Unexpected Gifts

Chapter XXXIX

February slowly bled away into March. The castle was starting to pick up with stressed students as cram season started to peak up. However, in the stresses and daily activities that came with living in Hogwarts Castle, only one group of people was calm.

Clan Potter was preparing for war.

It was a common fact for those residing in Hogwarts. Once March came they stopped hiding their preparations. They made sure that the children of the Dark families knew just what they were going to be facing if they joined their parents. They saw what was able to be achieved if they all got along and came together.

It was clear that Voldemort stopped hiding his forces as well. Werewolf sightings were reported almost nightly.

Clan Potter could be seen coming and going between the Castle and the Forbidden Forest. He was often seen speaking with young Acromantula and Centaurs. He found out that a Manticore and a Chimera den dwelled deep in the forest. He was seen holding court with all manner of creatures that called the forest and surrounding land home.

Most people would've laughed at him or labeled him crazy if the Minister of Magic and Head of the DMLE weren't seen with him. He was receiving and sending correspondence with the French and Bulgarian Ministries as well.

What did Voldemort have? An army of hundreds of beasts and hundreds of wizards and witches who would use nothing but killers. He has his Inner Circle who each had killed hundreds of times before.

What did Harry Potter-Black-Greengrass have? The friendship of two gods. The rallied support of the Forbidden Forest, and all the creatures within. He was giving financial support to volunteers from two outside countries. He was bridging the cultural gap between muggle-borns, half-bloods, and purebloods. He had set into motion the training of Hogwarts Castle, and had transformed it once more into the mighty fortress of old.

And what did Hogwarts think about it? Well, after sleeping for nearly eight hundred years, wouldn't you be thankful for the wizard who was the cause of your waking up? Albeit the fact that it took her six years to wake up, Hogwarts was thankful.

The ambient magic surrounding Hogwarts thrummed with life. It sang with such life that Harry awoke one day to find something he didn't expect.

Harry and Daphne were curled up in their bed on the morning of Saturday, the twenty-ninth of March. They were only half asleep, laying in for the morning when a vaguely familiar song floated into their minds. Harry knew it from somewhere, but where? Ah, yes, it was the song of Fawkes.

Wait, Fawkes?

Harry opened his eyes to see the brilliant bird perched on his footboard. His song was one of love and trust, a song for Harry and Daphne.

"What are you doing here?" Harry asked in a groggy voice as he looked at the Phoenix.

Fawkes leaned his head down, nipping at his feathers. He pulled a wand out of his wing. The wand itself was roughly fifteen inches long. The wood held dark, bulbous knots along the length. It held a single, small band of wide near the base of the wand. The band held black runes etched into it.

Harry knew the wand, his line knew the wand. It was made of Elder wood with a Thestral hair core. He knew that the wide band was made from the ivory of a Nundu horn.

"It seems that Death has deemed it time," Daphne said softly from her place on his chest.

She leaned off him, her hair falling down her naked shoulders. Her breasts were held by her bra, keeping them supported through the night. Harry leaned up with her, his eyes on the wand. "It seems that your right, Mo ghràdh," His voice sighed.