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xix.the collection of memories
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The door of the office opened.
"Hello, you two," said Moody. "Come in, then."
Matilda and Harry walked inside. She'd been inside Dumbledore's office many times before; it was a very beautiful, circular room, lined with pictures of previous Headmasters and mistresses of Hogwarts, all of whom were fast asleep, their chests rising and falling gently.
Cornelius Fudge was standing beside Dumbledore's desk, wearing his usual pinstriped cloak and holding his lime-green bowler hat.
"Harry!" said Fudge jovially, moving forwards. "How are you?"
Matilda stepped aside, avoiding Fudge.
"Fine," said Harry.
"We were just talking about the night when Mr. Crouch turned up in the grounds," said Fudge. "It was you who found him, was it not?"
"Yes," said Harry.
Deciding not to pretend that they hadn't heard everything said behind the closed door, Matilda spoke up, "Though in Harry's initial report he hadn't said anything about seeing Madame Maxime anywhere, though, and she'd have a job hiding, wouldn't she?"
Dumbledore smiled at Matilda behind Fudge's back, his eyes twinkling.
"Yes, well," said Fudge, looking embarrassed, "We're about to go for a short walk in the grounds if you'll excuse us... perhaps if you two just go back to your class –"
"We wanted to talk to you, Professor," Harry said quickly, looking at Dumbledore, who gave him a swift, searching look.
"Wait here for me," he said. "Our examination of the grounds will not take long."
They trooped out in silence past them and closed the door. After a minute or so, Harry and Matilda heard the clunks of Moody's wooden leg growing fainter in the corridor below. Harry began to look around.
"Hello, Fawkes," Harry greeted.
Fawkes, Professor Dumbledore's phoenix, was standing on his golden perch beside the door. The size of a swan, with magnificent scarlet and gold plumage, he swished his long tail and blinked benignly at Harry as he approached it.
Matilda and Harry sat down in a chair in front of Dumbledore's desk. For several minutes, they sat and watched the old Headmasters and mistresses snoozing in their frames. Tilly began thinking about what she and Harry had just heard, and she watched him run his fingers over his scar.
