Aberforth

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 174866

Just to lighten things up a little, I think that one prediction most
if not all of us got right was that the Hog's Head bartender and DD's
brother Aberforth were one and the same, and that he was the Order
member we'd met but didn't properly know.

Just out of curiosity (I'm addressing the group in general), what were
your expectations for him and how close to the mark were they? What's
your reaction to the character as he's presented? Is he just a plot
device? A foil to Albus? Something else?

Any symbolism involved with his opaque glasses but bright blue eyes?
His goat Patronus? If we think that Snape has a hard time letting go
of Lily, what are we to think of Aberforth and Ariana (and, no; I am
not talking about an incestuous affection, only a lifetime obsession)?

BTW, I read "unlettered" as a relative statement in contrast to the
highly literate Albus and his dear friend, Gellert: "lacking facility
in reading and writing and ignorant of the knowledge to be gained from
books" (Merriam-Webster Online) as opposed to unable to write his name
or read a book title. I don't think that a student could get through
even his first year at Hogwarts without knowing how to read at least
as well as the average eight- or nine-year-old even if he's not
reading at his age level or grade level. I would be very surprised if
he literally couldn't read, as Albus rather facetiously (and unkindly)
suggested in an earlier book. I just doubt that he ever chose to do so
for entertainment or voluntary intellectual advancement.

(Side note: I think Crabbe and Goyle were a little too stupid to be
believed, but Aberforth is in a different league.)

Is he wiser than DD in your view, or are they both mistaken in their
perceptions of each other? Any guesses as to which House he was in?

(Another side note: I looked up the etymology of Ariana, which turns
out to be a variant form of Ariadne, the name of the princess who
rescued Theseus from the Minotaur and was later abandoned by him.
Here's the etymology of Ariadne, assuming that Yahoo can replicate the
Greek characters: 

Means "most holy", composed of the Cretan Greek elements  (ari)
"most" and α (adnos) "holy".

http://www.behindthename.com/php/view.php?name=ariadne )

Carol, not looking for a "right reading" of Aberforth (or Ariana),
only a variety of thoughts and opinions, preferably canon-based and
tasting faintly of butterbeer