Ch.29: Talk
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The silence between the two continued as Almira ate her fill, until a single word broke it.

“Why?” Almira asked with a voice almost too quiet to hear.

“He was a teacher; he could have just told me to go away. Why did he want to kill me?” She continued, this time with a clear voice, nothing but confusion and sadness in her eyes as she looked at Dumbledore, waiting for an answer to her question.

Dumbledore sighs, before answering. “Professor Quirrell used to be a student here in Hogwarts, just like you. Though he was timid, he had a good heart and such a bright mind. When he left these halls, he was full of passion to show the world everything he was capable of accomplishing.”

Dumbledore smiles as he reminisces, but then the smile disappears as he continues. “But before he could make his mark on the world, he was possessed by a powerful dark wizard, a user of magic most foul.

The dark wizard whispered into his mind about power and riches Quirrell would be able to have upon doing his biddings, but when he did not obey, the dark wizard resorted to torture.

Alas, there’s only so much a person’s mind can take.” He finishes while shaking his head in regret.

Almira stays silent for a moment before asking: “What happened to him?”

“He died while trying to steal a prized object that was being guarded here, while the dark wizard possessing him managed to get away, as he had made enough preparations to ensure that we had no way of holding him here.”

After hearing Dumbledore tell her about Quirrell’s death, Almira closed her eyes and took a deep breath, before releasing it and falling backwards onto the grass, putting her hands under her head. She laid there a minute or so, with just her chest moving up and down, after which she opened her eyes, which happened upon the red bird perched on a branch above them.

“Headmaster, can I pet your bird?” Almira suddenly asks, making Dumbledore be taken quite aback by the question that seemed so out of place after their last topic, before he too turns his gaze towards the bird looking down on them, who, to him, looked shocked enough from the notion of Almira petting it.

“Well, that depends wholly on if Fawkes lets you. He may still carry some hard feelings about what you did to his tailfeathers when he brought you here.” Dumbledore answers while combing his beard absently with his hand.

“I did that?” Almira asks and tilt her head as she looks at Fawkes’ long tail which seemed to be missing half of its feathers, with most of those that he still has having been broken from the middle and those that still retained their full length looked like they had been used as a Fluffy’s chew toy.

*Caw*

“Hmm? Ah!” Hearing Fawkes’ accusatory voice reminds Almira of something and she rolls from her back onto her hands and feet, before bolting towards the pillows and jumping into the middle of them. Moments later she crawls out while holding an armful of golden flaming feathers.

Almira walks back towards the table while looking back and fort between Fawkes and the feathers in her hands.

“Well, umm, sorry?” She says with an embarrassed smile, as she offers the feathers towards the bird still perched high on the ‘tree’.

Fawkes looks at Almira for a moment, before jumping from the branch and descending onto the table, from which all the leftover food has already disappeared.

Almira eyes light up when she sees that Fawkes seemed to have accepted her apology, so she moved closer to slowly pet Fawkes’ head. When he didn’t shy away from her touch, she moved onto scratching him from top of his head down to the back of his neck, which Fawkes seemed to really enjoy as all of his feathers suddenly puff up, making Almira laugh as she continued.

“So you remember what happened?” Dumbledore asks, making Almira’s hand stop for a second, before continuing scratching Fawkes.

“Well, it’s all kinda fuzzy.” Almira starts. “I remember being really angry when I woke up, like I really needed to beat up Professor Quirrell for what he did. But before I could do anything, something--.”

*caw*

Almira giggles on Fawkes’ intervention as she continues. “Yes, Fawkes picked me up from my tail. Then there was a flash and I think I tried to bite what was holding me, I mean Fawkes?” She says the last bit with an unsure voice.

“How did he do that anyhow? I mean lifting me into the air and bringing me…” Almira looks around before finishing. “…here?”

Dumbledore lets out a laugh, before answering. “Fawkes is a phoenix. Intriguing creatures really, with many abilities not seen in any other creature on the planet. One of its most normal abilities is its ability to lift much heavier burdens than itself, while one of its more interesting abilities is the ability to disappear into a burst of fire and reappear in places where it should be impossible, just like this room, and take anyone touching them with them.” Dumbledore smiles as he continues. “This room is the Room of Requirement. Even I do not know how he brought you here, as it is a room that can, and at the same time cannot, be found in Hogwarts. It reacts to the needs of its finder, so if you find it, you will also find what you need inside. I myself once found it full of chamber pots while looking for a restroom.” Dumbledore chuckles as he finishes.

“Now then,” he says as he straightens his robe.”, I believe you have some friends who have been quite worried about where you have been since yesterday, do you not?”

Upon hearing this Almira steps away from Fawkes. “Right! Then, I’ll be going now.” She says, before making her way towards the door.

Just as Almira’s about to step through, Dumbledore opens his mouth. “Ah, I guess I should congratulate you in advance for becoming an animagus during the coming summer, should I not? And with a magical beast as your animal form no less.” He says with a grandfatherly smile on his face.

Understanding Dumbledore’s meaning, Almira’s face lit up and she simply yelled: “Yes!” before closing the door and going of to placate her worried friends.

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