Walking out of the Headmaster's office, Fawkes remained perched on Kate's shoulder, incessantly nuzzling her head.
It was as if he truly treated her as his own daughter.
Kate offered a few symbolic attempts to block him, but eventually just let him be. Anyway, Phoenixes, much like Diricawls, could disappear and reappear at will. Once he got annoyed with the nuzzling, he would know to go back.
Actually, Kate knew that Dumbledore would definitely seek her out within the first week of school. It was just that Wilson's provocation last night—and her subsequent counterattack—had forced Dumbledore to advance the schedule a bit.
Due to the sheer volume of magic power within her, in Dumbledore's eyes, she had always been a potential Obscurus. Although her magic had stabilized significantly after a year of Newt's nurturing, she was still considered a subject requiring special attention; letting her into Hogwarts was already a risk in itself.
Add to that Harry Potter's enrollment this year, and Voldemort's remnant soul coveting the Philosopher's Stone... Dumbledore had many things to worry about and couldn't spare much attention for her. So, before everything formally began, he had to assess the state of this unstable factor—herself.
Upon realizing that she showed no signs of losing control even when actively provoked and attacked, Dumbledore's wariness towards her had already dropped somewhat. Then she had expressed an attitude of not loving competition and caring for her classmates. What she expressed could be summed up in one word: Stability!
If she had entered Hufflepuff, Old Man Dumbledore would probably have affectionately called her 'comrade'!
Ahem!
Anyway, in a situation where she couldn't beat Old Man Dumbledore in intelligence or strength, wasn't she allowed to pretend to be pitiful to buy herself time to develop? After all, the previous two generations of Dark Lords definitely hadn't cried so embarrassingly in front of Old Man Dumbledore.
Now that Old Man Dumbledore was busy setting up tests for Harry, he shouldn't pay too much attention to her for the time being. And with the White Dark Lord and the Savior blocking the front to draw aggro, did she need to worry that Voldemort would pay attention to her, who had always remained obscure?
Solving the matter with just a crying session—only a fool wouldn't do it.
Walking through the castle feeling light as a feather, Kate remembered that Quirrell, possessed by Voldemort, was still at Hogwarts, so she didn't delay and returned straight to the entrance of the Slytherin Common Room.
"Thank you for walking me home, Fawkes." Raising her hand to affectionately rub the big fire bird's head, Kate intended to let him fly off.
However, for some reason, Fawkes's claws remained firmly gripped on her shoulder, refusing to let go.
"Fawkes, Professor Dumbledore is still waiting for you to return."
Kate was afraid of hurting him and didn't dare use force. She tried to pry him off for a long time without success, leaving her stuck in a dilemma—unable to advance or retreat. If she took him into the Common Room, who knew what kind of rumors those little snakes inside would spread?
"Fawkes..."
Patiently continuing her persuasion, Kate had just called out his name when her vision suddenly blurred.
By the time she came back to her senses, she was already back in her bedroom.
Fawkes let out a cry rich with spirituality, then spread his wings and flew towards Fluffball's birdcage. And Fluffball showed no fear of his appearance either, hopping around inside the cage and chirping in a soft, thin voice.
Kate looked at the pair of them with a face full of confusion. After a long while, she resigned herself to fate, walked over, and opened the cage.
Diricawls and Phoenixes... although both had the ability to disappear and reappear, aside from that, they didn't seem to have anything in common, right?
Watching Fawkes lick Fluffball's head like an old mother hen, Kate felt an inexplicable sense of dissonance. Even if they were both birds, their species seemed a bit different...
She really couldn't quite understand the emotions between birds.
Raising her head to stare at them for a good while, Kate finally rubbed her sore neck and went into the bathroom alone, leaving them to their mischief.
By the time Kate finished washing up and came out of the bathroom, Fawkes had long since disappeared. Her Fluffball, however, looked like a sleepy little thing; it drilled into the cage and fell asleep.
She looked left and right but couldn't spot anything wrong with Fluffball, so she just covered the cage with the black cloth again and turned off the lights to sleep.
...
Early the next morning was Potions class, shared by Slytherin and Gryffindor, and it was a double period.
Kate didn't want to be late, so she had the System set an alarm. She got up on time, performed her routine of adding food and water for Fluffball, and then went straight to the Potions classroom. During this time, aside from Fluffball sleeping soundly—which was contrary to its usual behavior—there was nothing unusual.
Potions class was held in a dungeon classroom, not far from the Slytherin Common Room.
When Kate arrived, she happened to see Hermione walk into the classroom and sit down. She hurriedly walked over, looked around at the still-empty seats surrounding them, and lied with a straight face: "The seats seem to be all taken. Mind if I sit next to you?"
Hermione didn't even lift her head, clearly still holding a grudge. "I saved seats for Harry and Ron. Go find another place."
"Oh, there's no one here. That's great." Kate nodded as if speaking to herself and sat directly beside her.
"You!" Hermione jerked her head up in anger, glaring straight at her.
Kate smoothly placed her hand on Hermione's hand. "Are you still angry with me?"
Hermione pursed her lips and immediately turned her head away to avoid looking at her.
Sigh, Hermione before joining the Golden Trio was truly honest; she disdained even telling a lie.
"Then, after class, I'll explain everything to you properly, okay?" Kate looked at her profile patiently, asking softly.
As she spoke, she didn't wait for Hermione to agree but nodded to herself. "It's settled then. Neither of us is allowed to break the promise."
While they were talking, other students began to trickle in.
This time, Harry and Ron finally weren't late. They hurriedly sat next to Hermione, then looked at Kate, who was sitting on her other side, with surprise.
"Good morning," Kate greeted them openly, her right hand still resting on the back of Hermione's hand.
Harry glanced, intentionally or unintentionally, at their overlapping hands and also revealed a friendly smile. "Good morning, Student Shafiq."
Just as the words fell, Snape suddenly pushed the door open from the outside, his robes billowing as if he had a wind tunnel installed inside them.
He picked up the roll call from the lectern, calling names rapidly and curtly, then paused when he reached the name Harry Potter.
"Harry Potter. Our new... celebrity." He spoke in a low voice, his cold gaze looking toward Harry.
Immediately following that, as if he had discovered something, his gaze shifted slightly from Harry's face and landed on Kate and Hermione's intertwined hands.
Hermione's heart gave a jolt, and she immediately pulled her hand back.
As for Kate, she smiled at him with perfect poise.
Snape's eyelid twitched. He gave her a warning glance before withdrawing his gaze and continuing to read the rest of the names on the list.
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