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Dumbledore's youngest sister. Her existence is shrouded in mystery and rumor: many believe that she wasn't actually a witch and, to cover this up, her mother Kendra kept Ariana locked up like a prisoner until her own death, while Ariana died not long after at Dumbledore's hands. The truth, however, is even more tragic. Ariana was a witch but, when two Muggle boys found her and she wasn't able to perform magic for them, they abused her, possibly sexually, which permanently damaged her mind and caused her to repress her magical abilities. Kendra did keep her locked up, but only to keep Ariana from being forcefully placed in St. Mungo's, as Ariana's moods were unpredictable and when she became angry, her repressed magic made her dangerous. Ariana accidentally killed Kendra in one of her rages. Aberforth explains to Harry that he and Ariana were extremely close, while Dumbledore saw her as a burden. She died during a three-way duel between Dumbledore, Aberforth, and Grindelwald, and it's unknown whose spell actually killed her. Her portrait hangs in Aberforth's sitting room and she's able to bring people through a tunnel that leads to the Room of Requirement.
Ariana Dumbledore Quotes in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
The Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows quotes below are all either spoken by Ariana Dumbledore or refer to Ariana Dumbledore. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter Ten Quotes
The accusations he had heard from Muriel at the wedding seemed to have nested in his brain like diseased things, infecting his memories of the wizard he had idolized. Could Dumbledore have let such things happen? Had he been like Dudley, content to watch neglect and abuse as long as it did not affect him? Could he have turned his back on a sister who was being imprisoned and hidden?
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Explanation and Analysis:
The morning after the wedding, Harry thinks back over Auntie Muriel's accusations that Dumbledore's sister, Ariana, was a Squib, and that he allowed their mother to keep her imprisoned to save them from public shame. The possibility that Dumbledore was willing to stand for this cruelty shakes Harry to the core, as it undermines everything he thought he knew about Dumbledore. The Dumbledore that Harry knew fought tirelessly on behalf of minorities and individuals who had less power in society, like Squibs. The fact that Harry is so upset about the possibility that Dumbledore wasn't as good and perfect as Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo
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Ariana Dumbledore Character Timeline in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
The timeline below shows where the character Ariana Dumbledore appears in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter Two
...school, but the death of Dumbledore's mother, Kendra, meant that Dumbledore couldn't come. His sister Ariana died about a year later, and Doge came home for the funeral to find Dumbledore...
(full context)
...interest in questionable beliefs and the Dark Arts, as well as "nastiness" concerning Kendra and Ariana, and the revelation that Dumbledore's famed defeat of Grindelwald wasn't spectacular. Skeeter mentions a chapter...
(full context)
Chapter Eight
...away with his Squib sister," but Doge says that Dumbledore kept her existence quiet because Ariana was unwell. Muriel suggests that Ariana was kept locked in a cellar by Kendra and...
(full context)
Muriel insists that the Dumbledore family kept Ariana a secret because of shame, while Doge insists that Ariana was just unwell. Muriel cackles...
(full context)
Chapter Eleven
...how Kendra moved the family to Godric's Hollow after Percival went to Azkaban and hid Ariana there. Many believe that Ariana was a Squib and that Kendra was ashamed of her....
(full context)
Chapter Sixteen
...continue to the graveyard and start to look through the headstones. Hermione finds Kendra and Ariana's graves, and Harry thinks that Rita Skeeter and Muriel were right about something. Harry feels...
(full context)
Chapter Eighteen
...and read about how Dumbledore returned home after Kendra's death to care for Aberforth and Ariana. Rita Skeeter writes that thanks to Veritaserum, she was able to interview Bathilda Bagshot, who...
(full context)
Two months later, Ariana died, Grindelwald decided to go home, and Aberforth blamed Dumbledore for Ariana's death. There was...
(full context)
...he was keeping "his Squib sister" locked up, Hermione firmly says that she doesn't think Ariana was a Squib. She insists that Dumbledore changed and dedicated his life to fighting for...
(full context)
Chapter Twenty-Eight
...he stares at a portrait of a girl over the mantel. Hermione recognizes her as Ariana. Harry says nothing. He thinks that he chose to believe in Dumbledore's mission and has...
(full context)
...Aberforth spits that lots of people Dumbledore "cared" about suffered. Aberforth angrily says that when Ariana was six, three Muggle boys assaulted her when they saw her doing magic. It made...
(full context)
...He asks for help getting into Hogwarts. Aberforth sighs and turns to the portrait of Ariana. She walks back through her portrait and returns a few minutes later. The portrait swings...
(full context)
Chapter Thirty-Five
...died. Dumbledore says that Harry should despise him and reminds him of what happened to Ariana. He says he loved his family, but he was selfish and brilliant and Grindelwald was...
(full context)
...off dueling Grindelwald because he was afraid of figuring out the truth of who killed Ariana, but he finally got the wand. They discuss that Grindelwald tried to keep Voldemort from...
(full context)
