Harry tensed up for just a moment as he turned around to face Dumbledore. Dumbledore had already moved toward his desk. "I see you have met Fawkes."
Harry nodded and spoke, while being careful to keep his tone respectful, "He's quite gorgeous sir."
Dumbledore nodded as he settled down into his large ornate chair on his side of the desk. His fond gaze went to the phoenix residing on his stand "Yes, he had a burning day about a month ago, so he is quite young at the moment. He seems pleased to meet you." As if emphasizing the headmaster's word, the phoenix gave a loud trill of pleasure. Harry bowed his head respectfully to the phoenix. "I'm very pleased to meet you as well, Fawkes."
Dumbledore raised his eyebrows as he steepled his fingers in front of him. "Fawkes has been my companion for a great many years. Hopefully, he will remain so for a great many years to come." Dumbledore seemed pleased at the greeting Harry gave to the bird as well as Fawkes reaction to Harry.
Harry just nodded, not quite sure what to say in reply to that, before he braced himself and turned his eyes from the phoenix to look at Dumbledore. Harry's expression was carefully blank and he was being certain to guard his emotions. Despite Harry's tenseness, he had not felt any probe with legilimency.
Dumbledore was merely looking at him with a curious expression on his face. After a few moments of silence, Dumbledore gestured to the ever present candy dish on his desk, "Lemon drop?"
Harry resisted the urge to gag. He had tried them once and vowed never to do so again. It wasn't until later that he had heard the Weasley twins of his world, speak about how they suspected the headmaster's sweets were probably laced with a combination of truth serum and calming draught.
Harry was impressed that he manage to keep the disgust off his face and just shook his head carefully, "I'm not a big fan of them. Thank you, though, for the offer."
Dumbledore shrugged, seemingly unbothered by Harry's refusal. He took one of the candies from the bowl and popped it into his mouth with relish. "I must admit that I am rather partial to them, but not everyone seems to share my fondness. Perenelle, in particular, did not seem to enjoy the taste."
Harry's mouth twisted up slightly, in approximation of a smirk. Clearly the Weasley twins got that one wrong. He was a bit relieved seeing Dumbledore take one of his own candies. "I don't think she likes foods that are quite as sweet or tart as lemon drops might be."
Dumbledore nodded seriously. "Yes. I recall that she preferred her own baked snacks to anything that I found at any candy store."
Harry nodded, "She prefers her own food. She has mentioned that you were not that big a fan of her cooking."
Dumbledore heaved a sigh, and a light chuckle escaped his throat, "I commented one time that something was a bit bland for my tastes and she has never let me live it down." He shook his head slowly before fixing Harry with a firm gaze. "I'm sure you're wondering why it was I asked to meet with you."
Harry shrugged, and kept his face blank, a multitude of possibilities running through his head, "The thought had crossed my mind."
Dumbledore nodded sagely in response to Harry's reply. "Well, Mr. Flamel. I was wondering if you would mind me asking you a few questions."
Harry managed to keep from letting out a noticeable sigh, as much as he personally detested the Dumbledore from his universe, Harry wasn't yet sure if this Dumbledore was any different than the manipulative saboteur from his world. Harry figured that Dumbledore was interested in one of two things. Either the old man had singled him out as possibly the only culprit for the morning ward fiasco in the Slytherin dorm, or Dumbledore was going to poke and prod at the Flamels.
Harry managed a polite if somewhat cool smile, "Of course, Headmaster. What are you curious about?" Harry was very careful to make no promise to answer any of the questions.
Dumbledore's sharp eyes regarded Harry thoughtfully for several long moments before he nodded to himself, "Well, first I was hoping you might tell me how long you have been living with the Flamels."
Harry's eyes widened very briefly in surprise before he managed to return to his polite, and blank mask. "What makes you ask a question like that Headmaster?" Harry managed to interject enough surprise into his tone to keep it believable. Dumbledore leaned back in his chair a little bit with a polite, but clearly pleased, smile on his face. "Several things. First, I am very old friends with the Flamels, and I was relatively certain that they would have told me if they had any children. Nicholas would have been particularly exuberant I expect. As such, I expect that they adopted you at some point. So you can understand my natural curiosity."
Harry was inwardly cursing. Perenelle had suspected that Dumbledore would see through their story. Despite the fact Nicholas had grudgingly agreed with her, none of them had expected it to happen quite so quickly. Harry's hand twitched slightly, wanting to snap out his wand already, but he felt that any attempt to obliviate Albus Dumbledore was destined for failure. "I have lived with the Flamel's for a while." Harry said, he was off balance and took a breath to steady himself, without giving too much information to Dumbledore Harry's entire body was tensed up as he watched Dumbledore warily.
This was where he wanted to be careful. He didn't want to get caught in a lie to the Headmaster, so he kept his answers vague. He had, after all, had years of experience watching Dumbledore's way of speaking; to lie to someone's face and yet tell the truth at the exact same time.
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