A/N: First Chapter of Harry Potter: The Phoenix. I have been coming up with many different ideas for stories, and this was one of them.
Enjoy :)
Chapter One
Harry shifted to a seated position on the bed as he heard the footsteps coming towards his cell. He really thought that he may have made a rash decision letting himself get caught killing Umbridge, but the hat almost begged to put him in Slytherin for a reason; he knew how to spin this in his favour. The best option relied on the possibility that Fawkes would accept his proposal. Luckily the Dementors weren't allowed near his cell, a favour for the 'Saviour of the Wizarding World' he was told.
When the person came around the corner Harry didn't smile, he didn't show any signs that the form of Hermione Granger gave him any comfort in his incarceration; because she didn't.
"So you're here. Do you want to pity me or are you here desperately trying to piece together your monumental failure." Harry asked her.
"I don't know what you thought you were doing, getting caught." Hermione said. She now worked as legal council for the Wizengamot, the position Umbridge had before she became under-secretary to the Minister.
"So you care more about the fact that I got caught in the act then the fact that I murdered someone." He said, tilting his head. "How disturbing a way for a member of the Ministry to think. Does that mean you're here to bust me out?" He leaned his head on his hand.
"I have a deal that the Wizengamot has agreed to. They know she, um... wasn't exactly the best person, and you are the Saviour. They've agreed to let you go if you say it was self defence." Hermione said, ignoring the jab.
Harry laughed heartily, it was the first emotion he had showed in the year he had been in here and it was quite unsettling to see after so long.
"I must not tell lies, isn't that how it went, Hermione?" Harry asked, waving the back of his hand that still had the scar. "It was carved into this hand every night for six months. My blood stained the parchment I wrote on. Do you understand that?"
Hermione winced. "Yes, I agree she should have burned for what happened but... we have law and order for a reason, Harry." She responded.
"Yes we do." Harry agreed. Hermione blinked. "I agree with you. Law and order should exist. How's your particular brand of that concept working for you?"
"You should take the deal Harry, you're up for the Dementor's kiss. It's only thanks to your renown that you haven't been kissed already." Hermione said. She looked frantic. "Just say that you regret killing Umbridge. Say that it was done out of self defence. The ministry thinks that you murdered her out of cold blood."
Harry snorted. "Interesting theory." He hummed, standing up and stroking his chin in mock interest. "Do you think, maybe there's a reason why I allowed myself to get caught at the scene of the crime?"
"What are you.." Hermione trailed off. Her mind was seriously working to find Harry's angle in this conversation. "You mean you could have gotten away with it and you didn't." She stated.
"Yes, I could have. Quite easily in fact. I sat there for a good three hours before anyone even found me." Harry said, and Hermione looked away at the reminder of the Auror's recent lacking competence. "Then again, when Tonks did come in she looked mighty angry at her fellow law enforcers." He said, observing Hermione squirm. Obviously she knew something she wasn't sharing. It didn't matter, Tonks told him anyway.
"But back to the original point; I killed a woman, if she could be called that. I'm serving time for my crimes. Are you telling me I should have gotten away with it because I was able to?"
"Well... no, you should be here, but you can't be here at the same time." Hermione said.
"Hermione, you always thought Dumbledore looked at the bigger picture, taking great lengths to remind me of that fact as often as you could." Harry said, remaining emotionless. "I can see the bigger picture now. Do you? To be in Azkaban means that I'm freer than I ever have been."
Hermione was trying to think of the logic in this conversation. She didn't like being confused.
"I never believed that you killed her in cold blood, even though everyone considered it." Hermione said.
"Hmm, you're a lot more idealistic than I thought. I won't tell you if you're wrong or not just yet, so you should tell me the real reason why you're here." Harry said. "Why you had to have called in every favour you could to get this plea bargain."
Hermione decided to get to the point.
"It's getting worse." She whispered. "He's killing more people. You've got to stop him."
"And there it is." Harry clapped slowly, sarcastically. "I don't have to do anything, except serve my debt to society." Harry commented. "The days of me saving people are over. I'm a criminal. That means I'm not a hero. Those days ended with the death of Voldemort."
"You're the only one who could stop him." Hermione said. She was actually on her knees begging him to help.
"You mean to tell me that no-one else in this sorry excuse for a Wizarding society has become strong enough to fight someone like that?" He was amused by this. He had trained his magic for months to fight Voldemort, and had become more than a match for him. "You've gone native, Miss Granger. I'm disappointed in you. I thought you would train your magic after the thing with Voldemort. Next thing I know I'll be seeing you demand tea from a house elf."
"I'll do no such thing!" Hermione yelled, mortified by the thought. "He's a force of nature that can't be stopped. He took down twenty Aurors at once like they were preschoolers."
"And now you're coming to the only other wizard you know with that kind of power. One murderous bastard's insight in stopping another murderous bastard." Harry said. "Touching, I'll admit that."
Harry stepped up to the bars to face her. Hermione shuddered. She felt like she was facing a Basilisk.
"But tell me this Hermione. How can this man that you speak of kill what is already dead?" Harry asked.
"I'm not following you." Hermione responded.
"I knew this would happen, Hermione. Just because Voldemort is dead, it didn't mean that happy days were dawning. One Dark Lord in place of another, that's how it works in this society." Harry said. "And when Umbridge got off free for her crimes in the war, I knew there was only one thing to do."
"You killed Umbridge." Hermione said.
"No, I killed Umbridge and then allowed myself to be thrown into Azkaban, keep up Hermione. You think I couldn't have manhandled all fifteen of those Aurors that arrested me?" He asked. Hermione needn't answer, even she knew that Harry was right. "Voldemort was just the tip of the Iceberg of what could happen to the English Wizarding world. This corrupt and arrogant society has been decaying for hundreds of years. It started with the founding of the very Ministry you whored yourself out to."
"I didn't... how dare you..."
"Sticks and stones Hermione, don't let words bother you. You should know that by now." Harry said. He smiled, but it was unsettling. "There is another who has risen to the mantle of Dark Lord, but this time, you don't have a hero to bail you out do you. The world has relied on heroes for so long it has lost the ability to fend for itself. They've relied on Dumbledore, they've relied on me; you saw how quickly the 'light side' fell apart when Dumbledore died, and now it's happened again because of me disappearing, hasn't it?"
"What are you saying?" Hermione asked. She felt like Harry was playing word games with her, and it was scaring her that everything he said was completely accurate.
"I just see a far bigger picture in this scenario than you foolish wand wavers are able to see." Harry said. "I am in the safest place on Earth. I knew something like this would happen, so I funded several projects that revamped Azkaban in the months leading up to my inevitable incarceration. I'm sure the Daily Prophet had a field day pointing out the irony of the fact that my own righteous cause was going to keep the big bad Harry Potter where he belonged."
Harry laughed, the bellows echoing through the corridors of Azkaban.
"You've gone mad in Azkaban!" Hermione exclaimed.
"Mad? No. You just don't see the bigger picture." Harry said. He smiled. "Let me spell it out for you."
Hermione couldn't stop herself from listening to him. It was like a train wreck she couldn't turn away from.
"Watch your world burn and despair because there is nothing you can do about it." Harry said. "The English Wizarding society will crumble without a hero to save it, and when the equally ignorant Dark Lords of this country go overseas and attempt to conquer the other Magical nations, they will be put down by the people that actually defend their countries with strong magic. People who never stopped training and making sure that no-one could threaten them. Magic in England will still exist, you can't restrain a force of nature. But the age of the English wand-waving wizards are at an end."
"An entire nation can't just die out!" Hermione shouted.
"Obviously not a student of history are you?" Harry asked rhetorically. "Watch the world burn Hermione. There have been many a proud civilization that have said they'd last forever. But they are the first to go. It's the civilizations that expect and prepare for conflict that last. They don't go looking for it, but they are surely prepared to defend against it. Each year, the veil of secrecy hiding this world tears a bit more."
Harry placed his hand on the cell. If there wasn't an invisible barrier, he would have touched Hermione's face.
"All it took to send this nation into panic is a spark. That is a Dark Lord." Harry said. "My incarceration was the gasoline that will cause it to burn out."
"You son of a bitch!" Hermione yelled, realizing finally what Harry meant.
"Leave my mother out of this." Harry said coldly. "I killed a woman who doesn't exist outside of a government that rules a hidden part of the world. Once that government crumbles, I will walk out of Azkaban an innocent man. That's justice."
Hermione remained shocked.
"Flee." Harry said. "Leave me or kill me. Your choice."
Hermione held her wand towards Harry. It shook.
"Kill me, if you think it will do any good." Harry taunted her. "But you think my imprisonment will give the destruction gasoline, you really don't want to know what my death would cause. Imagine the news: 'Corrupt government kills only hope for peace in cell without trial. Ministry official found to be perpetrator.' How fast would society crumble then? Be smart and buy yourself some time by not killing me."
"I'm sorry." Hermione muttered.
"Oh my, it's as if I never even expected you to use those words. I've suddenly changed my mind." Harry said, completely emotionlessly. "Are you going to tell the authorities on me? If so, it won't do much good when they already think they're going to execute me."
Hermione didn't know what to do. Harry gave her a problem she had no idea how to solve. She did catch the part where he said 'think they're going to execute me', meaning he wasn't just going to die. But obviously he was content to sit back and watch the English Wizarding Society burn.
"Damned if you do, damned if you don't." Harry taunted. "Either way, I've won. There's a reason why the Sorting Hat begged me to be in Slytherin."
"And there's a reason why the Sorting Hat refused to put me in Ravenclaw." Hermione admitted sadly. She turned away and walked off, burdened with the knowledge that she couldn't do anything.
Harry raised an eyebrow, but smiled when he felt heat fill the room. A sudden flash of bright white fire burst into existence before it died away to reveal Fawkes.
"Time has been good to you it seems." Harry said, taking in the majestic bird's appearance.
And he was right. Whereas before when he was serving Albus Dumbledore, he had a dull orange coat of feathers and almost no indication of being a creature of fire. Now he looked more proud to be a member of his race, and fire licked the edges of his feathers.
"So it's time?" he asked. Fawkes seemed to nod his head. "So this place is a school for monsters. Are you sure you want to do this?"
'Yes. The bearded one sapped me of my will to live. Despite my strength returning, the life-force of a phoenix cannot be maintained if it does not care about living.' Fawkes' voice echoed in his mind.
Harry sighed. He may have acted uncaring to Hermione, but he still cared for his friends. Fawkes had helped him numerous times, and Harry had even begun to have mental conversations with him in the wake of Dumbledore's death. Fawkes had grown tired of living, and desired to infuse his essence into Harry, making him a pseudo Phoenix-Yokai.
"Won't that make me immortal?" Harry asked with some trepidation.
After all, he didn't know if he wanted to outlive anyone he happened to become friends with.
'Yes, it will. You will also have an immense healing factor. Only decapitation then soaking your remains in water will truly kill you. But, if you lose the will to live then you will start ageing like a normal human. Still, you could possibly fall in love with another Phoenix-Yokai or a vampire. They would have an equal life-span to you.' Fawkes explained.
"Well then, I suppose all that's left is for you to get it over with." Harry said.
Fawkes nodded. He shifted on his perch on the bed railings, opening his wings to full length. 'Yes, I warn you. This will as you humans say, 'Hurt like a bitch.'
Harry snorted. "Couldn't hurt more than Basilisk venom right?" He said. Fawkes remained silent. "Well shit." Harry sighed. "Go on then." Harry said.
He raised his arms and closed his eyes, right as Fawkes seemed to loose tangibility and became made out of white fire and flew directly into Harry's chest, making him scream in agony then pass out in a flash of fire that left the cell empty.
End Chapter
A/N
Thanks for reading the first chapter.
Some of you who read Megamatt09's stories will recognise this first chapter's layout. It plays out almost exactly the same as his first chapter of 'Consequence'. I really liked the idea for that story and the confrontation between him and Hermione. It also makes it easier to explain if my story doesn't involve the Wizarding world much any more.
The next chapter will completely be my own work.