Hello everyone and welcome to the next chapter of the saga! Now, I've come to a decision regarding the pairings, but don't expect them to start carrying weight until much later in the fic. I want to tell a different story than I did in the original and this is part of serving that line of thinking. Anyway, with that explanation done let's get the show on the road

Disclaimer: Don't own Harry Potter

CHAPTER TWO: FROM THE FLAMES OF THE PHOENIX

"Right, let's go over the schedule for when the Masons' arrive one more time shall we? When they arrive you will be, Dudley?"

"I'll be at the door waiting to take their coats."

"Good, Good, Petunia?"

"I'll be in the living room, waiting to welcome them graciously to our home."

"Excellent! And you boy?"

Harry had endured this speech being drilled into him no less than fourteen times by Uncle Vernon in the past two days alone, he was not likely to forget the words anytime in the near future, "I'll be in my bedroom, making no noise and pretending that I don't exist."

"Too right you will," Vernon told him, "This could very well be the day I make the biggest deal of my career and you will not mess. It. up. Now, upstairs with you before they get here. Petunia left your supper inside the room."

Harry nodded once, there was no use in being difficult here, it was better for the long term if he just sucked it up and endured for the time being. He turned away from the Dursley's in silence, and departed through the stairwell, heading to the smallest bedroom in the house, at the far end of the hallway. He reached out, taking the door handle into his grip. Harry turned it and pushed the door open. He expected to find the plate of meager food on the cheap drawers beneath the windowsill, in this case, two slices of bread and a singular chunk of cheese. What Harry wasn't expecting to encounter was a small creature with large, floppy ears and bright tennis-ball green eyes.

"Hello!" the creature exclaimed excitedly.

Harry's brow shot up beneath his glasses, "Who are you?"

"Dobby. Sir, Dobby The House-Elf."

"Not to be rude or anything, but this isn't exactly the best time for me to have a house-elf in my bedroom."

"No, sir, No, Dobby understands, but ti is difficult sir, Dobby wonders where to begin."

Harry quickly stepped fully into his room and closed the door behind him as quietly as possible. Even if lowered voices, it was preferable to give sound another barrier to reaching the Dursley's in this case. They were, by nature, against anything that contradicted their idea of normal. He felt himself questioning why this had to happen tonight of all times? Why not last night or the one before that? Sure, The Dursleys would probably still be furious but nowhere near the level they would be if this house-elf's appearance were to cause problems for them tonight.

"Well," Harry tried gently, waving a hand loosely toward the bed on the left side of the room, "Why don't you sit down?"

"S-sit down!?"

"S-sorry! I didn't mean to offend you or anything!"

"Offend Dobby? Harry Potter could never do so, but never has Dobby been asked to sit down by a wizard before, like an equal."

"You can't have met many decent wizards then."

"No, I haven't. That was an awful thing to say."

Dobby reached for something nearby, but Harry's instincts kicked in and he took a hold of the item, trying to tug it out of the elf's grip, "Give me the lamp!" he hissed desperately.

—-

—-

It had barely been a day since he'd been called down from his bedroom and everything had gone catastrophically wrong for one Harry Potter. The Dinner Party that his Uncle Vernon was hosting for one of his clients had been interfered with by a strange house-elf by the name of Dobby, the intention being to keep Harry from returning to Hogwarts. Originally, Dobby had tried to make Harry agree to his demands peacefully but refusal had been met with a desire to take more drastic action in such a way that forced Harry to comply. Now, here he was locked inside his bedroom, his windows covered tightly attached bars and given the law surrounding underage magic, powerless to escape. He could likely blast them off without too much effort but this would inevitably be more trouble than it was worth. Surely, someone would notice his absence at the welcoming feast? Ron and Hermione would, at the very least, but Harry doubted two second years, no matter how talented Hermione was, could pull off a rescue mission in this scenario.

Harry flopped back onto his mattress, forcing a heavy sigh out from between his lips. His gaze drifted to the ceiling and perhaps began the process of accepting that this was his fate for the moment. He'd spent a good deal of the summer thinking that his two best-friends had forgotten him, but as it turned out that had only been another of Dobby's attempts to make Harry turn away from the idea of returning to Hogwarts. The other concern Harry had, was the possibility of Dobby being correct if he did return. He'd only just endured a catastrophic event during his first year at Hogwarts, was it possible that another situation could be developing already? It was a concerning thought and instead of deterring him, maybe - Well, attempting to prevent it now was a moot point. He couldn't do anything right now, not even send a letter to someone who could-

'Are you done complaining, Photas?'

"Who said that?"

"That doesn't matter for now. The important part is that I'm here to help you."

"I don't have the best track record when it comes to people trying to help me. What's in this for you? And let's start with some truth. Why did you call me Photas?"

The sound Harry could most associate with a sigh emanated through his mind and the wizard's eyes only narrowed in confusion, but he didn't react outside of that, he was on guard, as ready for this situation as a freshly graduated first year could be. Which was far less than Harry would like to admit. If this turned out to be a hostile force and it had enough power, what would be able to do? He'd have to get creative for sure with the limited spells in his arsenal.

'For Zeus' sake, I'm not going to attack you, child. My name is Novae. I am a Royal Phoenix and The Emissary of the God's Chosen, The Caelin. I was created by Photas to assist the Caelin in all manner of tasks including guiding new generations of Caelin through selection, training and all manner of things to come. As for how this ties to you, you have been selected to take the mantle of your generations' Photas. That is why I referred to you by that name, it is who you are."

"I was expecting more of a roundabout answer," Harry admitted. This was perhaps the first time in his life that someone had been straightforward with him about something on such a scale. Even after the incursions with the Philosopher's Stone last year, Dumbledore had remained passive, only giving Harry roundabout and passive answers that didn't do much good in answering his questions.

"Why haven't you appeared?"

'I thought appearing suddenly would cause you alarm and as much as they deserve it, the alarm would have alerted your Muggle Relatives and now is not yet the time for a confrontation with them. The time for that will come, but until certain things fall into place we must unfortunately bide our time."

"I need to get out of the room," Harry hissed desperately, "To go back to Hogwarts, no matter what that Elf says. If there's trouble coming and I'm supposed to be Photas like you claim, there's no way I can let this go unanswered. You're supposed to be here to help me, so do your job or I'll choose not to believe anything you tell me."

"The Elf's methods may have been extreme but I have a feeling that his claims weren't so exaggerated, but the incident to which he refers, you are not ready for and we must train you up to the point you are ready to do so. There's no need to be difficult, Photas. I said I would help you and I fully intend to honor those words. But we cannot rush this, one wrong move and our plan becomes unraveled before we take a single step in the direction of solving it. I'm sure you do not want that. The first piece of information I'm going to give you might unsettle you."

"What is it?"

"Albus Dumbledore is not to be trusted."

END CHAPTER