Pecking Your Butt

I've slightly revised the last part of the previous chapter, adding some content. For those who read it last night, please exit and refresh, as it might be a bit disjointed otherwise.

The four founders probably never imagined that a thousand years later, the Headmaster's Office would still face a disaster—even though they had set it up separately in a tall tower.

At this moment, the Headmaster's Office was filled with smoke and debris. The remaining "Confringo" spells flew around the room like small fireworks, ricocheting off walls and changing direction.

Fawkes, who had been dozing on its golden perch, let out a startled cry and flew up, its long tail feathers sweeping through the air.

The portraits on the walls stopped pretending to sleep, their eyes wide as saucers, chattering amongst themselves.

Phineas Black's clamor was the loudest.

"Expelled! She must be expelled! Bombarding the Headmaster's Office! In my entire life, even as a portrait on this wall, I've never seen such a brazen student!"

He was so agitated that he was spitting everywhere. When he saw Eliana's red and black uniform, he became even more excited: "I always said Gryffindors are just a bunch of troublemaking scoundrels!"

Snape's expression showed agreement.

The old scoundrel with the long white beard showed his disapproval: "Oh, Phineas..."

Eliana, dazed on the floor, unconsciously fumbled with her wand. The small fireworks zipping around the office suddenly shot towards the wall.

"Merlin's beard!"

Headmaster Black, furious, cried out and darted to another portrait frame.

"Don't be like that, Phineas," Dumbledore said, making the small fireworks disappear with a wave of his hand, a wry smile on his face. "She's just a child!"

Fawkes, who had been flying around, saw that the commotion had finally subsided and landed in front of Eliana, tilting its head curiously.

What a big turkey.

Eliana, still groggy, instinctively reached out to grab it.

Fawkes shrieked and flew straight up, a few fiery red feathers drifting down.

Eliana casually tucked them into her pocket.

"See? Such a passionate, kind, and adorably mischievous child," Snape said slowly in a drawn-out tone.

He calmly put away his wand and even found a chair to sit down, enjoying the chaos before him.

You know, it's quite amusing to watch Eliana cause trouble for others, as long as it's not you she's bothering.

-- Especially when the one being bothered is Dumbledore, that makes it even more interesting.

It would be best if those two troublemakers could take care of each other; he couldn't even imagine what a beautiful scene that would be.

Eliana, dazed amidst the falling glass shards, landed on the floor. Before she could recover, she heard someone praising her.

Countless little stars were still dancing around in her vision, but her ears perked up.

"Who's praising me?"

She groggily lifted her head.

"See? So enthusiastic, she's still responding even in this state," Snape sighed dramatically, arms crossed. "Or perhaps it's because you're the Headmaster, with such discerning eyes."

Eliana's dizzying vision finally returned to normal, and she immediately saw Snape sitting in front of her, praising her.

Hehe.

Her heart bloomed with joy, and she grinned, fumbling in her pocket. Ignoring the round coins, she pulled out the bird feathers she had just found and, wiggling on the floor, offered them to him.

"Thank you for the praise, Professor~ I found a magical fire turkey just now—" At this point, Fawkes, who had returned to its perch, let out a displeased squawk, but Eliana didn't notice and continued, "I thought you might be able to use them for brewing potions, so I picked up two."

Fawkes squawked again.

Snape, who had been vigorously venting his frustrations at Dumbledore, paused: ???

What are you doing to me now! It's like you're implying I instructed you to come to the Headmaster's Office and blast everything apart and pluck feathers!

I was careless, I shouldn't have let my guard down with Rich—this thing can mess with you from an angle you'd never even consider.

Snape expressionlessly put Fawkes's feathers in his pocket—phoenix feathers were rare ingredients, and he never passed up valuable potion materials.

-- Why shouldn't he take them? He had to clean up so much mess for Eliana and Dumbledore; this was his due.

Fawkes, having its tail feathers plucked again, let out another displeased cry.

Dumbledore stood up, smiling at Snape: "I see little Eliana likes you very much."

Snape's expression was eerily calm, as if he were dead.

Eliana finally realized where she was.

-- Oh my god, she had blown up the Headmaster's Office!

How much would that cost to repair?

She shakily stood up, forcing a smile that was uglier than crying: "I, I'm sorry, Headmaster, I didn't mean to. I was practicing riding my broomstick—the final exam is coming up—I just lost control for a moment..."

"Relax, child. Unfortunately, I can't give Gryffindor five points for your love of learning."

Dumbledore winked playfully at her, while Snape let out a heavy snort through his large nose.

Eliana obediently lowered her head, carefully peeking at the kind old man through the gaps between her lashes.

It seems like it's not angry at all.

Eliana, who had been peeking, became bold.

I was wrong.jpg

You're not angry.

Hehe, then I'm doing well.jpg

"Mr. Headmaster, your phoenix is so beautiful."

She said with a giggle.

Perched on its branch, Fawkes, who had been glancing sideways at them—especially Eliana—and making clicking sounds, finally couldn't hold back.

It let out an angry screech, and with its sharp beak and wings spread, it swooped down at Eliana like a fiery meteor.

A piercing scream echoed through the Headmaster's Office at Hogwarts, shaking the last piece of glass from the window frame. It made anyone who heard it think that perhaps the Headmaster had reinstated the whipping system from the last century.

Eliana missed the major breakthrough Harry and the others had when they found Nicolas Flamel on the chocolate frog cards Neville gave them. She also missed the final showdown between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff the next day.

Because Fawkes had pecked a hole in her backside, and who knows what magic was on the phoenix's beak, she had to rest in the Hospital Wing for two full days.

This phoenix is way too petty. Eliana thought.

"It happened so suddenly; it's the first time I've seen Fawkes get this angry."

The bird's owner, Dumbledore, said so.

"This bird, besides delivering messages, is also quite useful."

Snape said with amusement.

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