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Harry Potter: I Get Stronger by Taking Loans - 46
🕑 Added 2025-09-25 09:57:47 +0000 UTCChapter 46: Affectionate Animals, A Conversation with Dumbledore
"...Hagrid, that's basically the situation."
After hearing Leo's explanation, Hagrid chuckled: "No need to apologise to me, my friend. By the way, how are my vegetables? Does your little pet like them?"
Faced with Hagrid's rather unusual thought process, Leo was gradually getting used to it. His first reaction was actually to ask if the vegetables tasted good. This half-giant friend's straightforwardness and kindness made Leo feel somewhat ashamed.
"Um, it thought they were very good and really liked the taste of those vegetables."
"That's wonderful. Why don't I see your pet?"
Leo casually answered Hagrid's question: "That little one is still playing in the Forbidden Forest."
Hagrid nodded, then reminded him: "Well, you'd better tell it to be careful. There are still some dangerous creatures in the Forbidden Forest."
Leo expressed understanding and thanked him, but wasn't particularly worried about Aurelius in his heart. Thinking of those terrifyingly powerful purifying flames and unrestricted Apparition, he should probably worry about whether Aurelius might burn through the Forbidden Forest someday.
Fortunately, Qilins only needed to consume dew and vegetation essence—they were vegetarian. Otherwise, the animals in the Forbidden Forest would become its buffet.
Leo chatted with Hagrid while petting Fang's head. He didn't know why, but Fang, who had kept his distance from him during previous visits, was now actively approaching him for pets.
Was it because he'd been coming to Hagrid's place more often and had gotten familiar with Fang? Or had something about himself changed these past couple of days...
Whoosh—
A crimson fireball appeared beside Hagrid's hut, and immediately a large red bird flew out from it.
"Fawkes!"
Hagrid directly called out the phoenix's name.
Leo's thoughts were also interrupted by Fawkes' appearance, and he couldn't help looking at this legendary bird. According to the information in "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them", phoenixes were extremely rare birds.
Legend had it that the Dumbledore family had deep connections with phoenixes—when family members needed help, a phoenix would appear.
This was Dumbledore's phoenix. Well, the entrance effects were quite spectacular.
Hagrid thought Dumbledore had sent Fawkes to find him again and extended his arm to receive it. However, Fawkes completely ignored him and flew directly toward Leo, finally hovering in front of the young man.
It came looking for me?
Leo instinctively extended his arm, and Fawkes gracefully perched on it. It felt quite light. Despite looking so large, was it just fluffy with thick feathers?
After Fawkes settled, it nuzzled Leo's hair affectionately.
"Hagrid, what's this about?"
Hagrid scratched his messy hair: "Dumbledore probably wants to see you, so he sent Fawkes. But I've never seen a phoenix be so friendly with people before. Oh right, Fawkes' way of transporting people..."
Before Hagrid could finish, large flames burst from Fawkes, enveloping both itself and Leo. The next moment, Leo appeared in the headmaster's office.
"Good morning, Leo."
Leo saw an elderly man with white hair and beard, wearing half-moon glasses, greeting him.
"Good morning, Headmaster Dumbledore."
As Leo greeted him, Fawkes still clung to his arm and even began preening his hair with its beak.
Seeing this scene, Dumbledore couldn't help being surprised—this was the first time he'd seen Fawkes be so intimate with someone else.
"It seems Fawkes really likes you. Old friend, go rest for now. I want to chat with this young wizard about something."
However, Fawkes completely ignored Dumbledore and continued helping Leo groom his hair. This made Dumbledore slightly embarrassed, until Leo gently patted Fawkes and it reluctantly flew away.
Leo was also somewhat puzzled—why would the phoenix be so affectionate toward him?
Fang had been the same way. Rather than gradually getting familiar, it was more like sudden affection. If both were acting this way, there must be some new quality about himself.
Recently... Aurelius's awakening? Or perhaps being the Qilin's master had brought certain changes to himself that these animals and magical creatures could sense?
Since Aurelius had been sleeping in the system space before, or was still in its juvenile phase, this change in quality hadn't been obvious?
Well, he'd test it with other magical creatures in the Forbidden Forest later to verify.
While Leo was thinking, his gaze was suddenly attracted to something in the centre of the room. A square glass cabinet stood there with candle lamps at each corner. A patched, cracked, greyish-white hat sat in the middle of the cabinet.
"Sorting Hat? Why did you turn white?"
"Hey yes, finally someone recognises me! Leo, sorting you into Ravenclaw was definitely right. Unlike that dim-witted boy last time... You really are very clever, truly the most talented young wizard I've seen in all these years..."
The Sorting Hat chattered on endlessly. Leo turned to look at Dumbledore with some confusion, as if asking: 'Is this normal?'
Dumbledore just spread his hands: "After the last sorting ceremony, it became much more active, talking like this every day."
Dumbledore's expression became strange, remembering his conversation with the Sorting Hat that night. He'd simply wanted to ask about Leo's character and talent, but ended up providing a glass display case and monthly hat cleaning.
Leo nodded—it seemed that after working for a thousand years, even magical hats went a bit eccentric.
After Leo sat down, Dumbledore conjured honey water, sherbet lemons, liquorice wands... Looking at the various sweets on the table, Leo couldn't help thinking: truly worthy of being Dumbledore.
"Leo, this should be our first chat, though I've heard about you from several professors. They all give you quite high praise, saying you're a very talented, diligent, and modest student."
"That's just the professors' kindness. I'm very grateful for their instruction and help."
Dumbledore hadn't called him here just for praise, right? Hogwarts didn't have any outstanding student awards.
Leo felt his performance since school started had been quite normal. Aside from learning quickly and showing some magical talent, it wasn't worth having the headmaster talk to him about it.
But this was actually good timing—he'd been wanting to talk to Dumbledore about getting tutoring in Defence Against the Dark Arts from "Quirrell". He'd establish some groundwork with Dumbledore first, to be safe.
Just as Leo was thinking about how to bring this up with Dumbledore, the headmaster suddenly asked: "Leo, I was chatting with Professor Flitwick earlier, and he mentioned you wanted to try using Undetectable Extension Charms to contain living creatures?"
"Yes, that's right, but the professor also told me it would be very difficult to achieve."
Dumbledore nodded and let a letter float to his hand. "Actually, regarding this question, I consulted an old friend. His name is Newt—Newt Scamander. Have you heard of him?"
