After having dinner in the Great Hall, Silan prepared to return to the Room of Requirement.
Even on the road, his mind refused to rest, wandering off into random thoughts about his [Animal Bloodline] proficiency.
"The Basilisk and Lucia have almost reached their limits, and their growth rate has been slowing down recently."
"Perhaps we could try telling Fawkes some sad stories."
"Ideally, it should be the kind of sugar mixed with a knife, so that one stab and that old bird is gone."
"As long as I can justify my behavior over this period and lower its guard, that's fine. Otherwise, I'll just have to go to the Forbidden Forest and use other Magical Creatures to increase my proficiency."
As Silan frowned in thought, the air in front of her suddenly swayed, and a red figure flashed out.
Fawkes flapped its wings, circled slowly in the air for a while, and then landed on the window frame of the corridor.
"Hello, little friend Silan."
"Hello, Fawkes." Silan was somewhat surprised.
I had just thought of Fawkes and it arrived.
However, this might just be an opportunity.
"What's wrong, Fawkes?" Silan asked, "Do you need some new seeds?"
Fawkes gracefully folded its wings. "Thank you, but I haven't finished eating the seeds from last time, so I don't need them for now."
"I've come to you because I promised to give you a feather, and now it's time for me to fulfill that promise."
"Of course, you can replace this feather with anything else, anything at all, as long as it's within my power to help you. Even if it's something related to some secret of Dumbledore."
As he spoke, Fawkes looked calmly at Silan.
But it felt somewhat uneasy.
Fawkes's deliberate suggestion that the feather could be replaced with something else was a test.
Phoenix Feather from this period are extremely valuable.
If Prewett approached him for the sake of feathers, Fawkes could completely understand.
But if his goal is not just the feathers, then he probably has a deeper and more sinister motive.
For example, he has actually sided with Voldemort and is now infiltrating the school as a student, waiting for an opportunity to find Dumbledore's weaknesses and then secretly inform Voldemort.
Fawkes stared intently at Silan, anxiously thinking, "Feather! Quickly, tell me you did it for Feather!"
Even if your goal is to obtain my feathers, I would still be happy to be your friend.
As long as... as long as you don't side with Voldemort.
According to the information Fawkes had, Prewett did indeed bear some resemblance to Voldemort.
Half-blood, orphan, Slytherin...
Only now did Fawkes suddenly understand why Dumbledore always had a meaningful expression and an extremely conflicted look in his eyes whenever he saw Prewett.
Looking at Fawkes in front of her, Silan thought to herself, "This is a good opportunity to get closer to him."
After a moment's hesitation, Silan spoke up, "You just said that the feathers could be replaced with something else, right?"
Is there really another purpose behind this?!
Fawkes's heart sank. He nodded stiffly, and with a hint of desperation, advised, "Phoenix feathers are very precious, especially the new feathers after a phoenix's rebirth. Are you sure you don't want to reconsider?"
"I'm sure." Silan's tone was firm. "I have another request."
Fawkes sighed, thinking that if Prewett asked about Dumbledore, even just indirectly, it would prove that there was something wrong with him.
I will definitely remind Dumbledore be vigilant.
"Speak," Fawkes said.
I want to apologize to you.
Fawkes was stunned upon hearing this.
Apologize?
What's there to apologize for?
Dumbledore wasn't mentioned, or even anything about magic.
This suddenly put Fawkes's already depressed mood on a cusp of uncertainty, leaving him somewhat bewildered.
Silan, mimicking Snape, quietly looked at Fawkes, her gaze carrying a deep, wistful longing for the past.
That look gave Fawkes a very strange feeling.
Prewett didn't seem to be looking at himself, but rather at something else through himself.
"I'm an orphan. Before I went to Hogwarts, I lived in an orphanage on the outskirts of London," Silan said calmly, recounting her story. "I didn't have any friends back then, and I spent all my time daydreaming in the backyard. Then, I met a little red bird."
At this point, Silan looked at Fawkes and smiled, her tone tinged with reminiscence.
"Its name is Dudu, and it's almost as beautiful as you, but much smaller."
These things, which had absolutely nothing to do with Dumbledore or even magic, made Fawkes lower his guard and listen attentively, even asking, "And then?"
"And then we became good friends."
"Dudu likes to eat seeds, so I always go out and find lots of seeds to feed it."
"Although it's a bit clumsy, it always tries its best to make me happy. It loves it when I throw seeds into the air, and then it flaps its wings and catches them accurately in mid-air and eats them."
Seemingly recalling this amusing scene, Fawkes smiled slightly, then asked curiously.
"But why are you apologizing to me?"
Silan didn't answer, but continued to look at Fawkes with the same gaze she had for Snape, and continued her story.
"Later we had a fight, and Dudu stopped talking to me. I've long forgotten what we fought about, and it doesn't matter at all now."
"All I know is that I was looking for him all along, and even now, I still want to apologize to him."
At this point, Fawkes probably understood.
Prewett was probably too embarrassed to apologize; he probably thought of himself as Dudu.
"Oh," Fawkes advised, "Then you should talk to Dudu yourself."
"Be brave, there's nothing shameful about it. You can't mistake me for it..."
"It died, and I buried it myself."
Silan's voice was like a merciless pair of scissors, clipping Fawkes's wings and causing its voice to abruptly cease, like a bird falling from the sky with broken wings.
"I've always wanted to use you to make up for this apology."
Silan walked to the window, gazed at the horizon, and said sadly, "Because you look so much like it."
"So sometimes I unconsciously mistake you for it, which might bother you a little."
"I'm sorry, that wasn't my intention."
Silan withdrew his gaze, turned around, wiped his face with his sleeve, and hurriedly bowed to Fawkes.
"Because it's recently been the anniversary of Dudu's passing, seeing you reminded me of it, which is why I've been trying to get closer to you."
"I'm sorry. Goodbye..."
After saying that, Silan turned and left.
[Silver Tongue: Proficiency +5]
Fawkes stood there, stunned, his mind reeling.
So that's how it is! So that's how it is!
Watching Silan's lonely and sorrowful figure recede into the distance, Fawkes was in turmoil.
All the clues have come together!
No wonder Prewett has been contacting me so frequently lately, no wonder he keeps feeding me seeds, no wonder he doesn't want feathers...
Each and every incident pierced Fawkes's heart like a needle.
There is absolutely no Dumbledore or Voldemort involved in this.
This kind and sincere child simply wanted to make up for that regret.
Fawkes, you 'Fawkes such a bastard!
Prewett has a heart of gold; he is clearly a pure and kind little wizard.
And you actually made harsh assumptions and tested him just because he was assigned to Slytherin House and because he bears a slight resemblance to Voldemort.
That's absolutely outrageous!
"I'm such an idiot!" Fawkes was in a state of utter confusion. "And that old man, the Sorting Hat!"
"How could they put such a good child in Slytherin House?"
"And it misled me!"
Fawkes, who had previously been deliberately keeping his distance from Silan, flapped his wings and hurriedly chased after her.
"Etc!"