Familiar Animals, Talking to Dumbledore

"...Hagrid, that's roughly what happened."

After hearing Lucien's explanation, Hagrid chuckled.

"No need to apologize to me, my friend."

"Oh, right. How were the vegetables I grew? Did your little pet like them?"

Lucien had gradually grown used to Hagrid's rather unusual train of thought.

His first reaction was actually to ask whether the vegetables tasted good. This Half-Giant friend's straightforwardness and kindness left Lucien feeling a little ashamed.

"Uh, it thought they were very good. It really liked the taste of those vegetables."

"Heh, that's good. How come I don't see your pet?"

Lucien answered Hagrid's question casually.

"The little one's still playing in the Forbidden Forest."

Hagrid nodded, then reminded him, "Then you'd better tell it to be careful. There are still some dangerous creatures in the Forbidden Forest."

Lucien expressed his understanding and thanked him, but in his heart, he was not particularly worried about the little Qilin.

Thinking of that terrifyingly powerful Purifying Fire, as well as its unrestricted Apparition, he felt he should be more worried that Liuguang might one day burn straight through the Forbidden Forest.

Mm, thankfully, the Qilin only needed to feed on dew and the essence of plants and trees. It was vegetarian. Otherwise, the animals in the Forbidden Forest would have become its buffet.

Lucien chatted with Hagrid while stroking Fang's head.

For some reason, Fang, who had kept his distance from him the previous few times, had taken the initiative to come over today and ask to be petted.

Was it because he had come to Hagrid's place more often and gotten familiar with Fang?

Or had something changed about him over the past two days...

Whoosh—

A crimson ball of fire appeared beside Hagrid's hut, and immediately after, a large red bird flew out from within it.

"Fawkes!"

Hagrid called out the Phoenix's name at once.

Lucien's thoughts were also interrupted by Fawkes's appearance, and he could not help looking at this legendary bird.

According to the popular science in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Phoenixes were extremely few in number.

It was said that the Dumbledore family had a deep connection with Phoenixes. When a family member needed help, a Phoenix would appear.

So this was Old Dumbledore's Phoenix. Mm, its entrance effects were quite flashy.

Hagrid thought Dumbledore had once again sent Fawkes to find him, so he held out his arm, ready to catch it.

However, Fawkes did not even look at him. It flew straight toward Lucien and finally hovered in front of the boy.

It came to find him?

Lucien subconsciously held out his arm, and Fawkes landed gracefully on it.

It felt rather light. Looking at its size, was it just puffed up? Were its feathers simply thicker?

After Fawkes steadied itself, it stretched out its head and rubbed against Lucien's hair, appearing very affectionate.

"Hagrid, what is this?"

Hagrid scratched his messy hair.

"Dumbledore probably wants to see you about something, so he sent Fawkes."

"But I've never seen a Phoenix get this close to someone before."

"Oh, right, the way Fawkes carries people..."

Before Hagrid could finish speaking, great sheets of flame burst from Fawkes, enveloping both it and Lucien.

In the next instant, Lucien had already appeared in the Headmaster's Office.

"Good morning, Lucien."

Lucien saw an old man with white hair and beard, wearing half-moon spectacles, greeting him.

"Good morning, Headmaster Dumbledore."

When Lucien returned the greeting, Fawkes was still clinging to his arm, and even began combing his hair with its beak.

Seeing this, Dumbledore could not help being surprised. This was the first time he had seen Fawkes be so affectionate with anyone else.

"Haha, it seems Fawkes likes you very much."

"Old friend, go and rest for now. I have a few things I'd like to discuss with this young wizard."

However, Fawkes completely ignored Dumbledore and continued helping Lucien tidy his hair.

That left Dumbledore slightly embarrassed. In the end, it was only after Lucien gently patted Fawkes that it reluctantly flew away.

Lucien was a little puzzled too. Why was the Phoenix so close to him?

And Fang was the same. Rather than slowly getting familiar with him, it felt more like a sudden closeness.

If one or two were both like this, then he had probably gained some kind of trait.

As for recently...

Liuguang's awakening? Or was it that, as the Qilin's master, he had undergone certain changes that these animals and magical creatures could sense?

Because the young Qilin had previously been asleep in the system space, or because it was still in its juvenile stage, perhaps that trait hadn't been obvious?

Hmm. Later, he could go into the Forbidden Forest and try it out with other magical creatures to verify it.

Lucien was still thinking when his gaze was suddenly drawn to something.

In the center of the room stood a square glass cabinet, with shaded candle lamps placed at its four corners.

A gray-white hat, covered in patches and split by a crack, sat in the middle of the cabinet.

"The Sorting Hat? Why have you turned white?"

"Ah, yes, yes! Finally, someone recognized me!"

"Lucien, sorting you into Ravenclaw really was the right choice. Unlike that sharp-eyed little brat last time..."

"You really are clever. Worthy of being the most talented young wizard I've seen in all these years..."

The Sorting Hat chattered on endlessly. Lucien turned to look at Dumbledore, a trace of confusion in his eyes, as if asking: Is this normal?

Dumbledore merely spread his hands.

"After the last Sorting Ceremony, it became much more active. Every day, it has to talk like this for a while."

Dumbledore's expression couldn't help turning strange as he recalled his exchange with the Sorting Hat that night. He had clearly only wanted to ask about Lucien's character and talent, but in the end, it had cost him a glass display case, as well as a monthly hat cleaning.

Lucien nodded. It seemed that after working for a thousand years, even a magical hat would go mad.

After Lucien sat down, Dumbledore conjured honey water, Lemon Sherbet, Licorice Wands...

Looking at the dizzying variety of sweets on the table, Lucien couldn't help grumbling inwardly. As expected of old bee Dumbledore.

"Lucien, this should be our first time chatting, but I've already heard about you from several professors."

"Their assessments of you were all quite high. They said you are a very talented, diligent, and humble student."

"That's only because the teachers are fond of me. I'm very grateful for their guidance and help."

Old Dumbledore definitely hadn't called him here just to praise him, right? It wasn't as if Hogwarts had some kind of merit student certificate.

Lucien felt he had behaved pretty normally since the start of term. Aside from learning a little quickly and showing some magical talent, there was no need for the headmaster to summon him for a talk.

But this worked out too. He had already wanted to come and talk to Dumbledore about going to "Quirrell" for extra lessons in Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Planting a ward with old Dumbledore in advance would make things safer.

Lucien was just thinking about how to bring it up to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore suddenly asked, "Lucien, I was chatting with Professor Flitwick before. He said you wanted to try using the Undetectable Extension Charm to contain living creatures?"

"Mm, yes. But the professor also told me that it would be very difficult to accomplish."

Dumbledore nodded and let a letter float into his hand.

"Actually, regarding this question, I consulted an old friend."

"His name is Newt. Newt Scamander. Have you heard of him?"