Chapter 22: Fawkes Lays an Egg

Everyone had thought Fawkes was male, but Fawkes had no sex.  He was a phoenix and was reborn out of his own ashes.  He was an ancient creature, perhaps as old as any in existence.  Fawkes didn't possess magic.  He was magic, containing the very essence of magic.  Fawkes had flown off from Hogwarts on the night of Dumbledore's death bearing a burden.  He had flown until he had reached a cave, deep in a forest in a faraway land.   There he had laid an egg.  It contained the burden he'd carried from Hogwarts

The egg was small when laid, but it grew rapidly, until it was a foot and a half long.  That's when Fawkes cracked the shell, breaking  it open, revealing a baby -- a human baby. 

Although awake, the baby didn't cry,  Instead it moved its mouth as if trying to talk, but its vocal cords hadn't yet matured sufficiently for speech, so the sounds it made were no different from those made by any newborn, even though it struggled to make others.  The baby reached up, patting Fawkes clumsily on the beak.

Out of the egg, the baby -- a boy -- grew rapidly, sleeping much of the time, to give his body a chance to mature.  Within a year, he'd reached puberty, but continued to grow, aging about one year for every month, still asleep more than he was awake.

Chapter 23: Revenge Is Sweeter When Served Cold