23 Phoenix Enclosure

In the end, Draco decided not to agree to any rituals. His first consideration wasn't even that he thought the researchers were lying to him. He didn't think that they would cause any direct harm to a foreign young wizard so openly. However, Draco had to consider the fact that as a reincarnated person, his soul could have been affected in some strange ways. Who knows how different it would be from normal people's souls? It's not like he could directly observe it.

What made him especially wary was that the researchers believed that the scepter should affect the soul and even react to it if certain requirements are met. During their conversation Ahmose sounded very sure that the researchers' guess about the artifact being related to soul magic was correct. Draco was also inclined to believe them - after all, they were the experts in this field and it wasn't like the scepter was the first artifact they have studied. This would mean that his own soul was definitely different.

Privately, Draco decided to conduct a ritual by himself later and in secret. Now that he was aware of which direction to look for answers about this transmigration, he could also afford to wait a bit - until he knew more about magic. Besides, in his opinion, soul magic should be very private - only perverts liked to posture naked before strange and unfamiliar people with whom they didn't intend to sleep with. And revealing one's soul was akin to being naked. Draco certainly didn't want his soul to be observed so openly and by so many old men, which he figured would happen if he accepted the Egyptian man's proposal.

Because Draco and Theo thought that the whole business with the ancient artifact wouldn't be concluded so quickly, they planned their stay to last for about a week. However, now that Draco decided to not get involved in further research, both boys had a lot of spare time on their hands.

Johan, the man who greeted them when they first arrived to Egypt, took it upon himself to show the young wizards around the country's most famous locations. Draco and Theo couldn't avoid the man's excited chatter when they visited the pyramids, which were hidden by muggle-repelling charms, or when they visited Egypt's largest business streets.

Although Draco was very interested to see all these places, which hadn't existed in his previous life (not like he had an opportunity to visit the country, anyway), after few days of being shoved and pushed by crowds of other sweaty tourists, who also frequented these locations, he felt sick and tired of the whole trip.

Even adults would feel suffocated in these circumstances, so, as a child, Draco really suffered. He could see that Theo's enthusiasm has also been affected. Tourists will be tourists everywhere, no matter if they were muggle or magical. Despite the repeated castings of cooling, refreshing and other types of charms, it was still uncomfortable to be in the eye of the crowd.

At this time, both boys were staying at a hotel in their large suite, which had two separate rooms and a common living room. The whole suite had an expensive feel to it, decorated mostly in golden and blue tones. However, the young wizards didn't appreciate their surroundings - Draco was laying sprawled on one sofa, with one of his hands hanging down from it, almost reaching the carpet, while Theo was laying on another sofa in a similar position, though his hand covered his eyes - creating a perfect picture of tiredness.

"Draco, I really want to go see the recently discovered pyramid, which already has its curses broken down, but I can't move my body. What to do?" asked Theo listlessly.

Hearing Theo's question Draco lazily moved his head to look at his friend and said, "We should do something different today. I remember Hannah once mentioned that there was a Phoenix enclosure somewhere in Egypt. Not many people go there because it is too far from the main attractions and phoenixes are more common in China and India..." Draco trailed off, trying to remember other details.

Theo released a tired sigh. He felt that he had no energy, but he still wanted to see a lot of phoenixes in one place. Phoenix enclosure was completely different from the zoo they visited before. In the zoo there were only few animals of each type and they lived in artificial magically created environment - totally different from how wild phoenixes actually lived.

"Yeah, it's not a bad idea. I will ask Johan whether we can go there today," the dark haired boy muttered, not moving an inch from his position.

Draco observed his friend quietly and found it a bit funny. Usually, Theo was a very quiet boy and he never showed any tiredness or reluctance to do an activity with his friends. He always silently agreed and followed Draco and the girls when they decided to travel somewhere or attend a gathering. Sometimes he liked to joke a bit with his friends, but never too much because he felt that it was impolite. Theo would rather discuss books or interesting news with others than partake in games or casual conversations. However, today he showed this listless and carefree side to Draco, which really made the blond boy feel unused to it - the usually very proper boy was nowhere to be seen.

For a second Draco wondered whether he was bad influence. Then he quickly discarded the thought, anyway, it was good to let yourself go sometimes and Theo was too mature was his age.

---

Later in the afternoon, when both boys regained their energy, they were once again led to the Egyptian Ministry of Magic by Johan to take an authorized portkey to the Phoenix enclosure. This enclosure was close to Libya, somewhat near the Siwa lake. The phoenixes' natural magic hid it from the eyes of muggles, however for magicals it wasn't hard to find. Though if they wanted to visit it, they had to get permission from the Ministry because the Egyptians loved phoenixes and didn't want tourists to disturb the birds' daily lives too much. For Draco and Theo, who came from influential families, getting a permission to enter didn't pose a problem.

According to Egyptians, phoenixes have a connection to the Sun God. That's why they are usually of vibrant red and yellow colors, have close connection to fire and through it they die and get reborn.

Looking at the surroundings, which were filled with lush trees and green grass - completely unexpected sight in the midst of desert - Draco and Theo were filled with awe. They could see many vibrant birds flying in the sky, resting on tree branches and happily chirping songs in their heavenly voices.

A song of a phoenix could relax people and have some healing effects on their minds. So tens and hundreds of phoenixes singing in their natural surroundings was a scene, which could only be seen in paradise. Draco couldn't help closing his eyes and listening happily. The week's exhaustion completely left him as he enjoyed the sound, which ordinary humans would never get to hear in their entire lives.

The enclosure was very big and there were not many people around. Draco and Theo could only see five or six visitors when they arrived. As they went deeper into the enclosure and got closer to a small lake, they couldn't see any other human beings, only phoenixes were flying about. Some of them even curiously came forward to greet the two boys, happily chirping about something.

Draco wasn't too interested in animals, he only knew the basic characteristics of them from his lessons. Most of his other knowledge about them was from the time when he visited the zoo and from Hannah's casual comments. The blond boy was honestly more interested in learning actual magic, which he could later perform.

On the other hand, Theo was more informed about the topic of magical creatures because he liked reading miscellaneous books. Seeing one phoenix chirping something to him, the usually quiet boy helplessly smiled and casually commented to Draco, "Actually, when phoenixes bond to a witch or wizard, they are capable of communication, however it is notoriously difficult to tame them. I heard that even Grindelwald once tried, though he never succeeded."

Theo carefully stroked the cheerful bird which sat on his shoulder until it decided that it had enough of the boy's caresses and flew away.

"I wonder, how did Dumbledore manage to tame his phoenix?" asked Draco.

"No one really knows. After the duel with Grindelwald he just got one suddenly. Many suspect that it is the one that the Dark Lord had tried to tame, but Dumbledore never admitted anything. I think he once commented that taming a phoenix requires a lot of patience and care. One would need around ten years to take a phoenix as their familiar," said Theo thoughtfully.

Draco instantly felt like it would be too much trouble to try getting one. He would rather gather more magical animals which he could ride or fly on in the stables. He didn't have any thestrals, for example.

"By the way, Theo, don't you think that it's very easy to get here even without a permission? As long as one knows the location, they can just apparate or come by muggle means... I am amazed that there are so little people here."

Theo considered it for a moment and replied, "Actually, they can't really hide this place from witches and wizards or put more wards to it because then the phoenixes would feel entrapped and they would migrate. Phoenixes can travel by fire, which cannot be stopped by any ordinary magic, so it's not like they would stand for it if anyone threatened their freedom. After all, they are proud birds. However, the Ministry is still able to put up wards, which detect how many humans are in the perimeter, so if there's too many of them, they just get someone to come and chase the visitors away."

Draco nodded with realization, "I understand."

Phoenixes may seem like easy-going birds because they were friendly, however, they were hard to tame for a reason. Draco felt that if he had such a long lifespan, was basically invulnerable to magic and could heal and travel wherever he wanted, he also wouldn't follow some weak and short-lived humans at their whim.

The boys walked around the lake in the enclosure and tried to see every nest and every bird they could for the next hour. They felt completely relaxed as they listened to the beautiful songs and immersed themselves in nature. The young wizards felt completely safe there even though Johan couldn't accompany them because Missy, Draco's personal elf, followed them silently at distance. The small elf seemed to also be in awe of the sight of the majestic birds.

As the boys neared the edge of the enclosure, where not many of the colorful birds could be seen, they heard some peculiar noises, which were very glaring in the otherwise peaceful surroundings.

"Be quicker, c'mon!" came a harsh whisper in German.

"I'm trying, it's not like you're helping me!" answered another voice in the same language.

Draco and Theo exchanged glances and quickly hid themselves behind a bush. Draco motioned for Missy, who was at a distance, to silently come closer. Meanwhile, Theo carefully peeked at the source of voices.

At a distance of few meters, very close to the boys, was a tree on which a small nest was tucked. On it was a golden egg, which could only be phoenix's, sitting alone. Besides the tree were two men. They were casually dressed in sandy robes and turbans, which protected their heads from the sun. Many magical tourists dressed in similar fashion when they came to Egypt, feeling as though it was better than dressing as muggles.

Draco also carefully peeked at the two foreign men. He saw one carefully trying to climb the tree - he was almost at the nest which had an egg in it, while the other wizard held his wand at ready, seemingly about to help his companion in face of any accidents. The observing wizard's other hand held an inconspicuous bag, which seemed to be able to contain only a fistful of money at most. Draco assumed that it was expanded on the inside.

As he scrutinized the two wizards, who could only be poachers, the blond boy wondered, why didn't just use magic to get the egg? Maybe it wasn't affected by magic?

Draco and Theo exchanged glances. Neither of the boys knew what to do. Missy was just a house elf, who spent most of her days in the manor, not getting out much. They could ask her to stop the poachers, but who is to say that they didn't have a portkey on them or some similar device which could somehow save them? Missy wasn't trained to duel wizards and Draco was afraid of her getting hurt. Besides, what if these people weren't just poachers? For all he knew they could just ruthlessly kill the house elf and kidnap the children! But letting them get the egg also wasn't an option.

Draco's thoughts were interrupted by the poachers resuming conversation.

"Alright, now hold it tightly and climb down. We can't use magic because phoenixes are sensitive to it and will immediately come if they realize that it was cast near the unprotected nest," said the man who was standing at the bottom of the tree. The other man grabbed the egg and slowly climbed down.

Draco was inspired by the poacher's words - if phoenixes could sense magic then he just had to cast something and they will come flocking. The blond boy raised his hand, ready to cast an 'Expelliarmus', when he heard the continued conversation, which made him stop.

"This is the first egg since last year - it seems we are quite lucky. This time Rocco will be happy with us, he has been complaining about that phoenix which wouldn't give in - even under torture! I almost pity it - it should just accept its master, instead of suffering from getting all of its feathers plucked. I have seen it last month and it looks like a plucked chicken! Ha-ha-ha-ha!" The man at the bottom of the tree chatted casually, though when he realized that his laugher was a bit loud, he quickly quieted down. However, now the other man seemed interested.

He curiously asked as he tried to find a steady branch which would help him to climb down, "What about the other eggs? Did they hatch yet? There should be around four more, beside this one we got now, right?"

"No, it is very hard to hatch phoenix chicks without their parents around. That's why we only have that one phoenix, which hatched two years ago - it's really unfortunate though, I almost feel pity for it. Rocco isn't a gentle man and I hear the customer, who wants the phoenix, is already impatient with the wait. He was promised a year and half but now it has already been over two..."

Draco felt like he heard enough - he couldn't let the poachers get away and the man holding the egg was almost at the bottom of the tree. He turned to Missy and quickly asked for her to turn all of them invisible. When he made sure that the elf's magic worked, he quietly made few other instructions and whispered for Theo to hide behind a nearby tree, just so he wouldn't have to worry about the dark-haired boy if anything unexpected happened.

After making sure that Missy understands and Theo is well-hidden, Draco carefully observed the poachers, who were now in the process of stuffing the egg into the bag. Taking a deep breath he shouted, "Expelliarmus!"

A bright red light came out of the bushes, aiming at the man holding the bag. Draco's spell missed the target, which was the man's wand, however it did hit the bag which, together with the egg, dropped to the ground.

Both wizards were startled for a second, but they quickly scanned the surroundings, holding their wands at ready. One of the poachers tried sending a spell into the bushes, where he knew the disarming charm came from. However, after casting magic Draco immediately moved away from the spot, so the spell missed him by a wide distance.

Missy, seeing both wizards with their wands in their hands, quickly summoned them to herself and turned them invisible so the wizards wouldn't be able to see her position.

One of the poachers grabbed a pendant, which was previously hidden inside the robes. He tried saying something, however it didn't seem to work, judging from the fact that the man's expression quickly turned ugly. The other poacher, seeing his companion's actions, took out his own completely identical pendant, but it also didn't work.

Seeing the desperate poachers, Draco smirked as he observed them from the side. Earlier he instructed Missy to cast the anti-apparition and anti-portkey wards. As soon as she did that, she had to summon their wands and then try to detect any other magical objects hidden on them and disable them, if possible. If these wizards were clear minded, they should have grabbed the egg and tried to run, to get out the wards' perimeter, however, their heads didn't work so quickly amidst the confusion.

Draco let out a sigh of relief when he heard the sound of angry flock of phoenixes quickly flying this way.

Now it was too late for the poachers to run, even if they wanted to.