What happened to Ariana Dumbledore?

The Harry Potter franchise has seen a lot of characters come and go, but many fans have wondered what happened to Ariana Dumbledore.

When it comes to the Harry Potter franchise, the fate of many have been left to a mystery thanks to the ever changing cast of characters in each book/movie.

However, one fate that isn’t nearly talked about as much as other major characters is the fate of young Ariana Dumbledore.

The sister of Professor Albus Dumbledore, the revered headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Ariana was not mentioned much in the series, but many fans have inquired about what happened to her.

What happened to Ariana Dumbledore in Harry Potter?

Ariana Dumbledore was killed during a duel between Albus, Aberforth Dumbledore, and Gellert Grindelwald.

Despite the Harry Potter spanning eight books/nine movies, Ariana’s existence was only mentioned in the final book/movie.

In the book, Ariana is mentioned in Dumbledore’s obituary while, in the film, she is mentioned by her middle brother, Aberforth, while he is speaking to Harry and his friends.

Thought to be Squib, or non-magical being, Ariana proved to be the exact opposite of that as she was actually very powerful when it came to magic, but she was not able to control it due to the consequence of being violently attacked by a group of Muggle boys who saw her using her powers.

After her uncontrollable magic outburst caused the death of their mother, Albus took over caretaker duties for her and Abertforth, but it all came to a head when Albus’ friend/love/Muggle hater Gellert Grindelwald tried to recruit him to take over the human world.

Warner Bros.

Unfortunately, a three-way duel broke out between Albus, Grindelwald, and Aberforth, who was trying to stop Albus from leaving, and one of their spells hit and killed Ariana.

After her death, Grindelwald fled, which ended his friendship with Albus, and the two Dumbledore brothers’ relationship was forever changed as Aberforth continued to blame Albus for Ariana’s death.

The ghost of Ariana did help Harry and his friends with their mission to end Lord Voldemort’s reign of terror, but the series was forever haunted by Ariana’s untimely demise.