Chp 9


25th August 1994

The Burrow

Harry tried to make out his surroundings as the world slowly came into clarity around him. When the fuzziness finally came to a halt, Harry took in the sights around him.

Mrs Weasley was tending to her elder sons, Bill had a large variety of ointments and healing salves slathered all over his skin. Harry could smell all of them from where he was. He grimaced imagining Bill's lost sense of smell. Charlie had his hand wrapped up in an over the top manner. Percy was reluctantly letting his mother shove potions down his throat.

Her already anxious actions got even more frantic when she saw the state Harry, Ron and Hermione were in. She took out her wand and in an instant, the three of them were seated on chairs while she fussed over them.

"Merlin, what happened to all of you?! I knew that going to that darn World Cup was going to be bad." She motioned with her wand and a tray with a few bowls placed on it floated out. It went around to everyone, as if asking for the soup to be taken off it.

"Hurry and drink this, it should make you feel better." She then grabbed more bandages and went over to Harry. Mrs Weasley loomed dangerously over him, a sharp glint in her eye.

"Um.. No need for that now, Mrs Weasley. I'm fine, really." Harry protested and tried to get up to get back to his room but the looks he received from Bill, Charlie and Percy instantly told him that he had said the wrong words.

"No no no, you sit down young man!"

Harry gulped rather audibly.


Harry put a hand up to his forehead, it didn't hurt now that was for sure. In fact, he couldn't even feel it anymore. Mrs Weasley had wrapped a large bandage over and over around his head, it was excessive but it certainly did the trick.

He snickered as he remembered Ron's face when his mother had turned over to him after she was done with Harry. His smile had turned into a look of pure fear as he realised who was next.

Mrs Weasley had outdone herself with the dinner. It was absolutely scrumptious. After everyone had eaten their fill, they stayed to clean up before some eventually heading back to their own rooms.

Ron had tried to drag Harry into a game of chess, but Harry had successfully pushed Hermione into the line of sight of a determined Ron and got his eyes of him. Harry decided not to stick around while the two played their game together.

Harry slowly stepped up the stairs, lethargy obvious in his movements. For some reason, after using Phoenix, he had begun to feel more tired. The adrenaline rush to his head did enough to make him forget his fatigue but after everything that happened today, Harry just wanted a nap.

He made his way to his bed and got ready to hop right in when he realised the layers of hardened dirt were all over his legs and hands. Harry let out a groan, no matter how much he wanted that nap, his conscience just wouldn't let him get those pristine white sheets dirty.

Even with the use of magic, he knew that it was a major pain to clean. Mrs Weasley had more than enough to worry about already, Harry didn't want to add on to her workload.

He forced himself to go over to the shower. Harry unwrapped the bandage around his head, the bleeding had already stopped even before he had used the Portkey. All it had done was press Mrs Weasley's ointments into his scar. Harry felt a little guilty for wasting a good bandage.

He set it aside and laid out his clothes in the bathroom. Harry gave the bed one more glance but soon comforted himself with the fact that the feeling of hot water was absolutely amazing.

Harry left the shower with definitely more spirit in his step. As he stepped out, he noticed that Phoenix was placed on top of the drawer next to his bed.

It sat right on top of his holly wand, the bangle settling right on where his fingers would usually be wrapped around. He patted his wrist in confusion. Hm, he must have taken it off before he had entered the shower.

Harry's wrist felt strangely naked without Phoenix wrapped securely around it. The cold air hit his wrist and Harry realised that he missed the literal warmth Phoenix exuded.

He went over to the bed and sat down. With one hand, he picked up Phoenix and twirled it around between his fingers. With the other, he placed his wand right next to his pillow. He knew that now that he had Phoenix, he could ensure his own safety. But it still felt weird without his wand next to him. Hey, you can never be too safe right?

"I have to thank you for all of your help today, don't I? To think, that you can even cut through spells!" Harry let out a soft laugh when Phoenix thrummed happily.

He held it up to eye level as he once again admired the engraving on the bangle. Harry tried asking Phoenix a few different questions, but he received no more than various glows of different colours from Phoenix.

He failed to interpret Phoenix's attempts at communication but he would have continued to try had the pang of fatigue not hit him and washed over him in waves.

He let out a yawn mixed with a giggle, "I don't get it, when I used you back then it just felt so…. right. Like when I first got my wand. But now, I feel like I just got hit by a train."

Phoenix didn't give an immediate reply, almost as if it was hesitant. Harry's eyes widened as the engravings swirled to form legible words.

W-e-a-k

He threw his head back in self-deprecating laughter," You're a cheeky little thing, aren't you?"

Phoenix glowed a bright red until Harry stopped. His laughs came to a gradual stop as a somber expression soon occupied his face.

"I get it, mate. I'm not enough." He slipped Phoenix around his hand as he laid back on the bed. Said bangle pulsed in a comforting manner, and Harry replied with a tiny smile.

He had a horrible feeling about what was to happen in this coming school year, but now he had Phoenix along with his friends to help him. Harry gave one last glance to the bangle before he slowly shut his eyes, he thought back to when he had first met it a few days ago.

Even without the old lady telling him that it was special, Harry knew that its origins were definitely extraordinary, he had felt something wake up inside him when he had used Phoenix in the forest, a certain resonation with him. He would definitely become worthy of wielding Phoenix.

Harry quickly fell asleep. However, should he have examined the words a little more, he would have realised that they were unfamiliar swirls and not the English that he was so used to.


26th August 1994

The Burrow

Harry woke up to a new day naturally this time, thank Merlin for that. There was no Fred shaking him awake nor was there George waiting around the corner. At least he was hoped there wasn't.

He rubbed his eyes and immediately went to check for a prank lying in wait for him. Once he made sure, Harry headed to the bathroom to freshen up and change out of his pajamas. 20 minutes later, he was tucking his wand into the back pocket of his pants and heading down.

The lower floor was lively as ever. Harry greeted everyone until he noticed that they had suspicious grins on their faces. Too busy preempting himself for a surprise prank by the twins, Harry didn't notice the hooded figure approaching him from behind.

"Boo!"

Gah! There was the prank! Harry would have let out a yelp had his hand not gone to his wand first, just as he was going to start firing he caught sight of his supposed assailant. Harry froze then broke into a smile and hugged him.

"Padfoot! What are you doing here?"

"Well, after I heard my favourite godson was at that whole mess of a World Cup Final, I just had to pop by." Sirius gave a wolfish grin and Harry chuckled back. He tightened the hug, Padfoot looked a little worse for wear. Yet, he still looked joyful seeing Harry. The boy felt something happily bubble in his heart.

"Not to mention, I got you a little gift after Arthur told me you were here." Mr Weasley nodded back while sipping his morning tea.

A familiar trunk was pushed before his eyes, Harry gasped while Sirius grinned wider. The sides were more worn down than before he had left Privet Drive but the lock was still securely hanging on the trunk. Although it did look like someone had tried to pry it open.

"Thank you thank you so much Padfoot!" Harry had been missing his cloak ever since he had left it back at Privet Drive, not having it in the forest was a major setback. He could already feel it inside the trunk, just waiting to be worn.

Then, Harry realised. No way would Vernon or Petunia willingly help another so-called freak, had Sirius done something to them? Harry's worry skyrocketed, would Sirius be going back to Azkaban because of him?

"Did you do anything to the Dursleys?"

Sirius had the gall to look slightly sheepish before he gloated, "Nothing much, just a bit of Transfiguration. It'll wear off in a few days."

Harry crooked an eyebrow and Sirius cut him off before he could start, "It's harmless. Prongs and I used to do it all the time. So much so, that I can do it wandlessly. Don't worry, nothing's gonna happen." He finished this with a shrug.

A part of Harry was smirking at this. Ha! Served them right! But the other, more rational part of him wanted to scold Sirius for his recklessness. He could have gone back to jail for Merlin's sake! In the end, Harry settled for levelling Sirius with a hard glare.

The man shook it off like nothing, he spun around and asked Mrs Weasley for some food. She happily complied and Harry, defeated, sat down at the table to get started on his own breakfast.


After Sirius devoured the meal, and also praised Mrs Weasley for her cooking, he pulled Harry to one side and squeezed. Everyone instantly averted their eyes, they didn't want to intrude on this rare family moment of Harry's. Harry recovered quickly from his surprise and raised his head, Sirius looked him in the eye.

"I have to go now, the public still isn't comfortable with an ex-convict wandering around the Boy-Who-Lived. The Death Eaters incident is still being investigated. Hopefully, our worst fears won't be confirmed."

He patted Harry's head and flashed his signature wolfish grin.

"But don't worry, if you ever need help, your godfather will always be there for you. Stay safe, Harry."

With that, the animagus turned and headed out the door. Harry watched as his feet carried him past the anti-apparition wards. Sirius gave Harry a big wave before he spun around and apparated away, the boy gave a small wave back to the empty field.


Harry went back his seat at the long wooden dining table, he quickly scarfed down the remains of his breakfast and excused himself to his room.

Harry took out his wand and levitated the heavy trunk all the way to his room.

He cancelled the spell right in front of his bed and the trunk fell to the floor with a hard thud. Now that it was side by side his new trunk, Harry could really see how worn-down and tattered his old one was.

He swiftly unlocked it and pushed the top open. As he gazed upon his belonging, he was filled with relief. They were mostly untouched, although some of the parchment inside had small tears due to how badly they were shaken around.

The first thing he grabbed was his invisibility cloak. The silky fabric enveloped him and gave him that familiar feeling of safety. It brushed up against Phoenix and he felt the bangle give him a little vibration. He rubbed it and it gradually stopped.

Undeterred by this, Harry set the cloak aside and

picked up the photo album of his parents, and flopped onto his bed. The moving pictures floated to life and a picture of his mom winked at him. He flipped to one of his favourite photos, going past countless pictures of his parents.

This picture was one of the few with him inside, and was one he held dear to his heart. He couldn't quite place a finger on the emotion this one picture stirred up within him. Lily held him tightly to her chest while James smiled in the background. Harry couldn't help it and goofily smiled, his gaze filled with longing.

His mom was as happy as ever, she kept on laughing and smiling at James while rocking her child. Harry moved his eyes over to his dad, there was something more…different about him.

His gaze, before, was filled with way more joy and pride. Harry examined the picture harder, he could see that James was no doubt happy, but there was more of a satisfaction in his gaze now that he looked at it.

Harry felt a sharp sting in his head, he set the book aside and massaged his temples. It wasn't the familiar pain in the forehead scar, that one was more like someone stabbing him right on the scar. Right now, it was a pounding through his whole head.

His vision blurred a little and Harry rubbed his eyes, he pressed his head against the pillow, enduring the pain.

Once it subsided a little, thank Merlin for that, Harry reopened his eyes and turned back to the book, he found himself looking face to face at the picture again.

That's weird, were James' eyes always such a dark shade? Harry squinted, flecks of gold swirled around in the eyes of Picture-James. They stared at him eerily, almost as if they were reading his soul.

Frantically, Harry flipped the page to another, when he flipped back, those deep almost-glowing gold eyes had been replaced by a smoother, more familiar brown.

That's wasn't normal, had Sirius cast a charm on the book? Harry fiddled with it repeatedly, hoping to find a specific action that would trigger whatever had just happened again.

Darn Sirius, you're good, Harry lamented.


Harry gave up and went back to sorting out his belongings. He moved his stationary and school robes aside, arranging them into neat little piles. Once his old trunk was empty after his meticulous sorting, Harry leaned back on his bed in victory.

He had pushed his trunk to the side, it weighed absolutely nothing. Harry made a mental note to recommend that shopkeep to any of his fellow schoolmates who needed a new trunk.

The thought of schoolmates made him realise, there were only a few more days before the school year began again! Harry couldn't wait to step back into the wondrous halls of Hogwarts. Well, Snape would be a major downside, but Harry would not let that damper his mood.

He longed to be in the Gryffindor dorms again, he wanted to see Neville and Dean and Seamus and everyone else again.

Not to mention, his Firebolt stared at him from the corner of the room. Yes, Harry definitely wanted to fly as well. But his body was still recovering from the effects of the Dursleys "wonderful" caretaking. He had tried using one of the Weasleys' old brooms but Mrs Weasley had fixed him with a death glare and made him swear to not go flying.

Suddenly, Harry realised that Hedwig wasn't around. She had picked up his letter to Sally a while ago, and being the efficient bird she was, would usually be back after a few days.

Harry reminded himself, she was flying across the pond after all, the poor girl was probably flapping her wings with all she had, even through heavy rains. Harry promised to give her a nice big fat mouse when she returned.

As he turned his gaze away from the empty bird cage, he looked around the room. It was already looking much cleaner, with everything packed properly. He sighed. A smile grew on his face, just 6 more days.


1st September 1994

Platform 9 and 3/4

The last few days had gone by rather fast. With daily pranks being pulled on him by the twins, Ron destroying him at chess, Harry swore he just loved to gloat, Hermione approving of his attempts to read and also giving him that disappointed look when he dropped the book to do "better, more fun activities" as Ron had elegantly said.

He would miss the warm Weasley house but excitedly looked toward the future. Hogwarts would still always be a second home to him, no matter what. Heck, it was more of a home than 4 Privet Drive ever was.

Everyone already had their various trolleys, happily pushing and chatting while making their way to the familiar brick wall.

Mrs Weasley directed a few lost souls towards the platform, and got the twins to demonstrate the way through.

"You just run into the wall." Fred had said with a cheeky wink.

The soon-to-be student looked at him with slight fear.

"It's all about timing and precision. If you do it wrongly….well, you might only lose a few teeth if you're lucky." George added with a fake sheepish grin.

The boy and his parents looked so horrified that Harry was lost for words.

Mrs Weasley told the two of them off and eventually just asked Hermione to demonstrate.

The wall seemed to fold in around her and she was gone. The new first-year had his mouth gaping wide and Harry felt a wave of nostalgia wash over him.

All of them were through the wall after a few minutes, and walked towards the black train.

They tried to hold in their laughs as they caught sight of various purebloods dressing in what they apparently thought to be muggle fashion. Seriously, a tutu and… and was that a bathrobe?! The muggles walking through the station averted their eyes Everyone had their own ideas of fashion,no need to judge.

There were many new faces in the crowd, either haughty purebloods or naive muggleborns and halfbloods. But they all had one thing in common, there was a glimmer of excitement in every one of their eyes. The prospect of going to Hogwarts tended to have that effect on anyone. Harry looked around but failed to find any of his housemates.

He eventually gave up and waited for his friends to finish waving their parents goodbye. The Weasleys were given crushing hugs by their parents and a stern warning not to cause trouble, mostly directed at the twins, courtesy of Mrs Weasley. Whether her threat was made clear or not was unsure as the twins both gave a salute.

The Grangers were there as well, warmly wishing their daughter to have a great time. Hermione received a pat on the head and a small bag of candy. 'A one time thing', the dentists had called it.

Harry was left alone while all this happened. It had been the same the previous years as well. But this year Hedwig wasn't with him, hooting as usual. He was a little comforted when Phoenix pulsed warmly though.


The teenagers walked away from the adults and towards the magnificent train. The train let out a long whistle as more and more students entered it. The twins split off to go find their friends, or more people to prank, and the rest of them went to find a compartment for themselves.

Silently praying that he wouldn't have to run into Malfoy so early, Harry pushed open the door. Thankfully, the ones sitting inside weren't the blond and his Slytherins but rather Neville and Luna.

Neville's eyes brightened up immediately, "Guys! Nice to see you again!" Luna gave a small wave from her seat. She motioned them to come in and sit down. They acknowledged and moved in and settled down, trunks hit the ground with a satisfying 'thump'.

Hermione found herself a cozy corner and pulled out a book from somewhere and Ron got out his chessboard. He and Harry were already setting up the pieces. The two other girls were happily chatting in one corner. A conversation about what happened during the summer was started by one curious Neville, and everyone continued with their own things while throwing in snippets and long chunks of speech.

A good one or two hours later, Neville went looking for Trevor , dropping into multiple other compartments to no avail, but he didn't notice the devious smirk Luna was wearing as said toad napped away on her lap. Harry challenged Ron multiple times, wanting to wipe the smugness of his face. The redhead quirked an eyebrow with an expression that had three words written all over it: Bring it on.

Overall, it was a very comfortable and smooth train ride as compared to last year's fiasco.

"Harry, we have to change into our robes. The train's stopping soon." Hermione reminded. Harry had dozed off after a few rounds of chess, complaining about needing to recharge before defeating Ron. The redhead boy had rolled his eyes in response and brought his chessboard over to Neville, eager for a new opponent to crush.

Harry got up with a jolt and went over to his trunk, sleep still evident in his eyes. He didn't even have to look back to see if Hermione was already dressed. As he tugged the robes out of his trunk, he spotted Luna helping Neville adjust his tie. And was he blushing? Harry softly smiled as he put on his robes. The tie was a bit of a pain but after years of folding laundry for the Dursleys, he could probbaly tie a perfect tie in his sleep.

Ginny gave her brother one last run down while he stood there waiting for her to finish, annoyed. Hermione leaned against the side of the compartment, heavily engrossed in her book while waiting for her friends. Once Ron was cleared of any form of messy attire, all of them picked up their things and headed for the exit door.

The door slid open with a whoosh and Harry breathed in the fresh air. The magic in the air was slightly thicker, it washed over him and he couldn't resist smiling. Looking at the crowd of students all swarming to head for the familiar castle in the distance, Harry felt excitement and anticipation rumble in his chest.

However, Phoenix tightened around Harry's wrist, as if anticipating something very different.


Hiya guys! Woohoo! I'm back. It's been a really loooong time since the last update but I'm finally back. Exams are a huge pain but thankfully they're over. I'll try to update regularly but there's. A reason my username is what it is. I feel like the fic will be going slightly faster from here, as my aim is to have it end at around 30 chapters or under. There's a lot of plot going on in this chapter, and that's barely the surface. Hope you guys enjoyed it and thank you to all the loyal readers who waited patiently. And finally, please leave a review and constructive criticism is always welcome :D