Since his letter of acceptance had arrived, two months had passed, and during that time, Harry's life had been quite satisfactory from his point of view. Perhaps what he liked most was the fact that his parents no longer held any legal sway over his life; they had no rights or obligations towards him.
He remembered with great fondness the day of his emancipation, when his father burst in as if chased by the devil, seething with rage. Without noticing anything amiss, James went straight to where the Potions Master sat and, with a furious expression, placed before him the corresponding letter informing him of his eldest son's legal emancipation.
"Will you tell me what this means, Snivellus?" James demanded.
"I think you're talking to the wrong person, Potter. You should be asking your son, not me."
"I know you're behind this, I know… It was you who did it, Harry would never do it by himself…"
"Father," Harry cut him off with the same polite coldness he had used all summer. "Emancipation has been my idea from the beginning."
That comment left James stunned. For a brief period, he had thought he had managed to make some kind of progress in their relationship, but both Harry's tone of voice and the content of his words showed the opposite.
"That emancipation was my idea; my teacher was not aware of my request until I received my affirmative answer."
"Why? Why did you do it?" The man looked as if he had been punched in the stomach, but the young man was not moved in the least.
"It's unfair that I've completed my studies and won't be able to use them outside of school, don't you think? In addition, according to the education law of 1765, a wizard/witch who is able to complete their studies has demonstrated a level of adult maturity and should therefore have the rights and obligations as such, regardless of their physical age."
After that, the man left the school, knowing that he had been defeated, although still clinging to the thought that he had a chance to repair the non-existent relationship.
It was not the only visit of his parents to the castle. If it wasn't because they wanted to see him, it was because there was an Order meeting, and if not, because they had to discuss some very important matter with the Headmaster. And of course, whenever they came, despite how "busy" they were, they always took time to talk to him, although their conversations were always so short and very cold on the part of the teenager.
When the term began, there was a slight change in Harry's routine. Apart from the many potions he had to perform under Snape's supervision (in fact, it was Harry who was in charge of refilling the infirmary's pantry), he also became the man's assistant during his classes, which, considering that he had been a classmate to the vast majority of them, made things slightly uncomfortable for him.
And although his life was quite busy at the time, he still always found time to brew his own potions, and to periodically disappear whenever there was a Death Eater attack. There were many times that he had wondered why he continued to confront dangerous wizards, who were not only much more aggressive and violent than him, but also had more experience, but he always ended up reasoning that he more or less saved lives, and that this was always better than letting them die.
His life could have continued with that pleasant routine for a long time, but as always, things could not remain static. The goddess Fate had long ago decided the direction of his life, and as such, tranquility was not in her plans for him.
It all started at the beginning of October. Just like hundreds of times before, Harry had been checking the water to see if he had any indication of another attack on the wizarding population of Britain, and he could see how an image of a city that was quite familiar to him began to develop. In fact, it was so familiar to him because it was Godric's Hollow, the place where he had lived all his life. Not long after, he saw what he had been looking for: Death Eaters attacking without rhyme or reason.
In the vision, it was night, which meant he had at least three hours before the attack took place – that is, if it was indeed that night when it was going to happen. He had been so startled when he saw his hometown that he had forgotten to check when the attack would occur.
He quickly wrote a message before leaving and left it in Jonathan's room; Jonathan would take care of notifying the others. Then, without thinking twice, he transformed into a phoenix and appeared in the Town Hall square, placing himself on the branch of one of the tallest trees there. From there, it would be easy for him to see where the attack would begin and counter it.
The truth was that he shouldn't have been surprised in the least. As soon as night fell, dozens of Death Eaters silently appeared on what had been their own street. This was not just another terror attack; it was aimed at his own "family," a thorn in the Dark Lord's side for many years.
Not wanting to draw attention to himself, he walked very slowly towards where the Death Eaters were standing, waiting for the one who was obviously their superior to appear. He knew from previous experience that it was best to wait for all the contingents to start moving to avoid surprises, and that also meant he had to wait for whoever Voldemort had chosen to lead this relatively important attack to arrive.
He didn't have to wait long. Shortly after he had positioned himself in a nearby tree, a woman appeared in the clearing whom he recognised very easily: Bellatrix Lestrange. Oh… how he hated her. She was a cruel and evil woman who enjoyed the pain she caused with an intensity that sickened him.
He also saw that they were starting to move. He didn't think twice before diving towards Bellatrix, with the intention of doing some preliminary damage. If he was lucky, she wouldn't notice until his claws or beak had inflicted some serious wound. And he was lucky, because before she could react, he managed to tear one of her shoulders with his claws. Then, with a fluid movement, he transformed from phoenix to human and looked at the group with a serenity that came from experience.
For their part, the Death Eaters looked at him with fear. "The Phoenix," as they knew him, already had a reputation for being powerful and an adversary to the Dark Lord. Bellatrix, instead, looked at him with a mixture of pain and hatred, and a burning desire for revenge.
"I don't want to fight," Harry said calmly. "If you go away, nothing will happen from here."
"So the famous 'Phoenix' is a child?" Bellatrix sneered. "Does a simple child think he is strong enough to defeat the Dark Lord's servants?"
"I may be a child, but I've done it before."
Whatever else she was about to say was cut off by a well-aimed Crucio from Bellatrix, a curse Harry had to dodge quickly before giving his opponents an advantage. The Death Eaters, emboldened by his lack of immediate counterattack, did not hesitate to throw several very unpleasant curses at him as well.
The teenager allowed them to attack him for a few minutes. He knew that he could dodge very quickly and thus allow them to tire themselves out, and best of all, none of them realised it because of their fervent desire to kill him. By the time a while had passed, many of the Death Eaters were exhausted, while Harry was still fresh as a rose.
It was then that he took the opportunity to point his wand and cast a silent curse on one of the Death Eaters who seemed more tired and less likely to be able to dodge. Just a few seconds later, the man was lying on the ground, unconscious and unlikely to be given a hand because his companions were too busy trying not to be beaten themselves. And seconds later, he was accompanied by another of them, who had not been fast enough to dodge. That scene was repeated several more times before Bellatrix realised that if they were to succeed, they would have to change their strategy, or they would not be able to defeat the brat, whoever he was.
This time, she did not throw the usual Crucio; instead, she cast a Blasting Curse on a nearby wall so that the debris would bury Harry alive, and if it didn't kill him, it would inflict a lot of damage. And it would have succeeded if the boy hadn't reacted quickly enough and, using his phoenix power, transported himself out of the reach of the rubble.
Harry knew that he had to act fast. Bellatrix had adopted a new strategy, a different and much more effective one than the one she was using until now. In addition, there was the fact that he couldn't use his phoenix power in his human form; it exhausted him too much.
Knowing what he had to do, the boy aimed at the leader of the group, Bellatrix, and tried to immobilise her as quickly as possible. But she was an old dog, and her experience in fighting made it not as easy as with the others; not for nothing was she a member of the inner circle.
The fight continued between the two for a few minutes before Bellatrix was hit with a modified Severing Charm, which would only make shallow cuts instead of the one capable of killing. That was enough to distract her and manage to hit a Stunning Spell on her person. And then Harry sighed with satisfaction.
What the boy had not noticed was that during his fight with the Death Eaters, several members of the Order of the Phoenix had been approaching. Alerted by the Potters and the characteristic noises of a fight, they had come with the intention of stopping the Death Eaters who had appeared in the city. Only to encounter the mysterious "Phoenix" fighting them, specifically Bellatrix.
Since the duel lasted a long time, they could observe how, as it developed and both opponents became exhausted, the already characteristic incredibly white aura that used to surround the "Phoenix" began to discolour, allowing them to finally see who was the person who was hiding, producing exclamations of surprise and disbelief when they saw a simple teenager, and a well-known teenager at that.
None of those present moved a muscle while they watched the duel between the two unfold, afraid that the slightest noise would make them lose concentration and they could be injured. But also, as they saw Bellatrix fall, they let out the air they were unconsciously holding.
"Harry?" whispered Lily Potter, almost without believing it, and watching how he visibly tensed.
When the boy heard his name in his mother's familiar voice, he tensed instantly. Little by little, he turned around, praying that the impossible would happen and that the one he thought was not there, but of course, it was not the case.
"Shit!" he exclaimed before transforming into a phoenix and disappearing from there as fast as he could.