"Vernon," Petunia started. "We can't possibly keep him locked up in there. The school will call the police if the neighbors don't."
Vernon growled. "We won't be keeping him in there for long. Someone I met has offered to handle the situation. I should have gotten rid of him when he was a bloody baby, and no one knew he was here."
The very notion of what he was saying made her ill. He was talking about killing Harry. She held her tongue as she desperately tried to think what to do, she could not help Harry if she got herself beaten by her brute of a husband. The boy could not stay here, that was clear.
Vernon left for a meeting in a huff, and she knew this was her one chance to free Harry. She went to the cupboard where he was locked in and removed the grate.
"Nephew," She called out to him. Silence answered her, but she had not expected an answer. "Check under the bed in there. Vernon hid some tools in there he didn't want me to throw out. I bet you could break the lock from the inside. I am going to my Gardening Club for a few hours and taking Dudley with me. You must not be here when Vernon returns. I will undo the lock for you but you must make it seem like you escaped on your own. Do you understand me?"
She heard him move to the door. "I understand, Aunt Petunia. I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused you over the years."
She gave a weak smile as she unlocked the door. "I wish I could be stronger for your sake, Harry. I don't know if I can look Lily in the eyes when I die."
She heard his voice come back faintly. "I can't count the number of times he beat you for trying to help me. Dudley and I were the reasons you never left. I urge you, to do something about him, Aunt Petunia."
She nodded. "Perhaps I will yet. If I do, I hope you will visit me."
He stepped out of the cupboard. There was something different about him. He seemed stronger, more powerful than she remembered.
"You're like Lily, aren't you?" Petunia asked him. "An Air Master?"
"Mage," He corrected. "I'm not fully trained yet. But yes, I have been learning Air Magic."
"Then use your magic to flee. Lily told me about this trick she would do at school to go see her boyfriend, your father. She would sort of bend the air to reflect light, so no one could see her. Do you think you can do that?"
Harry smiled. "I'll try. Farewell, Aunt Petunia. I have a door to abuse."
*Hinny-Elemental-Masters*
Ginny walked down the street with Nan and Sarah beside her. Each step filled her heart with more worries and doubts. What if Harry had already been harmed by his Uncle? She could not stand the suspense of not knowing.
Then a parrot and a raven flew in, followed by a young snowy owl. Harry had told Ginny about Hedwig and though she had not met his Astral Guardian before, she could not mistake the bird for anyone else.
"You must be Hedwig." She said as the owl landed on her arm without scratching her.
The youngling hooted in agreement before making a rapid-fire hooting at her. "I'm sorry, I can't understand you." She admitted.
"Don't worry, Neville can" Nan told her. "What is she saying, old boy?"
The raven preened himself before answering. "Her master is locked in the cupboard." He croaked. "Dark man influenced Uncle to do it. Dark Man was supposed to come for him but hasn't."
Sarah pursed her lips. "We need to hurry then. I'll go ahead in my faster form."
Ginny say Nan rush to catch Sarah as she suddenly flopped lifeless into her arms.
"What happened, is Miss Sarah alright?" She asked in worry.
"My partner is a master of the fifth element, Ginny." Nan told her as she moved Sarah's body to her back. "She can freely leave her body as a spirit and return to it again. I can do the same but it's harder for me, on account that I'm only a Spirit Mage and not a master."
"Mages and psychics? You both got doubly blessed."
Nan laughed. "Didn't seem that way when I lived on the street, Ginny. Still, I can certainly count my blessings now and it's all thanks to this power that connected me with Sarah."
Gray laughed overhead. "Wise bird." She called and flew off with Neville. Hedwig was clinging onto Neville's back as she would not be able to keep up otherwise.
She begged all the fire elementals that might be listening to keep Harry safe.
*Hinny-Elemental-Masters*
Harry was ready this time when the dark water touched his shields. He had poured all the energy he could spare into them. Soon, he was beyond the evil downpour and running down the street in the direction Ginny had told him the Burrow lay. He had only taken five steps beyond the water when a dark shape stepped out of alley.
He stopped as he saw a man standing before him. He had white wispy hair and a pale, sickly, complexion.
"Mister Potter." The man greeted. "Beyond your shields at last. My Master wishes to invite you to attend him. Of course, if you wish you may decline."
Harry had no doubt that declining was very much out of the question. This man was unshielded and allowed Harry to see his full power. As a fire mage, this man would likely be far superior to his limited training in combat magic.
"I was taught not to go with strangers, sir. Especially ones who know my name without me introducing myself."
The man smiled. "You surely don't expect me to give you my name, do you Potter? A magician should never so casually hand a weapon to another, even a potential ally."
Harry struck without warning. Had the man been shielded, the magical attack would have done nothing. As it was, he stumbled back as Harry hit him in the head with raw air energy. He could have used actual wind but the speed with which he needed to make it would not have left the area around them unscathed.
He then unspun some magic from his shields and released a slight invocation. Four Sylphs appeared in the air above him.
"You called Master?" one of them asked.
"Can you please distract him so I can escape?"
"Consider it done, master.'
He started running as the four Sylphs started to spin around the dazed fire mage and trapped him in a vortex of wind. He wondered how long the direction would last.
*Hinny-Elemental-Masters*
Sarah looked up from Nan's back.
"We need to hurry," She urged. "Harry escaped his relative's house, but he is being pursued by an unknown mage."
Nan muttered something under her breath that Ginny was sure she had heard her Mummy say before. "What type of mage?"
"Fire," Sarah said gravely. "He was showing his power off in the middle of the street, likely trying to cow Harry. But Harry has Master Potential. Even partly trained, Harry has more magic than someone like that."
"Well, let's get to him. Neville will likely arrive first. He will show Mister Fire Mage you don't mess with the birds."
Sarah grinned as she slipped down and started running alongside them. "Yeah, Neville will teach them to mess with a chick near him."
*Hinny-Elemental-Masters*
Harry got a block before fire flew past his ear and set a mailbox beyond him aflame. He skidded to a halt and turned as the pale man strolled behind him; his face twisted in anger. He had cuts on his pale body from the wind. The Sylphs were flocking nearby, likely considering their next course of action.
"I will burn you alive, Potter, if you don't come with me! " He declared as he ignited more flames in his hand.
This was real fire and not fire magic in his hand. Harry's shields would protect him from magical fire but the real stuff required a shield of actual wind. As the man threw the ball, Harry focused and a warding wind pushed the ball off course and harmlessly into a puddle.
"Little Potter knows how to play." The man's voice had a grudging admiration to it. "The Master will be pleased to hear it. Come with me now… ARGH!"
He was cut off again as a bolt of black lightning swopped down and raked his face with massive talons. Harry blinked in shock as a raven the size of an eagle cawed and flapped its wings between him and his attacker, who had a hand over his face.
Blood dripped and hit the sidewalk between them as the man lowered his hand and Harry could see he was badly wounded by the massive talons.
"I am going to kill you all!" The man roared and released a blast of fire at them.
"NO!" Came a scream from behind them that made Harry's heart skip a beat. It was Ginny's voice.
The fire stopped in midair, hanging there before them. The fire mage blinked as his conjured flames froze like water in arctic air. Then the fire reversed course and roared as it engulfed the Mage. There was a blood-curdling scream as the man ran away from the scene of the battle.
Harry whirled about to see Ginny, her hand-held palm facing forward. Her tiny body was trembling from the effects of using magic for the first time. She then fell to her knees and then to the sidewalk.
"Ginny!" he called and ran over to her.
The blonde woman who was with her crouched and placed a finger to Ginny's neck.
"She's fine." The woman assured him. "Just unconscious. Using magic for the first time must have drained her terribly."
Harry recalled only too well that first time had channeled actual wind with his magic. Ginny had skipped controlling energy and went straight to manipulating real fire.
The dark-haired woman picked her up as the Raven shrunk to a more raven-like size. Harry was still nervous at the sheer size the bird had gotten. Then he heard a familiar hooting noise.
"Hedwig!" He exclaimed as a medium-sized ball of white down slammed him to the pavement.
He reached up and stroked the happily hooting owl. "I missed you, girl."
He saw the women smiling at him. "Come on," The dark-haired woman said again. "Let's get you to safety, Harry Potter."
A/N: And another month down. We are approaching the end of Summer Breeze, which will lead to the next work in this eventually. I hope you stick around for the coming finale. I know I've enjoyed writing this work and I hope you have enjoyed reading it. As always, please consider checking out my other works on this site and my original works on Royal Road. I also stream games on twitch as Stormermia and upload the videos to YouTube under Stormermia Plays. See you in March!
Royal fiction/55565/song-of-phoenix-ordeal-part-1
