Skip to main content

harry potter - How did the Dumbledore brothers get away with Ariana's murder?


Some of you might insist that it was not a murder, as we know that a rebounding spell had hit Ariana, as shown in this answer.


However, a death in such a well known family would not go uninvestigated, I presume. Were the Dumbledore brothers investigated? How did they get away with their sister suddenly dropping dead?



I'd think that Ministry of Magic has means to recognize a death caused by magical means. That's how we know that Tom Riddle Snr. was killed by Avada Kedavra. So Ariana's failing health might be a poor excuse.



Answer



Her death was believed to due to illness


Doge stated that implies that Ariana Dumbledore died of some unspecified ailment:



Though Ariana had been in poor health for a long time, the blow, coming so soon after the loss of their mother, had a profound effect on both of her brothers.


—Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows



According to Rita Skeeter (hardly a reliable source, but in this case I think we can trust her):




Bathilda also parrots the family line on Ariana, calling her “frail” and “delicate.”


—Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows



In addition, the idea of Ariana's "illness" was widely circulated among those few who knew her:



The tiny number of people who henceforth knew of Ariana’s existence could be counted upon to keep the secret, including her two brothers, who deflected awkward questions with the answer their mother had taught them: “My sister is too frail for school.”


—Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows



If the Ministry had been inclined to offer even a token investigation (which they might have done) they would quickly have found themselves stymied. The only witnesses were Aberforth and Albus (who would have refused to talk) and Grindelwald (who was in a foreign country and busy becoming a dictator).


Now, if they had procured Albus and Aberforth's wands, they could possibly have used Priori Incantato to determine what spells they had performed. But who is to say that the Ministry can examine someone's wand without sufficient cause, any more than Muggle police in the UK can search someone's home merely because a "fishy" death occurred there. Note that we do not even know whether Priori Incantato (as opposed to Priori Incantatem) can reveal all spells cast by a wand, or simply the most recent.



Similarly, an examination of Ariana's body might have revealed signs of magical death (assuming that no one concealed them), but who is to say the Ministry had enough cause to do so? Given that Ariana's illness had been known for a long time among family friends, it is entirely possible that the Ministry would have thought no more of it than that.


So without evidence, it's hard to say the Ministry would even suspect foul play, let alone sufficient legal grounds to inspect the brothers' wands. And given Albus Dumbledore's brilliance, it's safe to assume that that any evidence would have been covered up very well.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

What is Tolkien trying to say in this letter?

In a draft of a letter, later recorded as #246, Tolkien makes a strange statement. I am interested in the first few sentences of the letter, but I will include the remainder for the sake of context. In the 'Mirror of Galadriel', 1381, it appears that Galadriel conceived of herself as capable of wielding the Ring and supplanting the Dark Lord. If so, so also were the other guardians of the Three, especially Elrond . But this is another matter. It was part of the essential deceit of the Ring to fill minds with imaginations of supreme power . But this the Great had well considered and had rejected, as is seen in Elrond's words at the Council. Galadriel's rejection of the temptation was founded upon previous thought and resolve. In any case Elrond or Galadriel would have proceeded in the policy now adopted by Sauron: they would have built up an empire with great and absolutely subservient generals and armies and engines of war, until they could challenge Sauron and destroy ...
Post a Comment
Read more

tolkiens legendarium - Was Galadriel's temptation of Boromir instrumental to his fall?

We know Galadriel tempted the members of the Fellowship, did she tempt Boromir with visions of taking the Ring and saving Gondor? In the books, Boromir willingly accepts the judgement of the council that the Ring should be destroyed, but after the meeting with Celeborn and Galadriel his personality seems to change. Was the temptation offered by Galadriel in some way responsible for Boromir's fall? Answer It's likely, but not certain I believe it is likely Galadriel tempted him with the ring, and in doing so re-ignited a pre-existing idea to take the ring, but to be clear lets break this down into three parts. Boromir at the Council of Elrond Boromir after setting off Boromir after being tempted Boromir at the Council of Elrond Boromir pleas for the ring to go to Minas Tirith, to help Gondor in its defense against Mordor. “ Why should we not think that the Great Ring has come into our hands to serve us in the very hour of need? Wielding it the Free Lords of the Free may surely...
Post a Comment
Read more

harry potter - What is the difference between Diffindo and Sectumsempra?

In the Harry Potter books, Diffindo is called the 'Severing Charm' and it’s most commonly used to cut ropes and the like. However, in the last book Hermione uses it on Ron but misses, creating a 'slash in his jeans' and his knee gets cut, causing him to 'roar in pain'. We've only seen Sectumsempra used once on screen when Harry directly uses it on Malfoy in the sixth book, but there it's mentioned that he is 'waving his wand wildly'. Wouldn't Diffindo, if used in such a fashion also cause a similar effect? Similarly, if it was able to cut Ron, it would also be able to, say, chop off an ear (George's)? In that case, how are these two spells different, except for Sectumsempra seemingly used exclusively to hurt humans? Answer While Diffindo and Sectumsempra both can be countered by other spells, Diffindo is far more easily countered. Reparo, a relatively common spell, can completely reverse its effect when used once. “He pulled the old cop...
Post a Comment
Read more