A/N: I'm writing this author's note the day after I posted Chapter 1. So far the reception seems really positive. And the reviews were really nice and honestly, I can't help but smile every time I read them (Especially the review by EverFlawless seriously thank you for the review).

I'm writing this author's note before writing this chapter, unlike how i did the A/N in Chapter 1, so I'm not sure how the chapter will turn out. I hope it turns out well!

[Generic I'm not JK Rowling disclaimer]

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

'Wind Speaking'

"Wind's Tongue"

Zephyrborn

Chapter 2: The Letter

By the time Harry was released from his punishment they were already well into the summer holidays. Harry was glad to be out of school. It was during the summer months that Harry had the chance to learn from the wind. The rest of the year he didn't have the time to have proper lessons with his mystical teacher, and so it was during those few months he had free, he learned to harness his control of the wind. It was the second summer after he met the wind that he learned about aethermuting, the technique he used to silence the area around himself.

Harry couldn't wait till September though. Hogwarts had designated times for communing with one's element. His lessons with the wind wouldn't be confined to the summer months. That might be what he was most excited for, besides rejoining his people that is, and getting away from the Dursleys… okay he had a lot of reasons to be excited for September.

Until then he was stuck with the Dursleys… gross. He was currently listening to Dudley go on and on about some place called Stonewall High. He found it so incredibly funny that Harry would be attending. 'As if I'd ever step foot in that dump. I've got magic to learn.'

'Damn straight.'

"They stuff people's heads down the toilet first day at Stonewall," he told Harry. "Want to come upstairs and practice?"

Harry was about to make a snappy comeback about the toilet having digestion problems if they stuck Dudley's head in it when he had a devious idea.

"Sure, Dudley! That's awfully kind of you," Harry said with an innocent smile on his face. "Come on Dud let's get to practicing."

And Dudley, dumb as ever, didn't think to doubt this wondrous chance and followed Harry upstairs with a shit-eating grin on his face.

When they got to the bathroom Harry lifted the toilet seat and said, "Okay Dud I'm ready." And because he's incredibly dumb, Dudley didn't recognize Harry's innocent smile had taken on a more devious nature.

Dudley gave a boisterous laugh and went to push Harry's head into the toilet, but to his surprise, his meaty hands went straight through Harry's small frame! Harry's body seemed to mysteriously turn to vapor! Dudley stared in shock as his arms passed through Harry's chest, and Harry gave a sharp laugh and pushed Dudley's head into the toilet.

As Harry ran from the room, he felt the muffled warmth of the wind's laugh pass through him and heard the sputters of Dudley spitting out toilet water behind him. He was confined to his cupboard for a week for that, but damn was it funny.

One day in July, Aunt Petunia took Dudley to London to buy his Smeltings uniform, leaving Harry at Mrs. Figg's. Mrs. Figg wasn't as bad as usual. It turned out she'd broken her leg tripping over one of her kneazles and she didn't seem quite as fond of them as before. Harry managed to convince her his Aunt wouldn't mind him going to the park, so was allowed to spend the day at the park in a tree listening to the wind.

That evening, Dudley paraded around the living room for the family in his brand-new uniform brandishing a nobbly stick like a weapon. Harry thought he looked like an idiot, and almost couldn't hold in a laugh when he heard the wind's muffled voice say, 'Dance monkey, dance!'

As he looked at Dudley in his new knickerbockers, Uncle Vernon said gruffly that it was the proudest moment of his life. Aunt Petunia burst into tears and said she couldn't believe it was her Ickle Dudleykins, he looked so handsome and grown-up. Harry of course didn't say anything, as he could barely hold in his laughter.

There was a horrible smell in the kitchen the next morning when Harry went in for breakfast. It seemed to be coming from a large metal tub in the sink. He went to have a look. The tub was full of what looked like dirty rags swimming in grey water. He asserted a bit of his will to confine the stench to the pot, he didn't like doing favors for his relatives, but damn if he was gonna live with the smell.

"What's this?" he asked Aunt Petunia. Her lips tightened as they always did if he dared to ask a question and a bit of relief was on her face as the smell weaned some.

"Your new school uniform," she said.

Harry stared at her for a second, then sighed exasperatedly and sat at the table. He thought it best not to comment. They could believe whatever they want about his schooling situation come fall, but he'd rather die than step foot in Stonewall.

Dudley and Uncle Vernon came in. Uncle Vernon opened his newspaper as usual and Dudley banged his Smeltings stick, which he carried everywhere, on the table.

They heard the click of the letter-box and flop of letters on the doormat.

'Get the post, Dudley,' said Uncle Vernon from behind his paper.

Dudley glanced in Harry's direction, and upon getting a raised eyebrow in return, decided not to argue. He could still remember the toilet incident and wanted to interact with his weird cousin as little as possible.

Dudley got up and trudged off to get the mail.

They ate their breakfast, and Dudley eventually stomped back in, flopped into his chair, and plopped the mail down in front of his father.

Uncle Vernon picked up the first piece of mail which was a bill, ripped it open, and then snorted. He then opened a postcard and said, "Marge's ill. Ate a funny whelk ...'

The last piece of mail was thick and heavy, made of yellowish parchment. The address, which was written in emerald-green ink, read:

Mr. H. Potter

The Cupboard under the Stairs

4 Privet Drive

Little Whinging

Surrey

There was no stamp. Turning the envelope over, his hand trembling, Vernon saw a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake surrounding a large letter 'H'.

The rest of the family saw his face turn green, and then a greyish white.

"P-P-Petunia!" he gasped.

Dudley tried to grab the letter to read it, but Uncle Vernon held it high out of his reach. Aunt Petunia took it curiously and read the first line. For a moment it looked as though she might faint. She clutched her throat and made a choking noise.

"Vernon! Oh my goodness – Vernon!"

They stared at each other, seeming to have forgotten that Harry and Dudley were still in the room. Dudley wasn't used to being ignored. He gave his father a sharp tap on the head with his Smeltings stick.

"I want to read that letter," he said loudly.

Harry watched quietly. He was fairly sure he knew what the letter was. And was therefore equally sure they would never willingly let him read it. He'd have to steal it later. This was confirmed when he heard the wind whisper, 'Hogwarts.'

'Get out, both of you,' croaked Uncle Vernon, stuffing the letter back inside its envelope.

Harry stood and was leaving the room when he heard Dudley demand to see the letter.

"OUT!" roared Uncle Vernon, and he took Dudley by the scruff of the neck and threw him into the hall, slamming the kitchen door behind him. Dudley listened at the keyhole, and Harry leaned against the wall next to the door. If he focused enough he could hear even the faintest whisper in the wind, and so could hear his Aunt and Uncle perfectly fine. 'Damn, I love being zephyrborn.'

"Vernon," Aunt Petunia was saying in a quivering voice, "look at the address – how could they possibly know where he sleeps? You don't think they're watching the house?"

"Watching – spying – might be following us," muttered Uncle Vernon wildly.

"'But what should we do, Vernon? Should we write back? Tell them we don't want –"

Harry could hear his uncle pacing the room.

"No," he said finally. "No, we'll ignore it. If they don't get an answer ... yes, that's best ... we won't do anything …"

"But –"

"I'm not having one in the house, Petunia! Didn't we swear when we took him in we'd stamp out that dangerous nonsense?"

Harry looked for the letter when his Uncle left, but couldn't seem to find it. He supposed his uncle must have taken it.

That evening when he got back from work, Uncle Vernon did something he'd never done before; he visited Harry in his cupboard.

"How's that letter business you were so worked up about this morning?" asked Harry, when Uncle Vernon had squeezed through the door.

"Taken care of, it was addressed to this house by mistake," said Uncle Vernon shortly. "I have burned it."

Harry inhaled deeply through his nose in annoyance. This was a setback. He'd have to find some way to contact the school. "So did you need something, or were you just here to annoy me?"

"SILENCE!" yelled Uncle Vernon, and a couple of spiders fell from the ceiling. Harry hadn't realized just how angered his uncle was by this letter business. He'd have to back off a bit on the messing around.

Uncle Vernon took a few deep breaths and then forced his face into a smile, which looked quite painful.

"'Er – Harry – about this cupboard. Your aunt and I have been thinking ... you're really getting a bit big for it ... we think it might be nice if you moved into Dudley's second bedroom."

"Uuh-why?" said Harry.

"Don't ask questions!" snapped his uncle. "Take this stuff upstairs, now."

Harry took his stuff upstairs to his new room and looked at the mess of discarded toys on the floor. With a disgusted look on his face at the unfairness that was his life with the Dursleys. He was stuck in a cupboard so Dudley could have room for this? 'Disgusting.' Harry blew out a stream of air that magically compounded into a large billowing gust of wind pushing the mess to one side of the room. He'd clean them up later.

From downstairs came the sound of Dudley bawling at his mother. And, as he didn't wish to hear his oaf cousin whine, he aethermuted himself and reclined in the bed reveling in the absolute silence. He thought about what to do about the letter.

He knew wizards communicated by owl. He also knew he hadn't sensed any magical owls recently, so the letter couldn't have been sent by owl. He could try to track down a normal owl, but they weren't able to find a letter's recipient like a magical could so that really wouldn't help. If there was another zephyrborn at the school he could ask the wind to send a message, but the wind had once told him he was the only zephyrborn alive in the UK. There were also no other air-based elementals of sufficient power to understand the wind's tongue at the school.

He sighed and dropped the aethermute. Thankfully he couldn't hear Dudley whining. He opened the window and whispered into the wind, "You got any clever ideas?"

Harry felt the wind blow into the room and sighed with a smile. He'd dreamed of having a window. Free access to his only friend. The wind spoke, beautifully unmuffled, and said, 'Don't worry, Harry… A messenger is on the way… They should be here by morning… Just make sure to get to it first…'

Harry smiled, the wind's voice was broken up, he was still indoors after all, but it was so nice to hear its voice unmuffled in his own room. Plus, apparently, he didn't have to worry. He'd just make sure to get to that letter first.

The next morning at breakfast, everyone was rather quiet. Harry was not present at the table, but Vernon and Petunia were trying to be nice to the boy, so they didn't complain. When the post arrived Uncle Vernon made Dudley go and get it. They heard him banging things with his Smeltings stick all the way down the hall. He came back and dropped another pile of letters in front of his father, no thick, heavy yellowish envelopes with emerald green printing to be found.

Unknown to the family, Harry had been waiting with his window open early that morning. When an owl eventually began approaching the house with a package tied to its leg. Harry called out to it and it landed on his windowsill.

"Here wizard!" Harry heard the owl say in a squeaky boyish voice.

Harry smiled and whispered to the owl in the wind's tongue, "Hello little one. Thank you for delivering this to me."

"Oh! A Zephyrborn! The guys are never gonna believe this! I mean me a lowly little owl delivering a Hogwarts letter, and who do I find but a Zephyrborn! Honestly sir this is such an honour. I'll be telling my grandkids one day about how I delivered a Zephyrborn's Hogwarts letter."

Harry chuckled as the owl continued to ramble on, even as he untied a letter from the excitable little owl's leg.

As he grabbed the letter Harry felt a compulsion charm coming from the owl. He didn't know what it would do to a normal wizard, but Harry was of the air, and the air would not be so easily controlled. The compulsion charm washed over his form and fluttered into the wind. Unknown to Harry the compulsion charm would have made the mailman take the letter from the owl and slip it in the front door with the normal mail.

"Alright little guy, let me write a reply and then I can send you on your way."

"Yes, sir, Mr. Zephyrborn sir."

Harry smiled as he say down and pulled out the letter. It read:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,

Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Mr Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

Harry exhaled a sigh of relief. Finally, this was his ticket out of this hellhole. His chance to be with his people. To be where he belonged. To be free.

A/N:

A bit of a shorter chapter. I was excited to get it out to you guys so I decided to stop here. Next chapter Harry visits Diagon Alley! Not sure when it will be done though!

Don't forget to leave a review with any questions or thoughts, or feel free to pm me if you want a more direct answer to any questions you have about the series, the lore, or really whatever.