A.N. The idea about the lightning phoenix is taken from Harry Potter and the Sigil of Power by Minstrel Knight, a good friend and one time roommate.

Chapter 3

Galen returned to the Gryffindor Common Room to see a red haired girl sitting alone in a corner and reading a book. At first, he thought it was Ginny and was about to approach her but then he caught sight of her face and stopped in his tracks. Standing back, he observed her carefully. Her face was thin and had an expression that harbored little welcome. The last time he had seen her was when he was four and she barely three, a bright and cheerful girl full of life. His sister. The only Potter who would enjoy spending time with him, and they both often played together.

At times during their early childhood, Anthea would beg him to read to her and though he could hardly read, he would make up a story from the pictures in their muggle fairy-tale books just to please her. She would reward him with the cutest of grins and her cheer. Sadly, from what he could see of her now, much of her fire had fizzled away. Gathering his courage, he walked closer and whispered, "Is that seat taken?"

The girl merely shook her head and mumbled something inaudible. Sighing in his head, he sat down and saw the title of the book she was reading - Animagus and Human Transfiguration by Walter Weatherstone. The cover had a moving picture of a man turning into a bear and back into a man.

"Anthea, isn't it?" he asked politely to make conversation.

The girl nodded without moving her eyes away from the book.

Galen sighed. This was much harder than he could have expected it to be. "Sorry for bothering you but that book looks fascinating. Would it be too much trouble to ask what it's about?"

Anthea put the book down in exasperation and for an instant seemed ready to make a biting comment but faltered when their eyes met. For an instant she seemed at a loss for words. Then she shook herself out of the stupor and mumbled, "Humans morphing into animals. An Animagus masters a specific transformation, the person's inner animal, and needs no wand or incantation to morph. Very few, however, are able to determine their inner animals," she said in a low voice.

"You mean I could actually morph into something with wings?" Galen asked excitedly. "I could fly?"

The girl nodded her head with a frown. "Is there something you want from me?"

"Nothing more than your company, as no one else is around. Why do you avoid people?"

"That's none of your business," she said sharply. Then, taking a deep breath, she continued, "Look, I'm sorry. I appreciate what you're trying to do but you're wasting your time. I'm just not a very social person."

"And you most certainly will not get any better by surrounding yourself with books all the time," he said before realizing that though he thought of her as his little sister, she would only be seeing him as a complete stranger, and a rude one at that. Thinking fast, he added, "Listen, I'm not sure if you like magical creatures much but I'll guess you do since you're reading a book on changing into animals. Would you like to meet a friend of mine?"

He smiled as the girl looked up with somewhat increasing interest. Not waiting for her to answer, he closed his eyes and searched in his mind. 'Morwen! Can you come here for a moment?'

Immediately, a flash of lightning occurred in front of the two Gryffindors, making Anthea jump. In the very next instant, a brilliant silver-white phoenix hovered in front of them. The phoenix glared at Galen and trilled in irritation and the boy smiled apologetically.

"Sorry, my friend. I want you to meet Anthea."

The phoenix glared at the boy for a second longer before letting out a trill of indulgence and flew to Anthea's lap. The girl stared at the phoenix in wonder and hesitatingly stroked the bird.

'Your sister is hurting, little one,' Galen felt the voice of the phoenix in his head.

Facing the bird, he sighed in his head and sent out, 'I know. Do you know what I can do for her? Can you help her?'

'She blames herself for your disappearance, fledgling. You must reveal yourself to her. That is the only way.'

'But I'm not yet ready,' he protested.

'Then she will suffer until you are ready, little one. Choose swiftly,'she let a trill of admonishment and flying a loop around Galen's head, disappeared in a flash of lightning.

"I… I didn't know phoenixes came in such a wonderful color," Anthea said dreamily. "She is beautiful, like ice and snow."

"Yes," Galen agreed. Then dropping his voice, he added, "She came to me when I was very young. I was alone and hurting. I had left my family."

Anthea shot her head sideways to stare at the boy. She stared at him as he poured his soul to her. Staring into his eyes, she felt something familiar about them. Could it be, she thought in awe. No, she decided, apart from the eyes, Galen didn't look anything like him. But the eyes, they were as haunting as she recalled.

"Why are you telling me this?" she asked in an uneven voice.

"My family didn't care for me as much as my brother. They accidentally abandoned me somewhere and I ran away because I was hurting. I thought I wouldn't be missed. My family didn't care for me. I…" his voice broke slightly and his eyes glistened with unshed tears, "I found a family who took me in and loved me like their own. But I was wrong. My sister was three when I left her. I loved her but never knew how much she cared for me. It kills me to see her hurt so much."

Anthea froze in shock. "H… Harry?" she asked with a hint of dread and anticipation in her voice.

"Yes, Little Anthie," Galen said with much emotion, "It's me."

"Only H… Harry used to call me t… that," she said in a broken voice. Then meeting her brother's eyes, she found what she was looking for and weeping, launched herself in his arms. "I'm s… sorry, big brother. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me."

Galen gaped at her in confusion. "Why are you sorry? I should be the one begging for your forgiveness, for leaving and making you suffer so."

"No… It's my fault," she said with lowered eyes. "If mum wasn't busy with me, she might have spent more time with you. They might have not forgotten you in… that place."

"Anthie," Galen said gently but the girl continued crying and kept her face hidden.

"Anthie," he repeated, lifting her chin up, "Listen to me. You… you were the only one who treated me like family. You have nothing to be sorry for. Please, it hurts me." He wiped a tear from her cheek and leaned forward to kiss her forehead.

"Oh, Harry," she cried. "Big brother, I missed you so much."

Galen held her for a few moments in silence, savoring the closeness with the sister he had missed so much. Then he broke apart, and looked at her intently.

"Anthie," he said seriously, "Please listen to me. Harry Potter is dead. I'm Galen Telcontar now, though here I'm known as Galen Greenstar. It has to be that way."

"I don't care what your name is," she said hotly, "as long as you're my brother, and promise never to leave me again."

Galen smiled. "Always. And if you don't mind, Eldarion will be as a brother to you as well." He frowned when Anthie looked uncertain and a hint of envy crept into her face. "Nobody has or ever can replace you, Little Anthie. But the Telcontars are my family too. They cared for me and accepted me for who I was. Eldarion is my brother in more than just chance. We did an old elvish ritual that makes me truly a Telcontar. Please don't make me choose."

Anthie looked at him in shock and after thinking for a while, slowly nodded her head. "I can accept that. I… I never forgave them… mum, dad, Remus, Danny. I didn't want to forgive Sirius either since he allowed them to hurt you, but I did. He was so heartbroken. Mum grieved too and stopped speaking for a long time, but she should have known better. She should have done better. And dad…" she stopped, her anger evident. Taking a deep breath, she said softly, "I'm glad for you. Tell me more… about your family and the life you had with them," she said to her smiling brother.

They spent the next hour talking happily, and Harry didn't notice Ginny enter the common room and seeing the two of them snuggled together and talking like old friends, quietly walked up to her dorm.

// flashback

The edge of the circle was in view, and the little boy sleeping in its midst woke up in a daze. "Where is mummy?" he asked out loud but received no answer. With sudden frenzy, he jumped up and looked around. "Mummy? Anthie? Daddy? Anybody?"

He looked in front and saw a flicker of light in the distance. The family had come to watch the Quidditch World Cup in Spain and he had been bored after being left alone by his parents for nearly a day and half. Finally, he had seen his Uncle Padfoot running around as a dog and followed him out of their campsite until he had become tired, and unknowingly fallen asleep. But now he was awake. And lost.

But just before he started moving towards the light in the distance, something else fluttered across his mind. The hurt from years of neglect sprang foremost in his head. The love that he had so longed for and that had been denied to him, crushed against the mere four year old like a train at full speed, and he toppled over. Lying on the ground and overwhelmed by his tears, he didn't notice the edge of the circle suddenly start glowing. Within seconds, the entire circle was ablaze in white light, but the boy's eyes were shut tight and he paid no heed as the mist brightened and then flickered softly into darkness, leaving no signs of its presence behind, save the sudden appearance of a man and a woman.

Isildul looked at the crying child in wonder and turned to his wife, the Lady Amaryllis, who was staring at the weeping boy with a tenderness that clearly affected her. Without waiting or even looking back at her husband, Amaryllis walked to the boy and put her arms around him, whispering, "Hush, little one." She gazed tenderly with her emerald eyes as the boy raised his head, and stared at her with wet green eyes of his own. She jumped slightly and the boy flinched, fearing her rejection, and she mentally chastised herself. Reaching forward, she kissed the boy's forehead.

"Where are your parents, little one?" Isildur asked from behind his wife. The boy's tears and his wife's response to them had affected him as well and he knelt by the two. But he had an important task at hand and couldn't afford to tarry too long. The boy was clearly lost and they would help find his parents. But as he patted the boy's back, something unbidden flicked through Isildur's heart. Finding the boy's parents suddenly didn't appeal to him as much.

Shocked by his sudden confusion, he cleared his head and looked at the boy. He would find the boy's parents and return him to them. He then gazed at his wife, who was lost in comforting the hurting child.

"There…" the boy said finally, pointing to a faint light at the distance.

Isildur nodded. "Come on then, we will take you back to them. They must be worried."

Sadly, the boy stood up and said in a small voice, "No, they wont." With nothing further, he turned towards the light.

Isildur looked at his wife in surprise. The boy showed little desire to find his parents. Ordinarily, he would put it down to something childish, perhaps a toy not given, or a punishment that was too harsh, but the boy didn't seem angry at all, simply sad… and lonely.

To his surprise, Amaryllis grabbed the boy back, and asked softly, "Do your parents hurt you?"

The boy shook his head while staring at the ground. "N-No. They don't hurt me. But they don't love me," he said in a broken voice, as several fresh tears came to his eyes.

"Oh, you poor dear," Amaryllis choked back a sob of her own and brought the boy to her bosom. Turning to Isildur, she looked pleadingly.

The King of New Numenor shook his head though he felt his own heart break at the boy's response. Reverting to Elvish, he said, "No, dearest. He is their child, by blood and law. Regardless of anything, I cannot believe any parent would not love their child. They will miss him. I cannot deprive a parent of their child."

But Amaryllis stared back in defiance, not letting go of the boy, who seemed to really relish the affectionate touch.

"Look at him, Isildur!" she exclaimed in the same language. "Look at the joy in his face at a simple hug! Does he look like someone who has received much affection from his parents? Will you sentence him to more sorrow?"

"But still, my dear, you cannot ask me to kidnap a child," he looked at the boy for a few seconds. "Not even if he is just the person we have been searching for."

"It is Eru's will, dearest," Amaryllis said softly. "Him being in the circle just as we think of going to the orphanage to look for someone who could help Eldarion." Seeing her husband in a dilemma, she added, "Can we at least wait here for the rest of the night to see if his parents come looking for him? If not, then they do not deserve such a dear child."

Sighing, Isildur acquiesced. "Eru's will."

flashback //

After telling Anthea about some of his escapades during his early years in New Numenor, his gaze fell on the book she had been reading before he joined her. The picture of the transforming man had really made him warm up to the idea of becoming an Animagus himself.

"So, is that book for purely academic purpose or do you truly intend to become one?" he asked.

Anthea averted his gaze and stammered her response, "Uhm… you see, I uhm… I already know my form. But I haven't been able to do the transformation yet."

"You know your form?" Galen asked in wonder. "Wait! How do you find out your form?"

"It's a potion. Sirius made it for me earlier this year. He thought it might be a good idea for me to become an Animagus. Alternate escape route, according to him… tensions have been high since You Know Who's return."

"So what is your form?" he asked curiously.

Anthea grinned proudly. "I'm a red-tailed hawk."

"Wow," Galen said with admiration. "I am absolutely certain I'll be an eagle. There is no other creature I can identify myself as. And Giharein would be most displeased if I'm any other animal. In fact, I'm certain she'll kill me if I turn out to be any other bird."

"Who?" his sister asked in confusion.

"Gilharein. She's the Mother Eagle who kidnapped me for a day when I was younger. She is fabulous." Then seriously, he asked, "Can you help me become an Animagus too?"

"Of course, big brother!" Anthea said happily but raised her eyebrows at Galen's sudden frown.

"Don't call me that, Anthie," he said sadly. "I do like it," he corrected himself, seeing the hurt flash across his sister's eyes. "But I can't have anyone else find out, especially James and Lily Potter. Regardless of anything, they are no longer my parents and for them to find out would make everything more inconvenient for me. Please, Anthie." Seeing her nod in acceptance, Galen smiled.

Later that evening, he was shocked to see Ginny appear distant to him and was even more amazed by how much her coldness affected him. She was sitting between Neville and Ron, and politely responded to his greeting but stopped at that. Shaking his head in confusion, he looked at Hermione who had just appeared and was also looking at Ginny curiously.

"What's up with her?" he asked quietly, when the brown haired girl sat next to him.

"I'm not sure," Hermione said with a frown. Then shaking her head, she picked up a sandwich from a tray placed in front of her, disregarding all the wonderful dishes that everyone else seemed to relish with great joy.

"She makes them herself and sends to the kitchen to be served to her," Neville explained.

Galen frowned. "Hermione," he began kindly. "Standing up so strongly for Elvish rights, for a race that is undeniably oppressed and downtrodden, speaks highly of your character, but in the end it will amount to little. You will aid none with your aims."

"What do you mean?"

"Elves… the First Born, I mean," Galen corrected himself, "are no longer part of this world. At best, you can find a few people who have a little bit of Elvish blood in their veins - like me and Eldarion. One of our long distant ancestors married a true Elf and we are all more human than Elven. But have you wondered why when the Elves disappeared, the House Elves were left behind?" Seeing Hermione look back in confusion, he nodded his head. "I thought so. No text book will tell you what I'm about to say. House Elves and Goblins… at first sight, you might think the two races have nothing in common, but nothing could be further from the truth."

By then, the Gryffindor table had become quite silent and everyone was eagerly listening to Galen's explanation, and Hermione being told something she didn't earlier know by another student was in itself a highly rare thing.

"They both share one thing in common - their origins. Both were Elves once, fair and wise," he paused to allow his words to sink in. "But then a Dark Lord, the first evil in the world when it was still young, took several prisoners and tortured and corrupted them to such extremes that their very life force was spent and defiled. With what was left behind, the Dark Lord did the vilest thing imaginable. He gave them life. A half-life, a cursed existence. A life bound to his own. And thus, the Goblins were forced to do as their master commanded, and it wasn't until both him and his chief enforcer were destroyed that some Goblins managed to free themselves of this curse. These are the ones who run Gringotts."

"Interesting," Hermione remarked when Galen paused to drink some water.

"It was the same with House Elves. Corrupted and defiled by a Dark Wizard in the fourth century who sought to create a new ilk of Goblins loyal to him alone, he instead ended up with House Elves. He wasn't as powerful as Morgoth who created the Goblins. The House Elves were bound to eternal servitude not to that specific Dark Wizard. By using his blood to bind them, he enabled the House Elves to require anyone with magical blood as their master for survival. Some chose death, but death wasn't as easy as they had imagined. Part of the curse was that death due to insubordination would be a slow and painful process, and the screams of those who chose death resounded for weeks and swayed the decision of the rest of their brethren from following their path. Those that remained and their descendants have to live in eternal servitude to some household, or else they would wither away and die in that very same painful manner."

"How awful!" Hermione cried in outrage. "Can nothing be done? The Goblins managed to break away. Can't the House Elves?"

Galen nodded wryly. "They can. But for that every single magical being must die. Only then will they be able to free the curse of servitude, and that too only until a magical baby is born in a muggle family. That child will have the entire population of House Elves under his command. It is a pity but there really is no redemption for them, except in death after having served their masters with utmost dedication."

"So I repeat, let go of your quest to save the House Elves. They are truly lost."