Shadow Phoenix

@ Dark Dragen, JohnnyK & mjd: Thanks for your Reviews!

@ JohnnyK: Sorry mate, but you must have posted your Review, whihle I was posting my next chapter...

@ mjd: I like every review I get. Even Flames... (But them not as much.)

@ All: Sorry, this Chapter isn't betaed yet...
I hope Raina e-mails the next few chapters betaed back to me soon, so I can post them instead of my less redable version.


C11: Spreading a Memory

After his detention was over he went to the Griffindor common room.

The slight marks on the back of his hand were mostly an illusion, but they would stay, till he'd leave the sphere of influence of his charm, however short of a time that may be.

When the door of the common room opened the voice of dozens of students poured out of it, but they fell silent the moment he stepped in.

He saw a lot of Griffindors, Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs and even a couple of Slitherins occupying the room.

“I'll be back in a moment.”, he promised and went up to his dorm.

The door of his trunk was opened, but there was not the entrance to the enlarged space but just what you'd anticipate in a student's trunk.

Obviously someone hadn't wanted to wait for him, Harry thought.

He closed the trunk and opened it again.

This time it was the entrance of the enlarged space.

He went in, got what he wanted and closed the door on his way back to the common room.

When he arrived, he slightly waved his wand, causing a chair and a small table to appear in the middle of the room.

He put the pensive with the memory and two empty ones onto the table, before he sat onto the chair.

“Every pensive can take five of you in.”, he explained, already pressing the tip of his wand to his temple to extract another copy of the memory. “I want those who have reasons why they can't wait have a go first.”

Harry filled the memory into one of the empty pensives and extracted another copy for the last one.

“It will take half an hour to view this copy of my memory. Unless you already know how to deliberate exit a pensive you have to stay in until the end of this memory. If you are not sure you can bear it, don't go in. Now, who wants in first and can't wait?”

The five Slitherins, Cho Chang and six other not - Griffindors came to Harry.

“I see... There are still three places free. Who wants to get them?”

“We take them!”, Hermione answered, before anyone else could.

She, Ron and Ginny stepped to Harry.

“I never wanted to show you this.”, he whispered.

“We want to know though.”, Ginny stated.

“Form groups of five. Then each group may use one of the pensives together. Just touch the surface with your skin and the pensive will suck you in and threw you out again once you've seen the memory stored inside.”

Harry's best friends took Cho and another Ravenclaw into their group and the Slitherins stayed in one group.
When all fifteen students were inside the pensives, Harry looked around.

There were still loads of people, wanting to view the memory.

Then he spotted someone.

“Dean and Neville come to me, please.”

The two followed his summon.

“I want you two to pick the next bunch. As there are no more Slitherins, I want you to equally pick students from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw first. We Griffindors are more in members and this is our common room, so we'll not get detention from some prefects or Filch, if we went to our dorms afterwards. Make sure though the last bunch from each house contains at least four members. I don't want a emotionally shocked student walking alone through Hogwarts.”

Both of them gave a nod and started sorting the students into groups.

Harry was busy observing the three pensives.

Some students, nosy what he was looking at, came over and saw that on the surface of the pensives you could see the groups already inside and a fuzzy hunch at the memory they saw.

Some of them were already weeping, holding onto others for help or clenching their fists tight.

When the memory neared its end, Harry ordered the students to back of and make room for the groups about to come out.

Once they where out, most of them weeping, Cho burying her face on the chest of her fellow Ravenclaw, some of the others in similar poses, even the two Slitherin girls were held tightly by their boyfriends, Hermione and Ginny hurried into their dorm, sobbing, Ron was very pale, but appeared composed, Harry asked for the next bunch to enter the pensives.

Only seven students of that group came to him, the others had changed their mind.

Neville picked another eight students, who still wanted to get in to replace them, while Dean asked the ones who didn't want to any more to escort their house mates who already had been inside back to their dorms.

Harry wasn't surprised, when more than half of the students went away.

It was while the forth bunch was in, when Harry's face was getting more and more worried.

Finally he poked his wand into one of the pensives and the five students were pushed out, during the middle of the memory.

One of the students was pointing his wand in front of him and muttering curses, totally out of his mind and not even realising he laid on his back and there was nothing but the ceiling in front of him.

Harry took his wand away and asked, if anyone would bring the confused student to the infirmary.

Several students volunteered, including the other four of his group, not coming back afterwards.

“And I thought, you couldn't get us out there.”, Neville mentioned, after the next five got in.

“I never said, that I couldn't get you out in case of an emergency.”, Harry answered. “I just didn't tell you, because I'm not going to threw a group out of the memory just because one of them decides to not want to see or hear any more of it. This isn't a case of shoot red sparks out, when you want to give up. It's a case of: Once you are in you have to endure it. It's not like my memory could actually hurt you. You just see and hear what happened. If it could I wouldn't show you.”

After all students from other houses were done and gone (or reconsidered and gone), several groups of Griffindors, who did exit the Common room earlier came back for their run.

As Harry had already knew before, Griffindors were brave.

That's why they were Griffindors anyway.

After the last of them had gone through the memory, Harry asked Neville and Dean to bring up one of the pensives each.

They put them into the showcase and Harry locked it again.

“Because everyone who came today and wanted it got a go at the memory, I'll not repeating this.”, Harry explained them. “Instead I'll leave it to you, to bring me a group of up to fifteen students each evening. Be sure to choose carefully. I don't want any more breakdowns.”

Dean grinned brightly, while Neville just gave a nod.

“And if Draco Malfoy wants a go, you may accept and tell him, he may take up to four companions with him while you give him a different appointment.”

“What?”, they both asked confused.

“I want him to see...”, Harry declared, letting them feel his power once more. “I want all students who consider becoming Death Eaters to see me nearly defeating their leader in a more or less fair duel after being tortured by them. Do I have to mention that I'm now much more powerful than I was then?”

Dean gasped, while Neville started to smile comprehending Harry's intention.

“You want them to change to your side.”, Neville stated.

“That's right.”, Harry confirmed. “Please put your hand onto the showcase, Neville.”

After Neville obeyed, Harry touched the hand with his wand.

“You'll now be able to open the showcase and the door to the enlarged space here. I'm putting a lot of trust in you. Be sure to close them behind you every time.”

Neville wasn't able to do more than nod.

“Now something else. Does one of you two want to become an animagus?”