𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝘆 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗱 | 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿

Magical Quills & Dragon-Riding Skills

Charlie smiled at the scarlet bird, before reaching his hand in the cage, and caressing Fawkes's beak gently. The Phoenix immediately melted into the boy's touch as though they were two parts of one soul; connecting. He hadn't seen Fawkes much since his encounter with the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets, maybe that's why he hadn't felt this sudden surge of energy before -

"Charlie," Albus called again causing the boy to tear his gaze away from the Phoenix and back to his family members who were staring at him curiously. "Why are you out of class?"

"Malfoy and I got into a bit of a scrap, and Professor Snape thought it was in my best interest to reprimand me for it - only me, I might add." Charlie said simply, still petting Fawkes.

Fenwick suddenly became furious, "Another fight? With Lucius's boy?! How many times must I tell you -"

"Enough, Fenwick," Dumbledore said calmly, "I'm sure it was nothing more than a disagreement. I think it would be safe to assume that Charlie carries mixed emotions of anger and confusion at this point in time. Clearly, the young boy is trying to process, and while doing so, he lost his temper. I'm sure, Severus, has already dealt with the matter. No reason for further repercussions."

As Fenwick went to speak, a timid knock on the door had put a halt on the conversation. It was Colin Creevey; he edged into the room, beaming at Charlie, and walked up to Dumbledore's desk at the front of the room.

"Mr. Creevey," Albus said sweetly, "how can I help you?"

"Sorry to interrupt, sir," Collin breathed out, "but I'm supposed to take Charlie upstairs. Mr. Bagman wants him. All the champions have got to go, I think they want to take photographs..."

Fenwick's twisted smiled had reappeared on his face, "It seems as though, Rita has arrived. Brilliant! You tell her that I've said hello, Charles."

"Very well," Dumbledore said before turning to Charlie, "Off you go, Charles. We shall continue this conversation at a later time."

Charlie gave Fawkes one last pat on the head before he moved towards the door, said his goodbyes, and walked out behind Collin.

"It's amazing, isn't it, Charlie?" said Collin, starting to speak the moment Charlie had closed the office door behind him. "Isn't it, though? You being champion?"

"Yeah, really amazing," said Charlie heavily as they set off toward the steps into the entrance hall. "What do they want photos for, Collin?"

"The Daily Prophet, I think!"

"Of course," Charlie muttered, already annoyed with the situation. "Exactly what I need. More publicity."

"Good luck!" said Collin when they had reached the right room. Charlie knocked on the door and entered.

He was in a fairly small classroom; most of the desks had been pushed away to the back of the room, leaving a large space in the middle; three of them, however, had been placed end-to-end in front of the blackboard and covered with a long length of velvet. Five chairs had been set behind the velvet-covered desks, and Ludo Bagman was sitting in one of them, talking to a familiar witch, who was wearing magenta robes, that Charlie assumed, to be Rita Skeeter.

Viktor Krum was standing moodily in a corner as usual and not talking to anybody. Harry and Fleur were in conversation. Fleur looked a good deal happier than Charlie had seen her so far; she kept throwing back her head so that her long silvery hair caught the light. A paunchy man, holding a large black camera that was smoking, was watching Fleur out of the corner of his eye.

Bagman suddenly spotted Charlie, got up quickly, and bounded forward.

"Ah, here he is! Champion number four! In you come, Charlie, in you come... nothing to worry about, it's just the wand weighing ceremony, and maybe a couple of pictures -"