Dumbledore's Greatest Loss
(A/N: Dumbledore is referred to by his given name only so that confusion does not arise over which Dumbledore is being spoken about)
Harry picked up the next small phial and letter. He placed the letter on the desk, pulled the stopper out of the phial and poured the memory into the pensieve. The silver liquid swirled around gently. Harry wasted no time in entering the memory this time.
Harry felt as though he recognised the place where he had ended up this time, but couldn't remember where. It was a hot and humid day, and Harry pulled off his sweater and tied it around his waist. He looked around to find Dumbledore, but the man was nowhere in sight. In fact, the only people around were two boys sitting on the swings, talking. Harry approached them more because he was unsure as to what to do.
"… you can't go. It's unfair on all of us," said the younger of the two. "Mum can't look after Ariana on her own. I won't be able to help much when I'm at Hogwarts."
Ariana? Wasn't that Dumbledore's sister's name?
"Abe, I can't just drop Elphias the day before we leave. We have been planning this trip for months," said the older boy patiently, as though they have had this discussion before.
"Well you try and explain that to Ariana. She is not stupid, Albus. She knows you are leaving. She thinks you are abandoning her. She hasn't been well for the past two weeks. But you'd know that if you hadn't been focusing on your trip." The younger boy, Abe, stood up and stormed off, leaving the swing moving slowly behind him. Harry had realised that these two boys were Albus and Aberforth Dumbledore.
Albus just watched as his younger brother walking briskly home. Harry sat on the recently-vacated swing next to the young Albus. When Aberforth was out of earshot, Albus cursed.
"Dammit!" he said, and Harry nearly burst out laughing. He had never heard his wise old professor say something like that. But then he remembered the reason for Albus' frustration, and the smile vanished.
Harry watched as Albus just sat on the swing staring at the ground. It hadn't been too long before Aberforth came sprinting back.
"Albus! Albus, come quick!" the boy shouted even before he got to the park. Albus stood quickly and ran over to meet his brother. The look of pure panic in Aberforth's eyes was unsettling even for Harry. His hairs stood on end. "Albus, come quick! It's Ariana! I don't know what happened but now mum is hurt!" Albus and Aberforth sprinted along the road with Harry trying his best to keep up with the tall boys. He followed them as they ran into a house.
Inside it looked as though a bomb had exploded. There were books strewn everywhere and the furniture was upturned and the upholstery ripped to shreds. There was a tall woman lying in the middle of the living room floor, a small trickle of blood in the corner of her mouth. Harry watched as Albus just stood at the entrance to the living room, staring at the prone form that was obviously his mother. Harry saw Ariana curled up in a ball on the floor, rocking back and forth, and wails of horror escaping her lips. Aberforth crouched down beside her and put his arms around her, trying to comfort the wailing girl.
Albus stooped down to feel if his mother had a pulse. The look on his face confirmed Harry's fears. The tall, elegant looking woman was dead. Albus dropped to his knees, silent tears pouring from his eyes. It was the worst sight Harry had ever seen, his beloved headmaster who had been his pillar of strength his whole life, showing an emotion Harry didn't even know the man possessed: grief.
Albus turned and gripped both of his siblings in a tight hug, and the three of them sat there, rocking gently back and forth, sobbing.
Harry felt uncomfortable, as though he was intruding on a very private moment. He didn't have to bear it long, however, because the scenery was beginning to melt away.
The next scene, Harry found himself in the same house he had just been in. This time, however, the room was no longer the bomb site it had been only moments ago. He stood in the middle of the clean room, waiting. He heard a thud-thud-thud on the stairs. Harry went out into the hallway to see what was causing it.
Aberforth was dragging his Hogwarts trunk behind him up the stairs.
"Aberforth!" Harry heard Albus yell from the next room. "Stop dragging your trunk up the stairs! Pick it up! We are trying to work here!" Harry smiled when Aberforth made a very rude gesture in the direction of Albus' voice, but picked up his trunk anyway.
Harry went into the room that the voice had come from to find Albus and another young man sitting hunched over table full of bits of parchment.
"… but Gellert, I don't think it would be such a wise idea harming all those Muggles," said Albus, concern in his voice. Harry realised that the other boy must have been Gellert Grindlewald.
"But Albus," said Grindlewald encouragingly. "It's for the greater good. You know that. Come on." He put his hand on Albus' shoulder, and Albus relaxed slightly. Grindlewald leaned in to whisper into Albus' ear. "Remember what those Muggles did to poor Ariana?" From where Harry was standing, he could see the look on Albus' face when Grindlewald leaned in. Then he saw the look turn to fire at the mention of his sister's accident.
"Okay, Gellert. You're right. It's for the greater good. We'll leave tonight then. The sooner we start this, the sooner we find the Hallows." Harry's stomach dropped. He realised that Grindlewald had convinced Albus to help him find the Deathly Hallows. Worse yet, Albus had agreed to go.
"Aberforth!" called Albus. Harry heard Abe come to the stop of the stairs.
"What?" shouted the boy from the top of the stairs.
"Come down here a minute. I need to talk to you. Bring Ariana too." Harry heard Aberforth's grumbling as he came down the stairs, followed closely by his sister.
"What do you want?" snapped Aberforth. Albus and Grindlewald stood up.
"Abe, you are a man now, are you not?" asked Albus.
Aberforth looked at him suspiciously. Harry could feel the tension in the air. "You know I am Albus," said Aberforth slowly. "Why?"
Albus glanced at Grindlewald, who nodded, and Albus straightened and squared his shoulders. "Abe, Gellert and I have something we need to do. It requires us to leave for a few weeks. I need you to look after Ariana for a while. I'll be back sooner than you know it."
The look that crossed Aberforth's face was so scary even Harry, who knew he couldn't be harmed in the memory, felt afraid.
"You are going to go and look for those Hallow things aren't you?" asked Aberforth calmly, though the rage just beneath was evident. "You are going to abandon us again, aren't you? You and your friend," Aberforth spat the word, "are going on a nice little vacation while I need to look after Ariana." By now, he was no longer calm, but shouting, and had pulled out his wand, pointing it at his brother. "Well I have had enough! You either take her with you, or you don't go at all!"
Suddenly, Aberforth's face contorted into a grimace of pain, and he fell to his knees, screaming. Albus looked around, and saw Grindlewald pointing his wand at the squirming Aberforth, a look of pure malice on his face.
"Enough!" thundered Albus. He rounded on his friend. "You DARE use an unforgivable, in my house, on my brother!" The black rage was evident in his voice. He pointed his wand at his now former friend.
Grindlewald shot a silent spell at Albus. Aberforth, who had by now recovered enough to stand up, yelled and cast a shield over his brother. The duelling that happened after that was so fast Harry could barely keep up. He watched, almost in slow motion, as Ariana jumped forward to try and protect her brothers, and a stray spell hit her square in the chest. She dropped like a stone, unmoving.
The duelling stopped immediately. Grindlewald took one look at the fallen girl and dissapperated silently. The brothers stared, dumbfounded, at their sister for a heartbeat. Then they dropped to their knees and tried to wake her. Albus felt for a pulse. Again, he felt nothing. This time, however, Albus' grief was worse than when he had lost his mother. Harry watched him stare blankly at his sister. The sobs were silent at first, wracking his body, but slowly they built up until Harry could not bear the sound of his hero, his idol, in such pain.
The scene evaporated once again.
Now Harry found himself in a graveyard. There was a small group of people huddled around an open grave. The two remaining Dumbledore siblings were there, as well as Bathilda Bagshot and one or two other people, standing around the grave, all in black. Harry stood slightly behind Albus as they watched Ariana being lowered into the grave.
Nobody said anything as the grave-diggers filled the hole with earth. Everybody except Albus and Aberforth left. it was only when the grave of their sister had been filled, that the brothers turned to each other. Albus looked as though he was going to say something, when Aberforth raised his fist and punched Albus hard in the face. Harry heard the crunch of Albus' nose breaking, saw the blood flowing, but Albus did nothing. He merely watched his brother walk away from the grave, not looking back once.
Harry landed back in the headmistress' office once more. Harry had to wipe the tears from his eyes before he opened the letter that followed.
Harry
I decided to show you these three memories because I wanted to show you early on in this activity that I was a foolish young boy. I made many mistakes, some of which lost me my family. I have to admit to you Harry, that I never quite recovered from the loss of my sister.
I don't know which of the three of us cast the spell that killed her, and my greatest fear is that it was me.
I have always said that love is a very powerful force, have I not? I believe that, but unfortunately I fell prey to the abuse of love. I am sure you saw just how easily Gellert Grindlewald manipulated me, how he intended to use me. I think he knew that I loved him, that I was in love with him, and he decided to use that to his own advantage.
Yes, Harry, I admit it. I was in love with Grindlewald. I fell for his charm and his charisma. I was easily manipulated by him and I regret that. I was blinded by love to the point that I ignored the needs of my own family. Following his betrayal, I felt as though I could never love anyone like that again.
A.D
A/N: Yes, I did just make Dumbledore admit that he was gay. This is not something I made up. JKR did. Anyway, I hope you are enjoying this. Please read and review and leave any suggestions.
