Dumbledore rose and returned the Pensieve to the cabinet. "Earlier, I heard Minerva and Filius say..."
"They successfully transcended an Animagus's 'animal instincts,' and even used that to enhance the effects of certain magic."
"Yes!" Wizet nodded in confirmation. "Professor Flitwick and Professor McGonagall shared the training method with me."
Dumbledore straightened the Pensieve. "It sounds as though you have already grasped that method. It seems we may have a chance to..."
Before he could finish, Fawkes flew over and hovered between him and Wizet, letting out a soft cry as though to say, "I'm ready."
Seeing Fawkes like this, Wizet smiled and shook his head. "Headmaster Dumbledore, I actually haven't mastered that method yet."
"I guessed as much!" Dumbledore stroked his beard, then raised a hand to gently stroke Fawkes's long neck. "Fawkes, we'll have to trouble you to take us there this time."
"Little Hangleton... you remember that place, don't you? We went there once not long ago."
Fawkes gave a long cry and nodded in a remarkably humanlike manner. With a gentle sway of his body, he flicked his tail feathers toward Wizet and Dumbledore, and the three of them vanished amid a burst of fire.
Wizet and Dumbledore walked along a country lane. Perhaps because snow was falling here, the sky was exceptionally dim, as though a vast pale-gray curtain had been hung overhead to block out the sunlight.
It was a fierce blizzard of thick, fluttering snowflakes. The trails of footprints left by Wizet and Dumbledore were quickly buried beneath the falling snow.
Dumbledore raised a hand and pointed into the distance. "The Gaunt family used to live there."
Wizet turned his head slightly and looked in the direction Dumbledore indicated, where a house stood alone.
Snow blanketed the roof of that house, making