This is my first attempt at Harry Potter fanfiction, although I've been reading them for close to a decade. Any copied work is entirely unintentional, but when you've been reading for as long as I have, you can't help but remember bits and pieces that make an impact on you.
I write for my own enjoyment, although it's nice to be appreciated. If you want to share your opinion on my work, you know what to do.
I've got a lot of this planned out, and I'm planning for 'Rise of the Elemental' to be the first in a three-part series.
And now, on with the story!
"Right – I'm off into town to pick up the dinner jackets for Dudley and me. And you," Vernon snarled at Harry, "you stay out of your aunt's way while she's cleaning."
Harry quickly left the house, wanting to avoid being caught by his aunt as she went on a cleaning spree.
Not for the first time, Harry wondered why he couldn't stay at Hogwarts during the summer. Even though he'd only be here for another month, Harry couldn't help but long for Hogwarts. The castle was his home, not like the sterile, boring house that was No. 4 Privet Drive.
The sky was cloudy, giving the country a welcome break to the summer heat over the previous weeks.
Deciding to head left, Harry walked up to where Privet Drive connected to Magnolia Crescent, and continued walking from there to Magnolia Road, which led to a small park.
Making his way over to a swing set and sitting on one of the swings, Harry thought about the events at the end of his last school year, just a few short months ago.
Attempting not to focus on the encounter with Voldemort, Harry instead thought about the good parts of his school – Mainly his friends.
Friends that had seemingly forgotten him over the summer. Ron had said that, hadn't he? That they'd all write to each other over the summer. But he hadn't gotten a single letter.
"Happy birthday to me…" A disappointed Harry sang under his breath, as he left the swings and slumped down on one of the benches.
Harry would have been happy to see the face of anyone from the wizarding world at this point, just to prove it wasn't all a dream.
As Harry closed his eyes and tried not to think about how lonely and isolated he felt, the sky suddenly turned dark.
Harry opened his eyes, as though something was wrong. Swiftly getting to his feet, he looked up both scared and curious. What had caused the sky to turn dark all of a sudden? It was barely 5 o'clock. The sun wasn't due to go down for a few hours yet!
"Is this because of magic?" Harry wondered, "My magic?"
As if hearing his thoughts, the sky lit up with what looked like a flash of lightning, which struck a spot only a few short metres away from Harry.
Yelping in surprise, Harry involuntarily jumped backwards, the back of his knees hitting the edge of the bench he'd been sat on a few moments previously.
Falling onto the bench, Harry tried and failed to contain his surprise. Both at the fact the sky had suddenly lightened again, casting a soft orange glow over the park, the storm dissipating as quickly as it came.
And at the fact a body was crumpled on the grass, in the exact same spot the lightening had struck.
"Was this my magic?! I know I was feeling lonely, but I didn't expect this!"
Cautiously, Harry crept towards the body, half expecting it to jump up and attack him. Harry could see a light blue tracksuit, and a short-sleeved dark blue top. Neither had an insignia or logo. Nor did the dark trainers that were being worn.
Upon reaching him – for Harry had discovered the body was that of a relatively young man's (the scruffy half-stubble/half-beard gave it away) – Harry placed a hand on the man's shoulder and shook him lightly, in an attempt to wake him.
"Ughhhh…" the man groaned, as he rolled over onto his side.
"Are you okay?" Harry asked cautiously, taking a few steps back in case the man decided to attack him.
The man managed to sit up, putting his hands flat on the grass behind him and locking his arms straight, preventing him from falling backwards.
Blinking tiredly, the man sat up properly, before rubbing his eyes and having a look around. His eyes were a striking blue colour, not dissimilar to the Headmaster's eyes.
"Well, nothing's broken. Where the f-… Where am I?" he muttered. The man finally took notice of Harry, but didn't seem to stare at his scar. "He's a muggle then." Harry mentally decided. After all, the man didn't seem to react to seeing his scar.
"Hey kid, where am I?" the man asked. Harry bristled slightly at being called a kid. He knew he was small for his age, but people didn't need to keep mentioning it!
"Er - You're in a park on Magnolia Street." At the man's blank look, Harry elaborated. "Surrey? England?" The man's eyes finally widened.
"How the heck did I end up in Surrey? My geography isn't fantastic, but I'm pretty sure that's nowhere near Coventry."
Harry's geography wasn't amazing either, but he was sure Coventry was near Birmingham, and Birmingham was a little over 100 miles North-West of Surrey.
"Wow. So, how did you end up here then?" Harry asked, before remembering the dark sky and the lightning strike. "Hey! Do you remember anything about the storm and the lightning strike just now?" Harry asked, while he re-took his seat on the bench just behind him.
"Lightning?" the man muttered. Shaking his head, the man replied, "Sorry kid, I don't remember anythi-…" Stopping abruptly, the man muttered, "Wait a sec, yeah I do! What the fuck happened?"
Ignoring the man's muttering, and having enough of being called 'kid', Harry stated, "My name isn't 'kid', it's Harry. Harry Potter." Harry wasn't too worried about the muggle recognising him, especially if he was from Coventry. The only muggles that should know him were ones from Privet Drive and the surrounding area.
Harry watched as the man took in the information for a second, before his head snapped towards Harry sharply. Laughing, the man said, "Sure it is, kid. And I'm the Queen."
Confused, and definitely not expecting that reaction, Harry shifted slightly. "Err, what? But I am Harry Potter," he said, unconsciously shifting his hair to one side, exposing his scar.
The man's eyes laser focused on his head all of a sudden, before his jaw appeared to drop slightly. Still confused, Harry's eyes narrowed at the new reaction, wondering if perhaps the man wasn't a muggle after all.
Realising what he was doing, the man snapped his jaw closed. He also closed his eyes, and rubbed the bridge of his nose, muttering, "What the fuck?" under his breath.
Suddenly, the man stood up. He wasn't especially tall, Harry considered - not when compared to people like Hagrid - but nevertheless, the man towered over Harry's slight frame.
"Ooookay, kid, err– Sorry… Harry –" the man said, with a semi-appeasing smile upon seeing Harry bristle once again at being called 'kid'.
"–I'm slightly confused here, Harry, and I think I'm going to need some help figuring stuff out."
Even more confused now, especially at the hint of incredulousness the man inflected when he said his name, Harry simply nodded at the man. "He doesn't look all that threatening," Harry mused, before frowning, and thinking about Quirrell. "But then again, looks can be deceiving."
"Can you tell me what the date is?"
Bewildered, Harry promptly replied, "It's the 31st of July," before muttering under his breath, "Happy birthday indeed."
"Yeah, I'm going to need the year as well please, mate." Came the man's slightly hesitant reply.
Raising his eyebrows, Harry allowed the confusion he felt to grace his features. "1992" he replied.
Surprised confusion quickly gave way to alarm, as the man's body seemed to lose all of its previous rigidity, as he fell to his hands and knees moments after Harry's reply.
"No… No, it's not, it's twenty-… It can't be…" the man muttered, barely loudly enough for Harry to hear it.
"Hey, hey, easy. It'll be alright." Harry said placatingly, as he slowly moved towards the form of the fallen man.
The man's head snapped up to Harry, who halted his movements in response. "N-no, you d-don't understand," he stuttered, before halting his speech and swallowing. The man then sat backwards on crossed legs and looked pleadingly at Harry. "This has to be a dream… I can't… I can't have…"
Still very confused, Harry took the initiative and sat down in front of the man. "I'm guessing that's not the date you were expecting. So that means you've travelled in time, as well as… Space?"
The man gave a hesitant nod, before letting his head fall into his waiting hands.
"Can you tell me your name, at least?" Harry let out one of his questions, in the most concerned tone he could offer.
"Jack. My name is Jack Starburn."
"Starburn, eh? Bit cooler than Potter, I'd say." Harry joked, in an effort to lighten the man's mood.
After a few seconds, Jack looked up and gave Harry a weak smile. "So, uhhh… You're really Harry Potter, and I'm not dreaming?"
His confusion returning to him, Harry asked, "Do you know me then? Are you a wizard?"
Of all the things Harry was expecting in response to his query, another round of laughter wasn't one of them. "A wizard? Me? Ha! My brother was the one that wanted to become a wizard… I just liked the books… And the films."
Before Harry could begin to decipher that response, Jack stood. "Okay, I can deal with this, I think. But I'm not doing this while sat on the grass." Taking the unspoken invitation, Harry stood and followed him to the bench.
After they both sat down, Jack started the conversation again. "Alrighty Harry. Say I believe you, I now have a gigantic problem on my hands. Where I'm from, there are no wizards, no magic, no Hogwarts, nothing."
Alarmed, Harry allowed the full implications of that statement to wash over his thoughts for a few seconds. "Wait, no magic? But that's… Are you sure? Maybe they- they've all just hidden, and- and you can't find them because you're… A muggle? You are a muggle, right?" He said, stumbling over a few words.
Grimacing slightly, Jack said, "As far as I'm aware, I'm a muggle, yes. But consider this, how would I know about the fact that Hogwarts exists, if I'm a muggle?"
Confused, Harry replied, "But Hogwarts must exist in your… Your world, right?"
"Can't say I've ever been to Scotland to find out if it existed, but just take my word for it that there is no magic in the… The world? The dimension? The place where I'm from."
"Alright. Let's say I believe you, how do you know about me?" Harry questioned. "And don't say you don't," Harry quickly spoke, upon seeing Jack raise a hand when he opened his mouth to reply. "I know you know who I am, I saw you look at my scar when I told you my name."
Jack raised both of his hands placatingly, "Alright, chill out, I wasn't going to deny it." Harry nodded, so Jack continued, "Mind if I reply to that with a question of my own?"
Confusion seemed to be the order of the day, but Harry nodded anyway.
"You said it's 1992 right?" Jack asked, before muttering, "1992, unbelievable." He then continued audibly, "So you've just finished your first year of Hogwarts, and just turned 12, right?"
Cautiously, Harry nodded again.
"So that means last year you defeated Voldemort – who was stuck onto the back of Professor Qurriell's head - in front of the Mirror of Erised, right?" Jack said, a sly smile on his face.
Alarmed, Harry leapt to his feet, and took one big sideward step away from Jack. "H-how… How did you know that?"
"Easy Harry, relax. Believe me when I say I have no intention of hurting you." Jack said, once again raising his hands in a clear 'I mean no harm' gesture.
Nodding hesitantly, Harry made no movement towards the bench. Instead, he asked suspiciously, "I don't understand. Nobody knows about that, outside of Professor Dumbledore."
"And doesn't that make me interesting?" Jack asked, with the sly smile back on his face. "How does a guy who isn't from this world… This dimension… A guy who is from a world without magic…" Jack trailed off, before grinning at Harry, his blue eyes bright.
"How does he know about Harry Potter?"