“Fawkes, these are my friends. Jack Antov and Alexa Adams,” Ginny said to the phoenix sitting a few feet away. He had been living in the aviary and being fed constantly from what Ginny had heard. Legally, Hogwarts was required to feed Fawkes until he was satisfied. And as a phoenix… he could eat constantly and would never gain any weight. It would all just go into condensing and increasing the power of his internal flame.

Fawkes chirped.

“Can they pet you? Oh, and Fawkes says hello,” Ginny said to her friends. After finishing with the Ravenclaw common room they had left and wandered the castle a bit before coming here so Ginny could introduce them to Fawkes.

Fawkes trilled.

“Oh, really?” Ginny said, “You never let my family do it. You really don’t mind?”

Chirp.

“Whoa. You held a grudge for that long? That they wanted to pet you without your permission? They just didn’t understand…”

Chirp.

“Oh, well. That’s on them. I’ll tell them so they can apologize though. I’m sure they’ll think of a good bribe if they know that was why you are annoyed with them.”

Chirp.

“Of course. Hey, we met somebody. Amvatroz, the Eagle, said he knew you when he was a thunderbird.”

Fawkes puffed up indignantly and flapped his wings even as he stayed on the ground and let out a long sustained trill.

Ginny had to suppress a laugh, “Beat him every time, huh? Amvatroz said the same thing…”

Another indignant trill, this one a little deflated from before.

“If he got to eat the cow that you two were fighting over, didn’t he win then?”

Chirp.

“Well, now you got to fight back! Tell me all the embarrassing secrets that Amvatroz wouldn’t want you to tell us! I’m sure you know something, Amvatroz made it sound like you two knew each other pretty well.”

Chirp.

“Ok, later,” Ginny agreed before remembering her two friends.

“You really can talk to him like a person…” Jack said with interest. Alexa stepped forward and didn’t look at Ginny but Fawkes. She reached out her hand in front of her until it was less than a foot away from Fawkes.

“Can I pet you?” She asked. Fawkes chirped and hopped forward and pressed his head against Alexa’s hand. Alexa started stroking Fawkes’ head and down his back.

“Whoa, he’s so soft and warm…” Alexa said in an amazed voice. Jack came forward too and paused when Fawkes turned his head to stare at him.

“Can I pet you too?” He asked Fawkes, who chirped in response. Jack looked at Ginny who nodded back at him. Jack went forward too and between him and Alexa started petting Fawkes and laying on the praise for him and his soft feathers and warmth. Fawkes enjoyed the attention, looking between Alexa and Jack and leaning into their hands as they pet him.

Ginny sat down cross legged on the floor and watched from the side, almost forgotten by the other three. She got plenty of time with Fawkes, it would be greedy to interrupt and start petting Fawkes herself too. No matter that she wanted to join in with the other two right that second!

Eventually, Fawkes was satisfied with the attention and hopped back from Ginny’s friends, looking rather satisfied and relaxed.

“Are you liking the Aviary?” Ginny asked and Fawkes looked at her, “Are they feeding you well?”

Fawkes let out a smug chirp.

“Yeah, I heard,” Ginny said, “You big glutton.”

Chirp.

“Still a glutton even if you don’t get fat from it.”

Chirp.

“Of course I would get fat. Didn’t you eat about thirty pounds of food just today? That’s probably more than your whole body weight. Are you going to eat that much every day?”

Chirp. Chirp.

“I’m mostly kidding,” Ginny said, “It’s Hogwarts food, not ours. Technically they have to give you as much as you want since you’re the true familiar of a student… But don’t get too greedy, Dumbledore might be mad if you eat too much and it starts getting really expensive.”

Chirp.

“Okay. Bye.”

Fawkes hopped into the corner and with another burst of flame he disappeared again, probably returning back to the Aviary to keep gorging himself with more food.

“Oh. My. God!” Alexa said, still sitting on the floor of the abandoned classroom next to Jack.

“That was amazing!” Alexa said, “Fawkes was just the cutest little guy! Super warm and soft feathers.”

“Yeah, he’s…” Jack said. The two of them gushed a bit more, each getting more and more outrageous to outdo the other.

Ginny giggled a little and Jack stopped before saying something else.

“It’s okay, you two,” Ginny said, “He’s not here anymore. You don’t have to keep complimenting him. Did you see him? He was really soaking in your praises the whole time.”

“Oh, but you didn’t get to pet him though, Ginny!” Alexa said, “We just jumped in, sorry…”

Ginny smiled slightly and shook her head, “No, I got him to myself all summer. You two looked like you were having fun.”

“Yeah!” Jack said loudly and after the two girls looked at him he blushed a little and spoke a little softer, “Yeah.”

“Can we do that again sometime? Can we, Ginny?” Alexa said, “I’m feeling so relaxed after that.”

“It’s up to Fawkes,” Ginny said as she lurched to her feet. Her legs had fallen asleep and there were pins and needles running through her legs as the blood started flowing through them properly again. Alexa and Jack also clambered to their feet, all of them looking a little dusty from sitting on the floor of this old abandoned classroom for so long.

“But he seemed to like it, so I don’t see why not.”

“Yay,” Alexa said.

Jack’s stomach rumbled, and he put a hand over his stomach.

“Dinner?” He asked.

“Dinner.”

“Dinner.”

They made their way to the great hall, seeing more and more students trickling in as they got closer. It seems that they were on the tail end of things and were almost late to the meal. They reached the doors and looked between the two tables. Ravenclaw and Gryffindor, then down to their robes.

“This whole house thing is so dumb,” Alexa grumbled before she turned to the two of them, “Have a good dinner, guys. See you tomorrow morning like we talked about?”

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“Sure.”

“See you there.”

They split off, Alexa going to sit at the Gryffindor table while Ginny and Jack went to sit by the Ravenclaws.

They all ate their fill, talking with some of the other first year Ravenclaws before returning to the common room. Luckily after dinner Amvatroz had some mercy and allowed Olivia to solve an extra hard riddle for the whole group of tired Ravenclaws. It took a few minutes, but Olivia eventually figured it out without any help and the door swung open. It was something about advanced transfiguration theory that flew way over Ginny’s head as Olivia and Amvatroz discussed it.

Ginny went to her room, caught up with her roommates for a bit… and then closed her eyes and went to sleep.

— — —

Ginny opened her eyes and sat up to look at Balthazar watching her from across the room. She was back in… back to…

“Hey, Balthazar,” Ginny asked as she climbed to her feet with her mud body, “What is this place called? I just realized that I don’t think I ever asked.”

“It has many names that it goes by. But if I had to choose one, then it would be… Teregatt. It means refuge or sanctuary in the language of some of our residents.”

“What are you?” Ginny asked, “The people that live here, where are they from?”

“All of us are from realities scattered across existence. We were all offered deals to reside here and defend this place for eternity as the original owner encountered us on his journeys.”

“Can you leave if you want to? What if you wanted to go home?”

“We were offered deals because we all had no homes to go back to, one way or another. We have all accepted our life here as time passed.”

“How many of you are there? I’ve only met you, and that one soldier that helped me when I was attacked.”

“I’ve held them back to give you some room to develop so you can make a good first impression on them. We number ten thousand, eight hundred, and seventy one.”

“Ten– Ten thousand? That many? And I’m supposed to be in charge of all of them?”

Balthazar chuckled, “I’ve managed them for a long time. You give the orders and I’ll do my best to accomplish them. There are only a dozen or so on the order of power of the soldier that defended you. I am far above even them. The vast majority are even less powerful than you are, Ginny. Even as untrained and green as you are now in comparison to their millennia of experience.”

“And they all live here? In this tower?”

“Yes, the tower is massive and would have enough room to comfortably hold ten, even a hundred times of our current number. We used to be rather active before the original creator of this realm died, but we’ve been rather idle since then. I presume that when you come into your own we shall be active again and leave this place more often.”

“Can you do that? Have lots of you leave this place at once? Didn’t it drain most of this place's energy just to send one person through?”

“Yes. There is a way to create a permanent portal. But you aren’t ready for anything like that just yet. I’ve made preparations for the funeral. Do you wish to do it now, or train your magic and delay?”

“No, let’s do it right now,” Ginny said, “That was fast. It’s only been a day.”

“Time moves strangely here,” Balthazar said, “It has been many years since your last appearance. Our newest resident, Pettigrew, has begun to complain about feeling his age now, I have heard. He's started balding.”

Ginny blinked, “Wait, what? He’s just been living here for years? Did you figure out who he was working for? Why did he attack me?”

“Yes. He was alone, he wished to wipe your memory so he could continue hiding in your home as a rat. He was hiding from the government, fearful that he would be arrested if they discovered that he was alive and his betrayal of his friends. A servant of the self proclaimed Lord Voldemort, but not acting on his orders.”

“And… you’re fine with him just living here?” Ginny asked, “Despite him being horrible and betraying his friends?”

Balthazar shrugged, “I dislike him, so I don’t interact with him. He will die of old age at some point, and I will no longer have to speak with him ever again.”

“Well, that’s uhm… harsh. Is he being treated okay? Like, you’re not hurting him or anything are you?”

“No. He’s rather grown to like it here in fact. He knows that none of us wish to kill him, and doesn’t have to worry about your government chasing him down from here. It has let him relax in recent years in comparison to his constant state of fear and tension in the previous years.”

“Oh. Well, that’s… I guess that’s fine then? I dunno…”

“Don’t worry,” Balthazar said, “We will not see him. Now, if you follow after me I will bring you to the room where we will perform the ceremony.”

Ginny followed after Balthazar through the hallways of the tower. The tower in Teregatt. She knew this place’s name now. They reached a doorway that looked just like all of the others and stopped just in front of it.

“Why are these hallways so confusing?” Ginny asked, “I got lost after the first turn or two. It’s like a maze.”

“It is a maze. If this place is ever attacked directly then the raiders will be completely lost in this place. The residents with all our time wandering this place know exactly where everything is and will have a significant home field advantage in our defense.”

“Oh. But how will I get around if you’re not there to help me?” Ginny asked as they walked in the room, “I’m not living here all the time.”

“Just ask the crown, and it will point you the way,” Balthazar said, “Ask it to point you back to the portal room.”

Ginny felt at the crown on top of her head and did as Balthazar asked. She felt the crown gently tugging down the hallway back from the way they came. She stepped to the side and back a bit to test it, and the crown always pointed the same way.

“That was easy,” Ginny said absentmindedly, “Guess I was worried over nothing.”

Balthazar opened the door to the room and they both went inside. Inside were six of the insect soldiers in their metal suits of armor, all with their bone swords with reddish runes squirming over their surface sheathed at their sides. They stood along the walls of the room, three on each side and were just far enough that Ginny didn’t feel crowded but still close enough that she could see their mandibles twitching where the lower halves of their faces were exposed.

Her eyes fixated on what looked like a body wrapped in thick strips of white fabric from head to toe. It’s arms were crossed across its chest, and it lay on a golden metal platform below it. Just behind it was a massive hole ten meters in diameter that had the same obsidian walls with golden flecks as the rest of the structure as it plunged downwards.

Ginny kept staring at the body. “Is that… Is that…”

“Nothing but transfigured stones,” Balthazar reassured her, “We do this for the ceremony when we can not retrieve a body.”

Without another word, they walked forward, the insect soldiers on either side and unmoving. Balthazar let out a harsh buzz and clicking noise from his mouth that seemed impossible for him to make. Ginny sensed him using some sort of magic around his throat as he made the sounds.

The soldiers buzzed and clicked back and shifted to space themselves evenly around the rim of the massive hole going into the floor with Ginny, Balthazar, and the body on one point. The hole reminded Ginny of a well, with not even a guard rail around the rim of it. Just a massive circular pit in the floor, dropping down so far into darkness that Ginny couldn’t even see the bottom.

“One taken before his time,” Balthazar said solemnly, “Who gave his life for another, in a noble sacrifice. Harry Potter, may your sacrifice nourish the realm. Teregatt, our refuge.”

Balthazar turned to Ginny, “Queen of our people. Is there anything you wish to add about your fallen subject?”

Ginny looked at the wrapped up body, “Harry… Harry gave his life for mine. He didn’t deserve any of what happened to him. I’ll make sure that his sacrifice was worth something. I… Bye, Harry.”

Balthazar waited for a moment, and when it became clear that Ginny was finished he nodded and waved his hands and the wrapped body floated off of the golden platform. It gently floated to the center of the pit, its head slumped to its chest while its legs dangled loosely beneath it.

“Then let you nourish the realm in death, as it had nourished you in life,” Balthazar said as his magic tendrils held the body aloft.

“Harry Potter, rejoin the realm,” Balthazar said before cutting off his magic all at once. The wrapped up body immediately fell into the pit and after a second disappeared into the darkness below.

The soldiers around the edge of the pit drew their bone swords and held them aloft, pointing towards the center of the hole. They all let out a series of buzzes and clicks in unison before sheathing their swords again.

They all stood there for a few minutes, staring into the pit descending into darkness. Finally, Ginny felt the energy in the air rise the tiniest fraction of a percent.

“And so Harry Potter lives on in the realm itself,” Balthazar said, “May his energies nourish us.”

The insect soldiers let out more clicks and buzzes in unison and then took a step back from the side of the pit. They turned and marched in formation to retake their positions lining the edges of the room in two rows of three.

Balthazar turned and walked to the door and Ginny followed him. They passed through the rows of unmoving soldiers and back out the door. The door closed behind them with a loud clunk.

“That is the end of the ceremony,” Balthazar said, “The Teregatt Guard will remain for a few more minutes before leaving themselves. What did you think?”

“I don’t know what I was expecting. But it wasn’t anything like that. How did the energy of this place rise when it went in there? Wasn’t it only transfigured rocks?”

“Yes, that’s why the increase was so small. If it was a real body then you would know the difference in energy immediately.”

“Okay. But other than that… I don’t know, I thought it was nice. I think Harry would have liked it.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

Ginny realized that given the directions she was getting from the crown, that Balthazar was taking her back to the portal room.

They reached the room and went inside.

“It’s customary to limit your magic use to the minimum for at least a week after the ceremony,” Balthazar said, “For those in Teregatt where the deceased’s energy can still be felt. Do not come back here for a week on your world, and I think it will be similar enough to what we do. Use your magic as you wish on your world, your intrinsic magic comes from you and not our realm.”

“Thanks for doing this, Balthazar. It means a lot to me.”

“You’re very welcome. Good luck on your magical schooling. Remember to not become reliant on those wands.”

“Yes, Balthazar. I know. Bye.”

Ginny shifted her magic and moved it into the crown to bring herself back to her body. The crown pulsed, and then Ginny was flung back into her sleeping body back on her bed on Earth.