“For the greater good! Remember, Albus? We’re doing this for the muggles! Not for our own personal power. You’ll just have to leave her here, or bring her if you must. As much as I detest that. Think all of those poor muggles we can help.” 

Ariana heard the shouting before she saw them. Her magic felt particularly painful and volatile that day, refusing to settle down, no matter how much she tried to relax, and hearing a commotion between her brothers didn’t help her at all. 

“Calm down, Gellert. This doesn’t–” She heard Aberforth start to say. 

“Don’t tell me what to do, Aberforth!”

“Albus, please, you can’t take her with you. When you’re making your clever speeches, trying to gain a following, you can’t help her. Ariana is an obscurial, she’s delicate, she needs special care and attention.”

Coming around the corner, Ariana watched as Aberforth, Albus, and Gellert all held their wands out. She watched as Albus’ boyfriend angrily pointed his wand back and forth between her brothers. She had known for a while that those two had been dating. She didn’t think Aberforth knew though. With mounting horror, Ariana saw the three wizards start flinging magic at each other. Aberforth was red faced and angry. Gellert had a look of cold calculation and Albus was desperately conflicted as he deflected a spell fired at him by Gellert. She could see tears in his eyes as he retaliated, blasting his boyfriend off of his feet. Just as quickly, Gellert was back on his feet, fighting back.

With her heart pounding, Ariana swiftly ran forward, her arms raised, her magic racing down her arms, eager to be used. Wincing as her magic dug into her skin painfully, sparks flashed off and around her as she yelled, “Stop!”

In almost the exact same time, all three wands pointed at her, firing wildly different spells. She watched as her brothers’ eyes widened in horror as the magic raced towards her. Moment’s before the spells hit her, a blinding flash of light surrounded her, and before she passed out, she heard someone speak.

“Sleep my child, for when you awaken, you have important work to do. Make sure to tell your brother to stop what he is doing, before he endangers all life.”

Gasping awake from her dream, Ariana felt a soft warmth on her back as someone cuddled into her, her mother she assumed. Was it a dream, or a memory? She couldn’t be entirely sure anymore. Ariana’s eyes opened and she sat up suddenly when she remembered that her mother was dead, she had killed her. Tears threatened to spill down her cheeks as the moment that her out of control magic had killed her mother flashed through her mind, seared into her memories until the day she died. 

“Huh? What’s…? Oh, Ariana, you’re awake!”

Ariana turned and looked at the messy blue haired girl laying behind her, rubbing her eyes of sleep. She couldn’t help but blush as the other girl sat up with a bright smile on her face, her eyes sparkling with genuine happiness to see Ariana. 

Fragmented memories from the night before drifted through her mind as she looked at her blue haired companion, Hailey – she recalled a moment later – Hailey Potter. 

“Good morning, Hailey,” she hesitantly replied a moment later. 

Hailey smiled at her. “You’re looking better now than last night.”

She gasped in surprise when Hailey reached out and squeezed her hand gently. Looking down at the point of contact, Ariana flinched, waiting for the pain when her magic erupted, attempting to protect her. Nothing happened, to her surprise. Ariana suddenly realised that she felt better. Better than she’d felt for years. Ever since those muggles had hurt her for doing magic. She shivered at the memory. Another unhappy one to go with all of the rest she had collected in her short life. The constant struggle to keep her magic stable and calm was absent. Like a weight had been lifted from her. As was the constant pain she had felt from her magic slowly eating away at her very being. Feeling out her magic, Ariana noticed the angry violence that it had been was gone. Instead of a violent hurricane, it was a tranquil sea. 

Ariana felt Hailey squeeze her hand again. “Hey, are you alright?” the other girl whispered, concern clear in her voice. 

Shaking her head, Ariana realised she had started crying. It had been years since she had touched another person without it hurting. Aberforth used to hug her before it got too bad and she had slept with her mother a number of times after her father was sent to Azkaban for attacking those muggles who hurt her. 

“I neither know how, nor why, however, I seem to have been healed.” She grabbed both of Hailey’s hands with hers and holding them up between them, looked into her sparkling green eyes. “This. I haven’t been able to do this in years. My magic attacked me and anyone who touched me.” She grimaced, but smiled again as Hailey curled her fingers around Ariana’s. 

Hailey cocked her head to one side, almost seeming to look through her. That was when Ariana gasped when she noticed her ears for the first time. They had a slight point to them, not noticeable at first glance, but they were there all the same. 

“The magic inside of you. It’s changed you physically, from what you were born as, to what you are now. Just like mine is changing me.”

Ariana froze in shock. Fear rippling down her spine, cold sweat glistening on her skin, she tried to pull her hands out of Hailey’s. Hailey smiled gently and let go. How did she know? Wait, hers is changing her? Is she like me? Hang on, changed me how? Ariana gasped as Hailey’s smile widened while she watched her think, derailing her thoughts. Somehow, she got the impression that Hailey’s smile was predatory, dangerous, and yet she didn’t feel afraid, or in danger. It was somehow comforting, exuding a warmth and safety that put her at ease, and her shoulders slumped in relief. 

She covered her face with her hands. “How did you know?”

“I can feel it. The magic, it was hard to pick it all up last night, with so much happening at the time. It’s left a… a signature upon your body. It feels very similar to what mine does.” Hailey frowned, looking away for a moment. “Almost the same, but not Fae magic, though. Something else, other. Incredibly powerful and pure.” The blue haired girl’s eyes fluttered closed as she breathed in slowly. “It’s intense.”

“Are you alright?” Ariana asked.

Letting out a slow breath, Hailey opened her eyes, vivid green sparkling and the corners of her eyes crinkling as she smiled. “Yes. It’s just the lingering feeling of the magic that was used on you was heady.”

Before Hailey could elaborate, or Ariana could ask any more questions, an older woman bustled into the room. Ariana suddenly realised that she hadn’t even taken any notice of where she was. Although since Hailey had mentioned she had somehow arrived at Hogwarts, she had to consider that this was the hospital wing. The fact that the new witch was wearing healer robes reinforced that idea for Ariana.

The older woman looked at them both with a stern look on her face – making Ariana nervous – before she suddenly smiled warmly at her and Hailey. “Good morning, girls. You’re both looking far more lively than you were last night.”

“Oh, good morning, Madam Pomfrey!” Hailey replied cheerily.

Madam Pomfrey smiled at Hailey in reply before looking at Ariana. “Nice to meet you too, dear. I am Madam Pomfrey, the school Mediwitch. If you have any problems, please let me know.”

Ariana smiled and nodded at the older witch. “Thank you, I shall. It is a pleasure to meet you, Madam Pomfrey. I am Ariana Kendra Gloria Artemisia Dumbledore.” 

Hailey made a slight noise after Ariana introduced herself, but otherwise didn’t do anything else, smiling widely at her when she glanced at the blue haired girl. She had been planning on asking Hailey why her hair was blue, but there had been other more pressing topics to discuss, and she wasn’t sure if it was appropriate or not. Although her hair colour didn’t seem to bother her at all, in fact, she seemed to almost enjoy it for whatever reason.

“Well, let’s check you out, shall we?” Madam Pomfrey said, waving her wand over Hailey after she gave her a nod, then followed that up with a visual inspection, in particular her ears and mouth. “Hmm. I see that your physical changes are progressing, Miss Potter. Have you had any issues at all? I can look to see if there is a way of halting them, if you would like? I’m sorry that I didn’t offer it earlier.”

Hailey shook her head and smiled. “I’m okay with the changes. Thank you, though.”

The mediwitch gave her a concerned look, then glanced at Ariana before looking back at Hailey. “Maybe we should talk about this privately?”

The younger witch looked over at Ariana and smiled at her, before turning back to Madam Pomfrey. “It’s fine if Ariana is here. I have a feeling that we will become good friends and I’m not in the habit of keeping things from friends.”

A blush graced Ariana’s cheeks as warmth filled her heart at Hailey’s declaration. She had never had any friends besides her older brothers. There had been a young witch who she had played with when she was younger, but that was before her accident, before she became an obscurial. 

Aberforth had usually told her most things about his day, but Albus had always been so secretive and that only got far worse after he met Gellert. Although considering the relationship she knew that they had, she wasn’t surprised he would keep so much secret. Ariana might be young, but she knew that some things people found wrong, and that was one of them. Her father had disapproved of people like that. She never understood why. Love was love, right? At least that was what her mother taught her. Who cares who they were, she certainly didn’t.

“Very well, Miss Potter, but if you ever feel the need to halt the progress, let me know, my door is always open.” Turning towards Ariana, Madam Pomfrey smiled kindly at her. “Now for you, Miss Dumbledore.”

Ariana felt butterflies in her stomach as she was called Miss Dumbledore. She had always been called Ariana by her family, when she finally convinced them to call her that, and not the name that her parents had called her as a child. If it hadn’t been for Aberforth’s effort to persuade her family, they might not have, and for that, she would always be grateful to her brother. 

She watched as Madam Pomfrey waved her wand, casting several different spells at almost the same time. It was an impressive feat of magic, and it showed years of experience casting the same spells, something which greatly reassured Ariana. Long years of making sure her own magic was as settled as she could make it gave Ariana lots of experience of knowing when strange magic was being cast on her. Which made her wonder what the magic that Hailey was feeling was, that left a strange ‘signature’ as she called it. She couldn’t feel it herself, hopefully she would have time later to explore her magic, something that excited her since it was no longer trying to kill her.

“Hmm. That’s odd,” Madam Pomfrey eventually said, after casting a few more spells and frowning as she looked at her wand.

“What’s odd?” Ariana asked in concern. She dearly hoped that her magic wasn’t going to start attacking her again. Although come to think of it, she had never heard of an obscurial being healed before. Even Albus hadn’t been able to find a way to heal her, and he was the best wizard she knew of. Although, come to think of it, Ariana was sure that her family had never even contacted anyone to see if they could heal her. Frowning, Ariana suddenly realised that her family had preferred keeping up appearances than trying to cure her. 

She blinked away tears as the mediwitch lowered her wand with a sigh and looked at her, confusion written all over her face. “There seems to be several strange spells that have been cast on you. I had noticed something last night, but the magic was so muddled up, it was hard to tell anything apart. Now that you have had plenty of rest, the magic has had time to settle as well.”

Hailey nodded as she took Ariana’s hand in hers. “That’s what I feel as well. Her name told me that her magic is no longer angry either. Lashing out at everyone and everything, including her own body.” Hailey’s voice quivered as she said that and Ariana could have sworn she saw the other girl’s eyes sparkle from unshed tears.

“How did you know?” Ariana asked. She felt like she had been asking Hailey this all morning with the young witch’s uncanny knowledge.

After rubbing her eyes with her sleeve, Hailey sniffed and gave Ariana a small smile. “I have the ability to understand people when I know their name. I got lots of little things from your name. One of the bigger ones was that your magic turned on you for some reason, although I got the impression it was due to wanting to defend you and failing, no longer knowing the difference between friend and foe.”

“Miss Dumbledore, do you wish to discuss this in front of Miss Potter? If you would like to have a private chat, I am sure she will be fine with that,” Madam Pomfrey said, interrupting the girl's discussion.

Shaking her head, Ariana smiled at Hailey before looking at the older witch. “I am okay with Hailey being here. She already knows most of it, somehow.” Ariana rolled her eyes at Hailey as the blue haired witch giggled. “I am, or rather, it seems that I was, an obscurial. When I was six years old, a group of muggles caught me doing magic, and they attacked me, trying to force me to do more magic.” Hailey squeezed Ariana’s hand a little tighter, in shock, anger or showing her support, she didn’t know, but she was grateful for it none-the-less.

“What’s an obscurial? Is that to do with why your magic was angry?” Hailey asked.

Madam Pomfrey gave Ariana a sympathetic look, before answering Hailey. “It is said that an obscurial is something that develops after a witch or a wizard attempts to suppress their magical ability due to physical or psychological abuse. Before the Statute Of Secrecy, they were far more common. Especially in muggleborn children. An obscurus always died young – usually before their tenth birthday – and as far as I am aware, has never been cured before. Their nature slowly poisoned and killed them, and it is said to be quite painful.”

Ariana grimaced. “It was. To me it felt like I had acid slowly burning away at my insides. The only time it wasn’t was when I could manage to get my magic to relax, and even that rarely lasted long.”

“I’m sorry that I never found a way to help you, Ariana. I have regretted it every day since,” an old man spoke up suddenly. By the way that Hailey and Madam Pomfrey startled, they hadn’t realised that he was there either.

A faint memory of seeing the man last night, claiming to be her brother flashed through her mind. She had been just as confused then as she was now. How could that be? He did look an awful lot like Albus, if he was aged like a hundred years. He reminded her of her grandfather. 

“Albus? But you can’t be! He is a boy of seventeen. Not an old man.”

The old man sighed, looking weary. “It’s me, Ari. I was there when we thought you died. Gellert, Aberforth and I were all there, do you remember?”

“Of course I remember! It was only yesterday that it happened.”

Another sigh came from the man as he shook his head. “No, Ari. It happened nearly a hundred years ago. The year is now nineteen ninety one.”

Ariana began to breathe fast as her face paled and her magic stirred in her agitation. Hailey took both of her hands with her own, breaking her from her thoughts as the other girl squeezed her hands again, tighter this time than before. “It’s true, Ariana. It’s Thursday, the first of November, nineteen ninety one. The day after Halloween.” 

“What? That… that's not… how could that be?!” Ariana didn’t even consider that Hailey was lying or trying to trick her. For whatever reason, she trusted this witch that she had just met. Meeting Hailey’s gaze with her own, she felt her breathing slow and calm as she fell into their emerald depths.

The old- Albus, watched her and Hailey, his eyes shrewdly taking in how close they were sitting on the bed together, and how Hailey was paying her so much attention. That part of her brother hadn’t changed, even if the rest of him had. He looked so old now!

“Is Aberfoth as old as you?” She asked, cracking a small grin as Hailey burst into giggles.

Smiling at her like a kindly grandfather, her brother nodded his head slowly. “Yes indeed. Neither one of us got the benefit of apparently skipping the century that has passed. You look good, Ariana. Better than I had seen you in a long time before your disappearance.” 

Albus took out a long and strange looking wand – definitely not his original one – and waved it at her. Beside her, she felt Hailey stir uncomfortably as she stared at her brother and his wand. She frowned, wondering what that was about, before turning to look at Albus again.

“It is rather curious. I cannot detect any sign of your obscurus. Your previous… condition seems to have been fixed as well. Congratulations, sister.” 

Her face paled again in shock as what her brother meant hit her all at once. “Do you mean…?”

“I do.”

Jumping up out of her bed, Ariana asked to know where the toilet was, and finding out, quickly rushed to them.

⚡️

Ariana was back and sitting on bed, with barely any time passing, her spirit as high as she had ever felt it. She was finally exactly as she had always wanted to be. Her cheeks were rosy from the happiness and warmth that surged through her at that thought. 

“Congratulations, Ariana,” Hailey said, smiling brightly at her, excitement and happiness clear on her face.

Albus cleared his throat, getting everyone’s attention, he placed a wrinkled hand gently on her shoulder. “Ariana, could you please describe in your own words, what has transpired for you since you disappeared? While she does that, Poppy, could you get the girls something to eat, assuming that it is alright for them to eat?”

Madam Pomfrey glanced at the three of them, before she nodded hesitantly and left the ward. 

Going over the events in her mind, Ariana couldn’t be sure, but she thought that more might’ve happened while everything was blank for her than what she could remember. With nothing more coming to mind, she had no choice but to focus on what she did remember. Starting with the duel, and ending with passing out right after meeting the older Albus, Ariana was exhausted by the time she was done. 

Her eldest brother paced briefly, before turning back to look at her. “You’re sure this voice said to tell your brother to stop what he is doing. He is endangering all life?”

Ariana nodded. “Positive. Do you know what it means?”

“It could mean a great number of things, my dear. I am involved in a few sensitive projects and the warning is rather vague,” Albus replied as she knew he would, just as vague as the warning himself. 

“Albus! Where is she?!” Another old wizard shouted, red faced as he came into the ward, a witch in dark green robes following close on his heels. He looked an awful lot like Albus, to Ariana. 

“I’m sorry, Albus, he was rather insistent once he arrived with your letter,” the new witch said with a stern scowl at the intruder. Ariana could well imagine that she did most things with a stern look on her face. 

Before anyone could reply, the newly arrived wizard spotted her and froze in place, his eyes wide in shock. Moment’s later, Ariana was suddenly engulfed in a strong hug, barely able to breath. “Oh, Ari. I’m so, so sorry! Please forgive me!”

“Aberforth?” She breathed out through the pressure on her lungs. “I missed you too,” she said when Aberforth released her suddenly, his face tight with worry as he looked her over. 

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have grabbed you like that. I know that you couldn’t be touched, and yet I did it anyway. Please, forgive me.”

Ariana smiled up at her brother, cocking her head to one side, feeling strange that he was so familiar, and yet unfamiliar at the same time. “If it was an issue now, you would have been knocked off of your feet,” she said sweetly, well aware it was at odds with what she had mentioned. 

Aberforth gave her a strange look, before glancing at Albus and back. “You mean…?”

Smiling wildly, Ariana nodded, moving in to hug the familiar stranger that was her brother. “I do. Whatever happened to me, whoever did this, cured me as well.”

As she hugged Aberforth, Ariana still felt a little off. Things had changed so drastically, and so quickly, she knew it was going to take her a lot of time to sort everything out. Especially the mystery of whatever Albus was up to, precipitating someone, or something incredibly powerful, sending her through time, and healing her body and magic. 

“So… are we going to sign you up for Hogwarts, or what?” Aberforth asked, smiling down at her, ruffling her hair gently. 

Ariana gaped at him. She hadn’t even considered getting to go to Hogwarts to study magic. Suddenly her future seemed to be so much brighter than she could have ever imagined. Hope and happiness radiated in her heart as she beamed brightly, Hailey smiling happily back, giving her a thumbs up.