Shadow Phoenix

@ firelordeg, yuiop, Dark Dragen, GhostwriterMO, ladyedgecombe & azphxbird57: Thank you for your reviews! I love them!

@ Dark Dragen: Sorry, I can't. As I've already mentioned, I've already written a lot more chapters. I can however try to make the chapters I'm writing at longer...

@ GhostwriterMO: The Ghost's artifical bodys? We'll see. But I don't think, I'll put weapons inside them. The teachers wont join the DA. Maybe Harry's own Order... (Madam Pomfrey will. You'll see.)

@ ladyedgecombe: Well I already did use this idea... part of. There will be emergency exits to the houses common rooms, but there wont be permanent passages.

@ azphxbird57: The informer was one of the bandaged customers of the Hogs Head. He traded the information for not going to Azkaban for enchanting toilets to prank muggles. Just look into the book for further information.

C16: Quidditch Ban.

The first Quidditch match of the year, Gryffindor against Slytherin, draw near.

Professor McGonagall even refrained from giving them homework a whole week to help them with their training.

When the day of the match arrived, Ron was so nervous, he couldn't even concentrate at all, much less eat any breakfast.

Finally on the Quidditch curt he was so pale, Harry feared he would faint any moment.

Once the match started, Harry soared into the Sky, just as Draco, who was Slytherin searcher.

Draco had made clear, that their friendship would be not include the Quidditch field.

Harry wouldn't want it any other way.

With his enhanced eyes, he knew perfectly well, were the Snitch was, but wanted his team to show of their skills first.

He observed the Snitch, Draco and the game.

The Slytherins seemed to have the less skilled chasers, but their keeper wasn't nervous enough to let his opponents make any goals he could prevent.

When the Slytherin team had made three goals and Gryffindor one, Harry decided it was time to catch the Snitch.

He raced directly in it's direction, the base of the Slytherin goalposts, accompanied by Draco, who reacted admirably fast, but lost to Harry by a mere inch.

The nails of the Slytherin scratched the back of Harry's hand the moment he caught it.

When he held up the Snitch, a beater hit Harry in the back and sent him flying to the ground.

Thankfully it wasn't a deep fall, because the Snitch just flew a view feet high, when he caught it.

Still everyone held his breath till he stood up again, still holding the snitch.

A wink of his wand summoned his Firebolt back to him and he could exit the field, victorious.

But his joy didn't last long.

Just as he was about to get into the changing rooms, Professor McGonagall came up to him, deeply worried.

“Umbridge summoned you to her office, immediately and Dumbledore advised me to accompany you. It seems to something really bad has happened.”

Harry passed the Snitch and his broom to Angelina and went accompanied by McGonagall to Umbridge's office.

The bright smile of the High Inquisitor did nothing but strengthen Harry and McGonagall's worries.

“There you are, dear.”, she welcomed him happily. “I've just got a letter from dear Cornelius – I mean the Minister of Magic. There was something for you inside as well.”

She handed Harry a document, which glowed once, when he touched it.

“What's this?”, McGonagall asked furiously.

“A livelong Quidditch ban for me.”, Harry replied in a voice so calm, it let his Professor shiver. “But, there seems to be no reason for it enlisted on the ban.”

He passed it to her.

“I do have the right to be told the reason.”, he said, before turning to Umbridge again.

“Cornelius mentioned something about threatening people into acting up against the ministry.”, the High Inquisitor mentioned. “But I'm sure he'll undo the ban if you'd accept to meet him to have a nice little talk with him and promise not to do such things any more.”

Harry turned to his teacher, gripped her arm and pulled her out of the office, before the furious woman could say anything.

“I'll have the ban undone, as soon as I come of age.”, he declared. “Unfortunately the Gryffindor team will need a new Seeker as soon as possible. I borrow my Firebolt to whoever gets the position until then.”

“AREN'T YOU ANGRY AT THIS INJUSTICE?”, she screamed.

“I am.”, he said, taking his glasses of and letting them drop. “I will make them greatly regret their actions, but now isn't the time for us to openly display our anger. We would only give her more weapons to use against us, but the time will come, were we'll be the ones to strike back and use their own rules to send Umbridge to Azkaban.”

His green eyes were darker than ever.

“I already have collected enough evidence. All I need now is a chance to use it. But we are not yet in the position to do so. We'll have to wait.”

Shadows or small black flames seemed to surround him, as a single tear ran down his cheek.

“We'll wait, even if we have to wait nearly two years.”

He turned away from her and was gone in a burst of black flame, leaving behind a completely shocked Professor.

**********

Harry's friends searched for him the whole rest of the day after McGonagall told them what happened and was in return told about Harry's animagus form, which enabled his disappearing but they couldn't find him.

They couldn't, because he wasn't at Hogwarts but soaring through the Sky.

Finally at midnight, the black Phoenix returned, came flying through the open window in his dorm and landed right in front of his trunk.

As he opened it, his friends came running into the room.

“Harry!”, they all screamed as one, the Girls tackling and hugging him as they fell onto the floor together.

“Don't do this ever again!”, Ron ordered.

“We've been sick in sorrow about you!”, Ginny sobbed at his chest.

“We thought something might have happened to you!”, Hermione claimed, tears rolling down her face right beside Ginny. “After we heard what happened from McGonagall we searched for you everywhere!”

“They can't do that, can they?”, Neville asked nervously.

“They can...”, Harry said in a emotionless voice.

“What do we do now? That can't just be it, can it? We have to do something!”, Ron said.

Harry just shook his head, clearly exhausted.

“We can't. Not yet anyway. We'll have to go on and wait. Did McGonagall tell you, I borrow my broom to the team's new Seeker?”

“No, she didn't.”, Ron answered. “She was too busy panicking about you vanishing like this.”

“Will you let me go to bed now? I'm tired...”, Harry asked.

“Where have you been?”, Ginny wanted to know, not letting go of him.

“Flying... nowhere, somewhere... I didn't care as long as I was flying...”

“I'll tell McGonagall he's back.”, Ron said, getting out with Neville and Dean.

Hermione and Ginny finally stood up and helped Harry to his feet, but didn't let go of him.

When they started to take him to his throne, he said: “Not tonight. I need to sleep in an actual bed, even if only tonight. It's in the room where I undid your tracings.”

They took him there instead and Harry fell onto the bed fully clothed.

The girls looked at each other worried.

They never saw him this exhausted, even after all they'd experienced with him.

A short spell of Hermione replaced his robes with his pyjama and they tugged him under the sheets.

He was already asleep, when the girls finally decided to let him be and went to their dorm to sleep themselves.

**********

The next day, the Weasly twins were caught preparing a rather nasty trap for Umbridge by Filch.

They too were banned from Quidditch.