Once all the living death eaters were taken into custody and the dead ones were logged we all waited in line to get healed by available healers that Dumbledore pulled. He says it was the reason he was late to battle but I had no idea when he arrived or why he didn't help me defeat Voldemort, which I didn't even accomplish on my own.
Lily mentioned an order meeting will be called in a few days per Dumbledore's orders but I could give a rat's ass about him right now. We apparate to Potter Manor and floo back to my place and I couldn't help but think of what Tom said. How he was finally free and something about a Phoenix. I also thought about his eyes and how they flickered before we dueled and how they changed from red to brown before he died.
"Sweetheart, are you alright?"
I snapped out of my thoughts and saw that I was standing in the middle of the living room. "Yes, sorry. I was just thinking of what Tom said." Remus, James, and Regulus looked at me curiously. I motioned for them to take a seat and pulled out my cracked phone. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was since it had a case and screen protector.
Ignoring the broken protector I open the voice memo app and hit play on the only recording. They were silent when it finished, in their thoughts. "He kept making a D noise and was stuttering before he mentioned a Phoenix." James starts. "That and he said he was free," Remus adds. Regulus stays quiet so I continue, "his hand glowed gold as he did so, so whoever was in control made him take a vow." Regulus sighs, "He was dying. Why didn't he just say the name?"
The four of us ponder this for a while. "What if it was a modified vow? He couldn't say anything even if he was dying." We looked at Sirius with wide eyes. "How'd you guess that?" Lily asked, coming into the room with tea. "Makes sense. Whoever made Voldemort take an unbreakable vow wanted to ensure he was protected even if Voldemort died. He doesn't want to be found out."
"That makes sense."
"Wait," Regulus jumps up, "He said something else before mentioning the phoenix. He said hor, maybe he was saying the one who did this has a Phoenix that is also their Horcrux." Sirius groans, "bloody hell, another Horcrux? We just got rid of five! If what you say is true then it would be impossible to get rid of!" I place my hand on his shoulder and he leans into my touch.
Lily takes a sip of her tea while she thinks. "It's possible that's what he was trying to say. It makes sense."
My eyebrows shoot up and I stand. "Wait. If he was saying that the one who did this to him has a phoenix for their Horcrux.....how many people own a Phoenix?"
"Dumbledore and the Moutohora Macaws." James and Sirius both answer. Regulus rolls his eyes. "Right. So, based on this, who is more likely to want to control Tom Riddle? Dumbledore or a quidditch team?"
"I did see that Riddle went to Hogwarts in the forties because he had a trophy in the trophy case," Lily says I nod in agreement and we each look at each other worried. "Why would he imperio Riddle?" I looked at James with a shrug, "I have no idea, but I may be in more danger than before. Sam said they were under orders of a dark wizard that refused to show their face or give their name, and when I first arrived I got a letter threatening to kill me if I didn't deliver the books. Dumbledore most likely knows they were fake books I delivered and is just waiting for me to leave my home now that Voldemort is gone."
Sirius takes me into his arms, "We don't know that for sure. All we have is speculation." I shake my head, "I don't care if the information we have is right or wrong, I may still be in danger. With the information we have, I'm going to go as if Dumbledore is the real dark wizard we should have been fighting. Not Tom. If you all want to help, I'm going to be researching how to kill a Phoenix." I go to walk away but Sirius holds me tight.
"Love, how about we all take a break and rest for a while? You've been working nonstop since you arrived months ago. You deserve to take a break and relax. Spend some quality time with us, with me." I relax in his arms with a sigh. "Alright. I'll give it a break for now, but I'm not leaving the house unless I'm with all of you and my wards will stay up just in case someone tries to pretend they're one of you." He smiles and kisses me. "Thank you, love."
————
After resting for two weeks and hanging out with the group Sirius, Lily, and Remus decided it was time to get back into stopping the dark wizard Dumbledore. Werewolves that surrendered to the ministry were coming back feral and bloodthirsty, and the daily prophet announced that these wolves had no connection to the ministry's callings and called all werewolves dangerous, asking for them to be put down because they were scared of being attacked.
We were surprised when Dumbledore told us at the order meeting that werewolves should be put down in his roundabout way and it broke Remus' heart. He trusted Dumbledore and didn't want to believe that he could've been the dark wizard we were fighting the entire time.
During our two-week break, another group came out of the woods. They were the same as death eaters except they had white robes and animal masks, but they looked to be different animals for different ranks.
There were rats, cats, foxes, and hawks. Seeing them in the paper made a sense of dread wash through me instead of excitement like the wizarding citizens seemed to be. They claimed they were justice but did things the same way death eaters would, only costing the ministry tons of money and punishing witches and wizards who don't agree in the streets where everyone could see.
It made me sick.
I ordered every book I could on magical creatures and Phoenixes, whether it was a wizarding or Muggle. They all came to the same conclusion, phoenixes are weak to iron and it will burst them in flame but you need to destroy the ashes for it to truly die.
I had my answer now I just had to plan on when and where. It takes a few days and a shopping trip in the muggle world for a plan to come together.
———-
"Absolutely not! You are not facing the strongest wizard of our time alone!"
"Sirius-"
"NO Y/N! I won't allow it! I cannot lose you." I cross my arms and frown. "First of all, you didn't let me finish. Second of all, if I wanted to do this alone I would. I love all of you too much and I'd hate for anyone to get killed." Sirius doesn't reply and I rub my face in frustration.
"As I was saying. I'll invite Dumbledore over to talk about what Tom said," I hold up my hand so no one interrupts, "I won't be alone because Sirius and James will be under the invisibility cloak since it resists spells. The three of us will record what happens while Lily, Remus, and Regulus kill off the phoenix. I don't want to kill Dumbledore, I want to take him to trial and provide evidence to the Wizengamot so they can lock him away or kill him themselves."
"But Y/N, you could get killed doing this." I sit, "I know I could Remus, but how else can I do this? I can't just run with my wand hot and ready. As long as I have my mental shield up and talk to him as a concerned wizarding citizen, he'll have no reason to suspect me and I'll still be alive when the trials start in four days."
"But what if he attacks you?" Lily asks.
"Hopefully he won't. If he does, I'll fight back but you two can't jump in. I could be sent to Azkaban for it if he tells the Wizengamot I attacked him for no reason. I don't need you guys to make it worse."
"No way-"
"Are you out of your-"
"JAMES. SIRIUS." I interrupted and they both stopped. "Just do as I say and you'll see it'll all go as I planned it to.
————-
Three days later Dumbledore agrees to meet me at my house around two. Lily, Remus, and Regulus left early for Hogwarts while James and Sirius helped set up a camera to record as a backup. They both had to record what happens during our meeting while I record with my voice memos app to catch anything they may miss from being on the other side of the room.
Once everything is set up James grabs his cloak. "Don't mess this up, guys. He may not say anything if he finds out you're here." Sirius and James both nod. "We won't react, love." He kisses me and goes to the corner of the room with James and gets comfortable before I help cover every inch of them with the cloak.
Once they were set I removed the restrictions on my floo but didn't touch my wards, still wanting to feel some kind of safety.
Not long after the floo was unlocked, green flames appeared and the old man entered my living room. I made sure my walls were locked tight as he dusted off his robes and looked at me with a smile and sparkle in his eyes. "Hello, sir. Thank you for agreeing to meet with me. I know you are busy at the moment with the ministry."
He waves me off, "it was nothing. You sounded distressed in your letter and I always help a witch or wizard in need." We both take a seat on the sofa, "Thank you again, sir. I called you here because as Voldemort died he mentioned being controlled by someone, and I knew I had to talk to you as soon as possible. There may be another dark wizard!"
I laid on my distress thick enough to be real but not enough for him to question if I was being sincere. The sparkle in his eyes returned and I pushed a modified memory of Tom forward of him mentioning it but never giving us the hints as he did before. Dumbledore looks at me with sympathy, "worry not child. I'll look into the matter."
I make a smile of relief appear on my face, "thank you so much Dumbledore. I was really worried about darker times that may have been coming because of this." He still has a smile on his face as he looks me over for a moment. "I always knew it was you."
I frown at his words, "what do you mean?" His face doesn't change. "You were brought here for a greater purpose. I sent Samuel Alton to your world to bring you here."
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