Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory.
In this video, we’re going to be discussing the life of Aberforth Dumbledore, younger
brother of the great and powerful wizard, Albus Dumbledore.
While his life may not have been as widely celebrated as his older brother’s, Aberforth
experienced his own share of adventures and tragedy throughout his life.
Born sometime between 1883 and 1884 to Percival and Kendra Dumbledore, Aberforth was a half-blood
wizard and the Dumbledore’s second-born son.
His older brother was – as mentioned – the world-famous Albus Dumbledore.
When the brothers were still quite young, they were joined by their little sister, Ariana,
whom Aberforth was extremely fond of.
In the beginning, the Dumbledore family lived quite a normal wizarding life in the village
of Mould-on-the-Wold.
Their mother would read them bedtime stories from the classic book for young witches and
wizards, The Tales of Beedle the Bard, and Aberforth and Ariana would feed the goats
together.
With a somewhat peculiar interest in goats, Aberforth’s favourite tale was, as you might
expect, Grumble the Grubby Goat.
In fact, if you’d like to learn more on the subject of Aberforth and his obsession
with goats, I highly recommend you check out my other video: What Did Aberforth Dumbledore
Do with Goats?
Anyway – despite not being terribly interested in academics, Aberforth attended Hogwarts
School of Witchcraft and Wizardry between 1895 and 1902.
Unfortunately, it was while he was away at school that his beloved younger sister was
attacked by three Muggle boys who came across her practicing magic.
Ariana, who was only six years old at the time, was never the same again.
Unfortunately, the tragedy didn’t stop there.
After the attack, Percival Dumbledore went after the boys, cursing them for the trauma
they had caused his daughter.
Apprehended by the wizarding authorities, Percival refused to reveal why he had attacked
the Muggles, for fear that the truth would result in Ariana being taken away to live
out the remainder of her life in St. Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.
This was a legitimate fear, as Ariana’s magic had become quite uncontrollable in her
attempt to supress it after the attacks.
It’s very likely that she would’ve been viewed as a threat to the Wizarding World’s
Statute of Secrecy.
Sadly, Percival was sentenced to life in Azkaban, never to return to his family, as he later
died in prison.
After Percival’s conviction, Kendra moved the family to Godric’s Hollow, concealing
Ariana’s “condition” from the rest of the village.
In fact, Aberforth and Albus were instructed by their mother to tell anyone who asked after
Ariana that she was quite ill and needed to stay home.
As this kept her out of sight and away from Hogwarts, many witches and wizards incorrectly
assumed that Ariana was a Squib.
However, if anything, it’s much more likely that she was an Obscurial – that is, a young
witch who had suppressed her powers due to shame from a traumatic event, which then became
a dark parasitical form of uncontrollable magic.
Despite all this, Aberforth and Ariana remained incredibly close.
He helped their mother care for her when he was home from school, and the two siblings
would continue to feed the goats together:
"I could get her to eat when she wouldn't do it for my mother, I could calm her down,
when she was in one of her rages, and when she was quiet, she used to help me feed the
goats."
Aberforth was so involved in Ariana’s care that he was completely devastated by the fact
that he wasn’t there the day she lost control and accidentally killed their mother during
one of her fits.
He believed that if only he’d been there, he may have been able to prevent this tragedy
from happening.
After the death of their mother, Aberforth did not want to return to Hogwarts, as he
wanted to be the one to care for Ariana.
However, being that he had not graduated school and Albus had, his older brother refused to
let him sacrifice his education and forced him to return to Hogwarts, even though he,
himself was immensely resentful of the duty that was thrust upon him.
Then he met Gellert Grindelwald and was seduced into the pursuit of the Deathly Hallows and
a vision of conquering Muggles.
Aberforth was horrified.
For, even though he was a gruff, peculiar young wizard, he was also a very decent person.
It would seem that he never held any prejudice against Muggles, despite what had happened
to his sister.
Which meant that he thought a plan to force them into servitude was disturbing indeed.
He was also intensely concerned for Ariana’s well-being.
If Albus was planning to travel the globe and overthrow the entire Muggle population,
while also caring for their sister, she would clearly be in immense danger.
And so, Aberforth bravely – although, some may say foolishly – confronted Albus and
Grindelwald.
This was the confrontation which resulted in the tragic death of Ariana.
Despite this tragedy being the result of a random curse – the source of the spell remaining
a mystery even to this day – Aberforth blamed Albus for her death.
He even punched Albus in the face at Ariana’s funeral, breaking his nose and signifying
the end of their somewhat already strained relationship.
As Aberforth grew into adulthood, he gained a reputation as a wizard who was “not a
people person.”
In fact, in any disagreement, he much preferred to duel, rather than debate, and he was known
to occasionally fling goat dung at those who opposed him in an argument.
He was not particularly interested in academics – and he pursued a life-long career as the
barkeep and landlord of the Hog’s Head Inn in Hogsmeade, the all-wizarding village close
to Hogwarts.
In The Goblet of Fire, Albus even suggested that Aberforth may have been illiterate.
Although, I think this was simply Albus’ particular brand of humour, since we know
that Aberforth attended Hogwarts and, therefore, had had an education…In any case, Aberforth
was a powerful and talented wizard, although, I suppose he was somewhat lacking in comparison
to his older brother.
During the First Wizarding War, Aberforth joined the original Order of the Phoenix.
He did so despite the group being founded and led by Albus, which further proves that
Aberforth was willing to overlook personal vendettas if it pertained to the betterment
of the wizarding world.
That said, Aberforth was no stranger to holding a grudge.
After all, his relationship with Albus never fully healed from their fall-out from Ariana’s
death.
It was also known that he proudly barred the wizard Mundungus Fletcher from entering the
Hog’s Heads after a particularly notable disagreement.
He also once threw Severus Snape out of the inn when he realized that Snape was eavesdropping
on Albus’ interview with Professor Trelawney – the one in which she revealed the prophecy
about Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort.
Despite his rough nature towards other witches and wizards, however, Aberforth maintained
a noteworthy interest in goats throughout his life.
So much so that his Patronus was a goat, and he was even prosecuted for practicing an inappropriate
charm on one, drawing official censure from Wizengamot, the wizarding high court of law
in Britain.
That said, J.K.
Rowling has made reference to Aberforth’s goat obsession over the years and insists
that his interest in this animal was completely innocent.
Following Albus’ death, Aberforth attended his brother’s funeral, despite their damaged
relationship.
After all, Albus had been Aberforth’s last remaining relative, and they had managed to
at least maintain contact over the years as Headmaster and barkeep.
Throughout the Harry Potter series, we don’t see too much of Aberforth until the final
installment of the series.
As Harry, Ron, and Hermione searched for Voldemort’s Horcruxes, Aberforth supplied food and water
to Dumbledore’s Army through a secret passage that led to Hogwarts’ Room of Requirement.
In homage to his sister, this passageway remained hidden behind a portrait of Ariana.
He also sent Dobby the House Elf to rescue Harry and the others from Bellatrix Lestrange
at Malfoy Manor, after hearing Harry ask for help through the two-way mirror that once
belonged to Sirius Black.
Aberforth was also able to protect Harry, Ron and Hermione from being taken by Death
Eaters in Hogsmeade, convincing Voldemort’s followers that they had seen his goat Patronus,
not Harry’s famous stag.
After which, Harry was able to relay how much regret Albus had carried around with him for
his entire life over feeling responsible for their sister’s death.
From there, Aberforth was convinced to help the trio get into Hogwarts so that they could
try and find the Dark Lord’s remaining Horcruxes.
He then fought alongside Harry, Hogwarts’ staff and students, and members of the revived
Order of the Phoenix in the Battle of Hogwarts.
After surviving the battle it is said that he continued to live out his life in Hogsmeade
with his goats.
In terms of his appearance, he is described in Harry Potter as follows:
“Harry approached him, looking up into the face, trying to see past the long, stringy,
wiry grey hair and beard.
He wore spectacles.
Behind the dirty lenses, the eyes were a piercing, brilliant blue."
Of course, from what we can see in the trailer of The Secrets of Dumbledore, Aberforth appears
as a much younger wizard, with darker hair that’s been cropped short.
Aside from his appearance, it’s possible that this new film will also reveal some new
facts about Aberforth’s life.
How exciting!
And with that, we have come to the end of another video!
Did you enjoy learning about Aberforth Dumbledore’s life?
Did I miss anything of great importance?
Any theories on what we’ll learn about him in The Secrets of Dumbledore?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
And, as always, if you enjoyed this video, don’t forget to like it and subscribe to
the channel!
Until next time…
“Memory is everything.”