Godric/Fawkes

[erisedstraeh2002]

No: HPFGUIDX 54069

Sarah wrote:

> Hi, I'm a newbie, and I was just wondering what you guys have 
> probably already said concerning Fawkes and Godric.  Is it 
> possible that Godric was an animagus and could become a phoenix? 

Now me:

Well, since you asked, and since this is one of my favorite topics...

I think there is strong support in canon for the theory that Fawkes 
was Godric Gryffindor's phoenix when Gryffindor was alive:  

(1) Fawkes is scarlet and gold, the colors of Gryffindor House. 
Harry's wand contains one of Fawkes' feathers as its magical core, 
and red and gold sparks fly from the end of his wand the first time 
he waves it.  

(2) Fawkes lives in Dumbledore's office along with the Sorting Hat 
and sword that we are told once belonged to Gryffindor. The large 
number of items in this office that were previously owned by 
Gryffindor also suggests that Dumbledore's office was once 
Gryffindor's office. This is further supported by the griffin-shaped 
knocker on Dumbledore's office door.  

(3) In Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them (FB), Newt Scamander 
indicates that the "phoenix gains a XXXX rating not because it is 
aggressive, but because very few wizards have ever succeeded in 
domesticating it" (p. 32). Both Gryffindor and Dumbledore are 
described as uniquely powerful wizards, so it would stand to reason 
that if Dumbledore is one of the few wizards able to domesticate a 
phoenix, Gryffindor was likely to be another. 

(4) In FB, Scamander tells us that 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" (p. 32). Since 
phoenixes can resurrect themselves from the ashes of their elderly 
bodies, Fawkes could have been alive since Gryffindor's time. 
Moreover, the basilisk survived since Slytherin's time (until the end 
of Chamber of Secrets, of course!). 

(5) In legend, the griffin was believed to be the "adversary of 
serpent and basilisks, both of which were seen as embodiments of 
satanic demons" (from the What's in a Name website – paraphrased from 
the Dictionary of Symbolism). This could be a parallel to 
Gryffindor's Fawkes and Slytherin's basilisk, and perhaps a clue to a 
possible good-against-evil fight between Gryffindor and Slytherin 
1,000 years ago. Moreover, Fawkes helps Harry defeat the basilisk in 
the Chamber and phoenix song strengthens Harry both in the Chamber 
and in the graveyard in Goblet of Fire. Fawkes' strengthening of 
Harry's courage is consistent with what Scamander tells us in 
FB: "Phoenix 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" (p. 32). 

~Phyllis