No beta except Kurzweil

Harry decided that he had to at least warn Hagrid that something might be killing unicorns in his forest, regardless of the consequences. Harry figured Hagrid wouldn't bother involving anyone else. Grounds-keeping was his job, and he wouldn't need to tell anyone what he was doing, right? Besides, Hagrid was a gentle soul, and the idea that something was hunting such a pure creature in his territory and he was doing nothing about it would hurt Hagrid, and by extension Harry. Hagrid was his first friend in this world, the first person to tell Harry that Harry was worth something. Hagrid deserved to be able to do something, whatever he could against the shade of Voldemort. Besides, if Hagrid was able to come up with something and keep the unicorns safe, that would stymie Voldemort and anything along those lines was something to be encouraged, no matter the risk.

In any case, at this point he was too weak to hurt the students. It's not like the Dark Lord was able to get into the castle, right? Until then Harry was the only one in that madman's path, and Harry was perfectly okay with putting himself in danger, so long as none of his friends were at risk.

"Ye sure? Unicorn blood?" Hagrid asked as the two of them trampled through the brush of the forest. They were not going to go deep into the woods. Harry didn't want to let up just how far into the woods he had gone, so he was leading Hagrid to where he had first found the blood trail. There were still awkward questions, like, "What were ye doin' all te way out 'ere 'arry?" "Why did ye not come ter me?" and, "'ow'd ye know what unicorn blood looks like?" Harry answered best he could, answering he liked to wander for the first, he was curious for the second and he had read it in a book for the third. Hagrid wondered at that book, but let it go when Harry said it didn't have anything else that was interesting and he put it back somewhere. The first two answers got disappointed looks from the large man, and Harry swore he would make sure not to let the man know about upsetting actions in the future.

They stopped when they reached the first puddle. "Aye, this is unicorn blood alright. I'ma go look for the creature in question. You, 'arry, go back the way we came and find Dumbledore. 'E's gonna want ter know what's been going on. It's on the seventh floor of the 'eadmaster's tower; look for the gargoyle. Password's lemon drops." With that Hagrid unslung his siege crossbow and moved deeper into the forest, following the trail. Harry hoped he didn't find anything other than a dead unicorn. Harry moved away from Hagrid then began to fly. No sense walking when there's a faster way, and Harry needed to start making flying reflexive. He could have avoided most of the fight had he concentrated enough to fly away.

Harry wasn't happy that Hagrid was involving the headmaster, but there was little that could be done now. Although, the more Harry thought about it, the more the situation had lined up an opportunity for him. He'd be able to ask Dumbledore what had happened that Halloween night, and maybe find out a little bit more about the prophecy. He'd have to be careful asking the questions, as he didn't want the man to learn Harry had been fighting Voldemort and had almost beaten him using special powers. No telling what he would do.

Quickly, Harry made it into the castle and to the gargoyle in question. He gave the password, feeling silly as he did so, and the gargoyle hopped out-of-the-way into a hidden alcove, allowing the stairs it was blocking to come into view. As he walked up the stairs, Harry rehearsed what he was going to say in his head. 'Just say Hagrid told me to tell you that there was a hurt unicorn. That's it. Oh and by the way, what happened to make me an orphan? Tell me about the man who killed my family. Yeah, that will go over well.' Harry was reaching the top of the stairs and still hadn't thought of a decent lead in with his questions. Before he could knock on the surprisingly simple door at the top, he heard the headmaster's voice saying, "Come in, Harry." Harry looked around, but could see no mirrors or anything that would be able to tell the headmaster who was on the stairs. He shrugged. Professor Dumbledore probably did something just to make him seem that much more all-knowing and wise.

Harry stepped into the office, and marveled. If there ever was a place perfectly designed to raise Uncle Vernon's blood pressure to levels where he was in danger of simply popping from the strain, this was it. It was, for want of a better term, cluttered with things of a nature not readily apparent. Oh, there were books, and shelves lined the walls, but what drew the eye was the numerous silver instruments on the many spindly tables scattered seemingly at random throughout the large circular space. Certain ones would spin, others flashed, and still others emitted colored smoke at intervals known only to the head master. Harry desperately wanted to know that they did, and the enchantments necessary to make them work. Above the bookshelves, hundreds of portraits were depicted in various stages of obviously fake sleep. One corpulent wizard snored louder than many others, yet had his eyes quite obviously still open.

Harry, it seemed, was as much on display as any of the objects.

Harry moved into the room from where he stood at the entrance. He could see a large desk, behind which the headmaster sat, sucking on a candy. Off to the side of the desk, near the wall, was the most beautiful bird Harry had ever seen. Its red and gold plumage nearly reached the floor from a three-foot tall stand, and the bird stood a further two and a half. It crooned at Harry, and it was more harmonious than any classical master could ever hope to produce. This, then, must be a phoenix. Everything Harry had read about them said that they were incredibly rare, but would occasionally bond to a good-hearted wizard for reasons known only to them. When the wizard died, the phoenix disappeared, never to be seen again.

"Ah, I see Fawkes has captivated another with his beauty. He will be insufferable for days now." The phoenix in question slowly flapped its wings and gave a gentle trill, but looked away from the Headmaster in a way that could only be interpreted as smug. There must have been some truth to the man's claims, although…

"You can talk to him sir?" Harry had heard they were extremely intelligent animals, possibly more so than humans, but nothing that indicated that they could be conversed with like snakes with a parselmouth.

Dumbledore shook his head, smiling. "No, there are no words. But phoenixes commune through emotions and flashes of memory. I can get a feel for what he is feeling and usually I can guess what he is thinking. He understands me far better than I will ever understand him. What I do know about him is that he is a glut for attention, and would actively encourage you to pet him. Don't be shy."

Harry walked forward, at turns eager and apprehensive. Here was a creature so steeped in magic it was immortal. If he touched the bird, would it sense how different his magic was from say, Dumbledore? Was his magic any different? Could it tell Dumbledore and have the man watch Harry for strange behavior? Fawkes let out a three note trill, and much of Harry's worry eased away. It didn't matter to most of those questions, he realized. This was a creature more mysterious than any he was likely to encounter. If Harry was special to this creature, and had done things it had never heard of, he would be surprised.

Despite the warm feeling, Harry frowned. Were those his thoughts, or the phoenix's? Dumbledore was quick to reassure him. "Phoenixes are not mind readers Harry, but they can sense emotion," he explained. "They also cannot make you feel anything beyond the calming effect of their song and a sympathetic presence. It's not mind control. But please, sit down, and relax. Whatever you have to tell, I'm certain it's not as bad as you might make it out to be."

Harry sat down on the surprisingly comfortable chairs. All the chairs in the headmaster's offices he had been in previously were designed to make the students feel as uncomfortable as possible. This was probably because the teachers expected them to lie otherwise. Harry was certain that while the chairs were different, that aspect of being called up on the carpet was the same. The ancient wizard must have some other method of detecting falsehoods. Harry would have to tread very carefully.

'I'm not sure that's true sir. Hagrid sent me."

Dumbledore frowned. "I thought you were friends with Hagrid. Did you do something to upset him?"

"No sir. We were in the forest together and Hagrid told me to find you. He said to tell you that something in the forest was hurting unicorns. He thought you ought to know. He was going further into the woods to find the hurt thing." Immediately all traces of humor and geniality disappeared. Dumbledore became very serious.

"Harry, I need you to be completely honest with me. What did you see out there?"

Harry took a deep breath. Here goes nothing. "Well sir, I was exploring the forest when I noticed something shiny on the ground. I got closer and it looked to be blood. I brought Hagrid out into the woods and he told me you needed to know." There goes the opening salvo. All true, and yet not the whole story.

Dumbledore looked grave. "How far into the woods were you?"

Another part truth. "I'm not sure. I was far enough in that I couldn't see the Hogwarts grounds through the trees. Certainly true, but misleading. In reality Harry was about half a mile in. He wasn't positive and didn't measure, but he didn't venture a guess.

First trap sprung. "If you had to guess," Dammit, thought Harry, "How far in were you?"

"Probably closer to half a mile in." Which of course begs the question…

"What were you doing that far in? The Forbidden Forest is off-limits to students for a reason, Harry." Harry could almost see the headmaster's thoughts on his face 'Poor excuse in five, four, three, two…'

"I was exploring. I've never been to any woods before. For the most part it's pretty nice." Weak response. Both true, but none of his statements were particularly compelling. Harry needed to come up with better excuses in the future. Oh! Practicing flying and dodging! Both true and not at all what people would be thinking!

"Nevertheless Harry, the Forbidden Forest is just that. I'm going to ask you to at least keep yourself closer to the castle when exploring the woods. Do not let the grounds out of your sight. That should be sufficient for a nature walk, at least until you are older and better able to defend yourself." Dumbledore shook his head and refocused. "We've gone off topic slightly. What did you do after finding the blood on the ground? Did you follow it?"

Blast! Now either Harry had to lie or get into more trouble. He knew Dumbledore should probably know that Voldemort was so close, but Harry didn't want to tell the headmaster that he fought the monster. Even though, now that Harry was thinking about it, it was more a matter of luck that he was able to summon the power to manipulate the trees in that way in time. Harry decided to go for broke and tell the truth, it fostered more trust in the long run. Part of the truth anyway.

"Well, I didn't know what I was looking at initially. I saw more of it going deeper into the woods and I followed it. After a while I figured it was blood, because it looked like those blood trails you see on shows on TV, you know-and you wouldn't, obviously, sorry." Dumbledore smiled briefly at this, and then resumed his intent expression. "I figured maybe the unicorn was still alive, and maybe I could help it, get it to Hagrid. The unicorns know Hagrid, right?" At Dumbledore's nod, Harry continued. "Anyway, I wanted to help. But I felt this incredible aura of evil, I don't know of any other way to describe it. I saw the unicorn, dead on the ground and a figure off in the distance. It ran away. I didn't see anything after it ran off."

Dumbledore frowned, then stood up and went to the window behind his desk. The tower looked out into the Forbidden Forest. Without looking at him, Dumbledore spoke. "Harry, I know there are things that you don't want to tell me. Suspicions you might have. I won't ask you now, but I'll wait until Hagrid finds the unicorn's body and tells me what he knows. I implore you in the meantime to think hard and tell me everything you remember about the figure of which you spoke. We need all the information available to us to act, and I can't work as effectively if I am not told everything. Do you understand?"

Harry hung his head. This was worse than disappointing Hagrid. "Yes sir. I'll try and think of anything that I missed." Harry made to leave, but he noticed the title of one of the books on the desk. It simply said, "The Colors of Magic." Normally that wouldn't be enough to grab his attention, but the name of the author was Urza, Planeswalker. This could be what Harry and his friends needed to move ahead! So much of what Harry had done so far had been guesswork based off of what Tewilliger had witnessed Urza doing and the vague tidbits Urza had mentioned in passing. Something written by the being himself would be invaluable!

Dumbledore turned around, and saw Harry looking wide-eyed at the book on his pile of research. He grinned, the whole of his face lighting up with excitement. A huge contrast to the grim mood expressed previously. "Ah, I see you've taken an interest in this book! I had wondered who took that biography out of the library. Fascinating stuff, is it not? I personally haven't been able to make heads or tails of the concepts in this book, and I was hoping the biography might have some phrasing that would make this," he lifted the tome, "easier to understand, but I obviously had no such luck. Did you read it yourself?"

Harry grinned nervously. The jig was up. "It had some of the basics in it. Hermione might be able to tell you more. I couldn't figure out the theory to save my life." Back out now, back out now, maybe he won't ask it…

"Have you had any success-oh! That's why you were in the forest at all, weren't you? You were looking to further your knowledge of green magic. I've heard that Neville Longbottom is a prodigy at Herbology, maybe he could help you on that front?"

" We've already talked to him." Harry volunteered.

"Well I daresay you three are well on your ways to becoming the greatest wizards and witch of your age! Can I ask that you teach what you know once you have more of a handle on things to interested students? I'm sure many will want to try their hands at it." At Harry's quick protests, Dumbledore held up his hand. "This doesn't have to be this year or even before seventh. From everything I've read you've advanced so quickly it's astonishing. In addition, you are much younger than any of the apprentices this Urza has mentioned. I merely wish that you respect that this is a school, and the furthering of knowledge is one of our goals here. I'm sure even the teachers would be interested. I know I certainly would be."

Dumbledore looked to be almost bouncing on his feet. Harry was sure this would end in disaster. Sure enough, a thought occurred to the man and the ancient wizard stilled. "This is why you were so reluctant to tell me about the creature in the woods. You used this other magic on it. You got close enough to strike it! What did it look or sound like?" He became grim. "It spoke to you didn't it? You didn't trust me with this conversation. You didn't think I would tell you the full truth."

Feeling bold, Harry asked, "Was I right?"

Dumbledore sat down heavily. He sighed. "Had you not learned these strange arts, you probably would be. However, you have faced what must have been an adult challenge, and gone beyond what we could possibly teach at this school. As such you have earned the right to be treated as an adult in this instance. But Harry, this is still fresh in your mind, and I can't ask anything more of you today. I will wait for Hagrid to come back and tell me what he knows. Can I ask that you stay safe until after Christmas when we have the rest of this conversation? You are young, and deserve at least one happy Christmas that you can remember. Please, for the sake of an old man, wait for your answers."

Harry gave a sigh of his own. "Fine. I will wait until after Christmas. But on the following day at eight in the morning I will be here, and I expect to be told the whole of the story."

Dumbledore nodded. He looked almost broken now, like telling Harry this much was killing him. Harry wondered if the truth really was worth this kind of pain, but he put those thoughts to the side. He knew there was a prophecy. He knew Voldemort came after baby Harry specifically. What more could there be? "I ask only that I can expect the same of you." He gestured at the book on his desk. "Take this, as a sign of my good faith, and as an early Christmas present. I want to help you Harry. I know of part of your destiny, but the more I learn about you the more I am sure that I know only the tiniest portion of it. Please trust me. I know I can trust you."

Harry nodded jerkily, unable to speak. The raw emotion coming off of this old man was incredible. He gripped the book tightly to himself. Harry looked at Fawkes one more time. The bird gave a mournful call, and looked almost as sad as his companion. Harry rushed out of the office and down the hallway. He couldn't think about whatever Dumbledore had to talk to him about now. He had more of Urza's teachings and he was going to use them to defeat the worst Dark Lord in a century. He could have no distractions from his mission. Here, at last was the key.

To those who think that I've had one to many deus ex machinas, I challenge you to come up with a better solution. This is actually much closer to canon M:TG than anything else than I could come up with, short of just going ahead and dropping in a Gary Stu.