Chapter 864: Aberforth, the Persecuted
Chapter 864: Aberforth, the Persecuted
Aberforth Dumbledore, the most notorious cut-throat businessman in Hogsmeade, despised two things above all else.
First and foremost, he loathed anyone who dared to praise Albus Dumbledore in his presence. It didn't matter who it was or how they chose to do it, even a mere mention of the Headmaster's white beard would cause Aberforth to quietly increase the offender's tab by thirty percent.
As for those who dared to speak ill of Dumbledore... Well, let's just say that while most patrons of the Hog's Head were daring and fearless, skirting the edges of the laws of the wizarding world, very few would dare to bad-mouth the Hogwarts Headmaster so close to the school.
If there ever was such a reckless soul, a fifty percent increase in their bill might just make them realize how dangerous their words could be... In short, any mention of the name 'Dumbledore' was strictly forbidden within the walls of the Hog's Head.
Aside from this, Aberforth also disliked people talking about his beloved pet—the goat that constantly chewed on something behind the counter.
Anyone who dared to lay a finger on it or drunkenly spoke ill of it usually met with an unfortunate end.
Over time, the regulars at the Hog's Head became well aware of the owner's rules and refrained from deliberately provoking him.
However, on this particular day, two clueless out-of-towners walked into the bar.
"In my opinion, the leg meat should be roasted and paired with black pepper to remove the gamy taste. Even Professor Dumbledore would agree," said a young red-haired boy, sitting at the bar with a straight face.
Next to him, a middle-aged man shook his head. "No, I still think Professor Dumbledore would prefer it stewed."
Their conversation caused those around them to pause and listen. Although they were merely discussing cooking methods, the fact that they kept glancing at the goat in the corner of the bar suggested that they were referring to its meaty legs.
And these two, of course, were none other than Kyle and Albus Dumbledore himself.
It was unclear what had possessed the Headmaster of Hogwarts to disguise himself and Kyle with a simple Disguise Spell before entering the pub.
"You just don't understand Dumbledore," the boy said, slamming his hand on the table. "Stewing it would make it too gamey. He definitely prefers it roasted."
It was now clear that they were indeed talking about the goat.
Discussing Dumbledore so openly in the Hog's Head, and then suggesting they stew the owner's goat... This was bound to end interestingly.
The patrons of the bar were now intrigued. Those who had been drinking paused, and those who had been talking lowered their voices. Everyone's attention was now focused on the duo at the bar.
And the owner did not disappoint, appearing before them like a ghost.
"Are you... planning to offer my goat as a gourmet meal to Professor Dumbledore?" Aberforth asked, narrowing his eyes and speaking slowly.
Kyle was initially nervous. Although he had been able to walk Aberforth like a pet not long ago, those were extenuating circumstances.
Aberforth was now an old wizard in his hundred and tenth year, and his surname carried weight. Kyle worried that he would see through the Disguise Spell.
Fortunately, Dumbledore seemed to be one step ahead, as Aberforth did not recognize Kyle, seemingly believing him to be a stranger.
"What goat? I'm warning you, don't talk nonsense," Kyle said, his voice rising in defiance.
Upon realizing that he hadn't been exposed, Kyle grew bolder. He tilted his head back and said, "Look at how dirty that goat is. Even a Muggle's two-year-old mop would be cleaner than that..."
Aberforth's eyes twitched noticeably.
He bathed the goat more often than he bathed himself. How dare this boy call it dirty?
This guy was asking for trouble!
Aberforth narrowed his eyes, already planning how he would throw this insolent customer out.
Dumbledore nudged Kyle from below the bar, seemingly warning him to calm down, but Kyle acted as if he hadn't noticed, continuing to scowl as he said, "If that thing stepped into Hogwarts, the next second, it would be thrown out by the house-elves as trash. Do you think Professor Dumbledore would eat something like that? He'd be disgracing himself."
"Are you trying to associate yourself with Professor Dumbledore? Using his name to try and save this... this dump of a bar?"
"Are you saying I'm trying to associate with Dumbledore?" Aberforth asked, gritting his teeth, his eyes flashing dangerously.
But the crowd around them only grew more excited.
From the moment they had walked in, this arrogant boy had stepped on every landmine imaginable. It was only a matter of time before the owner threw him out, and they couldn't wait to see it.
It happened often, and although the owner seemed ancient, he was incredibly agile when it came to tossing people out, showing no mercy.
Their favorite pastime was watching the victims and the owner exchange insults through the front door, learning new and colorful phrases to add to their vocabulary.
Some even took out their small notebooks, ready to jot down any interesting new curses.
However, to their disappointment, Aberforth did not do anything drastic. He simply pointed at the boy and said calmly, "Get out. You're not welcome here."
The boy obliged, still muttering curses under his breath as he left, the middle-aged man next to him hurrying to catch up.
Her words resonated with most of the crowd, as the old man they knew had a much less amicable temperament.
But was that truly the case?
"You shouldn't have provoked him like that."
Outside the Hog's Head, Dumbledore said helplessly, "Aberforth has always hated being compared to me. Since our school days, he would fly into a rage and start a fight whenever someone brought it up, trying to prove his strength with his fists."
"Professor, that's a bit much." Kyle glanced at him, "You're the one who wanted to stir up trouble, I was just playing along."
"I only wanted to see him angry, not actually infuriate him." Dumbledore defended himself.
Kyle stopped in his tracks and stared at him in disbelief, "Professor, you're getting more and more unscrupulous."
"Takes one to know one." Dumbledore waved his hand, "By the way, watch your back."
As Dumbledore finished his sentence, Kyle instinctively turned to the side.
At the same time, a faint red curse whizzed past his ear, likely a Stunning Spell from the color.
An ambush?
Kyle hesitated for a moment. After leaving the Hog's Head, neither he nor Dumbledore had a specific destination in mind, merely wandering in a random direction.
Moreover, as the Hog's Head was located at the edge of Hogsmeade, they had unknowingly wandered close to the Forbidden Forest, an area devoid of any lighting, making it an ideal spot for a sneak attack.
But who was targeting them... those suspicious characters from the pub?
Kyle's hand trembled as he drew his wand, preparing to turn around and get a clear look at their attacker.
But someone was faster than him.
As if expecting the attack, Dumbledore turned around with uncanny speed, not even drawing his wand, and threw a punch.
"Crack!"
"Bang!"
Accompanied by a dull sound, a figure fell to the ground.
"Ab... Aberforth?"
Kyle blinked as he looked at the person on the ground.
Whether intentional or not, Dumbledore's punch had landed squarely on his nose bridge.
As expected, the first sound Kyle had heard was the crack of Aberforth's nose bridge breaking.
"Oh, my apologies, I didn't realize it was him." Dumbledore said.
Kyle put away his wand and let out a cold laugh.
He had reason to believe that all of this was intentional on Dumbledore's part, an act of revenge for when Aberforth broke his nose ninety-seven years ago.
Back then, Aberforth, thinking Ariana had died, struck out in anger during the funeral and broke Dumbledore's nose bridge with a punch.
Dumbledore also believed Ariana to be dead, so he didn't bother healing it, seemingly wanting to atone for what had happened.
This resulted in his nose bridge remaining crooked and visually jarring.
Kyle glanced at Aberforth, who lay on the ground... Even the spot where it was broken was identical. If this was a coincidence, it was too much of one.
Kyle preferred to believe that Dumbledore, upon learning Ariana was still alive, had immediately rushed over to take his revenge.
No wonder before entering the Hog's Head, he kept hinting for Kyle to anger Aberforth. Kyle thought there would be some entertainment, but he never expected this ulterior motive.
This petty old fox, taking his revenge was one thing, but trying to pin it on an innocent young wizard was another. When did he become so shameless?
"Professor..." Kyle looked at Dumbledore expressionlessly, waiting for an explanation.
"It's all a misunderstanding, I thought it was a Death Eater." Dumbledore said calmly, "But I need you to take Aberforth back, I have to go and meet Ariana."
Dumbledore pointed to his left.
In the shadows, a figure in a black hooded cloak stood there.
"Ariana?" Kyle frowned, "So where are you headed?"
"To smooth out the impacts left by time and prepare for the next time travel." Dumbledore said, "Traversing through time across nearly a century will inevitably leave some issues... like those two dragons that appeared out of thin air, and Ariana's empty grave... We need to address these potential problems now."
"Dragons... Is there anything I can help with?" Kyle asked seriously.
"No, you don't need to do anything. This is my task." Dumbledore smiled, "All you need to do is wait patiently for the day you return to the past, and leave the rest to me."
At this point, Dumbledore's tone carried an unparalleled confidence, a confidence in his own abilities.
"Alright then." Kyle shrugged, "I wish you success, Professor.
"By the way, you didn't come here to take revenge on Mr. Aberforth, did you?
Dumbledore vanished, taking Ariana, who had been lurking in the shadows, with him.
Kyle turned to look at Aberforth, who was lying on the ground, and suddenly felt a twinge of sympathy for the unfortunate man.
As a child in school, Aberforth had constantly been compared to his genius brother, and now, in his old age, he was the last to know that his beloved sister was still alive. To make matters worse, he had just been tricked and punched in the face by his own brother.
Recalling the harsh words he had spoken, Kyle began to feel a bit guilty.
Aberforth truly was a pitiful old man, and Kyle resolved to treat him better from now on.
With a sigh, Kyle waved his wand lightly.
Aberforth's shirt floated up, and the sturdy fabric lifted his upper body as if someone were grabbing him by the back of his neck.
Kyle then proceeded to drag him back towards the Hog's Head, leaving two long skid marks on the ground, reminiscent of how he had pulled Aberforth downstairs in Godric's Hollow.
As for why he chose this method... Well, it was just more convenient. He certainly wasn't going to carry him back, not even when it came to Connor, let alone a grumpy old man.
Besides, Aberforth was currently unconscious and wouldn't know the difference. Kyle could treat him better when he woke up.
...
Dumbledore had a precise grasp of his strength, and by the time the two of them reached the door of the Hog's Head, Aberforth was beginning to regain consciousness, his legs twitching before he slowly came to.
Kyle loosened his grip, and Aberforth wobbled to his feet, first looking at the nearby door as if trying to recall what had happened earlier.
When he finally came to his senses, he suddenly felt a piercing pain in his face, so intense that it brought tears to his eyes.
"Ouch!"
"Damn it, don't let me find out who you are!"
"!"
In the night of Hogsmeade, wizards lingering nearby heard a piercing scream, followed by a gentle piano-like melody on a family tree.
Not far away, Kyle watched with satisfaction as Aberforth raged with full force, and then returned to Dorset County.
As soon as he entered, he saw Newt lying on the table, writing something.
"Is it done?" Newt asked, raising his head.
"Yeah." Kyle nodded, "And I also helped the principal shoulder a pot."
"What do you mean?" Newt put down his quill and asked curiously.
"We went to the Hog's Head." Kyle recounted what had just happened.
"You went to so much trouble just to punch your own brother, and you're pushing all the blame onto me. This shameless behavior makes me wonder if I brought back a fake Professor Dumbledore."
"Who knows?" Newt laughed, "I also feel like he's become a different person since he came back... I never expected that Ariana's influence on him would be so great."
"After all, it's a knot and shackle that has entangled him for more than a hundred years..." Kyle sat down next to Newt and sighed, "But in a sense, it's also a good thing."
"You're right..." Newt said, then added, "Oh, and here's something for you." He handed Kyle a box.
"While you were gone, I took care of your magical creatures, but there's something I must warn you about. The Dementors are not absolutely immortal, and you can't starve them for too long."
"I forgot about that..."" Kyle scratched his hair embarrassedly.
"I've researched the type of food that suits them, and it's all here." Newt handed the parchment to Kyle, "Thanks to you, I've come into such close contact with these dark creatures for the first time, and with the new species discovered by the Gryphon and the Loch Ness, the next edition of 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' will have at least thirty more pages."
So, this was the newly discovered food that could replace happiness and hope...
Kyle pondered this as he perused the parchment, chewing on his lip. He had always assumed that Newt already knew about this, but it turned out that it was a recent discovery.
There was no denying that Newt was the expert when it came to magical creatures. His knowledge was truly incredible.
Kyle took the parchment and scanned its contents, which were similar to what he had learned from Dobby, but with more detail, including instructions on how to use Patronuses to influence herbs and the precise amount of hippogriff saliva to use.
"Remember to keep this safe." Newt said, "It's best if others don't see it."
"Yeah." Kyle nodded.
Although he didn't know if Dementors could continue to be used as guards in Azkaban, it was best to keep this method of influencing them a secret.
If word got out, Kyle suspected that some people might try to tame Dementors, as they were an enigma to most wizards.
Kyle reviewed the parchment one more time to commit its contents to memory, then casually tossed it into the fireplace next to him.
(End of Chapter)
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