The Phoenix always rises.
But even a phoenix can be silenced if struck at the right moment…
with the right blade.
And now, the Dread Calendar had whispered a new name.
One too familiar.
One too sacred.
Harry Potter.
Execution date: To Be Set.
But something darker followed. A footnote, carved in invisible flame, seen only by those who had defied fate.
"A blade is moving through time. Forged from the death of a phoenix.
It does not miss."
The letter arrived on Aarav's desk, folded like an origami bird, soaked in basilisk ink:
"You cannot protect him forever.
The knife was already thrown.
You're just running toward the memory of its impact."
Hermione burst into the classroom seconds later.
"A future projection ward just failed… in the Gryffindor Tower."
"Who was inside?"
"Harry. And the phoenix."
Aarav, Wanda, and Luna arrived just in time.
They found Harry sitting cross-legged in the common room, staring at something embedded in the wall behind him.
A knife.
Crimson. Smoking.
Etched with seven names, six of which were already crossed out.
The blade buzzed, vibrating against the stone.
Fawkes lay beside Harry—not dead, but nearly extinguished, feathers pale, song silent.
"He dove in front of me," Harry said softly. "But the blade… went through him."
"It missed?" Luna asked.
Aarav frowned.
"No… it never misses."
They examined it in the Forbidden Chamber, where enchantments wouldn't echo.
Wanda conjured a protective seal; Strange added a Mirror Lock to prevent time anomalies.
The knife pulsed with phoenix sorrow.
"This was made in a collapsed timeline," Strange confirmed.
"It doesn't exist here, but it was brought here."
Hermione examined the runes.
"Each name carved into it was a person who was destined to survive death.
It doesn't kill mortals. It kills… legends."
The seventh name was beginning to form.
It was Aarav's.
SYSTEM ANALYSIS:
Item Identified: Blade of Ending Flame
Origin: Void-Forged using a phoenix's death-song from Timeline Null-Zero
Target Lock: Engages on individuals protected by fate, prophecy, or time
Current Target: Harry Potter
Future Target: Aarav Gaunt
Countermeasures: Unknown
Speculative Defense: Acquire Song of the Phoenix (mythic spell, lost)
To save Harry, Aarav had only one option:
Find the Ember Nest—a mythical sanctuary where phoenixes go to die willingly and pass their final songs into eternity.
No map showed its location.
But Fawkes—flickering, fragile—looked into Aarav's eyes and burned a single feather into his palm.
A vision surged through him:
Mountains under a violet sun.
A sky with no stars—only feathers.
A cave where the first fire ever burned.
"You'll need the Ember-Song," Luna said.
"But not just any version. You'll need the one sung by the first phoenix."
"And where do I find it?" Aarav asked.
"You don't," said Dumbledore's portrait, eyes somber.
"You become worthy of hearing it."
To hear the Ember-Song, one must:
Have resurrected another without magic.
Have sacrificed a part of their own future.
Have forgiven someone who tried to kill them.
Aarav had done the first two.
The third…
He would have to complete now.
He stood before Draco Malfoy's father, Lucius, imprisoned in the Mirror Cells beneath the Ministry.
"You once tried to erase me from existence," Aarav said.
"I failed."
"Yes. And that is why… I forgive you."
The runes burned into golden ash.
SYSTEM RECORD:
Condition Met: Worthy of the Ember-Song
New Spell Unlocked: Song of the First Fire
Effect: Nullifies fate-targeted attacks for 77 seconds
Cooldown: One use per lunar cycle
Phoenix Connection Strengthened
Item Gained: Tear of Fawkes (Can resurrect one fallen mythic being)
In a castle of black stone outside time, a woman clad in cinders watched the scene unfold in an hourglass.
"So… he delayed it."
"But he didn't stop it."
She reached for the knife.
The blade twitched.
"Harry Potter… shall die again."