Dorjee, who had calmed down because of Elwyn's explanation, became flustered again. His face was now as red as a carrot.
"Something out of nothing," he said aloud.
"Whatever you say, Eifeas!" Aunt Muriel giggled. "I noticed that your obituary only glossed over the difficult parts!"
"I'm sorry you think so," Dorjee said coldly. Dorjee said in an even colder tone, "I assure you that everything I wrote was from the bottom of my heart."
"Oh, we all know that you admired Dumbledore. I dare say that you always regarded him as a saint, even after you found out that he had really killed his squib sister! "
"Muriel!" Dorjee exclaimed. "What did you say?! How dare you say that?! Who said his sister was a squib? Isn't she sick? "
"That's where you're wrong, Barley!" Aunt Muriel said, as if she was very satisfied with the effect she had created. "You probably don't know. Yes, how could you know about this? My dear, when it happened, you didn't even have a shadow. In fact, those of us who were alive at that time didn't know what happened at all. That's why I can't wait to see what Skeeter has unearthed! Dumbledore didn't mention his sister for a long time! "
"Lies!" Dorjee said angrily. "Pure lies!"
"Wait, you said Dumbledore killed his sister?" Harry suddenly said, his heart filled with coldness.
"Who knows? Like I said, no one alive knows what happened, but we can infer from many subsequent clues that it was Dumbledore who killed his sister. This is very likely. Maybe he thought she was a big trouble. If what you did to Dumbledore in the past …"
"It wasn't Dumbledore who killed her, but he was responsible. He didn't take good care of his sister." Elwyn said, interrupting Muriel. "It was a mistake he couldn't escape, but everyone makes mistakes. Dumbledore blamed himself for his sister's death. The key was his repentance and actions."
"Oh, Barley, you seem very understanding and great, but how much do you know about Dumbledore?!" Muriel looked at Elwyn with disdain. She shook the wine glass in her hand and even remembered the name Elwyn used after he put on makeup. "You defend him, but you definitely don't know how cruel Dumbledore treated his sister. A squib … You probably don't know that she was a squib, right? Poor child, how would you know about the past that even Dumbledore's best friend didn't know? You're the same as those guys, deceived by Dumbledore's long-lasting disguise. You don't know his true colors at all, and you don't know what happened in the past. "
Elwyn knew very well that Dumbledore told Elwyn a lot about his unknown past in Gunter's Hut and that night when he went to visit Grindelwald.
Things were not like what Muriel had speculated, but Elwyn couldn't explain it clearly. His current identity was not Elwyn, but a distant relative of the Weasley family. How could he know these things?! And then again, why did he argue with Muriel about this?!
It was meaningless to talk about this with people like her. He would explain it to Harry and Hermione alone later.
In this matter, Dumbledore did make a mistake, but he had atoned for this mistake for the rest of his life.
This was enough, at least Elwyn thought it was enough!
"Maybe, but I don't think you can deny a person's life because of a past mistake, and many things are not as we imagine. Even if you see it with your own eyes, it might not be true, let alone speculate," Elwyn said. "Alright, I'm a little hungry. I think we should find something to eat …"
But Harry was unmoved. He seemed to care about what Muriel said, and muttered dejectedly, "He never told me that his sister was a squib."
"Why should he tell you?" Muriel said in a shrill voice, shaking her body on the chair, trying to fix her eyes on Harry's face.
She was no longer looking at Elwyn, and Harry's question brought the topic back to the track she wanted to talk about.
"Albus never talked about Arianna, not to anyone, not to you on purpose, my child," Effias said in an agitated and tense voice. "I think the reason is very obvious. Her death made him heartbroken … Alright, you guys should be enjoying the banquet, not …"
"Why has no one ever seen her, Effias?" Muriel asked gruffly, interrupting Dorjee's words. "Don't try to avoid it. Can you answer me, why did half of us not even know of her existence until they brought out the coffin from the house and held a funeral for her? When Arianna was locked in the cellar, where was Saint Albus? He was in the limelight at the Hogwarts, and did not care about what happened at home! "
"What did you say, locked in the cellar?" Harry immediately asked. "What happened?"
Dorjee looked pained, and Aunt Muriel giggled again.
"Dumbledore's mother was a scary woman, very scary. She was born a Muggle, but I heard that she lied and said she wasn't …"
"She never lied about anything like that! Kandra was a very good woman, "Dorjee whispered pitifully, but Aunt Muriel ignored him.
"Very proud and overbearing. A witch like that would definitely feel humiliated if she gave birth to a Squib …"
"Arianna is not a Squib!" Dorjee gasped. He was so focused on arguing that he forgot to chase Elwyn and the others away.
"Then, Effias, can you please explain why she never went to the Hogwarts?" Aunt Muriel said, and then she turned to Elwyn, Harry, Hermione and Elaine, "You may not know this, but in my time, if there was a Squib in the house, it was often covered up, but I've never heard of anyone going so far as to imprison a little girl in the house and pretend she didn't exist …"
"I'm telling you, there's no such thing!" Dorjee said, but Aunt Muriel continued to speak unstoppably.
"Usually, Squibs are sent to a Muggle school, and they are encouraged to integrate into the Muggle society … This is much more merciful than finding a place for them in the Wizarding World, because they will always be second-class citizens in the Wizarding World. But, of course, Kandra, Dumbledore would never dream of sending his daughter to a Muggle school … "
"Arianna is not in good health!" Dorjee said in despair, "Her health is very poor, she can't …"
"Can't leave the house?" Muriel giggled. "She never goes to St. Mungo's Hospital, and no therapist comes to see her!"
"Seriously, Muriel, how would you know if it's …"
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