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The Mystery of Aberforth

by David Haber

During the interview after the launch of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, J.K. Rowling said, "There is one member of the Order of the Phoenix that you have not yet met properly, but you will meet them in seven." Is this person Dumbledore's mysterious brother, Aberforth? What do we know about Aberforth, and how is he involved in the story?

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Reader Comments: (Page 15)

Mikey from New Jersey, you have a point there, I would be shocked if Dumbledore is half wizard, half house elf.

I don't think Dumbledore's animagus-shape would be a house elf, but if he is an animagus, he would be a phoenix.

Everybody says there are 3 unregistered animagi and we know all of them. What if the person we are talking about is a registered animagus? Do we have a list of them? I think Dumbledore would be a registered animagus, if he wanted to be one.

Posted by Izzet from Turkey on March 16, 2007 02:10 AM

Why did Voldemort fear Dumbledore? Simple. First up, Dumbledore saw Tom as he really was, and forced Tom to obey him. Tom couldn't fool him. That's enough to make someone like Tom Riddle very wary. Secondly, Dumbledore is a very powerful wizard in his own right. About that sort of thing Tom Riddle would have no illusions. He can see and recognise power.
Finally, Dumbledore never feared Tom. That in itself would do the rest. Dumbledore always speaks to him as "Tom". He never once lets him hide behind the name "Voldemort". It is also possible that Tom Riddle would fear Dumbledore simply because he cannot understand him.

Posted by Elizabeth from Australia on March 16, 2007 05:59 AM

Chris - I agree with you on the fact that house elvs have a powerful kind of magic. Is everyone forgetting that wizards cant apparate or disapparate in or out of hogwarts? However, we see numerous times Dobby and Kreacher dude, and yes Dumbledore does it too in OOTP. The supports the theory of Dumbledore being a elf animangus or even half elf half wizard. What other wizard can disapparate out of Hogwarts?

Posted by Stroh on March 16, 2007 08:08 AM

Arent there more connections of Dumbledore with fire? When asked by Voldemort that he was a wizard he flicks his wand to burn the cupboard (wardrobe erupted into flames) and against inferi, a great wizard like him, can know many other spells but he chose fire. And the connection of phoenix with fire...what does all this mean?

Posted by Smk from Bahrain on March 16, 2007 12:31 PM

Izzet, actually we know of four unregeistered anmagi, lest we forget Rita Skeeter. I'm sure there must be more with all the Eaters and other unsavory characters in the wizarding world.

Posted by Jeff from Tennessee on March 16, 2007 12:46 PM

Smk - I was thinking about Dumbledore and fire. The only thing I can come up at this moment is the fact that his tomb erupts into flame at the . Then Harry thinks he sees a phoenix flying away. Perhaps it is his animagus, I'd like to think so.

Posted by Kim from Manchester on March 16, 2007 3:22 PM

House Elfs can't use wands according to wizarding law...so if anyone in the ministry knew, Dumbledore would have been gone long ago for being part elf...particularly during the OOTP business. I don't doubt there is an important connection to hous elfs, but I still stand by the fire/phoenix connection.

Posted by Tim from Flagstaff, AZ on March 16, 2007 8:36 PM

i've read both the mystery of aberforth and magic at its deepest. i think dumbledore made a horcrux after he finished off Grindelwald in 1945. One more thing, Dumbledore always said that he had an iron-clad reason for supporting Snape. I agree with the fact that they might have made an Unbreakable vow but to do so, you need a bonder. That means someone else knows about the whole thing. My guess is that it is Aberforth.

Posted by Shashank Sreedharan from Vadodara, Gujarat, India on March 17, 2007 12:32 AM

There are of course lots of unexplained curiosities surrounding Dumbledore, who has shown himself to be a very complex character. There are a few curiosities I haven�t heard mentioned yet and they may be relevant or perhaps there are other not mentioned here which are. For example:

Dumbledore has shown on a number of occasions that he is aware of things you would not expect and has always dismissed them by saying things like I�m friendly with the bar man� and even in HBP when he talks to Draco, it turns out that he has been aware all year of what Draco was trying to do. I thought has caught me a number of times that given Dumbledore�s surprising ability to know everything that goes on why did he never (save for OOTP) directly (or should that be openly) helped Harry. Even after the first two years at Hogwarts when Harry had already stopped Lord Voldemort on 2 occasions (Dumbledore sums up Harry�s achievements nicely on page 738 OOTP). Why? Was he actually there, watching, ready to step in should the need arise, meanwhile Harry was developing ss he would need later in life unaware that he was never in that much danger � of course this theory does fall down in GoF when the port key takes Harry away from Hogwarts? Forks turns up and drops off the hat and sword in CoS � and why would Dumbledore send a couple of third years off to save the lives of Sirius and Buckbeak knowing that Dementors could attack at anytime or even Lupin as the Werewolf (PoA)

To reinforce this idea I believe in OoTP Dumbledore actually said to Harry �I have been watching you more closely than you could ever know� � or something like that I can�t find the quote write now.

Also could Petunia be a Witch but chose not to go to Hogwarts, or perhaps went but was expelled or got so home sick returned to the muggle world � in all the wizarding world there must be instances of that happening � for any number of reasons - Love of a muggle etc.

Posted by David from Suffolk on March 17, 2007 2:33 PM

Tim, We saw Dobby do magic in front of Harry, and it was Harry that got in trouble for doing magic at Privet Drive not Dobby. The Ministry obviously knows where magic is being done but not by who. And Dumbledore is good enough at magic that he doesn't need the wand to do it. So if he was an elf he could do magic and no one would know.

Posted by Kyle from Kearney, Ne on March 17, 2007 2:50 PM

David,
I think Albus does not know everything per se. I mean he *can* perhaps know everything that's going on everywhere but I think he dosen't wantedly. This is because I think he leaves people to deal with their own problems. He put a close watch on Harry, yes, but there were many things he could not guess. For example, the owl supposedly sent to him from the Ministry in Stone wasn't from the ministry but was a fake sent by Quirell. Albus only knew it after he went to the ministry. He had to come back to Hogwarts then. All I want to say is, although of great, great brain power, he is only human.

Posted by Vidyuth from Hyderabad on March 18, 2007 02:00 AM

I think the Dumbledore is half house elf theory is not true. House elves are small in stature so I feel that Dumbledore would be a smaller sized person if that were the case. I liken this to Hagrid, he is half giant and is much larger than your average human.

I think, as mentioned in an earlier post, that Dumbledore knows alot of what is happening at Hogwarts because of the loyalty of the house elves that work at Hogwarts. I agree that they have powerful magic, too.

Posted by Kim from Manchester on March 18, 2007 08:14 AM

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