The Mysterious Traveler

I am going to follow the tv series guide for a while and try to remain true to what it has officially been established, even though I will change and alter a couple of things later on. And while we're on the subject, I am officially retconning The Legend of Korra from my story. Don't get me wrong, I do have a soft spot for Korra but with the changes I'm making, I feel that it would be safe to leave the future up in the air and allow for more creative control.

Once again, just to warn you, this story is going to contain SPOILERS for the entire series of Avatar: The Last Airbender, so I highly recommend checking out the show if you haven't seen it. You have been warned!

Just a disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Avatar: The Last Airbender! They go to their rightful owners! I'm just writing this for fun, not money.

Anyway, please enjoy Chapter 2! And thank you to those who have left a review. ;)

Chapter Two:

A Strange New World

Severus couldn't tell exactly just how long he had been unconscious. His eyelids felt heavy with sleep, refusing to allow him to wake up. He found himself standing in a dark void, with no end in sight.

But in that dark void, he found a small light in the distance.

It was the only source he had against the abyss itself. So, he began to walk towards it, despite how far it seemed to be. But he felt motivated to do so. Like as if he was being drawn towards it.

Soon, he felt a heavy wind of cold air hit his face.

He slowly began to regain his senses, a renewal of strength coming back to him.

His blurry version began to come back into focus as the darkness receded. Soon enough he had the strength to sit up and search his surroundings. Rubbing his eyes, he looked around and realized he was in a small tent, lying on some blankets.

Instead of his Hogwarts robes, he wore blue furry clothing, a fact that frustrated him because of how muggle-like it looked and felt. Letting everything sink in, Severus started to remember the events that came to be, feeling an urge to rush out of the tent and find his way back to Hogwarts. Lots of questions ran through his head, wondering if his shield charm had stopped the glowing orb from doing anything that would result in hurting her.

Stop it! he scowled at himself, slowly calming himself down.

Sighing, he threw blankets off of him and got up. With his feet meeting the cold ground, he saw a pair of boots next to the tiny bed. Putting them on, he walked to the exit and moved the heavy blanket that stood in his way. Feeling the cold wind hit his face, he wrapped his arms around himself and pulled the fur he wore closer to his skin. Feeling his boots walk on ice and snow, he looked up and saw an entire village made up of tents and icy walls, with a large igloo to the far right.

There were people all around, mainly women and children, moving freely. As far as he could tell, there were no men to be seen.

Continuing his study of the landscape, all he could see was ice and snow, including the open ocean that wasn't far away. Wherever he was, he clearly wasn't in the United Kingdom anymore, let alone Europe for that matter. In fact, if his guess was right, he was most likely at one of the Poles. Probably the North Pole.

Feeling the cold air and wind against his body, he struggled to control his body from shivering.

It didn't take long for people to start noticing his presence, heads turning his way as children rushed to their mothers and hid behind them. They all looked at him with curiosity and fear, while keeping a good distance for their own safety.

He sneered at them from behind his greasy hair.

"Oh, good, you're awake," came a cheerful voice.

Turning towards the owner of the voice, he met the eyes of the girl known as Katara, who stood next to her brother. He could feel the boy's eyes on him, holding his boomerang in his hand as he stared.

"How do you feel?" asked Katara.

Severus was surprised by the girl's genuine concern for him, and also annoyed.

"Fine," he growled.

Katara smiled, "Great! Gran-Gran said that you suffered no major injuries from the fall, although she had a hard time believing us that you actually fell from the sky. Oh, and by the way, I took care of washing your clothes for you. They were a little dirty."

There was a part of Severus that felt a little awkward knowing that an old woman and a young girl actually saw him without his robes. He felt violated and embarrassed, knowing that they got a good look at the scars that lied beneath his robes.

"I hope you aren't in any pain."

"I'm not."

Katara sighed in relief, "That's a relief. When Gran-Gran and I disrobed you, I couldn't help but notice the scars and bruises on your body."

Severus felt his anger and humiliation begin to boil over, his face turning red.

"They're nothing!" he replied too quickly and aggressively.

Katara's smile faded at his response, "Oh..."

Sokka narrowed his eyes at him, "What are those names on your clothes anyhow?" he demanded. "I've never seen words like that before. What do they even mean?"

"They're just names that you wouldn't understand," he glared back, mumbling 'muggle' under his breath.

"Really?" Sokka raised an eyebrow. "Okay, so what are you doing way out here? Where are you from? How come I've never seen writing like that before?"

It's called English, you stupid muggle! Seriously, you can speak English, but you can't read it?

"Oh, stop it, Sokka!" the girl glared at her brother. "You wouldn't be able to read Fire Nation or Earth Kingdom writing. I even bet you wouldn't be able to tell the difference."

"Shh," Sokka whispered to his sister, covering the side of his mouth with his hand. "He doesn't know that."

I can hear you just fine, brainless muggle!

Katara waved her brother off, "How about we go check up on Aang. I think he would like to be part of this conversation."

She began to walk towards one of the tents, leaving the two of them behind as they at each other.

Shrugging, Sokka followed his sister.

Watching the two leave, he heard someone approaching from behind. Turning around, he came face to face with an old woman.

"Hello, young man," she said with no trace of emotion in her voice. "I apologize for my grandson's behavior, he's always been a distrustful one of outsiders ever since his father left our village to fight in the war with the other men. Life here hasn't been easy for any of us, especially for my family."

Severus nodded, finding himself able to tolerate her.

The old woman narrowed her eyes at him,

"You are a strange one," she said with curiosity and suspicion. "Tell me truly, did you really fall from the sky like my grandchildren say? It's one thing to hear that a young boy was frozen in an iceberg, along with a flying bison. Not to mention that same boy turning out to be an Airbender."

Airbender?

Thankfully, he was spared a response when a woman approached them.

"Gran-Gran, another one has fallen ill."

The elderly woman sighed, "Is it contagious?"

The woman shook her head, "No, Gran-Gran. It just appears to be the two children and now Lora."

"Have the cooks prepare soup for them. The faster we can help them overcome this sickness the better."

The woman nodded before walking away.

"Come on, Aang," Katara was dragging the young boy known as Aang across the snow and ice to the front of the crowd, almost making him trip a couple of times. "Aang, this is the entire village. The entire village, Aang."

Everyone stared at the young boy, eyeing the weird tattoos on his arms, legs, and head; especially the wooden staff that he carried with him. Even Severus thought the kid was going a little overboard with the whole monk-style he was putting on.

And what was up with the giant arrow on his forehead?

Aang did a bow towards them, his hands holding the staff in front of him as he did.

The villagers slightly moved back from him, holding their kids by the shoulders. They watched his every move with fear, like as if he would attack at any second.

"Uh, why are they all looking at me like that?" Aang asked Katara. "Did Appa sneeze on me?"

Severus sneered.

The old woman moved right past him and approached the two teens, "Well, no one has seen an Airbender in a hundred years. We all thought they were extinct... until my granddaughter and grandson found you."

Aang's eyes widened at the old woman's choice of words, "Extinct?"

Severus frowned at his response.

"Aang, this is my grandmother," Katara introduced him.

"Call me Gran-Gran," the old woman replied.

"Alright, so we've gotten the introductions out of the way and everyone is here," Sokka sighed, getting impatient as he tapped his shoulder with his boomerang. "We have questions about what happened yesterday and none of them have been answered. Question one, how did you," he pointing his weapon directly at Aang, "end up frozen in that iceberg?"

Staring, eyes crossed at the boomerang, Aang began to rub his neck, sheepishly, "Uh, I don't exactly remember yet. All I know was that Appa and I were flying over the ocean and then... everything went black."

Severus could hear the worry within the kid's voice, even seeing it in his eyes.

"Okay," Sokka accepted his answer. "Question two, what were you and... what was that creature's name again?"

"Appa."

"Right! What were you and Appa doing out in the middle of the ocean by your selves, especially with the war going on?"

Both Severus and Aang looked puzzled.

Did the Dark Lord already make his move?

"Wait, what do you mean 'war'?" Aang asked him.

"He's kidding, right?" Sokka looked at Katara, who only shrugged in reply.

"No, seriously, I have no idea what you guys are talking about. I haven't heard of any war."

"And neither have I," said Severus. "What war are you referring to?"

Everyone stared at the two of them.

"Please tell me that these two are joking," Sokka looked at his sister again, as if he was expecting an explanation from her.

"Maybe being stuck in an iceberg and the fall caused them to.. forget?" she offered, shrugging sheepishly again.

Sokka's eyes widened as he turned back to Severus, "Speaking of which, how did you end up in the sky? And second, we never got your name."

Severus felt his stomach drop and his heart beginning to race, realizing that speaking out had placed him in the spotlight now.

Good job, dunderhead, his Slytherin side of him taunted, knowing that every second that went by without a reply would only raise more suspicion of him. Thinking quickly, Severus said the first name he could think of, "Alexander Prince!"

Eyebrows raised at him.

"Odd name," Gran-Gran frowned. "Are you by chance a member of a noble family?"

"If only!"

"Well, would it be alright if we just called you... Alex, for short?" Katara asked, smiling sheepishly. "Oh, and my name is Katara. The rude one is my brother, Sokka."

"Hey!"

"And this here is Aang."

The monk-boy smiled, waving at him.

Severus forced himself to nod, sneering.

"Okay, now that we are all acquainted, time to solve the mystery of just how you ended up in the sky and fell a couple hundred feet! I mean, seriously, how are you not dead right now?!"

Severus himself couldn't help but wonder how exactly he ended up in the sky as well. He could easily deduce that the artifact teleported him to one of the Poles, but it still raised the question of what triggered it to teleport him to his potential death by leaving him high above one of the iciest regions in the world. And what could have made it respond the way it did when the Ministry of Magic had failed plenty of times before?

Knowing that he had to answer the question from the one called Sokka, he decided to go with a small version of the truth.

"I'm not sure."

"Okay, but how did you manage to survive?" Sokka pressed on. "And what was that yellow light?"

Severus glared at him, "I don't know!"

"Okay, enough of making him relive his near-death-experience, Sokka!" demanded Katara. "He survived and is in one piece, which is something that we all should be thankful for. And besides, it isn't the strangest thing we've seen. Aang here was frozen in an iceberg and got to live to tell the tale."

"Including Appa!" the boy smiled, raising his index finger.

Sokka rolled his eyes at both of them, "Alright, fine, I'll stop asking him questions."

Seeing his chance, Severus took control of the conversation.

"Since I've answered some of your questions, I think it's fair that I get some answers to mine. Where am I?"

"You're in the South Pole, the last remaining village of the Southern Water Tribe," Katara answered.

'Damn it!' he cursed. 'Why couldn't the damn thing teleport me to the North Pole? Or anywhere else close to Hogwarts?'

Severus struggled to control himself, "What do you mean last? And what is the Southern Water Tribe? I've never heard of such a thing in the South Pole!"

Frowning at him, she shrugged, "The Southern Water Tribe is part of the Water Tribes, which pretty much is the entire South Pole... or what's left of it. We are similar to the Northern Water Tribe, though they are much bigger than we are. Before the Hundred Year War, we used to be a thrilling society, filled with Waterbenders and some of the best masters. But all of that changed when the Fire Nation attacked and started a war against the other three Nations. Since then, the Air Nomads and Southern Water Tribe have been reduced to nothing."

"And between the two, we were the lucky ones," Sokka bitterly said.

What is this girl talking about? I've never heard of any Fire Nation! Or of any Four Nations! What were Waterbenders?!

Before he could speak, the monk-boy stepped forward, shaking his head.

"Whoa, wait a minute, back up! What war are you talking about? I've never heard of any war with the Fire Nation. You say it been going on for a hundred years, but I've never seen it."

"Yes, I would like some answers too," Severus declared. "I would have heard of a war if there was one, especially if it has been going for a century."

"How are you both unaware of this?!" Sokka demanded in an upset voice . "This war has cost us more than you can imagine. People we knew and loved have been taken away from us, and our home has been destroyed more times than we can count, and that's not even including what the rest of the world has been through!"

While unseen by others, Severus saw Katara on the verge of tears, struggling to keep herself together.

"I'm sorry, Sokka," Aang lowered his eyes. "But I really don't know what you're talking about."

"Aang, I hope you don't mind me asking," Katara turned to him, wiping the tears from her eyes. "But how long do you think you've been in that iceberg?"

The Airbender took a moment to think about it, "A few days, maybe? Although it does feel like its been longer."

"Well..," she stopped herself to take a deep breath. ",... I think that it might have been a lot longer."

"How much longer?" Aang raised an eyebrow.

Severus could see where Katara was taking this and resisted the urge to call the monk-boy out on his inability to realize it too.

"Well, judging by how he don't seem to be aware of the war and the fact that you were stuck in an iceberg, I believe it may have been... a hundred years."

"What?!" the monk was taken back before beginning to chuckle. "Do I look like a hundred-something-year-old man to you? There is no way I could have survived for that long."

"Think about it, it explains everything. You know absolutely nothing about the war, which was started a hundred years ago. I think the iceberg put you into some kind of hibernation, similar to animals. It fits and explains everything."

Severus admired the girl's intelligence, knowing that if she had been born a witch she would have been in decent Ravenclaw.

"But... what about Alex?" he motioned towards Severus. "He fell out of the sky, right in the same location where you found me, and he doesn't know a single thing about the war either."

Katara thought about it and sighed, "Okay, I admit, I have no idea how he fits into all of this. Time-travel... maybe?"

"Maybe it would help us understand what exactly happened if you told us more about where it is that you come from," Sokka offered, although his voice highly hinted at ulterior motives.

"Where I come from is none of your concern!" he snapped. "I can tell my presence is not welcomed here, so I'll do us all the favor and leave as soon as possible!" He turned to the monk, "Your bison can fly, yes?"

Aang nodded, "Uh, yes... but Appa needs to regain his strength before he can fly again. Being in that iceberg must have done a great number on him..." he stopped, his face lowering as he came to a realization, "... which is also proof that Katara maybe right. Being stuck in an iceberg for a hundred years would make a flying bison tired."

Katara placed a hand on his shoulder, looking at him with sadness, "Look at the bright side, you and Appa are alive."

"Yeah, I guess," the boy's head hung low. "It'll be nice to see the new generation of Airbenders... I suppose"

"Okay, you keep mentioning those words again; benders, waterbending, airbending. What do they even mean?" Severus demanded.

The three looked at each other and then stared at him as if he was some kind of mad man.

Severus sighed, "Alright, never mind! I just want to get back home and pretend that this never happened! Sound good to you?!"

Although still distrustful, Sokka nodded, "I can work with that. Aang, how long before your bison should be able to fly you two out of here?"

Aang shrugged, "By nightfall, maybe even tomorrow morning. I'll let you know when we can leave."

Severus nodded, suddenly realizing that he didn't have his wand with him.

"Did you happen to grab my wand?" he asked.

At first confused, Katara's face lit up as she realized what he meant, "Oh, yeah, that long stick of yours. I took it with us when we loaded you onto Appa. It's back in the tent that Sokka and I use. You'll find your clothes there as well, but I highly recommend sticking with the ones you are wearing right now... for obvious reasons."

He nodded again, "Fine."

"Our tent is right over there," Katara pointed directly at the spot it was at.

Taking his leave, Severus grabbed his stuff from the tent and put his wand into the only pocket of the furry coat he was wearing. As he carried his school robes, he decided to take Katara's advice and wear the clothes he currently had on, despite how much he wanted to be rid of them.

For the next couple of hours, Severus kept his distance from the village but within reach as well. He sat on a small hill of snow, overlooking the large body of water before him. He watched as the sun began lower in the distance, creating an orange color in the sky. Despite how cold it was, he used his robes to keep his head and neck warm, even moving around to keep the blood flowing.

His mind wandered back to Hogwarts and how Lily was doing. It almost killed him that he couldn't know for sure if she was safe.

Did the school believe he was dead? Was Gryffindor throwing a party in celebration of his demise? Was Lily the only one mourning his 'death', or was she one of the people who didn't care? Was Hogwarts in ruins and he was the only survivor?

He groaned in frustration at the questions that kept popping up in his head as he sat there.

So far, the day had been the best in many years for Katara. A bond had formed between her and the Air Nomad, a friendship blooming in its earliest stages. Despite her grandmother's warnings, she couldn't resist becoming attached to the young boy. He was so full of energy and innocence that made her nostalgic. A sense of hope she had not felt in so long. And she wasn't the only one. The village had taken a liking to him. Well, the younger of the population anyway. The only exceptions being her brother and some of the elderly grown-ups. Her grandmother was harder to figure out on where she stood with the monk.

The one everyone was distrustful of was the one known as Alexander Prince.

Even Katara felt intimidated by his anger and impatience, a reminder of the people who had taken everything from her. But she also felt something else about him. Something that others seemed to miss at a first glance.

After helping Aang capture a hybrid penguin, the two had spent the day sledding down the hills with wild abandon, forgetting her responsibilities as she enjoyed the wind against her face. It was only after they had reached the bottom of the hill that she realized where they were before Aang did.

"Whoa!" he stared in awe at a stranded ship in the middle of the frozen ice land. 'What's that?"

Katara closed her eyes and sighed, "That is a Fire Navy ship. A memory that reminds us of the real enemy out here."

Aang tilted his head, studying the frozen ship, "The Fire Nation has really upgraded since I last visited Kuzon."

"Who's Kuzon?"

Aang's face fell, "He's... an old friend from the Fire Nation."

"Oh..."

He stared at the ground, messing with some snow with the tip of his shoe.

"Let's take a look inside," he walked towards the hole in the side of the skip.

"Aang, stop!" Katara cried. "We're not allowed to go near it. The ship could be booby-trapped."

"If you want to be a bender, you have to let go of fear."

Taking his words to heart, she nodded and followed. Though she remained nervous.

As they walked down the frozen, steep corridors, the sound of dripping water and the wind echoed around them, like a silent scream of an open wound that will never heal.

"This ship has haunted my people since Gran-Gran was a little girl. Some of her best friends helped strand this ship before they were all eventually taken away by the Fire Nation. Now... I'm all that's left of the Waterbenders of the Southern Water Tribe."

Aang shook his head, "None of this makes sense! The Fire Nation was peaceful when I last saw it."

Katara stared at him sadly, "Aang, the Fire Nation you knew back then is not the same as it is now. They're not like your friend."

"What happened?" he whispered to himself. "What made the Fire Nation commit these terrible things?"

"I don't know, Aang. All I know is that... people change. Sometimes not for the better."

Wiping his eyes, he turned to her, "Let's get going. Appa must be rested by now."

Katara nodded, feeling her heart twist at the realization of his departure, distracting her from noticing the string hidden under some snow as her foot connected with it. A bar door shut behind them and in front, trapping them in the empty room.

"What was that you said about booby-traps?" Aang asked.

Katara gasped as she saw more trap mechanisms being triggered by the string, sending up a flare into the sky, which revealed a hole in the ceiling.

"Uh-oh!" said Aang. "Hold on tight!"

Before she could ask, he moved his arms under her legs and back, leaping into the air and out of the hole in the ceiling as she gasped at his speed and sudden action. Not that she was complaining, especially with how strong he seemed. He continued hopping from roof to roof until eventually landing on the snow next to the ship.

Setting her down, they began running back to the village.

Zuko's heart leaped the moment he saw the flare in the sky. Grabbing the spyglass, he searched for the location of where the flare came from and found the stranded Fire Navy ship in the long-distance, quickly spotting a figure hopping down to the ground with ease, with someone in his arms. The sight alone made him struggle to contain his excitement.

"The Last Airbender!" he exclaimed. "Quite agile for his old age."

He turned to one of his soldiers, "Wake my uncle! Tell him... I've found the Avatar!"

Severus's eyes glanced up to see a flare in the sky. Curious, he picked up his stuff and made his way back to the village, noticing that something was happening at the entrance.

Aang and Katara approached the villagers, looking guilty of having done something they shouldn't have. As he got closer, he could hear an argument going on between Katara and Sokka, their voices echoing across the frozen landscape.

"It's my fault," he heard Aang say when he got within reach to hear what they were saying.

"A-ha!" Sokka cried out, pointing directly at him with an accusing finger. "The traitor confesses! Warriors, away from the enemy!"

Severus sneered at the boy, watching as the kids ran from Aang and back towards the crowd.

The moment he reached them, Sokka turned his attention to him and met his eyes, pointing directly at him, "And there's his spy-friend! I bet the two of you planned to set off that flare for the Fire Nation!"

The moment he heard those words leave his mouth, Severus stopped and glared at him, "Excuse me?"

"Don't deny it!" Sokka glared. "You didn't just fall from the sky by accident, did you? You and Aang planned to infiltrate us, find our home, expose it to your Fire Navy friends, and hand over my waterbending sister to them!"

"I have no idea who the Fire Nation are, and I am not friends with them, let alone acquaintances!" he was on the verge of yelling.

"Doesn't matter! We've had enough of you two foreigners and are hereby banished from our village!" Sokka declared as if his word was law.

"I don't even want to be here!" he snapped.

"Sokka, you're making a mistake!" Katara spoke against him, infuriated.

"No, I'm keeping my promise to dad! I'm keeping you safe from enemies like them!"

"Aang and Alex are not our enemies!"

"But they could be, Katara!" Sokka tried to reason with her. "You saw the way how they've been acting and speaking, including their limited knowledge of the war. He fell from the sky and somehow survived, while this one was trapped in an iceberg. We barely know anything about them, except their names. If that's even their real names at all! Not to mention he refuses to tell us where he even comes from! Tell me that he doesn't send off all the red flags!"

"Okay, maybe Alex does seem unusual-"

Sokka raised an eyebrow.

"-but he clearly isn't an enemy. He isn't out to look for any Waterbenders. He just wants to go home, like Aang does. If anything, these two have brought us something that we haven't had in a long time. Fun."

"We can't fight Firebenders with fun!"

"You guys should try it sometime," Aang joked.

"Okay, that's it!" Sokka's face was red now. "Get out of our village now, both of you!"

"Gran-Gran, please!" Katara begged her grandmother. "Please don't make them leave. Sokka is just overreacting."

"I'm sorry, Katara, but you knew that going on that ship was forbidden," said the old woman. "Sokka is right. I think it would be best if the Airbender and Alexander leave now."

"Fine!" Katara cried out. "Then I'm banished along with them, too!" She took Aang's hand, heading towards the flying bison behind them. "Come on, Aang! Come on, Alex!"

Severus shook his head and followed.

"And where do you think you're going?!" Sokka called out in anger.

"To find a Waterbender! Aang is taking me to the North Pole, once Alex is dropped off at... wherever he wants to go!"

"I am?" Aang seemed confused, which made Severus nearly sneer at the expression on his face. "Great!"

"Katara!" Sokka called out again, this time with a calmer and more reasoning voice. "Would you really choose him over your own tribe? Over your own family?"

"I would!" he said out loud, earning a glare from the boy.

Katara let go of Aang's hand in confliction.

As the sun began to set, Appa had decided to lie down and rest, ignoring the scene in front of him. Severus walked right past them and turned, waiting to see what her decision was going to be.

Aang sighed, "Katara, I don't want to come between you and your family. If you want to come, you can. But make sure it is what you want."

He approached Appa and motioned for Severus to climb onto the bison.

Although a little nervous of the animal, Severus pushed those feelings aside and climbed onto the saddle, along with his stuff.

"So you're both leaving the South Pole now? Is this truly goodbye?"

"Yeah, best if we got a head-start," Aang smiled slightly. "Thanks for penguin sledding with me. I had fun with you."

"Yeah," Katara blushed. "I had fun with you too. Glad we could have that talk though."

"And sorry about the flare. But that talk did help me though. So... thank you for that."

Oh, dear Merlin, just kiss already! Severus sneered.

"So, where will you go, after you've jumped off Alex?"

"I guess I'll go back home and look for the Airbenders. Wow, I haven't cleaned my room in one hundred years. Definitely not looking forward to that."

If they hadn't given it to someone else since then, he rolled his eyes.

Aang did a twirl and jumped straight up into the air, slowly landing on top of the bison's head, waking the beast up from his nap.

The act left Severus dumbstruck, trying to understand how the kid did that. His first instinct was that he was a wizard, though he highly doubted it. He decided to ask him later about that, maybe even finally know what a bender was.

"It was nice meeting everyone."

"Let's see your bison fly now, Airboy," Sokka taunted.

Severus glared at him, hoping that the beast could fly, just to wipe that smirk off of the boy's face.

"Come on, Appa, you can do it!" Aang encouraged the bison. "Yip Yip!"

Sadly, much to Severus's disappointment, the bison only stood up, grunting.

"Yeah, I thought so!"

Don't tempt me! Severus scowled, tightening his grip on his wand.

One of the kids cried out and ran forward, stopping next to Katara, begging for Aang not to go. Rolling his eyes, he could see an exchanged look between Aang and Katara, just before the bison started walking away from the village.

Once they had gotten far enough away, Severus decided to act on the questions he had, "Hey, I have questions for you."

"Go ahead," Aang turned to look at him.

"What are benders?"

Pulling on the rope, the bison came to a stop as Aang stared at him in shock.

"What do you mean? I thought you would know what a bender is. Everyone does."

Severus shook his head, "Never heard of them."

Though surprised, Aang shrugged, "Okay, so benders are people who have the ability to bend the elements of the world to their will. There are the Firebenders, who are part of the Fire Nation. The Waterbenders, who are part of the Northern and Southern Water Tribes. The Earthbenders, who are part of the Earth Kingdom. And finally, the Airbenders, who are part of the Air Nomads. All four of these nations make up the Four Nations, who rule certain corners of the world. The biggest being the Earth Kingdom."

"Wait, hold up, what are you talking about?" he was seriously lost. "I've never heard of any Four Nations where I'm from, including people who can bend any elements. Even this war doesn't ring a bell."

Aang was giving him a look that questioned his sanity, "How is that possible? The Four Nations is everything to this world. Surely you must have heard of 'em, even the benders. That's like not knowing about the Spirit World."

"Spirit World?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Seriously, where have you been this entire time?" Aang frowned. "It's like you're learning your history from a completely different world."

Severus's eyes slowly widened, the monk's words echoing in his ears.

"Are you okay, Alex?" Aang asked, now worried.

"What year is it?" he demanded.

"You're asking the wrong guy, Alex. I was in an iceberg for over a full century, so my guess could be wrong by a year or two, and that's if they haven't changed the time calendar design."

"Alright, then answer me this one, do you know of the..." he sighed, cursing himself for asking such a muggle question,"... seven continents?"

"Seven continents?"

"North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, Antarctica? Any of those ring a bell?!"

"Uh, no. Sorry, Alex. Those continents don't exist here, or ever did for that matter. Seriously, are you sure you're-"

"Do you know of Britain, London, France, the Atlantic Ocean? Any of them?" he was desperate for a yes to any of them.

"Alex, I have no idea what those are, but I can tell you that they do not exist. I bet even Katara and Sokka would tell you the same."

Silence followed as Severus processed all of the information into his head and stared off into the icy landscape of the South Pole, falling back against the saddle of the bison. If his expression of one of shock and fear, he couldn't tell. He remembered what the Defense teacher told the class about the strange artifact, his words suddenly seeming more legit now. He began to realize that Ministry was right to fear the glowing orb.

"Alex, are you alright?" Aang's voice echoed through his ears, like sound down a tunnel.

Slightly shaking his head, Severus nodded, "Yes... fine."

Though not convinced, Aang nodded. "Well, let's see if Appa can fly. If not, we'll wait until morning."

The Airbender pulled on the robes of Appa and got the bison moving again.

Looking off into the distance again, Severus began to wonder what exactly he was going to do now, considering the situation he was in. A part of him hoped there were other witches and wizard out there, but he feared there weren't. If people here could bend the elements, then wizards and witches wouldn't be in hiding.

Wondering what this meant for his ability to do magic, he took out his wand and put his hand on the tip.

"Lumos", he whispered and his wand lit up.

Sighing in relief, he quickly cast the counter-charm before Aang saw it.

As the sun got lower, his thoughts drifted to his current situation.

If he truly was stranded, then his journey to get back home was going to be rather tough. He didn't even know what triggered the orb to transport him to this world in the first place, let alone how to get back. He wondered if the mysterious cloaked figure had anything to do with it. Worry began to set in as he struggled to find a solution or at least a lead to go on that could help him in getting back to Hogwarts.

Back to... her.

The last thing he wanted was to be stuck in this world. He wondered if there was no way back, if he was doomed to be trapped here until the day he died. The very thought made him all the more determined to find a way, no matter the cost.

Shaking his head, he looked back at the Airbender and became more curious.

Since he was here, a lot of questions began popping up.

Were the benders similar to wizards? Were their powers connected to magical cores or another form of energy? What was rest of the world like? Was it like the technical world or a more medieval time-like society? Did benders and their version of muggles live together in harmony? Or did the benders rule over them?

Much to his surprise, Severus actually felt a little excited in exploring this new world. He felt the need to see what it had to offer and if he could use any knowledge to his advantage... a way to gain his own recognition and respect when he got back home.

Just like Alexander Prince.

He smiled slightly at the thought, beginning to think that maybe this unfortunate incident could be used to his advantage.

I wanted to get the whole 'reveal' out of the way in this chapter for Severus, so we can explore him knowing that he is on a whole new world and has the freedom to actually explore it. It felt rather pointless to just have him find out many chapters later.

Some of you might have noticed that I'm having Severus go under the name of Alexander Prince in this story, just like Redemption. I apologize to those who might not like this, but I can't help it. I just feel like Alexander is a good name for him if he wasn't named Severus that is. I originally was going to go with Marcus Prince or even Alexander Blackwater as his name, but I thought it wasn't as good, so I decided to go with Alexander Prince instead.

I know Alexander isn't a wizard name, at least as far as I know of. But I'm making it a common wizard name in my story. It's fanfiction, I get to make up some of my own rules.

Message to "actionliker": Glad to see you've decided to check this story out, and I'm happy to know that you're on board. To answer your question about a possible love interest for Severus, all I have to say is this... 'stay tuned'.

Message to "CamFou182": This isn't going to be a spoiler, as it will never really happen, but to answer your question: "No". A wizard cannot bend in this world, unless they are born with or given the power of bending an element. I do not plan on going that route with Severus. I've decided to have him still retain his ability to perform magic.

Alright guys, thank you for the wonderful reviews and the amazing support. It really means a lot to me.

I'll see you in Chapter 3! :)