Chapter 4: The Phoenix
After his conversation with Sirius, Harry returned to the Gryffindor common room where he was met by Ron and Hermione who wanted to know how his detention had gone. He told them that Snape had made him clean out the Gripoy cages (to which both Ron and Hermione made faces), and also about Sirius visiting him.
"So it was Selene in the picture." Ron said.
"Apparently. I wonder why she didn't have a death date under her name if she was dead." Hermione said.
"Because there was no one left to write it in." Ron said.
"Ron!" Hermione said, rather surprised at his lack of sensitivity.
"He's right." said Harry solemnly.
"Are you going to see if you can find out any more information about Selene?" Ron asked.
"No." said Hermione, "He promised Sirius."
Ron rolled his eyes, "Are you?"
"I want to. I want to know why no one told me about her, and why Sirius is being so secretive about her." Harry said.
"Harry, do you think that is wise?" Hermione asked. "What if you don't like what you find out about her?"
"I don't care. I just want to know something about my family." Harry said rather harshly.
"What are you going to do?" Ron asked.
"I don't know." Harry replied.
"You could talk to Dumbledore." Hermione said. She had given up trying to dissuade them and decided that she might as well help. "He knew your parents, he'd probably be able to answer your questions."
"Thanks, Hermione." Harry said and smiled at her.
They ended their conversation soon after and headed to bed. Harry found himself restless again; he just had too much stuff on his mind to sleep. The sun was already beginning to rise by the time that Harry finally managed to go to sleep.
*****************************
The next day as he tried to watch Harry struggle to stay awake, Ron began to get worried.
"Do you think he's alright?" Ron whispered to Hermione during transfiguration.
"He'll be okay, he's just tired." Hermione said.
"I wish he had never found that stupid tree." Ron said. "It's brought him nothing but trouble."
"Then why did you encourage him to find out more about Selene?' Hermione asked.
"Do you really think he needed encouragement?" Ron asked.
Hermione had to admit that he had a point. Hermione watched as Harry's head drop, signaling that he was asleep. Ron moved to wake him.
"No. Let him sleep." Hermione said.
********************
After his little nap in transfiguration, Harry felt a little better. As he walked to Potions he saw Dumbledore walking towards his office. Harry ran to catch up to him, and had to stop to catch his breath before he could talk again.
"Harry?" Dumbledore asked.
"Can I talk with you?" Harry asked, still panting.
"Sure. What do you need?"
Harry looked around at all the students in the hallway, "Can we talk in your office?"
"Okay." Dumbledore said, "Is something wrong?"
"No." Harry said.
Because Harry was thinking about all the questions that he wanted to ask Dumbledore, it seemed like no time before Harry found himself in Dumbledore's office. Dumbledore sat behind his large desk and gestured to Harry sit down.
"Take a seat." he said to Harry. Harry sat in a chair facing Dumbledore's desk. "What would you like to talk about?" he asked Harry.
"I…uh…wanted to know if…um…you knew Selene Evans." Harry managed to get out. Dumbledore's face did not show the same surprise as Sirius' had, which surprised Harry.
"Selene Evans, yes I did know her. She was your aunt, wasn't she?" he said and Harry nodded.
"She was a good student, a little quiet, and a year younger than your mother I believe. Pretty girl." Dumbledore said.
"Anything else?" Harry asked.
"She died around the same time as your parents. That's about all I know Harry."
Harry slumped back in the chair and there was a knock on the door.
"Yes?" Dumbledore called out. The door opened and Professor McGonagall walked through it. She looked at Harry rather oddly and then she spoke to Dumbledore.
"Albus, could I speak to you for a minute, privately." she said.
"Of course, Minerva. Harry, I'll be right back."
Dumbledore left the room and Harry, upset that no one seemed to know or even care about his aunt, kicked Dumbledore's desk. Although it wasn't a hard kick, a stack of papers went tumbling to the floor. Harry quickly got down to pick them up. On top of the pile was a letter. Although it was folded in half, the ink was quite visible and Harry that it was his godfather's handwriting. Harry knew that he shouldn't but he couldn't help but pick up the letter and open it. It read:
Albus-
Harry has found out about Selene. I told him to drop the
matter, but if he is anything like his father, he won't. Please don't
tell him the truth about her. The time isn't right-
-Sirius
Harry didn't know what to think. His emotions were a blend of curiosity and anger. What was so great about Selene, and why wouldn't Sirius let him know anything about his aunt. He was so caught up in the letter that he didn't realize that Dumbledore was standing right behind him.
Dumbledore cleared his throat, making Harry jump.
Harry tried to come up with an explanation, "I'm…I'm…sorry…they just fell…and…I-"
"It's okay Harry, in fact I'm kind of glad you found that letter." Dumbledore said.
Harry looked at him confused.
"I don't like secrets, they are rather hard to keep." Dumbledore said with a smile and then bent over to help Harry pick up the fallen papers. "I don't agree with Sirius on this one, I think you have a right to know, and I think that the time is right."
Harry sat back down in the chair, still holding Sirius' letter.
Dumbledore continued, "On the other hand, I can see why Sirius would want to keep this from you, and I quite understand. Don't be angry with him."
"I'm not mad, I'm just confused." Harry said.
"Alright, I'll tell you what happened. Dumbledore leaned back in his chair and began, "Selene came to Hogwarts a year after Lily, and although she was a year younger her skills surpassed her sister. This didn't cause a problem for either of them because Lily and Selene were extremely close. Lily introduced Selene to James, Sirius, and the rest of that bunch and they all became close friends. One day, during her fourth year, I walked into my classroom and found Selene crying. I asked her what was wrong, but all she would say was that she knew that something was horribly wrong with her. I promised that there wasn't, but it did little to console her. Finally she told me that while on a walk that day; she encountered a deer whose hoof was stuck between two rocks. She said it was screaming and thrashing about like wild. She pulled and pulled at the rocks but they were much too heavy. She realized she had left her wand on her bed, but she couldn't leave the poor animal. As a last resort she put both hands on the rock and shouted, "Oustis!" The rocks flew apart and the deer was free. She said that she didn't know why she did that, or why she was so positive that it would work. Finally Selene realized what she had done and what it meant. Selene was a….."
"Magmanos." Harry whispered, finishing Dumbledore's sentence.
"That's right." Dumbledore said. "Selene was a magmanos. She was terrified of course and she had reason to be. How much do you know about magmani, Harry?"
"Not much," Harry admitted. "I know people were afraid of them."
"Yes. But there's more to it than that. Magmani aren't normal witches or wizards. People like you and I need wands to produce magic. The Magmani need no such device."
"How is that?" Harry asked.
"We aren't sure. However there is a theory, a theory that I happen to believe. It is based on an old myth. Hundreds of years ago mythical creatures such as dragons and phoenixes were much more prevalent than they are today. These animals were often hunted and killed for various reasons. Anyway, it is said that there once was a hunting party that went into a forest in order to kill a phoenix. Phoenixes are extremely hard to catch and even harder to kill, but these hunters managed to catch up with one and hunt it down. However, when they shot it, the bird managed to fly a little ways before it fell to the ground writhing in pain and screaming. While the hunters tried to find their prize, a young woman was walking in the woods and found the wounded bird. She held the phoenix in her arms and when the hunters found her, she refused to give it back to them. Frustrated with the woman the lead hunter shot an arrow straight into her heart. The phoenix let out a horrible cry that was heard throughout the forest. Upon hearing the cry of the phoenix, the hunters went insane and were never heard from again.
"What happened to the woman and the phoenix?" Harry asked.
"Well, it is said that when phoenix died it joined its spirit with that of the woman in order to save her life. After the woman recovered she found that she could perform magic with her hands, without the aid of any wand."
"Why don't they like the cold?" Harry asked.
"As you know phoenixes are birds of fire, and it is the phoenix spirit of the magmani that give them their power. When you subject a magmanos to extreme cold, the phoenix spirit becomes frozen and the magmani feel not only the cold, but also the immense pain of being shot through the chest. Or so the story goes.
"Are they really dangerous?" Harry asked.
"They can be. There was a magmanos by the name of Carmen who killed many people throughout the late eighteenth century."
"What happened to her?" Harry asked
"Well the official report said that she went insane and jumped off a cliff. However, some of us believe that the phoenix within her spirit deserted her, and bereft of powers and in immense pain she plunged off the cliff. Other than that, the only times of heard of magmani hurting people was in self-defense."
"What would have happened if people found out that Selene was what she was?" Harry asked.
"They probably would have contained her, maybe even sent her to Azkaban". Dumbledore answered.
"Even though she was only fourteen?" Harry asked astounded.
"Yes. The Ministry of Magic is very afraid of magmani. They were afraid of what would happen if a magmanos teamed up with Voldemort. Of course it never dawned on them that one would be beneficial on our side….."
"Why didn't Sirius want me to know about her?" Harry asked.
Dumbledore took a deep breath and then said, "Selene and Sirius were in love."
"In love?"
"Yes. They were quite the couple in school. After they graduated, though, things became very complicated. Voldemort was rising to power and the Ministry was checking families and their backgrounds for any ties to the Dark Arts. Selene was afraid that she would be discovered so she left England. I believed she settled on a little island off the coast of Greece." Dumbledore said.
"How did she die?" Harry asked looking down at the floor.
"She returned to England the summer that your parents were killed. Selene was there with Sirius when he found you and your parents. She went with him to find Peter Pettigrew. I'm not sure what happened exactly, Sirius won't talk about it, but she was killed when they cornered them." Dumbledore said.
Harry nodded and then his stomach dropped when a sudden realization hit him. "Why did she come back to England?"
Dumbledore didn't answer.
"She came to see me didn't she?" Harry said.
Dumbledore nodded. "Harry-" he said but was cut off.
"Is there anyone else whose death I am responsible for?" Harry demanded.
"Harry, you know you aren't responsible for the deaths of Selene, Cedric, or your parents. Voldemort killed them; he's the one to blame. Don't blame yourself." Dumbledore said.
"How can I not?" Harry said and stormed out of Dumbledore's office.
After his conversation with Sirius, Harry returned to the Gryffindor common room where he was met by Ron and Hermione who wanted to know how his detention had gone. He told them that Snape had made him clean out the Gripoy cages (to which both Ron and Hermione made faces), and also about Sirius visiting him.
"So it was Selene in the picture." Ron said.
"Apparently. I wonder why she didn't have a death date under her name if she was dead." Hermione said.
"Because there was no one left to write it in." Ron said.
"Ron!" Hermione said, rather surprised at his lack of sensitivity.
"He's right." said Harry solemnly.
"Are you going to see if you can find out any more information about Selene?" Ron asked.
"No." said Hermione, "He promised Sirius."
Ron rolled his eyes, "Are you?"
"I want to. I want to know why no one told me about her, and why Sirius is being so secretive about her." Harry said.
"Harry, do you think that is wise?" Hermione asked. "What if you don't like what you find out about her?"
"I don't care. I just want to know something about my family." Harry said rather harshly.
"What are you going to do?" Ron asked.
"I don't know." Harry replied.
"You could talk to Dumbledore." Hermione said. She had given up trying to dissuade them and decided that she might as well help. "He knew your parents, he'd probably be able to answer your questions."
"Thanks, Hermione." Harry said and smiled at her.
They ended their conversation soon after and headed to bed. Harry found himself restless again; he just had too much stuff on his mind to sleep. The sun was already beginning to rise by the time that Harry finally managed to go to sleep.
*****************************
The next day as he tried to watch Harry struggle to stay awake, Ron began to get worried.
"Do you think he's alright?" Ron whispered to Hermione during transfiguration.
"He'll be okay, he's just tired." Hermione said.
"I wish he had never found that stupid tree." Ron said. "It's brought him nothing but trouble."
"Then why did you encourage him to find out more about Selene?' Hermione asked.
"Do you really think he needed encouragement?" Ron asked.
Hermione had to admit that he had a point. Hermione watched as Harry's head drop, signaling that he was asleep. Ron moved to wake him.
"No. Let him sleep." Hermione said.
********************
After his little nap in transfiguration, Harry felt a little better. As he walked to Potions he saw Dumbledore walking towards his office. Harry ran to catch up to him, and had to stop to catch his breath before he could talk again.
"Harry?" Dumbledore asked.
"Can I talk with you?" Harry asked, still panting.
"Sure. What do you need?"
Harry looked around at all the students in the hallway, "Can we talk in your office?"
"Okay." Dumbledore said, "Is something wrong?"
"No." Harry said.
Because Harry was thinking about all the questions that he wanted to ask Dumbledore, it seemed like no time before Harry found himself in Dumbledore's office. Dumbledore sat behind his large desk and gestured to Harry sit down.
"Take a seat." he said to Harry. Harry sat in a chair facing Dumbledore's desk. "What would you like to talk about?" he asked Harry.
"I…uh…wanted to know if…um…you knew Selene Evans." Harry managed to get out. Dumbledore's face did not show the same surprise as Sirius' had, which surprised Harry.
"Selene Evans, yes I did know her. She was your aunt, wasn't she?" he said and Harry nodded.
"She was a good student, a little quiet, and a year younger than your mother I believe. Pretty girl." Dumbledore said.
"Anything else?" Harry asked.
"She died around the same time as your parents. That's about all I know Harry."
Harry slumped back in the chair and there was a knock on the door.
"Yes?" Dumbledore called out. The door opened and Professor McGonagall walked through it. She looked at Harry rather oddly and then she spoke to Dumbledore.
"Albus, could I speak to you for a minute, privately." she said.
"Of course, Minerva. Harry, I'll be right back."
Dumbledore left the room and Harry, upset that no one seemed to know or even care about his aunt, kicked Dumbledore's desk. Although it wasn't a hard kick, a stack of papers went tumbling to the floor. Harry quickly got down to pick them up. On top of the pile was a letter. Although it was folded in half, the ink was quite visible and Harry that it was his godfather's handwriting. Harry knew that he shouldn't but he couldn't help but pick up the letter and open it. It read:
Albus-
Harry has found out about Selene. I told him to drop the
matter, but if he is anything like his father, he won't. Please don't
tell him the truth about her. The time isn't right-
-Sirius
Harry didn't know what to think. His emotions were a blend of curiosity and anger. What was so great about Selene, and why wouldn't Sirius let him know anything about his aunt. He was so caught up in the letter that he didn't realize that Dumbledore was standing right behind him.
Dumbledore cleared his throat, making Harry jump.
Harry tried to come up with an explanation, "I'm…I'm…sorry…they just fell…and…I-"
"It's okay Harry, in fact I'm kind of glad you found that letter." Dumbledore said.
Harry looked at him confused.
"I don't like secrets, they are rather hard to keep." Dumbledore said with a smile and then bent over to help Harry pick up the fallen papers. "I don't agree with Sirius on this one, I think you have a right to know, and I think that the time is right."
Harry sat back down in the chair, still holding Sirius' letter.
Dumbledore continued, "On the other hand, I can see why Sirius would want to keep this from you, and I quite understand. Don't be angry with him."
"I'm not mad, I'm just confused." Harry said.
"Alright, I'll tell you what happened. Dumbledore leaned back in his chair and began, "Selene came to Hogwarts a year after Lily, and although she was a year younger her skills surpassed her sister. This didn't cause a problem for either of them because Lily and Selene were extremely close. Lily introduced Selene to James, Sirius, and the rest of that bunch and they all became close friends. One day, during her fourth year, I walked into my classroom and found Selene crying. I asked her what was wrong, but all she would say was that she knew that something was horribly wrong with her. I promised that there wasn't, but it did little to console her. Finally she told me that while on a walk that day; she encountered a deer whose hoof was stuck between two rocks. She said it was screaming and thrashing about like wild. She pulled and pulled at the rocks but they were much too heavy. She realized she had left her wand on her bed, but she couldn't leave the poor animal. As a last resort she put both hands on the rock and shouted, "Oustis!" The rocks flew apart and the deer was free. She said that she didn't know why she did that, or why she was so positive that it would work. Finally Selene realized what she had done and what it meant. Selene was a….."
"Magmanos." Harry whispered, finishing Dumbledore's sentence.
"That's right." Dumbledore said. "Selene was a magmanos. She was terrified of course and she had reason to be. How much do you know about magmani, Harry?"
"Not much," Harry admitted. "I know people were afraid of them."
"Yes. But there's more to it than that. Magmani aren't normal witches or wizards. People like you and I need wands to produce magic. The Magmani need no such device."
"How is that?" Harry asked.
"We aren't sure. However there is a theory, a theory that I happen to believe. It is based on an old myth. Hundreds of years ago mythical creatures such as dragons and phoenixes were much more prevalent than they are today. These animals were often hunted and killed for various reasons. Anyway, it is said that there once was a hunting party that went into a forest in order to kill a phoenix. Phoenixes are extremely hard to catch and even harder to kill, but these hunters managed to catch up with one and hunt it down. However, when they shot it, the bird managed to fly a little ways before it fell to the ground writhing in pain and screaming. While the hunters tried to find their prize, a young woman was walking in the woods and found the wounded bird. She held the phoenix in her arms and when the hunters found her, she refused to give it back to them. Frustrated with the woman the lead hunter shot an arrow straight into her heart. The phoenix let out a horrible cry that was heard throughout the forest. Upon hearing the cry of the phoenix, the hunters went insane and were never heard from again.
"What happened to the woman and the phoenix?" Harry asked.
"Well, it is said that when phoenix died it joined its spirit with that of the woman in order to save her life. After the woman recovered she found that she could perform magic with her hands, without the aid of any wand."
"Why don't they like the cold?" Harry asked.
"As you know phoenixes are birds of fire, and it is the phoenix spirit of the magmani that give them their power. When you subject a magmanos to extreme cold, the phoenix spirit becomes frozen and the magmani feel not only the cold, but also the immense pain of being shot through the chest. Or so the story goes.
"Are they really dangerous?" Harry asked.
"They can be. There was a magmanos by the name of Carmen who killed many people throughout the late eighteenth century."
"What happened to her?" Harry asked
"Well the official report said that she went insane and jumped off a cliff. However, some of us believe that the phoenix within her spirit deserted her, and bereft of powers and in immense pain she plunged off the cliff. Other than that, the only times of heard of magmani hurting people was in self-defense."
"What would have happened if people found out that Selene was what she was?" Harry asked.
"They probably would have contained her, maybe even sent her to Azkaban". Dumbledore answered.
"Even though she was only fourteen?" Harry asked astounded.
"Yes. The Ministry of Magic is very afraid of magmani. They were afraid of what would happen if a magmanos teamed up with Voldemort. Of course it never dawned on them that one would be beneficial on our side….."
"Why didn't Sirius want me to know about her?" Harry asked.
Dumbledore took a deep breath and then said, "Selene and Sirius were in love."
"In love?"
"Yes. They were quite the couple in school. After they graduated, though, things became very complicated. Voldemort was rising to power and the Ministry was checking families and their backgrounds for any ties to the Dark Arts. Selene was afraid that she would be discovered so she left England. I believed she settled on a little island off the coast of Greece." Dumbledore said.
"How did she die?" Harry asked looking down at the floor.
"She returned to England the summer that your parents were killed. Selene was there with Sirius when he found you and your parents. She went with him to find Peter Pettigrew. I'm not sure what happened exactly, Sirius won't talk about it, but she was killed when they cornered them." Dumbledore said.
Harry nodded and then his stomach dropped when a sudden realization hit him. "Why did she come back to England?"
Dumbledore didn't answer.
"She came to see me didn't she?" Harry said.
Dumbledore nodded. "Harry-" he said but was cut off.
"Is there anyone else whose death I am responsible for?" Harry demanded.
"Harry, you know you aren't responsible for the deaths of Selene, Cedric, or your parents. Voldemort killed them; he's the one to blame. Don't blame yourself." Dumbledore said.
"How can I not?" Harry said and stormed out of Dumbledore's office.