back then, but at the present, he was much better at keeping secrets. Maybe it had been a lack of confidence or a product of regaining his wand, but Hagrid had truly come a long way.
"It should be fairly easy to ally with Hagrid," Aberforth determined, "especially if Albus says so."
"Albus?" Rowan's head went up at the way Aberforth had referred to his brother. It was in a soft almost friendly tone of voice rather than full of hatred and anger. A smirk creeps on Rowan's face, "Since when have you been on such friendly terms with Albus, Aberforth?"
A pink flush of embarrassment appears as Aberforth indignantly sputters, "We aren't on friendly terms! It's simply a temporary alliance!"
"Is that so?" Rowan said without any belief. She pointedly gestured with one hand at the once-empty mantelpiece that was now filled with family photos.
The flush on Aberforth's cheeks darken, but he fiercely refused to admit that the relationship between brothers had improved to the point that Albus now dropped in every Sunday for a late supper or a cup of tea. He would rather bite his tongue than admit that was the case. Then again, the Dumbledore's are a proud bunch each in their own special way…
Flustered Abeforth growls, "Now scat, I have a pub to open."
"Who is even drinking at this hour?" Rowan remarked in disbelief.
Early risers," Abeforth huffed shooing the younger witch down the stairs. He paused and glanced back at the portrait of Ariana. "I'll see you later tonight, Ari," he gently said to the portrait of his belated younger sister.
The portrait of Ariana Dumbledore slowly blinks as if coming awake from a dream and sends a small smile in the direction of her beloved brother, Aberforth, before growing still again. Feeling a bit of warmth in his chest, Aberforth heads down to open the Hogs Head Inn. He may or may not have been humming which may have terrified many of his old customers out of their wits!
創作者的想法 
EsliEsma
EsliEsma Wizard Society is still very much like the victorian era. If Umbridge Dolores hid the fact that she is a half-blood, I would not be surprised if the lineage of certain types of individuals was also hidden like the Roma called "gypsies."
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