Disclaimer: ok, you guys know the routine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 5: A New Friend

Weeks went by and it was the day before the school term would begin. Harry groaned and moved around under his covers, his pillow on top of his head. With a grunt he knocked the pillow off the bed and threw the covers off of himself. He sat up, sleep still in his eyes, and got up out of bed before walking to the bathroom to get cleaned up. The past weeks had been quite boring to him. Besides his animagus training there really wasn't much to keep him busy besides his homework, which he had finished after the first week. The egg, which he had been taking care of still hadn't hatched nor begun to show any signs of hatching. Harry was taking good care of it. He made sure it was kept warm and he never disturbed it. He was beginning to wonder if it would ever hatch.

He walked out of the bathroom dressed in the green robes that Sirius had given him. Stopping in front of a mirror he tried to fix his damp hair but to no success. Harry walked over to his bed and flopped down onto it, arms spread out over the mattress. He couldn't wait till the other students arrived; at least he wouldn't be as bored as he is now. The teachers had already moved back into the school and were preparing for the upcoming year, this halted Harry from taking his usual night flights as a Phoenix. After he had mastered transforming into his Phoenix form without the use of a wand he had taken to flying around the school grounds at night. The Headmaster had approached him about it the day the teachers arrived and warned him not to take his night flights. He didn't want Harry to be seen. It would bring suspicion if a black and silver phoenix was seen flying around Hogwarts.

As he lay on his bed a soft cracking noise could be heard. He lifted his head and looked around the room lit by the suns light shining through the window. He didn't notice anything out of place but he did notice the small crack line running down the side of the black eggshell. He leapt up from the bed and hurried to the desk the egg had been sitting on for the past few weeks. He watched as another crack began to form and ran down the side of the egg. Harry couldn't move even though Dumbledore told him to inform him if the egg began to hatch. He watched as smaller lines began to form from the larger ones, the egg soon completely covered with cracks. Sounds could be heard from inside the egg, Harry couldn't quite tell what the creature was though. The eggshell, making it impossible to tell what was making all the noise was muffling the sounds.

Green eyes watched in fascination as bits of the black shell began to crack off and fall onto the desk. A tiny beak could be seen poking it's way through as soft cheeps of freedom filled the air. Harry wasn't quite sure if he should help the creature or not when he felt a hand rest on his shoulder. Turning around quickly he saw Dumbledore smiling down at him. "Help the little one out that will make sure you impress him."

With a nod Harry turned back to the egg and carefully began to pull bits of the egg apart. Within a few miniatures of doing this a tiny Phoenix lay in the material he had placed around the egg to keep it warm. It's gray feathers wet from its containment within the shell. Harry slowly cupped his hands under it and lifted it up as chirping still continued from the exhausted bird. A black beaded eye opened up and looked at Harry, the boy's reflection dancing across it. Impression had been made and the Phoenix would always stay loyal to Harry, even after many burnings the picture of Harry's face would remain embedded in its mind, never to be forgotten.

Dumbledore watched with a smile at the boy and the tiny Phoenix, which resembled Fawkes, his scarlet and gold phoenix, when it was only a chick. A phoenix was the best thing for Harry to own, yes Hedwig was very loyal to her master, but a Phoenix was even more so and would protect their master or its master's loyal friends when the time arose. "Harry, make sure you take good care of your Phoenix. After it begins to mature it will begin to show its unique characteristics, and what breed of Phoenix it is. I don't recall ever seeing a Phoenix hatch from a black egg though. Quite curious." Blue eyes twinkled behind half moon glasses.

"Headmaster, the other students arrive here tomorrow. What should I do with him, I mean, I can't let them bother him when he's so young can I?" Harry questioned, as his eyes remained transfixed upon the bird in his hands.

Dumbledore smiled. "That's the marvelous thing about Phoenix's. The bird will probably be well matured by the time the students arrived, enough that it will be showing its colors, as well as flying about. No need to worry about him at all. Now, why don't you let it rest for now."

Harry looked up at Dumbledore and smiled before placing the bird on the material and wrapping the material around it in a nest type of formation. He turned to the headmaster, guilt setting in. "I am sorry I didn't warn you or Sirius but when the egg began to hatch I just couldn't pull myself away from it. It was like I was being drawn to it."

"No need to worry Harry, I figured as much, that is why I placed a charm on the egg the day after you found it so I would know when it began to hatch." Dumbledore walked towards the door. "Now, I think you should get some breakfast before tending to your Phoenix. You will need to spend most of the day with it so you both get to grow closer to one another."

"Sir, where is Sirius, why didn't he come up?" Harry asked.

"Sirius had to leave for the day to contact a few people for me. He will be back before dinner tonight. I think when you come down later this evening you should bring your Phoenix along. He should be mature enough by them to accompany you. I would like the professors to see the Phoenix since he will be living here with us for sometime, and if I know young Phoenix's he may make some guest appearances in your classes if he sees fit. After a week he should be trained enough that he won't do that, but it all depends on the Phoenix." Dumbledore opened the door to the dormitory and walked out before quietly closing the door behind him.

Harry looked at the slumbering Phoenix for a few minutes before walking out of the room to wash up his hands. He walked out of the bathroom, paper towel in hand, and threw it into the trash bin before walking out of Gryffindor Tower and heading to the Great Hall for some breakfast. He had a long day ahead of him if he had to stay with the young Phoenix the whole time and didn't want to be getting hunger attacks because he decided to skip breakfast.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: I am way too nice to you guys. I should start ending my chapters on cliffhangers. ^_^ Anyway, I know this was a long awaited chapter, I've had lots of people telling me to get this chapter out quick. A few of you had several questions, and unfortunately, I can't answer them all, though some of your questions were answered in this chapter. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and PLEASE review

A/N2: I decided to make a list which all of you may join to receive updates of when the story, or any other story which I put up is updated. I join this group just go to the URL below. I sent a few invitations to some of you; not all of you got one though.

Yahoo!Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DailyOwl