A/N: Hey guys! This is a new story I wrote for a HP Fanfic competition. For now, it's a one shot, but show me some comment love if you want more! Also, I would love you forever if you vote for me! Plus, if you enter, I'll review/vote for yours. The link to the competition is on the bottom.
Not a single person dared move in the courtroom. There were only hardened expressions from the adults. One young girl sat still and emotionless, as fragile as a porcelain doll. The girl didn't fidget like most children. She almost appeared serene, but upon a closer look, one would see the opposite. Her eyes shone from tears on the verge of falling and she bit her lip hard enough so that it bled.
"The jury has reached a verdict. We find that Ms. Fairfax, who psychologists have determined suffers from a form of retrograde amnesia, is unfit to be the guardian of her eleven year old daughter, Alana."
The tears that wouldn't come finally fell. "Not my mum!" the girl cried. "It was my fault!"
Chaos broke out, as she shouted between sobs, "Don't- don't take my mum."
Alana's mother finally spoke. "Alana, dear, don't cry. I will see you again. They can't keep me away from you." She embraced grasped her daughter's hand. When she let go, Alana noticed a folded up letter in the palm of her hand.
"You go talk to the girl, Auror Potter." a powerful looking man told a younger man with glasses in the back of the room. "The others and I will work on getting the mother transferred to St. Mungo's."
"Alright, Kingsley."
Alana Fairfax escaped the courtroom as quickly as she could, trying her hardest not to be noticed. When she believed she was alone, she unfolded the letter. The first thing she noticed was a seal, then a name. Hogwarts. She skimmed through the letter. Was this some kind of joke?
Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw a bright red bird, with feathers that resembled flames. It cocked its tiny head to the left, like it was taunting her. She turned around and blinked, but there was nothing there anymore.
"Alana?"
The girl looked up, startled, at the twenty-something year old man with round glasses and messy hair looking down at her. She instinctively hid the letter. "Who are you?"
"My name is Harry Potter," the man said. "Eleven years ago, I received a letter very similar to the one you are holding in your hands. An acceptance letter to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." he paused, "I am a wizard, Alana. And you are a witch. I work for the Ministry of Magic, and I was sent to bring you back to the wizarding world."
"You think I'm a witch? That's ridiculous!"
"Think about it. Have you ever made something happen, something you couldn't explain." As soon as he uttered those words, he wished he hadn't.
"Maybe I don't want to be a witch!" she shouted."In case you don't know yet, I burned my bloody house down about a month ago because of these 'powers' I have! And they think it's my mum's fault! Whole lot of good, being a witch has done me so far, wouldn't you say?"
"Alana, I'm so sorry."
"What will sorry ever do?" she asked. "Will it make this go away?" She held her arms out to reveal scars left by burn marks.
"No, it won't" Harry acknowledged.
"My mum says scars never go away. She forgets things a lot, but scars are always there. Reminders, she says."
"I hear that." Harry replied. He lifted his hair from above his head and revealed a lightning-bolt shaped scar.
"You have one too." Alana whispered.
"At Hogwarts, you'll learn to control your magic, use it to build not destroy. There's so much for you in the wizarding world, Alana. There's quidditch, and Hogsmeade, and not to mention wizarding sweets."
"Sweets?" the young girl's eyes lit up.
"Yeah, there are Every Flavor Beans, Chocolate Frogs-"
"Chocolate Frogs, really?"
Harry checked to make sure nobody was watching before he pulled out his wand. "Accio Chocolate Frog"
A small, blue box appeared out of thin air.
Alana's mouth was wide open with awe.
"Open it!" Harry said.
As Alana did so, the brown chocolate frog hopped out of the box.
"It moves!" she exclaimed as she held the squirming chocolate frog in her hand. "This is wicked!"
"So will you go to Hogwarts?"
"Maybe for the sweets." Alana said, with a smirk. The frog leapt out of her hands. She noticed an amused expression on Harry's face as she struggled to catch it.
"So will we really learn to travel with our wands in Hogwarts?" Alana asked.
Harry wondered if he had that many questions when he learned he was a wizard as he walked her down Diagon Alley to get her school supplies.. "It's called Apparition. And yes, but not until sixth year."
"What about making things appear out of nowhere. Like you did with the frog."
"Summoning charm. Fourth year."
"Do we get to do anything cool first year?"
"In class? Probably not. There's the levitation charm..."
"Cool, so we can levitate ourselves?"
"No, you'll probably start out with feathers."
"Magic is way more boring than I expected." Alana remarked.
Harry laughed.
"Harry? Why is everybody staring at us?" Alana asked.
"I did save the wizarding world, remember? I'm kind of famous." Harry replied, grinning.
"No, they're staring at me. Why?"
"They're not staring at you, Alana." he reassured her. "Next stop, Flourish and Blotts."
Alana kept her eyes on the ground to avoid having to look anyone in the eye. They were definitely staring at her. It was then that she noticed a scrap of a newspaper on the ground. The Daily Prophet.The headline read: "Death Eater's Daughter to Attend Hogwarts: A Rita Skeeter Exclusive" Harry had mentioned the Death Eaters, followers of the dark wizard Voldemort who tortured muggleborns like her. She cringed.
As they entered the bookstore, Harry was greeted by a tall, red haired man wearing Auror's robes.
"Ron? What are you doing here?" Harry asked.
"Hermione dragged me... I swear, that girl..." The man called Ron shook his head. "What're you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be-" Ron paused as he noticed Alana. "Bloody hell, is that her?" He took a step back, almost as if he was afraid.
"It's not like I bite." Alana muttered.
"Ron- give the girl a break and stop gaping at her as if she was an animal in a zoo!" A young woman in her early twenties carrying a stack of books appeared at Ron's side. "Hello, Harry!" she said cordially, "And you must be Alana. I'm Hermione Granger. " she grinned. However, as they shook hands, Alana could have sworn Hermione stiffened.
"Er- hi." Alana looked up curiously at Hermione. "You're really going to read all of those?"
"Of course. Why wouldn't I?" Hermione laughed. "Now, Alana, if Harry or Ron give you any trouble, just come talk to me, okay?"
"Hey!" Ron protested.
As the three friends struck up a conversation, Alana flipped through a copy of the Daily Prophet to find the same headline she had seen on the street.
She caught a glimpse of the picture under the heading and she froze. Her fingers felt numb and cold as she held the paper in her hands. In the picture, flames engulfed a suburban house, as a girl with pale skin and dark brown hair watched, her face expressionless.
"Alana Fairfax, who has lived with her Muggle mother her entire life, was fathered by a notorious Death Eater, who was responsible for raping and murdering 18 muggle women. Fairfax has shown tendencies towards the Dark Arts herself. She used magic to burn down her house, and then blamed it on her mother, the victim of abuse at the hands of the Death Eaters and a failed memory modifier. She has not even begun her magical education, and yet shows no signs of relent. Could we possibly have a new Dark wizard on our hands?"
Alana dropped the paper as if it was covered with thorns. That's why they all stared at her. That's why Ron gaped at her, why Hermione flinched. They were afraid of her. Her father was a monster.
And his blood- the foul demon's blood- it ran through her veins. It made her sick.
She slowly made her way toward Harry, Ron, and Hermione."Why didn't you tell me?" she whispered, each word escaping her mouth as if it tasted bitter.
"You read the Prophet article." Harry said flatly.
"Don't believe any of the rubbish Rita Skeeter writes." Hermione told her.
"Hate that bitch." Ron muttered under his breath.
Through the store window, she once again saw a bright bird that appeared to be made of flames.
A mirage. A flimsy illusion, like everything else she knew. But it looked so real. The fiery bird spread its wings and began to fly away.
Alana found herself running, not quite sure where. Faces and shops passed by and the alleys got darker. She was running out of breath and began to slow down.
"On the wrong side of town are we?" a man in a dark cloak asked coldly. He laughed."Not lost, are you?"
She continued to run.
With a flick of the man's wand, Alana was knocked to the ground, unable to move.
"Now what's a pretty little girl doing in Knockturn Alley?" he asked."What did you hear?"
"Nothing- I swear."
"My master won't be happy if I let you leave."
"I don't have any idea what you're talking about!" Alana cried.
"Crucio!" the man shouted.
Alana screamed. The pain she felt was beyond anything she could imagine. Worse than being electrocuted, worse than acid running through her veins. She just wanted it all to end. Just quickly, painlessly.
She saw flames in every direction. Was she being burned alive? Was it just another illusion?
"What the hell?" the man shouted.
Slowly, the pain started to subside, as the flames around her grew. The world started to fade away.
She had a vision of a majestic red bird, flying over a burning street, as the flames died down.
"Alana!" she heard a voice exclaim.
"She's waking up!" another whispered enthusiastically.
As the world came back into focus, Alana found herself in a hospital bed.
"Where am I?" Alana asked.
"Not in Knockturn Alley." Ron commented.
It was then that Alana noticed that he, Hermione, Harry, and a woman who appeared to be a nurse were also in the room.
"You're in the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts castle." Hermione informed her. "St. Mungo's would have been more convenient, but you were brought here."
"Brought? By who?"
Harry nodded towards an open window, where a fiery red bird sat perched.
"It's real!" Alana exclaimed.
"You've seen it before?" Harry asked, surprised.
"What is it?"
"A phoenix." Hermione explained. "No one's seen one at Hogwarts since..." she trailed off.
"When you arrived here, you were burned beyond what we thought was survivable. I have a feeling that phoenix had a lot to do with your recovery." the nurse added.
"I read somewhere that phoenix tears have miraculous properties." Hermione said quietly.
Alana noticed to her surprise that the scars on her arms seemed to have faded away.
"The phoenix chose her..." Ron mused.
"What do you mean, 'chose me'?" Alana wondered out loud.
"A phoenix doesn't just save anyone. It chooses someone, usually a powerful or noble wizard. When it does, the wizard and the phoenix are, I guess you can say, bonded. They protect each other." Harry explained.
"Who was that man? The one who attacked me." she asked.
"Dunno." Ron said. "There are a whole lot of shady men in Knockturn alley."
"He said something about 'his master.'"
"What master?" Harry asked.
"I thought you would know..."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged nervous glances.
"If you're telling the truth and there's an unknown Dark wizard out there, you could be in serious danger, Alana." Hermione warned.
"But I'm not alone, am I?"
The bird flew to Alana and perched itself next to her on the metal railing of her bed, answering her question.
A/N: What do you think? I had to cut a lot out because competition rules say it has to be under 2,000 words. Every sentence I deleted broke my heart, believe me. Anyways, here's the link to the competition (without the spaces): http:/ blog. figment. com /2011 /07 /08 /the-harry-potter-fanfiction-contest/ Look for "The Phoenix" (You can vote more than once, but you need to make a free account)
If you entered a story (which you should), comment with the title and I'll be happy to review and vote it up.