Matryoshka Vignettes
Wings of Fire
By Jeconais
Special Guest Author: Crys
Fawkes - Thu, July 31st 1980 to present
It all began July 31, 1980. Well, that was the date as humans reckon it, anyway.
A so-called Child of Prophecy was born.
I went to visit him late that night. Nobody saw me, as was my wont during these visits. Knowing, at least in vague terms, the fate of this child, I cried a single tear for him. Unknowing child that he was, he simply smiled at me. With one soft croon, I left.
Fifteen months later, Magic felt the results of what the Very Dark One attempted to do to the Potter hatchling. And as I’m a magical being, living in a magical dwelling and surrounded by other magical beings, it took only moments for all of us to know exactly what had happened. The prophecy was unwinding in human events.
Wizards, on the other hand, took far longer to learn even the most basic facts of what had occurred. Even Albus didn’t know anything about the extinguishing of James and Lily until he was told by another.
It would be another decade before I heard any more of my Harry. Not that a decade means all that much to one such as I.
Until that day eleven years later (and I’m quite embarrassed at what I did not three minutes into our first meeting, I can assure you), life went on much as it had. Students came and went, and Albus happily went about offering his lemon drops to anyone and everyone who visited the office.
Once that boy entered Hogwarts, though, that was when the turbulence started.
Oh, not with him, so much. Poor Harry did the best he could with the situation he was given. He even did quite well for himself leading his flock in the ministry.
No, I was referring to Albus.
It started with subtle acts. First asking Minerva to keep an eye on him. For his own good, of course. Then it was the other professors. Then each of the new Defense professors. (How Albus could ignore me when I tried to tell him about the disguised Crouch, I don’t know.) Eventually, he had just about everyone except Peeves watching and reporting on Harry.
My apologies. The story is getting away from me. One disadvantage of living as long as I have — I tend to ramble a bit in my stories.
I was willing to overlook Albus’ first mistake, leaving him with the Muggles. His arguments made sense, after all. Growing up the savior of the Wizarding world would give anyone a big head. On the other wing, a nest where he was belittled and underfed wasn’t healthy by any measure.
After he came to the castle, though, things started happening. Albus making the protections on that stone so easy that three fledglings could get it? I won’t even go into the fight I had with the basilisk. My Harry handled the Soul Eaters well enough without help the next summer, fortunately. His extra lessons with the Wolf came in useful after all. Then we had that whole tournament that Albus was absolutely gleeful that Harry had been entered into. Never even tried to find who had entered him, despite my best efforts.
After the night that the Very Dark One began to burn again, Harry’s nightmares became much worse. I’d Travel to his nest sometimes, just to Sing to him and help him sleep. None of his nest-mates ever knew I was there. My comfort was for my Harry alone.
The next year was even worse. First that dark Umbridge person went around torturing the students (including my Harry). Hogwarts had a high old time thwarting her for that, I assure you.
But then before the end of the school year — my Harry had watched his male-parent-protector be extinguished right in front of his eyes. Then, he attempted to give Pain to the one who did it. Fortunately for my Harry, it didn’t work.
Did Albus do anything to help my Harry?
Minerva told him. Filius told him. Remus told him. Alistair told him. The images told him. For Flame’s sake, even Hogwarts told him. The fledgling needed a new nest and someone to care for him. Of course, nothing was done.
I hadn’t bothered to tell him. I was beginning to realize that I was losing Albus by this point.
And that hurt.
I spent more and more time watching Harry. Not that he ever noticed, of course. The hiding skills of my kind are legendary for a reason, after all.
Then the next school year. Things were, for the most part, stable. At least until the end. I felt it when Albus cast the Control spell on that Dark One. It tore at my soul that my human could and would cast that spell. I watched and listened as Albus and Snape made their plans.
Then the fight in the hallway, the anger and hatred flowing within the halls of the castle. Very disturbing, to both me and Hogwarts. Afterwards, Minerva came into the office, looking distinctly ruffled, very nearly catatonic. Instinctively, I started to Sing, calming her mind. It worked, but only to a degree
That was the first time I’d ever seen her cry.
It confused me, momentarily, until I recalled that she thought she’d just seen Albus extinguished.
Not so, of course, but she didn’t know that. I did the only thing I could. I continued Singing until she’d calmed herself. It was only days later that she learned the truth.
I was kept busy during this time as messenger between Albus and Minerva. I didn’t mind the role so much. While I was with Albus, I could study him and make a decision that was long overdue. While I was with Minerva, I could talk about it with Alistair and Hogwarts. Though they’re both younger than I, they do have their own perspective on the world, and I value their advice.
None of us were happy with the conclusions we were reaching. We had time, though. What are days or even months to such as us?
Then the next year started. Minerva was Headmistress at the beginning, though Albus was in the castle almost all the time. He wasn’t acting as the Headmaster, though, which pleased Hogwarts. She was becoming as protective of my Harry as I was, and by staying "extinguished", Albus gave her the excuse she wanted to not tell him everything that he wanted to know. And he most definitely did want to know everything about my Harry.
I watched in amusement as he courted the Greengrass girl in his own way. She was not as Light as he was, but that’s okay. She didn’t have to be, so long as she didn’t try to make him Dark. No, all she had to do was make my Harry happy. Fortunately for all involved, she seemed to be doing that very well, once she accepted his advances.
Despite her best attempts, I’d felt Harry’s heart growing ever heavier as time went on. He wanted to extinguish the Very Dark One, but Albus forbade it. Harry asked his nest-mates and his flock for help. They all refused him in favor of believing Albus’s words.
Finally, about one lunar cycle after the winter solstice, Harry had enough. He and his only ally left and extinguished the Very Dark One.
That fight concerned me for two different reasons. Harry nearly didn’t realize how to vanquish the Very Dark One until the very last moment. Fortunately, he knew what to do when the time came. Then he was nearly extinguished himself. I was about to intervene when his mate did something that brought his Flame back up. I heard them later describe it as a Muggle technique. I’ll have to study Muggles later if they know how to do such things.
Silent and invisible, I watched them change one of the Dark Ones to appear to be my Harry. It didn’t surprise me that they would try to do something like this. After all, they’d watched Albus do much the same to grand effect.
I stayed near Harry for the following week. They were practically inseparable until my Harry’s Solemn Goodbye drawing strength from each other as my Harry recovered from his exhaustion. During that time I could almost see them grow, as humans and as mates. Through this time he was occasionally depressed, but he seemed to be getting better as time went on. The feelings he had whenever his mate touched him or consoled him convinced me that she was all he needed to continue healing on his own without my constant supervision.
I watched in high amusement as Albus was forced to deal with the fallout from his own actions. Various Ministry fools came and went. I was especially impressed with how all of Harry’s old flock turned on Albus. Serves him right.
I also looked in on Harry and his mate from time to time. After some time in a busy and loud place they called "Las Vegas", they went to a small island and then started looking for a nest of their own. I was glad when they settled on a warm island. Drafty old castles in the north are not a comfortable place for Fire Birds.
One of their visits does come to mind, though. Harry seemed to want to jump off of a bridge with a stretching string attached to his foot. Why he would do so is beyond me (he can fly on a perfectly good broom if he has a mind to), but he seemed to think it would be fun. I was there, again silent and invisible, as he was given the safety instructions. Then he jumped.
I nearly fell off of my perch laughing when the elf who’d bound himself to Harry "rescued" him.
After a long talk with the elf and a Memory Wipe of the Muggles, he jumped again.
It’s generally unrecognized that Fire Birds have a mischievous streak. I gave in to mine at this point.
Knowing full well that my Harry was in no real danger, I rescued him mid-air anyway. This was something of a shock to the Muggles, unsurprisingly. I was laughing so hard at them and Harry’s explanations that I was crying. Finally signaling that I understood, I left. Or appeared to. I wanted to see how this ended.
Harry’s third jump started out well enough. He wasn’t rescued by any magical beings this time. Unfortunately, in my "rescuing" him previously, I had damaged the cord. Oops. Before anyone gets all huffy at me, I was going to rescue him again if he really needed it. He didn’t.
With no help apparently coming (he’d convinced both Dobby and I that he didn’t want to be rescued from falling), he rescued himself. I suppose that that means that technically he was rescued by a magical being, after all. Of course, he inadvertently did some geological rearrangements in the process.
I left before my laughter caused a Burning.
Life settled into something resembling normal for my Harry and his mate. They put their new nest together and appeared to be very happy.
Albus, on the other hand, became more erratic and desperate in his dealings with others.
With a heavy heart, I began the long process of abandoning him. He was no longer the young Light Wizard I had met after his defeat of the Very Dark One called Grindelwald.
Albus continued desperately searching for Harry. Minerva even accused him, very directly, of not liking it that Harry was out from under his control. I was quite proud of Minerva’s insight.
Nothing would dissuade Albus from his course, however. When I listened to him conspire with Scrimgeour to steal from Harry’s mate, well, that was the final break. Our bond, thinned by his actions and further thinned by my choice, parted completely.
I looked at him and chirped a sad farewell. Ignoring his attempt to convince himself that his actions were actually for the best, I left, calling a goodbye to Hogwarts as well. I would be back, not in the same way, but I do not abandon my friends. Friends who live as long as we do are rare in this world. But for now, a new adventure beckons, new places to explore, new vistas to view.
But where shall I go?
Well, I’ll start with a visit to Harry and his mate. Perhaps I can find something to occupy my time there.