Maudie Tells the Headmaster
"Professor Dumbledore!" I cried, as I raced up the stairs.
"Professor Dumbledore!" I kept calling out his name, pointlessly. I raced all the way up the stairs, a long, laborious task, as I was in the dungeons, below the lack, and Professor Dumbledore's castle was higher than the Astronomy tower.
Finally, after what seemed like ten eternities worth of running, and my supply of breath was so depleted that I could no longer repeatedly call out his name, I came upon a very large, very ugly gargoyle. Remembering what one of my older sisters had told me about how the gargoyle was something of a guardian for Dumbledore's study and how one must bequeath it a password in order to enter, I stared up at it blankly. What on earth was the password? Is it pasted daily on the Student Notice Board? I had never seen it! If I did, I certainly wouldn't have paid attention. I only read the messages intended for the First Years! I made a mental note to myself to always remember to read the notice board thoroughly, top to bottom. Never again, must I confine my attention to the first year announcements.
Suddenly, I remembered one of my sisters (this one was always in trouble for some reason or the other) telling me that the password was almost, always the name of some kind of Honeydukes sweet. Pinching my brain, I forced my mind to move on from the horror of witnessing the male-on-male snog-session, and to bring forth a list of every single Honeyduke sweet I had ever heard my sisters and parents tell me about.
"Er…..Fizzing Whizzbee?" I asked uncertainly.
Nothing.
"Ice mice?"
Nothing.
"Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Bean?"
Nothing.
"Chocolate Frog?"
Nothing.
"Drooble's Best Blowing Gum?"
After witnessing the absence of anything happening from my first two attempts to enter the study, my mind had become a bit adapted to it. I was fully expecting the Gargoyle to do nothing but continue leering down unpleasantly at me.
Suffice to say, I received somewhat of a shock when it sprang to life, and jumped to the side, in a flash of light, bringing to my sight a large, spiral staircase, curving around a golden pole.
I was so shocked by this display that for a few seconds, I simply ogled, the spectacle, my eyes spherical, and my mouth ajar. It wasn't until the gargoyle spoke to me in a voice, not unlike an American gangster.
"Ay kid, you goin up? Or are you just gonna eat the view with your eyeballs?"
"Er-yes-I-I-I mean-no. I'm going-up….Mr.-…...Gargoyle-sir" I said, all flustered. My sisters certainly never had mentioned this to me.
I was so startled by the discovery of the Gargoyle's ability to communicate (as well as the sudden burdening of my semi-subconscious, first-year-fear that it might make a meal out of me) that I scooted up the staircase surprisingly nimbly, for somebody who had just ran up several flights of stairs.
Although my shock, horror, and urgency to reach the Headmaster were still very much present, my exhaustion, fatigue, and still-present shock of the talking Gargoyle had made me somewhat less eager and enthusiastic.
Although it would have been deemed more prudent to run up this flight of stairs, while chanting the headmaster's name, I simply walked up slowly and silently.
Fortunately, this uphill passage, was not nearly as long as the combined lengths of all the staircases I had, had to run up (not to mention it didn't start shifting randomly as some of them, causing me to nearly fall to the bottom, and giving me the biggest shock of my life)
In less than five minutes, I found myself in one of the most elaborate, beautiful studies I had ever seen. It was a round, dome-shaped room which emitted a happy golden aura, which gave me a feeling of being incredibly satisfied, and safe. There were large, wooden shelves, thrice my height, stuffed with books of the thickest volume, radiating an essence of knowledge. They seemed to be calling to me, begging me to explore their secrets, absorb their wisdom. I never was known for being a particularly passionate bookworm, but I felt at that moment, that if I could sit down and read those books, one by one for the rest of my life, it would be complete and content, with me knowing no want or need ever again.
There were mahogany tables, sprinkled all over with the strangest, spinning, whirring contraptions of polished silver. Each one seemed to be completing a different function and I could only guess what they were. No two were emitting the same noise or looked remotely alike except for their coloring. I could have stared at them for ten years, and still have no idea what purposes they were fulfilling.
But by far, the most spectacular aspect of the magnificent study was a bright red aviator sitting on a golden perch. It was the color of a setting sun and had the brightness and intensity to match. It's head was topped with an exquisite crest that curved in a perfect C-shape. It's eyes were the size and shape of walnuts and they were the color of fresh licorice. They were incredibly bright, causing myself to make the wild presumption that it was crying due to years of having witnessed my sister's eyes take up that same luster before they overloaded their tear ducts. But as I came closer, I realized that it was not sadness that was making it's eyes so bright, but knowledge. Knowledge of having been alive a thousand years, if not more, and seeing, hearing, learning. The most knowledgeable wizards could only dream of possessing enough knowledge and wisdom to make their eyes shine like that.
That's when I realized that this was no ordinary bird. This was a Phoenix. No ordinary cockatoo's eyes would contain that kind of human-like wisdom. I was enthralled. I was amazed. I was observing a Phoenix in the flesh! Most wizards would live their entire lives without ever seeing so much as a feather! And here I was; a mere first year seeing one ten inches from my nose! Why did my sisters never tell me about this Phoenix? They couldn't have simply forgotten about it! Nobody with a fragment of a soul could forget about this wondrous creature! I would be having a very firm, talking-to with them, when I came back to the Ravenclaw Common Room-
Thinking of the Ravenclaw Common Room, as well as a quivery, yet strong voice penetrating my ears with the message "I see, you have met Fawkes" woke me up from my semi-conscious dream-state I had unwittingly entered.
I whirled around, and found a tall, thin wizard, facing me. His eyes were palest blue, like the light that falls in through a Chapel window. They were bright like the Phoenix's. His frame was tall, imposing, yet at the same time humble and gentle. His beard was snow-white, and tumbled like a babbling brook to his feet. This was Albus Dumbledore.
"Er-sorry, Professor. I-I just got so amazed by your study—"
Even in my head, the words sounded flattering and kissy-uppy.
"Yes, it has that effect on people" grinned the mighty Wizard.
"You asked-me….if…If I was admiring-Fawkes? Is that the name of your-um-Phoenix?"
"Yes, it is. He really is a remarkable being. His tears can heal even the most serious wounds. His feathers have a wide range of magical properties. Oh, you should hear him sing. It is quite something"
"I-I'd like that" I stammered.
"Now, what was it that you were here for?" he pressed gently.
I was once again jolted into the memory of the two male Seventh years entwined around each other, sucking on their faces.
Well, Professor Dumbledore, I-I saw something really unsettling…and I mean really really unsettling and-well, I thought that you should know about it"
Dumbledore simply nodded his head, prodding me to keep going.
"Well, I was-I-was, in the Slytherin Common Room"
"And what might you have been doing in there, if I may beg your pardon to interrupt" asked Dumbledore.
My heart paralysed itself. Oh crumbs! I had just revealed to him my secret! I had completely forgotten that I was not supposed to be in the Slytherin Common Room, and that doing so could cost my house and arm and a leg in house points. I had completely forgotten my dare that I was to spend the rest of the holidays posing as a Slytherin. Suddenly I had a brain wave. I was wearing Slytherin robes! With luck, Dumbledore wouldn't remember my actual house! How could he? There had been so many of us! I must have been twenty-eighth in line. Yet, the thought of lieing to Dumbledore made the lining of my stomach crystallize, and I was hit with a wave of unease even greater than the latter one I'd experienced about losing house points.
Anyways, whether or not I had lied would not have mattered. Dumbledore knew my house.
"If I recall the Sorting, Maude, the Hat placed you in Ravenclaw" he said, with his eyes twinkling like little stars.
I wasn't even nervous about getting into trouble at that point. I was too busy being amazed and impressed.
"How-how the heck do you remember? There were so many of us, First Years!"
Dumbledore gave me a knowing smile, remniscient of the one my parents had given me when they tired of my ceaseless questions, which they began to find were getting harder and harder to answer*
"There's not a single student who hasn't passed through the Hogwarts doors, that I don't know about"
"But you can't possibly remember every single one of them! I mean, you've probably had so many students! How can you remember the names and house of every single one?"
"I do not think that you ran all the way up to my study, just to lecture me on my memorization skills" he replied.
"What? Oh- sorry. All right I admit it! I was so sure the Sorting Hat was wrong when it sorted me. I don't belong in Ravenclaw! I know I don't! Everybody's telling me that 'the Hat's never wrong' 'the hat's never wrong!' Well this time it was! I know that I'm not logical and brainy! I don't sit around all day mugging up books! I'm brave! I'm courageous! I love going on adventures! I've always known that! I belong in Gryffindor! So my friend told me, that if I really am a true Gryffindor, I'll be more than willing to sneak into the Slytherin Common Room, and pretend to be a Slytherin for the remaining holidays. She told me that was a common initiation for Gryffindor First Years, and that if I really was a Gryffindor, it should be a piece of cake! So I went down there, and I borrowed some green-lined robes from the laundry, and went into the Common Room. And then when I got there…I- I I saw two boys kissing each other! It was so gross! It was so weird! I've never seen or heard of anything like that in my life!"
Dumbledore looked at me quietly.
"You think that the love shared between two people is gross?" there was a slight trace of anger in his voice for the first time.
"Er-well…a kiss should be between a boy and a girl. It shouldn't be between two boys. Boys kiss girls and girls kiss boys"
"Says who?" he pressed quietly.
"Well, everybody knows that boys and girls fall in love with each other. That's the way it's always been. I've never heard of two boys being in love with each other"
At this moment, Dumbledore looked at me square in the eye. I quivered under his gaze. I had said something wrong. I had done something bad. He was going to curse me. He was going to attack me. Something bad was going to happen to me.
But all he did was clap his hands together.
At that moment, Fawkes the Phoenix began to sing the most beautiful song ever. It was unlike any melody I had ever heard. In fact, it was the strangest melody I'd ever heard. The song sung was inhuman, otherworldly, impossible to imitate with a human voice.
And yet…it was beautiful. It swept me off my feet, and swung me high into the air. It carried me off to distant lands, which could not be seen by eyes, but heard, and felt, and sensed. I felt like my entire soul was elevated to a plain of higher being. Like I would never be the same. I was changed inside somehow. I was enlightened. When the melody finally brought me back down, I was changed forever.
"Now, unless this is not your first encounter with a Phoenix, I'm sure you've never heard of a memory like that" said Dumbledore, who knelt down on one knee so that his gaze ran horizontal to mine. His image was somewhat blurry, and I realized far too late that I was crying. I hastily wiped my tears on my borrowed robes.
"No Professor, I haven't"
"Now tell me, Maudie. What did you think of that melody?"
"It was beautiful!" I exclaimed
"But wasn't it strange, and unheard of? Wasn't it weird?"
"Well, yeah I guess so. But in a good way!"
"But shouldn't it have made you want to vomit? After all, it was so abnormal. It is no melody that you have ever heard of in your life?"
"Well….it doesn't matter. Sure, it took a few seconds to get into it…but that's ok. Once you get a feel for it, you really like it! It's nice. It's sweet. Even though you haven't heard it, It's-it's still music."
"There you have it, my child! Just like how the Phoenix song was still music despite it's abnormally, the love between those boys is still a form of love. Although you have never heard of it before, it is still present. And just like how the Phoenix melody was strange, yet beautiful, so is their love. Once you get over the shock of encountering something different, you start to see it's beauty. All music is beautiful and so is love. After all, there is more than one kind of music? So why shouldn't there be more than one kind of love? You need to learn to bend your mind, to accept new changes, to see beyond the norm! We are, after all, wizards and witches!"
I am sure that all parents, muggle or Wizard, have experienced a time when they no longer know the answer to their children's ceaseless questions. Instead of admitting that they don't know, they simply give their children an all knowing smile, in the hopes that the belief that they are all-knowing will placate them.