A/N: Yay! My trip was cut short. I'm so happy now that I can post three chapters. Anyhow, I was a little late because I lost my disk and had to rewrite chapter 12. I apologize for the delay. Anyway, now I had to attend courses and I have less time to accommodate to my writing and my mom had put up a restriction so I'll be writing mostly at night, (my course starts at 12 noon to 3 p.m.) on weekends only. So, I'd not be posting in a short space of time.

P.S. – I apologize if the way Hagrid speaks doesn't confer to what the book presents itself. I don't speak in that way, so I have no idea how it might have been.

Disclaimer: I don't own it and never will. Anything that you don't recognize is most definitely mine. Neither copyright nor trademark infringement are made in the process of writing this fiction.

Thanks to my BETA, Aaron who had so kindly found a time to beta this fic for me. Also, thanks a million for giving me reviews on all chapters.

Chapter 11

Phoenix Flies

A few weeks after the incident, Harry found himself agreeing on a silent truce between him and Snape. Who would have thought that this day might come? If Snape would have his say, he would tell you that James Potter would be rolling in his grave the moment he found out about this. Although the change went unnoticeable, one person had in fact, caught notice of the change and smiled, with an always familiar twinkle in his eyes. 1

Harry sat by himself thinking of the events that had occurred the past few weeks. In a way, he didn't anticipate to be making a truce, let alone amendments with Snape. It seemed to have come naturally without him making an effort to do so. He thought it odd that he didn't feel the least bit awkward to start a small conversation. Well, it mainly consists of potions assignments and the tests which had garnered Snape's interest.

He looked at his watch which Hermione had bought as a late birthday present which he had a slight suspicion that it might be a reward for receiving satisfactory OWLs score. He would forever be grateful for that since he'd lost his in his fourth year during the second task. He shuddered at the thought of it for it brought back memories of Cedric, the first few victims of the Second War.

For a second, he mourned for the memory of Cedric but he could feel his soul telling him to move on. He wished that all of this had never happened but as he recalled Dumbledore saying; 'It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live'. He'd done that over the summer and he was determined to stop his moping for he knew that Sirius would never want to see him in that state.

Focusing on his watch, Harry found that he has twenty-three minutes to go to Herbology with the Ravenclaws and so he dashed off to Greenhouse three. As usual, he was rather early and the only person who is there is Hermione. The figures of the Ravenclaws and Gryffindors could be distinctively recognised from the greenhouse entrance. When they were all lined up in a straight line, Professor Sprout ushered them in and asked them to take their spot.

"Good morning, everyone. Today we are going to study the Fluminous. Can any of you tell me what the properties of Fluminous and its poison are and why it is called that?" asked Professor Sprout.

As usual, many hands shot up- of course there are lots of them because Ravenclaw isn't smart for nothing- including Harry and he was not surprised to see Hermione and Neville among them. There were too many people who knew the answer so Professor Sprout asked Terry Boot, a Ravenclaw to answer it.

"The properties of Fluminous are the luminous colour that it produces which attracts other animals except unicorns. It also contains poison that could cause flu. If not treated, it could lead to the failure of the body system. Unicorns are immune to them. The cure can be obtained from the dust of the unicorn horn. It is called the Fluminous because the poison causes flu and also due to the fact that it is luminous."

"Excellent. Ten points to Ravenclaw," said Professor Sprout. "I don't have to tell you to put on your gloves as I am sure that you would know by now. Take precautions while handling them. Touching the Fluminous with your bare hands is the last thing that you would want to do."

The lesson went well and it was a relief that nobody had to be sent to the hospital wing. Harry, Hermione, Ron and Neville went for their next lesson, Defence Against the Dark Arts. Professor Winter was already there by the time they arrived and they took their respective seats in the front row, obviously anticipating the things that they would be learning today.

As soon as the class filled in, Professor Winter took out the register and called out the names. After that, she went silent for a moment before walking to the middle front of the class. She waved her wand and the notes appear on the board.

"Good afternoon, class. Today we are going to be learning a very complicated spell in defence. This spell is known as the Protectus spell. It is a very powerful shield that could potentially magnify any spell thrown at the person tenfold. I warn you not to try to practice this type of shield to your peers and friends as it could harm you in unthinkable ways depending on how powerful the person casting the shield. The incantation is Protectus."

"Today you will only copy the notes from the board. No practical practices for today." A groan from the students could be heard, "I don't want to hear any groaning. Writing your notes is better off than having Madam Pomfrey busy tending to you and having to moan all over." Silence and the scratching of the quills came from the students as they copied their notes feverishly.

The bell finally rang and the trio, together with Neville and Luna, the inseparable couple went for Care of Magical Creatures. As they walked on the lawns, they could see Hagrid waiting patiently for the arrival of the students. When all are assembled, Hagrid commenced with the lesson for the day.

"Good afternoon, students. Teh' day we are goin' teh' learn bout' th' Augurey. Who can tell me what is it known as?"

As usual, Hermione's hand shot up but now, it was accompanied by Harry's hand which also went onto the air.

"'arry?" asked Hagrid.

"The Augurey is also known as the Irish Phoenix," answered Harry.

"Five points teh' Gryffindor. Alrigh', who can tell me where it is found?" asked Hagrid. "'ermione?"

"It is found Britain and Northern Ireland, where it is a native and it is sometimes found elsewhere in northern Europe," said Hermione.

"Good, ten points teh' Gryffindor," said Hagrid. "Now, I've been tryin' teh' find them but I don't have any of them 'ere now. So, take out yer text books and read fer ten minutes. I want yeh teh' make some notes out of it. Fer homework, I expect a two foot essay on Augureys, its properties and uses teh' be handed in th' next class and tha' means this Friday."

Once the lesson was over, they went to the Great Hall to have their lunch with Ron moaning about the homework they were given.

"A two foot essay! What was he thinking?" moaned Ron.

Hermione huffed. "It's only two foot, Ron, not ten foot. Honestly, you ought to be more assiduous with the NEWTs coming up next year!"

"Why should I be? The NEWTs is only next year, not this year!" complained Ron.

"Ron, stop moaning. Hermione, don't push him," said Harry. The two looked at him incredulously. Well, it's not everyday you'd see Harry comment spot on when they fight. Usually, Harry would keep quiet and eventually, they would die down but today obviously had been too much for him.

"What? You guys don't have to look at me as if I'd grown two heads already. You know, you two really need to stop bickering or I'd definitely go crazy. Your bickering is giving me the headaches. If you two can't even make peace, how else are you two going to make up and kiss already? I didn't notice you two to be doing that the past few days. If I'm not mistaken, you two used to come in to the common room late at night with your faces red and all sweaty and stuff. Oh, and before you do that, I suggest you find a room so that I won't walk into you two," said Harry as he slid on to the seat and have his lunch.

Hermione and Ron stood gaping at Harry's outburst. They felt ashamed. At first, they refused to even look at the other's face but in the end, they made up to each other and sat beside Harry.

"Have you two knocked some senses into your brains? If you haven't, then I'll not say anything until you two have and I couldn't care less even if you two slapped each other. Well, if you two start a fist fight, maybe then I'll intervene," said Harry.

"Harry, please don't be like that. If you'd like to know, we've made up and we're going to try to be civil to each other," said Hermione.

"Good, then I'll get back to my chicken then. It's getting cold, you know," said Harry.

"Now, you sound like Ron," said Hermione.

"Don't know, don't care. I'm hungry but at least I have my table manners," replied Harry.

Unfortunately, Ron heard that and exclaimed, "Hey! That wasn't very nice!" to which Harry only answered with the roll of his eyes.

Nobody spoke during lunch since everybody was too busy trying to stomach second and third helpings. Except for the fact that Hermione kept giving a disapproving glance at Ron who was stuffing his mouth with all that he could stomach. When he saw the look Hermione gave him, he said 'what? I'm hungry if you want to know'. Well that at least until Ginny appeared and sat next to Harry as of the customary. That was when Harry talked, all the while, sipping his pumpkin juice, with Ron and Hermione joining in a moment after. When lunch time was about to be over, they got up and hurried to get to their respective classes.

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Harry James Potter is being undecidedly bored and at the same time, fascinated by the new subject they were currently learning in Transfiguration. At this particular time, the subject they're learning would be researching animagus and how to become one. Harry had never been an excellent student in Transfiguration but he had been doing rather well. Only now, it seems like something was going to change and it would surprise him as much as Professor McGonagall and his classmates. Bizarre things or happenings could never pass the attention of the crowd but everybody knew that the word normal does not apply to one Harry Potter.

"Good afternoon, students," said one Professor McGonagall as she walked in to the class for the lesson. She took out the attendance and began calling out the names and put it away after the list was finished and she was sure that everybody was present. Then, she started on her lesson for the day. Meanwhile, Harry had been thinking about a phoenix, seeing Fawkes fly, his red and gold feathers in the sky and his calming trills that brings about peace to the heart and mind.

"I trust that you had been well prepared on this subject? Please be reminded that what we are going to learn today requires concentration and attention," said the professor.

"Now, animagus transformation requires a lot of hard work and with correct ways of undergoing it, a person could change into an animal most compatible to one's personality, or deeds, depending on who you are and how you do it. For instance, I have my animagus form as cat but I won't delve further into telling you why I changed into a cat."

"Those who have the ability to become an animagus are generally rare and some types of animals, for example; only two people had ever became a phoenix. One, would be Merlin and the second one, is Artemis Gallagher Alfarero 3. The background of Alfarero could be traced long before the other wizarding bloodlines. It is known that Artemis is a descendant of Merlin although he is not well known in the wizarding world. Merlin himself has one interesting bloodline. I would not tell you why or what about but if you are curious, then you could find some information regarding the bloodlines of Merlin in the school library," explained Professor McGonagall.

"Why, how did you do that?" asked an astonished Professor McGonagall, breaking the silence.

What did you mean by that, professor?" asked Harry, clearly not realizing what had happened.

"Could you take a look at your hand, please?" asked the astonished professor.

"I don't understand, prof-." Harry's sentence remained unfinished as he saw what would be his hands which were now a part of a wing. "What? How?" Those were questions that went unanswered. It seemed that even he couldn't answer that question himself.

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Thankfully, the bell rang. McGonagall gave them work to be handed in by Monday and as today is Thursday, he was thankful for it. As he walked out of the classroom, Harry was immediately bombarded with questions that he had to tell them politely to give him time to think for a moment in which was quite an accomplishment in itself because if it were someone other than him, that person would never be as calm as he had been in this situation.

Finally, after people had stopped flooding on to him, he went to the portrait hole and giving the password (Phoenix Arise), he stepped in and dropped his bag in the dormitory. Later, he walked out of the portrait hole and headed towards the library, carrying his homework that needed to be done and at the same time, determined to find out what being a phoenix might mean. When he arrived at the library, he figured that he could just ask his guardians. After all, now is the time of need and that is the need for an explanation.

The sky was already dark by the time he finished his homework. Now that he had tried finishing his work beforehand, he found that it lightened his workload considerably. With a new spirit, he promised himself to do well in his studies and maybe even spend sometime with Hermione although not too much of it because Ron might get jealous and misunderstand and Ginny, well she had a temper that could match her mother, so he didn't want to make her angry if she had mistaken him for hitting on Hermione. That temper of hers could scare even the mages off their wits.

Harry grabbed his books, parchments; quill and ink bottle and put them into his bag, no longer shoving them in since Hermione had been scolding him endlessly about not being organized. He went to the Gryffindor tower and put his bag and walked out again to the Great Hall for dinner. During dinner, nothing eventful happened and Harry ate his meal amidst the stares of other students. Well, looks like the news had spread around the school. No surprise there. With the school gossips around, who would be Lavender and Parvati, news could spread like wildfire.

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That night, after dinner, Harry Potter was lying on his bed, thinking of the day that he had gone through. Well, to be truthful, everything is the same as the day before, except for the fact that he turned a part of his hand into the wing of a phoenix. He wondered whether all of this had to do with the power the dark lord knows not. A sigh issued from him. There's no use brooding on something that he might never find out. Though of course, tonight, he might be able to talk to his guardians, who incidentally are his parents and maybe they could give an explanation even if it's just a gist of it. Well, he hopes so.

Foot note:

1 - If you can't figure out who this person is, you should find it in the books. I'll let you on, if you still haven't figured this out. It's Dumbledore. Who else would have his eyes twinkle most of the time?

2 - If you think that this is going to be a slash, you'll be sorely disappointed. I had told you earlier in my summary that this is not going to be a slash.

3 – Hint, hint. Remember this, folks. It plays one of the important roles in this fic. If you can't wait to find what it is about, just translate the surname, Alfarero into English and you'll find out before I would tell you about it.

I'm sorry for not posting for a long time. I have a lot of ideas of what to do and write. It's just that I couldn't get the ideas to work out. Well, including the fact that I was really busy with life.

Thank you for all who have been reviewing