Aberforth at DD's funeral (Was Re: Spinner's End)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 156878

Abergoat wrote:
> > Does it bother anyone else that no condolences were offered to the
> > barman at the funeral? Several members of the Order have met
him...and if he does look like Dumbledore then Mad Eye and Hagrid
should have had no trouble recognizing him.
> 
> Potioncat:
> I really cannot remember. We know Aberforth is the barman. Harry
knows Aberforth is DD's brother. Does Harry know Aberforth is the barman?
> 
> (This is one way the unreliable narrator is used, when the narrator 
> sees something but doesn't "know" what he sees, but the reader
knows. It's used in Huck Finn this way too.)
> 
> If canon shows that Harry does know that DD's brother Abeforth is
the barman,then pay no attention to the sentences behind the ( ).
>
Carol responds:
Potioncat is right. There's no indication that Harry knows that
Aberforth is the barman. Otherwise, the narrator would hardly have
stated that the barman from the Hog's Head was one of the attendees at
the funeral. Harry has seen Aberforth's photograph only once, when his
mind was on other things (like Wormtail sitting between his parents
and how many of those people were about to die or lose their minds).
Also, Aberforth was out of context in the photo, and probably not
wearing his apron, so Harry didn't recognize him as the barman. The
reader does--we've put two and two together with the goat clue and
other things, such as DD's remark that he's friendly with the local
barmen (meaning, IMO, that Aberforth, at least, is part of his
extensive spy network). But Harry doesn't usually try to fit evidence
together unless he has a personal stake in it.

As for why no one offered condolences to Aberforth, we don't know
that. Harry merely glimpsed "the barman" and noticed that he was
attending the funeral. Otherwise, his attention was engaged by other
things, like the service itself. And no one offers condolences during
the funeral. They would have done so before or more likely afterward,
out of Harry's hearing. Unless Aberforth is keeping a low profile and
doesn't want to be the center of attention as the bereaved brother.

BTW, I wonder if Aberforth is a fence for Mundungus's stolen goods--a
Fagin among the Order members--as well as a spy for DD. That would
explain what Mundungus was doing at the Hog's Head when he was
supposedly kicked out twenty years earlier (another cover story)? If
so, I think it's likely that Aberforth has the locket Horcrux. (He may
also know what happened with Snape, DD, and the ring Horcrux.
*Someone* need to tell us that story, since DD never did!)

Carol, wondering what JKR meant when she said we should think about
Dumbledore's family