Chapter 13- The First Binding
Disclaimer-Do not own.
Harry drifted in and out of dreams, never waking, his mind blanketed in a sleep-induced fog. He could sense, not far off, the familiar icy warm presence that identified the Potions Master. He knew he was safe, which made his body all the more content to just sleep. His thoughts drifted to the night before, seeking the reason for his vague uneasiness. Then, as if he'd released an avalanche, the dream came rushing back to him, every painful detail of it. His eyes snapped open, all sleep leaving him, and he sat up. The first thing he noticed was Severus fussing over a tray of food, obviously their breakfast, and a chair by his bed that he was sure hadn't been there the night before. His stomach growled LOUDLY, alerting him to the second thing: he was starving. He moved to throw back the covers but barely rased his arm before finding himself stifling a gasp of pain, unsuccessfully. His noise caught Severus' attention and the man abandoned breakfast, rushing over to him.
"Childing, are you alright? Don't try to move, you're suffering the after effects of the Cruciatus curse. Open and swallow," Severus tilted the goblet full of a rather sickly green potion into Harry's mouth. He swallowed, eyes watering as it burned down his throat and into his stomach. After a few seconds a blessed numbness spread through his muscles and limbs. He experimented, and found he could still /move/, but there was no pain. He expressed his gratitude in the form of a weak smile at Severus who smiled his relief in return.
"Thank goodness Kit got that one worked out right. She's always trying out new potions to relieve the pain of torture and serious injury and usually /I'm/ the guinea pig since /I'm/ the one who seems to /attract/ torture and injury. She just got this one panned out not long ago and she sent a batch down after I asked. The twins would be down here themselves but they got called away again. I had a feeling you weren't going to be 'up to speed' after what happened last night so I called for the potion as a precaution. Looks like I was right. Stay there Harry, you're eating breakfast in bed and I'm eating in here with you." With out getting up, Severus summoned the /large/ tray of food and sat it down in Harry's lap. Harry, now that the food was actually in front of him, lost his appetite. He didn't think he could stomach much right now, not with the dream playing over and over in his head.
"Eat up fireling, you're going to need your strength if we intend to find the Dursleys /and/ win the bet," Severus commanded gently. When he realized Harry had no intention of touching the food, he picked up the fork, stabbed a piece of sausage, and held it in front of Harry's mouth. Unconsciously obeying the silent command Harry opened his mouth, allowing himself to be fed. Severus quirked an eyebrow but said nothing and continued to feed him. Harry chewed thoughtfully, carefully phrasing his next question.
"Why do you call me 'childing' and 'fireling'?" Severus stopped, food halfway to his own mouth, and set the fork down, frowning.
"The real reason why?" Harry nodded.
"It's actually a habit I picked up from Albus. That's what he would call me, 'childing', but not fireling. He used iceling. Now he calls me child. When I asked him why once he just shrugged and said they fit me. That's why I call you 'fireling' and not 'iceling' because fireling fits you," he stumbled along, groping for the best words to make himself understood. To his relief Harry nodded in understanding and asked,
"Have you and Dumbledore always been this close? If I'm not prying," he added hastily.
"No you're not prying and no it has not always been this way. As a student I felt I could always trust him and tell him anything, which I sometimes did. I was drawn to him for some reason, and he later admitted to being drawn to me too. I always knew that if anything ever happened to me, if I got into trouble or was hurt he'd be there with me. He was more of a father to me than Salazar ever was and I do care for him, with all my heart. I'd go through all the fires of hell for that man, /hell/ I practically have several times," Severus paused for a moment, his eyes becoming unfocused, as though he were no longer speaking to Harry but himself, "When I became a teacher here our friendship grew rapidly and has deepened over the years. I can say, honestly and without a doubt, that he will always be there for me and /I/ will always be there for /him/." Harry stared at the man in front of him in a new and respecting light. Now he knew why Dumbledore's trust for the man never wavered. In all accounts they /were/ family, the only family either had and they intended to hold onto it. After a few moments of silence Severus stabbed some egg off the plate and held it in front of Harry, who obliged by opening his mouth.
"You don't mind me calling you those things do you?" he asked, almost afraid of the answer. Harry shook his head and accepted another piece of egg. Severus again smiled in relief. Then a thought occurred to him and the smile took on more of an imp quality.
"You know if this keeps up I'm going to suspect that I'm spoiling you. And if there is one thing I can not /stand/ it is a spoiled child." Harry grinned impishly in return.
"Then how in the world have you put up with Draco Malfoy all these years?" he asked innocently. Severus rolled his eyes at the boy's teasing.
"Simple. Redirect all my anger and frustration at his arrogance to the Gryffindors. Specifically, you, Weasley, Granger, and Longbottom. If I hadn't, my stomach would be one big ulcer right now. You want to know something else? Part of the reason I singled you out in particular was because that's what I thought /you/ were, a spoiled brat," Severus winced at himself and reached out with his hand, caressing Harry's cheek. Harry sighed in content and leaned into the loving touch, "I was wrong. Boy was I wrong. I thought you had been pampered by that /family/," he spat out the word, "of your's and I told myself that I wasn't going to treat you special, not in my class," he raised his eyes to meet Harry's, full of an unspoken apology. Harry grabbed his hand and gave it a quick squeeze, letting the other know he'd been forgiven.
"The Dursleys were never my family. I can't even remember what having a family was like. When I looked into the Mirror of Erised I saw my mum and dad. Dumbledore said that my greatest desire was to see my parents whom I had never known. He was partially right. I did want to see my parents but what I really wanted was to have a family, one that will always be there for me. That's all I've ever really wanted, a family," his voice had dropped to barely above a whisper but Severus caught every word. All the boy wanted was a family? Maybe....he stored the idea away, intending to talk to Albus about it. He looked down at the rapidly cooling food and sighed.
"Harry if we don't eat this now we're not going to want to later." Harry released his hand and realized his appetite had come back /full/ force and with a vengeance. Picking up his fork he dived in.
"I can't find them anywhere!" Harry growled in frustration, throwing down the dowsing crystal. After they had finished breakfast and washed up they'd headed down to the library to search. So far they'd turned up empty handed and it was nearly dinner time. At Harry's exclamation Severus popped his head out of the rows of shelves, then made his way over with an arm load of books, which he promptly dumped on the table.
"Why don't we call it quits for a while and work on something else?" he suggested. Harry looked at him in protest and Severus held up his hands.
"Don't look at me like that. It could take time to find them and even longer to break in. You said you wanted to try to translate what was on your cane didn't you?" Harry nodded, resigned to the fact that the Dursleys would not be found today and took out his spiral notebook he kept his Ancient Runes notes in. He'd found it much more simple to use a muggle spiral and pens in his studies so he didn't have to keep track of all the loose parchment. He flipped through several pages, chose one, and ran a finger down it. Spotting what he was looking for, he grabbed one of the books from the stack Severus had brought.
"What are you looking for?" Severus asked as Harry rapidly flipped thought the pages of Medieval Dialects of England.
"I think I've found the language we're looking for. It's an extremely obscure dialect of Celt though not so obscure that it wasn't mentioned in this book thank goodness. In fact they gave most of the written words and letters. Here look. What do you think?" Severus compared Harry's copy of the writing that was on the staff to the original on it and nodded. Then he compared them to the ones in the book. They matched up. His face split into a wide grin.
"Looks like we've got a match, now all we need to do is a little deciphering." For the next hour they slaved over the notes, arguing here and there about a symbol, sometimes jotting down words. Slowly but surely they finished.
"Okay let's see what we've got here: 'The fire bird mage, the youngest in the Trinity, is where it all begins. Tragedy starts his life, taking away love. But love, being persistent, returns when he enters the care of the silver phoenix. Both are loved by the white phoenix. To join with the staff, to begin the binding of the three, he must show his true form. Once it has begun the silver phoenix will....'." Harry looked over his notes again then at the cane.
"It just stops in mid-sentence. Now why in the world would Merlin stop it in mid-sentence?" Harry wondered aloud. Severus continued to examine the notes and staff.
"Didn't you tell me once that this thing had a brother? The Staff of the Silver Phoenix?" Harry nodded, "Then couldn't the rest be on it? Maybe he just spaced it out, for some odd reason." Harry thought it over. It made sense, that's what /could/ have happened.
" 'To join with the staff, to begin the binding of the three, he must show his true form.' Do you think it means become a golden phoenix? Become an animagi?" he asked. Severus shrugged.
"Could be. You went through the animagi chapter in Transfiguration, didn't you?" Harry nodded.
"Tuesday."
"Then I say we try it. Though we better get Albus down here, just to be safe." Severus rang for one of the house-elves, requesting them to fetch the headmaster. Harry read through the translation again, something catching his eye.
"What does it mean by mage? Is there a difference between wizards and mages?" he asked curiously.
"Mages are more powerful than wizards and witches and often immortal. They control an element such as water, wind, or fire. There hasn't been one, to my knowledge, since Merlin. You can't learn to be a mage either, you're born into it," Severus penetrating gaze swept over and through Harry, searching for what he knew had to be there. And it was there. God was it there. Mage ability, burning just below the surface, waiting to be released.
"You wanted to see me?" Dumbledore's cheerful voice cut through Severus' inspection and he broke eye contact.
"Albus we want you to supervise as Harry attempts to become an animagi," Severus informed him. Dumbledore's smile widened at the news.
"Certainly I will. Here, why don't we move these things out of the way." They shifted the furniture around until there was a clearing to give Harry room to transform.
"Alright, we're are ready when you are." Harry stood in the center of the clearing, feet slightly apart and a death grip on his cane.
"You won't need that you know," Severus reminded but Harry shook his head.
"I'll need it, trust me I'll need it." Severus nodded and Harry closed his eyes, entering into a near trance.
'Transformus Animagi, transformus Animagi.....' over and over he repeated in his mind, feeling a strange burning sensation as he did so. The sensation was centered around his chest but it didn't stay there but spread; from one extremity to the other. He vaguely wondered if he should be alarmed by this but dismissed it. It felt too /good/, too /right/ for something to have gone wrong. The power inside him was building and needed desperately to be released. Only once more.
"Transformus Animagi!" That was it, that was the key. The power that was locked inside him burst free in a blinding flash of golden light.
Severus watched in fascination as feathers grew on the boy. As the transformation progressed Severus felt something inside him stir and awaken. As gold light surrounded Harry, blocking him completely from view, he felt that something inside being drawn to the student, almost physically pulled toward him. As the light around Harry flashed a final time he had to catch himself from falling out of the chair by the sheer force of the pull. As soon as it started, it ended, even as Harry's transformation ended. Severus opened his eyes, blinking away the bright spots that danced in front of his vision. When he did he looked at the clearing and he could feel his jaw drop. Before him was a golden phoenix, an /enormous/ golden phoenix. If he hazarded a guess he figured it was big enough to carry two men on it's back comfortably. He wouldn't even begin to guess about the wing span, but it had to be big. It's coloring was mainly a pure gold but there were intermingling red and black at the tips of it's wings and tail. On it's forehead was a black, lighting shape, mark. All in all it was built not unlike Fawkes, long slender neck, small head, long tail and black beak. The gold, red, and black plumage radiated from an inner fire, giving off a perceptible glow.
"Harry?" he called softly. The bird lifted it's delicate head and peered at him with slightly dazed but still very green eyes. The bird blinked, then trilled at him. It started, almost as if it was surprised that it made that sound. Severus' heart almost burst with pride. Harry had done it. Dumbledore laughed delightedly, not only at the bird's expression but the joy he felt coming from his child. They were close, even if the two didn't realize it yet, they were. The phoenix spread it's wings, then hesitated.
"Go on Harry, take a quick spin around the room but be careful, you're pretty big and you're not going to able to go far," Dumbledore warned. The bird nodded it's head once then took off, trilling it's joy and delight as it flew. Severus watched dazed as Harry went from one corner of the room to the other, not noticing Dumbledore coming up beside him. He started when the man put an arm around his shoulders.
"You've taught him well Severus," the man praised. Severus hung his head to hide his blush at the compliment.
"Most of the credit goes to Harry, he did all the real work. I just pointed him in the right direction, he's a very bright child," Severus muttered humbly. Dumbledore gave him a hug.
"Oh Severus there's a lot to be said about pointing someone in the right direction. Now, we'd better call him down, it's almost time for dinner and I insist you two come and eat with me." Severus nodded.
"Harry come on down, it's time for you to change back," he called out. The bird heard him a swooped in a graceful arch, landed lightly in the center of the clearing.
"Do you remember how to change back?" the Potions Master asked. The phoenix nodded it's head in reassurance and closed it's eyes. A soft glow surrounded it and it began to shrink. It was then that Severus noticed that Harry's staff was still there, standing up on it's own facing Harry. As the boy glowed so did the staff. A beam of gold light shot out from the two stones on the staff and connected with the phoenix's chest. Severus panicked and dove for the staff, intending to break the connection. Two strong hands restrained him.
"Don't interfere Severus, this must happen," Dumbledore soothed the distraught wizard though it was obvious he too was worried. Severus ceased his struggle but continued to watch worriedly as Harry slowly became human once more, the gold thread never wavering. Then the transformation stopped, Harry was wholly human again. Still he did not move nor open his eyes, just continued to stand with his head bowed. Then he raised arm, fist out. He opened his fist, and Severus and Dumbledore waited with bated breath to see what was coming next. And something did come. A tiny ball of fire ignited in Harry's open palm, flickering unsteadily at first. Gaining strength, it grew to the size of a grapefruit, blazing happily. The gold thread slowly dissipated and finally disappeared all together. Harry abruptly snapped back to reality. He shook his head trying to clear away the cobwebs, then looked up at the two wide-eyed wizards.
"What are you two staring at?" he croaked, his throat parched. Ugh, he felt like he'd run ten miles without stopping. Severus shook himself out of his daze first.
"Harry look down at your hand," he commanded calmly. Harry, wondering what was going on, did and gasped as he saw the spinning fireball. He lifted it up to his face and examined closely, passing a hand through it and came away unburned.
"It's not even hot, just warm," he murmured to himself. His eyes squinted in concentration and was astonished when the ball of fire disappeared, just as he had intended it to.
"How....how was I able to do that?" he managed to ask, hoping his voice didn't betray just how scared he was. In fact, he was thoroughly freaked out. Severus, who seemed to be tuned in to Harry's emotions pulled the boy into a protective hug, running a hand over his hair soothingly.
"It seems Harry, that /you/ are a mage. Your element is fire, it obeys your will," he answered. He felt Harry stiffen at this but was relieved when he didn't pull away but buried himself farther into the man's robe.
"But why me, why am I a mage? What does it mean?" his voice muffled slightly by the fabric of the other's robe. Dumbledore walked over to them and hugged Harry from the other side.
"You are a mage Harry because you were destined to be one. And it means that you are the first point in our star of hope," he said knowingly. Harry craned his head around to look at the older wizard in confusion, just a Severus did.
"Don't worry about it now Harry, you have enough on your plate. Why don't we try to eat something and talk? That always helps." The two others nodded, one firmly and one hesitantly, and followed the headmaster up to his rooms.