Shadow Phoenix

@ SirZic, April, firelordeg, Dark Dragen, Axel, lilashannah & Kuronosa: Thank you for your reviews! They keep me writing!

@ Axel: Damn time someone notices! You're right, Harry is as near to immortallity as you can get, but he can still be killed. You'd just have to kill him in his weak, newly reborn form.

@ Kuronosa: I think, I know, what you're talking about and it's both my mistake and a browser bug. When I post a chapter the first time, aff adds some html codes. When I edit the chapter afterwards, I have to either delete the codes completely or ad them all through the text... the second is way to much work. If you still have problems with the paragraphing... I don't know what to do, other than tell you to use firefox...



C31: The Keeper and another 'Keeper'

The day of the final Quidditch match arrived, pitting Gryffindor against Ravenclaw.


All Harry could do was watch.


An active sex life, and duelling training from Harry, seemed to help overcome fears, at least in Ron's case.


He blocked every single quaffle, unlike his counterpart, who didn't seem to have a chance against the three female chasers of Gryffindor.


Ginny proved once more that she wasn't only a wicked witch and wildcat in bed, but also on the broom, and used Harry's Firebolt to its limits, tricking Cho Chang into following her on a futile chase, when the snitch was actually on the other side of the pitch. This allowed her team the opportunity to make even more goals before she snatched the snitch from right under her opponent's nose when they lead 180 : 0, resulting in a final score of 330 : 0, meaning Gryffindor would retain the Quidditch Cup.

Even though Harry was happy that his team had won, he was feeling sad, for it had made him realize something.


He was better than all of them. Not one of them would stand a chance if he'd play.


No matter how great his opponents played or how much luck they had, he could easily lead his team to victory.


It was in a word, unfair, and he felt cheated.


He would not return to the Quidditch pitch, even after he'd had his ban lifted.


During the celebration party in the Gryffindor common room, Harry told Ginny she could keep his Firebolt as a gift, and informed McGonagall of his decision using her amulet.

Instead of pondering about it, he concentrated on leading and training his Order, trying to protect his fellow students from Umbridge, and continuing to prepare himself to fight the evil wizard that wanted to take his life.


Hermione was the only one to notice, but the safe where he stored the books he thought too dangerous for even her to read had been replaced by a much larger one, and Harry had secretly added some hidden rooms to his trunk that he hadn't told anyone about, but she was unable to access any of them.


But she kept quiet about it and continued to learn what he taught her, or in this case, what he had given her to learn.


It wasn't the first time he had kept something to himself and it was usually in order to protect them.

And he was right.


Like with the books he wouldn't let her read.


She knew she'd have used them on herself, just like he had, if he'd let her read them.


He only held back things which he still regarded as to dangerous for her.


Of course, the fact that the raven-haired wizard was one mind-blowing lover, who proved this to her whenever she wanted, in no way related to her ever increasing trust in him – or so she tried to convince herself.

While Hermione enjoyed herself reading the translation of an ancient tome on spells far more powerful than any taught at Hogwarts, written by the green eyed wizard himself (the translation, not the original book), Harry met with another one of his friends in order to test him for S-class membership.


Ron hadn't hurried things, he was as prepared as someone could get.


He had even asked Malfoy what would await him in this trial, because neither Hermione nor Neville had answered his questions, and the blonde had finally told him, but only because Ginny had asked him to. He could not understand how his sister could be friends with that git (he couldn't admit to himself that there might be even more between them, closing his eyes to his sister's sexual habits and many lovers – not that he was any better).


Draco had, in order to get rid of him, even told them which spells he had found most useful during the trial and those, the Slytherin claimed, had been (combined with a lot of luck) the reason for his success the last time he'd taken the test.

If he had told the truth, which Ron had no doubt of – Malfoy might lie to him, but nobody at Hogwarts was stupid enough to lie to Ginny, and his story was way too credible – he'd be in for one hell of a 'test'.


There was also the fact that Draco was on a first-name-basis with Neville and hadn't insulted Hermione a single time since his first try at said test.


He might still call her Granger, but there was a grudging respect behind it. He claimed that Harry had summoned the two of them, after he had failed the first time, to have them show him it was possible.


Neville, he claimed, could easily take on a couple of Aurors without even breaking a sweat. He wasn't sure Hermione was completely human anymore with the way she had performed, and was sure Harry wasn't anywhere near human anymore either.


Ron was about to find out ... the hard way.

“Your test,” Harry told him within the confines of his training room, “will be simply me shooting non-verbal stunners and wandless magic against you. I will of course hold back a little, and all you have to do is block, evade or deflect my attacks for three minutes. If you manage, you'll have passed the test.”


The green-eyed wizard pointed his wand at the hourglass in one corner of the room, causing it to flip, and for the next three minutes the world of his red-haired friend turned into hell, tainted crimson by his very own spells.



*************



Ron Weasly, the Gryffindor's Quidditch team Keeper and Harry Potter's best mate fell on his bed, still fully clothed in his battle suit, which was torn, burned and in some places simply gone.


His wand was still warm and humming from the after-effects of his own powerful magic and he was way too drained to move a single finger.


He was gone from the land of consciousness even before his head touched the fabric of his cushion.


But at least he'd succeeded.


Not that he was in any shape to celebrate.


He wouldn't be until he got a good night's sleep, but he was now an S-class member of the Dark Order.

Neville looked at the unconscious boy.


Harry had asked him to train Ron.


Harry's 'Right Hand', as everybody called him, smiled.

The red haired boy didn't know it yet, but by the time he was done with his training, a test like the one Harry put him through would be a walk in the park for him.


If he thought he knew how to learn, he would prove to him that he didn't.


If he thought the teachers were working them hard, he'd be shown they didn't.


And of one thing he was sure: Ron would come to hate him for the duration of his training.

His Lord had given him a mission and to him Harry's word was law.


His 'clan', the Longbottom family, had served the House of Potter for many generations, a tradition he had gladly revived after finding out about it.


It was the best decision he had ever made.


Not only had Harry given him a new wand to replace his father's ill-suited one, but Harry had also made him change for the better.


He didn't doubt himself anymore.


How could he?

His Lord told him he was powerful, so he believed it.


He told him he could master any spell that he'd teach him, so he believed it.


Using his mystical powers, he took him to London within a moment, in sprite of all the powerful wards at Hogwarts. Harry put his trust in Neville with missions crucial to his cause, and he completed them without fail.


He had given him a goblin-made servant's ring, allowing him to access the Potter trust vault to get the money needed for his missions, so he wore it with pride as his ancestors once had.


His Lord had even shared secrets with him that he hadn't entrusted to anyone else and he was proud to have earned that trust.

Nobody except for Neville knew of the prison Harry had added to his rooms and that there were already prisoners inside, Death Eaters they had captured, forced to disclose all useful information they knew. Neville also knew that after they had provided their information, they were used by his Lord as human test subjects, to explore the extent of his great powers.


A suiting penalty for their evil deeds.


Harry had shown him the memories of the murders, rapes, and torture they had committed.


His Lord now experimented with the body and soul of both, and had long since gotten rid of his enemy's brand on them and replaced it with his own, erased their minds, changed their bodies, and created their minds anew.


He had even somehow taken their magic and turned them into muggles.

He knew that Harry was nearly done with them.


Where once had been two old, cruel and heartless wizards, there was now a pair of young, submissive, innocent muggle girls.


His master had once allowed him to have fun with them, to find out if he'd succeeded at the creation of their minds and desires, and he found that they loved getting their cunts stuffed with cock and filled with cum.


There was only one thing his Lord wanted to do to them, before he was done and set them free (more or less).


That last thing was to make sure nobody, not even Harry himself, would be able to undo any of the changes.