The Room of Requirement and the Phoenix (2)

Dumbledore slowly turned around, a gentle, knowing smile on his face, as though he had known all along that Harry would come.

His gaze swept over Harry's somewhat pale, tense face before finally settling on the hand covering the scar on his forehead.

"Ah, Harry." Dumbledore's voice was like a warm spring, smoothing the creases in Harry's heart. "You have come at just the right time. Fawkes has just completed the most important transformation of his life. The flames of rebirth are always especially pure, are they not?" He walked toward Harry and gestured for him to enter.

The office door closed softly behind Harry. The newly reborn Fawkes hopped lightly on his perch a few times, letting out cheerful chirps as he watched Harry curiously.

"Professor..." Harry's voice was a little dry. He glanced at the flawless little phoenix, then looked into Dumbledore's blue eyes, which seemed capable of seeing through everything. The explanations and defenses he had prepared suddenly lodged in his throat.

After witnessing that astonishing rebirth, all those words about suspicion and panic seemed so insignificant.

Dumbledore looked at Harry, his gaze calm and profound. "Harry, I know that certain... unpleasant speculations are spreading through the castle. About you, about your scar, about your past experiences."

He paused, his tone becoming gentler yet firmer. "But I want you to know that I have never, and never will, believe those baseless conjectures. Someone who can be accepted by a phoenix..." His gaze shifted to little Fawkes, who was watching Harry curiously with pure red eyes from his perch. "Someone whom the flames of rebirth trust without reservation could never be a servant of Dark Magic, much less the source of panic and harm."

Dumbledore's words were like warm sunlight, instantly dispersing the coldness and grievance Harry had