Kate followed the footprints, walking all the way to Gryffindor Tower. Seeing the trail extend into the Gryffindor Common Room from afar, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Confirming that Hermione was safe, there was no need to chase into another House's common room to apologize. She withdrew her wand, only to realize she had actually followed the footprints from the first floor all the way to the eighth floor.
Good heavens, the Gryffindor Common Room and the Slytherin Common Room—one in an eight-story tower, the other in a dungeon under the lake. They were indeed far enough apart.
She sighed helplessly. On her way back along the original path, she encountered many Gryffindor students walking towards her, talking and laughing. Everyone looked at her with gazes as curious as if they were looking at a troll. Kate could only pretend she didn't see anything, walking briskly down the stairs.
Walking all the way to the second floor, she saw Professor McGonagall coming from the direction of her office.
"Miss Shafiq, I was just about to ask Professor Snape to go look for you."
McGonagall was somewhat surprised by her presence here. "Just as well. Come with me for a moment."
Kate was stunned. "Professor, may I ask what the matter is?"
She was still planning to go back and practice Occlumency again.
"It is not me, but Headmaster Dumbledore who is looking for you. He said you should know why," McGonagall replied briefly, still relatively patient with her.
Uh... it was only the second day of school, and Dumbledore was already so impatient to find her... Probably because Snape finally came to his senses after punishing Wilson.
Kate fell silent and had no choice but to follow Professor McGonagall back up to the eighth floor. During the process of climbing, she even felt that if she climbed stairs up and down like this every day, her stamina would definitely be excellent in the future.
By the end of the walk, a sheen of sweat had appeared on Kate's forehead. Just then, McGonagall stopped in front of a giant, incredibly ugly stone gargoyle and said softly to it, "Doughnut."
The gargoyle suddenly came to life and hopped aside, the wall behind it splitting in two. Behind the wall was a spiral staircase that was moving slowly upward. As soon as they stepped onto it, they heard a booming sound behind them as the wall closed again. Like riding an elevator, Kate stood there, rising higher and higher with the spiral staircase.
It wasn't until the very end that she saw a gleaming oak door with a brass knocker in the shape of a griffin. Stepping off the stone stairs, Professor McGonagall knocked on the door, and the large door before them opened silently.
"Go in, he is waiting for you inside." McGonagall instructed softly, then left her alone.
Kate stopped at the doorway, her mind uncontrollably recalling her only two experiences meeting Dumbledore. To be honest, she was truly fearful of that legendary White Dark Lord. Fearful to the point where she had to choose Occlumency, terrified that the other party would pry into some secret without her noticing.
That alone was terrifying enough, let alone Dumbledore's power, which was sufficient to make Voldemort fearful. This is the wife of the first-generation Dark Lord and the teacher of the second-generation Dark Lord! Even Voldemort is afraid of him, so why shouldn't she be?
Taking a deep breath, Kate tried to calm her mind and walked in briskly. It was similar to the scenes shown in the movies; the walls here were covered with portraits of past headmasters, and on the spindle-legged tables sat many strange and peculiar silver instruments.
Kate looked around curiously at everything, seeing the Sorting Hat, and also a large, bright red bird standing on a tall gilded perch. She didn't see Dumbledore here, but she knew without thinking that this old man must be observing her from some unseen corner.
Since he wanted to observe, she would generously show herself off. Walking quickly to the bottom of this magnificent bird, Kate craned her neck, watching curiously.
"Body size similar to a swan, fiery red all over, with golden tail feathers... Are you the phoenix Teacher spoke of?"
The phoenix before her tilted its head, still standing on the perch looking at her. Kate couldn't help scratching her neck, looking somewhat helplessly at the portraits of the headmasters snoring on the wall behind her. Is Fawkes male or female again? The original works didn't seem to mention this detail.
She pursed her lips in conflict, thought for a while, and then whispered, "System, activate buff."
[Animal Affinity buff activated.]
[Current Animal Affinity Level: 10]
Just as the electronic female voice in her brain faded, Fawkes, who had been somewhat indifferent to her, suddenly flapped his wings and swooped down towards her.
Kate was startled, shrinking back, her arms instinctively blocking in front of her. As expected, Fawkes landed lightly on her arm, his dark, deep eyes staring closely at her.
"Um, hello there, phoenix."
Kate heard her own heart start to beat violently. She reached out a trembling hand, but before she could touch the magnificent feathers, Fawkes actively stretched his head over and rubbed against her.
Soft, fluffy, warm, and alive.
Who in China in her past life didn't know of the phoenix? One could say that everyone had an inexplicable complex regarding the legendary phoenix. And now, there was a living phoenix standing on her arm, affectionately accepting her strokes.
Awesome. If this were in her past life, she would definitely be able to brag about it endlessly. Although there's a high probability it would be treated as daydreaming...
Her heart was about to jump out; even Kate's hands were trembling. Fawkes, however, sensed her strangeness. A trace of human-like confusion appeared in his deep eyes, and his head actively rubbed against her chest.
Kate: !!!
Big fire bird, you're taking advantage of this old lady! Almost about to throw this guy away, Kate suddenly remembered what the System had prompted her before. It seemed that after activating the buff, animals would automatically interpret their favorability towards her as a parent-child relationship.
So... did this guy treat her as a mom, or treat her as a child?
Oh no!
Kate began trying hard to push its head away, and whispered to negotiate with it: "Calm down! You calm down, I'll calm down too... Don't nuzzle my chest, and I promise not to throw you out."
Wondering if this sentence poked someone's funny bone, Dumbledore appeared silently in the room. Fawkes, who had been nuzzling Kate's chest, suddenly propped up his head, let out a long cry, and flew from Kate's arm. He landed perfectly on Dumbledore's shoulder.
Kate turned her head, her heart tightening slightly when she saw that familiar white beard. But soon, she adjusted her expression, standing timidly in place.
"Good evening, Mr. Headmaster."
"Good evening, Kate." A trace of a smile still remained on Dumbledore's face, hidden by his grizzled beard. Who knows how happily he was watching the show just now.
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