ABERFORTH & ARIANA DUMBLEDORE, FAMILY SECRETS

Today, The Weasleys and The Grandma have known Aberforth Dumbledore and Ariana Dumbledore, two interesting dark characters of Magic World.

They are Albus Dumbledore's brother and sister and their lives have been difficult and dramatic.

Aberforth Dumbledore and Ariana Dumbledore are British half-blood wizard, son and daughter of Percival and Kendra Dumbledore, and younger brother and sister of Albus. 

Before meeting Aberforth Dumbledore and Ariana Dumbledore, The Grandma has offered a new Cambridge Key English Test A2 Example to her family.

Download Cambridge KET Exam Model-Listening (25)

  

Download Cambridge KET Audio-Listening (25)
   

Download Cambridge KET Results Sheet-Listening (25)

Aberforth Dumbledore is a British half-blood wizard, son and daughter of Percival and Kendra Dumbledore, and brother of Albus and Ariana Dumbledore.

He attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. His father who had been sentenced to prison for attacking three Muggles- died in Azkaban when Aberforth was young, and his mother and sister were later accidentally killed. Aberforth blamed his brother Albus for the death of their sister, Ariana and thus their relationship was rather strained.

Aberforth was the owner and barman of the Hog's Head Inn in Hogsmeade, and was a member of the original Order of the Phoenix during the First Wizarding War. He assisted Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger from a distance during their Horcrux hunt, sending the House-elf Dobby to help them escape from Malfoy Manor.

He later allowed them to use a secret tunnel that connected the Hog's Head to Hogwarts when the trio arrived in Hogsmeade. He subsequently fought in the Battle of Hogwarts and survived the Second Wizarding War. He continued to live in Hogsmeade, tending to his goats.

Aberforth was the middle child of Percival and Kendra Dumbledore, younger brother to Albus and older brother to Ariana. The family lived in Mould-on-the-Wold, and Aberforth's favourite tale while growing up was Grumble the Grubby Goat.

The Dumbledore family was traumatised when Ariana, then six years old, was attacked by three Muggle boys who had seen her performing magic.

The attack left Ariana half-insane and unable to control her magic. Their father cursed the boys in retaliation, and was arrested for it.

He did not reveal to the authorities the reason for his attack, as Ariana would have been taken from the family as a threat to the Statute of Secrecy and placed in St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries permanently.

Percival was imprisoned in Azkaban, and Kendra moved the family to Godric's Hollow, putting out a story that Ariana was ill and needed to remain at home. This story led to the assumption that Ariana was a Squib.

Aberforth attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Unlike Albus, Aberforth preferred to solve his differences by duelling, rather than dialogue. He was in Albus's shadow, as his brother was an extraordinarily talented and academic Wizard and even despite his great duelling talent, he was still incomparable to Albus in the field he specialised in.

More information: Wizarding World

Aberforth was Ariana's favourite sibling, and he took part responsibility of taking care of her. However, he was not at home when Ariana lost control of her magic and accidentally killed their mother. Following his mother's passing, Aberforth wanted to leave school and take over the care of his sister, but Albus would not allow it.

Albus wanted his younger brother to complete his education at Hogwarts, although he bitterly resented having to abandon his grand plans. By this time, Aberforth was described as a wayward young man, known to chuck goat dung at their neighbours and inclined to get into duels with those he had disagreements with.

When Gellert Grindelwald came to Godric's Hollow, he and Albus instantly struck up a friendship, together dreaming of finding the Deathly Hallows and leading a revolution that would make Muggles subservient to wizards. Upon learning of his elder brother's ambitions, Aberforth was disgusted by such a plan, but he was also concerned as Ariana would have to be involved.

When it was time for Aberforth to return to Hogwarts, he decided to finally confront Albus and Grindelwald on the impossibility of such a scheme and angrily pointed out on Albus's neglect of Ariana and that he could not be the heroic leader of the revolution with Ariana in tow, which Albus later said to have brought him back to reality despite not wanting to hear the truth of the words Aberforth shouted at him.

Grindelwald became furious and used the Cruciatus Curse on Aberforth. Albus tried to protect his brother and a three-way duel broke out. While the three battled, Ariana tried to help her brother, but a stray curse from one of them hit Ariana, killing her.

Aberforth was devastated by the death of the younger sister he and his mother spent years caring for and furiously blamed Albus for Ariana's death, going as far as to physically assault his brother at their sister's funeral and actually breaking Albus's nose, shouting that Ariana's death was his fault.

He didn't forgive his brother and continued to resent him for years, despite Albus's immense feelings of regret, of which Aberforth did not know until Harry Potter revealed it to him, which allowed Aberforth to finally forgive his brother.

Aberforth Dumbledore was tall and thin, with a great deal of long, stringy grey hair and beard. His eyes were of a brilliant, soul-piercing shade of blue, and usually hidden behind the dirty lenses of his spectacles.

While they carried some noticeable brotherly resemblance, his more casual attire and often grumpy disposition made him appear considerably less conspicuous than Albus. He often wore an apron.

In Welsh, Aberforth means from the river. Also, in Old English, Aber means the river mouth, and would look like Æbber when written in Old English.

Dumbledore is Old English for bumblebee. When breaking down the etymology of Dumbledore, dora is the Old English word for humble-bee, which became dore or dorre in Middle English.

More information: Screen Rant

I was her favourite... She liked me best.

Aberforth regarding his little sister

 

Ariana Dumbledore is a British half-blood witch and the youngest child and only daughter of Percival and Kendra Dumbledore. She is the younger sister of Albus and Aberforth Dumbledore.

At the age of six, Ariana was attacked by Muggle boys who saw her practising underage magic, which left her traumatised to the point of rendering her magical abilities uncontrollable.

This prompted her father to attack the boys and be imprisoned in Azkaban, while her mother moved the family from Mould-on-the-Wold to Godric's Hollow and kept Ariana hidden away from the general population. Because of this, the few people who saw Ariana got the impression that she was being imprisoned.

During a fit when she was fourteen years old, Ariana accidentally caused a magical explosion that killed her mother. Her older brother Albus then became her guardian, a role that he resented.

Ariana died when she was accidentally struck by a curse in a three-way duel between her older brothers and Gellert Grindelwald, the soon-to-be infamous Dark Wizard revolutionary. This event would have a profound impact on both her brothers' lives.

After the incident, her eldest brother Albus would become a Transfiguration professor and then the longest and most noted Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, while her favourite brother became the owner and barman of the Hog's Head Inn in Hogsmeade.

Ariana was the youngest of three children of Percival and Kendra Dumbledore, born presumably in Mould-on-the-Wold, a part wizarding village in England. At the age of six, she was seen practising magic by a group of Muggle boys. When she was unable to show them how to reproduce the magic, they violently assaulted her.

The attack left Ariana emotionally scarred and unable to control her magic. Her father sought revenge against the boys and attacked them. Because of this, he was sentenced to Azkaban. He refused to reveal the reason for the attack, since Ariana would have been sent to St Mungo's if her condition was discovered, as it threatened the Statute of Secrecy.

More information: Wizarding World

To keep her daughter safe, Kendra moved the family to Godric's Hollow and Ariana was secluded from the outside world. Many did not know that the Dumbledores had a daughter. Ariana was sweet and kind, but when she could not control her magic she became slightly dangerous. It was often wondered why Kendra didn't send Ariana to Hogwarts, and many believed Kendra had produced a Squib.

When Ariana was fourteen years old, she had an episode in which her emotions and her magic spun out of control. Her favourite brother Aberforth was not at home to calm her down, and she caused an explosion that caused the death of her mother.

Albus Dumbledore, who had been preparing to go abroad with his friend, Elphias Doge, stayed in England in order to attend his mother's funeral and to take over the position of taking care of Ariana. 

Aberforth wanted to be the one to take care of his sister, but he had not yet finished his education, and his older brother insisted upon him graduating from Hogwarts. At some point after Albus became Ariana's guardian, Gellert Grindelwald came to Godric's Hollow to stay with his great-aunt, Bathilda Bagshot, having been kicked out of Durmstrang Institute for his extreme experiments with the Dark Arts. Grindelwald also had a history of violence which Albus chose to ignore. 

Albus and Gellert quickly became friends, as they were both extraordinarily talented and very ambitious. The two formed a plan to take over the wizarding world and make Muggles subservient for the greater good.

Aberforth confronted them over these plans, pointing out that Ariana was in no state to be dragged along with them as they pursued their dreams. Grindelwald became furious, insisting that once they subdued the Muggles, there would be no need for Ariana to be hidden. A three-way duel broke out between him, Albus, and Aberforth.

More information: Screen Rant

Ariana, aged about fourteen at the time and unable to control her magic, tried to stop it, and was inadvertently killed; it was never known which of the three wizards was directly responsible for her death.

Immediately after Ariana's death, Grindelwald fled the scene, fearing retribution from the authorities and losing his friendship with Albus permanently, though it seems they retained some affection towards one another.

At Ariana's funeral, Aberforth broke Albus's nose and blamed him for their sister's death. Aberforth never forgave his brother for his part in her death, nor was Albus ever able to forgive himself.

Ariana was buried in the same location as her mother in Godric's Hollow, and they shared a gravestone bearing the epitaph, Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also, selected by Albus.

In the Mirror of Erised, Albus would forever see his family whole and intact with Ariana alive and using magic, although, when questioned, he claimed to see himself holding only a pair of socks. 

Rita Skeeter wrote a scathing biography of Albus Dumbledore and included humiliating false statements about Ariana being a Squib whom the family mistreated.

A portrait of Ariana hung in Aberforth's room in the Hog's Head Inn in Hogsmeade. It concealed a secret passage to the Room of Requirement in Hogwarts Castle. This passage appeared only after the students had begun using the Room of Requirement in their efforts to fight the Hogwarts administration under Headmaster Severus Snape.

It was used to transport Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley to Hogwarts with Neville Longbottom, and later other members of Dumbledore's Army and the Order of the Phoenix who answered the call to defend the castle against Lord Voldemort's encroaching army.

Harry Potter thought that Ariana, as an infant, was a little longer than a loaf of bread and no more distinctive-looking. At the age of fourteen, as depicted in her Portrait in the Hog's Head, she was described as a blonde girl who gazed out at the room with a kind of a vacant sweetness.

Ariana was severely traumatised by the attack she suffered at the age of six. Afterwards, she was unable to control her magic. At times, she was mad, strange, and dangerous, according to her brother Aberforth Dumbledore. On these occasions, she could let out her magic in uncontrolled explosions, like the one that killed her mother.

Most of the time, however, Ariana was kind and gentle. According to Aberforth when she was calm she would help him feed the goats. She was also brave, as she tried to intercede in the three-way duel between Albus, Aberforth, and Gellert Grindelwald, but was killed in the effort.

Ariana is the Italian version of the Greek name Ariadne, comprised of the elements αρι (ari) most and αδνος (adnos) holy.

In Greek mythology, Ariadne was a princess of Crete who helped Theseus slay the Minotaur. The legend revolves around the Labyrinth: a hidden and enclosed location where people were sent to die as tribute. In this way, Ariana's name nods to her secluded, tragic life and death.

The name could also originate from the Welsh arian, meaning silver.

More information: Mirror

It destroyed her, what they did: She was never right again.

She wouldn't use magic, but she couldn't get rid of it;

it turned inward and drove her mad,

it exploded out of her when she couldn't control it,

and at times she was strange and dangerous.

But mostly she was sweet and scared and harmless.

Ariana's unstable disposition