Avatar: The Tale of Harry, Book 1: Purity

by stringdog

Korra's time has passed and the world awaits the Avatar's return. Harry, an earthbender in his fourth year at the Elemental Academy, discovers that he is the new Avatar. Now he must master all the elements while dealing with the return of Korra's last enemy, a bloodbender set on bender supremacy and maintaining the purity of bending, and avoid making his own enemies in the process.

26. Chapter 26

Here is chapter 26 on time as always. No questions were raised last week so just sit back and enjoy the latest installment in Avatar: The Tale of Harry. Book 1: Purity.

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing relating to either of these two great works of fiction.

Chapter 26

Harry walked to Master Severus' office in the Water House for his first ever waterbending lesson. The Head of the Water House's office was located on the center iceberg of the Water House in the main academic building of the House. The building was a large grandiose one modeled after Lucius University in the Northern Water Tribe, formally known as the Kuruk Institute for Higher Learning but was renamed by Chief Lucius after himself after he took the throne. Harry entered the building and took the stairs to the basement level. Why Severus chose to have his office in the basement Harry didn't know but it was a little odd. The basement was colder than the rest of the building and Harry had to pull the blue parka he wore close around himself for warmth. When he got to Severus' office he knocked on the door.

"Enter" came the voice of the Head of the Water House.

Harry pushed the door open and entered the office. Somehow it was even colder in the office than the rest of the basement. Harry took a moment to look around the office, this was the 5th and last senior teacher's office he had seen. The office appeared to be carved from the ice and was clearly much larger than the other offices Harry had seen, likely because it was carved out of the ice rather than in a building. Along the walls on shelves cut out of the ice were books and scrolls on waterbending, all in cases to protect them from the ice. The most disconcerting thing however was the large collection of unidentifiable creature floating in slimy preserving solutions. Harry had no idea what they were but they were certainly creepy as fuck. If Harry had to guess they all came from the vast ecosystem of the Foggy Swamp.

Severus himself was sitting behind an ice desk with a leather topper looking at a small cauldron that was bubbling with an unknown solution. Harry had heard the waterbending master was an expert in potions from his youth in the Swamp but still it was a very arcane pursuit that few pursued. That being said his own mother was one of the best potion makers in the Earth Kingdom so Harry could badmouth the profession or art too much. Overall Harry liked this office the least.

Bolin's office in the Earth House was a testament to his achievements and history with pictures of the old Team Avatar in their heyday and posters of his time as a probender and then as a mover star. It was topped off by a statue of him as Nuktuk the Hero of the South, a series Harry had found amusing but very raw by modern mover standards. Albus's office in the Fire House had held a library of rare books, not all on firebending, and a collection of delicate silver instruments and inventions that Harry had not seen before or since. Both Jinora and Filius kept their offices Spartan with a focus on Air Nomad history. Now he was in Severus' office and in all honesty Harry wanted to get out of it ASAP.

"Ah Avatar Harry the time has come for you to learn the noble and delicate art of waterbending." Severus said looking up from his potion. "The hardest of the elements to master with the most subtle sub-bending forms and the lowest percentage of benders born per year of any element."

"Yes I am eager for you to teach me the last element that I need to learn to become a fully realized Avatar." Harry said moving to stand in front of Severus' desk.

"That is merely a side effect of your mastery of waterbending, when it happens, but it is arrogant and naive to just look at the art in such a way." Severus said coldly and Harry could swear he felt the temperature in the room drop another few degrees. "No here you will learn more than simply bending water to your will the way you do with your rocks. Here you will learn the very nature of water and how to use it in your bending. Waterbending requires a fines and delicate touch, not the brash power needed to earthbend. It is a hard concept for an arrogant and stubborn earthbender to grasp, or a rube from the South as your friends are or the hicks from the Swamp I hail from but do not return too for that reason. You, however, must grasp it in order to truly master waterbending."

"Very well Sifu Severus." Harry said trying to control his anger at the waterbender's words. It was very unprofessional to call your student arrogant to his face, especially when he hadn't done anything to show arrogance, and to refer to other students as rubes was a bit rich for a swampbender even if Severus went to great lengths to sever his ties to the Foggy Swamp Tribe. "Where shall we begin?"

"First tell me what you learned from your homework yesterday." Severus said standing and walking around his desk to face Harry. "And you shall refer to me as master or sir from now on."

"I learned that water, while not the true opposite to earth, is still a very different element, master." Harry said schooling his emotions once more. "It is more akin to air than earth or fire. It is fluid and malleable to earth's solid and tough form. It also has the most styles as the waterbenders of the world are the most spread out and have developed styles in more isolation than the other elements."

"It appears you can learn something which is much more than your father ever could." Severus said. "All he cared about was how big a boulder he could break with his head. Yes water is fluid, it is the element of change, it is the most adaptable element and the one that changes the most. Remember a river starts as but a trickle and ends as a powerful, raging, force. Earth is the element of substance, it maintains that substance through great adversity and does not adapt without an exertion of force. This will make water the hardest element for you as you must be able to change and adapt to master it. You cannot force it the way you do earth or evade as you would with air or control it as you would with fire. You must adapt with the water, flow with it, rather than meet it head on."

As much of an asshole as Severus was being Harry couldn't fault the man for his words. He was clearly very knowledgeable about the nuances of the bending arts but how would he be as a teacher was still to be determined, as were the styles he would actually teach.

"I understand." Harry said. "I have learned how to incorporate waterbending styles into my own earthbending though it has been harder with Northern and Southern styles than probending style and the little Foggy Swamp style I know for the polar styles require adaption and change that is alien to earthbending."

"Well at least that is a start for you Avatar." Severus said snidely. "However with me you will not learn Foggy Swamp style or the perversion that the probending style is though I have mastered in both styles for completion purposes. I will teach you exclusively Northern Style and perhaps some elements of the Southern styles as they are the purist and most natural styles of waterbending making them perfect for an average bender like you to learn so long as you understand the philosophy of waterbending."

"I am not an average bender." Harry said struggling with his anger. "I am considered a prodigy with earth and I am the Avatar so that alone makes me naturally above average."

"How arrogant of you to believe what others have praised you for just because of your birth." Severus snapped back. "I have seen your earthbending and it is average at best. As for being the Avatar that is not a guarantee of excellence in a particular element only your own natural ability with the element will suffice there. Now have you ever attempted the bend water."

"No I haven't." Harry said silently seething at Severus but holding it in as best he could. "I have been a little busy this year trying to master fire and air and then having to deal with the return of Voldemort, a man who wants to kill me because I exist and who is a homicidal, sociopathic, tyrannical maniac hell bent on global domination and the subjugation of nonbenders simply because they cannot bend and some weird and stupid notion of purity. On top of that I managed to make an enemy and possibly a future world threat in Hermione, a bender who is both Voldemort's opposite and yet the same. She too believes the bullshit she sprouts to be law that if all followed without question the world would be a better place when in reality her views are just as dangerous, extreme, bigoted, intolerant and racist as Voldemort's and has no compunction in killing or enslaving those who disagree with her and get in her way. On top of all that shit I have had to keep up with my own studies as this is first and foremost a school and train for the Academy Bending Tournament. So no, sir, I have not had any time to attempt waterbending."

"Are you done?" Severus said as if he was talking to an unruly child. "Good. Now I can start from the basics with you. As the Avatar you will have a lot to deal with so you must learn to prioritize your time. The Dark Lord is the main threat right now and you are right in that recent events have increased that threat but he is a waterbender so it is now of the utmost importance that you learn waterbending. Remember that the Dark Lord is arguably the best water and bloodbender in history and you must face him someday soon. Hermione may become a threat in years to come but she is in reality an idealistic, ignorant, impatient child where the Dark Lord is a patient, calculating, adult who always thinks everything through. He is the real threat right now and it is my job to prepare you as best you can for it, even if you may be a mediocre bender at best. I will over look your language for now but rest assured that should you swear again in my lessons I will give you detention and that is something I know you will not want."

Again Harry had to refrain from lashing out at the waterbending master for his words. Harry would have to swallow his pride and deal with this gifted yet petty man and learn what he could from him and supplement it at night with Ron and Ginny's likely more productive teachings.

"I see Sifu Severus." Harry said offering a low bow of acquiescence. "I am here to learn the noble art of waterbending from one of the best in the world. I am your student and am here to learn."

"Very well let us begin." Severus said standing from his desk, walking around it and taking a loose fighting stance in front of Harry. "I shall train you in here every day in the Northern Style, hopefully you can be a better student than the usual mediocre talent I am forced to endure. Once you have progressed beyond the basics we can move to one of the gyms for the more advanced styles required for mastery. Now we are going to start with you pulling up a ball of water from the ground."

With that Severus melted the snow in between him and Harry to form a shallow pool of water. Harry had to admit he hadn't thought of the transformation of snow and ice to water for training purposed. However he thought that it would have been easier to start with ice as it was solid water and thus more straightforward for him to learn than with the liquid. After all he had struggled with lava and that was liquid rock. Still Harry mimicked the stance Severus was taking, it felt a little unnatural to him as it was lighter than his earth stance but it was close enough to probending lightness to not be truly unnatural.

"Now repeat after me Avatar." Severus said.

Harry watched as the waterbending master looked at the pool and moved his arms up to shoulder height. As he did so a ball of water rose from the pool to hover in mid air. Slowly Severus returned it to the pool.

"Alright that doesn't look so hard." Harry said as he focused on the water and raised his arms. Nothing happened. He kept trying, getting more and more frustrated that despite doing the move Harry could not bend the water to his will.

"Do not force the water to your will." Severus snapped at Harry as if he was reading the Avatar's mind. "Go with the water and let it guide you, do not guide it yourself."

"That's exactly what I am doing." Harry snapped back.

"No you're not you are trying to force it the way you would force a rock." Severus said the anger beginning to build in his voice. "Water is not some stubborn rock and does not need to be forced, it is free and fluid so that is the mentality you need to take."

Harry kept trying, even changing his movements and using other moves he had seen Ron and Ginny use, even some he remembered from watching Sirius in the arena growing up and going to his dad's games but still nothing at all was working.

"You are thinking like an earthbender and not like a waterbender." Severus finally snapped clearly pissed off at Harry's lack of progress. "Stop trying its clear you don't understand the basics of waterbending."

"Well perhaps it is the style that is the problem not my mentality." Harry snapped. "Perhaps a more aggressive style like Southern style or Foggy Swamp style would be more suited to me to begin with and then once I have learned them I can move onto the elegant and defensive Northern style."

"Those are not real styles of waterbending." Severus said. "They are perversion of the nature of water. They exert their will on water and do not adapt to it. There is no flow of elegance to them. I am here to teach you waterbending and that is what I will do. I will teach you the original style and the only one that qualifies one to be a master."

"How can you say that about your own tribe's style?" Harry asked surprised. "I know you are the Crown Prince of the Foggy Swamp Tribe so how can you call your own heritage a perversion of waterbending."

"Just because I was born there and know the style does not mean that I recognize it as pure waterbending." Severus said anger in his voice. "Waterbending was developed in the north and they treat the element as it is and do not try and change it."

"And yet you can blood and plantbend which both are perversions of waterbending under your definition." Harry retorted. "And created by the other two tribes."

"How did you know I can bloodbend." Severus retorted the anger now clear in his voice. "That information is supposed to be need to know. I'm not even allowed to teach it here, we have to get in one of the White Lotus licensed bloodbenders for the 7th years who wish to learn the concept and how to defend against it. Yes I've mastered it and was licensed to teach it but given my former friends the Academy is always hesitant to let me teach bloodbending. Not that it is a problem as it is a vile art, the greatest perversion to bending ever created."

"I am the Avatar." Harry replied. "I am allowed to know things others aren't and I know for a fact that you are suspected of activities as a Death Eater during the First Purity War."

"I have never even been suspected of such dark acts." Severus said the anger getting the better of him. "Such arrogance was a trait your father the Imperial Senator seems to have passed down to you."

"Then why does the President of the United Republic suspect you?" Harry asked.

"Because my friends at the Academy all turned out to either be Death Eaters or suspected Death Eaters due to their beliefs." Severus said. "And Scrimgeour is a paranoid bastard who sees any waterbender who values the true style as suspect of Purist activities."

Suddenly the bell to signal the end of the mandatory training period sounded. Harry was surprised they had spent 3 hours already and he had yet to bend any water. All he and Severus seemed to do was argue. Students could continue to train on their own now but the teachers were allowed to take end their days if they chose to.

"I will see you tomorrow Avatar." Severus said turning and returning to his desk. "You are dismissed. Make sure you read up on the origins and philosophy of waterbending for tomorrow, you will need all your knowledge if you are to learn this element."

Harry didn't trust himself to say anything so he just turned and left the office. He was furious at the attitude of Severus and that he would be allowed to get away with that to a student, though he had to admit he too had not behaved well. He had risen to the waterbending master's bait and allowed his stubbornness and anger to get the better of himself. He would have to tell his friends this and begin his true waterbending training with Ron and Ginny ASAP. He could play the part with Severus so long as the man did not provoke him and if so he did not rise to Severus's bait.

Harry briefly returned to his room to hang up his coat, under it he was wearing the same stuff he had worn the day before in the Water House, and headed to the Union Café. Harry knew he would be the first to get there as his friends were still just finishing whatever training they had been doing. Once he got to the café he grabbed himself a plate full of meat and not much else and a jug of milk and headed to the most deserted table. They would need privacy if they decided to talk about the council meeting and Harry needed the energy for an intense earthbending anger session he needed to have tonight after dinner to vent his rage at Severus and before watching the second semifinal tonight.

Within half an hour all his friends had joined him. The café was partly full but most students preferred to eat in their houses after training as they were just too exhausted to walk all the way to the central area of campus so this worked out well for them. It would be private enough here to avoid being overheard so long as they were vigilant. Ron had gone with his usual meat mountain, so too had Neville as Neville had begun to train even harder with his parents' killers on the loose. Ginny had opted for a more balanced meal and Luna her usual vegetarian affair though she had gone for a lot of cheese and nuts to add more protein for her workouts.

"So Harry how was your first day of waterbending training?" Ginny asked when they had all sat down and begun to eat.

"Bluntly it was shit." Harry said then proceeded to tell them the whole story of his session with Severus from the Master's philosophical ramblings to their final arguments at the end of the training session.

"Well that is a really unprofessional session." Ginny said shaking her head. "How is he still a teacher, let alone a Head of House, here after all the shit he has done. He always plays favorites, doesn't recognize that our style of waterbending is legit and is blatantly insulting to students. Seriously how does he still teach here."

"Probably so Scrimgeour and Albus can keep him close and keep an eye on him." Ron said through a mouthful of meat before swallowing. "Remember he is a suspected Death Eater so perhaps they keep him close to make sure that we can nail him if he shows his true colors, if Scrimgeour is right that is. Look at the other suspected Death Eaters, well known Death Eaters now given the actions of some of them, they are all powerful and isolated to the point that it's hard to investigate them. However with Severus he is deep within our territory so he is under constant scrutiny."

"I agree" Neville said. "We should keep the ones we can keep close as close as possible. That's probably why he is still here. He is also an expert waterbender who does know his element better than most in the world. He could be one of the best teachers if only he actually acted like a good person."

"True." Harry said before changing the subject to something that would make him less angry. "Also we are out of earshot of everyone else so let's break down the war council meeting now. Later after the semifinal Ron and Ginny can train me in waterbending in the dorm in a more productive manner than Severus could."

"Good idea Harry." Ron said. "Then we can talk about the semifinal yesterday before we watch our two potential opponents for the final. And don't worry about that greasy git, we will train you after dinner or whenever we can this semester and we won't be dicks about it. We will teach you waterbending how you would learn not how Severus wants to make you learn."

"Thank you." Harry said. "Right where should we begin from the War Council."

"Well what do we think of the United Forces and the Imperial Army's plans." Luna said. "They seemed detailed to me and they are the ones who are dealing with the most direct threat."

"Don't forget about the Southern Water Tribe." Ginny said. "I know we discussed all that Ron and I learned before the council meeting but we know that there is an attack coming on our homeland within the next few months during a full moon."

"I wasn't" Luna said. "But as you said we already know and have examined the plans of Chief Arthur so what do we think about General Moody, Chief Robards and King Wu's plans?"

"I think in terms of physical power we can stop an invasion but not win, likely force a stalemate." Harry said. "We have the numbers and military skill advantage on those fronts but I doubt that Voldemort will try a hammer strike first. He is more of a scalpel than a hammer."

"How so?" Neville asked. "Seems to me that that would be the best course of action."

"For you that would be Neville." Ron said. "But that is also a classic firebender attack move to attack with overwhelming fire power in a shock and awe move. Voldemort is a waterbender. He is more adaptable and precise. Expect his first attack to be that of a surgeon with a scalpel rather than a warrior with a war hammer. Something subtle and unexpected."

"Of course I am not the tactician here after all." Neville said with a smile. "What do you think he will do Ron?"

"Remember what Regulus said." Ron said. "Voldemort will use cunning and guile first. If I was him I would cause a distraction like a riot in Republic City, possibly use the Purists and Triads under Scabior's leadership to distract the RCPD and the United Forces then use people like Umbridge and Thicknesse to infiltrated the governmental building where the political leaders would be and wipe them out. Then instill a puppet leader, Thicknesse would be the best choice as that Umbridge woman is apparently repulsive, and use the Commander-in-Chief of the United Forces power of the President to call off the United Forces and then declare martial law and allegiance to Voldemort. Only problem is that under the United Republic Constitution Thicknesse is not in the line of succession should the President die, resign, be unable to perform his or her duties or be removed from office. That being said that line of succession is only the Chief of Police followed by the General or Admiral, depending on prior command, of the United Forces so it would be easy for a high ranking governmental figure to claim command if they are the sole survivor."

"He would have to attack the Academy as well." Harry said thinking out loud. "I am here firstly and some of the best and most powerful benders in the United Republic are here including several Voldemort will want dead."

"Yes we should plan for that possibility as well." Ron said. "This is a more likely scenario but also one that cannot be really planned for as we don't know the full extent of the spymaster's network, Voldemort's forces or his current level of preparation."

"Well at least we know we need to be ready for this kinda coup." Harry said. "Now that that is settled let's get onto our match debrief. How did we feel we did against The Pranksters?"

"Honestly I know we failed to win in the first round for the first time all year but I still think that it was one of our best matches yet." Ron said as he finished his last mouthful of meat. "We worked well as a team and executed our moves to perfection."

"Yes predicting that initial assault saved my ass." Harry said. "Because it if wasn't ready to start on the defensive and just gone offensive as usual I may have been out early and we would have had a harder time winning the round."

"Yes but why didn't we try the air arc in the first round?" Ginny asked. "I know it was a risk but it worked did it not? We could have started with it and won in moments."

"That would have been a wise strategy and it's on me for not suggesting it as the tactician of the team." Ron said. "But I felt that they would gang up on Harry or myself at the beginning and a move like that should have been harder to execute and put us at a disadvantage early on. Best to show we could defend that strategy and make them pay for it than to risk an untested move that could backfire."

"Makes sense." Ginny said. "Other than that though I think we did well. It was a shame to not win in the first round though."

"Yes but that was to be expected given their coordinated attack to begin the match." Harry said. "They clearly perfected that move and in probending it is hard to get a knockout without taking an early lead though the air arc move does change that slightly. That is if the move is not banned."

"Yes the second round was flawless." Ron said. "But I want to work on that and another move this coming weekend. We need a way for Luna to execute it without sacrificing Neville."

"What's the other move?" Luna asked.

"I want to see if we can do the air arc in reverse." Ron said when he saw the quizzical looks on his friends' faces he elaborated. "I was wondering if Luna could leap into the air and sent the arc downwards at them. You know push them into the platform and see what happens. It will have less of a chance to ensure a knockout but will hinder them long enough to force them onto the back foot."

"I like it but it would have to be a more targeted attack." Luna said. "It just won't be accurate enough and it would be easier to dodge as they won't have to leap as high."

"Let me think on the angle of attack." Ron said. "We may be able to find the perfect angle through trial and error and you and Harry can do the trial while us three are the helpless opponents."

"Fun." Luna and Ginny said but both with very different tones.

"We should also practice against a similar move as the air arc being used on us." Neville said. "Now that the rabaroo is out of the hat so to speak others will try their own variants on the move and we could be on the defensive."

"An excellent idea Neville." Harry said beaming at his friend. "We will add that to this weekend's practice schedule. Of course this could all be for naught if the rules committee deems it illegal in the next revision of the rules."

"Yes but that won't happen until after the final so we need to be ready for the final if the other team chooses to use their version of it." Ron said. As he spoke he pulled out his watch. "Look at the time guys we need to get to the arena to get good seats for tonight to analyze our potential opponents."

Everyone quickly got up and cleared their plates before Team Avatar left Union Café and headed over to the arena hoping to get good seats. Harry had wanted to blow off his anger at Severus with some boulders, metal and a little lava sent at a rock Severus but dinner with his friends always helped him. They had finally broken down the War Council discussions and had made plans for their week, weekend and the final of the tournament that would take place towards the end of the semester and just before the final exams. They had the chance to defend their title and Harry had every intention of doing so.

As they entered the arena Harry was looking forward to a relaxing night with his girlfriend and friends watching the Academy's bending tournament and learning what he could about the other teams and their eventual opponent, all thoughts of his homework for Severus or his argument with the Head of the Water House gone from his mind. Now was a time for a brief rest bit from the strain of being the Avatar.

Hope y'all liked Harry and Severus's interaction and Harry's struggles with waterbending. Water will be the element Harry struggles with most. Other than that there isn't anything else to really add here other than that the next few chapters will be classic chapters of Harry at the Academy before the story shifts gears in a few weeks. As usual any questions in reviews or PMs will be answered when next week's chapter is posted on time as always and any suggestions will be listened too. Until next week.

Stringdog