Little Brave Hearts || Neville Longbottom

CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX

In the middle of packing her things for going back home, Professor McGonagall informed her that Professor Dumbledore requested her presence in his office. She was escorted to the entrance where a Gargoyle statue stood blocking its entrance.

"Sherbet Lemon," Professor McGonagall uttered. It made Maykha look at her weirdly, confused as to what it was for, but her question was quickly answered when the gargoyle statue spun around, revealing a circular staircase that led to a floor beneath them.

Professor McGonagall told her go as she would not be able to come with her inside. Obeying the professor, Maykha walked towards the staircase and was led to a circular room with an intricate design. There were layers of books that rested in the bookshelf, portraits that hanged on the wall, their eyes seemed to be curious as to what the student was doing inside. She also spotted Fawkes who stood on its perch. She remembered how the phoenix dived into the chambers and aided them with their fight against Tom and the Basilisk, making her forever indebted to the phoenix.

"Hey there, my little saviour," she said, walking towards the phoenix.

"You there, girl," Maykha was immediately stopped by a man's voice. She expected Professor Dumbledore, but as she turned around, it was a portrait of a man that looked straight at her. He was a clever-looking man, yet he wore a stern face. He had a shrewd, narrow eyes, a pointed beard, and a thin brows.

"Are you talking to me?" Maykha asked, making sure she was not imagining.

The man scoffed, "Do you see any other girl here?"

Maykha immediately did not like the man, "Well, you could have asked nicely."

The other portraits snickered, making the man scowl at her, "I don't like the way you talk to a headmaster."

It was just then she realized that the portraits that hanged on the walls were the former headmasters and headmistresses of Hogwarts. Maykha immediately felt little, as she started to regret her attitude towards the man.

"T-then," she started, "what did you want from me?"

The man narrowed his eyes, inspecting her features and face as if he knew her, "Are you of my lineage?"

Confusion started forming a knot inside her mind. She did not know who the man was, or why he even thought she was related to him. Maykha was just about to open her mouth when she heard footsteps getting close.

"Now, now, let us not play the heavy with Miss Iglehart early this morning, Phineas," Professor Dumbledore said, chuckling. He gestured Maykha to come closer, and so she did, but her eyes still grounded on Phineas.

Tearing her look at the portrait, she finally glued her attention to their current headmaster, who was looking at her with a kind gaze.

"Yes, professor?"

"I am glad that you are well, Maykha," he said, "I hoped to visit you while you were still in the Hospital Wing, but my duties as the headmaster stopped me from doing so."

"It's okay, professor. I am well, and Professor Snape even visited me," she smiled.

The man looked a bit surprised by what she said, but his expression turned into a smile of knowing, "Severus did, I see."

"Uhm...Professor McGonagall told me you wanted to see me?"

"Ah yes, I have already talked with Harry about the events that happened inside the chamber. I'm afraid he was not able to tell me everything, as he told me you were already there when he arrived. I was hoping that you could enlighten me as to how did you manage your way inside."

Maykha told Professor Dumbledore everything she knew. How she saw Ginny being so out of her usual self, and the basilisk that crawled next to her. She also told him how she tailed after them, gaining her the access to the chamber. There, she saw Tom and the rest of her story had overlapped with what Harry had told him.

"I see," nodded Professor Dumbledore, "By any chance, did Tom say anything unusual to you?"

Maykha stopped for a moment to think. Everything the man did and said were unusual, but looking back, there was one thing that bothered her the most.

"There's one," she started, "he told me that he knew me, professor. And that you were a...a fool for not telling me anything. He told me that he would tell me who I was if I joined hands with him."

There was a subtle change in the professor's demeanor. As if his expression darkened, making Maykha anxious of what he was thinking about.

"W-what did he mean by that, professor?"

"It shall not concern you," the man said, "at least not yet."