A ruined Hogwarts

The naked little chick took three difficult steps in Owen's direction, then fell unsteadily to the ground, rolled around on the floor several times in embarrassment, and made a small but crisp "chirp" sound.

It flapped its withered wings without feathers hard, and its wrinkled crimson skin was tinged with black, like a plucked and roasted chicken. Only its small ruby-like eyes were shining brightly.

The chick struggled to get up, panting and squatting on the spot, tilting its head and looking at Owen with its small red eyes, but with a humanistic look and evaluation. Owen also touched his chin and looked at it. As a face-control person, he felt a little disgusted. Could it be that the bird was burnt by the fire?

One person and one bird looked at each other. Melete, who was sitting on the side, stretched out her pink tongue and licked her front paws. She glanced sideways at the little chick with her golden eyes. She couldn't help but lick the tip of her nose and opened her mouth. Open your mouth to reveal your pointed little white teeth. She was a little hungry and wanted to eat little chickens, the kind that were crunchy and crunchy in one bite.

The chick glared at Melete keenly, then looked at Owen again, blinking its red eyes happily, showing an expression of satisfaction, liking and enthusiasm. It chirped twice happily and struggled to stand up, its slender black paws tremblingly supporting its body. The slender and tender bird claws have sharp claw tips. You can imagine how sharp they will be when they grow up.

Owen just squinted at the chick trying to get closer to him like a toddler, while he was distracted and wondering what it was. The young birds that had just hatched all looked the same, and there were no feathers to identify them. He was not a magizoologist, so it was difficult to tell what kind of animal it was.

While Owen was thinking about various birds and magical animals, he suddenly felt a pain in his fingertips. The little chick had already walked up to him, stretched out its pointed beak and pecked a bloody hole on his finger.

Owen pursed his thin pale lips, looked down at the bloody wound on his fingertip, and then glanced at the culprit. After pecking him, the little bird screamed excitedly and even jumped for joy, as if it had done something great.

After calling out melodiously and melodiously for a while, it stretched its neck again and grabbed Owen's other hand on its side. A feeling of pride and arrogance spread to Owen's heart.

Owen's face darkened. Well, there is no such thing as the legendary blood contract, this bird is purely bad.

He stretched out a finger and pushed the little chick to the floor with his backhand. The newborn bird had little strength, so it could only kick its claws randomly, twist its neck, and try to peck Owen's finger with its beak, but it couldn't reach it. It could only chirp rapidly, with a humanized pleading look in its bright red eyes, which made Owen truly feel: it knew it was wrong and would never dare to do it again.

Under this strange spiritual connection, Owen, who had become soft-hearted for no reason, turned even darker. He wanted to stew the bird.

The chick also felt Owen's thoughts. It stopped struggling and looked at him with tears in its eyes.

Owen twitched the corner of his mouth, retracted the finger pressing it, and recited a healing spell to his bleeding finger. The wound squirmed and recovered under the spell, leaving no trace. It seemed that this bite did not contain poison or magic erosion. The liberated little chick jumped up happily and continued to move towards him with a close look.

Melete walked over with graceful cat steps, stretched out her paws and pressed her to the ground with a snap. She looked condescendingly at the little bird, which had barely eaten a few bites, and stepped on it with disgust, then cast an arrogant side glance at Owen.

"Meow-" she called softly. I tolerate you getting close to other cats, but why do you still have such an ugly bird that bites people? Is this what you like? He is indeed a scumbag!

"Oh, I didn't say I would definitely raise it." Owen gently stroked Melet's head, feeling the comforting furry feel, and his eyes narrowed with a smile. He glanced at the chick, who had been trampled aggrievedly by the catnives, and did not ignore the faint malice flickering in its eyes as it stared at Melete.

Owen's calm and clear eyes suddenly became deep and dark. The bird must be a vicious magical animal, maybe even some kind of dark magical creature. In this case, the light that was previously restrained so that it could not break out of the shell was most likely a seal left by a powerful wizard to prevent this little guy from coming out to harm people?

So, is it really reliable to keep it around?

Owen asked Melete to let go of the chick, and watched with ghostly eyes as it ran to him full of grievances, pressed its warm and trembling little body against his hand, and rubbed its little head affectionately against the back of his hand.

"What are you?" Owen put it in his hand.

The chick tilted its head in confusion and made a crisp "chirp" sound.

Owen thought for a while and decided to find out what species it was first. In fact, he doesn't like birds very much. If the bird has no special abilities, he will give it to Hagrid.

"Chirp!" The chick, sensing Owen's thoughts, screamed dissatisfied, fluttering its bare little wings on his palm twice, and its eyes became tearful again, looking extremely sad and aggrieved.

"Okay, let's call you Xiaohei for now." Owen looked at the time, collected the eggshells on the ground, stood up and walked outside the Room of Requirement.

"Jiji!" Xiao Hei shouted louder, expressing his resentment and rejection of this name.

Melete held her little head high proudly and followed Owen gracefully, her furry tail raised high.

…

The disappearance of Peter Pettigrew became the hottest topic on campus. As a professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts, a recipient of the Order of Merlin First Class, and a hero who bravely resisted the darkness, even if his class disappointed the students, the young wizards were still willing to maintain a certain amount of respect for him.

The disappearance of such a person is not a trivial matter. Even the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, personally brought the Aurors to investigate. Mr. Lucius Malfoy and Dumbledore, who has been missing recently, also came here to investigate. Also back. The Aurors searched all over the campus with great fanfare, almost turning the castle upside down, but could not find any trace of Peter.

In a room next to the Great Hall, Harry was being questioned by Fudge. Also here were Mr. Malfoy, as well as Snape and Dumbledore.

"I don't know where he went, sir." Harry said in a firm tone according to the words agreed with Professor Snape, "Last night he took me to move some things, and we were attacked on the second floor... ...We were separated, and the monster in the Chamber of Secrets went after Peter Pettigrew... Later I met Professor Snape..."

Facing Fudge's suspicious gaze, Harry clenched his fists tightly and dug his nails deeply into his flesh. Although he wanted to expose the ugly face of Peter Pettigrew to everyone, he knew that no one would believe it. Instead, they would become more convinced that he was lying and get him into greater trouble... He would definitely catch Pettigrew with his own hands. Peter Dwarf, throw that hateful traitor into Azkaban!

"Oh, of course I believe you, Harry." Fudge said in a clear and fast tone, twirling his bowler hat rapidly in his hand, "But I heard that you seem to be a Parseltongue? Have you accidentally Open a certain door or something..."

"I am not the heir of Slytherin, sir!" Harry glanced at him angrily, "I almost died last night!"

"If nothing else, I shouldn't be blind yet, Minister." Snape said in a smooth tone with a mocking look in his eyes.

"Of course, I know, I just want you to think about it..." Fudge wiped the sweat from his forehead and spoke quickly. He glanced at Snape again and whispered: "But it doesn't mean he won't be deceived..."

"I think Harry Potter is the victim, Fudge." Lucius said in a calm tone. "This is not the first time he has been attacked. My son was the person involved last time..."

Harry smiled at him, feeling very grateful to Mr. Malfoy for speaking up for him.

"I understand, how could I doubt Harry?" Fudge said, quickly glancing at Dumbledore, "The Ministry of Magic must take some measures, we have to take Hagrid away..."

"I hope you understand, Connelly, I have complete trust in Hagrid." Dumbledore's piercing blue eyes stared deeply at him, and his hands in flower gloves were clasped in front of him, "You should know , taking Hagrid away won’t help at all.”

Harry said anxiously: "It's definitely not Hagrid, Mr. Fudge! The one who opened the secret room was Fudi——"

Before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by Mr. Malfoy. He stroked his cane and said coldly: "I don't think he has that ability, Fudge. This way of handling it will not be satisfactory..." "

Hearing that Mr. Malfoy was still defending Hagrid, Harry grinned at him, and his favorability skyrocketed. At this moment, he completely forgot that the other party was the culprit who threw the diary into Hogwarts.

"Oh, I'm just confused, Lucius." Fudge opened his mouth wide and was stunned for a while before saying in panic. He didn't understand how Malfoy and Dumbledore, who had always been at odds with each other, could stand together and speak in unison. But if he didn't want to offend both parties, he couldn't take Hagrid away today.

He sighed deeply and said: "You know, Peter Pettigrew's identity is very special. He finally came back, and we took into account his fear of being retaliated, so we let him enter Hogwarts... But How long has passed and something like this happened, and three students are still lying on the hospital bed... It's hard for me to handle it."

Fudge said a few words absentmindedly, showed an ugly smile, put on his hat and left in a hurry. Mr. Malfoy nodded slightly to everyone and then walked out.

Harry breathed a heavy sigh of relief and watched Dumbledore hesitate to speak.

"Professor Snape has told me everything, Harry." Dumbledore said slowly, with a hint of tiredness in his eyes, "I had doubts about Peter Pettigrew, but I didn't expect that this would be the case. …”

"Then Sirius Black..."

"Unfortunately, if we cannot capture Peter Pettigrew, we will not have any evidence to prove that Black is innocent." Dumbledore frowned, looking thoughtful.

Harry lowered his head feebly, then took a deep breath, clenched his fists tightly, and said resolutely: "I will catch him, Professor."

"We are all working hard on this, Harry." Dumbledore smiled at him, with deep wrinkles forming at the corners of his eyes, "But there is no rush now. Ah, it's time for lunch, right? ?”

Harry nodded absently and hurried out of the room. Before he walked into the auditorium, he happened to see Owen walking leisurely towards this side with something in his hand, with a thoughtful expression on his pale but delicate cheeks and a slight frown on his brows.

"Owen, this is... your new pet?" He saw the crumpled little bird in Owen's hand, and was glared at by those bright red eyes. He seemed to see disgust in his eyes. mean. He shook his head to get rid of this weird thought, and playfully put his hand over, wanting to touch it.

The chick, known as Xiao Hei, screamed "Wow", flapped its slender and withered wings, flicked its head and pecked hard, like an old hen protecting its calf.

"Oh, it's quite fierce." Harry withdrew his hand in time, looked at the little chick rolling coquettishly in Owen's hand, and blinked, "It seems like it doesn't like me."

"It's so annoying, right..." Owen said with a smile.

At this time, Xiao Hei, who was rubbing his fingers, suddenly froze, with a look of fear in his red eyes. It shivered and shrank, trying to get into Owen's sleeves in a hurry.

Owen turned his head as if he was aware of it, and found that Dumbledore was staring at the baby bird in his hand, with a serious expression on his face that he had never seen before.

A burst of fire suddenly erupted next to Dumbledore, and a beautiful and majestic golden-red bird flew out of the flames, and his bright black eyes looked over instantly. Fox, the phoenix, screamed loudly, spread its wings and flew over, spitting out a mouthful of flames at Owen, as if it was going to scatter his ashes on the spot.

Owen narrowly dodged and his hair on one side became curled. The little chick that was struggling in his hand screamed and fell to the ground, flapping its little wings and running towards Owen. Fox rushed over with sharp eyes, chased behind Xiao Hei, and pecked at him with his sharp beak.

Xiao Hei was chased all over the ground with tears in his eyes, and his steps were much quicker. It squealed and hid behind Owen, its screams filled with terror. Fox chased after it as if it had a deep hatred for it, and the golden beak made a crisp clicking sound every time it pecked the air.

Seeing that Fox was about to peck his foot, Owen silently moved away, and Xiao Hei also ran after him. Fox chirped crisply and chased relentlessly... well, it was like playing hawk to catch a chicken.

"Fox, come back." Dumbledore said slowly at this time.

Fox glared hatefully at Xiao Hei, who was hiding tightly, flew up angrily, landed heavily on Dumbledore's shoulder, and continued to stare unwillingly.

"Mr. Dumbledore?" Owen raised his eyebrows. He found it a bit interesting.

Dumbledore stared at him deeply for a while, and then said softly: "Can you please come to the headmaster's office after dinner, Owen?"

"Okay." Owen thought for a moment, smiled and nodded.

He picked up Xiao Hei with two fingers and walked slowly towards the auditorium carrying it. Harry followed him, dumbfounded, looking like a surprised husky.

The afternoon classes continued as usual. After dinner, under the curious eyes of his friends, Owen entrusted Xiao Hei, who would rather die than go with him to see Dumbledore, to Melet, and went to the principal's office alone.

The principal's office didn't seem to have changed at all. The portraits of past principals were sleeping in their respective frames. Fox stood on a high golden perch, tilting his head and staring at Owen as he entered.

Dumbledore sat behind his desk, clasping his hands on his chest, his light blue eyes a little tired: "Please sit down. You may have guessed something about your new pet..."

"There are some guesses, sir, but there is also a lot of confusion." Owen sat across from him and said with a gentle voice, with pure curiosity and thirst for knowledge in his eyes.

"I think you are right. That chick of yours is a phoenix." Dumbledore said slowly, his eyes under the half-moon glasses suddenly became sharp, as if he was trying to cut open a person. "But it's not an ordinary phoenix. I want to know, where did you get it?"

Owen pursed his lips and said honestly: "It was found in a secret room in Hogwarts, sir. At that time, it was still a lifeless egg. I studied it for a long time and found that it seemed to be sealed. . It wasn’t until today that I cracked the seal and successfully hatched it..."

Fox chirped loudly, opening and closing its beak in disapproval, making a crisp "click-click" sound.

"Is it sealed? It is indeed the case." Dumbledore was not surprised at all. He looked at Owen meaningfully and sighed softly: "Did you know? Phoenix is ​​a very special type of magical animal. They are elves of fire. Ever since there were flames in the world, phoenixes have also existed. "

He glanced at Fox softly, and the phoenix on the branch also flew over and landed lightly on his shoulder: "Phoenixes have the ability to be reborn from the fire. They will periodically return to the state of fledglings in the flames. It grows again until it grows old, and the cycle repeats itself. Therefore, the phoenix has an extremely long life and cannot be killed..."

"So this world hasn't been conquered by Phoenix yet?" Owen raised his eyebrows.

Dumbledore smiled, shook his head and said: "Phoenixes have always kept aloof from the world. Unless they recognize someone, they always stay away from the world. Of course, the most important thing is that the number of phoenixes is too small. From ancient times So far, their number is fixed, neither more nor less. Because they cannot reproduce normally, the way they pass on their offspring is... very special."

Owen sat up straighter in interest. These are all knowledge that is not found in books, and are secrets belonging to the Phoenix clan. Probably only those who maintain a close relationship with Phoenix will know.

"So do the Phoenix Clan have many living fossils that have lived for thousands of years?" His eyes lit up.

"Unfortunately, no." Dumbledore sighed regretfully. "There are no perfect species in the world. In other words, it is precisely because of various flaws that they are truly alive. The same is true for phoenixes. They have long lives but They are sentimental creatures with sensitive and delicate hearts, which makes their lives always vigorous, long but also short.”

"They like novel and interesting travels by nature, but when they lose their curiosity, they often choose Nirvana and rebirth. This is different from their rebirth, which is nothing more than small cycles in their entire life course. Nirvana and rebirth is their life cycle. They will degenerate into an egg in the flames, and what will be born from this egg will be a brand new phoenix, starting a new life course... This is their inheritance Way."

"They have a free and proud nature. They rarely recognize someone, but when they really recognize someone, they will become the most loyal partners...even life and death." At this point, Dumbledore said sadly. He glanced at his phoenix. Fox closed her eyes and gently rubbed his cheek. This scene was harmonious and beautiful.

Owen was silent for a while, sincerely amazed by the creature like Phoenix. He said softly: "What about my phoenix?"

"There will always be special individuals in the development of a species." Dumbledore said slowly, "I don't know if it's born this way, or it's man-made cruel experiments, or it's self-degradation. In short, a black phoenix appeared. , the tears that can heal wounds turned into curses, the inspiring songs became songs of despair, and the flames full of vitality filled the darkness... It is also sentimental, but has an evil nature, loves destruction, and likes to bring pain to other living beings. and despair, which caused many disasters in ancient times.”

The corner of Owen's mouth twitched. I wonder how many people can hate a phoenix that can't be killed and likes to cause havoc everywhere... This seal is really worth it.

"Then... I'll give Xiao Hei to you?" He didn't want to be a hot potato.

"I think it has chosen you. After all, you helped it hatch." Dumbledore shook his head and said, "Now that it has hatched, I don't have a good way to deal with it. But the newborn has a pure mind. There is still time to cultivate it. I only hope that in the days to come, you can treat it kindly, guide it, restrain it, and help it learn to restrain its nature. It will become your best partner-even a black phoenix. There is no lack of loyalty.”

Isn't this just raising a naughty child? Owen resisted the urge to roll his eyes. If I had known better, I would have stuffed it back into the basilisk's belly.

After chatting for a while about the raising of the phoenix, Owen said goodbye to Dumbledore, who seemed to be entrusting the child with him. After returning to the lounge, he looked at his free-range chickens with critical eyes.

"Forget it, from now on, your name will be Nyx." He thought for a while and said. Phoenix seems to have no gender.

Nyx chirped in delight, then pecked Melete's paw.

The cat civet let out a "meow", spread its limbs, and took off instantly.