CHAPTER NINE: The Hunt for Answers
The Goblet lit up and sent the first parchment piece flying towards Harry. He caught it in the air and read the first name.
"From Ilvermorny, Alyssa Fremont!" He shouted. The girl Evan had rode with on the carriage stood up at the thunderbird table and walked over. She looked back and smiled at the students before walking into a room off to the side. As the next paper flew towards Harry, he snatched it midair and unfolded it. "From Castelobruxo, Perlita Narváez" Harry exclaimed, followed by a girl in a green robe, with long dark hair walking up front.
"Thank you! Thank you!" She said with a thick brazilian accent. She continued this until she exited into the room. The next parchment flew right into Harry's hand. He gently unfolded it as he spoke.
"Lastly, the challenger from Hogwarts is James Potter" Harry said, a look of fear on his face. The look disappeared as quickly as it came. Silence fell throughout the hall. A young man who looked like Harry slowly stood and walked up front. He hugged his father before exiting the room. Fontaine stepped forward once more.
"Thank you Mr. Potter, and good luck to our challengers! Students, you may now return to your dinner!"
The moment the headmaster finished, the room erupted with students talking. Evan looked over at his classmates.
"So what's different about it?" Athena asked. Evan looked at her puzzled. "The phoenix. You said something was different about it" Athena explained her question. Evan shrugged his shoulders as if to indicate he didn't know. At this moment Lily and Hugo sat next to Athena, across from Evan and Jason.
"Really? Just a shrug?" Athena asked, the irritation ringing through her voice.
"Well, I'm not sure. It just seems weird. I don't know a whole lot about them" Evan responded. Lily looked at Evan with a confused look on her face. Evan looked back at her with a questioning look.
"What don't you know a whole lot about?" Lily asked. Athena tapped Lily's shoulder and pointed to the phoenix as it was flying back into the Hall. Lily looked up at it for a second, then smirked. "Oh. That's weird. It has blue tail feathers. I've never seen a phoenix with any blue" she said. Evan looked at her with surprise. A few minutes passed in complete silence.
"You know what we should do? Go to the library. We haven't been there yet" Jason said, breaking the silence. Everyone looked at him, and he sulked down into his seat.
"Why should we go up to the library? It's a library. It has books" Athena scoffed.
"Books are amazing" Jason glared at Athena. "Plus, I know of a book that could possibly explain the phoenix, and maybe help Evan get over his obsession" he turned his attention to Evan, who had started shoveling mashed potatoes into his face. Athena chuckled at him.
"Yeah. Sure. We can go to the library" Evan said, finishing his food, and jumping out of his seat. The rest followed him, out the hall to the library. As they made their way up the stairs, Lily noticed something out of the corner of her eye. She tapped Hugo's shoulder, and they both turned to look at it. Athena noticed that they had stopped, so she got the boy's attention.
"What are you looking at?" Jason asked. Lily muttered and pointed down the hall. They looked down and saw a small creature. At first Evan thought it was a porcupine, but noticed that it was standing on two legs. The creature noticed the five students staring at it, and it started to walk over, with a slight waddle.
"Can I help you kids?" the creature's voice was raspy and sounded irritated. Lily jumped back a bit.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be rude Mr. Elf" she apologized to the creature. It glared at her.
"First off. I'm a Pukwudgie, not an elf. Secondly, you kids can call me William" he snapped at Lily. She jump back a few more feet, and whimpered that she was sorry.
"Your name's William?" Evan asked. The pukwudgie turned his attention to Evan.
"No. I told you that you could call me William. Not that it was my name" William replied.
"Then that would make it your name" Evan retorted.
"No. I can not tell you my real name" William snapped back. Evan backed off.
"Wait. you're a pukwudgie called William. Are you the one from the story?" Jason hopped in. William scoffed at him.
"That makes no sense. I would be over 300 year old" William responded.
"But pukwudgie lifespans are unknown" Jason taunted. William turned back to him.
"To you humans" William sassed back. Jason took a step forward.
"How long do pukwudgies live?" Jason asked. William seemed to be startled to have someone not back away from him.
"I can't tell you that!" William shouted. Jason turned to his friends and smirked.
"He's not denying it" Jason told them. At that moment the phoenix landed next to William and squawked.
"I think we should continue to the library now" Athena pulled on Jason's sleeve, pulling him to the stairs.
"Bye William! It was nice meeting you!" Evan cried out as Athena and Lily drug the three boys up the stairs. The last thing Evan saw was William hugging the phoenix, which raised even more questions to him. Once they got to the library Jason led them all to a table. He then ran off to get the book, while Evan, Athena, Lily, and Hugo sat at the table.
"What book does he think will explain the phoenix?" Evan asked.
"Who knows? I'm gonna take a nap though" Hugo spoke right before laying his head down between his arms. Evan was slightly shocked, as Hugo hadn't talked much since he introduced himself. It didn't take long for everyone to hear snoring. Jason came back shortly after and plopped a book on the center of the table. Evan looked at it.
"Newt Scamander: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" Evan read the title aloud. Jason nodded and started flipping through the pages muttering to himself.
"Acromantula, Basilisk, Clabbert, Demiguise, Dragons, Erumpet, Ghoul, Hidebehind, Horned Serpent, Kappa, Merpeople, Niffler, Occamy. Ah here it is. Phoenix" Jason listed off a few creatures before arriving at the phoenix.
"Okay, what's it say?" Lily asked. Jason read directly from the page.
"Phoenix. M.O.M. Classification: XXXX. The phoenix is a magnificent, swan sized, scarlet bird with a long golden tail, beak, and talons. It nests on mountain peaks and is found in Egypt, India and China" Jason read.
"They're not even native to North America?" Athena asked. Jason shrugged as he continued reading.
"The phoenix lives to an immense age as it can regenerate, bursting into flame when its body begins to fail and rising again as a chick. The phoenix is a gentle creature that has never been known to kill and eats only herbs" Jason read even more.
"Ya know, for someone who didn't wanna read aloud in class, you do seem to enjoy reading to us" Evan teased. Jason stopped and glared at him before tossing the book at him.
"You continue it then" Jason said, sitting down. Evan groaned and scanned to where Jason left off.
"Fine. Like the Diricawl, see above, it can disappear and reappear at will. Phoenix song is magical: it is reputed to increase the courage of the pure of heart and to strike fear into the hearts of the impure. Phoenix tears have powerful healing properties" Evan finished. Professor Everwinter pulled up a seat next to Evan, taking the four students by surprise as Hugo continued to snore.
"Hello. Please don't mind me" Everwinter smiled. Evan looked at him.
"Actually, Professor, I think we were just finishing up" Evan told him. Everwinter looked at him.
"I might be able to help with any questions you have. I'm sure you're reading about the phoenix because of our phoenix" Everwinter told him. "I teach Care of Magical Creatures, remember?"
"Of course. Sir. Does the phoenix here belong to someone?" Athena asked. Everwinter shook his head.
"It's used to people, but no. I don't believe it does. It doesn't share many traits of domesticated phoenixes" Everwinter told them.
"Do they have a natural relationship with pukwudgies?" Evan asked, remembering what he saw with William.
"Of course not. I'm not sure how the phoenix got here, but they're not native to the America's, whereas pukwudgies are. Why?" Everwinter answered. As Evan was about to reply, William seemingly appeared out of thin air behind Everwinter and eyed Evan.
"No reason. Are all of them always the same color?" Evan asked a separate question after feeling threatened by William, who disappeared once more.
"Of course not. There are always differences in nature" Everwinter explained. Evan looked at the Professor and smiled.
"I'm not going to lie, Professor. I didn't think you were this laid back. I thought you were always serious" Athena told him. Everwinter chuckled.
"That seems to be the consensus from all my students" Everwinter told them. "Have fun now kids. Remember. Be back in your dorms before ten, that's when lights out is" Everwinter left them all at the table. Hugo proceeded to snore one last time. Lily slapped him, startling him awake. As they laughed at Hugo's reaction to being suddenly awoken, Athena spotted something out of the corner of her eye. She looked to see a translucent woman floating up the aisles of books. She got the attention of the others and pointed her out to them.
"Is that a ghost?" Evan asked, startled. Athena nodded, her face pale white. Lily smiled and waved at the ghost, who kindly waved back, before turning the corner out of their sights.
"Wonder who she is" Jason asked under his breath.
"I'm sure we'll find out in time" Evan said, smiling at his friends. "I'm just glad I have some answers about the phoenix."
"I wouldn't mind finding the dungeon. You realize how cool that'd be?" Jason told them.