"So you're planning to explore an ancient magic ruin. Can you tell me why you invited me to come along?"
Inside the Headmaster's office, Dumbledore looked at Leonard as he asked the question.
"No special reason. I just figured it would be safer with the Headmaster there." Leonard did not look embarrassed in the slightest. As he spoke, his eyes kept drifting toward Fawkes.
It had been several months since he had last seen him, and Fawkes's feathers looked even smoother and glossier now. The magic inside him also seemed richer. Leonard could not help wondering whether phoenix feathers at this stage would have even stronger effects.
Fawkes, who had been lowering his head and preening his feathers, suddenly felt a chill run through him. He jerked his head up, glared at Leonard, and let out a warning cry.
Leonard gave a dry cough, abandoned the idea of pulling out one of Fawkes's feathers, and quietly looked back at Dumbledore, who had fallen into thought.
No matter what, Leonard was still a Hogwarts student. Surely Professor Dumbledore would not just let one of his students head off to a dangerous place alone.
"Well... mainly, I just don't really trust that Defense Against the Dark Arts professor." Leonard spread his hands. "You were the one who told me to be careful, weren't you?"
"I originally thought they would make contact with you in advance and try to leave you with a good impression, but it seems they didn't do that." Dumbledore shook his head. "Actually, Harris isn't the one you need to be wary of."
"What do you mean?" Leonard froze.
"It's nothing. Since Harris didn't tell you, then I shouldn't speak out of turn either." Dumbledore stood up. "Give me the map. I'll take you there."
"Then I'll leave it to you, Headmaster." Leonard smiled and handed the map over. "How are we getting there?"
"We'll let Fawkes take us." Dumbledore lowered his head, looked over the map through his half-moon spectacles, then passed it to Fawkes.
Fawkes shot Leonard a vicious glare, then looked at the map, nodded, and hopped onto Dumbledore's shoulder.
"Come here," Dumbledore said, beckoning to Leonard.
Leonard stepped over to Dumbledore's side. The moment he stopped, Fawkes beat his wings, and warm flames sprang into existence out of nowhere, wrapping around the two of them.
...
The warm flames faded, and when Leonard came back to himself, he was already standing with Dumbledore in front of a cave.
Fawkes gave a bright cry and landed on Dumbledore's shoulder. There was a trace of smugness in his lively eyes, and several strands of gray hair dangled from his beak.
"Ow..." Leonard clutched the back of his head and grimaced at the triumphant Fawkes in speechless disbelief.
Unbelievable. Fawkes actually held a grudge. He had yanked Leonard's hair out during the transfer.
Good thing Leonard was young and not short on hair. One day, he was definitely going to pull out a few more of Fawkes's feathers.
Still, Fawkes's transfer magic really was convenient. Leonard suddenly wanted one of his own.
He and Dumbledore had relied on Fawkes's power to get here. Unlike Apparition or a Portkey, there was no discomfort at all. On the contrary, Leonard felt completely refreshed.
It would have been even better if his hair had not been pulled out.
"Professor Dumbledore, was that just now Fawkes's magic?" Leonard asked, rubbing his head.
"That's right. It's one of his innate abilities. He can transfer over long distances," Dumbledore said with a nod.
This transfer magic was far more advanced than Apparition. Leonard even started wondering whether his Devil's Snare would be able to intercept something like that.
Probably not, he thought. Judging from how Devil's Snare had performed in actual combat, ordinary Apparition would fail outright inside the area it sealed off, while Raven's crow transfer magic could still work, though it would be misdirected.
But a phoenix's transfer magic looked even more advanced. The flames that bloomed during transfer were definitely not just visual flair.
Most importantly, phoenix transfer magic did not seem to require having visited the destination before. Just looking at a map was enough.
"We're here. This is the place." Dumbledore looked around, then quietly drew his wand. "Next, I'll keep watch over the surroundings for you. You can search without worry."
"There's really no need to be this cautious. With you here, Headmaster, even if someone truly was foolish enough to lie in ambush here, they wouldn't dare make a move, would they?" Leonard said, flattering him a little.
Dumbledore shook his head. "It never hurts to be careful. Besides, I've never considered myself the greatest wizard in the world."
"But your reputation alone is enough to intimidate anyone with bad intentions," Leonard said as he opened his magical sight and began searching through the cave.
This cave was rather unusual. The rock walls around it seemed to bear traces of something that blocked magic. Leonard's magical sight could not pierce through the stone to see outside.
Looks like Raven did not just bury this place casually. They deliberately hid the cave's existence, Leonard thought.
With that layer of rock around it, even if Leonard stood on the mountaintop and looked down, he still would not have been able to spot the cave hidden inside.
At the very least, though, this rock layer proved that Harris Raymons had not lied. There probably really was an entrance to an ancient magic ruin here.
Leonard walked in with complete confidence, while Dumbledore followed behind him and Fawkes perched on Dumbledore's shoulder.
Leonard had never had such an easy time exploring before. With those two covering him from behind, even if he did something stupid, they would still be able to save him.
After all, Dumbledore's magical strength was extraordinary. Without relying on magical plants, Leonard would not even dare entertain the thought of making an enemy of Dumbledore.
Whatever enemy appeared, Dumbledore would be able to handle it.
And phoenix tears could heal any wound and purify any poison. Even if Leonard did something reckless and ended up half dead, he could still be pulled back.
This team really lacked neither damage nor support.
The cave was not very deep, and before long, the two of them had reached the end.
At the sight of the empty rock wall at the end of the passage, Dumbledore raised an eyebrow and turned his gaze to Leonard.
Leonard was not surprised in the slightest, because the true ancient magic ruins had been prepared for the Heir to Ancient Magic from the beginning. Only Leonard, who had mastered magical sight, or the true heir, Claudia, could see where the entrance was.
At that moment, at the end of the cave where there should have been nothing at all, Leonard saw a mysterious symbol giving off a faint silver glow.
A symbol of ancient magic.
"This is it," Leonard said as he walked over, raised his right hand, and gently touched the floating symbol.
The Ancient Sprout dwelling in Leonard's right arm woke up. Roots invisible to everyone else slowly crept up along his arm, and the sprout, marked with silver veins, made contact with the mysterious symbol in the air.
In an instant, the symbol lit up, and a flood of information poured out of it, flowing through the Ancient Sprout's connection and into Leonard's mind.