Do I really need to say this again? J K Rowling IS Harry Potter. If you recognise anything that seems remotely familiar from any movie, TV show, book or whatever else, it's probably because it is from them. If you want my 'full' warning, you can check out either 'Dormant Power' or 'Beginning of the End'.

So, I've written a prequel, on with the sequel! Remember, I only wrote this because several reviewers requested me to (gosh, am I nice or what, lol!). Again, only some names are mine (as is the storyline I guess), everything else is not!

Alright, so I admit…I do favour cliffies sometimes (grin)

Any comments regarding what I did shall be forwarded to the person who gave me the whole idea, lolol!

Sorry about the wait….for some reason, FFN doesn't like me trying to edit my chapters so it's a good thing this one has no section breaks (rolls eyes)

Chapter 25 – The White Phoenix

Harry slowly opened his eyes and immediately regretted it as an intense white light caused him to rapidly blink several times to adjust to it. When he did, he found himself lying on a bed in a round room that had no openings. He stood up and wondered what he where he was when a vaguely familiar voice from behind him spoke.

"So you are awake. I have been wondering when you would, Harry."

He whirled around and was greeted with a figure with a long white beard and half-moon glasses. "Pro…Albus? What happened? Why am I here?"

Albus conjured a table and beckoned Harry to sit down on the other side, which he duly did. "You overextended yourself. In managing to escape, coupled with the emotion of losing Remus and with all of your injuries, you exhausted yourself."

"I'm not dead this time, am I?"

Albus chuckled, "No, you are not. You should only be out for a few days or so in the real world. I need to speak with you. It's about your destiny."

"My destiny? What about it? I thought it was only to defeat Voldemort."

"Do you know why you pulled that particular sword from the hat in your second year?"

"You mean I…I'm the heir of Gryff…"

"No, you are not. Tom was the last descendant of any of the founders."

"But you told me that only a true Gryffindor could pull it from the hat."

"And you are. All of the Potters have been sorted into Gryffindor. I told you what I believed you needed to hear. You were having doubts about whether or not you were sorted correctly. I can tell you for a fact that the hat has never been wrong with any of its choices."

"Then why does everything happen to me?"

Albus sighed and his eyes lost their twinkle. "I know a little of how you are feeling, Harry. When I was a lad, everything appeared to happen to myself. Things only began to settle down after I had defeated Grindelwald. Unfortunately, Tom decided that he would take the place as the next Dark Lord and again everyone looked to me to defeat him."

"Why couldn't you? You said the prophecy was made only a short while before I was born, so there must have been plenty of time to stop him."

"There was, we tried several times. It was difficult, Harry. Tom was only just starting to come into his full power as a wizard, whereas I had passed my peak."

"Could you transform like I can?"

"No, I could not. I never found the correct trigger for that transformation."

"I just wish I could be normal."

"I am afraid that will never be the case, Harry."

"Why not?"

"Because it is your destiny. Every so often, a wizard or witch is born with tremendous power. You are such a person. Before you it was Tom, before Tom of course, it was myself. The list stretches on, Harry, for both light and dark."

"And this is the next darkness we face," Harry guessed.

"It would appear so. Until the next person of great power is born, it will be up to you to manage each threat."

"Me? But how will I know when the next one is born?"

"You will. It feels like a ripple in a pond. Something large enough to stir the normal magical levels. You are fortunate to still be young enough that your power will only grow as you mature."

"And when it fades?"

"It won't."

"But you said before that your power did fade."

"It did because I chose it to. I initially thought your father was the one destined to be my successor. As such, I began to let my own power slip. A mistake that I hope you do not repeat."

"What made you think it was my Dad?

"Your father was an incredibly gifted wizard. Contrary to what Severus believed, James was more confident than arrogant. He believed he could do anything."

"Then how did you know it wasn't him?"

"Initially I didn't," Albus conceded. "He and your mother both fought against Voldemort, and were able to come away with their lives. But when the prophecy was made and you were born, I realised then who the torch was to be passed to, but it was too late."

"Since you already thought he was the one," Harry guessed.

"Indeed. I was unable to defeat the new threat Voldemort posed. You could say that I was given my chance and could not make it work. It was time for a new saviour to emerge."

"And when will it end? The constant struggle between light and dark?"

"It never will. You managed to unite Hogwarts for the common good and have been given the chance to prevent this war when you go back to your own time. But darkness always lingers Harry, it never can be truly beaten. Just know that light breaks the darkness; it has no limits."

Harry pondered that information for a moment before he next spoke. "I don't see what I'm supposed to do though. I mean I wouldn't know where to start…"

"Nor did I, Harry. You will find your own way to do this, believe me. It will most likely be different from the way I did things."

"Why do you say that?"

"The only thing that mattered to me was the end result. You care too deeply for your friends to let anything happen to them and as such…"

"You let your friends die?" Harry cut in.

"Once. It was perhaps the hardest decision I have ever had to make."

"Why did you choose it then?"

"It is the way I am. It was during the early days against Grindelwald. We had all but lost a battle and were retreating. My friend had been severely injured and I was forced to leave him behind. You would most likely have tried to bring them back with you."

Harry could only nod in agreement. He had lost too much; his parents, Cedric, Sirius. He had promised himself to never let that happen again if he could prevent it. He didn't know whether or not he would be able to live with himself if any of his friends died; particularly if he could have prevented it from happening.

"What do you about white phoenixes?"

Albus' eyes twinkled at Harry's question. "More than most."

"What makes them so different from a normal phoenix then?"

"Apart from the obvious, of course," Dumbledore replied with a smile before continuing, "They are more powerful than a normal phoenix. For instance, the tears from a white phoenix work far more quickly and they can also lift heavier loads."

"That doesn't really sound much different than Fawkes then."

"Oh no, you are quite right Harry, it doesn't. However, what would you say if I told you that the Philosopher's Stone was made possible only because of a white phoenix?" That certainly peaked Harry's interest, which Albus noted. "Indeed, what exactly do you know about the stone?"

"Only that it can grant someone immortality and an endless amount of gold," Harry replied.

"And what about its creator, Nicholas?"

"Arguably the most famous Alchemist in our history because he made the only successful stone."

"He was also quite the enchanter. White phoenix tears were the key part of the stone. Due to their immense healing properties, Nicholas decided that by enchanting them, one would basically be immortal as nothing could physically harm you." Albus then gave Harry a smile. "I was rather keen to show Fawkes off to him, so Nicholas decided to ruin my day by telling me stories of the white phoenix he knew when he was studying Alchemy after his time at Hogwarts was over. Needless to say, I felt a bit…"

"Deflated?" Harry politely suggested, causing the former Headmaster to chuckle.

"I guess that is one word to describe it. Though Fawkes wasn't impressed either, so he lifted Nicholas into the air and dropped him before pecking him mercilessly until Nicholas told him how beautiful he was."

Harry could only laugh at that before asking if Albus knew where he could find a white phoenix or a Pegasus. The old wizard's eyes lost their twinkle as he sadly shook his head.

"I am afraid that Nicholas was the last person I have heard to have met a white phoenix. As for the Pegasus," Albus sighed at this point before continuing, "Not much is known about them, Harry. I do know that they are the opposite of thestrals, so only one who is pure of heart will ever see a Pegasus. This is why everyone assumes they are extinct."

"But surely you would've seen…"

"I killed Grindelwald, Harry," he interrupted, "Therefore my heart was not perfectly clean. Why do you require a Pegasus?"

"I'm crafting my own wand and it needs a tail hair and a white feather for its core," he replied, "But since I destroyed Voldemort…"

"I cannot help you with the feather but you also require a Pegasus hair?" Albus cut in and Harry nodded. "That makes things simpler then. What I am about to tell you Harry, only one other person knows." Harry leaned in closer, eager to hear what Albus had to say. "The core of my wand was the tail hair of a Pegasus. You should be able to use that, but you shall need to find my wand and get a wandmaker to extract it for you."

"Well that should be reasonably easy since I still have your wand from when Voldemort killed you. Would Ollivander be able to get the core?"

"He would, but it will be a very difficult process, Harry. You see, while creating a wand is rather simple to one who knows what they are doing, deconstructing one is a far more difficult task. There is only a short amount of time you will have to transfer over the core to a new wand before it loses all of its power."

"So I should take it to Ollivander before I finish it then," Harry said and Albus nodded in agreement. "Would he know about a white phoenix feather?"

"I do not think so, Harry," Dumbledore replied, "I am unaware of any witch or wizard who has such a core in their wands. Every year I was Headmaster, I received the list of first year students as well as details to what their wand core contained. Something as rare as a white phoenix tail feather I would like to think I'd make a note of the student who had it."

Harry nodded dejectedly as he saw possibly his last hope of finishing his new wand slip away. They briefly discussed the main differences between the wars of Grindelwald, Voldemort and Brard and how each of them was started for different reasons. But Albus did agree with Harry that this current war had all but brought together the Magical and Muggle worlds. Brard was very close to ripping down those carefully placed barriers and exposing their world for all to see.

Just before Harry departed for the conscious world again, Albus tried to console him about what happened to Remus reasoning that sometimes desperate times call for desperate measures.