Disclaimer: Harry Potter and associated characters and plot-lines are the property of J.K. Rowling. I make no money from this work of fanfiction, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Look what I found stashed away on my hard-drive! Written for the 'twenty things' challenge at the Reviews Lounge Forum.
The Other Dumbledore
He was always jealous of Grindelwald, because Albus used to say that Grindelwald was his true brother. Also, Grindelwald was clever, charming and handsome, everything that Aberforth wanted to be.
--
The charm he performed on the goat made it produce mead instead of milk. To this day, he sees nothing illegal about it, it didn't hurt the goat at all, and it produced far better mead than the barrels he imported from Denmark.
--
He never has cared what anyone thinks about him.
--
He knows that when Dumbledore looks into the Mirror of Erised he sees himself as the greatest and most powerful wizard of all time, the supreme ruler of the wizarding world. When Aberforth looks into the mirror, he sees his sister, alive and happy.
--
He has only ever attended one Quidditch game. It was the game in Harry's first year with Snape refereeing. He only came because he wanted to see Snape trying to stay up on a broom. He was mildly disappointed when the game finished so early.
--
Albus's death had a greater effect on him than he likes to admit. He spent the night afterwards completely sober, staring at Arienna's picture. He doesn't blame Snape, he knows his brother too well to believe that Albus would plead for death.
--
The only student he's ever given free butterbeer to is Regulus Black.
--
He was one of the first people to realise that Professor Moody was someone else using Polyjuice potion. He didn't know who and he didn't tell Albus.
--
He doesn't like the way Albus plays chess with people's lives. He blames Albus entirely for the death of Lilly and James Potter. He thinks Albus should have told them about the Prophecy.
--
To his great annoyance, he never actually heard any of the Prophecy. He saw Snape listening at the door, tried to drag him away, and in the ensuing struggle he never caught what it was Trelawney was saying. Had he known what it was, he would have simply booted Snape down the stairs and taken his place at the keyhole.
--
He personally believes the Prophecy is all nonsense.
--
He is still bitter about Arienna's death. And he does know who killed her, but he will never tell anyone because in his heart of hearts he knows it doesn't really matter. It could have been any of them.
--
His Boggart is a rotting corpse. He doesn't mind dust and dirt but he can't stand the thought of decay.
--
His favourite ice-cream flavour is lime. Unlike his brother, he does not have a sweet tooth.
--
It was him who gave Albus the vomit flavoured Bertie Bott's. And yes, he did pretend it was apple. He was seven at the time.
--
When he told Albus about Harry's Anti-Umbridge study group he finished by saying, "Dumbledore's Army…that's what they should have called the Order of the Phoenix, isn't it?" He pretended not to see the hurt in his brother's face.
--
He knew that the Marauders were all Animagi. He never told Albus.
--
He failed his Defence Against the Dark Art's OWL. He sometimes thinks that he did it on purpose. He only did two NEWTS because he knew that he'd never be as good as Albus and didn't even want to try.
--
He knows exactly what Albus felt for Grindlewald, and he knows the feeling was reciprocated.
--
In his deepest heart of hearts, he knows that Albus was a better man than he can ever hope to be.
-----
-----
Meh. Not perfect. But I found it floating around and thought I might as well put something up.