A Taste of Magic

Chapter 59: 59th Course - The Rising Curtain

"Ah hello Harry," Dumbledore smiled warmly. "Thank you for coming."

"Of course, Sir," Harry replied. He patted Fawkes when the phoenix flew to him and landed on his shoulder. "Hi Fawkes. I brought muffins."

Fawkes warbled happily and landed daintily on the desktop and started munching on his muffin without delay. Dumbledore accepted his and bit into it happily, chewing blissfully. "Mmm, splendid as always," Dumbledore said.

"Do you mind sending these to the Hog's Head?" Harry asked, handing over a box.

"Not at all, I will take it over after our meeting," Dumbledore said, setting the box aside. "I have a couple of things I wished to address with you."

"Yes Sir."

Dumbledore took a deep breath. "First, I must ask you to do something you may not be comfortable with. As you know, the selection for the Champions representing their school will be done at the Halloween Feast. I know you typically wish to do something else on Halloween and I have never had a problem with that before. That said, for this, I must ask for you to attend. Perhaps you may attend towards when the selection would be? I could ask Inky to come fetch you."

"Oh, uhm, I appreciate you asking." Harry dithered a little in the chair. "I'll come the whole time, you don't have to worry about it."

"Oh." Dumbledore looked concerned. "I appreciate you saying so, but is something wrong?"

Harry sighed. "It's just, what I used to do on Halloween was to cook…the beef stew." His voice faded into a whisper and he looked very down.

"Ah." Dumbledore resisted the urge to crush what he was holding, setting the muffin down on a napkin. The muffin, and Harry's cooking, did not deserve that. "I see. I am terribly sorry, Harry."

"Me too," Harry said sadly. He perked up a little when Fawkes waddled over and leaned against Harry, humming gently and emanating a slight warmth and light.

"Have you asked Remus or Sirius if they have any idea what your parents thought as their favorite foods?" Dumbledore asked.

"Actually, no, I didn't." Harry looked up, heartened. "Maybe I should do that."

"I would encourage it," Dumbledore smiled. "Perhaps you can find solace in something else to make for them."

"I'd like that." Harry sighed deeply. "I really liked that stew but I haven't been able to make it again."

"Understandable," Dumbledore said softly. "While it came from a place of…cruelty, I think you should one day revisit it on your own terms. It would be a genuine shame for you to lose something you enjoyed."

"I might, thank you, Sir," Harry said with a slight smile.

"Excellent. Now, to the second point I would like to address. Do you remember during the Welcoming Feast when I said that there would be events and things for non-Champions to participate and compete in?"

"Yes Sir."

"I would like to ask you to sign up for some. Now, this is not mandatory, but I would see it as a personal favor for you to compete in a few of those things for me. And not just you, but you and any of your friends that are interested in the specific event."