33 Bonding

As cold weather gradually went away, indicating the arrival of spring, Draco felt more and more energetic. He quite disliked winter, as the day was shorter and it made him feel too lazy to do anything.

The little phoenix, which lived all of its life in Egypt, never mind that it was locked down somewhere in the basement, also felt better with the arrival of warm weather. It was even afraid of going out of the house during the whole season as it was too cold. The bird discovered that it especially liked watching as snow fell outside, from its cozy and warm nest of blankets inside Draco's room.

As Draco's tenth birthday neared, the boy's magic reserves also increased exponentially since last year, when the phoenix decided to follow him back to Britain. Of course, the fact that Draco practiced wandless magic every day also helped to increase the amount of magic available as well as his control over it. Recently, even the 'Diffindo' spell could be cast with some measure of success every time Draco tried to use it.

Because the boy's magical reserves grew and the phoenix also fully recovered since its captivity, it was finally the time for both of them to bond. Actually, the whole bonding process was rather easy – a wizard and his familiar both had to consciously agree that they wanted to form a bond and on a set day they would exchange a bit of magic with each other.

When Draco first heard of it, he thought that it was a bit similar to Horcruxes, because they store a witch's or wizard's peace of soul. After the bonding ceremony, Draco would live with a bit of phoenix's magic and soul in his body, while the phoenix would have Draco's.

Magic and soul were connected, as could be seen from the fact that casting Dark magic required emotions, which came from the soul. Thus, even though they would be exchanging magic, in fact, tiny pieces of their souls would be left within each other. It wouldn't be enough to form a Horcrux and become immortal, but it would form a deeper connection than an ordinary master and their pet would ever hope to have.

As Draco's magic was still in its growth period, this exchange may even prove to be beneficial. After all, there weren't many (if any) ten-year-olds, who could form a bond with such a powerful magical creature, like a phoenix.

On a set day in the middle of March, the whole family gathered around in the ritual room of the Malfoy manor. Even Abraxas portkeyed in from France - just to witness this occasion.

"Are you ready?" Draco's grandfather asked. He observed his grandchild standing beside the perch, on which the phoenix was settled. Draco was dressed in ceremonial white robes, looking official despite the simplicity of the ritual.

The boy nodded while the phoenix chirped happily. It also wanted to form the bond quickly because it was tired of no one understanding what it meant to say with its trills. The bird also wanted to stop being called 'it', as though he was a thing. The phoenixes, back in the enclosure, gave him a name after he was rescued from the poachers. It was just too bad that humans couldn't understand it.

"Let's start then!"

Abraxas gave Draco his wand and stepped back. Lucius and Narcissa stood beside him - each had a smile on their faces. After all, this bond would bring a lot of glory into the family.

After the Dark Lord's demise and the family's association with him, such a positive event would definitely make people look at them in a different light. This would also help Lucius' political career and allow him to form more connections with other, lighter, families. Outside people would view the bond with a phoenix as something to be associated with Dumbledore, who was the paragon of 'light', even if, in all actuality, the family was anything but that.

Draco gripped his grandfather's wand and felt a slight warming sensation. Abraxas' wand was more compatible with him than either of his parents' wands.

The phoenix trilled a short note and, closing its eyes and lowering its head, the bird started concentrating its magic. Draco also calmed his emotions and closed his eyes to make it easier to connect with his magical core. The process of forming a bond was not too different from meditating and practicing Occlumency, so the boy didn't find it to be too difficult.

The quiet spectators didn't see anything at first, however, minutes later they felt that the ritual chamber was gradually warming up. If they squinted their eyes, they would have been able to detect slight sparks coming off the phoenix's feathers. As time slowly passed, the heat in the room further increased, to the point where the majestic bird's magic was clear to see for all.

Different colored flames, from blue to yellow and red, started forming around the phoenix. Eventually, they stretched out and reached Draco, who felt comfortable warmth as he was engulfed in them. With his eyes closed, the boy felt even more clearly, when the phoenix's magic almost touched his core. Sensing the foreign magic nearby, Draco controlled his magic and let a strand travel through his arm to the unfamiliar wand, which now pointed at the phoenix.

The most magical experience was when a witch or a wizard released their magic relying solely on intent, rather than wand movements or incantations, which were designed with Arithmancy. Draco wished with all his heart and mind to form a successful bond with the little phoenix, whom he already saw as his close friend. The phoenix also wished to bond with the boy, whom he had seen through the darkness that fateful day - stretching out his hands and hugging him, providing the much-desired light, warmth and hope for the future.

As phoenix's magic, in form of its multicolored flames, enveloped the boy and, gradually, light gray color also mixed into the swirl. It was the color of Draco's magical core, which was also reflected in his eyes.

After mixing together for a while, the magic separated. Light gray color gently enveloped the phoenix, while multicolored magic, which resembled flames, enveloped the blond boy.

After a minute or two, the magic disappeared entirely and it seemed as though nothing had happened. The boy and the bird were still standing before each other with eyes closed and heads tilted down. However, inside their magical cores, they could see bits of foreign magic mixed in.

Draco's core, which had originally been light gray, was still mainly the same color, however, it looked a bit like it was on fire. While phoenix's magical core, which originally burned like fire, now released slight mist, which was hued in a barely noticeable gray color.

However, the changes in the cores were secondary. The most important thing was that Draco felt clear foreign emotions and thoughts, which were hard to decipher, inside his mind. Since he practiced Occlumency, it was easy to discover any sudden changes in the mind-scape.

"Chirp chirp chirp?"

Draco opened his eyes and looked at his familiar. For the first time, he could really see the little bird as his equal. Before, it was just a slightly powerful rare bird with magic abilities. But now, he could understand the phoenix as though the bird was human.

• Do you understand me now? •

Although to others the chirps still sounded incomprehensible, Draco could hear the phoenx as though it was speaking English.

"I understand," he replied and with a laugh. The boy suddenly stepped forward and hugged the equally happy creature, feeling an unexpected closeness to it.

The little bird and wizard were in their own world for a while, however, loud claps woke them up. Draco turned his head to see his family with genuine smiles on their faces. Maybe he felt a bit emotional or too happy at that moment because, suddenly, he thought that Malfoys were really his family in this world and they would stand by his side through thick and thin.

"So, what's his name?" asked Narcissa when everyone stopped their claps.

Draco turned his head to look at the little phoenix. The bird chirped and flew out of the boy's arms, settling back on its perch. With a proud lift of its head, it said:

• My name is Zosar! •

Draco lifted his eyebrow. Zosar was the name of a king. In Ancient Egypt, there was a Pharaoh, whose name was Djosar, which sounded very similar.

"It's a good name, fit for a survivor," the boy said to the phoenix smilingly.

The bird, feeling more confident, started to show more of its personality:

• Hmph, of course! I will grow up to be the king of all phoenixes and will help you punish all evil-doers. We will go and rescue other animals from the poachers when we both grow up! •

Draco silently sweat-dropped at his delusional familiar, which seemed to be addicted to doing good things. The boy would rather avoid unnecessary trouble and let others handle things like rescuing those in need if possible. Harry Potter would have been a better option for the phoenix if it wanted to bond with someone who has a hero syndrome.

Seeing that Draco's familiar was excitingly chirping and even flapping its wings, to indicate something, Abraxas curiously asked:

"So, what is it saying? You should be able to understand it, right?"

Draco cleared his throat and finally moved his gaze from the phoenix, which was still explaining, how it will deal with the "bad guys".

"Don't call him 'it'. His name is Zosar," the blond boy said, answering his mother's earlier question. "As for what he is saying… it's better if you don't know."

If his parents knew that the bird wanted Draco to go after criminals, they would promptly ship the phoenix off back to Egypt. They already thought that their child got involved in too many incidents – encouraging the boy to get into more trouble was out of the question!