AN: Sorry for the delay on this chapter. my muse ran off on me for bit. Thank you so much for your continued support of this story! It means the world to me that y'all seem to enjoy this as much as I love writing it.
Chapter 5: Grounding in the Elements
Harry spent his first afternoon sailing the Griffin staying fairly close to the shore, getting a feel for how the boat moved on the water and testing the various spells and safeguards that he had paid so much for. He trusted the navigation unit well enough. The spell worked by using his wand to highlight a location on the map, which was then translated into coordinates for the navigation system to read and follow. Harry had only run into one issue using the system. Whenever he tried to point the system to where Serpent's Isle was located on the map he had taken from the Chamber, the system would reroute him to one of three close but not exact points. Harry figured that he would have to use one of those and then steer the boat himself once he was close enough to the coordinates.
The stabilization spells ensured that the ship was never rocked too much among the waves. It still moved, but gently, in such a way that whenever Harry laid down to sleep, it felt as if the sea itself was rocking him to sleep. All of the preservation, cooling, and warming charms cast on the food storage areas were functioning well and kept the food that Harry had purchased always at the correct temperature. By the time Harry dropped anchor that first evening, Harry was confident that he would be able sail efficiently with the spells in place and hoped that eventually, he wouldn't need to use them. He ended his first day on the sea with a dip in the ocean, the cool water soothing his overheated skin from spending hours in the sunlight. Harry had never been more grateful for the magic of sunscreen in his life, nor had he ever been happier about an impulse purchase, the magically refilling water bottle having been emptied and filled again several times just within the first three hours of sailing.
Ember had greatly enjoyed her time in the sun, tasting the scents in the air around them as she sunned and stretched, first on the chair and then slithering to lay just before where Harry was stationed at the helm. The red scales on her belly seemed to glow under the rays of the sun. Harry was glad for her curious nature, her questions halting and awkward in their wording at first but becoming clear and more confident as the day progressed. Harry wondered if all snakes learned to talk so quickly or if it was a byproduct of either Ember's own magical power or the beginnings of the familiar bond they shared. Harry had never met a newly hatched snake before so he had no way to tell.
After his swimming trip, Harry double checked that the anchor was secure before he activated the security wards. These would ensure that no wandering muggle would stumble upon his vessel in the night and inform any magicals that Harry was there but didn't need to be disturbed unless there was an emergency. Harry showered, noting that the skin that wasn't normally displayed to the sun had a slight red tinge but wasn't painful. He probably would need to remember to reapply the sunscreen at least one more time the next day. After showering, dressing, and eating, Harry made his way back to the deck with a pillow under his arm, intent to spend his first evening out gazing at the stars. His music player didn't work thanks to the latent magic surrounding the vessel, but Harry didn't mind. He listened to the sound of the sea around him, soaking in the salt and sand and water as he looked up at the stars that had legends written in them, wondering if the legend that he sought was written in the stars as well.
Harry awoke with the sun the next morning, Ember having slid her way into the pillowcase to burrow there for warmth over night. The sunrise over the sea was beautiful, the sky painted in hues of pink and orange as the first rays of light warmed Harry's bare chest. Harry took a moment to soak in his freedom, letting the weight on his shoulders fall away so that for just a moment, Harry wasn't the savior of the wizarding world, wasn't the Boy Who Lived. Harry was just a young man watching the sunrise over the Mediterranean sea from the comfort of his boat.
Still, Harry couldn't forget that he was there on a mission. Thanks to his testing of the navigation system, Harry had three sets of coordinates to investigate, hoping that one would eventually lead him to where Serpent's Isle was hidden. Harry didn't think that it would take too long to sail to the three locations as they weren't that far apart, but he had no idea what kind of protections were keeping the Isle hidden, nor was he certain that he would be able to get around them.
After a short breakfast and then a half hour spent in the water, Harry raised the anchor, dropped the security wards, and went underway once again. Ember had enjoyed a meal composed of one of the rodents that Harry had gotten for her and then set about exploring the interior of the boat itself, seemingly intent on finding all the secrets that the boat might hold. Harry stayed at the helm, occasionally humming one of the songs he had listened to on the way to Greece.
The navigation charms carried Harry to the first of the three points that he was set to investigate. He arrived around lunchtime, dropping anchor and then ducking into the cabin to fix himself a sandwich, which he ate quickly while sipping on a butterbeer. After reapplying the suncream, Harry stepped back up to the helm where he could get the best view of his surroundings. Despite a nagging pull in his sternum that had Harry fervently believing that there was something to be seen right in front of his eyes, Harry could see nothing but water.
Harry frowned, looking down at the map, the navigation coordinates, and then back to where the Isle should have been.
:There is magic here: Ember's voice reached his ears. Harry turned his head to find his familiar curling up in her favorite spot atop the dash.
:You can sense it?: Harry asked. He watched as Ember's tongue flicked out, smelling the air.
:It is different. Not like our magic: Harry noted her wording curiously. :It feels solid, not warm:
Harry hummed slightly. After a few moments of thought, Harry went back down into the cabin to retrieve his broom from the bedroom.
:What are you doing?:
:I'm going to fly over where the Isle should be: Harry said, mounting his broom swiftly. He held out his arm to Ember. :Do you want to come?:
Ember slithered from the wheel onto his arm and then across his abdomen to wrap tightly around the handle just above where Harry's other hand rested. Harry carefully adjusted his weight and grip, accounting for the added weight of his familiar, before kicking off. He guided his broom up higher, staying below the clouds so he could have a clear view of the water from above. And, despite knowing that there was an island to be found, Harry could see nothing but the blue of the sea.
Harry frowned, directing his broom to travel further over the expanse of water and blinked in surprise when he found himself drifting to the side again. Maneuvering through the air, Harry turned to circle back over the Griffin, pointing his broom straight off the bow and flying true. This time, Harry found himself drifting higher and higher without meaning to and only stopped when he stopped trying to move forward.
:Do you sense any magic?: Harry asked Ember as they returned to hover just over the water at the point where Harry could journey no closer to the hidden isle.
:There is something: Ember flicked her tongue out, scenting the air. :It is strong:
Harry returned to the Griffin, disappointed in his lack of findings. He could feel that he was close to the Isle, but he had no idea how he was meant to find it. After stowing his broom away, Harry enacted the security wards and charms on the Griffin and gathered Salazar's journal and the map to Serpent's Isle. He then went down into the library compartment of his trunk to look through the books he had gathered from the Slytherin Study and see if there were any that might be useful to him. After a few moments of perusing through the shelves, Harry reached out to pick up a book that he thought might help only to find a second, much thinner text tucked up against it.
The book was made of the same soft leather as Salazar's journal but had a pattern of golden scales inlaid along the cover. It was titled 'Asylo', a Greek word that directly translated to asylum but that Harry understood as sanctuary. He had never noticed the book before but Harry wasn't going to ignore it. He brought it back to the surface with him and settled at the table with it, the map, Salazar's journal, and a blank journal that Harry had picked up on one of his shopping trips to Flourish and Blotts.
First, Harry recorded his thoughts and observations of the short flight that he had taken earlier, as well as Ember's comments on the feel of the magic that protected the Isle. Harry wondered at the difference in warm magic and solid magic, writing his questions down so that he wouldn't forget them later. He then noted his exact location, heading up to the helm to check the coordinates on the navigation system. Once that was done, Harry opened the slim book that he had found before. Within the pages, he found only one written passage.
To Seek Hidden Things
To find hidden things, you must look for the source. A flame cannot hide from fire, wind cannot hide from air, a wave cannot hide from water, and a stone cannot hide from earth. Ground yourself in these and the things that are hidden will reveal themselves to you.
If it is Asylo you seek it is Asylo you will find.
Well, Harry thought. That was cryptic and unhelpful. How was he supposed to ground himself in the elements?
Harry had learned that elemental magic was possible from the books he'd gathered from the Study, but he hadn't tried to use any of it yet. He'd learned that elemental mages tended to have an aptitude towards one element over another and while Harry had an idea of what his affinity might be, he wasn't confident enough to test his theory and risk destroying all of the things that he had gotten for himself in a bout of lost control or accidental magic.
As he was so prone to do recently, Harry turned towards the books he had gotten from the Slytherin Study. He pulled all of the books he could find on elemental magic from the shelf and set himself up on the ship, moving between the helm and the small docking bay on the bow of the ship so he could dangle his legs in the cool water below. He read the first book he'd pulled in that way, unfortunately not finding anything useful. The second and third were the same until finally, Harry reached for the pile of books beside him and picked up one called Elementals: Runes and Wards.
This was one of the books that Harry had needed the Latin language potion for, which was why he hadn't gotten around to reading it yet. The first chapter was a rather in-depth overview of elemental magic and what was the difference between being an elemental mage and using a spell to harness an element. Spells only lasted for as long as the caster had the will or power to sustain it. Elemental mages had no such drawbacks as their element became an extension of who they were. They weren't using magic to control but to connect and once that connection was established, there was nothing that could break it.
Elemental mages could, theoretically, learn to wield all four natural elements, but connecting with more than one element at a time was said to be incredibly difficult, doubly so if one did not have a natural affinity for all of the elements. It was best to master your natural affinity first and then an elemental mage could branch out, but it normally took years to master a second element and much longer for the third and fourth.
Harry frowned, disappointed. He was only about a quarter of the way through the book and while the information was helpful, it wasn't what he was looking for. He didn't have the time to master the four elements. He needed to find Asylo as soon as possible.
The next four chapters of the book explained how elemental magic worked and how mages could train themselves to use it. Harry, thinking about the warm feeling he had gotten from Ember's egg, the first time he held his wand, and when he used magic in general, paid extra attention to the section on fire. He was still wary of testing any elemental magic, but he wanted to learn how to wield it if he could.
Before he started the last quarter of the book, Harry took a break. He went into the cabin to fix himself lunch and then returned to the dock. Ember was out now, sunning in the rays of the setting sun. Harry ate his food quickly and then stripped down to his swim trunks. He'd quickly tanned up in the bright, Mediterranean sun and taking breaks to swim in the cool, refreshing water had quickly become the best way to cool off. And he was curious if the same boundary spell that was keeping him on the outskirts of Serpent's Isle went all the way down as well.
After casting a bubble head charm on himself, Harry dove under the water. He swam around to the front side of the boat until he felt his finger's brush against the solid-yet-not-solid barrier. Resting one hand against it so Harry could keep track of where he was, he began to swim deeper into the water.
Harry swam until the pressure of the water against his body was too much, the whole time remaining pressed against the barrier. Even when he swam horizontally along the line, he found nothing. There were no chips, no breaks, no cracks, nothing that Harry could use to slip through. Disappointed but not really surprised, Harry returned to the surface and clambered back up onto the Griffin. Ember was waiting for him, curled up on the couch in the cabin, and she hissed softly when he walked by.
:Did you find anything?:
:No. The border continues all the way to the bottom: Harry summoned a towel to his hands and used it to dry off his torso and hair. :I've got to figure out what this grounding in elements means. If I can get that, I think we can get it:
Ember hissed her agreement and then slithered off the couch, moving with Harry back out to the ship's deck where she would rest beside him while he finished the last quarter of the book. The last quarter was one large chapter divided into four parts and was exactly the information that Harry was looking for. He rolled his eyes at himself. If he'd simply finished reading earlier, he'd already be one step closer to finding Asylo.
Grounding, as the book explained, was a four-part blood magic ritual in which the performer created an artificial connection to each of the elements. The ritual had to be completed individually, each part taking six hours. The runes themselves would be shaped by the caster's magic, a representation of their magical strength in each element. Each part of the ritual must be completed while the performer is completely surrounded by that element, which was half of what made the ritual so difficult to complete.
The rituals needed to be completed one after the other in no less than a 28 hour period, as the caster's body had to rest for an hour between each part. It was best to perform the ritual in a location that had total access to all four elements, earth, fire, water, and air. Harry would also need a different knife to use for each part because, due to the nature of most elemental magic, the blade would be destroyed over the course of the ritual. It would take a great deal more prepwork than Harry had been anticipating, but he wanted to try it.
Harry's first priority was to find an island that would suit his needs. He wasn't worried about being encompassed by water or air as those were relatively easy to accomplish, but to surround himself in fire and earth would be a bit more difficult. Harry wasn't exactly eager to jump into an active volcano, afterall. He sailed around the Mediterranean sea for two days before he found an island that would suit his needs. There was no active volcano, but there was a rather large cave that Harry would be able to use for both the earth and fire rituals, as well as a deep cove where he could perform the water portion. The air ritual would be the easiest to perform as Harry will simply need to rise up on his broomstick and then hold himself in place.
After finding the island, Harry saved the coordinates into his navigation system and then returned to Athens for his next objective: finding the four knives that he would need. Luckily, he didn't need to do anything special with the knives but to soak them in a mixture of their intended element and Harry's blood. He'd seen a magical weapons shop when he first got to Athens, though he hadn't gone in it then. When he did go in, Harry was able to find the four blades he needed as well as a few extras that would be good for other blood magic rituals later on, ones meant for speed and reflexes, improved strength, and even improving his senses.
Harry also took the opportunity to pick up a few newspapers from different countries around Europe, checking to see if there was any sign of Voldemort. He only found one story of a death eater raid happening in northern France, and two raids in Britain, all on muggle communities. There were no survivors of the raid in France. It seemed now that the world new Voldemort was back, he was truly done hiding. After restocking on groceries, Harry returned to the Griffin and sailed back to the island he had found before, his desire to find Asylo and learn whatever secrets were being held on Serpent's Isle renewed.
On the island, Harry set to work immediately. He first set each of the blades up in the prepared mixtures of elements and blood, leaving them in specialized containers he had gotten at the weapons store for that exact purpose. With those settings for 24 hours, Harry then set to work on preparing the cave for the fire and earth rituals. He would complete the earth ritual first, carving the runes into the soles of his feet. The earth design was on the smaller side, but no less intricate than the others. After earth, Harry would do the water ritual, those runes were slightly larger than the earth ones and would be placed on either of his hips. He had spent a few hours in the cove, carving the appropriate water run in the spot where he'd be completing the ritual. After that would be the largest of the runes for Harry, the fire ritual, which will carve into the middle of his back and over his mid-abdomen. Finally, Harry would complete the air ritual, two slightly smaller runes that would begin behind his ears and flow down to his shoulders. Based on the way his runes had developed in his mind, Harry had deduced that he had a strong fire affinity and a slightly weaker air affinity, as those were the largest sets of runes. He wouldn't be very powerful with earth or air, but he'd be able to use them if he wanted too.
Ember returned from her hunting trip just as Harry was settling in for the night. He had spent the entire day preparing, having gotten back from Athens at sundown the day before, and his nerves compounded his exhaustion. He ate a light meal and then set his alarm for thirty minutes before midnight. If all went well, Harry would be ready to breach the barrier around Serpent's Isle in less than two days.
Harry awoke easily at the slight beeping of his alarm, quickly making his way onto the island proper to begin the earth ritual. He retrieved the knife from the container, the blood and earth having been absorbed into the blade. Leaving his clothing outside the cave along with his wand, Harry carried only the dagger with him as he set to begin the ritual. Ember, despite her protests, also remained outside of the cave. Though she had grown quickly and was now just under a foot and half long, Harry didn't want to do anything that might interfere with her magic before their familiar bond could fully form.
The cave was warm, the wall of earth that Harry had spent hours building solid and steady. On the other side of the wall, a fire raged. Harry had set the fire burning the day before and was happy to see that the fire had not gone out. If it had, Harry would have had to start over with his preparations and he very much did not want to do that. Moving slowly, Harry set the dagger down in the middle of the earth rune carved into the floor of the cave before he finished building the wall of stones around him. He had the natural cave wall to his back and the left, but on his right and front were the walls that he had made himself, dividing the cave into two so he could use it for both rituals.
Once he was sealed inside, Harry picked up the knife and placed himself in the center of the large rune. He laid on his back, exposing the soles of his feet so that he'd be able to carve the runes into them in the correct place. Concentrating on his breathing, Harry closed his eyes and extended his magical sense. This was the hardest part of the ritual for Harry. It required complete control of his magical senses and his mind at the same time, linking back to Occlumency meditation techniques which was no expert in. But he couldn't cast any other spells or they would interfere with the ritual. Harry had to use only his magic to lift the dagger from the floor, bring around his body to his feet, and carve the runes without any errors.
Harry nearly flinched at the first cut on his heel, the pain surprising no matter how much Harry had internally prepared himself for it. He stopped himself from resting by breathing heavily through his nose, holding the knife steady against his heel as he braced himself. Using his magic to guide the knife along the path of the runes he could picture in his head, Harry painstakingly carved the earth runes into the heels of both feet. The blood flowed into the rune carved on the ground and then around it, so that by the time Harry was done carving the runes in both feet, the rune was completely flooded. With the runes done, Harry called on his magic to connect with the earth. He wasn't sure how much time it had taken for him to carve the runes so it was important for him to begin the second half of the ritual, meditation. He needed to meditate with the earth for at least an hour to finish the ritual.
Still controlling his breathing, Harry opened his eyes. He only needed them open for a moment, check if the rune was glowing the correct color. For earth, if the rune was growing black, he had done it incorrectly. If it was green, he had done it correctly. Harry's shoulders relaxed as he took in the green glow around him, confident that as long as he finished the hour of meditation without falling asleep, he would have successfully completed the first of the four rituals.
Harry closed his eyes again and focused on the earth around him, the dust beneath his fingers, the stone along his back and above him, the rocks that concealed him in the cave. He let himself become one with the element, the embodiment of earth sinking into his being. Steadiness, strength, endurance. When Harry opened his eyes again, the glow faded and he could feel the steadiness of the earth beneath him down to his bones. He stood, the runes on his feet fully healed, and walked out of the cave.
He found his clothes and checked his watch to find that it had been exactly six hours since he had gone into the cave. Harry let out an excited cheer as he pulled his shorts back on, heading back to the Griffin to fix himself a light breakfast and rinse off before he began the water ritual.
Harry did the same process three more times, first sitting underwater in the deepest part of the cove. Harry had to concentrate very hard in that one to keep himself from panicking beneath the wandless bubble head charm he had on, but when he emerged from the water he had the two runes for water carved into either of his hips. After that, Harry returned to the cave and braced himself for walking directly into the raging fire there. Despite being assured that the fire wouldn't hurt him due to the ritual, Harry had still been nervous to go in. He didn't let his nerves stop him though and after six hours, the magical fire burned out and the fire runes were now carved along Harry's back and stomach. Even with his nerves, the fire ritual had been the easiest one for Harry to complete. Harry finished the air ritual just after midnight, the runes beneath his ears and down his shoulders fully healed before he touched down on the beach again.
Harry collected the clothes that he had left on the beach the majority of the day and the broken handles of the knives that he had used, Ember slithering to his side as he made his way back to the Griffin.
:You did it: Ember hissed.
:I did. How could you tell?:
:Your magic is different. Warmer: Ember climbed up onto Harry's bed and coiled up on the pillow. :We will find Asylo tomorrow:
:Yes: Harry agreed. :We will:
Now that the rituals were completed, Harry could feel the magic of the elements buzzing beneath his skin. The warmth was comforting him and he could feel his body's desire to rest and recharge. It had taken a lot out of him, the way that he had used his magic that day. He needed several hours of sleep to recover, which was very easily accomplished as Harry collapsed into his bed next to his familiar and let his mind, body, and magic rest.