The Earth Phoenix
by Healer Teddylonglong

All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes.

COMPLETELY AU! Partly OOC.

It is my story, and I intend to write it the way I want it. If you don't like it, don't read it.
Reviews are very welcome, as they inspire my muse. Thank you very much for your kind comments on the previous chapter!


Part II – The First Hogwarts Year

Harry anxiously glanced at the Sorting Hat, when Hermione was sorted into Ravenclaw, and inwardly sighed in exasperation, when Neville ended up in Slytherin. 'Oh no, they're the first two friends I ever had, and I can't even be together with them,' he thought, feeling very sad and upset at the Hat at the same time.

'Hmmm, this is difficult,' a small, high voice penetrated his mind as he sat on the edge of the stool, unable to see anything from under the Hat's large cramp. 'Where am I going to sort you? Gryffindor would be too easy.'

'I don't care where. I just wanted to be together with my friends,' Harry thought angrily, only looking up in shock, when the Hat shouted into the Hall, "Slytherin."

As if in a trance, he pulled off the Hat and handed it back to Professor McGonagall, who eyed him with a stern expression and gave him an unobtrusive, small nod. 'At least I'm together with Neville,' he thought, 'although I'd prefer to not be in a house, where the head of house hates me.' He slowly walked to the Slytherin table and sat on the seat next to Neville, which was fortunately still unoccupied.

"Potter!" An extremely blond boy, who had been sitting opposite of Harry, came around the table and slipped into the seat next to him. "I am Draco," he said, sounding slightly snobby to Harry as he added, "Draco Malfoy." The boy cast him an assessing look, before he commented, "I wouldn't have expected a Potter to come to Slytherin."

"My Granny will be so angry," Neville threw in, looking very frightened.

Before Harry could ask why, a huge amount of food suddenly popped up on the table, and everyone became distracted. During the meal, the boys talked with the other first years, and Harry found that everyone seemed to be really nice. 'Everyone seems to think that I'm as normal as the others. I'm not a freak anymore,' Harry mused, feeling extremely relieved at the thought.

As soon as they had finished eating, Professor Snape strode behind the table and instructed them to hurry up. "House meeting in the Slytherin common room in ten minutes."

One of the older students motioned the first years to follow him and led them to the dungeons, where the group stopped in front of a portrait, which Harry recognised as that of Salazar Slytherin. Often enough had he studied the portrait of the four Founders of Hogwarts that decorated the wall opposite the window in his living room. He barely had the opportunity to look around the common room, before the first years were instructed to sit on the floor in a circle, where the older students surrounded them quickly in an apparently well practised, proficient manner.

All of a sudden, Snape's voice penetrated his ears. Harry had not even noticed that the tall wizard had entered the common room let alone had stepped into the middle of the circle. "You are all here, because you were designated to be here. Being in Slytherin means being a Slytherin through and through," the professor continued, letting his eyes wander over the group of first years. "Each single one of you is responsible to behave in a manner that aids in keeping up and enhancing Slytherin's reputation. Fights or misbehaving in front of members of other houses will not be tolerated. I expect each of you to study eagerly and do your best for the sake of our house. If you earn yourself a detention with any other professor, you will serve an additional detention in the Potions classroom. Since I do not want to take points from our house, we have our own house-internal point system…"

Harry listened with interest as the professor informed them about a system, in which they could earn snakes for special achievements or get toads for misbehaving. He also learned that Slytherin had a different curfew from the rest of the school and that his house had several special rules. He resolved to do his best to never get on the bad side of the professor. He looked up, startled, when Snape instructed the first years to introduce themselves. 'What am I going to say?' he wondered, almost beginning to panic, when the professor's snide words pulled him out of his musings.

"Mr. Potter, our new celebrity," Snape sneered, looking slightly agitated as he glared at Harry.

"I'm Harry," Harry said hesitantly. "I grew up with my relatives, who hate magic with a passion. They always disliked me, and I'm very happy to have a new home here at Hogwarts."

"The Sorting Hat must have been drunk tonight, placing a Potter and a Longbottom into my House, the professor uttered, seemingly more to himself than to the students.

However, Neville and Harry, who were sitting in the first row, had heard every single word. Seeing that Neville paled visibly, Harry spoke up. "And why might that be, professor?"

"Potter," the professor sneered, "tell us what you know about Salazar Slytherin."

"Salazar Slytherin," Harry repeated slowly, feverishly trying to recall what Hogwarts had told him about the ancient Potions Master.

"You know nothing?" the professor queried, quirking an eyebrow. "Pity."

"No sir," Harry replied quickly. "I know that he was the Potions Master at his time, he was married to Helga Hufflepuff, he…" He interrupted himself when all students except for Neville burst into laughter.

"That was about the worst you could have said," Draco whispered, chuckling. "The Slytherins don't like the Hufflepuffs at all."

"But it's true," Harry said, matter-of-factly, when he remembered something else that the old castle had told him. "Professor Slytherin was famous for inventing the wolvescure and curing the werewolves."

"Potter," Snape groaned, rolling his eyes in annoyance. "You should have better been sorted into Hufflepuff. There is no such thing like a wolves cure. And now get out of my sight." Without any further word, the professor pushed a string of hair out of his face and strode out of the room, his robes impressively billowing behind him.

地球の鳥

Curfew for the first years began immediately after the House meeting, and Harry curiously eyed the dormitory, which he shared with Neville, Draco and three other boys. Two of them, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, seemed to know Draco very well, and Harry's first impression was that they were both very stupid. The sixth boy, Blaise, seemed to be nice. 'This could have been much worse,' Harry thought, 'even if the professor hates me, at least my classmates are all right.'

"Harry!" Suddenly, Hogwarts' soft voice penetrated his ears.

"Hogwarts," he whispered back, smiling at the wall right next to his bed.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't prevent Sopho from placing you into Slytherin," the castle said.

"Sopho?" Harry asked in confusion. "Is that the Sorting Hat's name? And how would you be able to convince him?"

Hogwarts chuckled. "Don't be afraid, little one. The other boys can't hear me," she informed him, noticing that he hesitantly glanced around to make sure that everyone was distracted by their own matters. "Sopho is a magical invention of Godric, just like myself, and as such I am able to communicate with him. Unfortunately, he is extremely stubborn, and over the time, I have noticed that he has made many wrong decisions. We often fight about his Sortings, but I can't do much about it. Only sometimes, when the headmaster or deputy places him near enough to my wall, I can give him a kick in the brim. Tonight was such a lucky occasion, and at the moment, he is regretting your Sorting very much."

"Did you really kick him?" Harry asked, laughing inwardly.

"Yes. He is a very sore, poor old piece of cloth now," Hogwarts said contentedly.

"Thank you," Harry replied, smiling. "It would have been nice if he had at least placed Hermione together with us. I really liked her. With Ravenclaw we don't even have classes together," he said, more to himself than to the castle, looking up in surprise, when she instructed him to get ready for bed and stay awake for a while.

"I'll talk to you again in a while. It might take an hour, but maybe I can do something to help you," she promised, leaving Harry wondering what her plan could be.

地球の鳥

At the same time in the Headmaster's office, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore was having tea together with the four heads of House. Tonight, the Sorting of Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom was the main topic.

"Sopho, can you give us an explanation for your decisions tonight?" Dumbledore queried, eyeing the Sorting Hat, curiously.

"Leave me in peace," the Hat replied grumpily. "I have a bad headache. Everything is this stupid old castle's fault."

"Oh, I see I'm joining this conversation just at the right time," Hogwarts suddenly spoke up, for everyone in the room to hear. "Headmaster, this antiquated piece of cloth made a grave error tonight. Therefore, in order to remedy his mistake, I must ask you to apply a little change to the classes from tomorrow onwards. Ravenclaw must have classes together with Slytherin and Hufflepuff with Gryffindor."

"And why would that be?" Snape threw in with apparent interest. "Not that I would not be very pleased about this change…"

"Because it will be necessary in order to overcome the house rivalry and hatred," Hogwarts interrupted the professor. "All houses will greatly profit by this change, and it will especially improve Slytherin's reputation."

"Since when are you a Seer, Hogwarts?" Dumbledore asked, slowly popping a lemon drop into his mouth.

"One of my Founders, Rowena Ravenclaw, was a Seer," Hogwarts replied, indignantly.

After a lively discussion, the five professors decided to follow Hogwarts' advice and instantly change the class combinations.

地球の鳥

"So we have classes together with Hermione," Harry said, his voice laced with a mixture of disbelief and amazement. "Thank you so much, Hogwarts."

"You're very welcome, child," the castle replied gently. "I just made a door behind your bed, by the way, connecting your dormitory with the living room in your quarters. So far it is only visible to you, but if you feel that you can trust others and tell them about your identity, it will also become visible to them. I would recommend to not tell anyone unless you know them very well though. And now go to sleep, Harry. It's already very late."

地球の鳥

When Professor Snape quietly swept through the first year boys' dormitory later that evening, looking at his former childhood enemy's son, he noticed with disgust that the boy was asleep with a smile playing on his lips.

'We'll see if the dunderhead will still be laughing after tomorrow's Potions class,' he thought grimly, resolving to spend some of his valuable time to prepare some additional fun for the following day.

'He is also Lily's son,' a small voice spoke up from the back of his head.

'But he looks like Potter,' he countered. 'Bad enough to have a Longbottom in my House. His mother was Lily's best friend,' he mused, letting out a long sigh as he strode back through the connecting corridor into the solace of his private quarters.

地球の鳥

Harry quickly became used to his new life as a student at Hogwarts. He got along very well with everyone in his own house, but his best friends remained Hermione and Neville. At first, his Slytherin classmates had made displeased comments, when the two boys chose to sit on the Ravenclaw side of the classroom or pulled the girl, who seemed to know everything, to the Slytherin side; however, after a few weeks they gave up and just accepted the situation, especially after Millicent became good friends with Mandy and the two girls also proceeded to sit together independently of their membership of different Houses.

After questioning Harry during the house meeting and in the Potions class on the first day of classes, Professor Snape left Harry in peace, and the boy tried to not attract any attention and was extremely grateful that the professor more or less seemed to ignore him most of the time. However, during their first Flying class, something happened that caused Harry to get into trouble with his head of house.

After Neville had made a mistake and was injured at his first attempt to fly, Draco played with the Rememberall that Neville had lost on the grounds, causing Harry to launch into the air behind Draco. At first, he felt slightly relieved that it was only Professor McGonagall, who caught them, and not Snape; however, he looked up in shock when his Head of House strode behind the Slytherin table at dinner and said icily, "Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Potter, come to my office immediately after the meal."

"Oh oh, that means trouble," Draco said on their way down to the dungeons. "I know Snape well. He is my godfather, and he was definitely not pleased. Who knows what the old teabag McGonagall has told him about this afternoon. Anyway, don't say anything; just agree to everything I say, ok? I know how to handle him."

"All right," Harry agreed, feeling very much reassured by Draco's words.

They did not have to wait long. Immediately after Draco knocked at the door, the professor called them in. "Mr. Malfoy, Potter," Snape bellowed, "does any of you recall the number one priority of our House?"

"House unity, sir," Draco replied in a firm voice, innocently looking at the professor.

"Exactly," Snape growled. "Five toads each for fighting in front of people from other Houses. I will not tolerate this behaviour."

"But Uncle Sev," Drao protested vehemently, "we didn't have a fight at all. Harry and I just wanted to use the time, while Madam Hooch was away, to practise Quidditch. Harry told me that he wanted to become a Seeker on the House team. I'd also love to become a Chaser. Professor, is there any way for the first years to attend the house team's practice?"

'I what?' Harry thought, looking at Draco in shock. Never had he even voiced such a thought.

"Potter, did you fight with Mr. Malfoy?" Snape queried, glaring at the boy.

"No sir," Harry replied quickly, glancing at Draco.

Snape let out a long sigh and motioned the two boys to take a seat behind his desk. "Very well then," he said slowly. In fact, Professor McGonagall was very impressed by Mr. Potter's Seeker skills, and we could very well use a good Seeker as well as a Chaser." He remained thoughtful for an instant, before he continued, "However, there is the problem that first years are not allowed on the House teams. I will have to try to convince my colleagues to let go of this antiquated rule. However, I can't promise anything. Very well then, I will not give you toads today; however, if you ever again display such a scene in front of persons from other houses, rest assured that you will have to scrub dirty cauldrons on three consecutive evenings."

A few hours later, Snape informed the Slytherin Quidditch captain, Marcus Flint, that the Quidditch team had two new members, Draco and Harry.

"The best of playing on the house team," Marcus told the boys, "is that for every match we will be awarded three snakes, and if we win, we'll even receive ten."

地球の鳥

During the following months, Harry thoroughly enjoyed himself. Since he had been made Seeker, the professor had never again harassed him in any way, and his house mates loved him after the first Quidditch match of the season, where he managed to catch the Snitch on time to win the match for Slytherin in spite of having problems with his broom.

The only dissatisfying point was that Neville and he could not study together with Hermione, except for in the library, where they were not allowed to talk to each other. 'I wished I could take them into my quarters, so that we could study there,' he thought frequently. One day, he decided to speak with Hogwarts about the matter.

"I believe that you can trust your friends," the old castle said gently. "Why don't you just tell them about yourself? Take them to the alcove near the entrance hall, from where you originally entered your rooms and ask them to put their hands to my wall. If they come the next time, I will recognise them and let them in if that's what you want."

On a day in the last week before the beginning of the winter holidays, when they were on their way from the Defence classroom to the Great Hall for dinner, Harry said to his friends, "Would you mind missing dinner? I'd like to show you something, and I know where we can get something to eat."

"But won't we get into trouble with the professor?" Neville asked, frightfully eying his friends.

"Then you can tell him that Harry had a headache again," Hermione replied, looking at Harry in concern, when he forcefully rubbed his forehead. "Is it your scar, Harry?" she enquired. "You have headaches very often."

"Yes, I think my head always begins to hurt, when Professor Quirrell is nearby," Harry said slowly. "It's all right though. It'll go away in a few minutes."

In the meantime, they had reached the entrance hall, from where everyone was streaming into the Great Hall.

"Just a bit further ahead," Harry explained and ushered his two friends into the small alcove. He instructed Hermione and Neville to put their right hands on the wall, and an instant later, Hogwarts revealed the staircase and said, "Now I know your friends' magical signatures."

"Thank you Hogwarts," Harry said quietly, before he turned to his friends. "Please follow me. I'll explain everything, when we're there."

Hermione and Neville quietly followed Harry downstairs and curiously let their eyes wander around the room, into which Harry led them.

"Harry, where are we?" Hermione asked, eyeing the medieval furniture in the room with awe.

"In my living room," Harry replied, smirking and shortly explained about his relationship to the Founders. "That's why I can speak with the castle," he admitted, slowly averting his eyes to the floor, as his friends looked at him with a mixture of disbelief and amazement.

While the three friends enjoyed the food, which Malcolm brought for them, Harry told the others everything about his first weeks at Hogwarts, and when he and Neville returned to the Slytherin common room on time for curfew, he felt very relieved and happy that his best friends finally knew everything about him.

Only when the two boys entered their dormitory and Draco and Blaise told them that their head of house wanted to see them immediately, his heart sank and he looked at Neville in shock. 'Oh no, Snape is going to give us toads for missing dinner,' he realised, 'maybe even detention.' Suddenly, he felt very bad for his friend, knowing that the boy absolutely detested the Potions classroom.

"Professor, it's only my fault," he explained as soon as the Potions Master called them into his office and told the man about the headaches, which he always got when being around the Defence professor.

Snape's expression turned from anger over disbelief and surprise to understanding, before all emotions were replaced by the professor's usual blank mask. "Very well," he said thoughtfully, "Potter, if that ever happens again, you will come to me or send any of your friends to call me immediately. Do you understand me?"

"Yes sir," Harry replied firmly, inwardly sighing in relief at the professor's voice that for once held no malice.

地球の鳥

Harry was the only student in Slytherin, who remained at Hogwarts during the winter holidays. Glad that his head of house merely required that he had to attend all three meals in the Great Hall but otherwise left him in peace, Harry often retired to his own rooms between the meal times. Apart from working on his school assignments, he spent much time reading books and talking to Hogwarts about her past.

One day, Hogwarts sounded very hesitant as she addressed him. "Harry, I noticed something strange about Professor Quirrell." Seeing that the boy looked at her wall in expectance, she continued, "Since you're having problems with him, I have been watching him closely, Anyway, his head has two sides with two different faces. Maybe that has something to do with your headaches."

Harry stared at the wall in shock. "I wonder if Professor Snape knows about this," he said thoughtfully. "I saw him talk with Professor Quirrell alone a few times."

"I will speak with your head of house and with the headmaster," Hogwarts said firmly. "I won't mention you in order to not alert them to the fact that we're able to communicate, but they ought to know that something is wrong with one of the teachers."

After this conversation, Harry never saw Professor Quirrell again. When school began again after the winter holidays, several Aurors took turns teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts until the end of the school year, when the headmaster managed to hire a new professor for the subject. When Harry asked Hogwarts what had happened to the stuttering teacher, the castle told him that the other professors had attacked the man for some reason and that he had been taken to St. Mungo's.

The second half of the school year passed relatively uneventfully and ended with a double victory for Slytherin, as the snakes won the Quidditch cup and the House cup, and Harry felt very proud when his head of house commended him for catching the Snitch in every match of the season. 'Having been sorted into Slytherin wasn't so bad,' he thought, when he was sitting in a compartment on the Hogwarts Express together with Hermione and Neville. Making sure that no one was lurking around in front of the compartment, he said good-bye to his friends, asked them to write and if possible visit him during the holidays, and finally burrow-flashed himself back to his rooms at Hogwarts. 'I hope they're really going to visit me. Hogwarts will be boring without them, even if I now have the invisibility cloak the headmaster gave me for Christmas so that I can walk around and don't have to stay in my rooms like last year,' he thought, not knowing that a summer lay ahead of him, which would be the first step to considerably change his life forever.