Fawkes

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 98809

Lisa wrote:
<snip>
What happens if Fawkes is killed, can he die? and what will 
happen to ol' snake-face's wand? to Harry's wand?

> bboy_mn:
<snip>
While Phoenix do die, they are immediately reborn, and in that sense,
are immortal; they die, but they never cease to exist. 
 
It is conceivable that a Phoenix can truly die, but I don't think we
have enough of Phoenix mythology from JKR herself to determine how
that might happen. 
> 
Interesting thought you had about potential changes to Voldemort's and
Harry's wands if Fawkes dies. The feathers are detached from the bird,
so on one hand their fates should be separate, but on the other hand,
the feathers do derive their magic from the living bird. Once again
though, I don't think we have enough information of Rowling own
personal brand of Phoenix mythology to know for sure.
> 
Carol:
We've seen Fawkes die twice (IIRC) only to be immediately reborn. I
think that's the whole point of a Phoenix--he *can't* die--and it's
also one reason why Voldemort's wand is appropriate for him, given his
obsession with immortality. Its significance for Harry is more
complicated and harder to assess accurately--I personally think that
the Gryffindor colors are Fawkes's colors and that, like the sword and
the Sorting Hat, he once belonged to Godric Gryffindor. In a sense,
Dumbledore, the quintessential Gryffindor, is GG's spiritual heir and
Fawkes is tied to that. If so, and if Harry is DD's spiritual heir
(though he'll never be headmaster of Hogwarts), Fawkes is tied to him
as well, not only attacking the Basilisk and healing his wounds twice,
but creating through his donated feathers the Phoenix song in the
battle in the graveyard, which brought hope to Harry's heart and
(presumably) despair to Voldemort's.

I don't know whether there are any other Phoenixes or any other wands
with Phoenix feather cores. I'm guessing that they're rather rare and
that most Ollivander-made wands (like Cedric's and both of Ron's) have
unicorn hair cores, with possibly a fewer, but still a substantial
number, having dragon heart string cores.

Which brings me to the second point. I don't think that Fawkes or any
other Phoenix can die, but if he did, I don't think it would make any
difference to the wand's powers, any more than it would matter to
Ron's wand if the unicorn that "donated" its tail-hair core died. And
the dragons who so willingly sacrifice their heart strings to become
wand cores are undoubtedly already dead, yet the heart strings are
still "a powerful substance," in Mr. Ollivander's words. So the life
or death of the donor animal clearly has no influence on the power of
the wand.

Carol