I Don't Believe You! You're a Bad Old Man!

Fawkes, who was idly combing his feathers, suddenly shivered, and his red eyes scanned the area for possible threats. When he found nothing but a harmless young wizard with little magic, he closed his eyes and rested.

The harmless Ivan, however, extended his sinful right hand under the guise of closeness and convenience for future communication.

The nimble fingers paused briefly in the air, and when Ivan saw that Fox was still fast asleep, he cautiously touched his feather with one finger.

At the moment of contact, the sleeping phoenix opened its eyes and stared at Ivan for a long time. After confirming that Ivan meant no harm, Fox arrogantly swatted Ivan's evil hand away with his wings, his eyes full of warning.

As a phoenix, it was not something that anyone could touch…

Fox, however, could never match Ivan's shameless closeness,

After all, as Dumbledore's pet and a bit of a human being, Fox couldn't possibly do anything to Ivan, so he played hide-and-seek with him for a few minutes before giving in.

This also had to do with the fact that Ivan never showed any ill will, or he would have lost his finger.

"I didn't think I'd be able to pet a phoenix one day!" Yvonne said happily, touching Fox all over, using her parrot-playing experience from her previous life on him.

Fawkes, the phoenix, also gradually changed from being impatient to indifferent, and was even willing to lift his proud head and let Ivan stroke the feathers on his neck.

While petting Fox, Ivan studied the legendary bird of the West.

Unlike the mythical phoenix that Ivan remembered from his previous life, Fawkes looked more like a large turkey with beautiful golden-red feathers, and despite his majestic appearance, Ivan somehow found himself wondering how it would taste…

It occurred to Ivan that he might be able to fill his head with good food, and he did it as he thought of it, thinking of deep-frying… barbecue… all kinds of good food.

. As Ivan was thinking of roasting the phoenix, a gentle voice spoke.

"Fire is the hotbed of the phoenix. Perhaps you could cook it another way…"

Ivan turned to see Dumbledore's large frame entering the room. He was over a hundred years old and did not seem to be hindering the greatest white wizard of the century.

Fawkes, who was being cuddled by Ivan, flew into the air and angrily pecked Ivan on the head before flopping back onto Dumbledore's hat.

Fox would never have guessed that the harmless young wizard in front of him was planning to roast him.

Ivan rubbed his aching head and asked innocently, "Professor, I'm curious how you know I'm thinking about this. Can you read my memories?"

"Sometimes one's actions and actions reveal one's thoughts," Dumbledore said, not admitting or contradicting her.

Ivan had a look of sudden understanding on his face, but in his heart he was already cursing.

'Like hell I will! You're a rotten old man!'

Perhaps because it was too early for the Academic Genius experience card, Ivan felt a force enter his brain the moment Dumbledore opened his mouth, and it did not go away until he asked.

Ivan could guess with his toes that this power was Dumbledore's Dementor, but he did not know how he was able to detect such a silent and soul-related trace of magic when he was under the Experiencing Card.

Somehow, after Dumbledore withdrew his Dementor, he did not use it again, but sat in the Headmaster's chair with his long purple-blue robe trailing behind him, gesturing for Ivan to sit down as he retrieved some snacks from his drawer and placed them on the table.

"Would you like a cockroach pile? How about the latest flavour, Sizzle Honeysuckle?" Dumbledore asked, picking out each one for Ivan to try.

Ivan didn't even touch the infamous cockroach pile, but he was rather interested in the honey. He unwrapped one and popped it into his mouth.

His teeth bit down, filling his mouth with the sweetness of honey, and the broken pieces of sugar seemed to have a mind of their own, bouncing around in his mouth, avoiding Ivan's teeth, a bit like the Pop-Tarts he had eaten in his previous life, only sweeter when bitten.

Dumbledore did not rush to question Ivan, but made him a glass of iced lemon juice instead, before acting like a listener.

After eating some sweets and downing half a glass of lemon juice, Ivan's initial anxiety about meeting Dumbledore was assuaged, and he began to recount the events.

Ivan, of course, was not telling the same story Hermione had told him when she was lying; it was, after all, so false that Dumbledore, not to mention himself, would not believe it.

Furthermore, Ivan is unsure whether Dumbledore will suddenly use Dementor in the course of his narration, or see something in his face.

So Ivan was telling the truth about almost everything except for a few key pieces of information.

The final part of the story was that he learned from Harry that Hermione was hiding in the bathroom alone at the Hallowe'en Feast, and was worried about her, so he went to look for her.

In an attempt to increase his credibility, Ivan gave a general account of the battle.

The remaining suspicious points are the pre-transfigured Iron Thorns used to restrict troll movements, and the possible detection of the potion's ingredients in a troll's corpse.

Ivan was unable to explain the former, and if Dumbledore were to ask him about it, he would simply say that he was practising the Transfiguration and Shrinking Charms.

Ivan did not mention the latter, as Dumbledore would not be the only one to suspect him even if it was detected, and Chino would be the one most likely to take the blame.

Yvonne quickly ran through the suspicious points in her speech to see if she had missed anything.

However, Dumbledore's next reaction made Ivan feel as if he had just punched cotton…