Psycho Demon-Witch: hello again, and thank you once again for the reviews. They make me happy. see? In response to one review... sorry about there being no Snape, I can't believe I forgot him, he's like my favourite Harry Potter character!!! He's in this chapter though!

Chapter Four

"... don't tell me you're siding with him? He's weak, and a traitor to the Fire Nation" a voice was heard distantly in the corridor. Aang couldn't sleep. He was up wandering around when he heard a few female voices. He couldn't help but be curious about what was being said, so he headed in the general direction of the voices. One was distinctly Azula's, which meant any others were Mai's and Ty Lee's.

"Of course not, I'm your friend, but don't you think it was just a little over the top to tell complete strangers something like that?" Ty Lee asked.

"Don't be silly, we have nothing to hide from the likes of them. It's strange though, I expected Zuzu to overreact like he always does. He should have broken the terms of the truce, then I would have had an excuse to put him out of his misery" Azula said cruelly. Aang's eyes widened. That family was insane, and that wasn't proper sibling behaviour. He had seen Sokka and Katara fight, but it never led to injury... not serious injury anyway, yet here was Azula looking for an excuse to kill her older brother. "You know full well that my father wouldn't care, he was fully prepared to kill Zuko five years ago, just before our mother disappeared"

"I still don't understand why he would want to kill Zuko though. Whenever I saw Zuko at home, before his banishment, he was always well behaved and did what was asked of him..." that was Ty Lee again.

"It was so that my father could become Fire Lord. Grandfather had told father that he had to feel the pain of losing a first born son before he could take Uncle's place as heir to the throne. Unfortunately Grandfather died before dear Zuzu could be killed, I bet Mother had something to do with it" Azula said thoughtfully. Aang moved closer. They were just around the corner now. He peeked round. Ty Lee was doing hand stands in the middle of the corridor, while Mai was sat next to a suit of armour. Azula stood just a few feet away, thankfully with her back to him. Why they would meet in the middle of a random corridor was beyond him. Mai looked over at him. She made a subtle movement of her hand to tell him to leave. Unfortunately, Azula noticed.

"Whoever's there had better show themselves right now" she said turning around. Aang appeared from behind his corner. "Oh, it's you, I was expecting you to be someone else. Never pegged you for the eavesdropping type"

"Well, you wouldn't know me that well, what with trying to kill me and all" Aang said defensively.

"I make it a point to know my enemies better than anyone, after all it makes them so much easier to predict" she replied.

"And to kill I suppose" Aang shot back. Azula smirked.

"Indeed" she said. They stared each other down for a few more moments before Ty Lee said she was getting tired. Azula glanced to her. She saw the girl's uneasiness in the situation.

"We should go, we have a truce, his friends will think we did something to him if they come now" Mai said from her place on the floor. She stood up and moved next to Ty Lee, who nodded her agreement.

"Fine, we'll see you in the morning then, Avatar" Azula said before pushing past him, Mai and Ty Lee following shortly behind her. Aang's eyes followed them until they disappeared from sight. He let the brave mask fall from his face, showing how he really was: tired. He was so worried for his world at the moment. How were they, how much time had passed, had the Fire Lord won the war in his absence. He hated thinking of these things, but he couldn't help it. They'd only been here for a couple of days, but anything could have happened back home.

He wandered aimlessly around. For how long, he didn't know, but he soon noticed that the sun had started to rise. He decided to head back to his room, so that the others didn't worry about him or wonder where he had been. No such luck. Toph was stood outside his bedroom door. "Where have you been Twinkle Toes?" she demanded.

"I couldn't sleep, went for a walk" Aang replied.

"You need to learn to relax, there's no point in worrying about our world at the moment. There's nothing we can do to help them until we get back" Toph said. For her that was comforting.

"I guess you're right, but I'm the Avatar, I'm supposed to..." he began but Toph cut him off.

"Yeah, yeah you're supposed to maintain the balance in the world and stuff, I've heard that like a million times now, and I've said there is nothing you can do, so stop being so mopey" she said in a more stern voice. She turned her blind eyes to him. "You should get some sleep, you'll be needing it, I'm going to drill you on some Earth bending techniques later" she said before leaving for the room she shared with Katara.

Once she had gone he opened the door and was greeted with Sokka's loud snoring. He flopped down onto his bed and tried to sleep, but he was tossing and turning until Sokka woke a couple of hours later. "Hey Aang, you sleep well?" he asked. Aang almost screamed.

"Yeah, fine" he said.

"Great, now, breakfast." Aang almost groaned. Despite how tired he was from his lack of sleep he pulled himself out of his bed, got dressed and went with Sokka to meet Katara and Toph a little further down the corridor before they went down to the Great Hall. Along the way, they bumped into Azula, Mai and Ty Lee. Azula smirked in the Avatar's direction, and he stared defiantly back at her. Mai looked bored, as usual, but Ty Lee looked a little down about something. Aang figured it was about last night. She looked in his direction, but soon turned away when she realised his gaze was upon her.

Once they arrived at the Great Hall, they saw that all the staff were already there, but there was another man there too, someone they didn't recognise. He was dressed all in black, with hair and eyes as dark as his clothing. The man turned to look at them when he heard the door go and then looked at Professor Dumbledore quizzically. Dumbledore looked to them as well. "Ah, I'd forgotten to tell you Severus. They arrived here a couple of days ago, seemingly from nowhere. Most of them have strange abilities, control over the elements. They will be staying here until we can find a way for them to go home" he explained. He turned back to Aang and the others. "This is Professor Snape, the Potions Master. He's been away for a few days on... other business". Some of them noticed the pause in the old man's sentence, but chose not to comment on it. A voice came from behind them.

"Excuse me, but could you let an old man pass, you're blocking the door". It was Iroh and Zuko. Aang and Katara apologised, and they all moved towards the table. They sat down and soon breakfast was served, with the dishes as always filling themselves. Toph sat next to Snape, much to his displeasure. Summer was supposed to be the time when he wasn't being bothered by children. And Toph being Toph, he was going to be bothered quite a bit more than usual.

"So, what's this business of yours?" she asked him, quite loudly. The rest of the staff immediately went silent. Snape turned cold, dark eyes on her.

"None of yours, I would like to eat in peace" he said. Toph, being unable to see wasn't at all intimidated by his glare as most other students were.

"Is it that great of a secret? It's not anything illegal, is it?" she asked, meaning it only as a joke. When she felt him tense, however, she immediately dropped her grin and asked Dumbledore "did you know one of your teachers is breaking the law?"

"Yes, I did. Even the best of us do terrible things in wars, now I believe that this discussion should end" Dumbledore replied to her in a kind but firm tone. Snape was surprised that she had picked up on that. She couldn't see, and he hadn't given any signs that would betray him, he knew he hadn't, so how...?

"I can feel vibrations through the ground, I can tell every movement you make, I know when you're telling a lie... it makes things convenient in a fight, or when you want to find something out. I'm more convenient than any other interrogator you'll meet" Toph said with great confidence in her voice.

"I doubt that greatly, even if you do have unusual abilities" Snape said. Toph replied by poking her tongue out and turning back to her food.

"Sorry about that, Toph isn't the most... subtle or well mannered of people" Katara said to him. Toph frowned at her.

"I noticed" Snape said shortly, not even looking at her.

"Hey Sugar Queen, how I behave is none of your concern, and you know that I can be the most polite person ever if I felt like it, but I don't feel like it so butt out" Toph said.

"Maybe if you felt like being polite more often, people would like you more" Katara shot back.

"I don't care, if people can't accept me for being me then they're not worth bothering with"

"People won't accept you at all if you're just going to be rude to them"

"Hey, guys, let's just calm down, we shouldn't fight amongst ourselves" Aang said, interrupting their argument. Katara folded her arms and looked intently at her plate, while Toph returned to wolfing her food down. Aang let out a sigh of relief and went back to nibbling on a peach. It was then that they all heard a screeching from overhead. Everyone looked up to see an owl being chased around by some sort of lemur. "Hey, Momo, the owl doesn't want to play, come here" Aang called to him. Momo, hearing his name called flew down to the table, where Aang gave him the rest of his peach. The owl landed in front of Dumbledore and held out its leg where a letter was attached. Dumbldore took the letter, opened it and quickly read over it,

"If you would excuse me, I have some important business to attend to. Minerva, Severus, if you could join me in my office?" All three Professors rose from the table and left the hall at a fast pace. Aang looked questioningly at some of the other members of staff, but either they didn't know anything, or they were refusing to tell. Most probably the latter.

Once breakfast was over, as Toph promised, they went outside to practice earthbending. Aang, being as tired as he was from his lack of sleep that night, was slower than he usually was, and got a couple of good knocks from boulders. Katara watched this and grew concerned. "Aang" she called out. Aang looked towards her, and as a result got hit with another rock. "Toph, can you please stop earthbending for a moment, I want to talk to Aang" she said to the younger girl.

"You can talk to him after his lesson, I don't exactly go around interrupting your water bending lessons" was the girls reply.

"Aang's not in the best condition right now, haven't you noticed?" Katara asked her angrily.

"Of course I have, that's what happens when you go wandering around a castle all night" Toph retorted.

"And you're still making him do this?" Katara asked.

"Yes, I told him he shouldn't be worrying about things he can't do anything about but he didn't listen. Maybe I can tire him out enough so that he will sleep tonight" Toph said, shifting into another stance. Katara threw her hands up in the air, but didn't say another word. She sat down on a nearby log and folded her arms angrily, glaring at the scene before her.

Aang was now back on his feet, facing Toph with a bit more determination. He brought up a boulder of his own from the ground, sending it straight in Toph's direction, who deflected it by bringing up a wall of rock to shield herself. Both wall and boulder smashed to pieces, sending debris flying around thirty feet in all directions. Toph grinned. "That's more like it Twinkle Toes" she said happily. Aang responded by sending more boulders in her direction, each one she either deflected or completely avoided. "Hey, it looks like we've added someone to the audience" she said suddenly, dropping her stance. Aang did the same and looked around until he saw Iroh, who was clapping with a smile on his face.

"That was quite a show, you're mastering the elements rather quickly young Avatar" he said. Aang looked embarrassed.

"Well, it's not just me, I have the best teachers in the world" he said, looking at Katara and Toph in turn.

"I don't suppose you've learnt to firebend yet, have you?" Iroh asked.

"No, I don't really want to either... the last time I tried I hurt Katara" he said, looking at the floor in shame. Katara, who had just walked over put her hand comfortingly on his shoulder.

"You weren't as disciplined as you are now, maybe you'd have better luck controlling it this time" she said.

"Thanks Katara, but who's gonna teach me? There aren't many firebenders I can think of who would be willing to go against the Fire Lord" Aang said.

"I can think of one" Toph piped up. The others looked at her. She pointed at Iroh. "What about him, he's against the Fire Lord, and if the rumours I've heard about him are true, he's a brilliant firebender" she said.

"I am sorry to disappoint, but it is not my destiny to teach the Avatar how to firebend" Iroh replied before Aang could ask him. Aang's face fell slightly for a moment, before it perked up.

"Does that mean you know who my firebending teacher should be?" Aang asked.

"It is something you should figure out yourself" Iroh said cryptically.

"Do you annoy Mopey this much as well?" Toph asked. Iroh laughed.

"Much more than this, he is like a son to me after all" he said.

"Speaking of which, where is he?" Aang asked. Iroh paused for a moment.

"I left him practicing his firebending just a moment ago. Though he is not yet a master he is steadily improving" he said. Sokka, who had suddenly decided to come over, snorted.

"Yeah, that's just what we need, an even more powerful firebender on our tail" he said in disdain.

"Mopey's not chased you in all the time I've known you, and that's a while" Toph pointed out. Sokka's mouth opened as if to retort, but quickly closed when he couldn't think of decent enough reply.

"So, you really can't tell me who my firebending teacher will be?" Aang asked in a last attempt to make Iroh spill his teachers identity to him.

"I am sorry Avatar, but I cannot reveal such things to anyone" Iroh said, not sounding too sorry at all. "You will find out soon enough, I am sure" he added at the look of disappointment on Aang's face.

"Really? How soon?" the boy asked. Iroh sighed.

"You are a more curious person than Zuko, and I didn't think that was possible" he said. "I'm not going to tell you, you'll find out when you find out, that's all there is to it". Aang pouted.

"Hey Mopey's heading this way" Toph said. Iroh turned around to face the direction he had come from, just in time to see Zuko appearing.

"There you are, I was wondering where you were" he said, purposefully ignoring everyone else.

"Well, now you know. Have you finished that sequence?" Iroh asked.

"Would I have come looking for you if I hadn't?" Zuko retorted.

"If you were worried you would" Iroh said. Zuko looked slightly flustered at that statement.

"I wasn't worried" he muttered under his breath.

"I'm sure you weren't Zuko" Iroh said indulgently. "Now, how about you show me the progress you made on that sequence?" he asked. Zuko looked around, acknowledging the others' presence for the first time.

"Now?" he asked.

"Is something wrong with that?" Iroh asked. Zuko glared at him.

"Yes" he said pointedly, his gaze circling around the group again, indicating to his uncle what the problem was.

"You scared you'll mess up, Mopey?" Toph asked. Zuko's glare turned to her, which was pointless as she couldn't see it to be scared of it.

"It's been a pleasure speaking with all of you, but Zuko and I will leave you to your training, and we'll return to ours" Iroh said, cutting them both off before a confrontation could occur.

"What in th' world has bin goin' on here?" came a loud voice. Hagrid had been looking for them, and now that he had, he was quite surprised at the damage to the grounds. Toph grinned at him.

"Earth bending" she said. Aang bowed in apology.

"Sorry, we'll put everything back how it should go" he said.

"Yeah, anyway, Dumbledore wanted me ter tell yeh somethin'. Already told yer sister" he said, the last part aimed at Zuko. "He's bin at Order Headquarters, and th'other members have bin told about yeh. Some of 'em want ter meet yeh, so we're gonna take you there. Yeh'll have ter be put under an oath before goin' though, just ter make sure yeh don' tell anyone" he explained.

"That sounds cool, but what is this Order?" Katara asked.

"Order o' the Phoenix, it's a group o' witches an' wizards that're fightin' against You-Know-Who" Hagrid said

"You mean that Volde... something guy?" Toph asked. Hagrid gave the smallest flinch at the partial voicing of the name.

"Yeah, the younger members are curious abou' yeh" he replied.

"Really?" Aang piped up. "We're curious too. We haven't really seen any of the teachers here use magic" he said.

"Yeh're outta luck then. Underage wizards ain't allowed ter use magic outside o' school" Hagrid said.

"But some of them will be using magic, right?" Aang asked.

"Yeah, but yeh'll mostly be seein' household spells" Hagrid told him. Aang looked thoughful for a moment.

"That's good enough for me" he said cheerfully.

Psycho Demon-Witch: Sorry it's another sort of filler chapter. The main Harry Potter characters will be introduced in the next chapter, promise! This actually took me a while to do, because I got stuck in so many places. I couldn't think what to type... anyways, I'm gonna bugger off now, because I have an assignment due in a couple of days and I've not actually started it... oops. It's a really weird one, I've got no clue how to go about it. Oh well, I'll blag it, that had actually worked for me so far.