✔The Silver Side | Ariana Dumbledore

To Live Normally

Ariana crept up the stairs to her eldest brother's room. Him and Gellert were finally out of the house and Ariana wanted to find that book. She hadn't been getting much sleep lately because of the voice, but that didn't stop her from getting up at the ungodly hours way before the sun came up. She'd just go back to bed and wake up later.

She hit a creaky stair and cringed. She waited a few seconds before skipping that stair entirely and going to the next one. The only person she had to worry about was Aberforth and it took a lot of noise to wake him up. She got to the door and tiptoed in. There were piles of books and parchment everywhere. On the desk, the bed, on the floor and on the window sill. Ariana hadn't been in her brother's room since before mother died and it was much cleaner since he spent most of his time at school.

She decided to start on the floor, then the desk and bed, and finally the window. She looked through the books flipping through each one and found barely anything regarding whatever sickness she had, obscurus or not.

Most of the books were about wizard law and the statute of secrecy and Ariana wondered why her brother had a sudden interest in wizarding politics. She learned a few things from the books like muggles hunting down mostly witches and sometimes wizards, but she didn't find anything detailed about obscuruses. She would occasionally find the topic thrusted in with another, and the author would quickly gloss over that 'Young wizards or witches would often suppress their magic to avoid being hunted and killed by muggles.' As a way of demonstrating the fear muggles invoked on wizardkind.

Ariana hated that she could relate to it, and wondered if that's what she was. An obscurus. She supposed it was better than being dead or abandoned by wizard-kind for being a squib. 

Suppose she was an obscurus, someone who had no control over their power, how would she be able to live normally? She'd always need someone to watch over her and keep her in line, she'd make life hard for her brothers and they wouldn't be able to do what they wanted most.

Ariana was starting to panic. The air felt heavy but she couldn't seem to breathe. Her hands were shaking and her body felt heavier than usual. 

It really is all my fault, she thought to herself.

Yes. Yes it is.

I just need to understand you

The voice was silent. 

She knew that if she wanted a normal life for her and her brothers, she'd have to learn to solve her own problems. Starting with this one.