Fantastic Beasts - Phoenix

[nightngle]

No: HPFGUIDX 43143

Since there are a few threads regarding the properties of the phoenix 
and it's tail feathers, and because not everyone has a copy of 
"Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" by Newt Scamander (aka 
JKR), 
here's the paragraph:

"Phoenix
M.O.M. Classfication: XXXX (not because it is aggressive, but because 
very few wizards have ever been successful in domesticating it)

"The phoenix is a magnificent, swan-sized, scarlet bird with a long 
golden tail, beak, and talons. It nests on mountain peaks and is 
found in Egypt, India, and China. The phoenix lives to an immense age 
as it can regenerate, bursting into flames when its body begins to 
fail and rising again from the ashes as a chick. The phoenix is a 
gentle creature that has never been known to kill and eats only 
herbs. Like the Diricawl, it can disappear and reappear at will. 
Phoneix song is magical; it is reputed to increase the courage of the 
pure of heart and to strike fear into the hearts of the impure. 
Phoenix tears have powerful healing properties."

Additionally, when the golden web of light encircles Harry and 
Voldemort in GoF, the sound the vibrations of the threads emitts is 
the phoenix song. Harry characterizes this as:

"It was the sound of hope to Harry... the most beautiful and welcome 
thing he had ever heard in his life..."

Then, when he needed courage again to relate the story to Dumbledore 
and Sirius:

"The phoenix let out one soft, quavering note. It shivered in the 
air, and Harry felt as though a drop of hot liquid had slipped down 
his throat into his stomach, warming him, and strengthening him."

Perhaps the fatal flaw of Voldemort will be the phoenix song - 
strengthening Harry's pure heart and weakening his impure heart; the 
distinction that will make the difference when two seemingly equal 
strengths meet.

Nightengale Murphy