Disclaimer: The usual, don't own 'em, never will.
Yeah, my roommates are leaving and I am able to get on my own darn computer, how sad is this?
Come on people, I got only one review for that last chapter. Hop to it. However, to my one reviewer, Serena Cherry, I am glad that you liked my story. I am also glad that you didn't quit at the beginning of the story and just kept going. I didn't like the beginning either, but I didn't know what else to do with it. Keep reading, it will get even better. I probably won't have many more chapters left, so this story is almost complete. Can you believe it? Anyways, I'll quit my blabbering now and get on with it.
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The room shone with a warm glowing from the firelight. He was waiting patiently in an overstuffed armchair. Professor Dumbledore had escorted him to this room almost twenty minutes ago and still he waited. He was incredibly anxious to hear from this sorceress. He was somehow sure that he would get all the answers to his questions from this one woman.
Harry was fairly certain he had never stepped foot in this particular room before. Of course, there were many rooms that he had never even seen, so this shouldn't be much of a surprise to him. The room just seemed so familiar, or maybe it was just cozy. He felt very relaxed and he was surprised he wasn't about to fall asleep again. He had only been forcibly awoken from his three hour nap thirty minutes ago. Harry had started to feel more energized since he had woke. Just as he was about to get up and go see if they had forgotten which room he was in, the door swung open. Dumbledore came in and was soon followed by an elderly looking woman, who also looked slightly young. It was odd. She had silver hair, much like the headmasters, only there were also streaks of red in it. It flowed gracefully down her back. She was dressed in dark blue robes and carried with her a long object that was covered in a black cloak. He assumed it was the staff.
At first, all was silent, but then Dumbledore spoke. "Harry, this is Prudence Grinnellfield. As you know, she would like to speak to you. Would you like me to stay, or would you rather speak in private?" Harry pondered the question before answering.
"It really doesn't matter to me, professor." Harry looked uncertainly at the old sorceress. Dumbledore, sensing Harry's indecision and uncertainty, quickly whispered in his ear.
"There is nothing to worry about, she won't hurt you Harry, and I promise you that. She is a dear old friend, I assure you, you are in good hands." Harry felt better at his headmaster's reassurances and agreed to speak in private with the woman.
"Hello Harry. I have been looking forward to meeting you." She said softly, sitting down in a chair opposite from him. She smiled kindly at him and Harry felt as if he was sitting in a room with a grandmother, although he had never had one. He took an instant liking to her.
"Hello. I've been wondering when you would get here." Prudence laughed heartily at him and took his hand gently in her own.
"Curious to meet me? I knew you would be. I hold many answers, answers that you have been longing to hear." Prudence smiled her warm smile. "I wanted to thank you Harry."
"Thank me? For what?" Harry didn't have an inkling to what she was talking about.
"For setting me free, of course." Harry sat stunned.
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"Are you sure it is safe to leave him unattended in there with her? By himself, no less?" Sirius had been pacing professor Dumbledore's office since Harry had disappeared into the room.
"Sirius, please, she is absolutely safe to be with. I wouldn't have left him with her alone otherwise. Trust me. I know." Sirius stopped his pacing and looked intently at the headmaster. He nodded and sat down in a chair. Ron and Hermione, however, both looked ready to go nuts. They were both eager to hear what this woman had to say. Plus, Hermione wanted nothing more than to get a good look at the Staff of Egis. She had been imagining what it would look like since she found out it was coming here. No one knew.
"How much longer do you think it will take?" asked Ron.
"Ron, there is a little thing I would like you to learn." said Dumbledore from his position at his desk.
"What's that?"
"Patience." Ron snorted.
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"Do….Do you mean that you were the one in that glass cage?" Harry couldn't believe his ears, or his eyes. How on earth could this woman fit inside that glass case, it wasn't that big.
"Yes Harry, it was I who was in the case, but as I can tell you are wondering, I wasn't in this shape, but in the shape of something entirely different."
"You're an animagi, aren't you?" gasped Harry in acknowledgement.
Prudence smiled. "Yes, I am. My, aren't you intelligent."
Harry just looked at her in astonishment. "But, what are you? I mean, what animal can you turn into?"
"I, Harry, am a phoenix." Harry's jaw almost literally hit the floor. "Close your mouth dear." He obeyed and shut his mouth.
"But isn't it a rare gift to be able to turn into a phoenix?" Harry thought he had heard Hermione say something along those lines sometime earlier.
"Yes it is, and I just so happen to be one of those gifted people. Harry, I followed you into the fire that night, when you escaped from Lucius Malfoy. Do you remember feeling like something had touched you as you entered the fireplace?" Harry nodded. "That was I. In order to get safely through the network, I had to grab hold of you since I had no floo powder of my own. It is dangerous, but it was the only way."
Harry looked at her confused, then with a look of suspicion. "But I looked back, there was no one there."
"Ah, yes. There is something else about me that you should know. When I am in my animagi form, I can blend in with my surroundings, which is why you never saw me in the glass case and why you didn't see me in the fireplace or in Hogwarts for that matter."
"What do you mean?"
"It was I who let you into Dumbledore's office that night. The gargoyle knew my feathery touch and opened to allow access into Dumbledore's office." said Prudence.
"It knew your feathery touch? Come again?" Harry looked oddly up at the sorceress.
She laughed at Harry's look. "I once was a teacher here. It was a long time ago, and I put a spell on the gargoyle to allow me entrance whenever I touched it in my animagi form. I found it easier than trying to figure out what his password was every time he decided to change it. Of course, he knew I was doing it and that is the only reason I was able to do it, otherwise it would not have worked." Harry nodded.
Prudence reached down beside her chair and picked up the long object that she had brought in with her. "Do you know what this is, Harry?"
"I think I do. Is it the staff of Egis?" Prudence looked proudly down at Harry and slowly drew the black cloak off of the staff. Harry gasped in awe. It was the most unique and beautiful thing he had ever seen. Engraved in the wood all over the staff were small phoenixes. They all seemed to radiate a low red color from the very center of the staff. It was extraordinary. Perched at the top of the staff was another phoenix, with its wings stretched out as if to fly away, and its head held high. It too seemed to be glowing red.
"Whoa." said Harry, unable to think of anything else to say.
"I once had possession of this staff when I was a teacher here, but when too much evil tried to get their hands on it, I put it in hiding where no one would ever find it but me. I knew that I wasn't the true being for the staff; it never developed all of its power with me. Only the true one can harness its powers, and I believe that the true one is you Harry." If he could have, Harry would have fallen out of his chair, but the arms on the chair wouldn't allow it. Instead he just kind of leaned sideways.
"Excuse me?" he was exasperated. Why did this stuff always happen to him? For once in his life he just wanted to be normal. This would be just one more thing for people to gawk over him about. As awesome as this was, he almost wished it were for someone else, who knows, maybe it was.
"Harry, I know this is all a lot for you to take in. And grant it, I'm not entirely sure if this is for you to bear, but I do believe that if it is, you will be great. Don't worry about what others think of you, this is your life and your destiny. What you do with it is your own."
Harry thought that this woman wasn't old for nothing. She had a lot of wisdom to share. "I understand that you had a little floating incident on the quidditch field?"
"Yes." said Harry slowly.
"I believe I know why. The closer I got to Hogwarts, the closer the staff got to you. When you were falling, your mind was screaming out for help, and the staff heard you. At precisely the moment you were falling, the staff began to glow so brightly underneath my cloak that the light came through it. It too hovered in the air, just below my hand. I dared not touch it. When I arrived at Hogwarts, later this evening, Dumbledore informed me of your incident. This is why I believe that the Staff of Egis is yours to hold. I believe that it may also help you to understand why your visions suddenly grew worse. Once again, the closer the staff got to you, the stronger you became. Your vision was spurred on by the staff when you had it, and therefore it increased in its power. You had a full blown premonition that day." Prudence stopped then, as she had finished her story.
"Prudence, in my vision, Voldemort said that as soon as you arrived they could strike. I'm worried about the castle. He could attack at any moment, although I am sure my scar would give us some forewarning." He unconsciously reached up and rubbed his hand across it. Prudence looked concerned.
"It doesn't hurt now, though, does it?" She really didn't want to hear that it did.
"No, I just have a funny feeling."
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Stopping for now, my friends. I hope you have enjoyed my story. I can almost guarantee that there will only be maybe two, at the most, more chapters. I can't wait. The attack will be coming up soon! I'm so excited. Anyways, please review, the more you review, the quicker I'll update, and the sooner you guys will get to see what happens. Then I can start on something new. Any bright ideas for a new story? Well, later peeps. Shadowarwen.