Chapter 8:

Order Meetings and Confusion

After securing the site of the battle and turning it over to the Ministry Aurors, Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix members returned to his office. Dumbledore sighed, "Well, it is as I feared. Harry is the Dark Phoenix."

Mad-Eye shook his head, "That's impossible, Albus. I was in Potter's room the whole time that he would have needed to be gone to perform the attack, and he hasn't moved yet."

Dumbledore appeared to be shocked, "Are you sure, Alastor?"

Moody nodded, "I'm positive. Potter never even got out of bed."

Dumbledore sighed, "Then, it must be coincidence that the Dark Phoenix happened to hit the safe house tonight." He turned to Remus and the Weasleys, "What exactly happened out there?"

Remus shrugged his shoulders, "I'm not entirely sure, Albus. I went to my post and someone stunned me from behind. I never even heard them approach. Whoever this Dark Phoenix is, is either preternaturally quiet or they had cast a Silencing Charm on themselves to be able to sneak up on me in such a way."

Albus turned to the two Weasleys, "How about the two of you?"

Bill sighed, "Pretty much the same thing. Although I don't have the senses that Remus does, so it wouldn't be quite as difficult to sneak up on me."

Arthur nodded, "Same thing for me. The Dark Phoenix doesn't get too flashy apparently. He just gets the job done."

Molly scolded, "Arthur, you almost sound like you support this person."

Arthur made a see-sawing gesture with his hand, "I can't say that I am particularly fond of his method of doing things, but no one can deny that he gets results. There are six dead Death Eaters, and he got away within moments, because there was no trace of him by the time the rest of the Order got there, and they didn't have to travel far. So, whoever he is, he's good."

There was a general murmur of agreement, and then several discussions about future plans, and then the meeting broke up, and everyone went to catch a few hours sleep before daybreak.

The next morning, the five Gryffindors sat down at breakfast as the Post Owls swept in. Hermione paid the owl for her copy of the Daily Prophet, and unfurled the paper. She immediately gasped in shock.

Neville asked, "What is it?"

She replied, "The Dark Phoenix is back."

The others bent over to read the article.

Dark Phoenix Strikes Again

In a surprise last night, the Dark Phoenix struck a Death Eater safe house in Hogsmeade Village. According to Ministry reports, there were a total of six dead Death Eaters found at the scene, including Antonin Dolohov and Augustus Rookwood, both of whom escaped from Azkaban last year after long terms of imprisonment. After this turn of events, people must truly wonder whether this Dark Phoenix is someone to fear or not. This correspondent thinks that as long as he is killing Death Eaters, then the magical community should support him. We can only hope that he doesn't become a danger to the rest of us as well as You-Know-Who.

Harry whistled as he looked at the accompanying photo, "I must say that I like this Dark Phoenix more and more every time I read about him."

Hermione sniffed, "I don't see how you can say that, Harry. He's killing people."

Harry shook his head, "No, he's not. He's killing Death Eaters. Those slime aren't worthy of being called people anymore. I just can't wait until its Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange being listed among the dead."

Unfortunately for Malfoy, he was walking close enough to the Gryffindor table to hear Harry's comment. He snarled and pulled out his wand to fire a Cutting Curse at Harry. Harry reacted as soon as he heard Malfoy's voice utter the curse. He grabbed a plate from the table and whipped it back over his head to block the curse. Then, he twisted in his seat and dove for the ground to dodge the second curse which slapped into the table. He drew his wand on the way, and fired a volley of return spells. Malfoy managed to block several of them, but couldn't stop them all, and was slammed into the wall by the force a mild Reductor Curse. As he sagged to the ground, and dropped his wand, it was obvious that his ribs were broken, and that he had some internal injuries. Crabbe and Goyle took a menacing step towards Harry, but he merely laughed in their faces, "Please! You two buffoons wouldn't get three steps closer to me before I could curse both of you." Harry waved his wand, "Mobilicorpus! Now take your vaunted leader to Madam Pomphrey."

Crabbe and Goyle looked back and forth between Harry and Malfoy for a moment, before deciding to continue with their normal mode of operation, and follow orders. They began pushing Draco's body from the Great Hall.

Ron eyed Harry, and then asked, "I don't get it. Why did you make it easier for them to take him to the Hospital Wing?"

Harry smiled maliciously, "I want Malfoy back in excellent health. He's much more entertaining when he's at his best."

Neville grinned, "That's positively evil, Harry. I love it."

Harry half bowed at the table, "Why thank you, Neville. I do try to please."

Hermione clucked her tongue disapprovingly, "Harry, I don't think that you should be antagonizing Malfoy. He could be dangerous."

Harry sneered at Hermione, "The ferret is about as dangerous as a Clabbert. He's absolutely nothing to worry about."

Hermione persisted, "Harry, I think you're being a little too cocky.."

Harry cut her off with a slice of his hand, "Hermione, here's a little clue. Don't discuss things about which you know nothing."

Hermione bristled as though she had been slapped. Ron said, "Now, Harry, that's being a little harsh, isn't it?"

Harry snorted, "I think not. Hermione has been trying to force her way of thinking on everyone around her since she has been at Hogwarts. Its time for her to understand that being intelligent doesn't make her right." He turned to Hermione, "You may have all the book sense in the world, Hermione, but the fact remains when it came to a real fight in the Department of Mysteries, you were one of the first to lose your head. Knowing how to do spells in a classroom doesn't make you knowledgeable of when to use them. Good day."

Then, Harry swept away from the table and made his exit from the Great Hall. Hermione muttered bitterly, "He had no right to talk to me like that."

The others exchanged uneasy glances. She snapped at them, "What?"

Ginny said, "Well, Hermione, I will admit that he was a little mean about what he said, but he had a point. We've all thought what he just said at least once a week since we've known you. You are extremely bossy, and you always think you're right, and you try to push everyone else into doing things your way."

Hermione responded hotly, "I do not."

Neville snorted, "What about Spew?"

Hermione replied indignantly, "The house elves deserve wages.."

Ron cut her off, "Why? Because you say so? That's arrogance of the worst kind. The house elves don't want to be paid. Who are you to force them?"

Hermione sputtered indignantly before bursting into tears and running from the room. Ginny jumped up and chased after Harry, while Ron chased after Hermione. Ginny caught up to Harry and said, "Harry, I think that you should apologize to Hermione."

He asked briskly, "Why?"

Ginny sighed, "You were a little mean to her?"

Harry chuckled, "I know. Sometimes you have to be a little mean to get a point across. If I had just told her what I wanted to say, she would have dismissed it as if it were unimportant. By slapping her in the face with it, so to speak, she'll have to think about it. It might hurt her feelings for awhile, but she'll get over it, and probably be a better person for it."

Ginny's mouth opened in shock, "Are you telling me that you weren't really mad at her? You set her up?"

Harry grinned flippantly, "Do I look mad to you?"

Ginny smiled brightly, "Harry Potter, I love you." Then, she grabbed him and planted a big kiss on his mouth. Then, realizing what she had just done, She turned bright red in embarrassment and raced away from Harry as fast as her legs would carry her."

Harry noticed over the course of the next several day that the Order had dropped back watching him around the clock in the castle. He still realized one of them followed him in the corridors, but they left him to himself once he entered Gryffindor Tower for the evening. This suited him just fine. One evening after going to sleep, he was confronted with an odd dream.

Godric Gryffindor appeared before Harry, and said, "It is time for you to learn of your birthright, my Heir."

Harry replied quizzically, "What do you mean, my birthright?"

Godric smiled, "It is time for you to learn all the things that you should have learned long ago, but I have been unable to teach because of the connection you have had to Voldemort. Now that you have successfully shut that connection down, I can give you the knowledge that you will require to rid the world of Voldemort's foul presence."

Harry nodded, "So, what are you? A ghost?"

Godric shook his head, "For lack of a better way to describe it, you may call me an echo. I left a portion of my consciousness within the very walls of Hogwarts, so that I could always watch out for my Heirs. I have been watching you for a long time, young Harry, and I must say that I am very proud of you so far."

Harry bowed in the dream, and said, "So, let's get started, then."

Godric shook his head, "Not this evening, young cub, but we will begin tomorrow night. I look forward to tutoring you in magic. You have the potential to be an extremely powerful magus, so it will be interesting to see how far you progress."

Harry smiled, "So, you are saying that I will become more powerful?"

Godric laughed heartily, "Of course not. The power is already within you. Its just a matter of teaching you how to use it. Most wizards mistakenly believe that they grow more powerful with age, but that is simply not true. It is the ability of the mind to structure itself that allows more of your power to be used, but you have that power at birth.'

Harry nodded, "Excellent. I was afraid that I would have to wait until I was grown to be able to defeat Voldemort."

Godric shook his head, "No, of course not. Although, if you continue to learn things at only the rate that you have before, it could indeed take that long, but by teaching you the things that you need to know in your dreams, then I will be able to progress your teaching much faster than you would otherwise be able to accomplish."

Harry grinned, "Now, I will really be able to surprise the Death Eaters. They won't know what hit them."

Godric bowed, "For now, I must go, but I will return tomorrow evening to begin your lessons."

Harry returned the bow, "Thank you, Grandfather."

Godric smiled, "Grandfather? I like being called that. Till tomorrow, young cub."

A/N: Sorry about the delay on updating, I've been extremely busy. Hopefully the next chapter won't take as long, and it should be longer. This one didn't have much to go into, I just needed it to junction into the next phase. Thanks go out to all my readers and reviewers. Happy reading.