Harry wasn't sure what to make of this news. On the one hand he was happy, elated even that Snape would not be around anymore, never again to do the bidding of either Dumbledore or Voldemort, or to traumatise students entrusted into his care. But on the other hand, it felt oddly like Snape had escaped justice. He had avoided hearing the Wizengamot's judgement against him. He had avoided getting sent to languish in Azkaban.
Although Snape had died, he had avoided being told in advance that he would. He had avoided having to spend hours, maybe even days, dreading what was to come. He had avoided being marched off to his fate.
He had avoided having to suffer for what he had done, and Harry wasn't sure how to feel about that.
Finally he asked "Will Dobby be punished?"
"Absolutely not," replied Amelia. "He was asked to go and defend someone, which he did. That that someone is also a student of Hogwarts and Dobby is employed at Hogwarts only further protects him from retribution."
"Well, that's good," said Harry, feeling relieved. Then another thought occurred to him and he asked "What happened to Fawkes?"
"It turns out that the illustrious Albus Dumbledore had been pulling a trick there too," said Sirius.
At Harry's puzzled look Amelia explained "In truth, Fawkes was an augurey, a very different kind of magical bird. Its appearance as a phoenix is the result of decades' worth of work in the fields of transfiguration, runes, charms and possibly even potions. Your magical outburst which appears to have unlocked your memories also tore apart every enchantment the bird was subjected to. It's being examined by a magi-zoologist as we speak."
Gently, Newt Scamander lifted up the bird's left wing and ran his wand along the underside, the tip of the wand glowing brightly. A moment later he stowed away the wand and took out a tatty, leather tape measure and began measuring the length of the bones in the wing.
"Humerus bone is eight point two inches. Ulna is nine point one inches; radius is eight point seven inches."
Beside him his wife Porpentina used a quill to note down the measurements as he read them off, followed by the other wing, the bones in the legs and the length of the head and beak.
Finally he tucked the tape measure away and noted "Total span from wingtip to wingtip is seven feet and nine point two inches. Gentlemen, this is indeed an augurey."
"We had gathered that much," replied Rufus Scrimgeour, who was watching proceedings along with John Dawlish. "What we were hoping was that you could tell us how Albus Dumbledore managed to make it look like a phoenix."
Newt gave a shrug of his shoulders and replied "As to that I can only speculate, same as you. There are traces of what was done still on the bird, including rune marking on the skin. However I am no expert in those areas. If you want to find out how Dumbledore did what he did, I would suggest consulting with experts in the fields of transfiguration, charms, rune craft and possibly potions."
"I must warn you though; if you wish to find out anything you will have to keep it under the stasis charms you have already placed upon it. The true lifespan of an augurey is usually ten years, though they can sometimes go to twelve. The bird that we have here is closer to five times that age. Remove the stasis charms and its feathers will probably fall out and it'll die before the day is through."
"We've had reports," said Dawlish "Of this bird crying tears with the ability to heal."
"Yes, there are a few runes around the eyes," said Newt. "It's likely such 'tears' were leaked from them."
"But it doesn't make sense," said Scrimgeour. "The tears are known to have neutralised basilisk venom in a bite victim."
Newt looked positively intrigued by that. "Really? Well, I should like to meet the person who survived a basilisk bite. But yes, phoenix tears would have the ability to neutralise such a venom and heal the bite wound. Of course, Dumbledore would have had to procure those tears from somewhere and I am afraid that there is a bit of a black market for such things. I believe Dumbledore had at least one operative working in the seedy underside of society, if the facts reported in the Daily Prophet are correct of course."
Dawlish nodded. "Yeah. Mundungus Fletcher. He was Dumbledore's go-between, fetching dodgy potions ingredients and the like."
"Well, there's your answer then," said Newt. "Of course, phoenix tears aren't the only thing that could have healed the venom. As I recall it, Dumbledore once spent a considerable amount of time working with a certain Mr Nicolas Flamel in the field of alchemy. Flamel created a philosopher's stone, from which can be extracted the so called elixir of life.
"Assuming Dumbledore had access to either the stone or a supply of the elixir, the bird could actually have been producing that through the runes. While it would not neutralise the poison, it would actually prevent any damage from being done, heal the bite mark and leave the bitten party feeling perfectly healthy, leaving plenty of time for the correct antidote to be brewed and administered."
"That's a good theory," admitted Scrimgeour. "The only problem is that we have searched Dumbledore's office and quarters at Hogwarts from top to bottom following his arrest. We've also searched the his former office at the Ministry from when he was the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, and the office he was provided as Supreme Mugwump at the headquarters of the International Confederation of Wizards. We found no sign of the philosopher's stone, nor have Gringotts reported it in any of their searches of every vault Dumbledore ever had access too."
"According to reports, the only stone known to exist in recent times was destroyed a few years ago," commented Dawlish.
At that, Newt and Porpentina exchanged looks, the kind of looks that could only come from spending decades together.
"You doubt the claim?" stated Scrimgeour.
"I have no doubt that Albus Dumbledore told everyone who would listen that the stone had been destroyed," replied Newt, slowly.
"And it's likely that Nicolas and Perenelle Flamel died believing it to be true," added Porpentina.
"But you think it is likely that Dumbledore lied to them?" pressed Scrimgeour.
.....
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