Chapter 79 Aberforth (Part 3)

Something is wrong.

Jian Yu, who crawled out of the tunnel, first took a handful of Fox, and then felt creepy being stared at by the two old men.

She suddenly felt like she was caught eating takeout by her parents.

But why were they all looking at her with such guilty eyes?

I just took a trip to Hogwarts?

"Uh...good evening?" She greeted the two of them from her perch on the fireplace.

Looking carefully at Dumbledore's expression, Jian Yu suddenly discovered that his left eye showed complexity, his right eye showed guilt, and there were traces of moisture on his face... as if... he had been crying?

His lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but then he paused and looked at his brother helplessly.

Fortunately, Fox saved him, because he started a big fight with the eagle owl that squeezed into Jane Yu's arms - feathers flew everywhere and angry cries echoed throughout the Hog's Head Bar.

He had to separate them and tried his best to calm both birds.

"I'm back. Take care of your bird, Albus!" Aberforth pushed him away roughly. "Let me talk to the child. According to seniority, she is also my niece... maybe I should add a few great-great-grandchildren?"

He cursed inwardly the damn seniority, and his resentment towards his stupid brother increased.

With such a one hundred year age difference, he doesn’t even know what to name his child!

As if he was treating a fragile object made of glass, Aberforth carefully walked her back to the room and pulled out an armchair beside the bed and sat down.

"Kid," he said with a forced smile, "perhaps you would like to hear a bedtime story?"

Jian Yu kicked her feet nervously in the quilt.

She was caught running away, but why did no one ask her where she went? How to get there?

And she thinks she is no longer old enough to need adults to tell her bedtime stories?

But seeing the smile on Aberforth's face that was uglier than crying, she nodded.

"I have a sister who was attacked by three Muggle boys when she was six..."

"She was destroyed and never recovered... My father went to settle accounts with them and was thrown into Azkaban..."

"Then, when she was 14, her muteness...failed again, and my mother...was killed..."

This is a sad thing, Jian Yu thought, and continued listening.

"Albus... didn't want to worry about her at all. He was always in his bedroom, reading his books, communicating with the most famous magic masters of the time, and wanting to travel around the world with his friends." Aberforth spat, "Just like that, my parents are gone, and he has to stay at home to take care of a half-crazy sister - but that person came."

Jian Yu knew who that was. It was one of the protagonists in Dumbledore's series of friends made out of nothing.

"Grindelwald." Aberforth's face was full of disgust and hatred. "They became best... friends, brewing plans to establish a new wizarding order all day long. He wanted to take Ariana away, and I was really fed up... We argued, and he gave me a Cruciatus Curse, and Albus tried to stop him."

"So the three of us started a duel, which irritated my sister..."

"I don't know who did it, it could have been anyone - she's dead."

Jian Yu observed his face and found that it was covered with tears and his face was pale, as if he had suffered a fatal injury.

But she didn't understand why he suddenly told her this story.

Maybe the emotions have been suppressed for too long and I need an audience?

She listened quietly, but Aberforth stopped talking.

After he calmed down, he began to curse his brother in his heart.

Damn Albus, I left him with such a mess and I still have to speak well of him in front of the children!

This old and young, the old one tortured himself all his life, and when half of his body was buried in the ground, he created a young one to continue to torture himself for the rest of his life!

"So you see," he tried to force a smile at Jian Yu again, "my brother regretted it, for his careless choice of friends. He was afraid that you would be the same, so..."

He thought of what his brother had told him about Jane Yu and the diary - Tom Riddle, and then thought of the pile of Slytherin invitations, and he felt a deep headache.

It's really a continuation of the same tradition!

After hearing so much, Jian Yu finally understood his purpose.

It's for Dumbledore, his good brother, who comes to act as a lobbyist!

Aberforth carefully observed the changes in her eyes and immediately noticed her dissatisfaction.

"Of course, I'm not speaking for him." Aberforth changed the subject, "I understand how you feel. You see the real Albus Dumbledore, not like those fools who think that my saintly brother is radiating light from every pore."

"Hmph." He blew out a cold breath from his nose, "The greatest wizard of our time... Every time I get angry about this, they think I'm jealous, jealous of my brother's achievements. Do they think they know Albus better than I do?"

He stared at Jian Yu intently, and felt more and more that he could not let this child be ruined by his brother.

"I know you don't like his control. He must have interfered with many of your plans and friendships—"

"But you have to understand that you are an independent person and you don't owe him anything. You don't have to be responsible for his grand plan."

He stood up, turned on the light more brightly, and promised Jian Yu:

"Do whatever you want to do. Don't be afraid of him. I'm here for you!"

Jian Yu asked him curiously:

"Even if what I want to do is intolerable to him and he fires me?"

Unexpectedly, Aberforth waved his hand and began to give her advice:

"Don't you realize what he hates? Look at the invitation you received. Did he agree to it?"

"Maybe if you go there a few times, he'll get too nervous and kick you out of Hogwarts—"

His sharp eyes softened and he blinked at Jian Yu with his right eye.

"As soon as he realizes that he cannot train you according to his grand plan, he will sign your application."

"However, custody can be transferred, and wizards have the right to educate their children at home—"

"And I am - I'm a wizard, and I'm good at home education, you know what I mean?"

Can wizarding families educate their children at home instead of going to school?

Jian Yu suddenly thought of what Dumbledore once said, that wizard parents have the right to let their children study at home or study abroad.

Suddenly, she felt enlightened, her thoughts opened up, and her vision broadened.

She never expected that Aberforth would be her ally!

And his promise undoubtedly gave her a reassurance.

"Thank you!" She thanked him sincerely.

The old man smiled and walked away humming a song.

He saved a vulnerable child!

Protected her precarious heart!

And he outdid Albus!

happy!