Shadow Phoenix

@ Dark Dragen, April, firelordeg, azphxbird, Heron10: Thanks for your reviews.

@ April: Not going to happen

Still no betaed version... Q.Q
Raina doesn't answer my e-mails either...

C20: A Lucky Deal

Nobody seemed to have noticed that the two girls had been with Harry the night, but he saw George giving a Sickle to Fred.

Later that day, Tonks came to him with a strange wizard.

The man was short, bald, looked around 40years old and had a green glowing monocle, which was more than heavily charmed.

Tonks introduced him to Harry as Benjamin Pickle, a member of the order, and left them alone.


“Now mister Pickle, what can I do for you?”, Harry asked.

“I'm here because of that interesting pensive, you gave to the order.”, the wizard mentioned, not really impressed by who he was talking to. “And call me Ben, please. Everyone does.”

“Well, Ben, what do you want to know about my pensives?”

“They're new. Good quality. I'd really want to know where you got them.”

Harry smiled.

“I don't think you would believe me, if I told you. Come along. I'll show you.”


He brought the wizard into his trunk rooms lead him into the potion lab.

In one of the corners there was a work desk, chair, selves and a metal bucked.

On the selves were several empty pensives and low stone bowls that looked like pensive-blanks.

They had neither runes engraved, nor were they enchanted.

Harry took one of the empty pensives and handed it to Ben.

“Incredible... this pensive... and all those...”, he let his gaze wander over the pensives. “They're the same... like copies... but you can't copy pensives... It never works. But these are perfect... How's that possible?”

“I already promised you, I'd show you, didn't I?”


Harry let another chair for the wizard appear, before he took one of the blanks.

He took another empty, but older pensive of the top selves and sat down onto his chair.

“This will need half an hour.”, he mentioned, already moving his fingertips on the surface of the blank, while looking up to the original pensive and back to the one in his hands again and again.

Ben seemed completely absorbed into the work of Harry's hands.

He didn't even blink.


When Harry finally placed the completed pensive right in front of Ben.

The older wizard carefully touched the newly created pensive.

“I just added the charms of the original pensive to this one as exact as I was able to. It's not a perfect copy, but a imitation.”

“Even the runes... I never thought something like this was possible...”

“It is, but it isn't easy. A single mistake or a moment of distraction and all the work becomes worthless.”

Harry pointed at the bucked, which was filled with broken pensive-blanks.


“Do you think, you could create imitations of other pensives?”

“Yes, but I would need the original and a suiting blank. The time and effort to create a imitation would depend on the original.”

“How long would you need to create one of this?”

Ben took a very small pensive in front of Harry.

“Hmm... The charms on this pensive are very complicated and old... a real piece of art...”, Harry said, studying the artefact.

“Around two hours, but I'd give it a 50% chance of me making a mistake...”

“Could you add the charms to one of your blanks?”

“I can, but they are the wrong size, so I don't know whether it'll work or not. I would need around an hour and a half, I think.”

“Would you give it a try now?”

“Why not.”


Harry took another blank and began to add the enchantments onto it.

Ben watched the runes and charms appear slowly on the stone one after another.

When it was finally completed, Harry handed it to him.


“How is it?”

“It's perfect!”, Ben whispered. “I've never ever seen something like this... normally the bigger or newer the pensive the less it's quality, but... this one has the same quality as the smaller original.”

“How about a exchange? I keep the original and you get the bigger imitation.”

“But this is worth more than ten times as much! I can't just accept and fleece you!”

“It's the other way around for me. I can easily create more imitations with this original, but I might not succeed with just the imitation... but if you insist, do you have something else you could offer to add to your part of the deal?”

“Well, yes... I think I have.”

Bill took a chunk of black metal out of his pocket and put it onto the table.

“It's worth nearly as much, as the original pensive. This is raw ore, but it can be processed to powerful artefacts. I don't know how though... This instructions don't make any sense...”

He laid a small book beside the chunk.

Harry took it and read.


“To me they do. And if this is really the ore which can be processed like this says, it alone is worth much more than every pensive in this room together. At least for me.”

Harry took five empty pensives off his selves and gave them to Ben.

“I'll give you these too. Now, both of us have fleeced the other one, haven't we?”

“It seems...”, the older wizard agreed reluctantly.

“If you get hold of more of this ore and want to exchange it for some pensives or something else... well, you know how to find me, don't you?”

Ben grinned. “I do.”, he said.


“Hey! Ben! I've been searching for you more than half an hour now! We need to get these guys to... Em... We need to do order work... Oh shit!”, called Tonks out, who followed by Hermione came into the Lab and immediately knocked over one of the kettles.

The unfinished potion spilled onto the floor, steaming and hissing.

“Oh, sorry, I'll clean this up!”, she promised, drawing her wand.

Harry beat her to it, vanishing the spilled potion with a flick of his wand.

“Don't worry, it was just some strengthening potion. I already have some in my storage room.”, he mentioned.


Ben took the six pensives and stored them in his pockets.

“I'll better make sure she doesn't knock over a second kettle...”, he said, before going over to Tonks and leading her out.

Hermione came to him.

“What did he want from you?”, she asked.

“Just a little business with pensives...”, Harry mentioned. “He wanted to find out, who the pensive created, which I gave to the order and ended up exchanging a really valuable and old pensive and this chunk of magical ore for some of my pensives, after watching me creating one. We both think we've fleeced the other one, by the way.”

“You create pensives?”

“Well, it's more like I create imitations of original pensives, but yes. I do.”

Harry heard her murmur something like: “Have to research this...”

Then she concentrated on him again.


“What's happened to your throne room? The throne is gone and now it's furnished like the Gryffindor common room, just with the Potter crest on everything, instead of the Gryffindor...”

“I don't need it any more, so I put it into the library and replaced it.”, he mentioned.

“What do you mean, you don't need it any more?”

“I can deeply meditate without it now. I found out last night, when we three were done.”
Hermione blushed.

“Well... if you like it more that way... I just thought you looked like a powerful Lord on it...”

Harry stood up and framed her face with his hands.

“I'd return it to it's initial state, if you'd ask me to.”, he whispered.

“No, it's fine the way it is now...”, she murmured.


He smiled.

“I thought I should stop remembering everyone, how powerful I am and that I'll indeed be a Lord as soon, as I come of age.”

He traced her lips with his thumb.

“Will you come to me tonight?”, he whispered.

She gave him a faint nod.

“Good.”, he murmured, before he captured her lips in a promising kiss.

“We have to go down...”, she mentioned, when they parted again, she breathing hard.