The lifecycle of a Fawkes (was : Neville's Wand)

[sleepingblyx]

No: HPFGUIDX 74881



> You do it every few months, say every three months, that's over 
20% of your 
> time being spent in less than top condition. On a regular basis.  
*Plus* 
> growing after being killed.
> 
> What happens if you kill a baby pheonix?  I doubt, even if 
possiblely, the 
> burning is either a neutral sensation or plesent they would 
enjoy...say being 
> kicked into a wall and dying of bleeding to death, or being eaten.
> 
> So extend it to every few years.  Fine, but we have seen that 
muggles get 
> *some* things right in their myths and legends.  So while 1000 is 
out of the 
> question, and most seem to think 100 is too long for Dumbledore to 
simply shrug 
> off missing it, how about fifty?


I think it is a matter of mental _and_ physical state... a Pheonix 
is a magical creature-- which means it has the WILL to do its 
bidding... this would, IMO, extend to matters of rejuvination. 

Say it had lived happily in a home for 100 years and never seen a 
conflict-- it would possibly go decades without "molting"... but a 
war-torn bird might wish to combust sooner. 

We know the bird reaches maturity at an accelerated rate... but when 
it is reborn, does it keep its current state of awareness? The 
pheonix can be a metaphor for reincarnation.... how does it change 
mentally over time?