ตอน 108: An unexpected meeting! Part-1
{Headmaster's Office, Hogwarts}
{25th Sep 1991}
{3rd Person POV}
It has been over a week since 'The Attack on the Gryffindor Tower,' as the rumor mill coined this incident. Conjectures also connected this incident to Sirius Black's successful infiltration of the Gryffindor Tower. According to the current rumors, Sirius Black carefully timed his assassination attempt, but due to Harry Potter's prophetic prowess, he was able to escape this feeble attempt easily.
Rigel found it funny how the rumor mill went from 'Seamus Finnigan's jealousy over Harry Potter's fame' to 'The Attack on the Gryffindor Tower.' Wild rumors circulated around the castle, and many changes occurred. Dementers roamed closer to the castle walls as shadows loomed over the prospect of the first quidditch match.
Along with the fact that Harry Potter had somehow found himself back into the Gryffindor Quidditch team, accompanied by the outrage of the other three houses, every house began re-trialing for their own quidditch team, this time including the first years. Rigel had stayed away from the action, though he had noticed that Tracy had been denied the opportunity to trial because of her blood status.
The Weasley twins had maintained their promise, and not a peep regarding his involvement came out in the rumors. There was some speculation that he must have helped Sirius Black sneak into the castle but nothing more than that, all in all, after a quiet week, the last thing he expected was to be summoned over by the Headmaster himself.
'I made sure that there were no paintings other than the Fat Lady who noticed me arriving and leaving the Gryffindor Tower, so there should be no way for him to track me down. I made sure to take the antidote to the Polyjuice potion before taking the box back with me, and I didn't even take the box back to the Slytherin common room but to the Room of Hidden Things... There should be no way for him to be able to connect the incident with me.' Rigel thought.
He had been tracing every move he had made in the past week and the day of the incident. He was pretty sure that he didn't do anything wrong. The only possible way to track him would be through tracking his scent, but he went through plenty of hidden corridors, so he was a little doubtful.
Rigel stared into the Grriffin's eyes as he spoke, "Stringmints."
'Even if I Did leave some form of DNA evidence behind? A broken hair or something... I was in the first-year dorm for less than a minute, so I shouldn't have been too unlucky. Any evidence I left behind would indicate that it was Neville's hair; that's how the polyjuice potion works, and that's why it's a banned item...'
The revolving staircase that worked like a magical escalator was fascinating as I arrived at large wooden doors. These shone brightly to his Magical sense as each and every inch of the doorway was interwoven with runes. Rigel was not able to sense anything beyond that, but the reverse may not be true as the doors swung open on their own.
The Headmaster's office was magical, the dozens of portraits whose eyes snapped to him pushed aside for the moment. Several things caught his eye. There was a bookshelf that contained tones of old tomes and scrolls, forbidden knowledge that was locked tight under the headmaster's gaze, and, according to his senses, a ward protecting them.
With his magical senses, it was easy to see which items were magical, and the Headmaster's office was full of them. There were weird devices with two drums that spun at odd frequencies and were connected to the wards, a hidden entryway to another room hidden behind a mirror, the desk, the quill—everything was enchanted, and they all lit up to his mana sense, but nothing came close to the two beaming lights to his senses.
He knew how strong Dumbledore was; his level had already given him that idea, but it was the Phoenix that was a surprise. He didn't remember how it was described in the novel, and the movie counterpart didn't leave too much of an impression. Whether it was limited by the CGI of his previous world was in question because the mystical creature in front of him looked ethereal.
The orange-golden fire was stuck to its feathers like a blanket that separated it from the mortal world. The golden eyes evaluated him for a mere moment before looking away in disinterest. Sure, from the structure, it looked like an ordinary bird, but the gleaming scales that covered its neck and the steel-like feathers did tell him that the bird was not less dangerous than the man himself.
"Beautiful, isn't she?" Dumbledore's voice broke Rigel from staring at the mystical creature, and he absently nodded. Maybe he wouldn't like Dumbledore as a character, but he had to admit that the Phoenix was clearly a mystical creature.
"Mystical... that's the word that comes to my mind," Rigel admitted. He noticed Dumbledore smile slightly as he looked into the old man's eyes. He wasn't worried that the old man would try to read his mind because Snape had already tried and failed. He could move the conversation along and focus on why he was here, but seeing Fawkes made him change his mind.
"How did you two meet... if you don't mind me asking?" Rigel questioned. He stared at the Phoenix again and noticed that the bird was indeed paying attention to the conversation.
"Hoh... now that was so long time ago, wasn't it Fawkes..." Dumbledore hummed as if he was lost in his memories, "...it was safe to say it was Fawkes who found me decades ago when I needed some help and has stuck around since."
It was a simple way to deny his interest in the clearly mystical creature and Rigel nodded, he didn't want to question in this direction, not for now anyway. He turned and looked at the old man before him and asked, "You summoned me for something, Headmaster?"
The old wizard nodded as his face took on a serious tone. He stared into Rigel's eyes momentarily and then asked, "How much do you know about the Chamber of Secrets?"
...
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AN: The Chamber of Secrets and Sirius's exoneration would mingle on for the entire school year. The story would pick up pace slightly from now on! Plus a character would return briefly for a smut scene in the upcoming chapters!
P.S- 47+ Chapters on P.atreon!
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