The Dark Phoenix

The week drug by and Harry was elated when Madam Pomfrey removed the restrictions she had placed on him. Hermione and Ron had split up his books and were insisting they carry them for him. It was annoying, all the unwanted attention, when he didn't feel bad at all. Well, he did have a few nasty headaches but a dose of potion took care of them. Harry gave an involuntary shudder thinking about the headache potion, it was sickly sweet. They were currently on their way to Hogsmeade via the secret passageway that would take them to the cellar of Honeydukes. Harry had been slipped a note from Professor Figg at the end of her class. The note instructed them to bring their brooms and wear appropriate warm clothing for the night air and that they were to make their way up behind the Shrieking Shack. Harry had to admit he enjoyed the special lessons they had been getting. There was a sense of adventure and learning something new. Not to mention the small thrill of sneaking around the castle with the chance of getting caught. Albeit a slight chance with Hermione's map. A map that she now pulled out, stopping in the middle of the tunnel, looking at it with dismay.

"What's up Hermione?"

"Just my suspicious nature toward a couple of brothers." She leaned her broom against her shoulder in the crook of her neck while she rolled out her map. "Ah ha, just as I thought. The little buggers are following us."

"Who?"

"Jim and Tim Bennet of course. They've got the Marauder's Map."

"What?" Harry and Ron said together.

"Oh, sorry. I forgot to mention it. I've seen them sneaking around the secret passageways on my map."

"Let's go back and take it from them," Ron suggested furrowing his brow. It was Harry's first urge as well but he hesitated, not saying anything, and wondered if Hermione had anything in mind.

"Now how would that work out Ron? None of us are supposed to be down here. All we'll do is succeed in making matters worse by taking it from them and that might take more time than you think. We're supposed to be behind the Shrieking Shack at nine o'clock. We just don't want them following us. Agreed?"

"Er, yeah, agreed. But do you have something in mind?"

"I still think we should take it from them. I know a couple of curses I've been itching to try out."

"Ron! Give it a rest. And yes, I do have something in mind. Here hold this." Hermione handed Ron her broom and went back in the tunnel from the direction they just came. After a short minute he and Ron could hear distant voices echoing in the passageway. Suddenly two of the voices sounded surprised. Hermione came back into view grinning.

"I told them I didn't have time to argue and that we would all talk sometime tomorrow."

Harry could still hear sounds echoing albeit somewhat muffled. "So? What did you do?"

Hermione eyed the ceiling. "Oh, I just charmed their clothes to wrap them up long enough to let us get on to our lesson. Last I saw, Jim's robe was over his head as he tripped over Tim whose pants were trying to give him the twist." Harry and Ron burst out laughing.

"Oh, I'd like to see that," said Ron taking a step back down the tunnel.

"Come on Ron." Hermione took her broom back pulling Ron with it.

They made their way up the hill toward the Shrieking Shack.

"There's too much moonlight. I feel exposed," whispered Harry. "Maybe we can ride our brooms close to the ground off the main road. We should also try to keep our profiles low to the brooms. Hermione why don't you glide between Ron and I. If you sense any danger Ron and I will both know at the same time." Hermione and Ron agreed.

"I wish I had that disillusionment charm down. I think I'd much rather walk the road." Harry grinned in the moonlit darkness. He suspected Hermione didn't like gliding less than a meter off the ground zigzagging their way around bushes in the dark.

They dismounted their brooms upon reaching the backside of the Shrieking Shack. It seemed that no one was there. They walked the length of the backside avoiding a triangle shaped shadow formed by the moonlight.

"Maybe she's around front," suggested Ron.

"We had specific instructions to meet on the backside Ron."

"Wait. Didn't we all avoid that shadowed area back there? I'll bet she used a concealment spell and is watching to see what we do." Harry was feeling confident and walked directly into the shadow, fighting the urge to go somewhere else, but no one was there. He stepped back into the moonlight showing the palms of his hands indicating he didn't know what to do next.

"Not bad. I'd give Gryffindor ten points if this were an official lesson. Five because you didn't come sauntering up the road and another five because Harry figured out there was a concealment spell placed on the shadows there. But none of you considered looking up."

Three heads jerked in the direction of the roof. Harry couldn’t see a thing that resembled Arabella Figg, or a person for that matter, when he saw the movement of a broom descend from the roof and stop beside them. The front and rear of a broom, to be exact, the middle of it was absent until Professor Figg removed her invisibility cloak.

"I would have been very impressed if you had seen part of my broom as I hovered near the roof. Of course, if this had been an actual stakeout I would have enlarged my invisibility cloak to cover the entire broom, but it's always such a nuisance to untangle if I do that. Let's get underway, we've got about a half hour of flying time before we can begin tonight's lesson."

Harry was thinking this was going to be a rather brisk flight in the cool night air just as Professor Figg handed them each a cup and pulled a thermos out of her robes.

"Here you go something to take the chill out of the flight, a small cup of coffee with a dash of warming potion. Hold your cups steady. The moon is fairly bright but it's still a bit tricky."

Harry found the coffee to be cinnamon flavored, slightly sweet. It was very good and made the autumn night air feel like a warm summer day, the only thing missing was a bright sun overhead. Instead, a soft yellow moon was still climbing in the sky, almost full but in the waning phase. Professor Figg put away the thermos and gathered the cups.

"I'll need to put a Disillusionment Charm on each of you before we go." She rapped each of them on the head with her wand, including herself, the charm made them blend into their moonlit surroundings almost perfectly. "Now it will be difficult to see each other. Therefore, I want us to fly in a tight formation. I'll be in the lead. Harry and Ron I want you on either side of Hermione since you've both had more flying experience. Ready?"

They kicked off in unison, Harry, Hermione and Ron closely behind Professor Figg. Harry found the flight exhilarating as they clipped along at about sixty kilometers per hour. They rounded their way north of the castle, deep into the forest, skimming along the tops of the trees. About twenty minutes into their flight, Professor Figg slowed. As they came upon a clearing in the forest Harry thought it looked rough and rock strewn but wasn't sure because of the dim light. However, Professor Figg took them in to land gently on a very large stone out crop as they dismounted their brooms.

"Hold still while I remove the Disillusionment Charm," Professor Figg said in a normal tone of voice. It was a relief from the hushed whispering they had used before leaving Hogsmeade. "I'm sure you're wondering why it was necessary to go so far for this particular lesson. There are no dwellings this deep in the forest; witch, wizard or muggle. The reason is that you'll be learning a curse, the Blasting Curse and variations thereof."

"Aw right."

"Excellent."

"Isn't it a little dark for this sort of thing?"

"Since we'll only be working on the basics and not accuracy it should do. However, we will need just enough extra light to work on technique." Figg conjured a floating torch. "There, that's better. The Blasting Curse is primarily based on anger. Irritation and aggravation can also fuel the spell. Our primary concern this evening is to make sure no one casts a curse too closely. Could be a nasty business sorting through the pieces," Figg chuckled as her pupils gave her odd looks. "Anyway, this will be good practice using defensive charms as well. I'll cast the first curse to demonstrate." Chanting the 'Conflare Confractum' she raised her wand and brought it down hard giving it a thrusting motion like poking with a sword. A large boulder several hundred meters away blew to bits. Harry was impressed but soon found it was not as easy as Professor Figg made it look. Harry's first attempt was a loud bang about fifty meters away and Hermione's was similar. Ron however, managed a nice boom on his first attempt. Professor Figg was always standing nearby ready to cast a defensive charm in case something went wrong.

As the evening's lesson progressed so did their Blasting Curses. Hermione was lagging behind Harry and Ron, which was frustrating her to no end. Right after Hermione had another disappointing turn casting the curse, with only a mild boom; Ron leaned in and whispered something to her. Hermione stiffened and squinted her eyes at Ron.

"I'd like to have another go if you don’t mind Professor." Not waiting for a reply Hermione cast her curse that went off with an echoing boom throwing debris into the night air. Ron stepped back surprised and swallowed hard.

"Very good Hermione, it seems Ron's words of encouragement helped. I'll assume it was encouragement."

"S-sure," Ron nodded in the affirmative.

Harry barely heard Hermione say. "Humph, be glad you weren't on the receiving end of that one," as she walked around behind Harry indicating it was his turn to step up and cast a curse. Ron was still looking shaken.

"What did you say?" Harry whispered.

"I-I was just trying to help. I told her she might have better luck with the curse depending on the time of the month."
"Er yeah, well, I think you over did it."

"It's getting late. You've all mastered the basics and there are many variations. It is also possible to direct the blast in a desired direction by adding the word Pellere to the beginning of the curse. In any case, I would recommend that you use this curse only in an emergency." They all agreed with her.

"Could I have one more go at it? I wonder what I could do if I gave it a bit more."

"Holding back on us Mr. Potter? Very well have another go at it and it will have to be the last."

Harry paused, "I don't know. I hadn't thought … Anyway." Harry shook off Professor Figg's question and decided to give it a lot more than he had previously. Anger was the core of this curse giving it the explosive nature it had. Harry knew he had a lot of buried anger and thought this would be a good way to let some of it out. He just had to remember what Dumbledore had taught him about being in control. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly before plunging into his own feelings. Bits and pieces of anger, frustration swirled. '… killed my parents,,,,. tried to kill Hermione…murdering bas..'

It can be a frightening realization discovering how much anger you really have built up in you. It can take on a life of its own – threatening - consuming. Maybe Harry still held back because of that fear but went ahead and channeled what he had a grip on. He raised his wand and swung it down "Conflare Confractum!" The moment of release was sweet but the deafening blast that followed was shocking. Professor Figg had been on the ready and cast a Defensive Charm for all of them. It was a good thing as boulders, earth, and debris bounced off the barrier the charm created. The debris stopped falling and the charm dissipated but a thundering echo rolled eerily around them. Harry was the first one to say anything after several moments of shocked silence.

"I-I'm sorry," stuttered Harry.
"Nothing to be sorry for," said Professor Figg with a brief quiver in her voice. "It just proves my point that the Blasting Curse can be very dangerous. I think we can dispense with another Disillusionment Charm and take a more direct way back to Hogwarts and fly directly onto the . We can part ways from there."

They landed gracefully on top of the . Professor Figg waved, put on her cloak and disappeared. Hermione pulled out her map and nodded signaling everything was all clear. They made their way down the first set of steps drawing near the first lit torch when Hermione turned put her hand out on Harry's chest to stop him.

"Is everything all right Harry?" There was a look of concern.

"Oi mate, that was incredible. I'll bet you left a bloody crater. I wish we could have gone back to take a look." Harry was pleased as well but Hermione ignored Ron and looked searchingly into Harry's eyes.

"I’m okay, honest." Harry wanted to reassure her that he meant what he said. He suppressed the urge to stroke her hair and kiss her on the cheek because Ron was there. Not looking satisfied with his answer she finally took her hand away and looked at her map once more. Harry was keenly aware of the fading warmth where her hand had been on his chest and felt suddenly exposed. He gave Ron a quick look and was relieved to see he was looking over Hermione's shoulder at her map.

"Uh oh, something's up. There's way too much activity in the corridors for this time of night. Almost half of the Prefects in the school, along with Filch, are patrolling the hallways." Hermione pushed her map at Harry. "Here you two, please try not to get caught. I'll blend in with the rest of the Prefects and find out what's going on."

It turned out that Jim and Tim had almost been caught the night before, as Mrs. Norris had raised the alarm with Filch. Filch in turn rousted a number of Prefects to help catch whoever was out after curfew. Harry, Hermione, and Ron were listening to their story in an empty classroom that Hermione had found.

"Anyway, if we hadn't had the Marauder's Map we would have been caught for sure. What we want to know is how you knew we had it."

"Because – oh, wait a sec. Harry, or Ron could you give us a bit more privacy? Concealing privacy if you know what I mean." Ron waved Harry to go ahead. Harry cast a concealment spell on the room. Tim and Jim's eyes bugged.

"How did you do that?"

"Hey cool, can you teach us that?"

"Maybe in time but back to your first question. I can see you two traipsing around the castle on my map." Jim and Tim responded with a flurry of questions about maps, what Harry, Hermione and Ron had been doing and why couldn’t they be in on it.

"The Marauder's Map belonged to my dad and his friends. Hermione made the map she has and what the three of us have been doing is learning some advanced magic. We're not at liberty to give more details but it is very important that this be kept quiet."

Tim looked putout but Jim looked concerned and was the first to say something after Harry's partial revelation.

"This has to do about 'You know who' doesn't it?"

Hermione nodded slowly in reply.

"Biting and leaping clabberts!" exclaimed Jim. "Why didn't you say so? Is there anything we can do to help? We can certainly keep this quiet."

"Do you want us to give you the Marauder's Map?" Jim asked looking pained.

"If we didn't already have a better map I would be tempted to say yes. For now, just don't get caught," said Harry.

"Pleeease, try to stay out of trouble. Gryffindor has lost enough points because of you two already. Don't you two ever get tired of detention?"

Jim and Tim only grinned eyeing the ceiling.

"You give us too much trouble and we will take it," added Ron.

The end of Transfiguration Class and Harry's thoughts turned once more to Quidditch as he gathered his books. It had been almost a week since Hufflepuff had played Ravenclaw and Harry still hadn't worked out a plan to distract the Hufflepuff Seeker who had improved dramatically since last year. Harry reasoned that since he was distracted being Captain he needed some way to put the other Seeker on more of an even level with himself.

"Mr. Potter, Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley, please approach my desk."

The three of them walked up to Professor McGonagall's desk.

"The three of you will serve detention with Hagrid tomorrow. Prepare yourselves to be out of doors all day."

"But that's Saturday, our day off, and we haven't done anything," Ron protested.

"Tut tut Mr. Weasley, detentions are not arbitrarily doled out. There are reasons for everything." McGonagall had been keeping an eye on everyone leaving the class room and she spoke again when the last one left the room. "I should also inform you that tomorrow's detention will take the place of this evening's lesson. To make things look proper twenty points will be taken for each of you. However, I'm fairly certain that Hagrid will award twenty points each by tomorrow's end, provided you do well." McGonagall looked at each of them over her glasses. "One more thing, I am supposed to tell you that lost time for your studies can be made up at the expense of getting older. I assume you all understand what that means."

"Gah, I hate double potions with the Slytherins. I'm glad it's over. Beats me how Dumbledore could have someone like Snape on the staff, especially with the way he treats us and Harry in particular."

"He's a licensed Potions Master for one and if you can get past his abrasive personality – which takes a lot of effort, he's actually quite brilliant. Ron shook his head disbelievingly at Hermione. Snape being brilliant was more than he could fathom.

"No lesson this evening Harry, how about a nice game of wizard chess?"

"We've still got a lot of homework Ron. I swear homework gets doubled every year we're here."

"There's no way we're going to get it done anyway. Not with detention tomorrow." Ron rolled his eyes. "We might as well make the most of it and enjoy ourselves with what little time we've got."

"That's right Ron. Time. Didn't you understand the message McGonagall gave us?" Hermione said sounding irritated. "We're to use the Headmaster's Sanctum to do our studies."

"Oh," grumbled Ron. "All the time in the world to study then. That should make you happy." Hermione ignored his sarcasm.

"It won't be so bad. We can order whatever we want from the kitchens. And surely we can work in some wizard chess after our studies." Then thinking of including Hermione, "Or exploding snap maybe."

"You two can play wizard chess. I'll be quite content to read a book," said Hermione giving a wry smile as Ron brightened considerably.

"Ready to serve detention are ya?" Hagrid said with a wink as he opened the door of his hut. "I'll be teachin' ya ah bit o' survival knowledge. We'll be spendin' most o' the day in the forest an' ya won't be needin' yer wands. So tucks 'em away till later. Ah will however be givin' ya these." Hagrid handed them each a sheathed knife.

"Don't be takin' those out o' their sheaths jus' yet. These knives 'ave been charmed. They'll never lose an edge 'an they'll cut jus' about anythin'. All ya have to do is press harder an' they'll cut. Le' me show ya." Hagrid took out his own knife that looked as big as a machete. Massive compared to theirs but similar in every other respect. He unsheathed it and placed it on a log. It must have been sharp because it sunk into the hard wood neatly. The surprise was when he started pressing down on it rocking it back and forth as if he were cutting a large sausage. The blade went cleanly through.

"I understand the charm working to keep the blade sharp but what lets it cut through like that? I didn't see any smoke so it's not a burning charm."

"Er, let me see if I can remember Hermione. It's a hermetic resins er something like that."

"Oh, you mean harmonic resonance?"

"Yeah, that's the ticket."

"But how was such a charm applied? I'll have to look that up."

"You would," said Ron rolling his eyes. Hermione wrinkled her nose at him in response.

Hagrid complained that to teach them some real survival skills he would need at least a month and preferable two but that he would do the best he could with a day. He stressed over and over the importance of water - where to look - and how to find it.

"Here's ya ah neat trick that even some muggles can do. They calls it dowsing, er witching fer water. Take a young limber sapling that has a nice double branch in it. A fruit tree tends to werk best but I always hated to cut one. However this here willow sapling will do." Hagrid grabbed hold of what Harry considered a young tree, not a sapling, took out his knife and cut it off cleanly at the base. He trimmed off the top, all but two forked branches giving him handles. Hagrid encouraged the three of them to do the same. Of course theirs were much smaller than Hagrid's. They wandered around holding willow sticks in the air. Harry thought it looked kind of silly until his suddenly bent straight down and so did Hermione's and Ron's on either side of him. It was weird how it bent down in a particular spot even when he tried to make it not.

"Good ya found a spot. Looks like an underground stream near ta surface. I'll move this 'ere rock an' we'll jus see." Hagrid kicked at a small boulder, rolling it out of the way and leaving a hole in the ground. They all watched as water bubbled up from the bottom filling the hole half way up.

Hagrid showed them how to fashion a crude shelter against the weather, and then how to make traps and snares. Harry never realized there was so much to know and was intrigued how Hagrid could make something out of seemingly nothing. Hagrid had them each build a snare which they left as he had them walk down another path imparting what knowledge he had of the forest and how to stay alive when you have almost nothing.

"Ya see the use of magic can be detected, within a certain range, and if you're not sure where your enemy is, you can't always risk using magic while you're out looking for water or wild game. So, what sounds good for supper? Grouse, rabbit, blackcock?"

"Say, that's right. We haven't even had lunch. I'm so hungry I could eat a Hippogriff but a nice leg of lamb sounds good," said Ron.

"Ham with mashed potatoes and gravy," said Harry.

"No, roast beef with mashed potatoes and gravy sounds better," said Hermione

Hagrid chuckled. "Well le' see here - a Hippogriff, a sheep, a pig, and a cow," he said counting them off on his fingers. "Those things are all much too big for the snares we left. I'm betting on grouse or rabbit. Let's go back and check shall we?"

Hagrid was right. They had two grouse and a rabbit. It suddenly became clear what other use their knives would have. Hermione was the one most shocked at the realization.

"Ya alright there Hermione? I know ye has a soft heart for all the lesser creatures but this is tha best way to learn survival. Ya do it an' then yer sure ye can. It's wrong to kill for the sake of killin'. It's not wrong when it's fer survival an' ya could find yerself depended on by someone else for survival as well."

Hermione understood but was quiet. She did her part as well as Harry or Ron. Ron was the one who seemed most at ease having lived more of a country life than either Harry or Hermione. Hagrid showed them how to build a fire without magic and fashioned a spit to turn and roast the game on. They were all hungry and ate, Hermione eating very little. Harry thought the grouse was better than the rabbit but both tasted pretty good, especially since he was hungry.

December was drawing near and the weather was getting colder. It had been a week since there detention-lesson with Hagrid. Hermione had avoided eating meat of any kind all week, but was finally coming to terms with killing 'a beautiful wild creature' as she put it. Ron didn't see what all the fuss was about and was about to point out that all the food served at the castle came from somewhere. But not before Harry kicked him under the table and whispered.

"Do you want to get her starting on another organization? 'Vegetarians of Hogwarts' or something? You still remember S.P.E.W. don't you?" Ron gave a concentrated look and started talking about how well his favorite Quidditch team, the Chudley Cannons, were doing.

"By the way, I got a note from Professor McGonagall. Our next lesson will be with Madam Pomfrey this coming Saturday. Evidently, it will be our last one before Christmas holidays. And speaking of Christmas – where will you be spending yours Harry?"

Not giving Harry a chance to answer Ron said with a big grin, "With me, o' course. Right mate?"

"As long as it's not a bother, I'd like that. I really would."

"Bother? Are you off your trolley?"

"Glad to hear it. We should be able to spend time together by Floo with the new fireplace."

The three of them started making plans for the holidays as Harry made a mental note to think about gifts for his two best friends. He wanted this Christmas to be something special, but what?

The next several nights Harry found himself dreaming about a particular door that he desperately wanted to open. There was something, he desired, on the other side. Every time, he woke up with his scar hurting before he could open it. He had no idea what it meant and felt reluctant to tell anyone, reasoning that it would be better to have something more to say than 'I've been having bad dreams'. Saturday came soon enough and he found himself with Hermione and Ron to have their lesson with Madam Pomfrey.

"I've been instructed to give you three a lesson in battlefield first aid. I dunno what the Headmaster is thinkin' but considerin' what you've been through already….I s'pose it's prudent enough."

Madam Pomfrey quickly took them through bones and muscles naming off names so fast it made Harry's head feel like it was spinning. They did however spend time learning how to apply splints and bandages. Harry had to admit it was kind of fun to make bandages shoot out the end of his wand. He and Ron had a short duel at bandaging each other up, looking like mummies in the process, before Madam Pomfrey put a stop to it. Hermione just rolled her eyes, but laughed nonetheless.

"Na' let's go over the list again in order of importance. Anyone who is unresponsive or with labored breathing should 'ave the attention of ah Mediwizard as quickly as possible. Prevent blood loss; ah clamping charm an' bandages should suffice. Use Indolen solution ta ease pain an' Adhideflagrum cream for burns. If the injured goes into shock, be sure and keep them warm. A drop of warming potion on the tongue should last a good hour. Or blankets will do if ya 'ave none."

"Is Indolen that grape jelly looking stuff you used on my head."

"That's correct but it tastes nothin' like grape jelly, I can assure ya."

"Does a warming potion contain essence of fire?"

"Diluted essence of fire. An' a cooling potion contains concentrate of glacial ice."

"What's the broken bone for on your desk? One of the castle skeletons needs mendin'?" Ron chortled at his own joke.

"It's to show ya three how difficult it is to mend bones. An' not to be doin' it unless your competent."

"Like Professor Lockhart did to Harry's arm once?" Ron grinned.

Harry winced at remembering how Lockhart had attempted to magically mend his broken arm only to remove the bones instead. He had to spend a rough night in the Hospital Wing re-growing the bones.

Hermione just pursed her lips not saying anything.

"The skiving wazzok," Madam Pomfrey fumed. "I hear he's been released from St. Mungo's and is clerking in a bookstore. Serves 'im right."

"What bookstore?" asked Hermione. Everyone gave her an odd look. "I was just wondering…" she said defensively.

Besides attempting to mend a bone, which the three of them were not very good at, they also attempted to conjure a stretcher. Conjuring was really a seventh year subject, which made Harry eager to try. Hermione managed a stiff blanket, Harry managed a board and Ron managed a handkerchief. Madam Pomfrey encouraged them to practice and said they all did well, for fifth years, at their attempts in conjuring.