Ariana Dumbledore

**Ariana Dumbledore** was a character in *Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows* by J.K. Rowling.

She was a witch and the youngest child of Percival and Kendra Dumbledore. She had two elder brothers, Albus and Aberforth Dumbledore. Having been attacked when she was a child, Ariana had no control over her powers. She was killed in a duel between her brothers and Gellert Grindelwald.

## Biography

### Early life

Ariana was born in 1884 or 1885, the youngest child and only daughter of Percival and Kendra Dumbledore. She had two elder brothers, Albus and Aberforth. At the age of six, 3 Muggle boys saw her using magic. When she was unable to show them how to produce magic, they violently attacked her which left her traumatised and emotionally unstable to such an extent that she no longer had any control of her magic.

Fearing Ariana being sent to St Mungo's Hospital for being a danger to the International Statute of Secrecy, her family made the decision to keep her hidden from the world. Her father, Percival was angry enough to hunt down the 3 Muggles who hurt Ariana, and he attacked them. When he was taken away by officials, he would not say why and was sentenced to Azkaban.

### Life in Godric's Hollow

Kendra moved the family to Godric's Hollow to keep Ariana safe and hide the truth about what happened to Percival. Many people had no idea that Kendra even had a daughter because Ariana never left the house, except for a walk around the garden at night. Ariana was kind girl but because she had no control of her magic, she was a danger. Around nine years later when Ariana was 14, she had an episode and her magic spun out of control. Her favourite brother, Aberforth was not at home to calm her, and she caused an explosion which killed her mother.

This was at the beginning of summer 1899, when her brother Albus (who had graduated that year) was about to embark on a trip around the world with a friend, Elphias Doge. He abandoned their plans to stay and look after Ariana, and attend Kendra's funeral. Aberforth wanted to be the one to stay and look after her, but Albus wanted him to complete an education.

### Death

Albus was a talented wizard who hated the fact he was now trapped in Godric's Hollow. He loved Ariana but he knew he was gifted and thought he was being wasted, and became bitter. However, the same summer, Gellert Grindelwald arrived in Godric's Hollow to search for information about the Deathly Hallows, and befriended Albus. The two of them made plans to one day take over the wizarding world "for the greater good".

Aberforth found out about their plans and was shocked, mainly because he thought it was not right to take Ariana with them or abandon her. Grindelwald was angry by Aberforth and said once they controlled the wizarding world, Ariana would no longer need to be hidden. However, Aberforth was still not persuaded of their plans and the argument led Grindelwald to using the Cruciatus Curse on Aberforth. Then, a 3-way duel broke out between both of them and Albus, and Ariana tried to intervene and was struck by a curse, which killed her immediately. It was never known which of the 3 was responsible for killing her.

### Impact

Grindelwald (fearing authorities) run away from the scene immediately after her death and Albus abandoned their plans, later admitting he knew he was wrong during the argument with Aberforth. The friendship between Grindelwald and Albus was ended and the bond between Albus and Aberforth was broken. At Ariana's funeral, Aberforth punched and broke Albus's nose and blamed him for Ariana's death. Albus had engraved on her headstone, "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also".

Aberforth never forgave Albus, later saying he thought Albus was happy to finally no longer be obligated to look after them. However, he was wrong. Albus even saw in the Mirror of Erised Ariana in control of her magic, and their family together again.

Because Ariana was kept in the house, many thought it was because she had no magic and when Albus died in 1997, Rita Skeeter wrote a book supporting this. Aberforth hung a moving portrait of Ariana in the Hog's Head which led to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry which took members of the Order of the Phoenix and Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger to the school at the height of the Second Wizarding War.

## Notes and sources

1. ↑ Ariana was 14 when she died in the summer of 1899, meaning she had to be born in 1884 (and about to be 15) or in 1885.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 *Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows*, Chapter 28
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 *Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows*, Chapter 2
4. ↑ *Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows*, Chapter 25
5. ↑ *Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows*, Chapter 35
6. ↑ J.K. Rowling interview with Bloomsbury.com
7. ↑ *Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows*, Chapter 11
8. ↑ *Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows*, Chapter 29