Lifespans?... Phoenix in particular

[John Kearns]

No: HPFGUIDX 131685

> > Steve <bboyminn at y...> wrote:
> > Personally, I believe a Phoenix can truly and completely die, 
> > but the circumstances that could cause that would be 
> > exceptionally rare. Also, that the span between natural 
> > regenerations is probably 100 to 200 years, and that those 
> > regeneration would certainly allow a Phoenix to live for a few 
> > thousand years (1,000 to maybe 3,000 years).
> 
> Finwitch:
> It will, at the end of the natural cycle, be it 50 or 500 years, 
> DIE. However, then it will simply be reborn again, a young bird - 
> how long does it take of a newly reborn phoenix to regain 
> maturity? Less than a year, apparently.

John K:
The extent of my knowledge about the mythology behind the Phoenix is 
the combination of Jo Rowling and a city in Arizona, but I did want 
to point out one bit of relevant JKR canon:

"'Professor,' Harry gasped. 'Your bird - I couldn't do anything - he 
just caught fire-' To Harry's astonishment, Dumbledore 
smiled.  'About time, too,' he said. 'He's been looking dreadful for 
days; I've been telling him to get a move on.... It's a shame you 
had to see him on a Burning Day.'" (CoS, Scholastic p207)

Nothing is blantantly stated here, but my assumption, based solely 
on this passage, was always that Fawkes dies and is reborn fairly 
regularly; perhaps this happens every month or two.  It is fairly 
strongly implied that the process is quick - he's only been looking 
dreadful for days (not weeks or years), and Dumbledore speaks of 
Burning Day as a very non-momentous event, as though he's seen 
hundreds or thousands of them.  I haven't found anything in canon to 
contradict this.  And as you said, it takes very little time for 
Fawkes to return full-form.

As far as really and truly dying... somewhere I picked up the idea 
that Fawkes may have belonged to Godric Gryffindor, but I never 
pictured him as being much older than that (and even that's perhaps 
just a flight of fancy, if you'll pardon the pun).  It's interesting 
to consider - for example, when Dumbledore dies, will Fawkes die as 
well, like my grandfather's clock?  Or could his death foreshadow 
Dumbledore's?  Perhaps he can only be killed when he is not yet full-
grown.  Or perhaps his mortality is simply irrelevant.

Fawkes is certainly one of the most fascinating creatures Jo Rowling 
has presented us with.  I shall be keeping my eye out for him.

Incidentally, perhaps this has been discussed, but why was the Order 
of the Phoenix so named?  Is Fawkes one of their methods of 
communication, or might this be of significance for future books?

John K