During dinner in the Great Hall, Ethan Jones received Dumbledore's summons again.
Passing through the familiar gate, Ethan Jones entered the Headmaster's office for the second time.
The portraits on the wall were dozing off, chatting, or even empty, having gone somewhere to wander.
Entering the door, the first thing Ethan Jones did was look behind the door. Sure enough, Fawkes was still standing on its golden branch.
Last time he was just rubbed by Fawkes's palm (or rather, head against palm). This time he wanted to be bolder and touch Fawkes's feathers.
Just as Dumbledore sat down, he saw Ethan Jones intending to make a move on his bird.
"Fawkes, come here."
With his call, the Phoenix flew up from the golden branch and landed on his shoulder.
This made Ethan Jones, whose wish fell through, somewhat dissatisfied.
"What does the Headmaster want with me this time?" He didn't stand on ceremony with the old man and sat where he sat last time.
Dumbledore smiled: "No rush. Same as last time? Black tea?"
"Mm, black tea."
"I want a cup of black tea too, with extra sugar." After speaking, he snapped his fingers, and soon, two cups of hot tea appeared on the coffee table.
Ethan Jones picked it up, took a sip, and raised an eyebrow.
"Headmaster, this tea was made by the House-elves in the kitchen, right? The cup I'm drinking was obviously made by Toto. Both the temperature and taste are what I'm most used to.
Can House-elves hear our conversation?" He had a bold guess.
"Keen observation, Mr. Jones." Dumbledore nodded with a smile.
"Then can't I ask Toto to bring me food in the dormitory?"
"Yes, sir, as long as you wish." Toto suddenly appeared in the office and bowed to the two.
"That's great, Toto. I'll call your name when I'm hungry." Ethan Jones was startled; he didn't expect Toto to appear suddenly.
"Toto, this is not where you should be." Although the old man was still smiling, his eyes had become dangerous.
Toto shrank his head: "Toto only appeared because he heard Mr. Jones's call. Toto won't dare next time!"
His voice carried a sobbing tone, afraid of being driven out of Hogwarts.
"Just this once. You may go."
"Thank the great Dumbledore!" Toto disappeared in a flash.
"So, Headmaster, are all our conversations monitored by the elves? Does Hogwarts have no secrets?"
"What you said is true to a certain extent, but as long as we do this, our conversation is private." He took out his wand, tapped lightly, and cast a spell.
"What spell is this? Muffliato?"
"Yes, only in this way can we ensure no one hears our conversation. But generally, what I say isn't shameful, so there's no need to cast this spell."
"Learned it. I'll use it next time." Ethan Jones looked like he had been taught.
"What secrets do you have to hide?" Dumbledore found his appearance amusing.
"No, I just simply feel a lack of privacy."
"Alright, enough small talk. I called you here today because of the Troll incident last night." Speaking of business, his expression became serious.
"Professor McGonagall told me that you killed the Troll last night, right? What spell did you use?"
"Confringo." Ethan Jones pondered for a moment and finally decided to tell the truth. The traces on the Troll corpse were there; lying would be too easy to expose.
"You are..." Dumbledore was interrupted before he could finish asking.
Ethan Jones knew what he wanted to ask: "I learned this magic from the book Advanced Spells. Because I have a high affinity for Dark Magic and fire magic, I could cast it smoothly."
"Mm, I see." The old man wasn't angry: "But tell me the truth, did you really invite the three of them to go on an adventure with you yesterday?
Although Professor McGonagall told me so, I don't believe you would do such a thing."
"You won't deduct points if I tell the truth, right?" He pretended to be worried.
"No, I haven't deducted points personally for a long time."
"Actually, it was like this..." He simply recounted yesterday's events.
The old man listened very seriously: "So, you also discovered the Troll when you rushed to the dungeons?"
"Yes, I went down all the way from the third floor. When I left the Great Hall, Professor Quirrell hadn't come in yet. I only heard later that Professor Quirrell reported the Troll entered the castle."
"Well done, Jones. Brave and responsible. Your character would be suitable even if assigned to Gryffindor." Dumbledore nodded with satisfaction.
"Alright, I already know what I wanted to know. Let's end today's conversation happily."
Seeing Ethan Jones still wanted to say something, Dumbledore thought he wanted to ask about his bloodline and guaranteed: "As for that alchemical item, it will arrive after Christmas. I have confirmed it. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten."
"No, Headmaster, it's Halloween today. You're sending me away without giving any candy?" Ethan Jones looked at the old man strangely.
"You want to rob candy from me again?!" The old man was anxious: "Honeydukes' restocking date is in half a month. I don't have much stock here either. No!"
"Not giving candy to children on Halloween? Then I'm going to make a scene!" Ethan Jones glanced at Fawkes on Dumbledore's shoulder.
"Of course, it's fine if you don't give candy. Let me touch Fawkes, and I'll consider it given."
The dagger was revealed. What asking for candy? It was all an excuse. He just wanted to touch a real Phoenix. Last time he was just rubbed against; this time he wanted to touch to his heart's content.
"Fawkes, what do you think?" Dumbledore was somewhat conflicted. He didn't really want his beloved Phoenix to be intimately touched by others, but he also didn't want his beloved candy to be robbed. So he hoped Fawkes would actively reject Ethan Jones.
Fawkes: ? I'm just a bird; how can I think so much?
Driven by instinct, Fawkes flew straight up and landed on Ethan Jones's shoulder.
"Alright, Headmaster, I don't want the candy. Keep it for yourself. But be careful of diabetes." Ethan Jones wore a satisfied smile, not forgetting to advise him with seemingly concern.
He turned his head to look at Fawkes, who was grooming its feathers with its beak, and gently placed his hand on its other wing. Seeing no reaction, he boldly and gently stroked it, feeling the smoothness and warmth of the feathers.
Dumbledore watched this scene unwillingly, like a bitter victim whose wife had been stolen.
Ethan Jones didn't care about this. He caught Fawkes and petted it thoroughly. If Dumbledore hadn't chased him away, he could have petted it until curfew.
"So stingy. I just petted it a bit longer and took a tail feather that fell off naturally. Was it necessary to look like you were going to fight me?"
Holding a long Phoenix tail feather in his hand, Ethan Jones muttered as he sat on the spiral stone staircase.
He really didn't pull this out. It fell off naturally when Fawkes was grooming its feathers, and Fawkes picked it up and put it in his hand.
Old Dumbledore didn't think so. His eyes turned red, and he chased Ethan Jones away immediately.