Hey everybody!

How's life? I hope you all enjoy this story so far and keep reading it!

I looked a little bit trough fanfiction... and I must say I was astonished how many writers started to write a Dark Phoenix story and didn't even bother to move to the fifth chapter...

I can tell you now, that I hate it when people do that... they write a really good stroy - brialliant even - but then just dump it and let their readers down!

So now I make it oficially! I finish this story! I want to go further than all those who didn't finish and give you the best I can come up with! (But don't wory, it's not finished for a long time. There's so much I'm planning to write)

So then... after my little rant... thanks to my wonderfull readers and keep up with your Reviews! I need your help if I want to give you my best!

Thanks to my beta knitchick (Look at her stories, they're really good)

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

Enjoy!

Chapter 18

Harry grinned and looked at Draco, who was having problems hiding his smirk. McGonagall and Snape were looking at him like he had grown a second head. Okay, they had their reasons, but that was beside the point now. Never – in his whole life – had Harry seen the Potions Master and the Transfiguration Mistress speechless. It sure was entertaining.

Slowly Snape's head turned to Perenelle and Nicolas and Harry had the feeling that the Potions Master's brain had yet to register what he had just said.

Snape blinked.

"You are… Nicolas… and Perenelle-," Snape said in a low whisper, his eyes wide.

"-Flamel. Yes, we are," answered Nicolas and he too had to work to stifle his laughter. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you Severus Snape. And you as well Minerva McGonagall."

Snape's mouth opened, but no sound came out. McGonagall was a little better and composed herself quickly after the obvious shock of meeting two supposed dead people.

She nodded and shook hands with both of them. "It's an honor to meet you." She threw Dumbledore a pointed look. "I'm surprised that Albus didn't tell us… well… that you would be here…"

Draco snickered and McGonagall gave him an exasperated look.

"Basically, she wants to know why you are still alive after the fiasco with the Philosopher's Stone," he stated and McGonagall gave him a small glare.

When Nicolas started to explain why they were still alive, Harry decided to test if Snape was still in the world of the living.

He slowly inched towards him and looked into his face. The Potions Master was staring into space with an expression as if he had just seen a ghost…

Harry carefully waved his hands in front of Snape's face to see his reaction.

Nothing.

Harry coughed quietly and saw that not only Draco, but Dumbledore and Perenelle, were watching him as well. He grinned sheepishly and stood up straight before returning his attention back to the conversation.

"So you're saying… that the stone that was hidden in the school four years ago was not the only one?" asked McGonagall and both Flamels nodded. "It makes sense… but I never would have thought… you are looking so…"

"She wants to know why you don't look like your teeth will fall out at any moment," quipped Draco and Harry snorted.

"MR. BLACK! I can talk for myself. Thank you!" said McGonagall sternly. "Five points from Slytherin for your cheek!"

"That's Snape's part," murmured Harry and Draco nodded slightly put out. "Your godfather… do you think he will snap out of it sometime in the future?"

Draco frowned. "Considering that he just found out that Nick is here… no," he said matter of factly.

Harry nodded and looked over to the window. A small stray beam of sunlight was falling onto Dumbledore's desk and Fawkes' empty perch.

"We still have seven stones left," said Perenelle and smoothed her robes. "And as Draco so kindly put it, we don't look like our teeth will fall out because it's an effect of the 'Elixir of Life'. We look just a little older than we did when we decided to drink it for the first time."

"So you don't age at all?" asked McGonagall astonished.

"Oh, we age," said Nick and shrugged. "If we didn't take the Elixir for ten months we would look like we should already be in our graves."

"Fascinating," mumbled McGonagall when Fawkes suddenly flashed into the room and positioned himself on his perch.

Harry's eyes widened when he saw the sunlight that illuminated the beautiful Phoenix in front of him. Small flames were dancing on the birds feathers that slowly died down while he looked at them. He immeadietly thought back to all the times when he had seen Draco using the teleportation technique. Small sparks were always jumping around on his feathers. Then his brain got what that meant…

"YES! I've got it!" he shouted and immediately regretted it.

Snape had jumped, startled by his scream, and Harry now found himself in front of the window with a very painful bump on his head and an aching left shoulder, where a Blasting Hex had hit him.

"Severus, Severus," chided Dumbledore and Harry groaned at his tone of voice. "Don't be so hard on the boy. He is merely excited about something."

"Um… what?" asked Snape and looked at Harry who glared at him. "Mr. Potter? What are you doing on the floor?"

Harry pouted. "You just decided to throw me across the room, sir." He stood up and rubbed his slightly bleeding shoulder. "I tried to get your attention before, but you were somewhere in lala-land, sir. And then, when I get a little bit excited about something… you just throw me across the room!"

"I'm sincerely sorry Mr. Potter," said Snape, who did not sound sorry at all while the corners of his mouth quirked a little bit. "I was a bit distracted."

"Yeah…," mumbled Harry and looked at his slightly torn school-cloak. "I got that…"

Draco rolled his eyes. "You didn't hear a word of what Nick and Penny just explained, did you Uncle Sev?"

Snape glared at him and put his wand away. "Don't call me that." He turned to Nick and Penny. "I'm sincerely sorry Mr. and Mrs. Flamel. I was pleasantly surprised to see you two here. I was told that you died when the Philosopher's Stone had been destroyed four years ago."

"That was our intent," said Perenelle and smiled. "It's a real honor to finally meet you. Albus has told my husband and me a lot about you."

Snape looked over at Dumbledore who was staring out of the window as if he didn't even know they were there, before turning to the Flamels again. "What did the Headmaster tell you, if I may ask?"

Nicolas smiled and showed him a small empty vial that he took out of his robes. "Potions. Albus always said that you were a fabulous Potions Master. And… I'm interested in how you got the idea for the Wolfsbane Potion. Maybe we can chat about the subject sometime in the future?"

"Certainly," nodded Snape and Harry could nearly feel the professor's excitement.

He frowned and turned to the two Flamels. "Does this mean you will be staying here?"

Nicolas nodded. "Yup. I'm your new Head of House after all. And someone has to save your lazy bum when you once again decide to nearly kill yourself."

Harry pouted. "That was an accident… Draco was there. He saw that your damned kneazle tried to snatch my wand away from me."

"I didn't see anything back then," chirped Draco and Snape raised his eyebrows at his godson's behaviour.

"Traitor," mumbled Harry slightly annoyed.

Dumbledore chuckled and they all turned their attention to him when he began to talk. "Well. Harry, Draco, I believe it's best if you return to your classmates. The first lesson is nearly over and I believe you have Defense next?"

They nodded and Harry eyed the Headmaster. "Just like that? We just came up here for a little chat? And now we're being dismissed?"

Dumbledore's eyes once again twinkled in full force. "Yes, just like that. I merely wanted you, Harry, to know who your Head of House will be. And when Nicolas told me about your adventures with him and Perenelle, I knew that you would want to see him."

"As if we wouldn't have found out ourselves…," mumbled Draco and then a smirk formed on his lips. "You planned it, sir, didn't you?"

"Pardon?" asked Dumbledore with a smile.

Draco waved his arms around him. "That we talk to Fudge. We basically told him that Harry has the utmost confidence in the Ministry and would never do anything against them."

Dumbledore sighed playfully and Harry grinned. "Ah… you saw right through me. But you are right, Draco. I'd hoped that you would accompany Harry and speak to the Minister. I didn't quite know if you would try to ease the tension, but I hoped for it."

Nicolas shook his head with an amused smile. "That is just so typical you… always a trick up your sleeve."

Dumbledore chuckled and Harry and Draco took that as their sign to leave.

******

Fifteen minutes later they arrived at Umbridge's classroom five minutes late and stood in front of the door with identical sneers on their faces.

"D'you recon she'll have a fit?" asked Harry.

"Surely," answered Draco when he turned the handle. "But mostly directed at you."

"Damn…," mumbled Harry when they entered the classroom. "Couldn't Dumbledore have written a note?"

All eyes turned to them as they casually stood in the doorway and Umbridge's watery eyes widened with something akin to glee.

"Mr… Black, Mr. Potter?" she asked in her high-pitched voice. "Why are you late for class?"

"Sorry," shrugged Draco. "I had to help a first year find the Charms classroom."

"Very well," nodded Umbridge. "Please sit down Mr. Black. And don't let it happen again, or I'll be forced to give you detention."

Harry wanted to follow Draco's example, but Umbridge coughed and he rolled his eyes before looking at her with a raised eyebrow. She didn't say anything, but was merely staring at him as if daring him to say something.

He sat down next to Hermione. "Did I miss anything?" he asked quietly and she immediately shook her head.

"No… just reading that horrible book again," she answered and Harry saw that she had opened her book, but was still on the first page of the assigned chapter. A sign that she hadn't even bothered to start reading.

She threw him a questioning glace and he immeadietly knew what she wanted to know.

"I'll tell you when we've got the time. Tomorrow, while training," he whispered back when Umbridge started to move in his direction and stopped in front of his desk, casting a shadow on his book. He tried to ignore her, but her simpering cough nearly drove him crazy.

"Yes?" he asked in a bored voice as he glanced around the classroom. He knew that not a single student at the moment was reading the book. He caught Neville's eye from his seat next to Susan Bones and grinned slightly.

"Ten points from Phoenix for ignoring me. What is your excuse Mr. Potter?" asked Umbridge.

He looked at her. "For what? I'm afraid I don't follow you Professor."

"For being late to my class," she snapped loudly.

"Oh that!" he exclaimed and scratched the back of his head while sporting a big grin. "Sorry. I got lost on the road of life. I had a small chat with a bat, a tabby cat and some other guys in-"

"Enough!" screeched Umbridge and a vein bulged on her forehead, much like Uncle Vernon's. "That will cost you ten points! I demand respect from my students! You are included in that as well!

He raised his eyebrows. "Really now? I didn't know that." He casually stretched his arms and chuckled before looking sweetly at her. "Where did my bonus for being the Boy-Who-Lived go?"

Umbridge turned her back to him and looked over her shoulder. "Detention, Mr. Potter," she said softly and started to go back to her desk. "Today after dinner in my office."

"And for what, Professor Umbitch?" he asked in a friendly tone and nearly the whole class choked on their suppressed laughter.

"SILENCE!" bellowed Umbridge with a red face and turned around once again. She glared at Harry. "I will teach you to respect your elders! You can't just…"

He tuned her rant out and mentally berated himself for saying that out loud.

'Good job,' Draco's voice said in his head. 'This sure is giving you a sympathy bonus.'

'Shut up,' Harry shot back and threw a quill over his shoulder in the hopes of poking him in the eye with it.

"You really shouldn't have said that," whispered Hermione from his side while Umbridge was still ranting.

"I think that was bloody brilliant!" chuckled Ron who sat next to Seamus Finnegan, one row in front of them.

"Yeah…," sighed Harry and turned back to Umbridge. "Just when does she shut up…?"

******

After he had finished his classes for the day, Harry reluctantly left his friends to train by themselves after dinner and made his way to Umbridge's office.

He had been in this office often, but he thought he would go blind when he entered after a short knock on the door. When Gilderoy Lockhart had occupied it, beaming pictures of him had been plastered on every available surface. With Remus, it was likely you would meet some dark creature in a cage or trunk if you came to call. In the impostor Moody's days it had been packed with various instruments and artefacts used to detect wrongdoing and concealment.

But now… he shuddered slightly. Now however, it looked unrecognisable. Lacy pink cloths and covers were draped everywhere. Dried flowers were everywhere you looked, each one residing on its own doily. He nearly gagged when he saw the ornamental plates hanging on the wall. Each pictured a large technicolor kitten. He resisted the urge to cover his ears when they 'meowed' loudly and looked at Umbridge, who was sitting behind her desk.

"Good evening Mr. Potter." said Umbridge sweetly.

"Evening," he mumbled and gave her a fake smile.

"Now, you're going to be doing some lines for me, Mr. Potter," she continued as if he hadn't spoken.

"No, not with your quill," she added, as Harry took out one of his quills from somewhere in his cloak. "You're going to be using a rather special one of mine. Here you are." She handed him a long, thin black quill with an unusually sharp point. "I want you to write, 'I must show respect to my elders," she told him softly.

Harry looked at the quill with narrowed eyes and returned his gaze to Umbridge who was smiling sweetly at him. His lips quirked with grim humor and he put his bag down on the floor before sitting down on the chair.

"How many times should I write it?" he asked casually and twiddled the quill in his fingers after examining it one more time.

"Oh, as long as it takes for the message to sink in," said Umbridge sweetly. "Off you go."

Harry sighed and looked at the quill. 'I already want to strangle her just for giving me a detention… but giving me this quill… she really is nuts!'

He chuckled grimly and turned his head towards the professor who was staring at him with mild curiosity. "You haven't given me any ink," he said with fake innocence.

"Oh, you won't need ink," said Professor Umbridge, with the merest suggestion of a laugh in her voice. He groaned quietly, so his guess had been right. Harry shook his head and placed the point of the quill on the paper and wrote: I must show respect to my elders.

He sighed in annoyance when his hand started itching. The words had appeared on the parchment in shining red ink. He looked at the back of his right hand, where the words had cut into his skin as though they were traced there by scalpel. The shining cut healed, but Harry knew that it would just be a matter of time until it would appear again.

Harry looked around at Umbridge. She was watching him, her wide, toad like mouth stretched in a smile once again. "Yes?"

"A blood-quill?" he asked quietly and her eyes widened. "You know that they're illegal… don't you, Professor?"

Harry guessed that she had thought he wouldn't recognize such a quill. That had to be one of the reasons she was staring at him with her large eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.

He waited patiently until she stopped staring, and then continued in a quiet, but threatening voice: "I bet Mr. Fudge won't be very thrilled when he learns of this event…"

Umbridge snorted and stood up. "As if Cornelius would waste his time on such a trivial matter… I imagine he will be pleased that I finally disciplined you."

Harry looked at her oddly. "By illegal means? That's got to be the best joke I've heard in ages."

"Cornelius will stand behind my decision," answered Umbridge with her chin raised.

He nodded with a small pleasant smile. "I'm sure…," he answered with a silky voice.

'I really should stop hanging around Snape and Draco…,' he chuckled mentally when Umbridge bristled at his tone of voice. 'But I'm enjoying this way too much!'

"Continue writing!" she snapped after a short pause and Harry obeyed.

Darkness fell outside Umbridge's window. Harry did not ask when he would be allowed to stop. He did not even check his watch. He knew she was watching him for signs of weakness and he was not going to show any, not even if he had to sit there all night, cutting open his own hand with the quill

"Come here," Umbridge said, after what seemed like hours. He stood up. His hand was stinging slightly. When he looked down at it, he saw that the cut had healed, but that the skin was slightly red and raw.

"Hand," she said. He extended it and she took it in her own. Harry repressed a shudder as she touched him with her thick, stubby fingers on which she wore a number of ugly old rings.

"Tut, tut, I don't seem to have made much of an impression yet," she said, smiling. "Well, we'll just have to try again tomorrow evening, won't we? You may go."

He stared at her with narrowed eyes. "You said… tomorrow… what do you mean?"

She smiled and tipped the blood-quill with her fingers. "You will come until I see that you have learned to respect your elders. I think this will take some more time."

Harry left her office without a word. The school was quite deserted; it was surely past midnight. He walked slowly along the corridor, then, when he had turned the corner and was sure she would not hear him he started to laugh as he imagined her face tomorrow morning when Fudge started to brag about his supposed trust.

'I sure want to know what she will do when she sees the Prophet tomorrow…,' he thought annoyed but amused at the same time when he entered his Common Room, only to find it empty.

He chuckled once again and went to bed after changing his clothes.

******

When he went down to the Common Room the next morning he was greeted by Nicolas who stood there with a raised eyebrow.

"Harry?" he asked and folded his arms. "How come you weren't in the Common Room yesterday after dinner? Dumbledore told you that I would be here for introductions and to discuss the Quidditch team."

Harry shrugged his shoulders. "Morning Nick. I had detention with Umbridge. Didn't she brag about it?"

Nicolas shook his head. "No. What did you do?"

He grinned slightly. "I arrived late to class after I left Dumbledore's office yesterday."

Nicolas shook his head. "And I suppose you ran your big mouth too, hm?"

He chuckled. "Maybe."

Nicolas sighed. "Be careful with her Harry. She can make your life difficult if she wants to."

Harry nodded. "Snape told me the same some time ago. But she just sets me on edge. I have an urge to hex her every time I see her ugly face…"

"I'm a teacher now Harry, so watch your comments. Even though I already dislike her as well…," Nicolas chided half-heartedly. "Anyway, I talked about your Quidditch team with your housemates yesterday and everything is settled. Miss Padma Patil is going to schedule the first practice sometime soon."

"Okay," mumbled Harry as he adjusted his trainers. "Hey, Nick? Do you think you will be able to watch our training sometimes and help Neville a little bit? To be honest he is not in very good shape, but it's nothing that can't be changed by practice. The problem is just that I don't want to leave Ron and Hermione alone while they're learning the Dark Arts."

Nicolas tilted his head. "I think I can arrange something… do you always train near the lake and in the Forbidden Forest?"

"Most of the time," answered Harry as they left the Common Room. "We're a little bit late today, so I guess we'll just do a quick work out. The best time would be on the weekends."

Nicolas nodded. "I'll see what I can do. Until breakfast then," he said when they reached the Entrance Hall.

Harry nodded and went out onto the grounds to meet his friends by the lake. They were already there and Draco, Ron and Hermione immediately stated to run around the lake, while Harry stayed with Neville, who was currently only able to do one lap.

******

"Harry, look at this!" exclaimed Hermione who came running over to him from the Ravenclaw table when they were at breakfast. She was clutching the newest edition of the Daily Prophet in her hand and Harry chuckled when she squeezed herself between him and Fred.

"What's going on Mione?" he asked and she gave him a quick kiss before shoving the paper into his hands.

"Look!" she urged.

Harry chuckled and unfolded the paper. He raised his eyebrows at a picture of himself and Draco staring back at him from the front page. His eyes travelled to the headline.

*

BOY WHO LIVED DENIES HE-WHO-MUST-NOT-BE-NAMED'S RETURN!

Is it all just a plot of Albus Dumbledore?

He shook his head with a bemused smile and started to read the article.

*

When the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, yesterday accompanied the new Head of the House of Phoenix (the recently formed fifth house at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry), Nick Edison and his wife, he witnessed something that should change the perspective of lots of people.

Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, who was shunned by the public for telling lies about the events from last year's Hogwarts term, denied He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's return and his words were confirmed by Draco Lucius Black (former known as Draco Lucius Malfoy), who normally isn't on good terms with Mr. Potter.

The Minister himself commented that he was pleasantly surprised by this change.

"I must say, I was shocked at first," he said in an interview yesterday evening. "I was there when Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore first claimed his return at the end of the last Hogwarts term and I feared that Mr. Potter had fallen mentally ill, but yesterday's events changed my mind."

You may want to know what caused the change of heart and Mr. Fudge, who was accompanied by a professional healer of St. Mungos, had an answer for that too.

"Mr. Potter said in all honesty, that he didn't really know how the late Mr. Cedric Diggory lost his life at the final task of the Triwizard-Tournament. He said that he couldn't remember anything specifically and that it could just have been an accident," said Fudge.

Healer Johnson from St. Mungos also gave us a clear explanation. "Mr. Potter had obviously been in shock. Under those circumstances it's highly possible that when someone tells him that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is the cause of the traumatic event, he would believe it."

"After those revelations, Harry now stands under the Protection of the Ministry," said Minister Fudge. "He gave us his trust and it shall not be lost."

But the question is: Why did Albus Dumbledore use Mr. Potter to back up his horrendous claim of his return? Is it all a plot of his to gain attention? Did his fame after the defeat of Grindelwald cloud his judgement? This may be a question which can't be answered…

And at least we asked Mr. Potter personally for his statement. "I have faith in the Ministry, that when they say everything is okay, everything is okay. I would trust them with my life," said Potter.

*

Harry laid the paper down and stared at the last sentence before breaking out laughing. "That is a good one! I wouldn't trust them to look out for one of my Uncle's old socks for me."

Hermione meanwhile leaned on his shoulder and had a grin on her face. "But you're no longer pictured as if you are nuts. You have the Ministry on your side now."

Harry nodded and looked over to the staff table. Another smile formed on his lips when he saw Umbridge staring at her own Prophet with her mouth agape and a goblet of Pumpkin Juice half-way raised to her lips.

"I think somebody doesn't like this turn of events…," he murmured to himself. "I guess I have to make a fire call or a quick visit sometime in the near future if this goes on."

A grim smile formed on his lips and he chuckled darkly when he met Umbridge's eyes. He raised his goblet at her and winked.

'This is going to be interesting.' he mused when she glared at him.

That was the latest chapter of my story. I hope you liked it!

Don't forget the Reviews!

Dark Phoenix of Slytherin