Chapter Text
Harry stared at the letter in his hands, disbelieving. There were many things in his life that were, plainly put, absurd. He tended to get into a ridiculous amount of trouble and had had no shortage of adventures in his life, but this was topping all he had ever experienced, maybe even the fact that he had been dead and still lived.
Harry,
My dear boy, I am writing you with the certainty that I won't live to see this school year end as I have touched a curse that will eventually kill me. I do not wish my death to be in vain, so I have instructed Severus to kill me in order to convince Voldemort of his complete allegiance.
If you are reading this, then hopefully my plans have unfolded themselves without fault and you live while Voldemort does no longer, nor his horcruxes including the one in your scar.
Forgive me, Harry, for I have failed you.
Looking back with certain death in sight, I realise that I have made grave mistakes concerning you. I wished for you to grow up loved and I failed. I wished for you to remain an innocent child for as long as possible and I failed. I wished for you to never get thrown into a war that young and yet I failed once again. And even knowing what was heading your way, I have kept secrets from you in order to shield you. But now, I am no longer sure, whether it was the wisest course of action.
Harry, I am so sorry for everything you have endured, be it on my account or because of my inaction.
And though it pains me, I feel like I must shed even the last secret that I've kept from you for your own protection and it will shatter your world once again, I am afraid. It is the truth about your origin.
For Lily and James Potter never were your biological parents.
To understand, I must tell you about the original Harry Potter. He was born at the end of the seventh month, just like the prophecy proclaimed, and was suspected to be the one it spoke of. Lily and James went into hiding, doing their utmost to keep him safe. Yet they failed to take hazards into account, that were not caused by human hands. Harry Potter died in the dead of night on December 31st 1980 by getting bit by a venomous snake while everyone slept. We rightfully believed it to be an assassination attempt by Voldemort to get the prophesied one out of the way.
While the Potters mourned and told no one of it but me, I tended to go into the hall of prophecies quite a lot, staring at the untouchable orb and searching for answers inside my mind. It was on such a day that I made my way out of the department of mysteries when I heard an infants wail with no one around. Investigating the out-of-place sound I entered the death chamber.
Laying in front of the veil, there was a most curious infant. It had skin as blue as ice and eyes as red as blood, something akin to tribal tattoos adorning its body. Otherwise, it was a completely normal newborn.
I knew, that if I told anyone, this innocent child would be taken away by the Unspeakable to be experimented on. So I did the only thing, my conscience allowed me to. I took it with me in secret.
While pondering what to do with it in my office, Lily and James flooed over, wanting to tell me that they would rejoin the active fighting. Though when Lily first laid her eyes on the infant, that obviously had no one to care for it and was starving, her heart instantly melted. It was hungry and Lily still had milk to give. The two of them decided to take the boy in as their own. Not wanting him to grow up faced with prejudice because of his unknown heritage, they gave him their late son’s place and name and I was the one that spelled him with a resemblance charm, as well as a magical blockage, aided by a potion to make it last.
Thus it was that the found infant took the place of Harry Potter.
As you probably already concluded, that infant was you.
In my ignorance I had assumed that either the prophecy had been fulfilled by the original Harry's death or was describing Neville Longbottom. Voldemort though thought the assassination attempt failed and sought to finish Harry Potter off himself, leading to the events of that particular halloween night and him marking you as his equal, making you the one the prophecy spoke of, thus concluding this story.
I hope, that one day you will be able to forgive me for my silence and deception about your origin, as well as the veil. I told myself that it was for the greater good, not to tell you, that I never believed Sirius dead, because he vanished the way that you most probably appeared. It is my belief that the veil is a portal to another wold, maybe even another dimension, and that your godfather may yet live on the other side.
I know, there is probably nothing I could say to make my silence on the matter acceptable to you. I have seen, how you grieved, and though it pained me, I never said a word, afraid that in an act of grief you would follow him, leaving us to Voldemort’s mercy as no one but you is capable of killing him.
Now though, after my death and hopefully Voldemort's, there is no longer any justification to keep this from you. The truth is, it has always been your right to know.
Believe me, when I tell you, that keeping this from you was one of the most painful secrets I’ve kept, only second to the one about your scar.
I hope, this will bring you no further pain than necessary and that one day, you might even think of me fondly once again, for you have always been like a grandson to me, I love as though you were my own.
In regrets and hope for a better day,
Albus
The letter had arrived on the morning of his twentieth birthday per Fawkes. Harry no longer knew what to think, his eyes finally wandering from the letter to his hands. Blue. What kind of creature had blue skin, never mind the eyes?
A hurtful nip on his ear, that painfully reminded him of Hedwig, had him look up at the phoenix who had stayed, much to his surprise. He let out a soothing thrill, that had Harry smiling sadly. He carefully scratched his feathers in thanks. “Thank you, Fawkes. I know, it must be painful to deliver a letter from your late wizard after all this time since… You must still be grieving.”
The phoenix let out a mournful sound and nestled his head against Harry's hand. For a while, they sat in companionable silence, each contemplating their own sorrows. Then, without warning, his beak snapped at his finger, breaking skin.
“Ouch! Fawkes! What was that for?”, Harry exclaimed, jumping up more in surprise than pain. The flaming bird chirped admonishingly and hacked at his own talon, drawing blood as well. The wizard simply stared as Fawkes raised the bloody talon and let a drop fall on Harry's own wound.
He felt the effect instantly. A link to his mind, that hadn't been there before, was growing fast, connecting him to the phoenix. He felt the bird’s sorrow and loss about Albus, as well as its joy and peace about his joining with Harry. Even though, he had never heard of it before, he instinctively knew, that the phoenix had forged a familiar bond with him, a bond that changed the both of them.
The flames took on a deep emerald colour, the feathers becoming pitch black with green tips, the eyes turning a luminescent bright red. Meanwhile, Harry could feel the changes in himself in a more subtle way. His veins felt on fire, but the sensation soon faded into a pleasant rush of magic. His eyes suddenly were capable of seeing colors, he had never seen before. He didn't even have words for them. Also, he was able to sense every heat source in the room, from the living body of the bird to the candle he had forgotten on the other side of the room. He was sure, there was more, but those were the most obvious changes.
Your magic is like a chilling wind in winter, little fledgling.
Harry's head snapped to Fawkes - no, that was no longer his name, he felt it. The phoenix had been reborn upon their union, gaining a new body as well as a new identity. “Virnim.” His new familiar let out an agreeing tweet. “Well, yours feels like fire in my veins. And I’m not a fledgling!”
Laughter. For me, you are. I might not be old for a phoenix, but with over six centuries on my back I'm still far older than you, little one.
The wizard rolled his eyes, neither agreeing, nor disagreeing with the fact. He knew when a battle was lost. “So, ever-so-wise elder, what do you think I should do?” He held up the letter to make certain he was understood, even though it wasn't really necessary. He was already projecting it to the bird with his mind, taking the unexpected familiar bond in stride. Stranger things had happened to him.
Well, isn't it obvious? You have to decide whether you wish to live on as if nothing happened or you want to travel through the veil, discovering your origin and in the best case scenario finding your godfather on the way. Really, it is up to you. I will follow whatever you decide, you are now my wizard after all. He got the feeling of a bird version shrug via their bond.
Harry sighed. “How could I decide? I mean, there is no guarantee I would be able to come back, if I do this, no matter how I appeared as a baby. Otherwise Sirius would have long returned by now. So the choice is between leaving everything I love and know or giving up my longing and hope for a real family.” An affirmative vibe, as well as amusement as Harry felt the bird loitering around his mind. The wizard sent him annoyance. “You know, it’s rude to invade another's privacy.”
Oh come on, it's not like what I'm learning from what I see isn't obvious. You aren't happy here. Your love life has hit the ground two years prior while your two best friends can't get enough from each other and start through with their careers, neglecting you in the process. Being with the Weasley family is rather strenuous since Fred’s death and your break-up with the youngest. Luna is off to see the world and Neville is being swallowed up by his botanical successes. The rest of the world either hails the ground you're walking on or annoys you to no end, mostly both. Admit it, you are tired of it all.
Harry eyed the bird warily. “Not that it isn't true, but why am I getting the feeling that you want off this world as well?”
Virnim snickered unashamed, underlying sadness in his heart. You got me there. Let's just say, that I'm tired of this world as well and I have nothing to hold me here, except you.
Surprised, Harry instinctively reached towards him through the bond. It was a distorting experience, but understandable nonetheless. Virnim was an outcast of his race, considered defective even, one of the few in history whose unstable magic practically demanded that he be bound to another, lest he perish. Those phoenixes were destined to never find a mate and accompany one wizard or witch after another, decades between them at most, watching them die after one another, until they couldn't take the heartbreak any longer and committed suicide by not bonding for a century, one of the only ways for that kind of phoenix to truly die.
He gasped as he pulled back his mind, Virnim soothing him with his link as well as his voice. Calm, little fledgling, eternity isn't meant to be spent alone, but to be treasured together. It is the reason that I tend to bond stronger wizards, though. Their magic usually helps them to age slower. But you shouldn't concern yourself, little one. You are stronger than any other I have bonded with before and have a heart of gold. So fate is will, our partnership will be a long and happy one.
There was undoubtedly a frog in his throat. Harry didn't even attempt to speak and reached out, physically as well as with his mind, to touch his familiar, giving both of them the comfort they sorely needed.
Finally, after what felt like hours, he decided the obvious: “We will go through the veil.” A feeling of uncertainty overcame him, not about them going but about how to do this.
You should pack everything you can, Virnim told him decidedly, definitely gold and jewels, you don't know the currency of where we'll go but precious metals and stones are universal money. A huge amount of ingredients and other potion utilities, we don't know what kind of plants there are, maybe even some seedlings if we’re to settle down over there. Books, a whole lot of books on magic, there is still lots to learn about it for you and there might not even be magic as we know it on the other side. Also, a backup wand for the same reason. And anything else you might need - like food, water, clothes, protection gear, camping equipment, brooms, extra potions and so on. We do not know in what kind of environment we will end up in and magic is known to fail sometimes. Oh and lots of nuts and berries for me or I'll be cross with you, maybe a comfortable perch or two as well. We should also check your vaults for anything useful besides money, like heirlooms and ancient tomes. We have one shot to do this right, so let's do it thoroughly.
Harry blinked. “Huh. Good thinking. Let's do that.” Who knew that the flaming bird could give Hermione a run for her money in the organization department?
And if you're going to find your family, it might be best to take a nullification potion. It will cleanse you from all foreign magic, given that it isn't anchored to deeply or the dark arts. Albus made sure that if you wanted to find your true self, you would be able to do so easily.