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Hermione's eyes were huge in the firelight; Ron looked slightly sickAberforth stood up, tall as Albus, and
suddenly terrible in his anger and the intensity of his pain
"It destroyed her, what they did: She was never right againShe 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 dangerousBut mostly she was sweet and scared and harmless
"And my father went after the bastards that did it," said Aberforth, "and attacked themAnd they locked him
up in Azkaban for itHe never said why he'd done it, because the Ministry had known what Ariana had become,
she'd have been locked up in StThey'd have seen her as a serious threat to the International
Statute of Secrecy, unbalanced like she was, with magic exploding out of her at moments when she couldn't keep it
in any longer
"We had to keep her safe and quietWe moved house, put it about she was ill, and my mother looked after
her, and tried to keep her calm chanel pearl necklace and happy
"\iI\i was her favourite," he said, and as he said it, a grubby schoolboy seemed to look out through Aberforth's
wrinkles and wrangled beard"Not Albus, he was always up in his bedroom when he was home, reading his books
and counting his prizes, keeping up with his correspondence with "the most notable magical names of the day,"
Aberforth succored"\iHe\i didn't want to be bothered with herI 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
"Then, when she was fourteen"If I'd been there, I could have calmed
her downShe had one of her rages, and my mother wasn't as young as she was, and Ariana
couldn't control itBut my mother was killed
Harry felt a horrible mixture of pity and repulsion; he did not want to hear any more, but Aberforth kept talking,
and Harry wondered how long it had been since he had spoken about this; whether, in fact, he had ever spoken about it
"So that put paid to chanel quilted handbag Albus's trip round the world with little DogeThe pair of 'em came home for my mother's
funeral and then Doge went off on his own, and Albus settled down as head of the familyHa!"
Aberforth spat into the fire
"I'd have looked after her, I told him so, I didn't care about school, I'd have stayed home and done it
He told me I had to finish my education and \ihe'd\i take over from my motherBit of a comedown for MrBrilliant,
there's no prizes for looking after your half-mad sister, stopping her blowing up the house every other dayBut he
did all right for a few weeks
And now a positively dangerous look crept over Aberforth's faceAnd at last, my brother had an \iequal\i to talk to someone just as bright and talented \ihe\i wasAnd
looking after Ariana took a backseat then, while they were hatching all their plans for a new Wizarding order and looking
for Hallows, and whatever else it was they were so interested inGrand plans for the benefit of all Wizardkind, and if one
young girl neglected, what did that matter, when Albus was chanel shopping bags working for \ithe greater good\i?
"But after a few weeks of it, I'd had enough, I hadIt was nearly time for me to go hack to Hogwarts, so I told 'em,
both of 'em, face-to-face, like I am to you, now," and Aberforth looked downward Harry, and it took a little imagination to
see him as a teenager, wiry and angry, confronting his elder brother"I told him, you'd better give it up nowYou can't move her,
she's in no fit state, you can't take her with you, wherever it is you're planning to go, when you're making your clever speeches,
trying to whip yourselves up a following said Aberforth, and his eyes were briefly occluded by the fireflight on
the lenses of his glasses: They turned white and blind again"Grindelwald didn't like that at allHe told me what a
stupid little boy I was, trying to stand in the way of him and my brilliant brother Didn't I \iunderstand\i, my poor sister wouldn't
\ihave\i to be hidden once they'd changed the world, and led the wizards out of hiding, and taught the Muggles their place?
"And there was an chanel purses and handbags argument and I pulled my wand, and he pulled out his, and I had the Cruciatus Curse used on
me by my brother's best friend - and Albus was trying to stop him, and then all three of us were dueling, and the flashing lights
and the bangs set her off, she couldn't stand it - "
The color was draining from Aberforth's face as though he had suffered a mortal wound
" - and I think she wanted to help, but she didn't really know what she was doing, and I don't know which of us did it,
it could have been any of us - and she was dead
His voice broke on the last word and he dropped down into the nearest chairHermione's face was wet with tears, and Ron
was almost as pale as AberforthHarry felt nothing but revulsion: He wished he had not heard it, wished he could wash is mind clean of itI'm so sorry," Hermione whispered
"Gone," croaked Aberforth
He wiped his nose on hiss cuff and cleared his throat
" 'Course, Grindelwald scarperedHe had a bit of a track record already, back in his own country, and he didn't want Ariana
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