Shower thoughts
It was in the shower, Harry realised Tom had split his soul more than once.
Arithmancy textbook. Magic numbers.
Three or Seven?
Three, one for Tom, and two more. One already gone. One to go.
Still, if he'd done Seven parts; that'd make One down… five to go. Seven was a much more powerful magical number than three.
Back to the room of 'Defeat Tom Riddle'.
This was the same room. But with an old tarnished silver crown, and a stone bowl of clear-ish liquid that smelt of… Basilisk breath. What a monumentally dangerous helpful room.
Harry dropped the crown when he touched it; His scar stabbing like …. Quirrell. Oh. Shit.
Harry used his handkerchief to put the crown in the liquid; the tiny crown melted into silvery and fizzing gems; Harry backed far away. The biggest gem exploded into a cloud of black, screaming smoke, splattering Basilisk venom around. Harry was just out of the splatter zone. Whew, lucky for him. One down.
Quirrell… he had one, or was one. Or was possessed. Let's assume that was the main bit of Tom.
Diary was too, and so was crown. That was three. Quirrell was… probably in St Mungos.
Harry had to visit. Quirrell needed to die. If Voldemort survived, he had more.
That sounded like a Headmaster Dumbledore sort of problem. He'd known all about Tom, and Horcruxes.
Harry had a "free period" after lunch, so he went to see the Headmaster instead of doing an assignment. Harry hissed open at the doorway.
Once again, the grotesque ducked to the side and bowed.
Harry knocked on the door at the top of the stairs.
"Come in" said Headmaster Dumbledore curiously.
"Headmaster" said Harry.
"Harry" said the Headmaster somewhat casually.
"I ah... I found another one of Tom Riddle's Horcruxes" said Harry "I've managed destroy it, but It's really a bit harder than I can manage."
"Destroyed… a Horcrux?" asked the Headmaster, gaping a little.
"Basilisk Venom supplied by the Room of Requirement" explained Harry "It makes a room that is whatever you need. Mostly."
The Headmaster looked surprised. "Take a seat Harry" he said.
Harry sat down.
"You know what a Horcrux is?" asked the Headmaster slowly.
"The room of requirement provided a room to learn how to defeat Tom Riddle" explained Harry.
"And you wanted to know that why?" asked the Headmaster.
"I have that copy of the Daily Prophet, the one that let slip He'd some something to come back from the dead" said Harry bluntly.
"And how did you find this 'come and go' room?" asked the Headmaster politely.
"I asked the house elves for somewhere I could learn destructive spells without wrecking classrooms." explained Harry "The Abandoned classrooms seem mostly in use by senior students, ah…. Kissing" said Harry, blushing a little.
"You're a very driven young man, Harry" mused Professor Dumbledore thoughtfully.
"I'm going to have to defeat Tom and his army. What's left of it. It seems… unavoidable" said Harry. As Harry said that, the Headmaster visibly winced.
"What is it sir?" asked Harry "You know something, don't you?"
"The reason, Harry, that you were attacked, that your parents were killed, was that there was a prophecy about you and Tom. It could have been you, or poor Neville Longbottom, until you got your scar. The prophecy calls out being marked by Tom. I'm sorry Harry." explained the Headmaster.
Harry felt floaty, then dizzy all of a sudden. His chest hurt. He blinked "A prophecy?" asked Harry, gasping for breath. "I… have to defeat Tom. I'm thirteen!" He gasped, his chest hurting.
"Harry, are you all right?" asked the Headmaster.
"My heart" said Harry honestly. "Basilisk venom. Can't be helped" he gasped, his chest aching like fire. And his arms, oddly.
"Fawkes!" called the Headmaster firmly "Harry is very unwell!"
Over in the corner of the room, on a golden stand, what Harry had assumed was a golden statue of a bird opened its eyes "Prawk?" it cawed.
"Harry's been injured by Basilisk venom, Fawkes. Could you spare him?" asked the Headmaster in an oddly pleading tone.
The bird opened its golden wings, scarlet underneath and flew across the room to land heavily on Harry's thighs, it's talons digging in very painfully. Compared to his heart, nothing.
The large bird, bigger than an owl, the size of a goose at least, eyed Harry from very close up with eyes that were a yellowy gold with pinkish eyelids. "Praaak" said the bird.
"Fawkes is a Phoenix. He's immensely magical and can possibly heal you." said the Headmaster hopefully "Fawkes, could you please?" he pleaded.
The Headmaster was pleading with a bird, Harry realised.
The bird stretched upward and cawed loudly "Praawk"
Harry felt a sudden increase in the stabbing pain in his chest and slid bonelessly off the chair, the bird flapping its wings and ending up looking down on Harry's face, as Harry's vision shrank to a tunnel again.
Then the bird leaned over and… cried in his mouth. The tears tasted like fireworks smelt.
"Swallow Harry, you must swallow" said the Headmaster urgently and Harry swallowed the drops of... Phoenix tears?
The pain in his chest eased, and his vision slowly returned to normal, but he felt like he'd run up all the stairs to Gryffindor tower.
"How do you feel, Harry?" asked the Headmaster, coming over and kneeling by Harry, giving the Phoenix an affectionate stroke. The bird trilled, a lovely burbling sound and Harry felt cheered up just hearing it.
"Ah, Phoenix song, it restores the goodwill of those who hear it" said the Headmaster. "Fawkes, thank you so much. Poor Harry is as I said while you were asleep, the subject of a Prophecy. He is the one chosen the defeat Tom Riddle, the dark lord."
"Prek?" went Fawkes.
"Yes, he calls himself Voldemort as well" agreed the Headmaster.
"Can you understand him?"croaked Harry.
"Most of the time" admitted the Headmaster. "He can, despite his sleek appearance carry immense loads, and if he chooses, he can assist me in travelling vast distances in a burst of flames. Of course," the headmaster digressed "He dies and is reborn in fire every now and then, for Phoenixes are truly immortal. I have no idea how old he is. The Chinese wizards say Phoenixes are as old as the universe. It may be the case."
Fawkes preened, while standing heavily on Harry's chest, his talons stabbing into Harry.
"Thank you, Fawkes" croaked Harry.
"Well, I'll ah, hurry along some research about Tom." said the Headmaster.
"Oh the room gave me a book. He was the son of the last Gaunt, his grandfather was Marvolo Gaunt" said Harry "I think from the family tree his mother was Merope Gaunt. There was no information about her."
"Oh, I have a fair idea" said the Headmaster "She died in childbirth and Tom went to Woods Orphanage in London. I was the one that went to take Tom shopping before first year" said the Headmaster sadly. "Now I believe you have Charms this afternoon?"
Harry got up, Fawkes hopping off and in one flap soaring across the room to his perch.
"Prek! Prek! Prek!" Fawkes cawed insistently.
Headmaster Dumbledore went to his desk and got out a locked steel box, and unlocked it. He took out a long red chilli and threw it to Fawkes who snatched it in mid-air.
"He likes hot chillies" said the Headmaster, locking the box away "But they give him the runs."
Professor Dumbledore vanished the blood from Fawkes's claws before Harry left.
Charms class was nice. Seize and Pull charms with pillows. Handy when you feel weak as a kitten.
Harry went back to the Slytherin Common room after charms, the wounds from Fawkes' talons really aching.
"Think fast" someone threw a tiny golden ball at Harry, and he caught it.
"Potter, can you fly" asked a snaggle-toothed older student.
"He's quite good" noted Zabini.
"Potter, Quidditch try-outs Friday evening" said the snaggle-toothed student, and took the golden ball off Harry.
There was a group of third years gathered around a small dark haired girl who wasn't a third-year. Greengrass was holding her. The little dark haired girl looked unwell.
"Does she need to go to the infirmary?" asked Harry.
Pansy looked at him oddly "Potter, you're bleeding" she said.
Harry looked at his uniform; he had blood on his chest and legs again. "Oh" said Harry "It's nothing."
"Potter, is that your blood" asked Zabini.
"Yeah, but I'll be fine." said Harry.
"Potter, this is my sister, Astoria" explained Greengrass "A trip to the infirmary will not help her, kindly leave us alone" she said firmly.
"Phoenix Tears" said Harry "Fixes anything" he said and felt immediately stupid as everyone looked at him like he was a berk.
Zabini got up and took Harry's arm "I'll take the mental patient to the Infirmary" said Zabini.
Harry looked at the arm holding him "I'm fine. Just scratches" he said "The Phoenix scratched me a bit."
"Potter, are you saying that you just had an encounter with a Phoenix?" asked Greengrass, with her wand in her hand.
"Yeah, the Headmaster has one." said Harry "He, ah helped me. I… I think I was having a heart attack, honestly. The Basilisk venom wrecked my heart."
"You got envenomed by the Basilisk you supposedly killed?" asked Greengrass.
"It bit me when I stuck a sword into it's brain, yes" corrected Harry. Harry thought it sounded a lot less stupid the way Harry said it.
"Would Phoenix tears cure me, Daphne?" gasped the small girl.
Greengrass looked very conflicted "If there really is a Phoenix, and it cries… then yes, it might cure you Astoria, but please don't got your hopes up. You know father's tried everything."
"Not a Phoenix" said Astoria.
"Potter, has the Headmaster really got a tame Phoenix?" asked Greengrass, brows tightening.
I'm not sure it's tame, but he can talk to it" replied Harry.
"And it will cry Phoenix Tears?" asked Greengrass.
"Just remember, when he says, swallow, just swallow. Try to ignore the taste" said Harry.
A red flash. Darkness.
Harry woke up on a bed with a white ceiling. The infirmary again, by the smell.
"Ah, Mister Potter, you've woken up" said Madam Pomfrey, bustling over "You were brought in by young Misters Zabini and Goyle, you had some quite nasty cuts, and a few hexes, but I've reversed them all, so you'll go back to normal soon enough" said the Medi-witch.
"Hexes?" asked Harry "I remember a red flash?"
"A stunner." said Madam Pomfrey "The rest would have been administered afterwards. You appear to have annoyed some witches. Zabini mentioned you might have used suggestive language with some of the Slytherin girls. We tend to take offence at that sort of thing" she said.
"We?" asked Harry.
"I was in Slytherin, class of fifty-eight" said Madam Pomfrey.
"I remember saying how when Professor Dumbledore gets Fawkes to cry in your mouth, and he says swallow, you'd better, even though it tastes bad." said Harry.
Madam Pomfrey looked pained. "You have no idea why that's suggestive, do you?" she asked.
Harry shook his head.
"Ask Zabini" she said "Did you really get Phoenix tears?"
"I um… had a heart attack, I think, talking to the Headmaster, and Fawkes saved me." said Harry.
Madam Pomfrey whipped her wand out and started casting.
"Oh, you've had a heart attack, but the damage seems… to be healing. And the Basilisk damage. Fawkes has done you an enormous favour. I assume therefore the cuts are from Fawkes's claws?"
"Yeah" said Harry. "He checked me over before he'd cry."
"Phoenixes aren't cows to be milked for tears" said Madam Pomfrey "They only give to the deserving."
"I hope Astoria is deserving" said Harry "She looked really sick."
"You've met young Miss Greengrass then?" asked Madam Pomfrey. "Was her older sister with her when you made your fateful speech?"
"Um, yes" said Harry.
"Ah, I'll have a word with her. I should have recognised her handiwork." said Madam Pomfrey calmly.
"What?" Harry exclaimed.
"Miss Daphne Greengrass may well have been the one that Hexed you" replied Madam Pomfrey. "Take care not to irritate her, she has a bit of a temper."
"She hexed me? Surely she gets points off, or a detention?" asked Harry, thinking this was a bit unfair.
"Young man, if a witch can't hex boys with big mouths or roaming hands, she's no better than a muggle." said Madam Pomfrey "Consider it a lesson in manners."
"This is bullshit" cursed Harry.
"Oh, I think you need a potion" said Madam Pomfrey, and went out to her back room, and came back with a small blue bottle "Open wide!" she said.
Harry drank and it tasted like socks. "Ugh!" he groaned. "What was that for?"
"Bad language. Get out of my ward" snapped Madam Pomfrey.
Harry ducked nervously though the common room to the dorm room.
Zabini was working on an assignment "Ah you're back" he said "Only a few hours."
Crabbe and Goyle and Nott stared. "Greengrass hexed him and he's already walking. Well done Potter. You're setting a record. Most boys take a night to get over it." said Nott.
Crabbe giggled "He's lost a day" he said "Stop messing with him."
"As Crabbe alludes" said Zabini "It's actually Sunday night, you spend twenty-four hours out cold. You've now met Greengrass and Little Greengrass. Little Greengrass and Greengrass are missing this evening, so maybe they really are with the Headmaster. Little Greengrass has always been sickly, and Greengrass the elder is very, very protective of her sister."
"And a generally vicious witch" said Nott. "Pansy will call you names if you offend her. Greengrass will hex you. Her speciality is changing over time, but generally she'll hex you in the bits."
"Avoid Moon" offered Goyle unexpectedly "She does voodoo."
"That is an unsubstantiated rumour" said Nott. "But the girls all stick together, and most of them have known each other their whole lives. Like Davis and Greengrass."
"They're girlfriends" said Crabbe quietly.
"Crabbe, what have we told you about saying that?" asked Nott.
"I'll get really badly hurt if I say it again and they hear?" said Crabbe stupidly.
"Greengrass or Davis, who's a very reasonable girl, will probably do something nasty" said Nott.
"Witches, Slytherin ones, so Proper witches, are witches first, students second. Their mums have taught them spells to keep safe, and they all use them on people that annoy them" said Zabini.