An Eager Night Visit

Headmaster's Office.

A crimson flame suddenly ignited in the center of the room, its tongues surging.

A moment later, the flames parted to the sides, and a tall figure with silver hair and a silver beard emerged from them—it was Dumbledore.

The travel cloak she wore still carried the chill of the outside, but her blue eyes remained bright in the firelight.

Fawkes leaned listlessly on his shoulder, nodding his head and stretching his neck toward the bird's nest, his meaning clear as day—I want to go back and rest.

Dumbledore understood his old friend's meaning, gently lifted it up, walked to the bird's nest and placed it there, then handed over some herbs from the side.

This is the Phoenix's food; the Phoenix only eats this.

"You've had a hard time these past few days," Dumbledore said softly, his fingers tracing Fawkes ' feathers.

Since obtaining Tom Riddle's diary and confirming the existence of Horcrux, Dumbledore has been pursuing other clues.

He believed that, given Voldemort's nature, he must have created more than one Horcrux.

What other insane things wouldn't the Dark Lord, who dared to tamper with his own soul in pursuit of immortality, do?

Moreover, those Horcrux would certainly be hidden in all sorts of secret, unexpected places.

During this period Dumbledore spent all his free time running around, investigating Voldemort's origins from the beginning, tracing his travels after graduation, and trying to find the whereabouts of the Horcrux from those clues.

As for the transfers and relocations along the way, that's for Fawkes to worry about.

Dumbledore certainly possessed the Apparition, and at an extremely high level.

However, it's still not as convenient and free as the Phoenix's innate teleportation ability.

After swallowing the herbs and drinking a large gulp of dew, Fawkes regained some of his strength.

It raised its head and let out a gruff bark.

Dumbledore could understand that Fawkes was complaining:

"You can use Apparition go to those places you've already been to. Don't say you forgot to locate them... I'm still growing, I can't overexert myself."

Dumbledore shook his head helplessly.

He was already used to this old friend acting young when he needed to and acting old when he needed to.

Who allows the Phoenix to rise from the ashes? Age and such can be defined by oneself.

Just as Dumbledore was about to comfort Fawkes and coax him to continue the investigation, he suddenly sensed something and turned to look at the window.

Under the moonlight, a wisp of silvery mist Silencio climbed up the edge of the window.

The fog was so thin that it almost blended into the moonlight, making it difficult to notice.

It swayed gently in front of the window, then suddenly shrank and disappeared.

It was as if they were just there to say hello.

What had just happened seemed like a hallucination, but Dumbledore's brow furrowed slightly as he muttered to himself:

"Patronus Charm? It feels a bit..."

Boom--

Before Dumbledore, a soft, deep sound rang out—the sound of the gargoyle at the Headmaster's Office door parting.

Immediately afterwards, hurried footsteps came from the spiral staircase.

The thumping was both fast and heavy, indicating that the person had clearly run all the way up.

Dumbledore turned and looked toward the stairwell.

Snape practically charged forward, his already greasy black hair now sticking to his forehead, soaked with sweat, the hem of his black robe stained with dust from who-knows-where, and his breathing was somewhat rapid.

After he regained his footing, his gaze fell on Dumbledore.

"Dumbledore, did you touch the Patronus Charm you just saw?"