You know, I never considered that the sword might be a horcrux? Hmm... well, it sat in Dumbledore's office for several years, so he probably would have noticed. Of course he... AAARRRGH! THE BUNNIES!

Well, in this story it is not a horcrux. But that really is a novel... BUNNIES!

Good chapter, perhaps some idea as to what exactly Harry is going to do between "now" and actively starting to search for the Horocruxes?

Excellent story anyway, you're not going to turn Hedwig into a phoenix are you?

Update soon!

Well, I figured Harry won't go searching for the Horcruxes until he's of age (allowing him to do magic, apparate, etc. without worrying about the Ministry - not that that would be a BIG worry, but still...).

No, Hedwig will remain an owl. It may be typecasting, but I like her that way.

I already did my MP5 story - three of them, in fact. :-)

I will do my best to write with skill and speed.

I loved the dream.. haha.. It had me laughing!

And the line from 'The mask of Zorro' was just as funny here... haha

I'm surprised by how many people like the dream sequence, since it started life as filler, needed to be heavily controlled to keep it from getting as dark as it wanted to be, and almost got cut.

Maybe I need to post that deleted scene from Price of Freedom after all...

Brilliant! I'm another who thinks Fawkes needs to look to Harry now that Dumbledore's gone. Love where this is heading so far!!!

One glitch: "Hedwig’s cage was in his trunk. He grasped the cage in one hand and gently gripped one of Fawkes’ legs in the other." uh, I'm sure you see exactly the problem, now that I've pointed it out to you...

On the glitch - you missed the word "except" earlier in the sentance. That being said, I did a last-minute revision changing what was in the trunk and what wasn't, so that sentance didn't get much polishing.

Since Fawkes has left Hogwarts, Harry does seem a logical choice to me, too. I don't see him sitting on a beach getting a tan while the rest of the war is fought out.

I'm a student of the sword, and "write what you know" is a common bit of advice.

Fawkes might try being subtle if: a. he could speak, or b. he wasn't dealing with Harry.

The Fawkes/Hedwig interaction is one of the earliest bits of this story I envisioned. A plot bunny about a Fawkes/Hedwig ship is currently chasing me, but I'm well ahead.

What, the dream sequence wasn't enough action for you?

No, its the Weasleys, as others have guessed.

Which, of course, doesn't rule out action given the state of things...

Brilliant writing, of course, it always is. So far, I like this story, and I will follow your updates eagerly. I won't pretend to know where you are taking this, but I'm sure I'll enjoy it no matter what. You do realize, I am sure, that the cliff hanger is irritating, but not heart stopping...

Carry on, then!

Excellent interpretation of magical portraits, good idea about Fawkes and the Sword. Ron and Hermione were supposed to be at Privet Drive with Harry, remember? And Harry won't have time for tutoring, I don't think, but there's enough fudge factor there for you to do as you please. I'd complain about the cliffhanger, but I know perfectly well it's four of the Weasleys. The movies are not 'somewhat cannon-y', there's too many n's. (Nitpicky, I know, but I HATE it when people either omit spellcheck or don't double-check it. And yes, the movies are only somewhat canon-y, they can't fit all the detail in the books into two hours of movie, and they change a lot of the details to make the movies look better. Ugh.)

As I implied with Harry's comment about McGonagall wanting things to be normal, Ron and Hermione's plans were changed. As Harry hasn't left Hogwarts at the end of HBP, there's time for plans to change.

As for spelling, I write each chapter. Then I read it. Then OHGinnyfan betas it. Then I read it over again, and she goes over it again. In most things, one error in over 2500 words is considered an acceptable job for amateurs. Thank you for noticing the error, it will be logged for my records.