Harry sighed when he woke up, feeling extremely tired and sore for some
reason. He sat up to stretch his unusually stiff muscles and looked over at
Ron to see if he was awake yet. Not surprisingly, the young Weasley was
still sprawled out on his bed in an untidy heap, snoring loudly.
*Ron, wake up, it's time for breakfast.* Harry nearly smacked himself when he remembered what happened the day before. He had hoped that the weird voice thing would go away over night, but for him it was no such luck. Wishing to ponder over the strangeness of the events at another time, he decided to take a shower.
While in the shower, Harry noticed something peculiar. As he was washing his hair, he noticed his normally difficult and messy hair was even more so this morning. No matter how much shampoo he used, and no mater how much he tried to brush through his hair, it remained together in clumps on his head, refusing to be parted. After about thirty minutes of fruitless scrubbing, he decided to throw in the towel and give up. He wrapped a towel around his body and stood in front of the mirror to brush his teeth. The yell that he emitted only seconds after, was loud enough to wake every living creature within the school.
"Bloody hell, Harry! What in the name of Godric's hair was that abou- OH MY FREAKING MERLIN!" Ron stood frozen in the doorway, his mouth gaping.
"Ron. . . what the heck is going on with me!?" Harry half whimpered, half yelled. He didn't even pay much attention to the fact that his voice sounded normal at the moment. He and Ron were a bit to preoccupied with the state of Harry's hair.
Blinking to make sure he wasn't seeing things, Ron cautiously stepped forward toward Harry. "Harry, are those. . . feathers?" Indeed, on top of Harry's head, instead of the normal messy black hair, were brilliant red feathers, streaked with gold and black. Harry, still in a state of shock, was poking and touching them, as if to make sure they were real.
"Yes, Ron," he choked out. "These would be feathers."
Ron tentatively reached up and touched the mass of feathers. A grin broke out on his face. "You know, Harry, those are pretty soft. If you find a girl to snog with, I bet she'd love them!" Harry shot Ron a venomous look, but was distracted by the sounds of more footsteps. The shout had woken up all the other boys and they had decided, like Ron, to investigate for the source of the shout. Dean was the first one to enter the room.
"Merlin's teeth! Harry's got feathers on his head!" He shouted. The other boys quickly gathered around to gawk like Ron.
"Harry, what happened?" Fred and George exclaimed, though they didn't look at all frightened, scared, or astonished by it. Harry was willing to bet it had given them an idea for a new prank.
"You'd probably know!" Ron retorted. "I bet you two did this!"
"We didn't do it this time!" Fred defended.
"Though, it is good material for future tricks. . ." George added. Ron snorted and rolled his eyes.
"Eeep!" All the guys turned to look at the doorway, where a frightened squeak had been heard. Many of the Gryffindor girls had cautiously made their way to the boy's bathroom to seek out the originator of the scream, and stood frozen in the doorway. Many of them were blushing due to Harry's lack of clothing, but all were gawking at his feathered head. Well, almost all. Hermione was staring in horror at Harry's chest and stomach.
"Merlin. . ." she breathed. She slowly came toward Harry, and with dawning horror, Harry realized what she had seen. The scars, cuts, and bruises that marred and crisscrossed over his body had been overlooked by everyone else, but not by Hermione's careful eye. He quickly grabbed a towel to cover the rest of himself before anyone else could see the damage.
::I'm in trouble now. . .::
Snape sighed as he looked at the list of ingredients for the near impossible to brew potion. It'd take a miracle for him to be able to brew the whole thing before the summer holidays. He looked over it again to get an idea of where he'd need to go to get such items.
1. ¾ cup of well ground unicorn horn
2. 2 cups dragon blood
3. ¼ cup of flobberworm mucus
4. 4 shreds of wiggintree bark
5. 8 sets of dragon heartstring
6. 1 dragon tooth
7. 1 basilisk fang (devoid of the poison)
8. 40mL of phoenix tears
9. 5 erumpant horns
10. 6 acromantula eyes
11. the ashes of a freshly burned phoenix
12. material from the subject
Most of these ingredients were class A non tradable, not to mention illegal. The flobberworm mucus and wiggintree bark would be easy, but the other items, most of the really, would be near to impossible to obtain.
::Damn you, Albus,:: Snape complained within his mind. Deciding to give up on the impossible potion for the moment, he grudgingly stalked out of the dungeons to attend breakfast.
Harry uncomfortably looked down at his lap. He was sitting in the common room with Ron and Hermione, while everyone else went about their business. Some people had gotten over the shock already, while others still openly stared. Hermione kept giving Harry looks that clearly meant she wished to tell someone about the damage she saw. Harry returned with stubborn glares.
*Oh no, how will I hide this?* he suddenly said.
"Uh. . . what?" Ron asked, confused. Harry sighed and tried again.
"How will I hide this? Everyone's bound to notice. . ."
"Just keep your hood up," Hermione suggested. "No one's going to notice. Don't you worry." Harry nodded, still worried none the less. Not only was he concerned about his hair, but he was also worrying over whether anyone else saw his scars and cuts or not.
Deciding not to dwell on it, he drew up his hood and walked toward the Great Hall with his friends. Everything was going without a hitch in it, until Malfoy decided to ruin it.
"Hiding your ugly face, eh Potter?" he jeered. "What's wrong with you this time?" Before Harry or anyone could react, Malfoy knocked the hood way. Silence filled the Great Hall as everyone stared. Even Malfoy seemed surprised beyond words.
::Good Merlin alive, it's happened,:: Snape thought. A quick glance at Dumbledore confirmed this. When they looked back to where Harry had been sitting, he had already bolted from the room. Albus motioned for Severus to meet him outside the Great Hall.
Once they were there, Severus quickly turned to Dumbledore.
"Headmaster, I had no idea the changes would be so quick or noticeable," he hissed. "If it gets much worse, it'll be all over the front pages of the Daily Prophet!"
"I am aware of that, Severus. The only thing we can do is try to have that potion ready. And soon."
"How long do we have before he transforms completely?"
"I am not sure, for this is a very rare occurrence. Based on what I've seen, though, I must say we can't have an extreme amount of time. How long will that potion take to be made and brewed?"
" I believe about eight months."
"And it's the beginning of October. So, you're saying May then? Hopefully it'll be ready in time." Dumbledore trailed off and looked thoughtful for a moment. "We'll need to keep an extra close eye on Harry. If Voldemort got him. . ." he closed his eyes and sighed. Snape's expression grew to one of confusion.
"Headmaster, if what you said is true, that Harry can't die, then why would we need to worry?"
"First of all, after Harry takes the potion, he will be able to die. Before the age of fifteen, the Phoenix and human are one unit, therefore, the human can not die. But after the person has mastered transforming back and fourth between the two separate bodies, then that person may die while in human form, just not in Phoenix form. If Voldemort captures Harry before he drinks the potion, he could torture Harry beyond the point of sanity. If he captured Harry after he took the potion, either Voldemort would kill Harry, or if Harry learned how to use his powers properly, he may kill Voldemort." Dumbledore sighed in frustration as Snape nodded in understanding. Either way, it wouldn't be pretty for Harry. Snape had to agree, though, that being tortured to the point of insanity sounded worse than death itself.
"How will Potter be protected until the potion is ready?"
"I do believe a certain animagus would be more than pleased to assist with that," Dumbledore answered, a twinkle glinting in his eye.
"No. . . Albus, you can't be saying that! Please!"
Dumbledore chuckled. "I believe it is time we contacted Mr. Black."
Author's Note: Next chapter, more changes with Harry, and Sirius enters the picture. This wasn't my longest or best chapter, but I had five minutes to write it, so it should do until the next update. Ok, thanks to the reviewers: Ms. Prongs: I've checked out the challenge you took up, and I love it! I really hope you update it soon!
Queen of the Fairies: Thanks! Harry's gonna get more torture coming in the future, but I don't like angst stories with a horrible ending, so it shouldn't bee too bad for him.
Elektra Joradees Gamblin: Will do, will do.
Iggie: No kidding, heh. Ooo, I see you've updated so I'm gonna finish this up quick so I can go read yours!
kandra: I hope the explanation wasn't too confusing; took me a little bit to decide on how I was going to word it. As for Harry's animagus form, it wouldn't be a true Harry Potter fic if Voldemort wasn't there is some way or form, so you'll see what happens between Harry and Moldywart Voldepoo.
Saukara Snape: I felt guilty because I couldn't remember if I had emailed you or not! *cries* In case I didn't, which for that I'm immensely sorry, sure, you can take up any of the challenges you want. Incase I didn't e- mail you, I'll e-mail you soon incase you didn't see this posted. Sorry again!
Autumn Dreams: Oooo, you must be a mind reader. You nearly hit the mark with Alexander Potter. You'll just hafta see how it comes out in the end though ^_~
moon-dragon: I might do #5 myself one I finish up my three current ones. Usually I post my ideas with no intention of doing them myself, and originally To Cry and Tom Riddle Lives were challenges, but then I decided to do them myself, heh.
Gryffindorgurl987: No problem with the e-mailing thing. Hopefully you'll receive the email about this chapter too. Thanks for reviewing, reviews are always good motivation to write ^_^
Kathleen: You'll see about Alexander Potter later in the fic, he actually does play something of a role. It will be explained later how it is possible for a Phoenix to die as well, and you'll see what Harry decides to do about the whole thing.
TheOnlyEvilOne: I'm not a fan of yugioh, but I'll read it if you like. Thanks for the compliment, and new chapters should be on their way.
Ashes: Thanks, and feel free to have a go at number five or any of the others if you like. I'm considering trying number five myself once I've finished with the my current fics, though I still need to think it over first.
tima: Ok, I've already asked this a few times but, do you mean you'd like to write two or five?
Gabriella: lol, I'm glad you liked Dumbledore's part in the last chapter. Hey, he's human right? He has the right to an opinion.
Jarvey: Sorry that this is a short update, but no worries. Longer better chapters are on the way!
*Ron, wake up, it's time for breakfast.* Harry nearly smacked himself when he remembered what happened the day before. He had hoped that the weird voice thing would go away over night, but for him it was no such luck. Wishing to ponder over the strangeness of the events at another time, he decided to take a shower.
While in the shower, Harry noticed something peculiar. As he was washing his hair, he noticed his normally difficult and messy hair was even more so this morning. No matter how much shampoo he used, and no mater how much he tried to brush through his hair, it remained together in clumps on his head, refusing to be parted. After about thirty minutes of fruitless scrubbing, he decided to throw in the towel and give up. He wrapped a towel around his body and stood in front of the mirror to brush his teeth. The yell that he emitted only seconds after, was loud enough to wake every living creature within the school.
"Bloody hell, Harry! What in the name of Godric's hair was that abou- OH MY FREAKING MERLIN!" Ron stood frozen in the doorway, his mouth gaping.
"Ron. . . what the heck is going on with me!?" Harry half whimpered, half yelled. He didn't even pay much attention to the fact that his voice sounded normal at the moment. He and Ron were a bit to preoccupied with the state of Harry's hair.
Blinking to make sure he wasn't seeing things, Ron cautiously stepped forward toward Harry. "Harry, are those. . . feathers?" Indeed, on top of Harry's head, instead of the normal messy black hair, were brilliant red feathers, streaked with gold and black. Harry, still in a state of shock, was poking and touching them, as if to make sure they were real.
"Yes, Ron," he choked out. "These would be feathers."
Ron tentatively reached up and touched the mass of feathers. A grin broke out on his face. "You know, Harry, those are pretty soft. If you find a girl to snog with, I bet she'd love them!" Harry shot Ron a venomous look, but was distracted by the sounds of more footsteps. The shout had woken up all the other boys and they had decided, like Ron, to investigate for the source of the shout. Dean was the first one to enter the room.
"Merlin's teeth! Harry's got feathers on his head!" He shouted. The other boys quickly gathered around to gawk like Ron.
"Harry, what happened?" Fred and George exclaimed, though they didn't look at all frightened, scared, or astonished by it. Harry was willing to bet it had given them an idea for a new prank.
"You'd probably know!" Ron retorted. "I bet you two did this!"
"We didn't do it this time!" Fred defended.
"Though, it is good material for future tricks. . ." George added. Ron snorted and rolled his eyes.
"Eeep!" All the guys turned to look at the doorway, where a frightened squeak had been heard. Many of the Gryffindor girls had cautiously made their way to the boy's bathroom to seek out the originator of the scream, and stood frozen in the doorway. Many of them were blushing due to Harry's lack of clothing, but all were gawking at his feathered head. Well, almost all. Hermione was staring in horror at Harry's chest and stomach.
"Merlin. . ." she breathed. She slowly came toward Harry, and with dawning horror, Harry realized what she had seen. The scars, cuts, and bruises that marred and crisscrossed over his body had been overlooked by everyone else, but not by Hermione's careful eye. He quickly grabbed a towel to cover the rest of himself before anyone else could see the damage.
::I'm in trouble now. . .::
Snape sighed as he looked at the list of ingredients for the near impossible to brew potion. It'd take a miracle for him to be able to brew the whole thing before the summer holidays. He looked over it again to get an idea of where he'd need to go to get such items.
1. ¾ cup of well ground unicorn horn
2. 2 cups dragon blood
3. ¼ cup of flobberworm mucus
4. 4 shreds of wiggintree bark
5. 8 sets of dragon heartstring
6. 1 dragon tooth
7. 1 basilisk fang (devoid of the poison)
8. 40mL of phoenix tears
9. 5 erumpant horns
10. 6 acromantula eyes
11. the ashes of a freshly burned phoenix
12. material from the subject
Most of these ingredients were class A non tradable, not to mention illegal. The flobberworm mucus and wiggintree bark would be easy, but the other items, most of the really, would be near to impossible to obtain.
::Damn you, Albus,:: Snape complained within his mind. Deciding to give up on the impossible potion for the moment, he grudgingly stalked out of the dungeons to attend breakfast.
Harry uncomfortably looked down at his lap. He was sitting in the common room with Ron and Hermione, while everyone else went about their business. Some people had gotten over the shock already, while others still openly stared. Hermione kept giving Harry looks that clearly meant she wished to tell someone about the damage she saw. Harry returned with stubborn glares.
*Oh no, how will I hide this?* he suddenly said.
"Uh. . . what?" Ron asked, confused. Harry sighed and tried again.
"How will I hide this? Everyone's bound to notice. . ."
"Just keep your hood up," Hermione suggested. "No one's going to notice. Don't you worry." Harry nodded, still worried none the less. Not only was he concerned about his hair, but he was also worrying over whether anyone else saw his scars and cuts or not.
Deciding not to dwell on it, he drew up his hood and walked toward the Great Hall with his friends. Everything was going without a hitch in it, until Malfoy decided to ruin it.
"Hiding your ugly face, eh Potter?" he jeered. "What's wrong with you this time?" Before Harry or anyone could react, Malfoy knocked the hood way. Silence filled the Great Hall as everyone stared. Even Malfoy seemed surprised beyond words.
::Good Merlin alive, it's happened,:: Snape thought. A quick glance at Dumbledore confirmed this. When they looked back to where Harry had been sitting, he had already bolted from the room. Albus motioned for Severus to meet him outside the Great Hall.
Once they were there, Severus quickly turned to Dumbledore.
"Headmaster, I had no idea the changes would be so quick or noticeable," he hissed. "If it gets much worse, it'll be all over the front pages of the Daily Prophet!"
"I am aware of that, Severus. The only thing we can do is try to have that potion ready. And soon."
"How long do we have before he transforms completely?"
"I am not sure, for this is a very rare occurrence. Based on what I've seen, though, I must say we can't have an extreme amount of time. How long will that potion take to be made and brewed?"
" I believe about eight months."
"And it's the beginning of October. So, you're saying May then? Hopefully it'll be ready in time." Dumbledore trailed off and looked thoughtful for a moment. "We'll need to keep an extra close eye on Harry. If Voldemort got him. . ." he closed his eyes and sighed. Snape's expression grew to one of confusion.
"Headmaster, if what you said is true, that Harry can't die, then why would we need to worry?"
"First of all, after Harry takes the potion, he will be able to die. Before the age of fifteen, the Phoenix and human are one unit, therefore, the human can not die. But after the person has mastered transforming back and fourth between the two separate bodies, then that person may die while in human form, just not in Phoenix form. If Voldemort captures Harry before he drinks the potion, he could torture Harry beyond the point of sanity. If he captured Harry after he took the potion, either Voldemort would kill Harry, or if Harry learned how to use his powers properly, he may kill Voldemort." Dumbledore sighed in frustration as Snape nodded in understanding. Either way, it wouldn't be pretty for Harry. Snape had to agree, though, that being tortured to the point of insanity sounded worse than death itself.
"How will Potter be protected until the potion is ready?"
"I do believe a certain animagus would be more than pleased to assist with that," Dumbledore answered, a twinkle glinting in his eye.
"No. . . Albus, you can't be saying that! Please!"
Dumbledore chuckled. "I believe it is time we contacted Mr. Black."
Author's Note: Next chapter, more changes with Harry, and Sirius enters the picture. This wasn't my longest or best chapter, but I had five minutes to write it, so it should do until the next update. Ok, thanks to the reviewers: Ms. Prongs: I've checked out the challenge you took up, and I love it! I really hope you update it soon!
Queen of the Fairies: Thanks! Harry's gonna get more torture coming in the future, but I don't like angst stories with a horrible ending, so it shouldn't bee too bad for him.
Elektra Joradees Gamblin: Will do, will do.
Iggie: No kidding, heh. Ooo, I see you've updated so I'm gonna finish this up quick so I can go read yours!
kandra: I hope the explanation wasn't too confusing; took me a little bit to decide on how I was going to word it. As for Harry's animagus form, it wouldn't be a true Harry Potter fic if Voldemort wasn't there is some way or form, so you'll see what happens between Harry and Moldywart Voldepoo.
Saukara Snape: I felt guilty because I couldn't remember if I had emailed you or not! *cries* In case I didn't, which for that I'm immensely sorry, sure, you can take up any of the challenges you want. Incase I didn't e- mail you, I'll e-mail you soon incase you didn't see this posted. Sorry again!
Autumn Dreams: Oooo, you must be a mind reader. You nearly hit the mark with Alexander Potter. You'll just hafta see how it comes out in the end though ^_~
moon-dragon: I might do #5 myself one I finish up my three current ones. Usually I post my ideas with no intention of doing them myself, and originally To Cry and Tom Riddle Lives were challenges, but then I decided to do them myself, heh.
Gryffindorgurl987: No problem with the e-mailing thing. Hopefully you'll receive the email about this chapter too. Thanks for reviewing, reviews are always good motivation to write ^_^
Kathleen: You'll see about Alexander Potter later in the fic, he actually does play something of a role. It will be explained later how it is possible for a Phoenix to die as well, and you'll see what Harry decides to do about the whole thing.
TheOnlyEvilOne: I'm not a fan of yugioh, but I'll read it if you like. Thanks for the compliment, and new chapters should be on their way.
Ashes: Thanks, and feel free to have a go at number five or any of the others if you like. I'm considering trying number five myself once I've finished with the my current fics, though I still need to think it over first.
tima: Ok, I've already asked this a few times but, do you mean you'd like to write two or five?
Gabriella: lol, I'm glad you liked Dumbledore's part in the last chapter. Hey, he's human right? He has the right to an opinion.
Jarvey: Sorry that this is a short update, but no worries. Longer better chapters are on the way!