The Redhead and the Irish

Chapter 32

McGonagall guided me through the dark halls as we made our way to the headmaster's office. On our way, we bumped into professor Moody and... "Ron, Mione? What are you two doing here?" I questioned, even more confused than I already was. "I could ask you the exact same question." Mione replied, walking towards me. As we spoke, McGonagall and Moody were discussing something unknown. "Off we go." McGonagall stated after a while. I glanced at my twin in confusion as we followed the two teachers.

"Peppermint toad." the head of Gryffindor stated as we stood before the gryphon's statue. It revealed a staircase and Moody gestured for the three of us to get on. I grabbed Hermione's hand as a feeling of comfort, because she seemed terrified. "We'll be okay." I smiled at her as we got on. She sent me a forced smile as we began moving upwards, almost like an escalator.

I let go of Mione's hand and began walking, my curiosity taking over. "Miss Weasley!" I heard McGonagall exclaim. I completely ignored the elderly woman and instead walked faster until I arrived at a heavy door. I completely froze, staring at the door in awe. "Miss Weasley, there you are. You shouldn't have rushed up those stairs." Moody announced annoyed. "Apologies, professor. I'm afraid my curiosity got the best of me." I smiled sheepishly. The man sighted before knocking on the heavy door. It opened and Moody entered, Mione Ron and I following.

The office was absolutely amazing. The shelves surrounding the circular room were filled with book and other devices. But the crown jewel was the majestic phoenix resting on a pole. "No way..." I breathed out, looking at the creature in its full glory. "Yes way, miss Weasley." the voice of professor Dumbledore stated. I couldn't take my eyes of the glorious phoenix, its eyes staring into my soul.

"This is Fawkes. My phoenix." Dumbledore explained, walking towards the creature. It bowed its head and flew towards the headmaster, landing on his shoulder. He then walked towards the small group as the phoenix glanced at us. "It's beautiful." I breathed out, moving my hand towards the firebird for it to sniff. I focused on its eyes, smiling slightly. "It's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you." I told it.

Apparently, the creature understood what I said and smelled my hand, before eventually flying off of the headmaster's shoulder. My eyes followed its route, noting every movement of the winged beast. Fawkes flew towards me and landed on my shoulder. My eyes widened as I looked for advice from Dumbledore. "Go ahead. Pet him. He obviously takes quite the liking in you." the wise man approved. I moved my hand towards the phoenix's head, petting the extremely soft feathers.

McGonagall coughed, seeming slightly annoyed because Dumbledore wouldn't get to the reason why we gathered. "Professor Dumbledore, why don't you tell these students why they're here?" she wondered. "We're still waiting for one more person." he stated calmly as I petted the creature. It seemed to enjoy it, crooning slightly. I let out a breathy laugh, not being able to grasp that there was a phoenix on my shoulder.

The heavy doors opened once again and in came madame Maxime, Crouch, Karkaroff and Gabrielle. "What's Gabrielle doing here?" I asked Mione in confusion. She shrugged and we both turned our attention to Dumbledore. "Madame Maxime, if you could do the translating for your student, please?" he asked the French woman. She nodded and gestured for Gabrielle to listen. "You are probably wondering why I had you brought here so late." the headmaster began, looking at all of us. "He got that part right." my twin mumbled from my left side. "And the reason for that is because, as you all know, the second task takes place tomorrow." I glanced at Moody, who wasn't paying attention to what Dumbledore was saying. "Therefore, I'm afraid I'll have to ask a great deal of trust of all of you." he stated, clapping his hands together. "What's the task?" Hermione questioned, her voice quivering slightly. "Very good question, miss Granger. And to answer it, I'll let professor Moody take over." the headmaster said. Moody didn't speak up. Instead, he was staring at nothing, probably in deep thought. Dumbledore coughed as McGonagall nudged the man.