The sun arose as usual from the east bringing a bright yellow light that illuminated the entire room. The absence of curtains caused Albus to open his eyes and shield them with his right hand. He yawned and looked at a decrepit but still working watch that hung opposite him. It read six. He had woken early and he knew it but as he had already done so, he saw no reason to curl back in the bed again. He walked across the room, climbed down the stairs and entered the hall.
Ariana had awoken too and without the knowledge of her mother had trotted with her childish face into the halls. She saw Albus and waved. As she did, the lamps broke out and the glass shards fell into pieces on the ground causing a commotion. Albus looked into Ariana's eye. Other wizard kids could control such magical acts. Ariana could not. Albus waved his wand, muttering in his breath, "Reparo" and the glass shards became whole again. But the commotion had woken up Kendra and Aberforth who came rushing into the hall.
Kendra looked shocked and asked Albus what had happened. Albus recounted the incident with a hushed voice and seemed to propagate his assumption that Ariana could not control magic any more. Kendra seemed to silently accept as she had once read while she was at Hogwarts that wizard children could lose control over their abilities if they are tortured or witness such acts that may cause an emotional upheaval. Prior to the incident that incriminated Percival, she was fine and able to control her acts. Something had now disoriented her abilities.
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Four hours later, as the sun began its ascent over a bright clear sky, the Bagshots thought it good to welcome their new neighbors, the Dumbledores, with open arms. They had had chocolate cauldron cakes which were baked by an eleven year old girl, Bathilda, herself. It was her first time and her mother now suggested that she gift some to the Dumbledores. Bathilda smiled and quickly began her trot across their rose filled gardens to visit the Dumbledores.
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The charm around the house told Kendra there was an intruder. Only wizards could see and enter the house. Kendra drew her wand and strode across to the door. She opened it before the young witch girl who was carrying a tray of cauldron cakes. Kendra glared at her, her eyes stretched wide.
"Go back home, girl." said Kendra.
"Ma'am, please, we are your neighbors. This is a chocolate cauldron cake I baked for the first time. Will you not have it?" she said in her chirpy voice, as she looked about the voice. She saw Aberforth and Albus watching her from the stairs.
"No, we would not like to." she replied and slammed the door on the young one's face.
Albus felt sad and approached his mother. He said, "You should not have treated her like that, mother."
"Do not teach your mother how I should behave with the others. Your father might have believed you special but you are still a young child, Albus. What you do not perceive is that once we make acquaintance, they will sooner or later find out about Ariana. Our name is already in the mud. I have no desire, I assure you, to be set in an embarrassing position again. I would rather you also do not try to engage with others over here. Prepare for your trip to Hogwarts boy. I am loathe to send you there but I agree you have to be qualified and educated. Your father wished you to become a great wizard, boy, and I uphold to his wish. Go back, now, both of you. Leave me alone."
Saying this, Kendra stormed off into her room.
Albus and Aberforth looked each other in the eye and hurried up the stairs. When they were up, Aberforth cried, "You should not have spoken to Mother like that. Perhaps, you believe yourself so special that you have forgotten how to respect other people's feelings. You never learn, do you, Albus? People do not matter to you, as long as they can be manipulated."
Albus scowled. "When did I manipulate you or Ariana?"
"You did not. But I have seen you, immersed in those books. First that attack on the Malfoy's and then you used that Muggle into stealing something from his house knowing well enough that he would be reprimanded. Father knew about this, your making fun of the Muggles. But he never did scold you. You were his favorite. See what happened. Father was cruel and you once did not speak against him."
"Look what they did to Ariana, Aberforth."
"Do not speak of Ariana. You speak as if you know her. How often have you cared about her? You know, she always feels happy when you are around. But you never did care. You wanted to prove yourself, over and over again. So do not now pretend to care about her. Leave her alone. And, let me tell you this, retribution is not always right. The Muggles were wrong, but Father was wrong to use the Unforgivable Curses against them. They did not deserve to be killed and right in front of Ariana. If you ask me, what Ariana is now is because of him. But you will never understand. Wise Albus! Brilliant Albus!". He croaked away to his room, locking it.
Albus looked at Aberforth and could not see what had distanced himself from his siblings. He felt sad for Aberforth. He also felt Percival was too harsh and cruel, but he had made himself loyal so never upbraided him. He wanted to bring name to the Dumbledore family and this is what he would do. He would care for his family but for that he needed to secure a position. To bring back respect, he knew he had to seek it, even if it meant a little discomfort to his siblings. He loved Ariana but his ambitions were too high to even consider spending his time with his little sister. As for Muggles, he did not hate them; he just liked to make fun of them.
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