Harry left his room soon after dawn, eating breakfast as the morning showers abated. There were a few others eating, the early risers like himself, but no one sat near him or attempted to speak with him. The day before he had been an excited fury and excluded all external considerations that distracted him from his goal of creating a new wand. Yesterday that had been his only thought and he pursued it single-mindedly. Today it was still his goal, hopefully the summation of his efforts, but the cold looks and silent voices of the other colonists began to seep into his conscious as yesterday's mental shell began to break apart. People didn't like him.

Harry left the airlock soon after breakfast, his Hometree branch hidden safely under his invisibility cloak. He laughed, realizing that he had used his cloak more often to smuggle illicit material than to make himself invisible. It was indicative of the horrible limitations of living in Hell's Gate. The creation of his wand would be the first step away, and the successful completion of his Animagus transformation would be the last.

The warm Pandoran sun was breaking through the morning clouds as Harry sat down in the spot that he had practiced carving yesterday. He was about to unwrap his Hometree branch when Celia Spellman, Norm's daughter, sat down beside him, rebreather in place.

"Hi, Harry!" she said as she sat down next to him. Harry had spent a few minutes admiring a Prolemuris, a monkey-like creature with arms that bisected at the elbow into two sets of forearms. Its skin was rubbery, like many of the creatures on Pandora. Harry had yet to see a furry creature, and he thought it was due to the warm climate and daily rainfall. Fur wasn't a good mix with the weather on Pandora. Celia had approached noisily and scared the Prolemuris away without noticing its presence.

"Hi, Celia. How are you?" he said.

"I'm okay. A bit confused about yesterday, though."

"Why's that?" Harry hadn't really paid attention to the mood of Hell's Gate the day before, intent on other things.

"You haven't heard?" The Na'vi children didn't come to the school yesterday. Dad spoke with the Olo'eyktan and he says none of the Na'vi wish to bring their children to learn anymore. They say that the Na'vi refuse to see us as long as you are here."

Harry nodded. He wasn't surprised. Eywa had a strong connection to all Na'vi, and he had been condemned. Why would parents knowingly send their children near someone who was dangerous? "I see."

"No one is happy with you right now, and it doesn't help that we have no idea what you did," Celia continued.

"I can see how that's a tough thing to get past," Harry said. He wished Celia would make her point and leave.

"Maybe if they knew what happened, if I told everyone, then people might be more understanding."

So that was it. She was curious as to what he had done. "I'm sorry Celia, but that's between the Na'vi and me."

"Hmm," she looked thoughtful, disappointed… and something else. "Did it involve the Olo'eyktan's daughter?"

"You mean Atan'iti? No it has nothing to do with her." She was looking at him intently and he was beginning to get uncomfortable. "Can I, err, help you with something?"

"What're you doing out here?" Celia asked, ignoring Harry's question. "You were out here all yesterday."

"I'm working on something," Harry replied. He was starting to find Celia rather annoying, like an older, female Colin Creevey. She was very pretty, with sandy hair like her father, a small nose, and a slender neck, but she was too pushy and talkative.

"On what? It must be important if you've spent a whole day on it."

"It is important, and it's also personal."

Harry caught her eyes and held his gaze, challenging her to push further. She declined the bait and stood, dusting off her shorts. Harry realized that her short jeans revealed long, smooth legs. He gulped as she walked away, thankful that he had been focusing on the Prolemuris when she sat down, or he may have accidentally revealed something in his fluster.

Putting the matter of Celia back in his mind, along with her comments about the enmity of the colonists, Harry began the careful task of carving the Hometree branch. He had already cut off a piece of the proper size, about thirteen inches, and set to carving out the handle. He took careful, measured strokes with the freshly sharpened knife. He was surprised at how much different this wood was than the branches that he had used yesterday. The Hometree branch cut more smoothly, more easily, and Harry made sure to use shallower cuts. It would take him much longer, but he couldn't afford to make a mistake. The Hometree branch cut too easily, and the cuts he had been using yesterday were bound to gouge the wood, eventually. Harry finished off the handle with small, rounding slices, smoothing out the square shaping cuts that he had made to form the handle.

Satisfied that the handle was ready for sanding, he moved onto the shaft of the wand- the more difficult of the two steps. He took long, smooth, and shallow strokes away from his body, the wood curling up behind his knife before it broke off from the quickly forming wand to join its brother curls as scraps on the ground. Harry made the cuts feather light, veneer thin, and slowly the straight rod began to taper and smooth down to a tip. Harry spent another half hour, rotating, running the knife steadily from handle to tip, viewing the cut from every angle, and making another.

Soon the wand had formed completely, and Harry gathered the scraps and ran back inside. He went into the fabrication room and painstakingly drilled the hole for the core, stopping a half inch shy of the tip as Moste Potente Potions instructed. The hole drilled, Harry ran back to his room with the finished wand, the woodworking knife, and bandages, sealing his door shut behind him. The wand core was to be exactly one inch shorter than the wand, and so Harry measured out twelve inches of Soul Vine and cut it with the razor sharp knife. Harry inserted the core into the center of the wand, and laid it out on a clean bandage.

Taking a deep breath, Harry ran the knife across his palm as he slowly moved it back and forth over the wand, letting his blood drip down. It soaked into the wood with a soft woosh and Harry continued to squeeze out his blood until the wand turned from its ivory white to bloody amber. The magic in his blood fused with the Hometree wood, creating a protective coat that sealed the wood from moisture and damage, and sealed the wand core inside the wand. Harry wrapped his hand in another bandage and picked up his new wand. It was warm and dry, the smooth blood lacquer sealing it better than any actual wood sealant. The hole for the core had magically been resealed, showing only smooth, undrilled wood where the hole had been, so perfect that even the curve of the grain was untouched.

The warmth of the wand spread into his loose fingers, recreating the feeling that Harry had felt in Olivander's shop during the summer before his first year. Even before casting a spell, Harry knew that the wand had chosen him. "Lumos!" His wand lit the concrete gloom not a bright white, but a blood red. Harry had to shield his eyes from the fiery torch. A wide grin split his face. "I'm back!"

*

The next few weeks were spent practicing and familiarizing himself with magic once again. It had been a long time since Harry had held a wand in his hands, and a period of transition and training was necessary. During the nights, Harry still hadn't gotten sleepy yet, he read the his books, and during the day, he snuck out into the jungle under the cover of his invisibility cloak to practice. The dangers of the Pandoran jungle, while not too extreme while Harry was protected under his cloak, was much more apparent during his stay throughout the day.

At first he went to the now-abandoned school to train, but was quickly driven away by sparrow-sized Hellfire Wasps. Harry escaped without receiving a sting by hitting the most aggressive wasp with a lucky stupefy! The next day, after reading up on repelling wards in his defense books (the book with the wards immediately went into the Useful pile), Harry went to the waterfall island that Atan'iti had shown him during their first meeting. The insects seemed repelled by the water, and the simple notice-me-not ward kept other creatures from investigating Harry's magical light show.

His private practice spot secured, Harry began practicing his spells in earnest, rebuilding and refreshing his knowledge of magic to combat the upcoming battle. By the end of each day Harry had a good layer of sweat on him, despite the waterfall so close by, blowing water-cooled air at his back as he worked. Magic with all its willpower and deep concentrated understanding was not easy work, but each sunset Harry felt more capable and more confident than the previous, and he began to wonder when he could leave Hell's Gate forever. Because he hadn't just been practicing silly wand waving. Every third day Harry dedicated to his Animagus transformation.

At the fifteenth day, the fifth day dedicated to his Animagus transformation, Harry landed on the small island in front of the waterfall, and recharged the simple ward he had erected two weeks earlier. In accordance with his handbook, Harry looked at the nature that surrounded him, the water that flowed around both sides of the small sliver of land that made up his island, diamond shaped and carved to a tip by the quickly moving currents. On the island were a collection of spiral ferns and small shrubbery, including a few giant mushrooms. Harry sat on his rock, which was partially sunk into the loamy soil, and stared at the patch of bioluminescent upon which Atan'iti had sat when he confessed the world of magic. He hadn't seen her for two weeks, and her absence was the only thing that caused him sadness. She was his only real friend here, the only one who knew his secret in full, and he probably wouldn't see her for a long time. The Na'vi rarely visited Hell's Gate now because of Harry. Only Jake came to discuss plans against the RDA with Norm and Max- plans that Harry was not invited to partake in.

Norm and Max had approached Harry on his third evening returning from his training. He had just taken a shower and put on clean clothes when they knocked on his door. "Harry? Can we talk for a moment?"

"Yes." Harry had been twirling his blood red wand in his fingers when they knocked, and had just barely slipped it under the covers of the bunk.

"My daughter says you've disappeared all day for a few days now. We're wondering what you've been doing. You will have to begin working at something for the benefit of the colony, and disappearing to do your own thing doesn't count."

So Celia had been looking for him every day? Wonderful, Harry thought. "I'm sorry about that. It's just that Pandora is so amazing that I can't stay inside during the day. I have to go outside and look around."

"And have you been going into the jungle?" Max asked.

Harry's sheepish blush gave him away before he could lie, "I know it's dangerous... but yeah. Not far though! I just can't resist."

Norm and Max didn't like that answer. "We told you it was dangerous, Harry! The perimeter of Hell's Gate is the only place on Pandora that is relatively safe for someone who isn't Na'vi or in a walker suit, and we aren't allowed to use those anymore."

Harry made sure he looked defeated. "I understand."

"We can't stop you from going out there. Everyone at Hell's Gate has a job and it isn't anyone's job to keep you safe but your own. You have to do your part here, so tomorrow I want you to find Celia tomorrow and help her take care of the children."

"Okay."

Of course the next day Harry had not sought out Celia, instead going out into the jungle to practice his magic. Harry was helping the colony! He was helping the colony, the Na'vi, and Pandora by getting used to his magic again in preparation for RDA contact, most likely in the form of a fight. Helping Celia watch the other kids was not going to help him prepare for that. So Harry used his invisibility cloak to dodge Celia and dodge questions and to escape each day to his island.

Harry sat on his rock and removed his shoes and socks, letting his feet dig into the soft sand. He closed his eyes and opened his ears to the wild sounds of Pandora, the insects and animal calls ringing outside of his little island haven. The Animagus guide repeated over and over that Harry had to familiarize himself with nature, and to spend as much time as he could outdoors in the natural environment. On top of that, he was supposed to familiarize himself with the outdoors as intimately as he could, using as many senses as he could. Harry's toes sank into the sand- touch. Harry could hear the animals calling outside of his warded shell- sound. He could smell the dampness of the water and the toxic scents from the giant mushrooms nearby- smell. Opening his eyes, he saw the aquarium-like waters, flowing clear with vibrant, glowing plants, corals and anemones, and strange double-finned fish. Everything glowed in the water, dimly during the day, but it still lit up the shadows and cracks of the Pandoran coral with a source less light.

Harry felt properly prepared. He closed his eyes again an concentrated on the transformation, keeping the environment around him immediate, trying to integrate himself with the order that surrounded him. He had not attempted anything further than transforming his arms into the creature's strange double forelimbs, but hopefully today that was going to change. He concentrated on himself as much as the nature that he struggled to keep close. Harry visualized the two aspects, his self and the nature around him, struggled hold both in his hands. He had to take the two and merge them together, merge his soul into nature, to unlock his Animagus.

The thoughts of the Dementors during his third year came back to him, how they were so close to sucking his soul from his body, and remembered the small white fire he had seen dance in front of his eyes. That was his soul. Harry remembered it, pictured it, and felt it. He grasped it in his left hand.

His toes were sunk into the beach sand, wet but not cold, and he felt the fine grit of the grains scratching his skin. The air blew cool from the waterfall, still sagging from moisture, and he could hear the flying creatures cut through the thick air. The poisonous odor of the mushrooms struck him, surrounded him, and Harry struggled to wrap himself around it all. He imagined everything he could sense in the center, and wrapped his right arm around it, encompassing it. It shrank into a ball, a purple glow, and he grasped it in his right hand. Then, before he lost his old on either aspect, he took his hands and clapped them together.

An acute pain struck Harry's spine as the white and purple meshed in his mind's eye, and he felt himself growing and elongating, turning to land on his six paws. Paws? He opened his eyes and the world had changed. First, the island he was on was much smaller than he remembered it being a few minutes ago, the diamond in the center of the river had shrunk as if it had suffered a few hundred years more of erosion. The giant mushrooms which had been level with Harry's eyes were now below him, and the rock upon which he was sitting, Harry now knew he could easily uproot. "What am I?" Harry said aloud, but instead of hearing his own voice, he heard a menacing, catlike growl. It was low and rumbling, with a quiet Parseltongue hiss at the end. Harry rushed over to the water at the island's far end, where the water was caught in an eddy and allowed for a reflective surface to appear. He peered down at his face and saw a ferocious row of teeth and small, evil eyes. They were the eyes that he had seen on Atan'iti's banshee the first time she had met her, but Harry was not a banshee. He was a land creature, a huge one, strong and predatory. He hadn't heard of any predators of this size. Harry had no bubblehead charm surrounding his new face, complete with rows of sharp, curving teeth, strange quills on his head that reminded him of the feather headdresses the American Indians wore, and his evil eyes. The heavy Pandoran air was sucked into his lungs through dorsal channels behind his head, and it nourished his body, pure and unfiltered.

Harry was about to change back when new, powerful senses struck him. The nature around him opened up, bare to his newfound comprehension. He could smell the fish swimming in the water, darting away from the new, vicious predator. Off across the water he could hear a small band of Prolemuris monkeys swinging through the trees and a Hexapede rummaging around in the brush, feeding. Pandora was laid bare to Harry's new senses, the quills on his head exposing the area like never before. Change back? Harry laughed in a loud, hissing call at the thought of changing back just now. Off in the bushes the Hexapede fled in graceful, terrified hops and the Prolemuris monkeys stopped their playing. Harry was the king, and he was going to spend the day figuring out the extent of his newfound power and dominion.

***

Authors Notes:

Very sorry for the delay, guys! Real life caught up with me and sucked all the free time right out of my days. It was like a free time vampire. Next chapter is going to start off right where this one ended, so don't worry about missing out on Harry's (mis)adventures as he learns about his Animagus form.