CHAPTER 71 Battle Amidst the Clouds

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CHAPTER 71 Battle Amidst the Clouds

After the situation calmed down, Elmi realized that what he had done was a mistake. He should have de-escalated the situation rather than escalating it. To lighten the mood, he started talking about their vacation plans, and Daphne understood what Elmi was trying to do and said,

"We are meeting up at my house, and Harry is going to join us. Would you two want to come?"

Hermione looked disappointed. Harry had told them about this, and she would love to see a real Wizarding World house, but she was going to go skiing with her parents. She really missed them since this was the first time she had been away from them for such a long time.

"I'm sorry. I would love to, but I am going to spend some time with my parents. Maybe next time."

Ron couldn't come either since they were going to visit his big brother. When they reached King's Cross Station, everyone bid their farewells and left on their way.

Elmi and Harry pushed their trolley to the front of the station. There waiting for them was a carriage with two winged horses. Harry couldn't help but exclaim.

"How?"

Elmi understood what he meant and said, "It is concealed from muggles' eyes and has muggle-repelling magic on it. So they cannot see or come close to it."

Harry's eyes glowed with awe, "How does this work? What do they see?" Elmi shrugged and said, "I don't know. Every muggle sees something different. They see whatever doesn't attract their attention or seems repulsive to them: a garbage truck, an empty lot, or a group of thugs, whatever keeps them away from this spot."

Edward O'Malley was waiting for Elmi and Harry. Edward, known as Eddy, was a skilled chauffeur responsible for transporting the Fawley family. Not every wizard and witch was talented enough to work for the Ministry, have their shops, or have a family fortune. Edward was such a wizard. His magical prowess was average, and his only talent was driving the carriage, training, and controlling the winged horses.

Eddy talked with a thick Irish accent and jokingly said, "Welcome back, young master. As ye know, Lady and Master Marshall ain't home. So it's yer show now, bossman."

"Ohh, uncle is not at home, too? I didn't know that."

"Aye, they're off on a wee holiday with the family." Upon hearing this, Elmi smiled. This meant all the Estate was theirs to do what they wanted. Of course, Eddy was kidding. His mother would leave the house and the finances in the hands of their butler, Alfred Thorne. 

Alfred was a middle aged wizard with a distinguished demeanor. He had served the Fawley family since he was a child and takes great pride in his work. He had served his family since his grandfather's time. With his impeccable manners and unwavering loyalty, Alfred ensures that everything runs smoothly in the household. He is a wizard of many talents, skilled not only in household management but also in discreetly handling delicate matters that arise within or outside the family.

As long as Elmi acted reasonably, the old guy would allow him to act as he pleased, but what Elmi found reasonable and what Alfred found reasonable usually didn't line up. Harry and Elmi got onto the carriage. Elmi said, "Eddy, we need to go to the Dursley residence at 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey."

"Aye aye, bossman," Eddy chimed in, giving a quick whistle before he whipped the reins, urging the two winged horses to take flight. As they ascended, two figures observed from a distance, quickly casting concealment charms upon themselves before retrieving broomsticks from their bags and following the flying carriage into the sky.

...

Eddy decided to give them a scenic journey, and he was going in a roundabout way that would add an hour or so to their journey since he knew Elmi enjoyed the scenery up here as much as Eddy did. Elmi and Harry observed the scene from the windows, their gazes fixed on the passing landscape below. From the carriage windows, the sprawling countryside unfolded beneath them, bathed in the soft hues of the setting sun. Rolling hills stretched out as far as the eye could see, dotted with quaint villages and patches of lush greenery in the distance.

The occasional glittering stream wound its way through the landscape, catching the last rays of daylight like liquid silver. Overhead, flocks of birds soared gracefully, painting arcs of flight against the canvas of the evening sky. For Elmi, the sight never grew old; each time he traveled with a flying carriage, it felt like it was his first time. Views from the sky added grandeur even to the most mundane scenes. 

Elmi couldn't use the carriages as often as he would have liked to since his mother preferred faster methods like Apparition or the Floo Network. Apparition felt nauseating, and Elmi disliked the Floo Network due to the inconvenience of cleaning off the ash residue it left behind in not-so-great places. He recalled a time when he had to spend half an hour shaking ash out of his ears after a particularly unpleasant Floo journey, and because of the magical aspect of those residues, the cleaning spells didn't work so well. 

As they were traveling through the sky, two men on brooms approached them. They took up positions on either side of the carriage and flew while flanking them. Without hesitation, one of the men fired a spell at Eddy. 

Eddy was still unaware of the two following them. The Goddess of Luck must be siding with Eddy since right as the spell was going to hit his head, the horses dipped down a bit, like they were experiencing a little bit of turbulence.

"For the sake of Merlin's Saggy Left–! What te hell was that?"

When Eddy realized they were being chased, he whipped the horses and dived down as more spells approached the carriage and him. He was trying to evade their pursuers, but their brooms were faster than the carriage. 

Elmi looked through the window and tried to make sense of what was happening. It could have been a death eater attack, but none of them should have known Voldemort was alive and his most trusted men were in Azkaban. 

Voldemort wouldn't show himself to those who were free since those were not trustworthy to him. Were they here for him or Harry? He couldn't make sense of what was happening. 

The carriage was diving with great speed as it screeched because of the strain it was put through. One of the men tried to position himself to attack Eddy. Elmi pulled his wand and attacked him with the fear spell. 

Black and purple apparations emerged around the man. He put up a shield around him, but ghostly things passed right through it and attacked him. The man momentarily lost his balance on his broom, but his eyes quickly focused again. Elmi's spell had failed to break the man's will.

The man realized he had been hit by a spell and turned his attention to Elmi. He fired a spell, and Elmi ducked down behind the carriage window. The spell hit the carriage and shook it, but the thing was goblin-made and really durable.

There were many singe marks on the outside of the carriage, and most of the damages were minor. As Elmi found openings, he continued to send spells, but the two men managed to dodge or deflect his spells.

Eddy was both controlling the carriage and trying to fight back, but his spells were getting easily neutralized. While trying to counter them, one of the spells hit him and cut his left arm. Blood had started to sprinkle out of his grave wound. 

He lost his balance and fell off the carriage. As he was falling, he managed to sling one more spell and hit the broom of one of the men. The back of his broom caught fire, and he, too, started to fall, but the other man managed to land a spell right at the connection point of the horses.