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In the blink of an eye, it was Monday again. Early in the morning, the little wizards gathered in the cafeteria to eat. Harry looked a bit tired. He had not rested well over the weekend because he had joined the Quidditch team.
During the day, he was pulled by Wood for training, and he was kept in solitary confinement at night. Now, the person Harry hated most was definitely Snape, followed by Malfoy. Even Dudley had to line up behind these two.
The door of the auditorium suddenly opened, and there was a chaotic and noisy sound, as if hundreds of birds were flapping their wings. The little wizards were used to this, so they quickly filled their bowls with vegetables and pulled them down in front of them to protect them.
Soon, a flock of owls flew in, throwing letters and packages into the arms of the recipients or into the nearby soup, leaving a mess. The twins secretly hid their packages, which contained the big dung bombs and nosebleed nougat they bought at Zuko's Joke Shop. They must not be seen by Professor McGonagall.
Harry also picked up today's Daily Prophet and read it.
"Bah!"
At that moment, a bird song appeared out of thin air, the owls shivered, and two that were flying in the sky fell directly into the soup. Everyone looked up, searching for the source of the sound.
A flash of fire suddenly appeared in mid-air, and then a flying phoenix emerged from the flames, holding two packages at its feet. Under everyone's stunned gaze, the phoenix landed next to Wayne and put down two packages.
"This... this..." Cedric, who had just been talking to Wayne about the glorious history of the Chudley Cannons, couldn't even speak clearly.
"Huh? This is the package I bought. What's wrong?" Wayne slowly put the package at his feet.
"No!" Cedric finally recovered his voice. "Is the focus on the package? The focus is on this... this phoenix!"
Seeing the phoenix standing on Wayne's shoulder, preening its feathers, Cedric couldn't hold back any longer.
"Why would a phoenix deliver express packages to you?" He asked a question that all the new students of the little wizard wanted to know. Professor Sprout, who was in the guest seat and wanted to have breakfast, and Kettleburn, who taught Care of Magical Creatures, hurried over. Especially Kettleburn, who only had half a leg left, and used magic to push his chair to float over.
He looked at the phoenix infatuatedly. "Look at her, how beautiful she is!"
"Beautiful?" Wayne raised his eyebrows and reached out to touch the phoenix's head. Compared to when it had just hatched, the appearance of the phoenix had changed dramatically. It had grown orange-red feathers with a hint of green at the ends. It did look a lot better.
But compared to beauty... To be honest, Wayne thought that his bird was just passable, better than the ones in Pokémon. Far from beautiful.
As if sensing her master's disdain, the phoenix chirped in dissatisfaction and gently pecked Wayne's cheek, as if being coquettish.
She is so difficult! When she was born, her owner thought she was a big-billed bird. Now she had finally grown a bit and had the shadow of a legendary Pokémon, but her owner was still not satisfied.
What do you want from me? Do you have to transform into a human form to repay your kindness to be satisfied?
"Mr. Lawrence, whose phoenix is this?" Professor Sprout asked after observing for a moment.
"Feng Wang found me a few days after I received the admission notice. We got along quite well, so he followed me," Wayne said, making a random excuse without fear of disbelief.
In the magical world, miracles and legends are common. This opportunity allowed him to reveal the existence of the Phoenix King.
"Getting along?" Cedric asked, his eyes turning red. Other young wizards weren't any better.
Beside the long Gryffindor table, Hermione stared at Wayne. If the professor wasn't present, she would have run over for a closer look.
This is a phoenix! For this century, only two phoenixes are known to exist.
One is Dumbledore's pet, Fawkes. The other is Sparkle, the mascot of the Mottola Macaws Quidditch team. Wayne's phoenix is the third.
A little wizard who just entered school has a phoenix as a pet? Malfoy was so jealous that he almost gritted his teeth.
His favorite magical creature is the fire dragon, but he likes the phoenix too. This rare, noble creature would be perfect for the Malfoy family.
Malfoy wanted to buy the phoenix from Wayne, but he knew Wayne would never sell it to him.
Sprout seemed to want to question Wayne but held back. She wanted to ask if his real last name was Dumbledore because the phoenix is known to help the Dumbledore family in times of need. Wayne's explanation matched this well.
Just as the room fell into an eerie silence, there was another clear cry. But it wasn't from the Phoenix King; it came from another Phoenix.
Fawkes sensed the presence of another phoenix and came. He brought Dumbledore along, who was still in his pajamas and wearing a funny nightcap. Many young wizards laughed because Dumbledore's pajamas were cute, with patterns of velvet and goblins.
"Fawkes, what happened? Why the urgency?" Dumbledore asked, still confused about the situation.
Fawkes ignored him and flew to Wayne, hovering in front of him. The Phoenix King, with flames still burning, joined him. Fawkes chirped happily and bowed his head.
He sensed that the blood of this phoenix was nobler than his and showed respect, even in its infancy.
"This is incredible," Dumbledore said, now fully awake, and watched the two phoenixes with deep surprise.
"Mr. Lawrence, is she your pet?"
"Of course," Wayne nodded. "Although first-year wizards can only bring toads, mice, and owls as pets, the Phoenix King acts like an owl in delivering messages. This shouldn't violate any school rules."
There was silence.
Cedric clenched his fists hard. Feeling envy, he thought, "Wayne, your success is easy to resent!"