Why is the `..` entry missing in `dir` output for directories directly under a drive root?

When I run dir inside C:Tempmupdf (a directory two levels deep), I see both . and .. listed as expected:


C:Tempmupdf>dir

...

11/03/2026  15:26    <DIR>          .
24/06/2026  14:48    <DIR>          ..

...

But when I run dir inside C:mupdf (a directory directly under the drive root), .. is absent:


C:mupdf>dir

...

11/03/2026  15:26    <DIR>    .
...

This is on Windows 11 (latest) with an NTFS volume.

I have memory that this wasn’t always like that.

Am I allucinating what I remember, or was there a change at some point? I was able to find an online VM with Windows 95, and the dir command showed a .. on both folders.