Lucius sat in his study, examining the skull and snake tattooed onto the inside of his left arm. The Mark was disgusting. It was a sign of slavery, like a brand.
Closing his eyes, Lucius pushed back the almost overwhelming urge to vomit. He knew that the Mark would forever define him. It would make some turn away from him in horror, believing him to be a sadistic madman. Others would flock to him for possessing the tattoo, through fear or admiration for what he's done.
Hearing voices outside of his study, he opened his eyes and looked at the door.
"Mother, do you think we can convince Father to come with us to the Station?"
"I'm afraid not, Little Dragon. He has many things he has to do, today. I know he wishes he could, though."
A sigh, and then, "Alright. I won't ask and bother him then. And I'm not a 'Little Dragon', Mother."
"No? Then why am I still taller than you?"
"Mother!"
Lucius smiled wanly at the antics of his family. Catching sight of the Mark again, his smile disappeared. Draco would be expected to accept the Mark one day.
Standing from his desk, he walked over to the large window next to the large mahogany desk. Looking out over the grounds of Malfoy Manor, he thought about his son.
Draco was spoiled, of that there was no doubt. Being an only child and from a rich family, it wasn't really a surprise. However, he wasn't a horrid person. He truly cared for his parents and his friends. He had the bad habit of trying to spoil his friends, Blaise Zabini, Theodore Nott, and Pansy Parkinson. They often indulged his giving them lavish gifts, if only because it made him smile.
And that was the crux of Lucius' problem. Draco was a good person. He didn't always show it, but he was. And he wasn't the sort of person who could kill, or maim, or torture. He was prone to temper tantrums, as evidenced by his behavior at Hogwarts, but he wasn't really malicious. Although he had a feeling that the Gryffindors would argue with him on that one.
His son would be expected to become a Death Eater, and he would be completely miserable, even more so than Lucius was. He may look like his father, but he was definitely his mother's son.
Giving in to his desires, he leaned his head on the glass. Closing his eyes, he tried to fight the tear that was threatening to roll down his cheek. Pulling away and wiping the bothersome thing away before it could escape, he walked back over to his desk. Looking at the piles of paperwork, he scowled.
He could do that later. He needed to fulfill the errand the Dark Lord had sent him on first.
Stalking to the fireplace, he grabbed his cane and cloak. Draping the cloth over his shoulders and making sure to check that the shrunken bag was in the hidden pocket, he gripped his cane in his left hand, so he could draw his wand quickly if necessary. Grabbing a pinch of Floo powder in his hand, he threw it into the fire, watching it flare green. Gazing into the flames for a moment, he let the green fade and die back to the plain orange and red.
Lucius grabbed a second handful and threw it in as he stepped into the flames, calling out, "Waterdale Hall!" briskly.
When the whirl of flames stopped, he stepped gracefully into the large warehouse like building. Looking around, he walked over to a man handing out numbered cards. No one used the cards, but it made the plebeian masses feel special.
Finding a place to sit on the risers spread around, Lucius drifted through the crowds, trying not to touch anyone. The inane auctioneer was already babbling, probably trying to warm up. He could hear a cacophony coming from behind the large curtains blocking off half of the hall. Sighing, he resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. He would never understand the desire so many people had to own creatures that would get them arrested.
Sitting down, he began to scan the crowd for anyone that would be likely to report him, or someone that he could blackmail. Already there were at least three Aurors that he could threaten.
Discreetly rolling his eyes, he almost missed the fog. Doing a double take, he looked closely at the ceiling. Drifting between the rafters, a small bit of mist rolled across the ceiling. Narrowing his eyes, Lucius began to cast several obscure spells that would make it harder to know who he was. If that mist was a new surveillance method developed by the Unspeakables, he didn't want to be caught by it.
Ìntikam was very bored. He'd been drifting among the rafter for hours, and so far, the only thing that had happened was a lot of contraband had been brought into the hall. He could see a lot of seedy people walking around. Both in front of the curtain, and behind it. Siyahlι had arrived in the early hours of the day, before anyone else had really arrived. And the blonde hadn't...
There he was.
Ìntikam almost snorted at Kâhin's spot on description. The man was an aristocrat, through and through. The cane was a nice one, though.
The long blonde hair was obviously distinctive, because many of the less distinguished members of the crowd flocked to him the moment they saw it. He sneered at them without even looking at who was talking to him. Normally, that type of behavior made Ìntikam angry, however in this case, it was probably for the best. He didn't think the human would be able to walk two feet if the masses thought he would listen to them.
When the man sat himself down, he immediately began to scan for possible problems. Grudgingly, Ìntikam's respect for the man grew. Only a little bit, though. It stopped being grudgingly when the man noticed him, though.
The moment the human saw the mist that made up his body, his entire body went completely still. He focused on Ìntikam with frightening intensity. Looking at the human, he decided that he could begin to like this one.
He almost laughed when the blonde began to layer spells of anonymity over himself. They were good, for a human, but not enough to deter the attentions of a djinn.
When the human seemed satisfied with his safety, he focused on the crowds again. Although he kept an eye on Ìntikam.
Deciding to follow the blonde's example, he began to scan the crowd for anyone that might pose an issue for his mission. Seeing no one obvious, he began to watch the 'merchandise' to make sure no one decided to steal the One That Changes. Growling at the filthy human standing next to Siyahlı's cage, he began to plan ways of making the man miserable. The man was a thin, shady looking person that clearly didn't know the meaning of the word 'bathe'.
Beginning to plot the unfortunate demise of the filth that would hurt a phoenix, Ìntikam grinned.
If Lucius didn't know any better, he'd say that the mist was happy, possibly giddy. It was swirling and curling around itself with such eagerness, that he was slightly alarmed. If the Unspeakables really did create it, then he was going to have to reconsider his regard of them, because they were certainly not in their right minds.
Focusing back on the stage, he watched as the auctioneer began babbling in earnest now. Watching carefully, he let the words flow over him, focusing on the objects being displayed. Magic pendants that would allow someone to walk through walls. Sighing, he watched as several people began bidding. Apparently, he was one of the only people in England who had studied magical theory.
If someone had worn the necklace and become intangible enough to float through a wall, then the necklace would fall off, making them tangible again. They would end up standing there for days trying to keep the pendant from falling off, and the Aurors would just arrest them like always.
After the fake intangibility pendants, there was a tiger. Then a sword that could supposedly heal people instead of hurting them. After that, there was a series of statues that could be used to summon spirits. Lucius bought those, just because they interested him. Besides, who knows, he might need to summon something one day.
He was beginning to get very bored, when he saw it. The device the Dark Lord was looking for. A large stone post looking thing with a blood red gem embedded in the top. It was covered in sigils that looked like they were carved by an expert. It was slender, looking almost like a staff. At least, it would if it weren't for the almost demonic looking blade curving around the end of the stone with the gem in it.
For several seconds, no one made any noise, just looking at the evil thing. And Lucius knew it was evil. He'd spent far too many evenings in the presence of the Dark Lord to still be unable to detect the presence of something truly evil.
"Thirty thousand Galleons!"
"Fifty thousand!" Lucius shouted, trying to find out where the other person who was bidding was located.
"Seventy thousand!"
"A hundred thousand!" he called out, still looking for his competition.
"A hundred fifty!" the woman called. He looked at her with harsh eyes. He could not fail his Lord, or he would be severely punished. Just as the auctioneer was about to declare the woman the new owner of the thing, Lucius called out, his voice silencing the whispering hall.
"Three hundred and fifty Galleons!"
The auctioneer looked stunned. Lucius however, only had eyes for the woman who spun around, searching the crowd for the person who had bought her out. Locking eyes with Lucius, her lips curled up in a snarl, looking positively feral. He gazed back at her calmly. She clearly couldn't outbid him.
"Sold to the blonde gentleman in the back!" The auctioneer called out, looking slightly dazed.
The attendants took the stone object into the back, where it was put with the statues Lucius had already bought. It would be waiting for him at the end of the Auction when he left.
Sitting down, unsure of when he had stood, he allowed himself to heave a sigh of relief. He would not fail his master. Neither he nor his family would be punished.
Putting his attention back on the stage, he watched as more Dark objects, contraband items, and rare animals were bought. Glancing out the window, he watched as the sun began to set. Torches were lit, and the Auction continued. He wondered if Draco had arrived at Hogwarts yet, and if he'd caused any trouble. He hoped not. Looking back at the stage, Lucius began to wonder if there was going to be anything interesting left.
Just as he was about to declare this Auction finished for him, and head back to the Floo entrance, the mist caught his attention again. Looking at it sharply, he was shocked to see it swirling and coalescing violently. Darkening until it began to look more like a storm cloud than mist; the cloud seemed to focus its entire being on the stage.
Looking at the auctioneer, he saw that the man was holding up a cage with something in it. Lucius couldn't tell what the animal was, but he knew that the cage was too small. It was when the creature lifted its head wearily to look at them and let out a muffled cry that he realized what it was.
Feeling as though someone had punched him in the gut, Lucius looked in horror at the sight of the bedraggled and broken phoenix.
"Five thousand!" someone called. Lucius tried to make his mouth work.
"Ten thousand!" Lucius felt sick to his stomach at the thought of these people owning the poor bird.
"Twenty thousand!" He wanted to shake them and tell them that the creature they were looking at wasn't just some bird.
"Fifty thousand!" He couldn't let someone buy such a precious creature for such a paltry price!
"Five hundred thousand!" Lucius called out, again shocking the hall into silence. It seemed like the whole hall was looking at him in surprise. Ignoring them, he looked at the auctioneer with a deadly glare. If the man didn't say 'sold' in the next three seconds, he was going to go home without a tongue.
"Sold to the blonde gentleman in the back!" the man called out for the third time that night.
Standing, Lucius began to walk down the risers, intending to get the statues, the object for his Lord, and the phoenix. Walking past everyone, he risked a glance up at the mist, only to see it gone. Frowning, he began to walk a little faster. The mist had seemed a little too interested in the phoenix for comfort.
Finally reaching the ground, he stalked to the curtain and threw it back, almost hitting one of the attendants in the face. Weaving his way through the maze of items to be sold, or items that had been bought, Lucius looked around for anything that might direct him to where his purchases were. He cringed internally at the thought of the phoenix being merely a 'purchase'.
Seeing one of the many attendants wandering around the maze, he grabbed his arm and demanded, "Take me to my things."
Nodding nervously, the boy began to lead him through the tables filled with contraband. When they reached the section filled with items that had already been bought, the boy paused and looked at him cautiously. He clearly didn't know who Lucius was, and didn't know what he had bought.
"The summoning statues, the stone post with the blade and gem, and the bird," he drawled lazily, knowing that his words would jog the lad's memory.
Seeing the light in the boy's eyes as he realized where to go, he smirked. As he followed the boy to his things, he wondered who had put the phoenix in such a small cage. He also wondered how in Merlin's name it hadn't escaped.
When he saw the phoenix, he almost missed the grubby man with a horrible grin standing next to the cage. He could have, if it weren't for the stench. Ignoring him, he walked over to the cage and looked in at the bird. He felt his blood begin to boil at the condition of the poor thing. Both wings were broken, and the tail feathers were bent beyond repair. The phoenix's beak was tied shut, and its legs were bound to its body in the most awkward way possible. It was far too thin, and it looked like it hadn't even had anything to drink in ages.
Smoothing out his features so no emotion showed, he looked at the man who was looking entirely too pleased with himself.
"Are you the one who sold the phoenix?" he asked quietly, not letting his emotions show.
"Yep! Bertholt Everard, at your service, Mister Malfoy!"
Lucius felt a positively vicious sneer begin to form on his face. He was going to enjoy bringing this man down to size.
Ìntikam had never expected the blonde to hit the man who hurt the One That Changes over the head with his snake cane, but it was nice to see. Thanks to the hustle and bustle of the Auction, no one heard the sound of the worthless human shouting. Ìntikam rather liked it when the blonde said, "You are a piece of scum not worth the dust on my boots, much less deserving of the honor of living in the first place."
This human was really beginning to grow on him!
Especially when he informed the filth of the fact that he was going to inform the authorities of his abuse of the animal, and that the Aurors would be calling within the hour. It was a nice touch when he knocked the human out, so that the Aurors would be able to arrest him without the man getting away.
Denise Middlefeld and her partner, Reginald Ausberger, were rather shocked to see Lucius Malfoy walk up to them and inform them that if they arrested someone here at the Auction, he wouldn't tell their superior officer that they been to the Auction without the intention of arresting anyone. Jumping at the opportunity, Denise and Reginald followed the pureblood into the maze of objects. When they reached their destination, they saw a foul smelling man lying on the ground with an impressive goose egg on his forehead. Looking at Malfoy with new respect, she politely asked what she was arresting him for. He replied with a smirk.
"He was in possession of a rare contraband animal. He abused said animal, breaking its wings, leaving it in a cage far too small, and refusing to feed it. If you need to see the animal as proof, you may."
Denise decided then and there, that she never wanted to be on Lucius Malfoy's bad side. It looked like the people that were didn't last very long. As Reginald began to cast Binding Charms and stasis spells, she took a glance at the animal the man had abused. And winced.
The poor thing was a mess. She wasn't sure how it was still alive.
"Do you know his name, sir?" Denise asked professionally. Malfoy nodded, saying with more venom than she thought possible, "Bertholt Everard."
Writing the name down on a piece of paper she found in the pocket of her robe, she was about to leave when she heard Malfoy call out.
"Oh, and Aurors? I trust you'll be able to find some... items in his home, yes?"
Without turning around, Denise looked at her partner with no small amount of fear. The threat in the man's voice was clear. They find contraband in the riffraff's home. Doesn't matter if it was there when they first go in. They just need to make sure it's there.
Or else.
Ìntikam was almost giggling he was so happy. The rotten mortal was going to be placed in the human's dungeon, and he'd never get out! At least, if things still worked the same as they did when he went into his very boring bottle. His elation deflated, he scowled at the filth being dragged away by the two guards, wondering if the man would be able to wiggle his way out of a decent punishment.
Quickly, he wove a discreet tracking signal into the man's skin. Grinning wickedly, Ìntikam watched with glee as the man was dragged off. No, even if the man escaped mortal punishment, he would be able to find the human. The waste of breath wouldn't be able to escape the punishment of the djinn. Wishing he could cackle without being heard, Ìntikam walked over to the cage that held Siyahlι and stuck one finger through the bars. Gently he slid his finger down the feathers of Siyahli's side. Despite being dirty and unkempt, the feathers were still as soft as the smoothest silk.
Stepping away, he watched the blonde pull his wand out of the snake cane. Raising one eyebrow, Ìntikam acknowledged the cleverness of the disguise. Glad that he'd coalesced back into a solid form and then become invisible, he watched as the man pulled out a tiny bag from under his cloak and enlarged it. With appreciation for the intelligence of the mortal, the 'ifrit watched as the statues holding the essence of minor spirits were shrunk and placed carefully into the bag. When the man went to shrink the stone with the blade and gem, Ìntikam was impressed when the human used the staff's own magic against it, without knowing of course, to shrink it.
Once he shrunk the bag to its previous size, the blonde tucked it back into where ever it had been pulled from. The man then turned his attention to the One That Changes. Picking up the cage almost delicately, he began to walk back through the maze of things towards the fireplaces used for travel where some humans were demanding payment for the things bought.
Ìntikam walked beside the blonde as he gently carried Siyahlι and the bag he'd put the summoning statues and the Kan Bιçaklι Taş into. He had been rather surprised when the human, whose name was apparently Malfoy, bought the Taş. It was an evil thing that most 'ifrit didn't touch. He wasn't sure what he thought of Siyahlι being that close to something so foul.
Shrugging, he decided that if it became an issue, he'd deal with it. Otherwise, there was nothing he could do.
Ìntikam looked over at the blonde and watched as the human whirled away in a flash of green fire. The djinn stood frozen for a moment as he realized that he didn't know how the humans travelled using the fire, and that he didn't know where Malfoy had gone.
He just lost Siyahlι.
"Ateş ve kükürt, siyah kum rüzgarlarι!"
Harry could feel everything swimming around him. Colors didn't stay the same for more than a few seconds, and sounds were just plain weird. Nothing made sense, and he was just tired. Harry honestly wanted to sleep. Maybe things would be better if he slept. Maybe when he woke up, he wouldn't be stuck in this stupid cage, and he could start feeling better. That would be really nice.
Lucius scowled at the fireplace, feeling like he'd been ripped off. Scoffing, he turned and walked over to his desk. Of course he was cheated! It was a Dark objects auction. Nothing was priced properly, and bidding would always be outrageous.
Looking at the phoenix sitting in the cage, he sighed. The poor thing was half dead. Throwing his cloak over the back of the chair, he set the cage on the desk, pointedly ignoring the fact that his paperwork was getting crushed.
Opening the obscenely small cage, he gently pulled the black bird out. Laying it softly on his desk, he picked up the cage and threw it harshly into the fireplace. Either the house elves would take it away or it would be slowly melted in the fire. He hoped it was the second. Turning back to the phoenix, he sighed.
It was going to take a lot of work to get the bird back in proper condition.
Pulling out the small knife he kept hidden on the side of his desk, he first cut the cloth tying the poor things legs. Once that was cut, and its legs free, Lucius tossed the dirty material into the fire as well.
The material around the beak was tricky. It was so tight; he didn't think he would be able to just pull it off. However, it was risky to cut it off, because he didn't want to scratch the beak, and he didn't want the bird to wake up. Deciding to take his chances, he oh so carefully began to slice apart the cloth tying the beak closed. As he worked, he made sure he looked at the bird often, making sure it wasn't close to waking up.
The moment the beak was fully released, Lucius tossed away the cloth and set down the knife. He would still need it to cut the tail feathers so that they weren't looking ruined, but first he needed to set the wings.
Secure in the knowledge that no one could see him, he bit his lip in thought. He didn't know how to set a bird's wings. In fact, there was a good chance that he could make it worse. Looking at the small clock sitting next to the picture of Narcissa and Draco, he saw that Draco's hand was set to 'School', while Narcissa's was set to 'Home'.
Seeing Narcissa's name sparked inspiration within him. His wife was highly intelligent, and she may know a solution to this.
"Ritzy!"
With a pop, the tiny house elf appeared in his study. Bowing low, she began to make her thousands of apologies, like all house elves.
"Ritzy, I need you to tell Narcissa that she is needed in my study. That is all," he dismissed. The house elf popped away. Sighing, Lucius looked back at the phoenix.
He held no illusions that he could own the bird. A phoenix chose the wizard they would stay with, no exceptions. All Lucius was doing was helping it to regain its health. It would then leave and continue living its immortal life. He refused to allow himself the luxury of pretending the bird might choose to stay with the Malfoy family. It would only make the reality hurt that much more when it left.
Deciding that he might as well start working on the feathers while he waited for Narcissa to arrive, Lucius picked up the knife again. Slowly making his way through all of the tail feathers, he began to methodically cut the ones too damaged to repair, and straightening out the ones that were salvageable. He quickly began to realize two things. That phoenix tail feathers were very long, and some of them were broken in more than one place. And that phoenixes had far too many feathers.
"Lucius? What are you doing?"
Looking over his shoulder, Lucius looked at Narcissa. His wife was looking at him like he was a maniac. He supposed that he did look rather strange. He had what looked like a pile of feathers on his desk, and he was cutting some of them. Yes, that would look rather strange.
"I bought a phoenix at the Auction today. It's in bad condition," was all he said. He didn't really want to get into all of the specifics.
Narcissa's face cleared of confusion, and she nodded, coming closer to look at the bird. It was times like these that he wished he could tell what his wife was thinking.
Narcissa had been expecting many things when she approached her husband's study. She hadn't been prepared to see him hovering over a ball of feathers with a knife. She wasn't even sure if he was aware of the fact that he had one or two sticking out of his hair. Probably not.
When he told her he'd bought a phoenix, she wasn't sure if she wanted to groan at the thought of another animal, or smile at how sweet it was that he couldn't seem to stop himself from saving the things. The menagerie situated at the back of the grounds was full of animals that Lucius or Draco had decided needed saving. It was usually Lucius, though. Draco was picky about his animals.
Looking at the poor bird, however, Narcissa knew that even she wouldn't have been able to prevent herself from saving the thing.
At a glance, she knew that Lucius had been working on the bird for a while. The tail feathers were looking decent, with only half of them still broken or bent. What worried her, however, was the sight of the wings. They were truly mangled. Especially the left.
Nodding to herself, the matriarch of the Malfoy family pushed up her sleeves and began gently moving the wings, trying to see how to set them without causing more damage.
Ìntikam was more than a little worried. He was supposed to be there to protect Siyahlι. He couldn't do that, if he was here!
Scowling at the device Kâhin had giving him, he began trying to reset the finding mechanism to locate the One That Changes.
"Damn it, Kâhin! Couldn't you make something the rest of us can use?!"
Harry was very tired. But he was comfortable. Very, very comfortable. He wondered if everything had been a dream. Being turned into a bird, getting his wings broken, being stuck in that tiny cage.
Opening his eyes, he looked around him. Harry quickly became confused. He wasn't at the Dursley's. And the dorm at Hogwarts didn't look like this either.
He was in a huge room with several chairs and sofas. There was a fireplace set into one of the walls, and the fire in it was crackling quite happily. All of the furniture was a pretty silver color, with deep brown wood. Harry was lying on a pedestal like stand, where a large cushion had been laid. The cushion was black, almost the same color as his feathers.
The walls were Ravenclaw blue, and had one or two portraits hung up. The weird thing, was that the pictures weren't of people, but of animals. There was huge portrait that took up almost all of one wall that was of a giant eagle looking bird that was hovering over a nest perched precariously on the side of a cliff, and another, smaller, painting was of a strange horse-like creature hanging over the fireplace. It reminded him of Buckbeak, a little. The front half was a horse, but the back was like a really long fish tail. The horse-fish was swimming around a coral reef, looking positively gleeful.
Looking around the spacious room, Harry couldn't help but wonder where on earth he was.
"Hello?" he called out cautiously, before mentally smacking himself in the forehead. He was a bird! No one could understand-
"Who are?! Answer this anka kuşu! Answer this Uçan Kaya!"
The screeching voice rang out through the room, causing Harry to swing his head around, trying to find the speaker. Seeing no one, with his head spinning dizzily, he began to scan the room carefully. Only ghosts could speak out of nowhere, and it wasn't a ghost that spoke. He almost looked past the portrait of the bird, when it opened its beak and screamed again.
"Answer this one! Who are?! Little black bird not take eggs!"
Harry didn't care how stupid he looked with his beak hanging open. He just cared about the fact that he understood the loud bird.
"Um... I'm Harry. And I don't want your eggs?" he said hesitantly. He didn't want the only person... bird... that understood him to hate him. He liked it when someone could tell what he was saying.
"No take eggs?" The strange bird asked, looking at him like the idea of people not taking its eggs was brand new.
"Um, no take eggs," he said, this time far more confidently.
"Good! Now, who are?" Harry stared at the bird, trying to find out how he was supposed to answer.
"Er, Harry," he repeated, hoping that he wouldn't somehow say something wrong and set the bird off.
"Har-ee? Bad name. Bad, bad name. Little black bird should have good name! Little black bird not take eggs, make good. So need good name."
Harry stared at the neurotic bird. It was insane. There was no other description for the thing.
"Er, what are you, exactly?" Harry asked, slightly worried that he would upset the bird.
"What is Uçan Kaya? Uçan Kaya is anka kuşu." The bird tilted its head to the side as it said this, making itself look cute, in a terrifying I-can-rip-off-your-limbs-in-less-than-two-seconds kind of way.
Harry resisted the urge to bang his head against the nearest surface. Talking to this bird was impossible!
"No-Name! No-Name! Wait for she-mate! She-mate speak better, and she-mate give No-Name name!" It took Harry several seconds to interpret crazy into English. Which is when he got the shock of his life.
"Wait! You're male? But aren't the men supposed to fight and get food?"
"Why males get meat? Females bigger. Males have magic to protect young, she-mates don't. Male screech at egg thieves, female get meat," the giant eagle said, with such calm, as if this were completely normal. Harry just looked at him. He wasn't sure how to respond.
"But, what abo-yaaaahh!" his sentence was interrupted by a yawn. It was all he could do not to fall right back asleep. Laying his head down on the cushion he was on, Harry tried to stay awake, but he could feel exhaustion creeping back up on him. He was actually kind of surprised that he stayed awake as long as he did.
"Kee-kee! Sleep little black bird with no good name. I protect more than eggs. I guard sleep. Wait for she-mate."
Harry didn't even have the energy to thank the bizarre bird.
Ìntikam was going to cry. Doesn't matter that he didn't know how to cry, he was still going to.
He lost Siyahlι, and now he was going to be put into an even more boring bottle than his very boring bottle! And he wouldn't even be able to set up Karanlık and Kâhin!
Karanlık stood next to Kâhin and watched as Siyahli's bodyguard wandered across the countryside. The mirror was very useful in knowing what sort of trouble the 'ifrit was getting up to.
"Was he supposed to lose the One That Changes?" Karanlık asked, trying to decide if he should be amused, or angry.
"Oh, absolutely! There are some things that need to happen that Ìntikam wouldn't respond well to. So his losing Siyahlι is a good thing. Besides, this little scare will encourage him to keep a good eye on the little devil. And Siyahlι will end up being a little devil. Metaphorically, of course."
The Dark One looked at his seer and held back a sigh. The djinn was far too cheerful. Unfortunately, he was also the most powerful clairvoyant to be born in millennia. He simply couldn't be replaced.
Looking back at the image of his kardeşim blundering around, he waved his clawed hands at the mirror. As always, Kâhin somehow knew what he wanted. Muttering what sounded like nonsense, Kâhin adjusted the mirrors sight, causing the image to blur as it crossed thousands of miles, slowing as it approached a large mansion. Zooming closer still, the image flew through one of the closed windows and stopped on the view of Siyahlι.
Karanlık was impressed. The broken feathers were trimmed neatly. While it made the tail comically short for a phoenix, it was still better than the many broken feathers. The wings had been set, and were now in the proper place for wings. The beak and legs were untied, and the One That Changes was now resting in a blue and silver room that held a magnificent picture of two nesting rocs.
The female roc stopped her preening of her mate, and looked directly at where Karanlık and Kâhin would be standing if they were actually in the room. The sight of her light blue eyes was all Karanlık needed to know that the she-roc could see them.
"Pull away."
"Wha-"
"Pull away, Kâhin," he repeated, putting some of his authority behind his words. He was satisfied that the djinn immediately yanked the image in the mirror away from the sight of Siyahlι, and focused it on a large castle swarming with children.
Karanlık stared at the image in the mirror, knowing that the roc was probably looking at them as they stood there. Humans had forgotten the magic of many of the creatures they dismissed. Rocs in particular were powerful. Also dangerous. No one truly knew the limits of a magical roc's power. Karanlık knew that while the males had a more traditional version of magic, the females with blue eyes held a type of magic that was capable of challenging even the most powerful of djinn. If a blue-eyed roc was watching over Siyahlι, then the One That Changes was far more protected than he would have thought.
"Sire? Why?" Kâhin's soft question made the Dark One look at the younger djinn. With a serious expression, he shook his head, which was all the answer the seer needed. Bowing respectfully, Kâhin then smiled and pulled the image of the mirror back to Ìntikam, who was currently cursing blondes and fire.
Nehir Saatler flew across the landscape of the portrait. While she didn't like being confined to such a small hunting ground, she knew it was necessary. Uçan Kaya was her mate, and her eggs were still unhatched. She was needed to guard them. If humans discovered the secret of their portrait, then she would need to fight beak and claw to protect her tiny flock.
While flying back to the cliff where her nest and mate were, she allowed her Sight to spread across her vision. For several years, now, all she had been able to see within the waters of the River were black feathers. Nehir Saatler didn't like the way her vision had been compromised.
Sliding the film of the River away from her eyes, she blinked rapidly, trying to hide her unease.
Approaching the nest, she watched as Uçan Kaya looked at her with adoration in his eyes. She felt warmth flood her chest at the sight of her mate watching over her eggs.
"Rüzgara kanatlarι altιnda, sevgili," she cried, sweeping her wings gracefully as she prepared to land. Gripping the stone of the cliff with her talons, she settled quickly next to her mate.
"Rüzgara kanatlarι altιnda, benim kraliçem," Uçan Kaya screeched in return. She clucked in amusement. Dragging her beak through his feathers, she listened as he spoke about the newcomer to the blue room.
"The bird is strange, kraliçem. He speaks the language of the humans beyond the portrait view. And he has a human name! I told him to wait for your return, so that you could give him a proper name. It was some foolishness. 'Har-ee' I think it was."
"Oh, really?" she asked, her amusement of the situation well hidden.
"Yes. He was also very tired. He could barely speak for a few sparrow spins!"
"Truly?" Nehir Saatler asked, this time with concern coloring her words. Birds were chatty creatures, magical or not. For any bird to be unable to speak for more than a few sparrow spins was unheard of, unless they were unwell.
Looking towards the view of the blue room, she gazed out and locked her gaze on the sight of a tiny black bird. Allowing a little of the River to flow through her, Nehir Saatler was suddenly flooded with the image of black feathers, fire, shadows, and blood. Feeling her feathers begin to rise up in irritation, she tried to smooth them down, only for the waters of the River to sweep over her again, this time showing her the Balance. The white side of the scales was almost touching the ground, while the black side was stretched far too high. As she watched, the same black bird, which she could now see was a phoenix, flew over to the scales, and landed on the white side, where it was attacked and worshipped in turns.
A swirl of black sand crept over to the phoenix from the Dark side of the scales, and kissed the top of its head. The moment the sand left the phoenix, the other beings on the Light side of the Balance began to attack the bird, breaking its wing and tossing it away. Fluttering weakly, the bird began to cry out in pain and fear. The Light ignored the phoenix, while the Dark watched, waiting for something.
Appearing from nowhere, like the phoenix, a human male walked to the phoenix and gently picked it up, carrying it over to the black half of the scales. While the man nursed the bird back to health, the rest of the Dark watched and waited. Without moving closer to the man and phoenix, they began to mobilize, gathering weapons and magic. To Nehir Saatler's shock, the Dark began to split down the middle, creating two sets of black scales connected to the single white set. On one side was a snake-faced human with broken magic and many soldiers dressed in black with white masks. The snake human called to the man with the phoenix, demanding that he join the ranks of the soldiers.
On the other set of black scales, swirling masses of black sand, Dark creatures of all shapes and sizes, and even some of the Lost Gods called to the phoenix, begging the bird to join them and tip the Balance to its proper alignment.
The man and phoenix clung to each other, wanting, and not wanting, to go to both of the Dark scales.
To her horror, she saw the snake-man seize a blond human who looked like the man with the phoenix, and threaten to harm the child if the man didn't join him. Just as the man was about to release the phoenix and go to save his chicklet, one of the Light dwellers appeared, and-
With a screech that could have woken the dead, Nehir Saatler felt the River leave her with as much force as it entered. Uçan Kaya watched with shock as his mate shuddered and shook.
"Benim kraliçem? What did you See?" he asked gently, trying not to be too loud and bother her.
"Too much, sevgili. Far, far too much. The little phoenix is the crux, the axle, and the weight. He will decide everything and nothing. I can't See clearly enough to know what to do just yet," Nehir Saatler paused, thinking of everything that she had seen. One thing was very clear. No human name would suffice for such an important being.
"But no name he possesses now is worthy of his fate. I will give him a proper name, one that will ring over the River like bells of song and drums of war," the she-roc declared, her words holding the timbre of prophecy. Her mate simply nodded. Needing to calm down, she began to drag her beak through his feathers again, hoping that the preening would help to calm her racing heart.
Just as she was beginning to relax, she felt the River tease as her senses. Looking up, she saw with her Sight two djinni looking into the room with the phoenix. Locking eyes with the one that oozed Dark, she watched as the knowledge of what she was flooded the djinn. Within moments of opening, the viewing portal closed, and the djinni disappeared.
She shook her head and went back to preening Uçan Kaya, while her eyes filmed over. Watching the Dark oozing djinn and the one that had some of the River flowing in his veins, she clucked in amusement. Djinni always were fun to bother, be they 'ifrit or marid.
Harry slowly opened his eyes. He felt rested in a way that he rarely ever had. Like everything was going to be okay. Looking around, he was pleased to see that nothing in the blue and silver room had changed.
Eyes glossing over the picture of the giant eagle, he did a double take. The bird hadn't been that big before.
"Er... Why are you bigger?" Harry asked cautiously. The bird looked at him. He found himself caught in the sky blue eyes of the eagle. Gulping, he tried to make himself smaller. This wasn't the bird he spoke to earlier.
"Kee-kee. I am not a danger to you, little bird. You met my mate, Uçan Kaya, when you last awoke. I am Nehir Saatler, anka kuşu of the far southern mountains."
Harry looked at the female eagle-like bird. The male, whose name was apparently Uçan Kaya, hadn't been lying when he said that the females of his species were bigger.
"Um," Harry started, then paused. He wasn't sure if this question would offend the bird or not. Oh, well. He could always apologize later. "You and your mate keep saying you're... an-kuh kushoo. But I don't know what that means. So, um, what are you?"
To his shock, the bird began to make that sharp little 'kee' sound, which Harry was startled to realize was laughter. He watched the female laugh for several minutes, before she began to wind down.
"Anka kuşu is what we call ourselves. My mate is not well... versed in the language you speak. In your tongue, we are called ruhks, or rocs. You may call us either one, for I imagine that you would not enjoy us laughing every time you try to say the words 'anka kuşu', no?" the female roc said, laughter clearly heard in her voice.
Just as Harry was about to say something, the male, Uçan Kaya, appeared from the side of the portrait, and landed gracefully in the nest. Cuddling up next to his mate, he dragged his beak through her feathers, seeming to enjoy the closeness of his mate.
Again, Harry was about to say something, when Uçan Kaya caught sight of him and screeched, "Little black bird with no good name! You not sleep! Good, good!" turning to his mate, he nudged her gently. To Harry's amusement, she turned to look at him, and nudged him right back, which started a little nudging contest, where they tried to make the other move. Nehir Saatler won, because her mate simply wasn't big enough to move her.
Once they were done with the playful pushing and shoving, Uçan Kaya began to mess with her feathers again, while Nehir Saatler looked back at Harry.
"Uçan Kaya wishes me to give you a proper name, little phoenix. What say you?" she said calmly. Harry was about to answer when it struck him.
"Qwaaak! You called me a phoenix!" he squawked. Nehir Saatler looked at him with confusion.
"Yes. You are a phoenix. As much as you may wish to be an anka kuşu, you cannot be," she said, amusement coloring her words.
"I'm a phoenix?" Harry gaped, shock preventing him from registering anything else.
"Yes," Nehir Saatler said with confusion, "What else would you be?"
"Well," Harry began, slightly worried, "I was a human recently. But then I woke up one day like this. My relatives..." here he paused, unsure of how they would react. Clearing his throat the best he could while a bird... phoenix, he continued. "They kicked me out, because they didn't know it was me."
Uçan Kaya, who had stopped messing with his mates feathers while listening, screeched with anger. Harry flinched, sure that he'd done something to upset the roc. Nehir Saatler began speaking before he could get too worried, however.
"How dare they! Tossing out a phoenix! The filth! The rotten waste! I shall find them and reduce their bodies to mere carcasses! Then I shall leave the remains for the jackals to gorge themselves on! Fear not, little phoenix, you shall be avenged!"
Harry stared in shock at the two rocs that looked like they were about to go on the warpath. Then he began laughing.
The rocs stopped screeching in anger and looked at the phoenix trilling with laughter. The beautiful sound soothed their fury, and confused them. Why was the phoenix laughing?
Pausing long enough to look at the two mates, Harry gave them his best bird smile. "Thank you. No one's ever gotten upset for my sake before. And while it would be kind of nice to see the Dursleys get what they deserve, I'd rather they not die. Besides, no offence, but you're stuck in that painting. You can't get out. But thank you for the thought," Harry said, feeling a warm, slightly fuzzy, feeling glowing right next to his heart.
The rocs looked at each other and shuffled in frustration. Nehir Saatler then sighed and looked at him. "If we cannot feast on the flesh of your former caretakers, allow us to grant you a name worthy of a phoenix," she called out, making him look at her blue eyes again. Tilting his head, he thought. It couldn't hurt. And Remus, Sirius, and the other Marauders had another name, too. So there was nothing wrong with it.
"Sure," he answered, "What did you have in mind?"
Nehir Saatler looked at him. He found himself suddenly unable to look away from her eyes, which weren't so sky blue anymore. The blue morphed into a clear, almost white blue, that then dived into a dark, purplish blue that he had never seen before.
Feeling chills, Harry tried to wrench his gaze from hers, only to find himself unable to move an inch.
"I, Nehir Saatler, the one that watches the River, take from you the name of your human birth, and give to you the name the River has deemed right."
Harry felt a horrible wrenching in his gut, and suddenly couldn't breathe. There was a horrible, gaping hole in the middle of him. He could barely feel his heart beating, knowing that Nehir Saatler really had just taken his name away from him. It shouldn't have been possible, but somehow, this roc had taken his name! He felt panic begin to well up within him.
"From the skies above, and the ground below, from the fire to the west and the water from the east, from north ice to south ice, your name within your soul shall be Savaş ve Değişim Davul sesliri Biridir. Though you are called by your human name, the name of your soul shall remain close to your heart and never leave you. Grant none but the one that holds your heart captive the privilege of knowing the name your soul rejoices in."
Harry was astonished to feel the wretched emptiness inside of him fill up, and he could feel the new name burning its way into his very being. It felt terrible and wonderful. His relief at having a name again was instinctual and instantaneous. However, to his horror, Nehir Saatler didn't stop speaking.
"To all who speak the language of the sky, your name shall forever be known as Hayιr Küçük Karιşιklιk. Called by your human name by humans, along with any other names they deem worthy of you. Called by your sky name by those who speak the language of the sky. And called by your soul name by none, excepting the one who shall hold your heart and soul within their grasp. Thus I, Nehir Saatler, the one that watches the River, grant you your names."
A great pressure filled Harry's mind, pressing down on his thoughts. Before Harry could cry out, there was a blinding pain that rocketed through him, causing him to black out.
Lucius shot up in bed at the earthquake that shook the mansion. In the room across the hall, he could hear Narcissa crying out in shock. Throwing back the covers, he walked to the door of his room, clad only in pajama bottoms. Flinging open the door, he strode across the hall in three strides, just in time to catch his wife, who fell through the door to her room. He almost tutted in displeasure at her habit of leaving her bedroom door open, when another tremor shook the very foundations of the house.
Gripping his wife close, he began to stagger down the hall to the Blue Room, which had the nearest Floo point. Watching in shock as the marble bust of his too-many-greats-to-remember-grandmother fell to the ground, he pulled Narcissa behind him, trying to reach the room as fast as he could. For the first time, he was horribly pleased that Draco wasn't at home. Draco's room was in a different hallway of the Mansion, which was too far away to be reasonably reached in an earthquake.
Bursting into the Blue Room, he walked through the current maze of furniture to the fireplace, where he grabbed a handful of Floo powder and threw it into the fireplace. Shouting, "Maison de Blanc!" he pushed Narcissa through the green flames. Knowing that she would land in the foyer of the Malfoy's French mansion, Lucius was about to do the same when he saw the little black phoenix, somehow still sleeping on the cushioned pedestal he had set it on the evening before.
Cursing, he walked back over to the little bird and picked it up. Almost running over to the fireplace, he grabbed some more of the Floo powder, and threw it almost violently down at the fire, shouting for the House of White as he stepped through the flames.
Lucius was unaware of the blue and gold eyes watching him from the portrait on the wall.
He staggered through the fireplace and almost fell at his wife's feet. Clutching the small phoenix to his chest, he was glad to feel the poor thing's heart beating strongly. He had originally been worried that the bird might die during the night if no one was there to watch over it.
Looking up, he and Narcissa locked eyes. Seeing the tears in his best friend's eyes, he reached out with one arm and pulled her to his chest. Pressing a gentle kiss to the top of her head, he began to rock back and forth, allowing Narcissa to cry on his shoulder.
Even though they were married, their marriage contract had only required that they have an heir. While they had never taken any lovers, Lucius and Narcissa still never slept in the same room. They were simply incompatible as lovers.
However, that didn't stop him from comforting her. If he had to marry someone he didn't love, than he was glad he got to marry his best friend.
Leading Narcissa over to one of the sofas in the room, he pulled her down next to him. He didn't want to disturb the phoenix, but he needed to comfort his wife. Setting the phoenix down next to him, he then wrapped both arms around the woman next to him, simply holding her as she cried. Again, he was glad that Draco was at Hogwarts. He didn't need to see his parents in such a state.
"Shh, shh. It's all right," Lucius murmured softly. Letting Narcissa weep out all of the fear she felt, he began to run his fingers through her hair. It always amazed him that he'd married a woman with hair almost as blonde as his own. Although it pretty much ensured that Draco would be blonde.
As Narcissa's tears began to dry, he began to focus his mind on what could have caused the earthquake. It didn't make sense. There were no fault lines near the mansion, and the building had been built with strength in mind. For an earthquake of such magnitude to strike, in such a bizarre place, there had to be magic involved. But he couldn't think of anything that might have caused such a strange occurrence!
"Lucius?"
Blinking, he pulled his mind away from the strangeness of the night. Looking at Narcissa, he cocked an eyebrow.
"What are we going to tell Draco?"
For the first time in years, Lucius swore. Rather colorfully, too, if he might add.
Uçan Kaya glanced over at his mate. She was pouting. It was rather amusing.
"Three separate names? Isn't that a bit much?" he asked calmly, although the laughter he was holding back was still clear in his voice.
Nehir Saatler fluffed up her feathers and watched as the humans ran through the room, leaving in a swirl of green fire. They were both curious about the fact that the male came back and took Hayιr Küçük Karişiklik with him, despite it being quite dangerous for him to do so.
Huffing, she said, "I was feeling a little dramatic. Besides, he shouldn't have to go around with that silly human name when he could have a perfectly good bird name!"
He laughed gently at her defensiveness, knowing that she wouldn't take offence to it.
Ìntikam had been having no luck with Kâhin's demented device, when he felt a swelling of Dark magic far to the southwest. Cursing vividly, he transformed into a savannah cat that was known for its running abilities. As a cheetah, he began to run as fast as he could towards the disturbance. While most cheetahs wouldn't be able to run for as long as he would need to, he was a djinn, which had many perks, including an insane amount of stamina.
Racing across the countryside, he begged Karanlık in his mind to please, please, allow Siyahlι to be alright. He would never forgive himself if the phoenix was hurt because he had failed to protect him. Racing over the ground, and leaping over any obstacles, Ìntikam dashed over and around anything that might obstruct him from reaching his charge. Almost crashing into one of the many metal contraptions that mortal were fond of, he swore.
"Kιlιçlar ve Oklar!"
Stumbling, he fell to the ground. Without waiting to see if anyone stopped to check if he was alright, he picked himself up and began running again. He couldn't stop for anything. He had to reach Siyahlι!
Nehir Saatler was watching the room beyond the painting shift and move. It was both amusing and worrying that the Naming of Hayιr Küçük Karişiklik caused an earthquake. Amusing, because it was funny to see all of the human perches shift and move. Worrying, because it was a sign of just how powerful the phoenix really was. While the River had shown her how important he was, it couldn't show her how dangerous.
Just as she was about to turn and watch her sleeping mate, she felt the River tug at her Sight. With a shiver of unease, Nehir Saatler pulled away the barrier between herself and the power that rested within her.
She was granted an image of the scales again, although this time, there was something large lurking in the shadows of the vision. It watched the proceedings of the drama taking place on the split black scales. Nehir Saatler watched in horror as the creature began to approach the scales unnoticed. While the two sides of the Dark fought and battled for Hayιr Küçük Karişiklik and the man, the beast crept closer and closer.
Somehow remaining unknown to her, the beast slowly reared up behind the side of the scales with the swirls of sand. Looking over the proceedings, the beast let out a ferocious roar that split the air. All of the beings on the scales, Light and Dark side, turned to look at the being that was standing right behind them. The creature bellowed for a second time, ripping the air with the noise.
Nehir Saatler watched as the unknown beast lashed out and attacked. She ripped herself from the River forcefully, not able to bear watching the slaughter that was to come.
The roc knew what this vision meant. By naming the phoenix, she unintentionally changed the way things were going to be. Before, the snake-man had been going to threaten the man's child. Now, a beast was going to come and do something. She just hoped she hadn't doomed them all.
Thousands of miles to the south, beyond the English Channel, past the grand plains of the Spanish country, even past the sands of the great desert, the trees of the African jungle, and further south than that, deep within the caves of the far southern mountains, a powerful creature stirred. It couldn't remember its' name, or even what it was. All it knew was that the time had come for it to awake.
"Daaaaarrrk? Whhhhheeeerrrreee isssss thhhhhheeeeee Daaaaaaarrrrrk? Nooooooooorrrrrrthhhh? Thennnnn I gooo noooorrrrthhhhh."
A dry whispering sound began to ring throughout the cave the creature had slept in. As it began to make its way out of the cave it had been hiding in for centuries, its' large horn like tusks scraped against the sides of the tunnels. Ignoring the slight pain the scraping caused, the beast kept traveling, knowing that it needed to reach the delicious Dark that it had sensed.
"Fiiiiinnnnnnnd thhhheeeee Daaaaarrrrrrrk. Prrrrrrraaaaaaiiiiiissssssss eee thhhheeee Daaaarrrrrrk. Guuuaaaarrrrd thhheeee Daaaaarrrrrk."
Pausing, it scented the air with its tongue, like a snake. Tasting the delicious aroma of the Dark, it hissed in anger at the bitter tang of the Light that tainted the Dark. Grating its tusks against the walls of its self-imposed prison, it began to prepare.
"Brrrreeeeeaaaaak thhhheeee Llllliiiigghhht! Deeeeevvvvvooouuuurrrr thhheee Llliiiiigggghhhhhhttttt! Nnnnnooootttthhhhiiiinnnnngg ggg ssssshhhhhhaaaaaaalllll sssssttoooooop thhhhheeeee Daaaaaaarrrrrrrk frrrrroooooommm clllllllaaaaaaaiiiiiimmmmiii iinnnnnngggg whhhhaaaattt beeellloooonnnnggggssss toooo iiit!"
Sliding gracefully through the tunnels, the creature allowed the feel of the Dark guide it. Nothing would prevent the creature from reaching the Dark. It would devour the Light. It would break the Light. It would make the Light suffer for tainting the exquisite magic of the Dark.
Sliding its tongue across its lips, the creature prepared itself to meet the being that it had locked itself away for. There was truly nothing that would stand, crawl, fly or swim in its way. It would find its Dark.
Oh my gosh. That took forever! But I'm finally done! I'm sorry it took so long to update, but I can only write about 1-2 K every two hours, which is how long I have on the computer at the library. So it's gonna take a while for any new updates after this.
Vote on the poll for Draco's three lovers! I've gotten some interesting results so far, and some ideas have been floating 'round, but nothing concrete yet. And! And! I want everyone to tell me what they think the creature Nehir Saatler saw is! The first person to correctly guess what it is will get a copy of the drawing I'm going to make of it! Yes, I am bribing you to guess.
Well, I think that's all. I hope you liked it, and I hope you tell me your thoughts. By the way, I know Harry has a lot of new names now. But you should see his reaction in the next chapter!
Also! I'm going to be correcting a little bit of the spelling in Chapter Two, so don't worry about rereading it. I'm just fixing a word or two.
Auf Wiedersehen!