Two days had passed since Harry had learned he was an Elemental Mage with the potential to be a Master. Breezy had cautioned him to tell no one until he learned to identify other mages that meant him no harm.
"Magicians can turn to the bad." She remarked as Harry had shared some of his merger birthday lunch with her. "It's a sad thing to watch. Every magician who can use elemental magic is a potential friend and companion. To be forced to obey and our magic snatched from us is a betrayal of trust."
Naturally, this meant Harry was learning what Breezy referred to as the 'Right-Hand' path. To invite instead of coercing. Cooperation instead of domination.
"I think I understand." Harry had remarked as Breezy finished explaining. "I would rather have the good elementals as my friends. Are there bad elementals?"
Breezy sighed. "Oh yes, there are bad ones. Those you cannot cooperate with. It might be someday you need to speak to one of those for one reason or another. However, I cannot teach you those secrets. You will need a proper Air Master to teach them to you."
Harry got the impression that the Sylph could teach those things, but from her tone of voice and a slight shake of her tiny body, she was afraid too.
"That's alright. I'm in no hurry to conjure something dangerous."
His answer had brought a beaming smile to the creature's face, making it worth whatever power he might have lacked. Today, his Aunt and Uncle were taking Dudley out on a treat and would be gone all day. The usual babysitter had broken her leg so he was staying home alone. His uncle had tried to lock him in the cupboard under the stairs, but Breezy had easily opened the door for him.
"Today I am going to teach you the most basic skill a magician needs to learn." Breezy sat down on the table again. Harry stood facing her.
"You mean to be an Air Ward?" Breezy had mentioned that was part of the deal. For his magic, Harry would be unable to pollute. He would help clean and protect the air.
"No. Don't get me wrong, as far as I am concerned that is the most important part of a Mage's powers. However, you can't do that duty if you're dead from a magical attack. You need to learn to shield yourself. First, though, you need to be able to appear mundane to those around you. There are special wards you can place over your mind to both block out mind reading and to appear as if you are a normal human to the naked eye. You must learn this first before I teach you any magic."
So Harry had set to it with a will. He focused on a passage in the book the teacher was reading for school and felt pressure testing his mind.
"A decent start. Of course, until these become second nature, anyone allied with air will be able to get through. Keep working at it, we'll try again next week. When do you go back to that school thing you told me about?"
Harry chuckled, that had been an interesting conversation. "Not until the last week of August. So, we have a couple of weeks."
She nodded. "Good, you should have it down way before then."
Harry was excited to learn to use magic but he did not want to anger his new friend and teacher, so he did not press her. Breezy had explained what unprotected magic could lead to, the attention of a magician gone to the bad or bad elementals. He did not want either of those things to happen. So he contented himself over the next week working on his shields until a week later, not even Breezy could read his thoughts. He had never been so proud in his short life as she heaped praise on him.
*Hinny-Elemental-Masters*
Peter climbed the branches of a tree and aimed his rifle at the entrance and made sure the bullet was chambered correctly. One slip-up could result in the deaths of all three of them. But Peter was an old hand at hunting dark creatures by this point and the rifle was primed and ready. As he waited for the signal, his mind wandered back to ten years before. When he had nearly made the biggest mistake of his life. If Remus had not saved him from capture at the last moment… well he might have done the unthinkable. He would let no harm come to Remus and Sirius, his remaining friends. His heart hurt to be away from little Harry, even as the others did. But they had sworn at James' grave they would return what the man in the black cloak had taken from the boy or die trying.
He was pulled out of his memories by a growl from Remus. He aimed down the sights and saw a hybrid-type Werewolf emerge. Peter did not examine the beast further, opening fire and satisfied by seeing the body thud to the ground. Two female hybrids rushed to aid their mate, only to fall to Sirius's shotgun and Remu's fangs. Quick and clean, though this was not always the case. Sometimes the wolves had way more than the three of them and the battle grew more desperate. Peter made a mental note to acquire more ammo the next chance he got.
They burned the bodies of the shifters before leaving the area. Remus looked uncomfortable as they prepared to leave.
"You alright, Moony?" Peter asked. "We checked over everything three times. Those two girls were his only victims." What went unsaid was the fact both shifter girls had been in the early stages of pregnancy.
"I know, I just don't like how long this hunt is taking. I wish we could return to Harry by now. How is this man leading us on such a merry chase for ten years?"
Sirius sighed. "Wish I knew that as well. We keep finding just enough evidence of his passing to continue but then we come up empty in the likeliest of places. I get the feeling that returning to Harry would be best. We can regroup and perhaps even send for the Lion for more information on our query. Honestly, why didn't we think of that ages ago?"
Peter knew, of course. At first, all three of them had been full of confidence that they would succeed in just a year. When that year had become two, they had pressed on out of stubbornness and the bitter despair of having to return empty-handed. For years, they had been careful to think only of what was stolen as an object. A thing that were trying to recover. Cause it would not hurt as bad as this moment would. Peter cleared his throat.
"I think we need to. Lily would be cross with us if we did not. She might be already."
There, it was in the open. Cause the boys were not trying to recover some object. They were trying to recover Lily Potter Nee Evans, Harry's mother. For some reason, that dark-cloaked figure had taken her with him after he killed James and put his mark on little Harry.
"I think it's time." Remus agreed. "Let's return to Harry's side."
*Hinny-Elemental-Masters*
Today, Snape made it to the end of the hallway. He stood before the iron bars of the cell, where he could see a very thin and weak Lily resting on a cot.
"Lily, this is foolish. Give up the spell so you can go free. No one would blame you. You've resisted him for ten years. It's time to stop."
The glare he got from those emerald eyes made him want to cry out in fear. Lily was an Air Master, after all.
"My son, Severus. You ask me to cosign my son to death. I had hoped there was still a shred of decency in you. I see that was wrong. Besides, your master would never allow me to go free anyway. I know how it will go. I break the spell and next thing I know, one of your potions has me thinking I'm your wife and happy to serve you. That's the only way your 'master' will ever let me leave alive."
Snape pursed his lips. "You could willingly love me as well. He would be alright with that, assuming you ended the spell on your own."
She laughed with no mirth in it. "Be gone from my sight, Snape. I will never love again, other than my son. My other half is already waiting for me on the other side of the veil. You saw to that when Wormy escaped your master's clutches."
Snape shook his head and turned to walk away. As he did, a gust a wind hit him in the back and made him stumble. She had recovered enough power for that, but it had likely cost her quite a bit of her strength. He took no pleasure in that as he returned to the light above and his master's side.
*Hinny-Elemental-Masters*
Harry had spent his second lesson learning how to detect and manipulate the magics of Air, as well as seeing the other magics. He was amazed at the sheer amount of the swirling blue power that surrounded them. He had not done much with it, only learning how to hold it in his hand and absorb some into himself. Breezy had tasked him to gather up a ball of magic each night before bed and see how far he could toss it. This was his chore for the week. He had gotten pretty good at catching the tendrils of the power and forming a ball though he still could not get it to go past the neighbor's house. On Wednesday of that week, he was just settling down to rest when two of the normal Sylphs appeared on his window.
"Master," One beckoned to him. "Come quickly! There is a little one that is in danger!"
Harry had not hesitated and joined the tiny elementals and climbed out of his window. His aunt had somehow managed to get him into the room that had once been Dudley's toy room. He suspected Breezy was involved in that feat, but wasn't about to complain. He rushed across the garden to the bushes and found the strangest sight. A small white owl chick was limping out of the plants, her eyes fixed on Harry's. The moment their eyes met; Harry felt something stir within him. He saw flashes of himself as if coming from very low to the ground. The owl was projecting its thoughts into his head, right through his mental barriers. He reached down and scooped up the chick, holding her close. The baby huddled against him, making soft hooting sounds.
Breezy appeared and shooed off the other two Sylphs with a glare. They went off giggling.
"That owl is an Astral Guardian, and she has chosen you as her partner. Care for her and when she is grown, she will protect you in turn. This is a very good thing, especially for one allied with Air. This is not a normal human and pet relationship though, you two will be joined for life."
Harry smiled as he gently ticked the Snowy Owl. "I guess I need to learn what Owls eat and somehow keep her safe from Uncle Vernon."
Breezy smiled. "I can handle both of those tasks, Master Harry."
Harry went to sleep that night with the small owl hooting happily in a small box near his bed. Dreams of him flying through the sky returned, but this time a large Snowy Owl flew beside him, making sure he did not come to harm. He had the best night of sleep he could ever recall at the Dursley's.
*Hinny-Elemental-Masters*
A/N: I hope everyone liked Chapter 3! This was the March update for Summer Breeze so the next chapter will be in April. Still have two works to update for the month, training at work has been getting in my way. I'll have them updated soon though. Also consider checking out my original works on Royal Road, the links to both will be included here! See you next month!
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