There was no doubt about it—this was the resurgence of the elements, and it could no longer be considered a mere sign. The elemental spirits in the Hogwarts region were so active they could spring into action at any moment.
Yet this was an extraordinarily unusual phenomenon.
According to Harry's initial estimations, it should have taken at least two to three years—perhaps even five—for the elemental resurgence to reach this level. But now, every morning brought the sight of various elemental spirits wandering the streets, which explained why Fudge stormed in looking like the sky had fallen. The Ministry of Magic was suddenly under immense pressure, with every employee, from top to bottom, working harder than they had during the war years over a decade ago.
The Memory Modification Squad was woefully understaffed. Many Obliviators hadn't slept in two days, racing to wipe the memories of Muggle witnesses who had inadvertently glimpsed the elemental spirits across Britain.
The situation was akin to magical accidents erupting simultaneously and randomly across the country. The Ministry's Memory Modification Squad was stretched thin, forcing them to pull personnel from other departments to assist. They also had to constantly dispatch teams to deal with the chaos and destruction caused by the elemental spirits.
Honestly, Fudge was seriously considering resigning and fleeing.
The only silver lining was that the elemental resurgence wasn't as severe in other parts of Britain as it was around Hogwarts. At least elsewhere, people could pick up a glass of milk without worrying it might leap out or splatter their face.
The first time this happened, the students found it amusing and novel. But when everyday objects started coming to life, or when their homework was repeatedly ruined by ink that moved on its own and turned pages black, even the most mischievous students began to lose their patience.
Many students fled to the Great Totem for refuge, where the elemental spirits, at least, followed some semblance of order. Harry finally witnessed the consequences of elemental spirits living freely in the real world rather than the elemental planes—true to their chaotic nature, they embodied the primal disorder of prehistoric Azeroth.
No wonder Fudge was overwhelmed. Even Dumbledore had sought Harry's counsel multiple times before zipping across the globe. As the President of the International Confederation of Wizards, Dumbledore had to address the accelerating elemental resurgence on an international level.
The last time Harry saw Dumbledore, the century-old wizard looked noticeably more haggard.
This abnormally rapid progression of the elemental resurgence felt as though someone had kicked the slumbering elements awake. It made Harry tense—more so than he'd been in the past year. For the first time, he sternly urged Ron and Neville to take their studies seriously, refusing to let them copy his homework.
Doing what Hermione would normally do, Harry left Ron so despairing that he ate two fewer sausages at dinner.
As for Luna, his obedient apprentice didn't need much supervision. Her progress in the ways of shamanism was remarkable, and Harry found himself advising her to spend less time in the spirit world and more in the real one.
Some were parched, others drowned.
The entire wizarding world—not just Britain's, but the global wizarding community—was thrown into a frenzy. Under the Statute of Secrecy, they had to conceal the wizarding world from Muggle eyes, even as elemental spirits popped up unexpectedly in the most inconvenient places.
It was fortunate that high-ranking Muggle government officials were aware of wizards and willing to help cover things up. Otherwise, with the limited number of wizards, maintaining secrecy would have been nearly impossible.
At the first sign of this intensified elemental resurgence, Harry performed several rituals to commune with the elements and seek answers. Their responses, however, were baffling. According to the elements, they had simply "woken up." Their bodies no longer felt heavy, their minds were clear, as if some unseen force had infused them with energy.
As for why this happened, the elements had no clue.
The result was favorable for them, so they embraced the change.
From the elements' perspective, this was indeed good news. Ragehorn, Harry's elemental companion, had been in a better mood lately. But from the perspective of humans—or any other creatures living in this world—things were far less rosy.
An environment comfortable for elemental spirits was often uninhabitable for other beings. Within a single week, Harry had seen reports of multiple volcanic eruptions causing catastrophic disasters, with many island dwellers unable to evacuate and perishing in flames.
After quickly calming the elemental spirits in the Hogwarts region—particularly those he'd grown close to over the past year—Harry asked them to help restrain the other elements in the area and ensure the students' safety. Then, using the Floo Network, he began traveling across countries.
As the world's only recognized master of elemental magic and the founder of the new shamanic priesthood, Harry had both the responsibility and the duty to investigate the global elemental resurgence. He also needed to teach local wizards methods to soothe elemental spirits and prevent their wrath from causing destruction, while assisting magical governments in drafting emergency laws.
The situation escalated so quickly that Harry was dizzy with exhaustion, far busier than he'd been in Azeroth facing world-ending crises. Back then, he had other knowledgeable shamans to share the burden. In this world, his apprentices were far from ready to stand on their own, so Harry had to handle most tasks himself.
"…Never treat the elements as a unified whole. Their nature is chaotic. Even among earth elementals, one might be inclined toward humans, while another might prefer a world of nothing but stone and rock," Harry said, addressing a room full of employees in the New Zealand Ministry of Magic's meeting room in Wellington.
"Of course, earth elementals are generally more docile. This is just an example. I'm warning you not to apply lessons learned from one elemental to another. Conflicts and competing interests exist among them as well…"
"…Effective spells against earth elemental attacks include… For wind elemental attacks, use…"
"…Each elemental has its own core, akin to a human brain or heart. That's their weak point. When eliminating hostile elementals, always locate and destroy their damaged core after the battle to ensure they're truly defeated…"
This process of sharing knowledge and key points had become so routine that Harry had lost count of how many times he'd done it. Honestly, he could recite these points backward by now.
When the meeting ended, Harry grabbed his suitcase and prepared to leave. Time was tight; he had to hurry to the Burkina Faso Ministry of Magic next, an inland African nation.
According to the information he'd received, things there were particularly messy. Africa and South America retained strong traditions of primal magic, with many native shamans who, until recently, had received no responses to their rituals. But as the elemental resurgence intensified, many shamanic healers suddenly found their ceremonies or summonings answered—often with chaotic results.
The problem was, it wasn't just wizards with magical abilities who were answered. Many Muggle shamans, whose practices had previously amounted to little more than theatrics or herbal remedies, were now gaining actual spellcasting abilities.
It was a mess.
"Wait! Professor Potter! Please, just a moment!" a voice called out, stopping Harry in his tracks. He turned to see a witch who had been sitting in the front row of the meeting room.
"Yes?" Harry asked, racking his brain. "I believe you're…"
"Eliza," the witch said with a smile, extending her hand. "I'm the Minister for International Magical Cooperation at the New Zealand Ministry."
"Oh, right, I remember," Harry nodded. "Is there something you need? I'm sorry, but I'm on a tight schedule. The world's a big place, and there are too many Ministries. I need to spread these guidelines as quickly as possible."
"Just a quick moment, Professor Potter. You're a great and selfless man, like Dumbledore," Eliza said hurriedly.
She could see the exhaustion in the young man—barely taller than her—carrying the weight of an adult's responsibilities, the kind of fatigue that came from overwork. By now, Ministries worldwide knew of Harry Potter: Hogwarts' Professor Potter, the British Ministry's Shamanic Priesthood Minister, racing across the globe to share his methods for handling the elemental resurgence.
From what Eliza had heard, those methods were highly effective, preventing countless casualties among Ministry employees. They allowed wizards to approach this unfamiliar territory with proven strategies rather than fumbling through trial and error.
"My question is… Well, last year, I read your paper on discovering the elements, and at an international conference, I even asked President Dumbledore if elementals truly existed," Eliza began. "So I thought you were on the side of the elements—I mean, your paper leaned heavily in their favor—"
"Why, then, am I teaching you how to defeat or even kill elementals and revealing their weaknesses?" Harry interrupted, guessing her question.
"Er, yes," Eliza admitted, a bit embarrassed. She hadn't meant to be so blunt.
"Look at me," Harry said, pointing to the blade-like horns on his forehead. "I know many in the Ministries think I'm some eccentric who loves oddities, and I often call myself a tauren. But at my core, I know I'm still human."
"To the elements, I'm human. You're human. We all are. Humans have specific needs for our survival, which means we can't coexist with certain elementals. It's that simple."
With a final nod to Eliza, Harry turned and left without looking back. He had a Floo Network departure to catch. Eliza stood there, mulling over his words.
"That was… pretty cool?" a male wizard said, stepping up beside her. He'd overheard their conversation and was now watching Harry's retreating figure.
"Kind of," Eliza agreed with a nod. "It's like seeing the next Dumbledore. Strange, isn't it? Why do talents like that always come from a place like Britain?"
"Who knows?" the wizard shrugged. "Come on, we need to deploy our people according to those guidelines."
Harry didn't know what specific measures the New Zealand Ministry would take, but he'd done his part as best he could. The convenience of wizarding travel proved invaluable in these critical times, allowing him to crisscross half the globe in mere days, lecturing batch after batch of Ministry officials in different uniforms.
But before he could cover the world, Dumbledore sent Fawkes to fetch him. The International Confederation of Wizards was holding an emergency meeting to address the escalating elemental resurgence and the looming risk of the wizarding world's exposure.
As a recognized expert in shamanic priesthood, Harry's presence was required.
So, he traveled from Asia to North America, where the meeting was held at the Magical Congress of the United States of America.
New York, Woolworth Building.
It was Harry's first time in the U.S., but as with every other country he'd visited recently, he had no time for sightseeing.
To be honest, Harry found the American Magical Congress… no, correction, the MACUSA's decor more impressive than the British Ministry's. At least here, you didn't have to squeeze into a dingy telephone booth or descend underground.
Sharing a building with Muggles, wizards only needed to step through the entrance to reach MACUSA's offices. The grand hall greeted them with sparkling chandeliers overhead and witches and wizards bustling about.
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