Vid caught it and then bid farewell to Lupin: "Professor Dumbledore will explain to you, Remus. If you need help... I can always assist."
"Alright, thank you."
Lupin thanked him blankly, then watched as Vid and Fox disappeared in the golden-red light.
...
The fire flashed by, and in an instant, Vid found himself back at school.
To be precise, in Dumbledore's Headmaster's Office.
Fox landed sluggishly on its gilded perch, seemingly very tired. It made a choking sound, and its eyes looked listless.
Vid asked softly, "Are you going to undergo a Nirvana?"
Fox did not speak.
It raised its neck and suddenly burst into flames all over, let out a sharp cry, and then turned into ashes, falling to the ground like dust.
This sound seemed to awaken the sleeping old headmasters, as the surrounding portraits began to stir.
A thin male headmaster shouted, "Hey, student, how did you get in here? This is the Headmaster's Office, no trespassing allowed! You better leave immediately!"
The surrounding old headmasters nodded in agreement.
"Of course I'm here because Dumbledore allowed me, is there any other reason?"
Vid countered.
The other headmaster portraits laughed at the male headmaster, calling him brainless.
It was clear this one was quite unpopular.
Vid glanced at the name on his portrait - [Phineas Black].
The most unpopular headmaster in Hogwarts history, the great-great grandfather of Sirius and Regulus.
He sat cross-legged next to the ashes, waiting for the rebirth of Fox.
Phineas squinted his long eyes and curiously asked, "Dumbledore said you are the most outstanding student Ravenclaw has had in the past hundred years, is that right? What great achievements have you accomplished?"
His tone was frivolous and arrogant. Vid raised an eyebrow and turned to look at him.
Phineas's previously languid expression immediately changed, and he frowned with dissatisfaction, saying, "Why do I feel like you are pitying me?"
"How could that be?" said a female headmaster in another portrait, "Black, please don't trouble the student!"
But Phineas walked into the neighboring portrait, pushing aside the old headmaster there.
"Honestly!" The old man held onto his hat and complained.
Phineas walked all the way into the portrait opposite Vid, leaning on the frame, and asked, "Did your outing today have anything to do with my unworthy great-grandson?"
Vid replied in a deep voice, "No, it was about another one."
"What?" Phineas was puzzled.
"Regulus Black," Vid said, "we found his body."
"Regulus?"
Phineas's frivolous expression disappeared, and he fell silent, as did the rest of the portraits around him.
They held their breath (if they had one), not saying a word.
The ashes suddenly moved, and a wrinkled chick peered out from inside.
The newly born chick didn't have a single feather, naturally far from beautiful. It moved its bony wings, exploring the world around it within the ashes.
Vid couldn't help but wonder: Does this phoenix have memories of before? Can it still be considered the same phoenix as before?
"How should I take care of it?" He asked the old headmasters around him, "Does it need to eat something?"
After a while, an ancient portrait finally spoke up.
"Dumbledore knew it was about to undergo Nirvana, and he had prepared in advance—did you see that green crystal bottle on the cabinet? Feed it three drops of the magic potion inside."
Vid did as he was told, finding the crystal bottle—it was right next to Fox's perch, very conspicuous.
He unscrewed the cap, smelled the fresh scent of bamboo leaves, paused a moment, then carefully fed the potion to the chick.
Like all newborn chicks, it opened its beak wide to receive the food, as if it had a bottomless pit in its stomach.
Vid only fed it three drops, and despite the chick still chirping, he replaced the bottle.
Phineas watched him finish before slowly saying, "Regulus… how did he die?"
"He died for the righteousness and beliefs in his heart," Vid said, "He defied Voldemort, using his life to give people a chance to defeat that man."
A moment later, Phineas let out some unpleasant, cold laughter.
"Sounds like, he wasn't much of a Black then... more like a foolish Gryffindor!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Phineas left the portrait, leaving only a blank frame behind.
Vid didn't stay long either.
He took a box containing a diadem from his bag—after deciding to invite Dumbledore to the cave, he had borrowed this diadem from the Room of Requirement. This time Barnabas hadn't stopped him.
Vid placed the diadem on an empty table, and said to the portrait beside it, "Give this to Professor Dumbledore. Please inform him when he returns."
"Alright." The portrait responded.
Another headmaster in a portrait grumbled, "Students these days... ordering the headmaster around!"
Vid ignored him.
He pulled the door open and walked out of the Headmaster's Office.
By now it was evening, and students returning from Hogsmeade Village were coming back in droves.
Vid stood on high ground and easily noticed two students hiding in a corner, snuggled closely together. The girl was giggling foolishly, while the boy leaned over to kiss her cheek.
Those two were Michael and Padma.
Padma was very shy, while Michael seemed as capable as a seasoned romantic.
He approached, touched, drew back slightly, murmured a few words, then began nearing again, like a dragonfly skimming the water.
Like two peas in a pod, fitting perfectly together.
Vid couldn't help but smile, thinking these folks were maturing too soon.
In his heart, he's always equated them with sixth-grade elementary school students.
He knew some people criticized him for having old-fashioned views, but he didn't mind.
Vid walked down the spiral staircase, contemplating the day's events.
His candid conversation with Dumbledore… the Inferi… and the two brothers of the Black Family.
And Phoenix Nirvana.
The phoenixes in the magic world, though not as omnipotent and mighty as the legends, have tears that can heal most injuries, including bites from the Basilisk's venomous fangs; and their feathers have various wonderful uses as well.
Vid planned to first brew a few bottles of healing magic potions, and the rest could be used in alchemy. Thankful for Fox's generosity, gifting him enough feathers.
"Mr. Gray… Vid Gray…"
As Vid was preparing to return to the Room of Requirement along the corridor, he suddenly heard a small voice calling him.
He turned around and saw it was Maki.
This was a house-elf who excelled at culinary arts and also took care of cleaning the Slytherin Common Room and dormitory.
"Maki?" Vid walked over and crouched down, "What do you need from me?"
"Vid Gray is unaware, today something happened in Slytherin College, Maki wants to tell him."
Maki clutched its hands, seemingly ashamed to divulge the college's secrets.
But since Vid was also a student of Hogwarts, theoretically its master too, it didn't feel guilty enough to punish itself by running into a wall.
"What do you want to tell me, Maki?" Vid asked gently.
"In the evening, there were not many students in Slytherin, most of them went to Hogsmeade."
The house-elf raised its head and said in a small voice:
"Suddenly, two plump people attacked others… their magic wasn't great, and they accidentally conjured a cow, almost breaking their own ribs."
"Levioso mispronounced?" Vid frowned, "Isn't that a very rare magic effect?"
Since Professor Flitwick told the story of that unfortunate wizard who was nearly killed by a cow, some daring young wizards have secretly tried it, but the result rarely occurs even once in ten times.
Even if they mispronounced the spell, their magic power wouldn't suffice to sustain such a massive space transfer.
The house-elf shook its head, "Maki doesn't understand what happened either, but Maki discovered some other strange things..."
He suddenly fell silent, looking around as if worried about being eavesdropped on.
Then he leaned closer to Vid and whispered, "Someone is secretly practicing dark magic... and has a little house-elf from outside in the dormitory..."