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Harry Potter was sitting on his bed, staring absentmindedly at the far wall of his bedroom. He hadn't moved in hours, and his green eyes were far away, occupied with dark thoughts. Most of those thought settled around Sirius Black, his now dead godfather. Dead, because he had been stupid enough to fall for a trap Voldemort had set in motion. The feared Dark Lord had been playing with his mind all year without Harry even noticing. He had run into the trap with open eyes, not once stopping to look back and reflect his rash behavior. And because of his recklessness, his godfather had been killed fighting off Death Eaters. A shiver ran up his spine as he closed his eyes for a brief second, trying to push the memories that were flooding him back into the dark corners of his mind. His scar seared painfully, and Harry grimaced. He had not had another vision of Voldemort this summer, but he knew that the Dark Lord was still somewhere out there, waiting for the right time to strike at him again. His jaw set in a firm line as anger welled up inside him. He wasn't going to be played around with again. He would meet his fate head on, as his parents had done so many years ago.
That brought his thoughts to another disturbing memory. After the death of Sirius, Harry had been a wreck. He was taken to Dumbledore's office. It was there that the Headmaster had finally explained to him why Voldemort wanted to kill him all those years ago. There had been a prophecy, spoken by the divination professor he had never really liked. In fact, he had thought her to be a total fraud. It seemed, however, that professor Trelawney had been able to predict that a baby had been born with the secret power to defeat Voldemort. Voldemort had reacted, and had killed of his parents. It had deprived him of his body and much of his magical abilities. It was only slightly more than a year ago that the Dark Lord had been able to return, using Harry's own blood in a dark magic ritual in his fourth year. Harry shook his head, pushing the images of the haunting graveyard back into his mind. He didn't want to dwell on the past too much. He must now focus on the future, and his destiny.
He again worked himself up into anger. He would be the one to defeat Voldemort, but he had no clue as to how he was supposed to defeat the most feared dark wizard in history. He did not see himself as having a secret power big enough to defeat Voldemort. He shook his head as he mind dwelled on the incredible duel he had seen between Dumbledore and Voldemort in the Ministry of Magic. He shivered again as he thought of the amounts of magic released between the two dualists. He could never hope to achieve that much raw power, he knew, and that made him almost succumb to a new wave of depression. Just how was he supposed to beat Voldemort, if he couldn't even touch him without needing the help of others. He shook his head yet again, too tired to dwell of those matters anymore. So he just stared at the far wall of his room as the light of the day slowly gave way to the darkness of the night. Slowly, without him even noticing, his eyes dropped and closed. Harry's mind drifted away towards the realm of dreams, his last conscious thought being the question on how he would be able to finish of Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters.
Harry opened his eyes and looked around. He was standing in a giant hallway; build up from white marble and strange stones he didn't recognize. It was cold, and a slight breeze swept past him. He walked towards the main dais that was centered in the middle of the large hall. His footsteps sounded hollow against the enormous stone walls. Above his head, a huge dome at least a hundred feet high was painted with images of warriors. Harry stopped and looked at the images again. His breath caught in his throat. The warriors were not fighting each other with swords, but with wands. Spells burst from their wands in strange colors.
'What is this place?' Harry asked himself. As soon as he had spoken, the room shook and rumbled. Several doors opened. Harry drew his wand and stepped back from the dais, his heart hammering in his chest. Images from the Department of Mystifications tried to push their way into his mind. Maybe this was another trap? He half expected to see Death Eaters emerging from the corridors, but nothing happened. Just as he was about to relax, a booming voice spoke from behind him. 'Who enters the domain of the Higher Order?'
Harry spun around, his eyes wide as he searched for the source of the voice. His eyes fell on the golden phoenix seated on the marble floor. It seemed to bleed magic, it's waves strange and thrilling. Harry felt his throat go dry as Goosebumps appeared on his arms. The bright eyes of the phoenix looked towards him, and Harry could see genuine curiosity in them. The phoenix looked at him expectantly, waiting for an answer. Harry gulped. 'I'm Harry Potter,' he said. 'What is this place? I have never been here before.' He looked around as he spoke, taking in more details of the enormous hallway. He was sure he had never seen anything like this before in the wizarding world, even though he knew he had not been introduced to every magical place in Brittain. Still, the room seemed strangely odd and old, as if it didn't belong in his lifetime.
The phoenix chuckled and shook his head. 'My brothers and sisters are coming,' he said in a grave voice. 'It has been a long time since a human last visited our lair. We are not used to human company anymore. I think, however, that I am able to answer your first question. You are in the Hall of the Phoenix, the ancient dwelling of the Higher Order of Magic. I am the supreme guardian of this hall, and the power that is stored here.' The brightness of the phoenix seemed to flare a moment as the beast spoke, and his voice was hard. His eyes were still weighting Harry, as if looked for something. Harry shivered under the intense gaze of the phoenix, not knowing what to do. He knew he was dreaming, but still, this didn't seem like a normal dream at all.
Soon, more phoenixes began appearing in the hall. There exited murmurs drew closer as they formed a perfect circle around Harry. Some were black, others were red, and there were two or three white phoenixes. All of their eyes stared knowingly at him. He turned his attention to the supreme guardian. 'Why am I here?' he asked. He hadn't had the slightest clue as to what he was supposed to do. Chuckles flared all around him. The supreme guardian looked him up and down. 'You are modest,' he said in a slow voice. 'Most people who travel here are seeking raw power. They want to rule, or be better than the rest of mortals. You are different. You don't actively seek power for your own good.' He nodded. 'You seek power to defeat a great evil. I know that evil. The man behind the mask has been visiting us. It has been years, but I still remember his name. Tom Marvolo Riddle.'
Harry's eyes went wide. 'Voldemort has been here?' he asked, his voice grave. 'Did you give him power?' This could be the answer, he thought, the answer as to how Voldemort had achieved his powers. The supreme guardian shook it's head. 'No,' he said solemnly. 'We did not give him anything. His evil thoughts bled right through his soul, so we were able to see the real motivations behind his request. We have been waiting for years for a person who would be able to defeat him. I know of the prophecy that is binding you two together. I know what you have to do, Harry Potter.' The phoenixes eyes held his own green eyes.
Harry gulped. 'I don't know what to say,' he whispered. 'I have no idea how I am able to beet Voldemort. He is so strong. He has years of experience over me. I will never be able to defeat him with my current knowledge. And the war has already started.' He shook, trying to reign in his emotions. 'I know people are dying. They are dying every day, because I seem to be unable to fulfill my destiny.'
'I know. I can see your internal struggle Harry Potter,' the phoenix said. 'And I can feel your sincerity. You do not seek power just for the benefit of power alone. You want to use power to make the moral worlds a better place.' He paused for a moment and locked gazes with each of the phoenixes. There seemed to be a silent conversation going on. Harry looked around, unsure of what he should do. Suddenly, the supreme guardian returned his attention to Harry and began speaking again. 'The member of the Highest Order agree with me. You are the Chosen One. You are the person that is to rid the mortal world of evil. For that purpose, we will give you the power of the Highest Order.' A blinding light filled Harry's vision as the supreme guardian spook. A rushing sound filled his ears. It seemed every muscle in his body was tensing up and rippling. Shivers broke out all over his body. He tried to make a sound, but no sound escaped his throat.
After what seemed like an eternity, his vision and speech returned. 'What was that?' he asked in a hoarse voice. He felt strange, as if something was added to his body. He looked down at his hands, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. 'We have given you the power of the Highest Order,' the supreme guardian explained in a serious voice. 'You will find, when you wake up, that you don't need glasses anymore. You're physical endurance will be vastly improving in the coming weeks. You will find your knowledge and magical abilities growing rapidly in the next hours, although it might take you some weeks to be fully able to make the magic work. We advise you to be cautious, though, as you're not yet comfortable with this amount of magic. Train one hour every day. That way, it shouldn't be too hard to master your new abilities.' The supreme guardian nodded. 'We will speak again, before the end. Now go, and do what you have to do. I bid you succeed, Harry Potter.'
Harry woke up and blinked his eyes. It took him several seconds to comprehend that he was seeing everything around him as clear as he had with his glasses on. A wicked smile formed on his lips as he stared at his hands. He could feel the magic coursing through him. It felt a little bit strange, but it was huge. He inhaled sharply as he gasped just how much magic was running through his body. It was enormous. Slowly, he pointed his hand forward. The magic seemed to surge through his arm, ready to be unleashed. 'Lumos,' Harry whispered. A ball of light appeared, bright enough the chase the shadows to the far corners of his room. It didn't take any effort to sustain the bright ball of light. With a slight grin, Harry added a levitation charm to the ball of light, bouncing it up and down. He then proceeded to change the color of the light in rapid succession without breaking a sweat.
'Wandless magic,' he whispered as me made the light disappear. 'Amazing.' The more he thought on it, the more knowledge seemed available to him. He could easily thing of a hundred spells that he could use using wandless magic. It was amazing, since he had never been a studying type. A grin spread on his face as he let out a large breath. He could still feel the magic surging through his body. Thrilled, he tried several more spells, making them more powerful and complex as he went on. When he was finished, he fell back on his bed, staring at the sealing of his bedroom. Hope flared inside of him. Maybe, just maybe, he had a chance to defeat Voldemort. With his new powers, he would be able to try more advance spellwork and shielding spells. He felt his resolve strengthening. There was hope, and he was ready to take that hope. The rest of the night was spend mastering his new abilities, and when a new dawn broke above Brittain, Harry Potter felt stronger than he had in weeks.