A/N: Sorry this took so long, but real life decided to give me a kick in the nads. Anyway, you all know the drill, I don't own HP and friends yada, yada, yada. And on with the story!

Chapter 7: Detention with Dumbledore

Dumbledore sat in his office waiting for Harry to arrive for his detention. Although he would never admit it, he agreed that neither Harry nor Mr. Thomas had done anything deserving of the detentions that Severus had given them, but he could not pass up an opportunity to try and convince the boy to see things his way. From his perch next to the desk, Fawkes gave an irritated squawk. Dumbledore gave the phoenix an annoyed glance. 'Ruddy bird has been behaving strangely all week,' he thought. 'I need to convince the boy that he is safer with his real family than the Americans, and that he needs to be trained to fight Voldemort. He's too confident. I need him to look to me for guidance and he needs Pureblood friends, not Muggleborns and Half-Bloods. Perhaps I should provide an incentive for him to become good friends with the Weasley and Longbottom boys. It should make it easier to put him together with young Ginevra.' He was broken from his musings by a knock on the door. Guessing that it must be Harry arriving for his detention, he looked at the clock over his door and saw that the boy was nearly five minutes early. Frowning at the lost opportunity for additional discipline, he decided to let the boy stand and wait. At exactly one minute to eight there was another knock on the door, followed a few seconds later by the door being opened and Harry entering.

"Mr. Potter it is impolite to enter without being bidden."

"It is also impolite for a student to be late for a detention with the Headmaster of the school, which I likely would have been had I waited for you to tell me to enter. That's an old boot camp trick, sir, I'm not going to fall for it," replied Harry.

"Boot camp? What do footwear and camping have to do with anything?"

"Boot camp is where the Army sends new recruits for training. Commanders would order a recruit to report to their office at a certain time and then make them wait before telling them to come in so they can discipline them for being late."

"Very well. Have a seat, Harry," said Dumbledore, conjuring an uncomfortable looking chair in front of his desk. "Lemon drop?" he asked once Harry sat down.

"No thank you, sir, I don't think it's appropriate since I'm supposed to be serving detention, nor is it appropriate for you to be addressing me in such a familiar manner as you are neither friend nor kin."

"As I am your magical guardian it is quite appropriate that I refer to you by your given name." Dumbledore smiled at Harry, his eyes twinkling.

Harry felt the brush against his mind that told him that the Headmaster was attempting to use Legilimency to try and get inside his head. He broke eye contact with Dumbledore as Fawkes gave an angry trill and flew over to Harry, perching gently on his shoulder.

*Worry not young Gryffindor.*

Harry felt the brush of the phoenix's mind against his. Fawkes was not attempting to push into his mind, but instead was speaking to his shielded mind. 'Fawkes?' he thought, turning his head to look at the firebird perched on his shoulder.

*Yes. The headmaster is trying to penetrate your thoughts, and although you have shielded your mind well he would have succeeded had I not intervened. I will reinforce your shields and keep him out of your mind.*

'Professor McGonagall told me you would protect me if Dumbledore went too far.'

*Your Head of House is a wise woman, Harry. She is a worthy custodian of your ancestor's house.*

'So the Sorting Hat wasn't joking when it called Godric Gryffindor my ancestor, I'm actually descended from a Founder of Hogwarts?'

*Yes, Harry. But I think you should reply to the old man, he's getting a bit miffed.*

Harry realized that his conversation had only taken a second but Dumbledore was frowning when he turned his attention back to the old Headmaster. "I'm afraid you're mistaken, Headmaster. Pappy is my magical guardian while my adopted parents are my legal physical guardians. You are merely the Headmaster of my school. Even Snape…"

"Professor Snape," corrected Dumbledore. "He is your teacher and deserves your respect. He is also the youngest person to attain a Potions Mastery."

"He's no teacher, though I'll assume you're telling me the truth and give him his props for having his Mastery. Even Potions Master Snape, no matter how rude or insulting he may be about it, calls me Mr. Potter, though he doesn't always include the mister. Hagrid told me James Potter bullied him when they went to school together, so he's 'blaming the son for the sins of the father', as the Muggle saying goes. I've already lodged a complaint with Professor McGonagall about his treatment of me and I won't hesitate to go to the school board if I have to."

"Threats do not become you, Mr. Potter, and would you please return my phoenix to his perch?" replied Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling again as he again tried to push his way into Harry's mind.

*Silly bugger. I'm not his phoenix. I haven't bonded with another wizard since Godric died. There has not been a descendant of Godric worthy for me to bond with. Until now.*

'Me?'

*Yes, Harry. I felt our bond beginning to form as soon as you arrived in the school. You are a truly worthy heir of Lord Gryffindor. All that remains is for you to accept our bond.*

'I accept, noble Fawkes.'

A red-gold glow formed around Harry and Fawkes as Harry grinned at the Headmaster. "I'm afraid you're mistaken once again, sir. Fawkes is my phoenix, or rather I'm Fawkes's wizard. He hasn't been bonded to a wizard since Godric Gryffindor. He say's I'm a truly worthy heir of Lord Gryffindor and has chosen to bond with me."

Dumbledore was furious. He couldn't allow Harry to go to the board and reveal that he is a Founder's heir. 'I'll have to rethink my plans for the boy,' he thought. He fixed a smile on his face before replying. "Congratulations, Mr. Potter, you are the first person to bond with a phoenix in nearly a thousand years. I believe you are also the youngest. I will speak to Severus about his behavior. Just make sure that you do not get caught actually breaking school rules, in or out of class. Now, you have plenty of time to return to your dorm before curfew, so run along."

Harry beat a hasty retreat from the Headmaster's office, sharing a mental laugh with Fawkes, telling his new familiar that Professor McGonagall wanted to see him and his friends when his detention was over. When Harry was halfway down the spiral staircase, he mentally asked Fawkes to take him to Dean and Seamus. Fawkes gave a soft trill before flaming Harry to his dorm room, startling Dean and Seamus, who were playing a game of poker on Dean's bed.

"Blimey, Harry, you didn't tell us you had a phoenix familiar," blurted Seamus, pointing at Fawkes. Dean just stared, awe-struck at the sight of Harry with a phoenix on his shoulder.

Harry laughed before replying. "That's because I didn't until I went to my detention with Dumbledore. He tried getting into my thoughts again and Fawkes here took exception to that. He bonded with me and helped me keep the old man out of my head. I just came to get you guys so we can go see McGonagall."

"That's right," said Dean, recovering. "She said she wanted to see us after you finished your detention." He glanced at his watch. "I don't think she expected you to be done so soon, though."

Fawkes gave a happy trill, and Harry heard his laughter in his head.

*Actually, she guessed exactly when, just not how.*

"Fawkes says McGonagall had guessed exactly how long my detention would take, just not how it would end," said Harry.

"Then we best not keep our Head of House waiting, should we?" said Seamus, heading for the door.

"I have a better idea," said Harry. "Everyone thinks I'm in detention right now, right? Except McGonagall?" Dean and Seamus nodded. "Take my arms," Harry ordered, holding his arms out. "I want to make an impression on McGonagall and mess with our house when we get back," he continued when they hesitated. The boys shrugged and grabbed Harry's arms and the three of them disappeared in a flash of flame.

When they reappeared in a flash of flame in McGonagall's office, she looked up and swore under her breath. "That old coot. He tried to Legilimize you again, didn't he?" she asked Harry. He grinned and nodded. "You and Fawkes have bonded, I assume?" Harry nodded again. "I knew that he would protect you if Dumbledore tried to go too far, but I never expected this."

"Fawkes told me that I'm the heir of Godric Gryffindor and that I'm the first wizard worthy of bonding with him since Gryffindor himself."

Dean and Seamus looked at him in awe. "Wicked!" they breathed.

"Aaaand, the Sorting Hat said that I was actually quite easy to place and though some would say I should have been Sorted into Slytherin because I'm a Parselmouth, but the Hat said I belong in the House of my ancestor. On the boats I was remembering something I read in Hogwarts: A History about how the castle is almost sentient and thinking how the castle's magic felt like family and figured the castle saw all the students as its family, when I heard this voice whisper in my ear. It said, 'not all students, young heir'."

McGonagall smiled fondly at Harry. "I assume Albus didn't take to kindly to Fawkes bonding with you?"

Harry grinned. "Nope. He demanded that I return his phoenix. I told him that he was mistaken and that Fawkes was my phoenix, or rather that I was Fawkes' wizard. I also threatened to go to the school board about Potions Master Snape. He suddenly got this really fake smile on his face and told me to run along. I got about halfway down the stairs outside his office and asked Fawkes to take me to Dean and Seamus. He flamed us to our dorm room, I grabbed the two of them and flamed here."

McGonagall gave Harry a serious look. "I am happy for you Harry, and I'm suspicious of Albus' sudden change in attitude. I believe a field trip for the two of us is in order. There are many things you need to be told and if Albus had his way you'd never learn about them until it was too late. He doesn't hide all of his secrets as well as he thinks he does. He forgets that I was your father's favorite teacher, and I must admit that he and your mother were two of my favorite students."

"What kind of secrets, Professor?" asked Harry.

"I will tell you what I can tomorrow, but it is nearly curfew. Get a good night's sleep and I will meet you in the Entrance Hall after breakfast."

Harry and his friends thanked their Head of House and Harry promised to teach the charm he had taught Dean to any of his housemates that wished to learn it. Fawkes flamed the three of them back to their dorm in Gryffindor Tower, surprising Ron and Neville who were playing a game of chess on Ron's bed. They yelped and Ron dove off the bed, scattering the chess pieces. Neville recovered quickly and stared at the phoenix perched on Harry's shoulder as Harry flicked his wand and conjured a perch next to his bed. Fawkes trilled happily and fluttered over to the perch.

"Where were you guys?" asked Ron, looking at Dean and Seamus. "I never saw you go out the door downstairs."

"McGonagall's office," replied Dean. "She wanted to see the three of us after Harry's detention. We were up here playing poker when Harry flamed in here with Fawkes and took the three of us to her office the same way."

"Blimey, Harry, I didn't know you had a phoenix," said Neville.

"I didn't until the Headmaster tried to riffle through my thoughts again during my detention tonight. Fawkes didn't like that he was trying to read the thoughts of his Founder's heir," replied Harry with a grin.

"Wicked," said Ron. "But what do you mean *his* Founder's heir?"

"Fawkes hasn't been bonded with a wizard since the founding of Hogwarts. Apparently I'm descended from Godric Gryffindor himself."

The five boys sat discussing the possible implications of Harry being a Founder's heir and speculating on where McGonagall would be taking Harry the next morning before getting ready for bed. They climbed into their respective beds and drifted off to sleep, Fawkes trilling a soft lullaby to ensure pleasant dreams for Harry and his friends.

A/N: Next chapter will be Harry's field trip with McGonagall and a bit of fluff… maybe. The fluff that is, the field trip is definite.