78 Who outplays who?

"Beautiful, isn't he? Although I'm surprised that he decided to be so intimate. He hasn't done that with anyone ever," Dumbledore said with a smile. "I guess it goes on to further prove just how extraordinary you are," he said before sitting down at his desk. Fawkes flapped his wings and flew back to its perch before getting comfortable.

"His name is Fawkes by the way," he said as if remembering something.

"Yes, he is a magnificent bird," I paused and look at Fawkes deeply with a smile. I then turned my head towards the massive bookcase. "Impressive collection of books you have here," I said as I looked at them greedily. There should be some juicy stuff tucked away and hidden in here.

"Oh? If you like it that much, you should come here and read whenever you have time," he said with a cunning smile. I was about to accept when Fawkes stopped me.

{DON'T! if you want to make a deal with him, you can't receive anything for free, he will easily use this for the stone,} he said quickly. I was surprised but did my best to hide it. Who knew Dumbledore was already laying it on thick? If it wasn't for Fawkes I would be screwed.

'Drak why aren't you this helpful?' I complained jokingly.

[Hmph! It was because I couldn't open my mouth fast enough. The fire chicken beat me to it,] he tried to justify himself. I knew he didn't even think about it.

'Thank you, Fawkes.' I said warmly before looking at Dumbledore calmly.

"No thank you, Professor, it is not necessary," I said with an innocent smile. Dumbledore was good at hiding his disappointment, but the small twitch of his lips gave it away.

"Oh! Where are my manners, please take a seat, will you?" he said stretching his hand out which pointed at the chair opposite him. It was extremely comfortable to sit on. It reminded me of the spell they use on broomsticks so that it is actually as comfortable as sitting on a couch. Very useful.

"Would you like some tea?" he asked.

"If you'd be so kind," I responded. Tea was a great way to relax and have a long and productive chat. He didn't take long to serve the tea and handed it to me with a little ceramic plate as well. It was hot and sweet as it warmed up my mouth.

"Let's get straight to the point, shall we?" I said while putting my cup back on my side of his desk.

"We can," he said calmly. I nodded and took out the stone and laid it on the desk. The red lustre burst out radiantly.

"It's really an interesting and curious object, isn't it?" he said calmly while taking a sip of his tea, having no intention of taking it.

"I guess you could say so. I mean, it seems to be able to do more than it leads people to believe," I said slowly.

"Oh? Do tell Mr Knight," he said curiously.

"I don't think this should come as a surprise to you, but it seems that stone has a way of giving people a body. Otherwise, why would Voldemort search for it so fervently?" I spoke.

"Why do you think this doesn't come as a surprise to me?" he asked with the same curious expression.

I sighed; it seems he was playing dumb. "Aurelius" I said simply. But the reaction I got was beyond anything I could have imagined. He burst into laughter, so loud and abrupt that it shocked me. Even Fawkes looked at him in confusion.

"Mr Knight, I must say, the things you know, seem to not correlate with your age or background. May I know as to where you got this information from?" he asked with an amused expression. I decided to continue.

"Just a conjecture of mine. Knowing your history, and character to an extent, I can deduce that this is something you would do,"

"What exactly did I do and why?" he asked.

"You kept your sister's obscurus and tried to use the stone on it. I'm baffled as to why you would think Ariana would come back but I can't blame you for trying. As for what became of the result, well, you and me both know how that ended." I said simply.

"What a marvellous hypothesis. I don't understand why or how you know of this. And I won't ask you to reveal it either. I cannot and will not attempt to read your mind again. Not only because I can't, but as a show of faith and goodwill. After all, if I wanted to know so badly, there is little you can do against veritaserum." He said with a smile before looking at my tea. It seemed he had it all thought out. I stared at my tea with a small trace of fear. I had actually been so naïve. If he really did go through with it. would I have spilled all my secrets? I asked myself.

[no, I would have stopped your body from doing so. And I'm sure Fawkes would have done something as well. There are certain things some people shouldn't know. Plus, when you reach a high enough level in occlumency, you can resist the potion's effects.] he concluded. I was slightly relieved at his words, but I realised I was still too green.

"Yes well, that might have very well been a game-changer, Professor." I nodded in acknowledgement.

"Well, then doesn't that prove my goodwill?" he asked with a smile. I nodded again. It seemed so.

"As for your hypothesis, well, let's just say that I was at my lowest and decided to give it one last try. It seemed I had made things worse instead. Well, I guess it depends on who you ask really. As for Voldemort, he must have found out about it some way or another. That is the downside of being in the light. It is hard to get rid of loose ends," he said with a chuckle.

I was shocked at his answer. Who knew he would be this open and regretful about not killing a bunch of loose ends. Though, the way I see it, he is able to say all of this since it's in both of our best interests for this conversation to remain in this room. There was a silence that permeated the study for a moment. We only drank our tea quietly before I decided to continue.