A boy walked through the forest path,
A young girl by his side.
And soon among the winter trees
They reached a clearing wide.

A cage there was of metal strong,
With Aurors three before.
Beside a phoenix silver-bright
Stood Albus Dumbledore.

Then there it was, the hooded cloak,
Within the bars confined,
And Harry thought he felt a touch
Of cold upon his mind.

"Expecto Patronum," Goldstein spoke,
And from his wand raised high
Burst forth a shining bird of light
That gave a piercing cry.

Then all too soon came Harry's turn;
He stepped up to the cage.
What lay beneath the cloak inside
His mind refused to gauge.

He drew upon his fullest strength,
For darkness he would face.
Remembered visions came to him
Of stars in deepest space.

For they burned vast and unafraid
Amidst the silent void.
They could have held the fear at bay,
But that he grew annoyed.

On anger the Dementor fed,
And he began to fall,
Until of warm and happy thoughts
Not one was left at all.

Then in that mind as cold as death
The memory did arise
Of bolts of deadly emerald light
And snakelike crimson eyes.

But suddenly he tasted sweet;
His mouth began to chew.
Around him people talked and stared
Debating what to do.

The young boy watched with eyes of hate
And told them they should die.
Though how to save him none was sure,
The girl knew she must try.

She grabbed him — touched her lips to his —
His face showed utter shock —
The boy pushed her away — and then
They heard a phoenix squawk.

For Fawkes blazed bright in evening light;
Its song was warm and good.
Young Harry heard the shining bird
And thought he understood.

It leapt into the air and screamed
A cry like breaking dawn,
And with a flash of brilliant flame
The golden bird was gone.

The setting sun threw shadows long
Of trees upon the ground.
And Harry saw the riddle now;
Its answer he had found.

For now he knew his foe to be
A shadow Death did cast,
That one day would be but a tale
From savage ages past.

So once again he came before
The cage of metal bars;
Again he saw the timeless void
And bright unblinking stars.

But this time in the jeweled black
He placed the blue-green Earth,
The only home that mankind knew,
The planet of its birth.

Yet humankind would spread from Earth,
To worlds uncharted fly,
Fulfill the dreams of wondering apes
Who first had watched the sky.

And when men strode from star to star,
Their footsteps light-years wide,
Then children young would weep to hear
That people once had died.

"Expecto Patronum," Harry roared;
The thought of Death undone
Took on a shining silver form,
Blazed brighter than the sun.

Its shape was human, standing tall
Upon the winter ground,
Its head that looked toward the cage
In brilliant radiance crowned.

It seemed that as the warm light waned
He from a dream awoke,
And Harry saw behind the bars
An empty tattered cloak.