Birthday Cake

"I've found that when I tickle the Sir Armors on duty in the castle, the visors on their helmets pop open with a click, so can I take that to mean they're laughing?"

"Indeed. And I'll let you in on a secret: if you dance for them, they'll even dance-battle with you," Dumbledore winked.

"So, are they considered sentient beings?"

"Magic is a wondrous thing. It cannot bestow life upon an inanimate object, but it can imbue it with intelligence," Dumbledore said kindly. "Therefore, in the wizarding world, the words 'intelligence' and 'creature' have never been synonymous."

"What about portraits? What's the deal with them?" Gemini asked curiously. "I've noticed some portraits are very lively, while others are quite dull."

"Ah, yes, that is quite true," Dumbledore nodded. "If you were to visit my office, you'd find that the portraits of past headmasters hanging there are almost indistinguishable from living people."

Gemini pondered, stroking his chin. "So, the more powerful a person's magic, the closer their portrait is to their true self?"

"Honestly, your intelligence makes me a little envious," Dumbledore nodded.

"You flatter me," Gemini smiled. "So, does every painting of a powerful individual possess intelligence close to their own?"

"That depends on their own will," Dumbledore said.

"I have a question, Professor," Gemini said after thinking. "If someone's soul were transferred to their portrait, would that be a form of immortality?"

Dumbledore paused slightly. "Transferring a soul into an object is not a benevolent form of magic. However, I imagine even if it were successful, what meaning would such immortality hold?"

"That's true," Gemini nodded.

"Fox, are you interested in immortality?" Dumbledore's calm gaze fell upon Gemini's face through his half-moon spectacles.

"Of course. Who wouldn't want to live longer?" Gemini smiled gently. "But to simply live for the sake of living, such immortality seems rather pathetic."

"The world is beautiful and vast, Professor. My journey lies among the stars and seas."

Gemini's gaze was clear and far-reaching, his blue pupils devoid of any impurities. "Perhaps I will achieve true immortality, perhaps I will die on the way, but none of that truly matters. I have never regretted living, so even if I were to be shattered into pieces on this journey, I believe I could smile and say it was all worthwhile."

"...A very profound answer..."

Dumbledore studied Gemini with surprise for a long while before exclaiming with a touch of emotion, "I often feel proud of the students I teach... but to be honest, this is the first time I feel honored to be a teacher to a student, Fox."

"You are too kind," Gemini smiled humbly.

"Actually, I'm not."

Dumbledore blinked, then looked up at a large painting of a fruit bowl nearby. "We've arrived."

Gemini looked around. From its position, it was directly beneath the castle's Great Hall.

Dumbledore extended his wrinkled, aged hand and scratched at a pear in the fruit bowl painting. In an instant, the pear transformed into a doorknob. Dumbledore opened the door, and the two walked into the kitchens.

"Good evening, esteemed Professor Dumbledore! Handsome young Master Fox!"

As soon as they entered the kitchen, a high-pitched voice reached their ears. Beside them, a house-elf wearing a white pillowcase bowed deeply. "Is there anything Lolo can do for you two?"

Immediately, a bustling crowd of house-elves gathered around, their large, lightbulb-like eyes gazing at Gemini and Dumbledore with anticipation.

Gemini pointed at himself, bewildered. "You know me?"

"Oh ho ho..." Dumbledore burst into laughter. "Since you enrolled, they still haven't found your luggage, Fox. It's worried them for quite some time. Even though I've repeatedly emphasized it's not their fault, they've remained quite uneasy."

Gemini gave a dry laugh, then remembered that the dormitories of all four houses were cleaned by house-elves, and their belongings were tidied by them without fail, every single day.

And since his enrollment, they had never seen Fox's luggage...

Dumbledore blinked. "May I be so bold as to ask where you are currently residing, Fox?"

"The Room of Requirement, Professor," Gemini smiled.

The Room of Requirement wasn't a major secret, nothing to be hidden. As evidenced by the mountains of junk, many students had been there, though not all had mastered the room's patterns.

"Oh..." Dumbledore nodded in understanding. "That explains it..."

"It's a good place. I can find anything I want there. If you're interested, I can invite you to visit," Gemini said with a smile, treating the Room of Requirement as if it were his own domain.

"It seems that place is like home to you. That's good."

"Aren't you angry that I'm not staying in the dormitory?" Gemini was a little confused; Dumbledore's temper was much better than he had expected.

"Honestly, if I had beaten someone up, I wouldn't dare to go back and stay easily either," Dumbledore chuckled and nodded. "But as long as you can find a sense of home at Hogwarts, it doesn't matter if you live in the dormitory or the Room of Requirement. Actually, if you hadn't mentioned it, I would have thought you were just finding a warm place to weave a web and sleep..."

"Thank you very much for your open-mindedness, Professor."

"These are minor matters," Dumbledore said leisurely.

"As long as you don't get caught by the professors or Filch, and don't go to dangerous places, Hogwarts will not refuse the curiosity of sincere students. Take the Weasley twins, for example. I used to run into them every week. Unfortunately, at some point, they seemed to have mastered a way to avoid me, which made me feel quite disappointed... Would you like a piece of treacle tart?"

As Dumbledore spoke, he handed Gemini a piece of treacle tart.

Gemini took the tart and took a bite, his face contorting. "So sweet—"

"As one gets older, one starts to favor sweets," Dumbledore nodded, popping a piece of tart into his own mouth. "Alright... I actually liked them when I was young too. I'm not making excuses for my own gluttony; most British people can't resist sweets, and treacle tart is considered quite mild."

"A while ago, when it was Filch's birthday, I tasted his birthday cake. It was covered entirely in cream—about ten centimeters thick..."

Gemini looked disgusted. "Ugh... that sounds disgusting..."

"Yes, he didn't actually finish it," Dumbledore said. "You wanted cake, didn't you? I think Madam Lolo can help you with that."

"Master Fox, do you want cake?" Lolo tilted her small head, her lightbulb-like eyes blinking at Gemini.

"Yes, please, Miss Lolo," Gemini crouched down and smiled gently. "If possible, I'd like a thin pancake cake, three layers of crisp pancakes, one layer of cake, with different jams between each two layers, wrapped in a layer of crispy chocolate. It doesn't need to be too big, with some fruit on top. Ah, yes, and please write 'Happy Birthday, Miss Hermione Granger' on it."

"So it's Miss Granger's birthday cake!" Lolo's big eyes sparkled, and she bowed to Gemini again, her pointed nose touching the ground. "Miss Granger is a very diligent girl, and it is Lolo's honor to make a birthday cake for Miss Granger."

Then, a few minutes later.

Gemini stared in astonishment at the giant chocolate cake in front of him, which was as tall as he was.

The chocolate cake was five layers high, each layer consisting of three crispy crepes and a layer of cake. Colorful fruits adorned the cake everywhere, so exquisite that one couldn't bear to spoil it.

"Holy crap, what is this?!"