Hogwarts's infirmary is on the second floor of the castle, and the Headmaster's office entrance is on the third floor, requiring a spiral staircase leading directly to the eighth-floor office.
Harry, Chen Yu, and Snape stopped in front of a giant, hideous stone gargoyle.
Seeing the ugly stone gargoyle guarding the Headmaster's office, Snape uttered the password: "fizzing whizbees."
The moment it heard the password, the ugly gargoyle came to life, immediately jumping aside, and the wall behind it split in half.
This was the entrance to the Headmaster's office, and it was the first time Chen Yu and Harry had been there.
Chen Yu and Harry followed Snape onto the automatically rotating staircase, and then heard a rumble behind them as the split wall closed again.
The three spun higher and higher, rising steadily.
Taking this kind of spiral staircase was not as comfortable as an elevator; it was easy to get dizzy.
When Chen Yu felt the staircase stop rotating, he saw a gleaming wooden door ahead, with a Griffin-shaped brass knocker.
Snape pushed the door open, with Chen Yu and Harry following closely behind.
Before they even got close, they heard strange music coming from the Headmaster's office.
It sounded like two broken gongs combined, very unpleasant.
Snape knocked on the door a few times and said to Professor Dumbledore inside the Headmaster's office: "Professor Dumbledore, I've brought Chen Yu and Harry."
"Thank you for coming, Severus. I'll take it from here."
Before they even entered, Professor Dumbledore's calm voice came from outside the Headmaster's office.
His words contained a clear dismissal of Snape.
The Headmaster's authority was not to be challenged. Snape could only glare unhappily at the Headmaster's office, then cast a final look at Harry, let out a soft "Hmph," said, "Good luck to you," and turned to stride onto the staircase, descending on the rotating steps.
"Let's go, Harry."
Patting Harry's shoulder, Chen Yu pushed the door open.
Professor Dumbledore sat behind a massive desk. On the desk stood a crimson bird, as large as a swan, singing loudly.
There was also a tattered, wrinkled Sorting Hat on the desk, singing along with Fawkes.
The strange music Harry and Chen Yu heard came from their mouths.
At this moment, the phoenix was no longer as majestic and magnificent as before; it looked like a half-plucked turkey, appearing somewhat decrepit.
Seeing Chen Yu and Harry enter, Professor Dumbledore placed his index finger to his lips, signaling for them not to speak yet. He gestured for them to sit down, to jointly "enjoy" the duet performed by Fawkes and the Sorting Hat.
After the song ended.
Professor Dumbledore immediately applauded, saying: "Don't worry, Fawkes, your singing is still as beautiful as ever. Hurry and go through your rebirth. Who told you to take matters into your own hands and eat something unclean? This greatly reduced your vitality at this stage."
Fawkes bowed slightly, as if performing its last song before its demise. With just a slight movement, a few more feathers fell from its tail.
Then Fawkes fell stiffly onto the desk, its eyes becoming lifeless. Immediately afterward, flames suddenly erupted from its body, startling Harry.
In the flames, Fawkes shrieked and vanished, leaving only a pile of ashes on the desk that hadn't completely extinguished.
"The phoenix... the phoenix died?"
Harry was somewhat incredulous. The phoenix, which had previously seemed so majestic and had swallowed Lord Voldemort's main soul, now appeared so decrepit, even turning into a pile of ashes and dying right before him.
"Don't worry, Harry. Fawkes is a phoenix, and phoenixes don't die so easily. Whenever it's about to die, it chooses to self-immolate and then be reborn from the ashes..."
Harry looked at the pile of ashes and saw a tiny, wrinkled chick peeking its head out from within.
This reborn phoenix was too ugly, not even as cute as a little chick.
Seeing Chen Yu and Harry staring at it, it retracted its head back into the ashes.
"Fawkes, it's shy. It's beautiful most of the time and doesn't like to be seen in this state when it's old or undergoing rebirth."
"I asked Fawkes to help, hoping it could help you drive away Lord Voldemort's soul. I didn't expect it to choose to swallow Lord Voldemort's soul whole and perish with him. By using its remaining life force to attempt to erase Lord Voldemort's soul, the phoenix, having lost its vitality, had no choice but to enter rebirth prematurely."
Hearing Dumbledore say that Fawkes used its power to erase Lord Voldemort's soul, Harry quickly asked: "Is Lord Voldemort really dead?"
Professor Dumbledore adjusted his half-moon spectacles and continued: "Unfortunately, Lord Voldemort is unkillable. Even if his soul is erased, he only dies temporarily and will be reborn from somewhere else before long. However, each death greatly diminishes his power and plunges him into a longer period of weakness."
Hearing that Lord Voldemort would be reborn, Harry looked a bit disappointed. He pulled the Philosopher's Stone from his pocket and carefully placed it on the desk.
"Professor, here's the Philosopher's Stone back. Professor Quirrell wanted to use it to restore Lord Voldemort's power."
Dumbledore smiled brightly when he saw the Philosopher's Stone in Harry's hand, and with a wave of his hand, made the Philosopher's Stone on the desk disappear.
"There are always lawbreakers who try every means to get it, thinking that with the power of the Philosopher's Stone, they can achieve immortality, unaware that this kind of immortality, which evades death, has a fatal flaw."
"Although the immortality created by the Philosopher's Stone extends the user's lifespan, the body still ages with the passage of time. Nicolas Flamel, for instance, is now an old man with osteoporosis, where even a slight bump could cause a direct fracture."
"Nicolas Flamel and his wife unanimously agreed that continuing to use the Philosopher's Stone to extend life was merely clinging to existence, which is why they gave up on it and entrusted it to me for safekeeping."
"I am very pleased, children, that you were not tempted by the power of the Philosopher's Stone and protected it from falling into evil hands. You are truly brave Gryffindors, and I am proud of you."
While Harry and Dumbledore were chatting happily, the Sorting Hat softly called out to Chen Yu.
"Hey, black-haired Little Wizards over there, look this way. Your name is Chen Yu, right? Come over, come over, I have something to ask you."
The Sorting Hat, with its gong-like voice, drew Chen Yu's attention.
As Chen Yu approached, he heard the Sorting Hat mumbling: "I remember you. You're the Little Wizards I sorted who made me feel the most conflicted. You have a Slytherin-like ambition for power, a Ravenclaw-like thirst for knowledge, and a Gryffindor-like courage that fears no death. Actually, I think you're most suited for Slytherin, not Gryffindor. I still don't understand why I suddenly wanted to put you in Gryffindor back then."
"If I had feet, I'd want to go see how you're doing in Gryffindor."
Chen Yu listened to Dumbledore's explanation of the Philosopher's Stone, then softly replied to the Sorting Hat: "It's pretty good. I think the atmosphere in Gryffindor is fantastic. I've made many friends there and I'm having a great time."
"You've made more friends? That's good. It seems you're satisfied with my decision, so I don't have to keep agonizing over it..."
The Sorting Hat yawned, as if it had completed a significant mission. As it spoke, it drifted off to sleep.
"There once was a talented orphan who was sorted into Slytherin. He excelled in academics and maintained good relationships with all his classmates and teachers. He was always considered a good student in the eyes of students and teachers, and no one expected him to go astray later, doing many bad things in the magical world. That's why the Sorting Hat was worried you would follow his old path."
"It's probably like this: after the Sorting Hat discovered you had similar qualities to him, it sorted you into Gryffindor. But it's always been conflicted, worried that you wouldn't adapt to the Gryffindor environment."
Dumbledore stroked his long white beard, explaining with a chuckle.
Following Lord Voldemort's old path? Chen Yu rolled his eyes. This was slander, serious slander, it was slandering him! How could he follow Lord Voldemort's old path? What a joke...