The Truth Of The Phoenix.

Chapter Two

I still have nightmares about the night Cedric died. Sometimes I see it exactly how it happened but at other times things change. Sometimes Cedric doesn't die, sometimes the spell fails and Voldemort doesn't come back and at other times our wans don't connect and I die.

I sometimes dream Cedric's before me and he's screaming at me about how I let him die, how I've hurt his parents. In this dream Sirius and Remus usually appear and tell me how much they hate what I've let myself become.

I mean I know these dreams have no truth in reality. I know both Sirius and Remus are proud of me. It's just my mind's in such turmoil. Everyone seems to think I can save the Wizarding world from destruction, even though they don't know the prophecy. How am I supposed to save the whole Wizarding world when I can't even save Cedric.

No one realises that I don't know what I'm doing. They all think I'm powerful and special when really I'm a fifteen year old, who just wants to be left alone. No one can see the real me. Not Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore or Sirius. The scary thing is that the only person who gets close is Snape. He doesn't see the Boy-Who-Lived, he sees my Father and that doesn't bother me. No matter what my Father did i the past he is still my blood and I would never change that.

In truth, Snape is the only one---

Harry looked up from his journal, across the ark and cluttered room, towards the desk on the other side of the room. There he found the cause of the pop and the flash of colour that had startled him just a moment ago.

Harry was rather surprised to see Fawkes sitting on the edge of the desk. He didn't have a letter attached so Harry presumed that the Headmaster hadn't sent him. 'So what is Fawkes doing here?'

Harry sat up on the bed and stared at Fawkes. After a few seconds Harry whispered almost to himself, "what are you doing here Fawkes."

The Phoenix tipped its head to the side and then suddenly there was a blinding light of purple and orange. It was so bright that Harry had no choice but tho close his eyes and turn away. When the light disappeared he opened his eyes and blinked a couple of times before looking over at Fawkes. Or where Fawkes had been.

Now sitting on the desk was a young man. The guy looked to be around nineteen and towered over Harry at 6 foot. He had short brown hair and dark blue eyes. He was both lean and muscular and looked like he belonged on a track team. At the moment, however, it had little effect on Harry.

"Wha...who are you? How did you get in here? Where's Fawkes?" stuttered Harry.

The stranger smiled at Harry in a rather pitying way. "To answer your first question: My name is Nathaniel. Second question: I fire apparated. And your third question: he's sitting right in front of you. I'm Fawkes"

Harry stared for a moment. "That's not possible. Fawkes is a Phoenix, your...not!"

'Nathaniel' sighed. "This would be easier if your head hadn't been filled with nonsense." He sighed again. "Harry, I am Fawkes and yes I am a Phoenix. As a matter of fact so are you. Stop Harry," he held up his hands to silence Harry before he could ask a question. "I will explain everything after you trust me."

Harry thought for a moment then asked, "what exactly happened in The Chamber of Secrets in my third year."

Nathanial smiled. "It was actually your second year, good try though. Well, I felt that you were in trouble and realised what was going on. So, I grabbed Eric and followed his instructions on how to get into the chamber. When I got there I dropped Eric, you put him on, he gave you the Sword of Godric Gryffindor and you shoved it through the roof of the Basilisk's mouth. It bit you in the arm and I healed you with my tears. Anything else?"

All Harry could say was, "Eric?"

"Oh, that's the sorting hat. He got tired of everyone calling him 'the sorting hat' so he decided that he should have a name and he decided on Eric. Are you ready for me to explain this to you?" Harry nodded. "Good. Now lets start by talking about magic itself.

"Magic has been around, at least, as long as humans have. What wasn't around was Evil. For thousands of years magic was seen by all magical users as neutral. There was no Light or Dark magic until 1000b.c. Now, in one of the ancient cultures, we're not sure which as the knowledge was lost some time ago, a rather powerful witch started to use her magic to do ill. She started manipulating spells to hurt people, this was when the killing curse was created, that much is known.

"When she was finally brought down muggles had already found out about magic. To save the lives of the other magical users, the witches and wizards of the area told them a lie about there being Light and Dark magic. Over time the lie spread. As there were no schools, magical children learned magic through apprenticeships and from every rumour and story they heard. So the new generation was taught that magic wasn't neutral and todays society was formed.

"Before this Phoenix's did not exist. A Phoenix lives to create a balance, to keep neutrality. At the moment, you wouldn't believe, but there is a balance. However, if either Dumbledore or Voldemort win the balance will be tipped. That's were you come in."

Harry interrupted. "What the hell am I supposed to do? I'm only a bloody kid"

"You, Harry James Potter, are going to save the world from itself."

Harry scowled. "What are you talking about? And lets get back to the me being a phoenix thing."

"Harry when I say Phoenix I don't mean you are a magical creature. I mean only that you can create balance. Phoenix isn't the name of a magical creature, it is a title for someone who creates balance. Of course, with the title comes both abilities and responsibilities."

"Huh?"

Again with the pitying smile. "Just go along with this Harry, it's all rather complicated"

Harry nodded his head slowly. Well what would you do if a Phoenix burst into your room, the said Phoenix turned into a human and then he had been told you were a Phoenix? Yeah nodding your head and saying 'huh' defiantly summed it up.

"Ok, I'll go along with this," said Harry, "but why are you telling me all this Fawkes?"

"Please Harry, call me Nat. I'm here because you're no longer neutral. Your leaning towards the Light side too much Harry"

The other boy frowned. "But isn't that a good thing? If I'm more Light won't I be less likely to hurt people?"

"Harry it's not that simple. As you know, a Phoenix is a symbol of Light magic, they are said to be made of Light magic and the protectors against Dark magic. To put it lightly: This is utter bullshit.

"Think of it this way, there is no Light or Dark magic, there is just magic and on its own it is neither. However, with intent it can be said to be one of these, but really it's the the user, do you understand?" Harry nodded. "Yes, being brought up by muggles helped you in that respect. Very few, and I mean very few, wizards who have lived in the Wizarding world their whole lives can understand this. They are brought up to believe in the sides of magic and even muggle-borns are made to believe this.

"I'm here Harry for one thing and one thing only Harry. To turn you Darker."