Hogwarts.
The school was on holiday.
However, because quite a large number of new students would be enrolling this year,
Deputy Headmistress Professor Minerva McGonagall was practically run off her feet. Like the other professors, she also had to occasionally help explain the existence of magic to the parents of new students born to Muggle families.
It had to be said—the number of new students this year was truly staggering.
However busy the professors at Hogwarts might be, there was certainly one person who was comparatively free.
The Hogwarts Headmaster.
Albus Dumbledore.
Dumbledore was a name familiar to everyone throughout the Wizarding World. He had always been universally recognized as the greatest White Wizard of the modern era.
Behind the Headmaster's name was usually a string of astonishing achievements. The wizards of the Wizarding World had grown up alongside the name Dumbledore.
Moreover,
Dumbledore was also considered the greatest Headmaster in the history of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This reputation was something the over-century-old man was very fond of.
At his age, there was nothing Dumbledore enjoyed more than raising a group of young wizards until they came of age.
At that moment, Dumbledore was sitting in his office.
The old man's hair was somewhat disheveled, a small pair of spectacles rested on the bridge of his nose, and his long white beard was neatly tied. His hands lay on the desk, covering a thick spellbook.
This was a truly learned old man.
Beside his hand sat a cup of warm tea. Next to it was a plate of sweet, delicious sponge cake, with a flat spoon resting across the plate.
The old man's life was exceedingly comfortable.
A birdcage stand rose above the desk. A completely crimson Phoenix stood quietly upon it, only occasionally giving its head a little shake.
Dumbledore noticed the Phoenix's movement, lowered the page in his hand, picked up the spoon, scooped up a small bite of cake, and held it out before the Phoenix as he carefully soothed it. "I nearly forgot. Fawkes has to eat breakfast properly every day..."
Phoenix Fawkes.
This was the companion who had stayed by Dumbledore's side all along. The two got along like family, and Fawkes was one of the few creatures capable of remaining with Dumbledore for so long.
Just as the Fire Phoenix lowered its head to peck at the bite of cake, its body suddenly froze in place, as though it had sensed some danger, and it violently twisted its head around!
"Chirp~clang!"
The Phoenix's cry, which had once sounded like celestial music, suddenly rang from its beak with a murderous note!
It was a signal that danger was approaching!
Dumbledore hurriedly set down the spoon in his hand, lifted the sleeve of his broad robe, and walked to the window of the Headmaster's Office to look up at the sky.
A chill quietly enveloped summer Hogwarts.
Filch, the caretaker remaining at Hogwarts, and the House-elves below also felt the temperature suddenly drop, as though winter had arrived at the school half a year early.
When Dumbledore stepped out of the Headmaster's Office, he saw a gigantic Ice Crystal Giant Bird circling above Hogwarts's barrier!
With a wingspan of more than a dozen meters, it looked like an ancient creature. Its abundant, immense magical power and body formed from frost crystals made it easy to feel the oppressive force emanating from the giant bird!
As a legendary Mythical Creature, Phoenix Fawkes was undoubtedly the first to recognize the terror of the Ice Crystal Giant Bird. This was unquestionably a Mythical Creature as well!
Dumbledore raised his head and looked at the circling Ice Crystal Giant Bird. The old wizard's gaze remained sharp enough to see that something resembling an envelope was clamped beside its sharp beak...
So...
Was this a pet that delivered letters?
Dumbledore removed his spectacles in some confusion, wiped the corners of his eyes, and put them back on. "Hmm... Am I simply too old and seeing things?"
Hmm.
He had not seen wrong.
It was not because he was too old and his eyesight had grown dim.
Rather, this powerful Magical Creature, which could clearly influence the weather, really was being used to deliver a letter. That behavior was rather too ostentatious.
Anyone who witnessed this scene would certainly assume that the person behind it was challenging Albus Dumbledore. Even Dumbledore himself thought so.
The old man's temperament was magnanimous, and he did not mind in the slightest.
Dumbledore smiled and waved at the Ice Bird in the sky. With a silent spell, he made his aged voice become grand and sonorous. "If you've come to deliver a letter to me, just fly down. I have some sweets here as well..."
This was customary among wizards.
Pets generally had to eat something after delivering a letter.
The Ice Crystal Phoenix soaring through the sky heard the old man's voice. Its body rapidly descended from the sky, actually breaking straight through Hogwarts's barrier!
The Ice Bird's enormous body floated in the open space between Hogwarts's floors. As it descended, layers of frost instantly formed across the walls.
Phoenix Fawkes, who had appeared on Dumbledore's shoulder, could not help letting out several sharp cries, seemingly greeting the Ice Bird.
Unfortunately...
The Ice Bird's temperament was equally cold as ice. It merely extended its enormous head and delivered the envelope it had carefully carried in its beak all the way there.
To be honest, delivering a letter was no small challenge for it.
Dumbledore had to rise onto his tiptoes to take the envelope. The cold emanating from it made his fingers tremble, and the letter itself had even become a solid block of ice.
As the old man accepted the letter, he was still childishly wondering whether he would need to light the fireplace in summer and roast the letter dry...
"Chirp!"
After seeing Dumbledore take the letter, the Ice Bird did not linger. It spread its wings and flew away from the school with brisk decisiveness.
"Quite a distinctive fellow..."
Dumbledore lowered his head and glanced at the envelope. It was addressed to Hogwarts.
It was a letter sent to the school, and combined with the Ice Bird that had appeared earlier, Dumbledore assumed it might be something like a letter of exchange from another Magic School.
However, when the old man opened the envelope and read its contents, he was somewhat confused. It was only when he saw the signature that he realized it was a reply sent by a new student.
It had to be said.
Fortunately, he had been the one to receive it.
If Professor Minerva McGonagall had received the letter, she would most likely have treated the little fellow as a problem child. Professor McGonagall valued etiquette above all else and could not remain as composed about everything as the old man.
[Read.] [By the way, can my pet Anivia come into the school with me? It was a birthday present from Mr. Barty Crouch.] [P.S. The Ice Bird that delivered the letter is Anivia. It is just a little big. Mr. Barty Crouch said it might not be allowed, even though it doesn't need to eat anything.] [Yours sincerely, Vinson Wright]
"Looks like a lively little fellow..."
After glancing over the letter, Dumbledore already had certain expectations. This new student named Vinson Wright would most likely cause quite a few disturbances at school.
That sort of thing did not matter to the old man at all.
Besides, Dumbledore knew that there were quite a few lively new students this year. For instance, the twin brothers from the Weasley family would also be entering Hogwarts.
The name Vinson Wright had appeared before.
When Dumbledore recalled where he had first heard the name, he picked up the quill from the desk and began seriously writing a reply to Vinson Wright.
On the wall of photographs in the Headmaster's Office,
the former Hogwarts headmasters in history seemed to come alive. They began asking questions all at once. "Dumbledore, who sent you that letter? We heard from the people hanging outside that the sender was challenging Hogwarts?"
"No, merely a kind and interesting little fellow."
Dumbledore smiled and shook his head. Holding the quill, he continued writing his reply with care while rambling in response to them. "Once this year's little ones have all enrolled, Hogwarts will be livelier than in any year before..."
A primary school student's days were quite useful...
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