Fawkes
In the fictional Harry Potter series of novels and films, Fawkes is Albus Dumbledore's phoenix pet. Fawkes' appellation is a namesake to Gunpowder Plot conspirator Guy Fawkes. He seems to be the equivalent of Lord Voldemort's snake Nagini.
Fawkes is an intensely magical creature, possessing a number of theurgic abilities, though the precise extent of these powers are not made known in the Harry Potter novels. Phoenix tail feathers are, as made apparent in the books, suitable for inclusion in some wands; Fawkes himself provided the feathers for both Lord Voldemort's and Harry Potter's wands.
Fawkes is coloured red and gold, the traditional colours of the Gryffindor House. This may or may not be a coincidence, and is propogated a measure of rumours; Rowling has refuted speculation that Fawkes was Godric Gryffindor's phoenix in an interview, professing that Fawkes was never owned by anyone except Dumbledore.
Template:Spoiler Whenever Fawkes dies, whether it be by violence or old age, he bursts into flame, before being promptly reborn out of the ashes as a baby phoenix.
Roles
Fawkes plays a special role in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: he helps Harry get rid of Slytherin's basilisk, the monstrous snake that lives in Hogwarts and is controlled by Tom Riddle's diary through Ginny Weasley. Fawkes gouges the Basilisk's eyes out, blinding it and rendering its power of being able to kill with its gaze useless. Harry is later bitten by the basilisk and nearly dies from the venom, but Fawkes heals the wound with his tears. He then transports Harry, Ginny, Ron and Gilderoy Lockhart back to the castle.
In the fourth book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Dumbledore sends a silvery shape "like a ghostly bird" to summon Hagrid when Viktor Krum is found stunned. This is his Patronus, a phoenix as confirmed by J.K. Rowling.
In the fifth book, Fawkes is a special part of the Order, a phoenix himself. After Harry saw Arthur Weasley being bitten by Voldemort's snake, Nagini, Dumbledore asks Fawkes to warn him if Umbridge leaves her office. Fawkes does this by making one of his feathers appear with a bang in the office. Later in the book, Dumbledore escapes Ministry officials in Hogwarts by using Fawkes to teleport away, even though normal Apparition is impossible within Hogwarts.
During the confrontation between Voldemort and Dumbledore in the Ministry of Magic towards the fifth book's end, Fawkes presumably saves Dumbledore's life by "swallowing" an Avada Kedavra curse from Voldemort. Fawkes then bursts into flame and is reborn as a chick from the ashes.
After Albus Dumbledore's death in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Fawkes is heard singing a lament for him. When the singing stops, Harry somehow knows that Fawkes has left Hogwarts forever. It is not known where Fawkes has gone, or if he may perhaps appear in the final book.