The Power of Love and Soul Bonds

"Shall I assume you know absolutely nothing?" asked the portrait sarcastically.

"Nothing at all, yes."

Salazar sighed, before telling Harry to remove two books from the left book case, as well as a few files from the desk. Harry did as he was told, sitting calmly on the floor when he was done.

"A phoenix is an owl that has gone through an evolution ritual, making it one of the two magical creature created through the use of rituals or other such magic wielded by witches and - "

"Since when have phoenixes been owls?" Harry interrupted.

"Perhaps if you quieted yourself, you might be able to find out." suggested the portrait heatedly.

Once Harry had become completely silent, Salazar continued.

"One simply takes an owl that is impressive in terms of behavior or intelligence, and performs the evolution ritual upon them. Once this is performed, the owl will be capable of being judged. After this, at some point in the owl's life, they will go under the Phoenix Stasis. During this time, their worth will be judged. If they are deemed worthy, they become a phoenix. If not, they stay the same. Fairly simple, if you ask me."

"So, to recap, you put the owl under a ritual, then later on the owl goes unconscious, and when it wakes up it might be a phoenix?" asked Harry, his voice filled with doubt.

"More or less, yes."

"I thought phoenixes were just immortal creatures that were born naturally and all that."

"Well, you clearly thought wrong, didn't you?" asked Salazar, "Phoenixes are not born, they can not even mate, how could they possibly give birth? And they are not immortal either, for your information."

"How am I supposed to know they can't mate?" asked Harry indignantly.

"I would have assumed you learned this in your Care of Magical Creatures lessons!"

"We've spent the last month and a half taking care of hybrid mixes of manticores and fire crabs." Harry informed the portrait, "At least three dozen students have been sent to the Hospital wing from burns or bites."

"Oh, how I pity your generations." muttered Salazar.

"Forget that, what were you saying about phoenixes not being immortal?"

"Ah, yes. You see, when a phoenix is formed, they have two options: either do nothing, or bond themselves to the one who created them."

"What are the differences between the two options?" asked Harry.

"If they do nothing, they live for exactly a thousand years, unless they are repeatedly hit by incredibly potent magic, such as the Killing Curse or Fiendfyre. If they die from old age or anything not particularly potent, they are reborn as a chick in the ashes. The cycle will repeat, as I said, for a thousand years on the dot."

"So they can be killed?"

"Yes, but only if the magic is potent enough, and cast several times. Anything else and they simply become a chick. If they are still alive at the end of their thousand years, they will turn into ashes, but no chick will emerge."

"Interesting." noted Harry, running his fingers through Hedwig's feathers, "And the second option?"

"They link themselves to the wizard who created them, forming a soul bond." said Salazar, "It is also referred to as a familiar bond - a name your generation seems to misuse quite a bit, if what Riddle told me was correct. Regardless, the phoenix will only live for as long as the wizard who created them does. However, they are truly impossible to kill during that time, as not even Fiendfyre and the Killing Curse will do anything. No matter what hits them, and no matter how many times, they will turn into ashes, as far as I know. Their soul is bonded to their master's; only when their master is dead will they die. I believe the bond also allows the Phoenix and master to sense each other, and each other's emotions, but I truthfully am not sure."

"Why would a phoenix choose to limit their lifetime so much?"

"I assume you have heard the foolish belief that phoenixes are creatures of the light, of love and happiness?" said the portrait sarcastically. Harry nodded.

"That is incorrect, but the statement holds your answer within it. Part of the ritual to create the phoenix focuses on the most prominent positive emotion of the phoenix. That can be playfulness, kindness, happiness, love, or other similar things. Regardless, owls who have become phoenixes were always those who had large amounts of those emotions. Those who perform the soul bond with their masters are typically the ones of love, or similar things."

"So, they do it out of love?" asked Harry skeptically.

"Yes, believe it or not, there is some truth to your headmaster's words on love." said the portrait, "It will make you do things you would never do, as your mother once did for you. It is the most powerful type of magic there is, pure love."

Harry's eyebrows rose at that.

"You know I can't take you seriously when you talk like that."

Salazar shrugged.

"I was once like you in that sense. Then I met Delphi, my wife. My way of thinking changed. It will happen to you as well. Do not be as foolish as Riddle once was; you must understand the power of love."

"I understand it, don't worry." assured Harry, "I just . . . haven't really experienced it, so I don't really know what it's like you know?"

Salazar nodded sadly, "You will experience it in time, perhaps within the year, perhaps within ten. But you will experience it, I assure you."

They sat in silence for a few moments, before Harry continued once more.

"How many phoenixes have you ever seen?"

"Three, in person." the portrait replied, "Two of them I saw during my journeys around the world. The third was created by Helga."

"Helga Hufflepuff had a phoenix?" asked Harry.

"Indeed she did."

"Why didn't anyone else ever make a phoenix? They seem pretty incredible."

"You must take into account many different things." said Salazar, "For starters, you need to know of the ritual, which during my time was a highly guarded secret that only the greatest knew. You must also have an owl of high intelligence and purity. There also must be a strong bond between the owl and the master, and a much, much stronger bon if you want to create a soul bond. Meeting those requirements is harder than you might think."

"So did Helga create a soul bond with the phoenix she made?"

"The blasted phoenix's name was Caladrius, and no, she did not. The emotion of that particular phoenix was playfulness, believe it or not; as such, it was already unlikely that a soul bond would be formed. Besides, it is the phoenix who chooses to form a bond with their creator. She didn't get a say in the first place."

"So then why didn't any of the other founders make one?" asked Harry.

.....

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