❝ i'm chaos walking . . . ❞
❝ then i'll walk with you.❞
「 Liliana Granger knew chaos like the back of her hand.
It confronted her, challenging her to find calm wherever she could.
But some days...
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❝ Wake up, sleepyheads. ❞
⋅☾☼☽⋅
They stepped off the stone staircase at the top, and Professor McGonagall rapped on the door. It opened silently and they entered a large and beautiful circular room, full of funny little noises. Professor McGonagall told Harry and Liliana to wait and left them there, alone.
Liliana looked around. It was the most interesting office she had ever seen. A number of curious silver instruments stood on spindle-legged tables, whirring and emitting little puffs of smoke. The walls were covered with portraits of old headmasters and headmistresses, all of whom were snoozing gently in their frames. There was also an enormous, claw-footed desk, and, sitting on a shelf behind it, the Sorting Hat.
As Liliana approached the portrait of Phineas Nigellus Black, an older wizard with a gray beard, a strange gagging noise reached her ears. Startled, she turned around and noticed that she and Harry weren't alone after all.
Standing on a golden perch behind the door was a decrepit-looking bird that resembled a half-plucked turkey. Liliana stared at it and the bird looked balefully back, making its gagging noise again. She thought it looked very ill. Its eyes were dull and, even as she watched it, a couple more feathers fell out of its tail.
She was starting to wonder what breed it was when it burst into flames. Screaming in shock, she backed away and collided with Harry.
"Lili, what —" but his sentence fell short as he took in the scene in front of him "— oh my God, you killed him!"
"Don't be dense!" Liliana argued, but she did in fact think she had killed the bird as it morphed into a fireball. "Quick — we need water!"
Harry looked around wildly, but their time had run out — the bird shrieked one last time, then burned up into a smoldering pile of ash. Liliana put her hands to her mouth as she stared at the floor where the ash had settled.
The office door opened. It was Dumbledore. Liliana almost burst into tears.
"Professor," she breathed, a small tremble in her voice. "Your bird — oh, I'm so sorry — we tried to find water but — it's all my fault — he just caught fire —"
To her astonishment, Dumbledore smiled.
"About time, too," he said. "He's been looking dreadful for days; I've been telling him to get a move on."
He chuckled at the stunned look on the second years' faces.
"Fawkes is a phoenix. Phoenixes burst into flame when it is time for them to die and are reborn from the ashes. Watch him. . ."
Harry and Liliana looked down in time to see a tiny, wrinkled, newborn bird poke its head out of the ashes. Liliana thought it looked kinda cute, well, when she squinted her eyes and turned her head to the side at least.
