The bus finally arrived in Surray and Nan and Sarah were quick to get off. The moment they were in the open air and the sun shone, Neville started to croak from his container.
"Want out!" The raven demanded.
They wasted no time setting their precious cargo free. Gray the African Parrot flew to Sarah's shoulder and accepted a 'tickle' from her partner. Neville landed on Nan's arm, careful not to cut her skin with his massive talons, and accepted the same.
"Wise birds," Gray praised. "Look around."
Sarah nodded to her partner. "Just be careful. Someone might try to grab you."
Neville laughed at that. The last unlucky soul to try and grab Gray had felt Neville's talons right enough.
"My bad, Neville," She apologized. "I did not mean to imply you couldn't protect your lady."
The Raven bobbed his head in agreement. The two birds took off together. There were few creatures the two of them could not handle together, except perhaps an eagle. And even then, most normal birds would not want to mess with two Astral Guardians who could grow to dire birds at-will either.
Sarah felt Nan take her hand. "So, shall we have a bite while the birds are off scouting?"
Sarah smiled up at her slightly taller companion. "Yes, that sounds lovely."
*Hinny-Elemental-Masters*
It was Saturday and Harry would be going to see the Weasleys soon. He had tucked Hedwig into his backpack, doing his best to make the bird comfortable. She had grown again over the last week. Breezy had looked her over this morning.
"She will be fully grown before the first leaves start to turn." The Sylph had predicted.
Harry was wondering how they would continue to hide Hedwig from his uncle once she was fully grown. Then the door to his room flung open.
"Harry," Dudley said, fear in his voice. When was the last time Dudley had called him Harry instead of cousin? "Daddy is summoning you to the living room."
Even as he said this, he saw Dudley's eyes dart to the window.
"Dudley, how bad is it?" Harry asked, his breath starting to catch.
"Do you remember my birthday when that freak whirlwind knocked him into a trash can?"
Harry did recall that event. He had been thrashed within an inch of his life and starved for a week for that, even though he had been next to Dudley fifty feet from his Uncle at the time. He suspected now that Breezy had a hand in that incident.
"That bad?" Harry asked, his voice faint.
"Worse." Dudley shook his head. "He is convinced that you somehow burned down Smeltings. I tried to convince him that he was batty…" He trailed off and rubbed his cheek.
Harry only realized at that moment that Dudley's left cheek was redder than the right one. "What else did he say, Dudley?"
Dudley shook his head. "He said he was going to do what he should have done ten years ago. I don't know what that means, but you need to get out of here…"
Dudley trailed off as footsteps started to stamp in their direction. Harry had no choice. If he was caught, he would be in big trouble.
He ran for the open window and jumped out. Had he not been an Air Mage, he likely would have broken a bone from that height. As it was, he summoned the air and swirled it around him, slowing his fall so he landed safely in the grass. He noticed it was raining now, which it had not been doing before.
He started to run towards the fence and his ticket to freedom when he felt it. He had lowered his shields while in the safety of the Dursley home and did not have the time to put them back up again. He realized his mistake as his body started to get heavier and heavier. It was like he was trying to run underwater.
He could hear his uncle roaring and coming for him, screaming outswears and curses. He reached up to his backpack, each inch a battle, and undid the zipper.
"Go, Hedwig." He begged her. "Get to safety."
The white owl blinked at him but finally flapped her little wings and jumped from the bag to the fence. Then she was gone. Harry's eyesight was going dark around him as he finally got so heavy that he slumped to his knees. Then he knew nothing as he lost consciousness.
*Hinny-Elemental-Masters*
Snape smirked as he stood on the roof of a nearby home. He had created a mirage around himself to keep any witnesses from seeing him. Vernon Dursley had been easy to manipulate. Now Potter's brat would be locked away until his Master could find a way to break the protective spells on the boy.
"Such arrogance." Snape scoffed. "To come out without any shields."
"Such cruelty, to expect a child to act as a master," Came a cold voice from behind him.
Snape whirled to find the Sylph glaring at him again. He moved his hand to banish her with his Mastery but she laughed and snapped her fingers.
Snape felt the air pulled from his lungs and he fell to his knees. His shields had completely failed to stop her.
"Who is the arrogant one now?" The elemental asked cruelly as he gasped for air that would not come. "After all these years you still refuse to shield yourself from her magic, Severus. I warned you."
He recognized that voice. How many times had he been on the receiving end of her ire. Each word was a chore but he said them anyway. "No… your master is locked away. You can't be…"
The creature pretending to be a Sylph laughed. "I owe you no explanations, Severus. Sleep now. You will forget this entire encounter. Can't have you telling your master now, can I?"
She snapped her fingers. "Memories, flow away like air." She chanted and for Snape, the world went black.
*Hinny-Elemental-Masters*
Ginny was waiting at the end of the road for Harry to appear, but he was late. Something was nagging at the back of her mind, trying to get her attention. She sat down on a stump then a whirlwind appeared. From within it, Breezy emerged.
"Ginerva, you must come quickly!" Breezy begged her. "Master Harry is in trouble."
She got off the stump and looked around, unsure what to do when two figures came around the bend.
"Harry is in trouble, you say?" The taller young woman with a strict face grimaced.
The blonde sighed. "it's never easy, is it Nan?"
Ginny looked at them in confusion. "Who are you two?"
The blonde smiled at her. "My name is Sarah, and this is my partner, Nan. We are here to help Harry at the request of Lord A himself."
*Hinny-Elemental-Masters*
The Marauders were doing their best to fight their way out of Snape's magical fog. For the last few days, they were pushing it's limits and trying to confuse it with their animal forms. The very fact they were still being held proved how powerful Severus Snape really was.
All of a sudden, sunlight started streaming down among the fog. Lupin looked up in hope at the patches of blue sky among the fog.
They started to pick up their pace, heading for where the patches were thickest. Because there is where their avenue of escape lay. They reached a large open patch and pushed against the fog, straining for the freedom they could glimpse just beyond.
Then they were free. They collapsed into the ground, changing back to humans. They were still at the bridge where they had been caught, though on the other side now. To Lupin's dismay, the clear sky had just been a sign of a place to escape, as it was raining on top of the three men. But they were free at last!
"I don't understand how," Sirius sat up. "But Snape must have lost focus on the spell."
Lupin nodded as the three of them rose. "We should get away from here before he gets it back. It will take him days to dispel the fog to make a new trap, but if we are too close he can just expand the existing area and trap us again."
They were bone tired and needed sleep, but they changed again. Peter rose on Lupin's head as he and Sirius used their canine speed to rush in the direction of Surrey. It would not be much longer until they were with Harry once more.
*Hinny-Elemental-Masters*
Harry awoke, his head pounding. He felt cramped and claustrophobic. He reached out and his hand felt the familiar walls of his old cupboard he had been forced to live in for the last nine years. He felt dread flow into his heart. Even more filled him when he considered Hedwig and Ginny. Was the bird alright? Was Ginny going to hate him for not showing up?
He slumped back in the dark, allowing the hot tears to flow for the first time in years.
A/N: And we have our first Summer Breeze update of 2025. Though we are actually approaching down with this story. The next story will be called Autumn Gust, though not sure when that will start exactly. I had this plan to do four stories in all, with the Winter one being the darkest of the four. We will see if I continue that. See you next time! Also please consider checking out my other works on this site as well as my original work at Royal Road. I also stream games as Stormermia on twitch and post the videos to Stormermia Plays on Youtube.
Link to Royal Road: fiction/55565/song-of-phoenix-ordeal-part-1
