Hey people, sorry for the long wait on this update, but life has been rather busy for me of late, also I had a rather unfortunate attack of the lazies. I can kick this thing, and then I should be able to get back on my regular schedule of one update about every two weeks. Be warned that end of July I will disappear for about two weeks to Virginia for the Boy Scout National Jamboree, so I will be late with that update for sure. ;)

Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter Universe, any who doubt me at this point are either paranoid beyond reason or just stupid, you make the call.

Recap of Chapter 7:

Mrs. Delacour turned and began to run toward the house, Harry, Fleur, and Gabrielle looked at each other and then began to sprint after her. As they caught up Mrs. Delacour said, "Harry, a phoenix would never willingly bond with a wizard, after the story of the creation of the veela, the phoenixes found pure blooded wizards to be to be too repulsive to be around, if this phoenix has been around Dumbledore as long as you say he has, then Dumbledore must have found a way to bind the phoenixes soul to his, that's probably why he has lived as long as he has, the phoenix is immortal in terms of time, which means Dumbledore would be equally immortal. The only reason I can think of that Dumbledore would willingly put up with a creature that naturally causes discomfort to wizards is if he found a way to deaden its effects against him, or if he plans to perform a little known and truly dark ritual that requires the participation of a phoenix. Either way, this is not good.

Cah11 humbly presents

Salvation

Chapter 8: Rescue Mission

As soon as Mr. Delacour had heard the news of an enslaved phoenix he had gone on a rampage, trying to apparate from the house to Hogwarts, forgetting that not only could he not apparate out of his own home because of wards, but that Hogwarts was so heavily warded that had he made it out of his home, he would have been sent right back with fewer limbs. Suffice it to say it took ten minutes, and a blast of veela allure from his wife to calm him down. Once he had, he immediately began to floo call the strongest male veela he knew. Soon four other men had joined Harry and Mr. Delacour in the dining room to plan the jail break.

"Well, we could just try walking through the front door." One of the veela, a man named Fredrick suggested.

"No, you couldn't," Harry replied, "Dumbledore isn't stupid, he will have modified the wards around Hogwarts to detect 'dark creatures' that enter the school in response to the threat Voldemort posed, and I doubt he will have lifted the wards because I survived his attempted assassination."

"We could fly in." Another of the veela, a man named Pierre said.

"Again, no." Harry replied "Last year Dumbledore modified the wards to allow flying inside the school grounds, but to repel anyone who tried to fly over the wall boundaries, no entry or exit by broom is possible."

"Then what do you suggest Mr. Potter?" Mr. Delacour asked, "We can't do nothing, if my wife is correct, then the poor phoenix doesn't have much time left before Dumbledore uses it to surpass even Voldemort in the quest for immortality."

Harry bit his lip, and replied "Now, it's risky, but as far as I can see, it's the safest way to save Fawkes, and still have an escape plan. Here's what we do, you four take Mrs. Delacour to Knockturn Alley in London, once there, make your way to a shop called Borgon and Burks, and have Mrs. Delacour enthrall Mr. Borgon. Then make your way to the back of the shop where you will find a cabinet, it looks like a normal cabinet, but in reality it is a vanishing cabinet, a dimensional gateway between the one in Borgon and Burks, and one that is conveniently positioned in Hogwarts. It's currently hidden in the Room of Requirement, so you should be able to get out the other side without being noticed."

Draco tried to use the same cabinet in the Room of Requirement last year to bring Death Eaters into Hogwarts, and he did manage to fix it, but Ron, Ginny, and Neville were waiting for them, and with a little felix felisis to help them out, incapacitated the whole lot of them.

Mr. Delacour thought about the plan from multiple angles and came to the conclusion that it was the best plan they were likely to come up with, however Harry had not told them what his part was going to be. Mr. Delacour decided to find out.

"Now Harry, you said that only we five would be going to Borgon and Burks, where do you plan to be?"

Harry shifted in his seat uncomfortably and said, "I will apparate directly to Hogwarts, and act as a distraction to any teachers and possibly Dumbledore to give you time to escape." You could have heard a pin drop in the room.

"Let me get this straight," Fredrick said "You, the magical heir to the veela throne, plan to act as a distraction, by attacking the castle itself, and then dueling every teacher there, and possibly Dumbledore if he shows up, all by yourself… ARE YOU INSANE BOY" the last part was shouted with such force that Harry visibly slunk down into his seat in fear.

Suddenly Fredrick found himself picked up and thrown across the room, as he tried to get up, he felt his assailant pick him up by his neck and throw him up against the wall so his feet dangled, not touching the floor. Clearing his head, Fredrick saw a truly terrifying sight, Mr. Delacour, whom he had been friends with for many years, was the one holding him against the wall by his throat, and had his talons ready to disembowel him if he made the wrong move. His daughter, Fleur was standing on the other side of her father with a ball of passion fire held in each hand, ready to reduce Fredrick to ash in defense of her mate.

"You will not speak to your prince in such a manner; you will not disbelieve what he can do until you have seen the measure of power he can bring to bear on those that upset him. In fact, the only reason you are not dead yet, is because the boy was so physiologically damaged by his relatives that he is afraid of adults who lose their temper. You see those scars?" Fleur walked over to Harry, pulling the neck his shirt down, exposing several long, thin, white lines that crisscrossed Harry's neck. "Those scars are not from his fight with Voldemort, they are from his former relatives. He experienced nothing but neglect and violence under their care, and thus whenever he causes an adult to get angry, he is terrified. Please do not shout at him again, or I will be forced to hurt you."

Fredrick nodded slowly, and Mr. Delacour released his neck.

"Very well Harry." Mr. Delacour said, "We will follow your plan, as it is the most likely to succeed, when do we act?"

"As soon as possible, we want to make the attempt while Dumbledore is still incapacitated in St. Mungos, there is a slight possibility that he may show up, as I am sure that he has his office warded, and you will need to break those to enter. If he does show up we will have the upper hand however, as he will be unable to walk, and will be restricted to magical transport."

"Alright then, we leave tomorrow." Mr. Delacour said. After that the meeting broke up and everyone went their separate ways to think about their part of the plan.

Next day, 9:00am

To say that Harry was nervous was an understatement, Mr. Delacour, Mrs. Delacour, and their four friends had left ten minutes ago to complete the first objective of their mission, which was to secure the vanishing cabinet at Borgin and Burks. After the cabinet was secure, Mr. Delacour would let Harry know by messaging him with a patronus, after which, Harry would apparate to Hogwarts and cause as much panic and confusions as possible, without actually hurting anyone.

'I hope I'm up to this, I haven't had any real training with my combat form, so I'm going to be fighting completely on instinct.' Harry thought uneasily.

Ten minutes later, Mr. Delacours' parrot patronus flew in through the wards and stopped in front of Harry. Opening its mouth, Mr. Delacours' voice issued from it. "We have secured the vanishing cabinet, and are about to go through into this 'Room of Requirement', we will proceed with the rescue once you have given the signal that you are in position."

'Show time.' Harry thought resignedly, then he apparate to Hogsmeade.

As soon as Harry appeared in Hogsmeade, he pulled up the hood of his cloak, and began to walk away from the village to the entrance of the school. Upon arrival, he noticed that the walls were still as heavily warded and the gate as heavily locked as it was during Voldemort's reign.

'Either no one bothered to take them off, or someone here is very paranoid about the school being broken into when the Dark Lord is dead.' Harry thought.

Raising his wand, Harry shot red sparks into the air, high enough to be visible to everyone in the castle, including Mr. Delacour in the Room of Requirement, and then prepared himself to wait for the teachers' response. Ten minutes later, Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, and Snape walked out of the school and began to move toward Harry at the gate. Thinking quickly, Harry cast a charm on his throat that would cause his voice to sound flat and toneless, so they couldn't identify him by his voice. As soon as the foursome came into comfortable speaking distance, McGonagall called out, "Stranger, Lower your hood, and state your name and business, or turn around and go back the way you came."

"I will reveal my identity, if the four of you take an oath not to attack unless I attack you first." Harry's toneless, and completely unidentifiable voice said.

"Why should we?" Snape sneered. "If you want an oath not to attack, then you are probably some dumb Death Eater who thinks that they can get in the first shot before we can retaliate due to the oath you want us to swear."

"Please, this is a matter of life and death for all four of you, and many other people around the world just hear what I have to say, and then I will be on my way."

"I Professor McGonagall swear not to attack the stranger in front of me until he has delivered his message, or unless he attacks me first. So mote be it."

Snape blanched at her actions and said, "McGonagall, have you lost your mind, he could be a Death Eater…"

"I Professor Flitwick swear not to attack the stranger in front of me until he has delivered his message, or unless he attacks me first. So mote be it."

Snape stared white faced and turned to the hooded individual and said. "I will swear to nothing, I personally don't want to be attacked with no chance to defend myself."

"Then you forfeit the right to hear this information." Harry said with a shrug. Leveling his wand at the potions master, Harry cast a nonverbal mufliarto.

Snape covered his ears as the spell hit him and he suddenly became deaf. Trying to pull his wand to perform the counter jinx, he found that the wand was in the strangers hand, having been summoned their by the person in question. Pocketing the wand the person slowly lowered his hood. McGonagall and Flitwick gasped as they realized it was Harry standing before them at the gates of Hogwarts. Their first reactions were to pull their wands and attempt to incapacitate Harry on Dumbledore's information; however the magically binding oaths they had sworn prevented the action.

"What I am about to tell you two is crucial, not only to you, but to everything and everyone you care about." Harry said. "Dumbledore is manipulating you, I am not dark. In fact I am the furthest thing from dark. Dumbledore is dark, after I defeated Tom, he showed up with Alastor, Tonks, and Mundungus. After realizing that I was still alive, he tried to capture me, when that didn't work, he tried to manipulate me. After that I…Incapacitated him. Dumbledore is evil, and will throw away your lives for small gains for himself; his ultimate plan is to rule Britain, perhaps the world. Come back with me, and I will show you what he put me through the last few weeks. Or stay here, and run the risk of being burned by passion fire."

"Harry we know that what you say are lies." McGonagall said, "I wish you would just give us a chance, we can help you, we might even be able to bring you back to the light, not every wizard that has fallen to the dark has stayed there. Many repented of their sins and rejoined normal society, and became perfectly loyal citizens."

"Ah Minerva I am sad to see that he has corrupted you so." Harry said with a sad look on his face. "And what of you Filius? What is your decision?"

I too will say with Dumbledore." Flitwick said. "What Dumbledore claims is too credible to be entirely made up, and he has had plenty of chances to take the ministers' post at the ministry and always declined, why would he want something like that now? No, You are the liar here Potter, now surrender, you cannot out duel Minerva and I at the same time, because we taught you everything you know, but not everything we know."

I wish your answer was different." Harry said, a pained look on his face, "However…" Suddenly several things happened at one.

There was a loud shriek from the direction of the castle, and a loud bang. Knowing what the sound meant, the three professors turned to the castle and began to run to it.

'Someone is trying to forcibly steal Dumbledore's phoenix.' Flitwick thought enraged that someone would dare steal another's familiar. 'I will enjoy capturing the one who is doing this.' When they got to Dumbledore's office they found it empty, no thieves, no phoenix.

"Spread out," McGonagall said, "We must find them, they can't have escaped, they would have to go through the front doors, and I sealed them on my way in, they will be trapped somewhere in the castle. Find the other teachers and ghosts, and tell them to look as well."

Slowly the castle was searched from top to bottom over the course of the next two days, but there was found neither hide nor hair of the thieves; it was as if they vanished without a trace. As to the matter of Snapes' wand, they found it that first day exactly where Harry had been standing, lying in the middle of the street. The meeting was never mentioned by the three to another soul, after all what teacher would admit to having been seemingly duped by their own student.

As soon as Harry arrived back at the Delacour house, we was assaulted by a silver haired missile that hugged him, and showed his face with kisses. As soon as Fleur had calmed down enough to stop the flurry of lips on his face, Harry asked in a slightly dazed tone? "What was that for?"

"Harry, phoenixes are very important to us veela, they are our creators, or so the legends say. Also, it is no mean feat to distract three professors, one of which is at least partially tide to the wards, from a theft that is happening right under their noses."

"That reminds me, how is Fawkes? Did you manage to free him?" Harry asked nervously.

"Yes Harry," Mr. Delacour said warmly, "We did, the process took a lot of energy form the phoenix, but he will be fine, in fact I believe he wanted to say something to you quickly, I will take you to him." So Harry and Fleur followed Mr. Delacour to a room in the top floor of Delacour manor and once there, Mr. Delacour opened the door and gestured them in.

Once inside, they found the phoenix sitting on a golden perch, much like the one Dumbledore had had, but this one didn't have bars around it. As soon as they entered, they felt an utterly alien presence touch their minds. They were about to throw up their most powerful shields, but noticed the presence wasn't trying to invade their minds, it was merely touching them to let them know it was there and wanted to speak with them. Slowly they lowered their shields, and allowed the presence to enter their minds. Once it had, a voice, so beautiful that Harry was sure it belonged to an angel said in his head, "Thank you for saving me." At this point, Harry realized that this must be Fawkes's voice.

"Err, you're welcome."

"In return for saving me, I would like to offer you something."

"Please." Harry said blushing "You don't have to give me anything, I was just happy to help."

"No, please, hear me out." Fawkes responded, looking Harry directly in the eye. "I want to bond with you as your familiar. There are several advantages, apart from Phoenix Flash, and healing tears, I can also provide protection. After all, phoenixes are the original fire elementals, every other elemental creature in the magical world was created by some variant of the phoenix, wizards themselves where created by the high phoenixes, before the created betrayed the creators. Now no high phoenixes are left, and the rest on my race will join them, unless you win the coming war."

"War, what do you mean war?" Harry asked, scared.

"Harry Potter, there is a great war coming, one that will make World Wars one and two look like two hatchlings fighting over a worm. There will be three factions, the light, the dark, and then you, and the other magical races. The light will be so weak, they will not even be a factor in the fight, the brunt of the darks attack will be met by you, and you must win. If you don't, the world will fall to darkness, and all will be lost. I want to help you. Please accept my gift."

Harry at first looked uncertain then turned to Fleur and asked "What do you think?"

"Do it." Fleur advised, "The political boast alone would be worth it, veela were going to love you for saving a phoenix, but they will be almost fanatical in their trust of you after learning you bonded with a phoenix.

Harry sighed then said, "Alright, how do we do this?"

"Simply reach out and touch my body." Fawkes said, "And the bond will be complete. Do not worry; you will not be burnt by the flames."

Reaching his hand out Harry lay his hand on the phoenix's back and gently stroked it. Immediately Harry felt the bond begin to form, and Fawkes' presence settle into his mind. Once the sensation was over, Harry looked up and grinned. "Wow!" He said, "With that kind of power boost, Dumbledore is in for a surprise.

What will Dumbledore's reaction be to the fact that his immortal slave has been set free, wait for the next chapter to find out!

Please read and review, I'm not a review whore, but it's nice to know what people think, I wasn't overly pleased about how this chapter turned out, but I needed to get something out there after so long, if you find anything you think needs changing, pm me the line and what you think it should be changed to, and I shall take it under advisement.

Till next time,

Cah11