The sea level shimmered with sparkling waves in the morning light, as if the entire ocean was coated with a faint golden edge. Sunlight slowly cascaded from the East, illuminating the island's silhouette.
The giant Phoenix, with a wingspan of ten feet, flew once more.
Its golden feathers looked like burning flames in the sunlight.
Dumbledore squinted his eyes, watching the spectacular scene — each flap of the Phoenix's wings left small sparks in the air, and these sparks did not dissipate.
Instead, they hovered like fireflies, forming a brilliant trail of light.
"The Phoenix God is here again!" Xiao Ya exclaimed, immediately pulling her brother down to kneel. The two children clasped their hands together, touched their foreheads to the ground, and recited some sort of prayer with their childlike voices.
This was actually a ritual taught by the adults on the island; now the two children were simply imitating without understanding why the Phoenix God had come and gone.
"What are you doing?" Dumbledore asked gently.
The two children looked up at him, their faces filled with awe and piety.
"We're praying to the Phoenix God," Xiao Ya softly replied, "It is the messenger of the Gods, and legend says only the greatest heroes can be taken away by it."
"Taken away by it?" Dumbledore was slightly taken aback, his eyes becoming deeper.
"Yes." Odin nodded, "Ian brother was taken away by it; we all saw it that day. He stood in the air, reached out to the Phoenix God, and then... he just disappeared."
Dumbledore was silent for a moment, his gaze slowly lifting to the distant sky.
The giant Phoenix drew closer, its wings unfurled, covering the sky, each feather like burning flames leaving a faint golden trail in the air.
"Fantastic Beasts worship, huh."
Dumbledore noticed their actions were very practiced.
It was obvious they had rehearsed many times.
He knew that throughout history, humans have had similar reverence for Fantastic Beasts, especially those without magic. Naturally, they would have encountered magical Fantastic Beasts.
After all, everyone lives on the same planet; the world of Wizards and Muggles is not entirely distinct, especially in ancient times when there were no secrecy laws to prevent Muggles from encountering extraordinary things, nor were there designated members of the Ministry of Magic to handle the memories of Muggles exposed to magic.
The earlier the time period.
The more frequent the interaction between humans and Fantastic Beasts.
In fact.
Within the worldview of "Harry Potter," magic and mystery are always intertwined, and many ancient legends and beliefs might have originated from the worship of truly existing Fantastic Beasts.
Of course.
Since history has been buried under the rolling wheels of time, Wizards can only make reasonable speculations most of the time; history indeed provides many similar examples.
For instance, in Ancient Egyptian mythology, the Bennu bird is seen as a symbol of the sun and rebirth. It is considered a branch of the Phoenix, capable of resurrection.
And in Hogwarts' textbook "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," the Phoenix is described as an extremely rare and sacred creature capable of rebirth through flames, with tears possessing healing power.
Such similarities lead one to wonder whether the Bennu bird was precisely recorded by ancient people after witnessing the Phoenix, deifying it as part of the Sun God.
The Aztecs revered the Feathered Serpent God, Quetzalcoatl, described as a feathered giant serpent capable of summoning wind and rain. Is it not somewhat similar to an Occamy-like creature? Such Fantastic Beasts also possess a considerable level of intelligence, so it is possible for them to communicate with humans in some way or to form mutually beneficial relationships.
These examples suggest that within the context of the Magic World, the worship of Gods by ancient civilizations likely originated from them having witnessed or encountered some mighty Fantastic Beasts. Due to their extraordinary abilities and mysterious nature, humans attributed divinity to these creatures, making them central symbols of culture and religion.
Of course.
Fantastic Beasts are not absent from mythological stories.
For Wizards, these myths are the past.
They also provide Dumbledore and Ian with credible evidence to ponder the origins of the Gods — perhaps before becoming Gods, they indeed had intimate interactions with Fantastic Beasts.
Otherwise.
How else could Fantastic Beasts seamlessly integrate into various mythologies?
The Naga of India, Jormungandr of the North, can both be seen as types of Fantastic Beasts. The Celtic Sect of Scotland and the Water Horse of Ireland likely stemmed from Wizards' fears of Horse-shaped Water Monsters — Poseidon's chariot in Greece was pulled by sea horses, and the Ministry's Mysterious Affairs Department still keeps similar creatures to this day.
Fantastic Beasts are not absent from mythological stories.
Precisely because of this.
It is quite normal for primitive tribes to venerate Gods, so worshiping these Fantastic Beasts is naturally reasonable. Anyway, when ancient Muggles witnessed Fantastic Beasts and subsequently regarded them as Gods, resulting in much non-human worship; Dumbledore, for his part, had an approving attitude about it.
Precisely because of this.
Seeing the two children kneeling before that mysterious giant Phoenix did not strike Dumbledore as strange, he simply maintained his attitude just like Ian.
Standing.
Equitably treating.
Seeing the two children finish their prayer and stand up without much particular reverence for the "ancient gods," Dumbledore immediately posed a question.