Lockhart and Gall spoke in unison: "Phoenix!"
Gall was in a panic, his legs went weak and he sat down, saying desperately, "Is Dumbledore here?"
What did they do to deserve this! To have Dumbledore personally come after them?
Lockhart was also frightened and fell down, but he quickly noticed something different: "No... that's not right, I've seen Dumbledore's phoenix at Hogwarts, and this one looks different."
Mabel looked at the Firebird, feeling it was very familiar, and after a moment's recollection, she remembered its name—
"...Mikhail?"
Mikhail nodded, chirped twice, and turned to gesture.
Mabel asked, "Did Vid Gray send you to find me? Where is he?"
Mikhail did not answer, instead flew out and landed on the wall, looking back at her.
Mabel understood and without hesitation pulled open the door, Gall couldn't help but shout, "Wait! What if it's a trap?"
As soon as he finished speaking, he immediately covered his mouth, looking regretful for saying it, and Lockhart glared at him with vicious eyes.
Mabel paused for a moment, standing by the door, she turned back with a sudden smile.
"I should go, thank Mr. Trokka for his hospitality for me."
She appeared as an ordinary, carefree little girl, causing both of them to be momentarily stunned.
After that, the girl picked up her skirt and quickly ran out. The Firebird flew and stopped intermittently in front of her, leading her out all the way.
The room was quiet for a while.
"...Strange." Gall rubbed his nose and said softly, "Why do I suddenly feel... a bit worried about her..."
"If you want to worry, be worried, I just hope she never comes back."
Lockhart clung to the wall, painfully saying, "My whole body hurts right now, I just want to lay in bed for a while, don't call me for lunch..."
Gall watched him slowly move into the bedroom, each step seeming to be a torture, showing a sympathetic expression.
"Ah... humans really are too fragile, fortunately, I'm a vampire..."
He licked his lips with a look of yearning, saying, "Where to steal some blood for lunch? Never mind, Mabel just left, Dementors might still be nearby, better be cautious..."
...
Mabel followed the Firebird, running to an abandoned building, and looking at its eerie appearance, she couldn't help but feel a bit scared.
Thankfully Mikhail did not fly to the depths, it quickly stopped and landed on the dusty second-floor railing.
"Hello... Mr. Gray?"
Mabel slowly walked inside, asking softly.
The abandoned building was very empty, she could even hear her own echo.
Soon after, she heard a voice.
"Sorry, Miss Mabel." A shadow stepped out from behind the diagonal column, saying, "Since we are inconvenient to show ourselves, we could only have Mikhail lead you here."
Mabel stepped back cautiously, saying, "You're not Vid Gray! Who are you?"
Black mist rolled out, climbing up the ground and the columns on either side.
Mikhail on the railing raised its head and spread its wings, the fire on its body flared up, illuminating the eerie and dim building, allowing Mabel to see the "shadow" by the column.
She suddenly widened her eyes.
It was a square, colorful box, topped with antennae with eyes, with thin metal arms on both sides, and wheels at the bottom.
It seemed like an oddly shaped toy, but the voice indeed came from it.
"No need to doubt, it is I who are speaking." The box "walked" two steps closer to her, saying, "Hello, I am the Cube Poppet, Vid Gray is my master, he personally gave me life. They are all in the same situation as me."
Following its direction, Mabel saw Firebird Mikhail, a broom floating in the air nodding, and a cloak waving, which seemed to cloak a shadow underneath.
She stared at the short and fat shadow for a moment, confirming it could not be Vid, asked: "Who is this gentleman?"
"I am also a poppet." Peter the Second added: "Humanoid poppet."
Mabel pretended to nod calmly, as if this kind of thing were very common, but inside she was full of wonder.
In this period, she relied on newspapers, not as ignorant about the Magic World as she initially was, but she mostly saw animal-shaped poppets in newspapers, never ones as strangely shaped as these.
Human-shaped poppets are actually rare, because some wizards feel such poppets threaten the safety and ethical morality of the Magic World, strongly opposing them, and even advocating the Ministry of Magic to list them as banned items, not allowed to be produced and sold.
Of course, such proposals have not been passed, yet the owners of humanoid poppets are said to be very few.
"Why do you cover with a cloak?" Mabel curiously asked.
"Because my appearance would scare others, causing chaos." Peter the Second said.
——How ugly must he be to cause chaos just by his looks?
Mabel subconsciously had this thought, feeling puzzled why Vid chose to create strange and ugly poppets given many choices.
Then she remembered the reason she ran out, asking, "Where is Mr. Gray?"
"That is why we sought you, Miss Mabel." The Cube Poppet said sternly: "The master has been taken by evil Dark Wizards, we need your help!"
Mabel's expression subtly changed, asking, "What happened?"