Chapter 748: You Are Still Too Stupid!!
Aberforth Dumbledore leaned back slightly, his voice rough but steady as he began.
"My brother… he always liked to play tricks when our mother was still alive. In other people's eyes, he was brilliant… shining. But my mother didn't like that kind of cleverness. She liked me more."
He gave a short, dry laugh, like it meant nothing—but it did.
Harry almost smiled at that childish pride.
Almost.
But then he glanced at Darren, and the feeling disappeared.
"When my sister was six," Aberforth continued, "she was seen using magic by three Muggle boys. She couldn't control it at that age… they thought she was some kind of freak. They attacked her."
Hermione's hand went straight to her mouth.
Aberforth's voice lowered.
"They didn't understand magic. They just wanted to stop her… hurt her."
Darren sat there quietly, listening.
Only the faint redness in his eyes gave anything away.
"What they did broke her," Aberforth said. "She never recovered. The magic turned inward… twisted… drove her mad."
"She became an Obscurial."
Harry's heart skipped.
He turned to look at Darren instinctively.
Darren didn't look back.
He just kept listening, calm on the surface.
Aberforth's eyes grew wet, though his tone stayed hard.
"She was still gentle… still kind. But when the Obscurus flared up, she lost control. Became dangerous."
"My father went after those boys. He got sent to Azkaban for it. Didn't say a word in his defense—because if he did, she'd have been locked away in St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries for life."
"We moved. My mother tried to give her a normal life. Ariana liked me best… only I could calm her."
He paused.
"Then she turned fourteen."
Silence.
"It happened again. She lost control."
"My mother… died."
Harry's chest tightened.
He didn't want to hear the rest.
Didn't want to imagine what Darren's life might have been.
But Aberforth kept going.
"Albus stayed after that. Said he'd take responsibility. Head of the family—bah!"
"At first, he tried. He really did. Then… Grindelwald came."
The name hung heavy.
"Gellert Grindelwald," Aberforth said bitterly. "Your great idealist. Your legend."
"They had dreams. Big ones. Wanted to reshape the world."
"And Ariana?" He let out a harsh breath. "She became a burden."
"I told him he couldn't just move her aside for his plans. We fought."
"Grindelwald hit me with a curse. Albus stepped in. Then all three of us were fighting."
"It was chaos."
"Ariana got scared. She ran in to help…"
His voice cracked, just for a second.
"And she died."
"No one knows whose spell hit her."
Silence fell heavy again.
"Grindelwald ran the next day," Aberforth said quietly. "And Albus… was free. Free of her."
That was the end of it.
Or it should have been.
But Darren spoke.
"I remember," he said softly, "at the cave… when Headmaster Dumbledore drank the potion, he kept begging not to hurt you."
"And in first year… he said he saw wool socks in the Mirror of Erised."
He looked at Aberforth.
"That was his regret. His whole life."
[Ding, Father +100]
[Ding, Father +100]
[Ding, Father +100]
Aberforth's expression tightened.
"Darren Potter… you're still too stupid."
"You think all that pain he showed wasn't just to make you trust him?"
Hermione stepped forward. "That's not true! Professor Albus Dumbledore—he cared about them!"
"Care?" Aberforth snapped. "He didn't even care enough to protect his own sister!"
Darren suddenly laughed.
Not loudly.
But clearly.
"Sorry," he said. "We still believe him."
"Believe?" Aberforth stared at him. "You think that belief will keep you alive?"
Darren met his gaze.
"Some things matter more than staying alive."
[Ding, Father +100]
[Ding, Father +100]
[Ding, Father +100]
"For the 'greater good'?" Aberforth asked mockingly.
Darren nodded without hesitation.
Then he stood up.
"If you won't help us… then we'll find our own way."
"Even if that means breaking in."
[Ding, Father +100]
[Ding, Father +100]
[Ding, Father +100]
"Idiot!" Aberforth snapped, grabbing him back.
For a moment, it looked like he might actually hit him.
Instead, he dragged him toward the portrait.
He stood in front of the image of Ariana.
Those same blue eyes softened slightly.
"Go," he muttered.
Ariana Dumbledore smiled gently at Darren, then turned and walked deeper into the painting.
The wall shifted.
A passage opened.
Aberforth glanced at Darren one last time, his voice rough again.
"Don't go dying so easily. If you do… your body won't be yours anymore."
Darren smiled faintly.
"If I can kill him… what does it matter what happens to me?"
[Ding, Father +100]
[Ding, Father +100]
[Ding, Father +100]
Aberforth stared at him like he was looking at a complete fool.
But even then—
he reached into his coat and pulled out a small bottle.
A faintly glowing liquid swirled inside.
"A restorative elixir," he muttered. "I used it last year. Can't use it again for a while."
Darren took it without hesitation.
Then turned and held it out.
"To my brother," he said lightly.
Harry looked at the bottle.
Then at Darren.
He didn't take it.
Didn't even move.
He didn't fully understand why.
Maybe—
some part of him had already decided something.
If the others didn't make it…
then maybe he didn't need to either.