Harry hummed as he stared at the fire in his hands. Toph was teaching Aang how to earthbend, and he'd decided to go off and practise. He wanted to try and train his firebending, maybe he could do more, be more useful. Maybe he wouldn't fail again.

His flames had been getting stronger, not close to Azula's inferno that's for sure, but it was getting stronger. He stood up, opening his legs and squatting slightly. Imitating Zuko was harder than he thought, but then again, he was a master firebender. He was just a fire wizard; wait is that a thing? He frowned, before he realized that he was drifting off and shook his head. He breathed in, concentrating on his fire core. He felt the flame surge, and he punched the air, a small flame coming to life. He beamed as it travelled … one metre before fizzling out. The wizard drooped in disappointment before straightening up.

He could do this; he could learn stupid firebending. He squatted slightly, ignoring the ache in his legs. He shifted his right foot forward as he punched with his right hand sharply. The fire drifted longer than it did before, but not enough to actually harm anyone. He didn't even how high the temperature needed to be to harm anyone but not kill them. Welp, that's a problem for future me, he thought, as he tried to figure out how to throw it farther. His fire wasn't a jet of fire, but rather a literal ball.

He straightened up, holding his right fist close to his chest, as he concentrated on putting as much force as he could. Fire licked his hand like a warm embrace, and he shifted punching the air and letting the energy go at the same time. He yelped in surprise as a long jet of fire streamed out of his hand, jerking his body backwards at the force. He landed on his back with a silent grunt of pain, the air knocked out of him. He panted for a few seconds, looking at the open sky. OK, so that's why you squat. He stayed there for a few more moments, before standing up with a wince.

He rubbed his back as he got into position, shifting his right foot so it was horizontal rather than straight out. He tried to balance himself as much as possible as he concentrated on his fire, putting power, his hands sweating as he concentrated. He braced himself and let the power out. A literal jet of flames came out of his hand, heating the air in front of him.

He blinked in surprise, before a delighted grin split his face. He stared at his hand, joy rushing in his chest. "I did it! Look Hermione, I did it!" he whirled around, smile dropping as he was met with empty air. Ah. Right. He stared at a while longer. He couldn't believe he'd forgotten. How could he forget? He ignored the pain in his chest and set himself up. He didn't have time to feel sad. He had to train. He let the anger draw up, let it fuel his fire. He braced his feet, drew his fist, and let fire stream ahead of him.

He lost himself, there. Only driven by the pain of losing his family, his only family. Of being stuck in this world where he couldn't help anyone at home. Of knowing a maniac was coming after his precious people, but he could do nothing about it. Of having to fight in another war. Of having to fight with kids to gain freedom for the population of this world. Of Voldemort. Of his parents. Of Lily. Of—

He dropped to his knees, as the fire faded. Exhaustion made its way through his body. He felt the tears making rivers on his cheeks, and just like rain, he couldn't get it to stop. He tried to wipe them away at first, but after he realized it was futile, he just let them flow. His fire was out, but his magic was not. He could feel it out of control, like the time when he'd turned Aunt Marge into a balloon. Energy crackled at his fingertips, it was ready to go out to—

"Hey, you alright?"

Harry whirled around, coming face to face with Toph. His magic halted, as if bewildered that someone had dared interrupt its moment. The tears stopped, and blood rushed to his cheeks. Embarrassment and shame ran through him, as he wiped his face. "Y-yeah. I'm fine. Weren't you training with Aang?" Before he could stand up, she sat down next to him. "I was. Twinkle Toes doesn't have the guts that's needed." She shrugged, looking wholly unconcerned.

"Isn't that bad?"

"Nah. He can do it. That's not a question. He just needs to realize that he can." She looked in his direction, a serious stare in her empty eyes, "What's going on? I felt big tremors through the air, and as far as I know, you're not the avatar."

"So, you don't follow the Fire Nation's princess logical conclusions?" he drawled. Staring at the sky. Toph snorted a laugh.

"I still can't believe she thinks that."

Even with the mixed feelings inside his heart, he couldn't help but smile, remembering Aang's story.

Aang stared ahead, waiting for someone to come. He had to struggle not to let his head drop and eyelids close. He was so tired. Then again, they all were. As soon as this was over, he was going to apologize to Harry and Toph. He hadn't meant to be a big jerk! They didn't deserve that. He blinked as one of the girls came up to him. She was tall and had a cocky attitude, her long hair enhancing her face. He stood up as she approached. She smirked as she saw him. "Well, well, who would have thought that they'd draw away the only airbender left." He ignored the slight and got into a fighting pose. "Now, as lovely as it would be for you to tell me how your family escaped, I want to know where the avatar is." Aang stood still, and froze, the tension leaking out of him. "But… I'm the avatar!" She scoffed.

"Don't think me so stupid! The other boy with the black air. He shot a jet of water at my friend, and used an unusual form of airbending." She looked at him up and down, "Sources have been saying it's you. I must admit, you're good. You even managed to fool dear Zu-Zu. But not me. Now tell me where he is." She drew herself up, and as he didn't answer, too shocked to, she launched a blue stream of fire. He grabbed his staff and dodged, pinning it around with the aid of airbending to avoid the attack. Before he could blink, Zuko was there in front of him.

"Aang is the avatar!" the prince yelled, throwing off his hat, "Harry's just … different."

"Oh poor Zu-Zu, so fooled by wanting your honour back that you can't even see what's in front of you." She mocked, her fingers ready to attack. "No wonder Father cast you out." With a roar of rage, he stormed forward.

"I don't think she'd come to the conclusion that I'm a wizard from another dimension." He laughed, almost bitterly. Toph didn't join in, and when he turned to look at her, she wasn't laughing. "You miss them, don't you?" Unease crept through him. "Of course, I do." He said shortly. "Who wouldn't miss their homes." An awkward silence fell upon the two as Harry tried to avoid eye contact. He stiffened as the girl stood up, staring down at him. She kicked the ground, startling him as a rock threw him a few centimetres in the air. "Come on, your stance sucks. I don't even have to see to know that." A flush of embarrassment crossed his face, but he stood nonetheless.

"Get into your position." He crouched, holding his fists out. She stilled for a few minutes, before clicking her tongue and jabbing his elbows and knees until he was close enough to what she wanted. Harry strained as he tried to keep still. While it wasn't necessarily uncomfortable, it wasn't exactly natural either. "OK, now come at me." The wizard startled from his thoughts, looking at the earthbender that was standing a few metres away. She grinned a wicked smiled. "Come at me, but only with your firebending. Come on magic boy!" He hesitated for another second, before he shifted his foot forward and struck his arm out for a jet of fire. She dodged the blast, coming up to him with rapid speed. A rock pillar rose from underneath him, but he managed to keep his composure and threw another fire ball as he was in the air. He grinned in victory before gravity decided to play as well, and smacked him face first in the ground. The wizard groaned in pain. He'd managed to last a grand total of 10 seconds. Which would've been impressive if he didn't know that she wasn't trying.

"Come on, get up." A foot poked him in the side.

"No, I am in pain." He mumbled into the dirt. The dry taste made him realize that maybe kissing the ground wasn't the best idea, and he half-heartedly sat up. He looked up at the girl, and felt like the kid in this situation. "That sucked, didn't it?" Toph nodded without pity. "Yeah, if you were stuck with only your firebending, you'd die in seconds." Harry scowled, "You didn't have to take it that far."

"Let's do it again, come on."

Harry sighed, but stood up and got into position. She didn't attack him, only staring at him with a raised eyebrow. It took a few seconds for his brain to restart, and he adjusted his position. Before he could see if he was correct, she leaped at him. He dodged, and barely missed a boulder to the face. He grunted in effort as she weaved around him.

On it went for at least 30 minutes. Her attacking him, him failing miserably. The want to get better had slowly dwindled to frustration, as he hadn't managed to land one single hit in the whole section. He was attacking more, his strikes getting sloppy in his anger.

With a scream of anger, he lashed out one last time, making one of the biggest fires he had ever made. He came back to himself as no pillars of earth came flying at him, only to see her grinning while holding her left arm. "Oh, Merlin, I'm so sorry! I was just so in the heat of the moment!" he rushed over, checking her arm, shame wafting through him as he saw the deep burn that she had. After all this time in the hospital wing, he should've known healing spells, but none actually came to mind. She smacked his hand away, totally ignoring the burn on her arm. "I'm fine, worry wart. You landed a hit." Harry blinked, before smiling as well. "You're getting good at something, magic boy. That's not magic I mean." She smirked, standing, and starting to walk away. "You know, I didn't really believe you were a bender before. Your reactions weren't appropriate." She paused for a moment, and Harry held his breath, for what, he wasn't sure. "But I see it now. You move more like us. I'm glad." With this moment of emotion over with, she hurried out.

Harry watched her go, a knot in his throat. He sighed, tilting his head back to look at the sky. It was clear today, almost no clouds in the sky. The heat was bearable, nothing as bad as the summer back home. He was annoyed with himself, with how much he was still homesick. It'd been around 2 weeks already, yet it felt like a month had gone by. He wondered what he was missing at home. If his friends were okay. If … if they were missing him. He held back the tears. He'd been emotional enough for the day. Still, as he headed back towards his friends, he couldn't help but have a tiny smile.

XxX

"What exactly are we doing?" Sighed Harry as Aang used a flute to make animals rise out of the ground. "I'm gonna have to agree with Harry on this one. Aren't we supposed to be planning the demise of the Fire Nation?" Said Sokka, waving his arms around dramatically. "I'm putting together an orchestra!" Sure enough, the animals were coming out of holes and saying different noises. "This is almost weirder than the frog choir." Muttered, Harry. Sokka turned to stare at him as if he was an alien, which he kind of was. Was he an alien? Could he be considered an alien in this world?

"A frog choir? Why would you have a frog … are you okay?" Harry just stared ahead.

"I'm an alien. Will I turn green one day?" he whispered, staring down at his hands, world view shattered.

"Right…" deadpanned Sokka, "Anyways, aren't we supposed to do something?"

"We are doing something," replied Toph, arms crossed, "We're going on our mini-vacations."

"There's no time for vacation."

"I'm learning the elements as fast as I can. I'm training with Katara and Toph every day."

"Yeah, what's wrong with having a little fun sometimes?" Interrupted Katara before the argument could dissolve any further. Sokka scoffed, "Even if you master all the elements, what can you do? We don't have a way to the Fire Nation, we don't even have a map! We'll … what? Knock at the door? Yes Fire Lord, hello! I hope you are doing well, we're here to kick your ass." He mocked, waving his arms. His sister rolled his eyes at his dramatics.

"We'll finish our vacations, and then try to find a map. Show me our map, Aang." The airbender stood up, rolling an ancient-looking map. Harry sometimes forgot he was in a world without electricity or magic. I mean, there is magic in this world, but not the kind where you can get a hot shower. The thought of a warm shower came over him, and he couldn't help but give a yearnful sigh. As he was distracted by his own fantasies, he didn't notice as everyone backed up towards Appa until his name was called out. He flushed, ignoring the questions about his earlier dreamy state, as they headed towards Katara's vacation spot.

The group descended Appa, and headed towards the spot. The wizard raised his eyebrow at the desolate look of the place. "Is this supposed to be a vacation? Looks more like it needs renovations." He crossed his arms, disappointment wafting through him. "Hey that rhymed!" exclaimed the water tribe teenager. Harry startled, before thinking back on his words and beaming. "It did!" Sokka raised his hand, "High-five!" The firebenders slapped his hand. Katara rolled her eyes, before heading into the … vacation space? They all followed her inside the once resort.

They entered a building, where the bartender was doing fancy moves with his sword, giving a client their drinks. Harry was lowkey impressed, even if it was a little bit over the top for something as simple as a drink. As they entered the shop further, Aang stumbled into someone, their drinks spilling all over his tunic. "Oh, I'm sorry!" exclaimed the man, lifting the big hat over his head. "No worries, I clean up easily." The airbender responded brightly, using said airbending to get rid of the spilled liquid. Harry's eyebrow twitched before he sighed, resigned. It's not like they were that much stealthy with that big arrow on his head. He ran his own thoughts over in his head, before shuddering in slight horror, I'm turning into Hermione, that's how bad this is.

He volunteered to order the gang their drinks as they all talked to the man about possible maps. "Are you afraid of touching the food?" he couldn't help but ask, as the bartender only touched the food with his swords. He looked at the wizard with a dry look, "D'you want your drink or not?" Harry fell silent. He took the drinks as best as he could in his hands, barely listening to what the others were saying. "I'm taking my vacation to go to the library!" cried out Sokka. The firebender stared at him, before leaning towards Aang, "Did he hit his head or something?" The kid only laughed at him, before heading out, leaving Harry lost. Katara laughed at his expression, trailing him along towards Appa.

XxX

He looked at the grand building that was drawn on Aang's map. "How haven't people found this before? This looks grand, no?"

"It's hard to navigate the desert without any kind of equipment. Just the fact that we're using Appa makes us go so much faster." Replied Katara, fixating her gaze ahead. Harry sighed, the heat bearing down on his head. He really wishes he could use a cooling charm right now, but he didn't exactly know if he could trust the strange man that was leading them. He fiddled with his wand, but let it go when he saw the waterbender's glare directed towards him. He huffed in disappointment. They'd been searching for forever, and nothing was getting out.

"There it is!" cried out Toph. Everybody turned to look at where she was pointing, only to find themselves with nothing to look at. They all turned to stare at her, "That's what's it's going to sound like when one of you spot it." She waves a hand in front of her face, with a fake smile. Almost everyone rolled their eyes.

For what seems like days later, Aang finally makes a noise of triumph. "Hey, this could be it!" In front of them is a large stone pillar, that looks lonely in the vast extend of space. They all descend with eagerness down the sky bison, staring up at the big pillar. "Are you sure this is it? It seems a little … small compared to what the drawing says." Comments Sokka, skeptical. At the corner of Harry's eye, he spots a small movement. Turning his head to look, a fox is running across the sand with something in his mouth. "What kind of animal is that?" asks Katara, having noticed it as well. Harry frowns in confusion, "It's a fox, obviously. Have you guys never seen a fox?" his question is left unanswered as the fox casually climbs the side of the pillar, heading inside through the window. " … yeah foxes don't do that." The researcher brightened, looking as if Christmas had come early. "It must've been a knowledge seeker! That proves that we are near the library!"

Sokka who was still looking at the picture, had a sudden moment of epiphany. Something rare when talking about libraries, Harry later mused. "No, this is the library! Look! This pillar is just the top spire of the library. It's buried beneath us!" They all crowded around the tiny paper, and sure enough, the drawing looked identical to the carved symbols before them.

"My life's ambition is full of sand!" the researcher moaned, "Well, better start excavating!" He pulls out a small shovel, the ones used by children to make sand castles, and starts digging in the sand. How long does he think this'll take? The wizard wondered, perplexed. "You won't need to." Replied Toph, slamming her hand against the wall of the tower, "The inside is completely intact, and it's huge."

"We can just fly up to the window with Appa, no?" Harry wondered, "no need to complicate our lives or anything." The group all nodded, but Toph stayed behind. "Go on without me." Katara put her hand on her hips, "You have a thing against libraries?"

Harry could almost feel Toph's eyes roll. "I've held books before, and I got to tell you, they don't exactly do it for me." The wizard muffled his snort in his palm as the waterbender deflated with a soft oh.

They all got on Appa's back, as he let them on the windowsill, before hovering back down to stay with Toph. Sokka gave everyone rope, Harry being ready to use Wingardium Leviosa at any moment. He was gripping the rope very tightly, as everyone descended above him. When everyone was safely down, he looked around him and marvelled at the building. It was grand, with symbols of owls carved all over the walls. He was faintly reminded with certain parts of the castle, although he'd never noticed all these spirit energies before. The whole library was brimming with energy, to the point where it was almost impossible to see. It was as if Harry was looking for air, but thick air. Like when there was a summer heat.

A rustling noise interrupted them, Aang dragging Sokka who dragged Harry behind a column. "Why are we hiding?" the wizard whispered. "I don't know if we're not supposed to be here." Whispered back the avatar. Harry grabbed both boys' hands, whispering the disillusionment charm. He walked from behind the pillar, eyes widening at the giant black owl. The owl was radiating spirit energy, giving off the same feeling as the building they were in. He looked at the rope, and then jerked his head in the group's direction. Harry felt a small headache build as he looked at the owl, information and images pouring out in front of him, in a way his human brain wasn't able to comprehend. "I know you're behind there." That one sentence seemed to break the spell, and he blinked, sucking a lungful of air. The only consolation was that he wasn't directly looking at him, but more in their general area. He was glad that the spell seemed to work at least.

Harry sighed, before ducking back next to his friends and undoing the spell. He marched out slowly, being careful not to look too long at the spirit before him. "Are you the spirit that brought this library to the physical world?" asked Sokka, following Harry's lead. "Indeed. I am Wan-Chi Tong, he who knows 10,000 things." Isn't 10,000 small for an immortal spirit? He could've said forever or something. "And you are obviously humans, which are not permitted in my library anymore, by the way."

Aang tilted his head in confusion, "What do you have against humans?" The owl huffed, staring to the side, as if he were seeing something they couldn't. Which to be honest, he probably was.

"Humans always use my information against other humans. To kill maim, to better themselves against others." Harry thought that was sadly appropriate for humans, and honestly couldn't blame the owl. Sokka laughed awkwardly, "Well, we're not here for that." He very obviously lied. Wan-Chi looked back at him, looming over his head threateningly.

"What are you here for then?" Sokka laughed nervously, obviously taken aback by the spiritual tone. "Just for knowledge you. For knowledge's sake." The owl hummed skeptically, "If you're going to lie to an all-knowing spirit, you could at least try." Sokka just brightened, pulling Aang towards him.

"I'm not lying! I'm here with the avatar. And he can vouch for me, right?" Aang just laughed nervously. "Yeah, I'll vouch for you. We will not abuse the knowledge that we take from this library, great spirit. You have my word." The group all bowed, Harry a bit late to the game.

"Hm. Very well. I will allow you to peruse my vast collection." The group sighed in relief, and the wizard couldn't believe that had worked. "However," ah, there it was, "to prove your worth as scholars, you have to contribute some worthwhile knowledge." As they all gave some kind of paper, Harry fingered the only paper that was left of his world. He didn't value it that much. It was just a scrap of paper, a list of what the DA could do to a session that would never happen. He'd forgotten it was there but had never managed to get rid of it. It was dumb and useless. So why did he care? Why did he care about a slip of paper that he forgot existed 99% of the time?

The group turned to stare at him, awaiting his offering. He slowly took it out, feeling like he was betraying his world. Which was dumb, this piece of paper was nothing! The owl reached out to take it but paused for a second as he looked at it. "What language is this?" The wizard blinked out of his haze. "Uh, it's English. The written language where I come from." Which Harry now realized would not be able to read any of the books here because they were written in some version of Chinese. It was a miracle enough that they were speaking the same language. He honestly blamed Lily for that one.

Wan-Chi stared at him intensively, making the wizard a little bit uncomfortable. "There is no other language in the mortal world. If anyone knew, it would be me." Harry started to sweat, as the spiritual pressure began to increase. "You have … interested me. Come." The owl stalked away, expecting Harry to follow him. The wizard looked back at his friends, who shrugged, and gestured for him to follow. He huffed. The betrayal.

Wan-Chi never once looked back at him, simply walking without a stop. He led him through the library, weaving amongst never-ending rows of books. He was quite literally standing in Hermione's paradise. He smiled slightly as he thought of her, his heart twisting.

"There is next to no foreign languages that I have encountered. It was true when I said that there are no other languages in the mortal world. But I am after all, a spirit." He waved towards a small round door on the wall. It was certainly smaller than the owl spirit, with a royal blue colour. Around the door, were foreign words, all in languages he didn't remotely recognize. Some looked fantastical, some looked robotic, some alien. Harry's eyes widened as he spotted two words that he recognized, in a pattern that he recognized. Magia ostium. Magic door. He wasn't fluent in Latin, but making some links in Latin comes in the territory of having spells coming from said dead language. Next to them, were languages that vaguely looked like hieroglyphs, Greek, and something that looked like something of an Indiana Jones movie. Mayan, maybe?

"You recognize the 3rd on the right, I am sure." The owl waved towards the door, the blue shining for a few seconds before the door rolled into the room. Harry slowly walked in the room, that was saturated with spirit energy. Every scroll (because there were no books here) was emanating a different kind of energy that Harry had never seen before in this world. Not that he'd had much experience with differencing different kinds of spirit energy. But this? This was so different, almost alien to him. He looked around, thunderstruck, until a familiar feeling rose within him. His head snapped to look at innocent looking scrolls on the wall.

Harry practically ran towards them, his hands shaking as he reached to cross it. He felt his core sing and well up at the familiar feeling of magic. Tears welled up in his eyes, spine curving towards the scrolls, as if magnetized. For a few seconds, he felt as if he was home. The gentle wind as it swept through the Hogwarts ground. The laughter of his friends around him, the buzzing of the magic that surrounded the castle. He missed them. Merlin, he missed them. How he wishes he could be back home. With his friends, with … Sirius.

Wan-Chi said nothing as he wept for all that he had lost. For what he wished he had, for what he wishes he would get. Harry was sure that there was never a day that was going to go by, without him missing his home. Even with all the friends he'd made here, and the knowledge that he was helping them save their worlds, nothing would ever compare to the feeling of home. Having good friends for a few weeks, was nothing compared to what his own world was like.

"Throughout the thousands of years that I have collected knowledge, only few have managed to intrigue me as much as world walkers. You, however, are even more interesting. You are the first one, to have crossed to the mortal realm. None had managed to do so, only visiting the spirit world as they discovered the world." His previous arrogant tone was gone, left behind for a soft grave voice.

"I suspect her of being behind it." He growled, energy sparking, Harry flinching away as his form became harder for him to define. "She was always known to meddle with things that were not of her concern." The wizard frowned confused, pushing past the fear that the spirit was giving him.

"But she wanted to save the moon spirit? Why would you hate her for that?" He already hated her, for taking him from his home, practically killing Sirius. The next time he saw her, he wanted to make her pay for what she did. To-to— do something! She's the one that got him to talk to a giant owl after all. But Wan-Chi? There is no reason for him to hate her for protecting the moon spirit. For him, it saved the realm.

"There is no reason for her to protect the moon spirit. The only reason that I know that there was a plan about its demise, is because I know everything." He said haughtily, "Spirits do not intervene in human affairs now for years. Unless they are living in the mortal world, and that is rare enough as it is. How would she know? That is beyond me." He spat out. He looked disgusted with himself, as much as an owl could look disgusted, that he did not know something. Harry wisely remained silent.

"But I digress. For you to have the power to come into the mortal world, after being rendered to a spirit, it is quite simply phenomenal that you are not dead or mad." Wan-Chi leaned into his face as quick as lightning, "so how did you? It … irks me that I do not know." The firebender was frozen in place. It had been a few weeks since he'd sensed a spirit's power upon, so concentrated like that, like they wanted something from him he wanted to know how he would gain that knowledge He MUST know there is no other way but to know!

Silence. The overwhelming thoughts and feelings had stopped so abruptly that Harry felt himself lose his balance. His breath had quickened, his palms sweaty and trembling. His legs were barely holding his weight, and as soon as the spirit stepped away, he dropped to the floor. It'd felt like he was submerged into the will of the spirit, something his mortal body could not endure.

"Hmmm. I must check on something." Without further ado, the spirit disappeared out of the door, leaving Harry alone in the spiritual room. The wizard held his breath, dearly hoping that the spirit wasn't going to come back. After what felt like a few minutes, of tense silence, he finally allowed himself to sigh in relief. With his heart still beating a mile a minute, he stood up and cautiously walked over to the scrolls that he recognized. He rolled one open, coughing as thick dust spilled in the air. After waving away the dust, he smiled widely as he recognized some of the words that were written here.

Magic was written multiple times, that he certainly recognized. Another word spiritus … that had to mean spirit. He skimmed the paper, finding many words that almost seemed familiar, but didn't make any sense in the context of dimension travel. How had wizards even found the spirit world in the first place? Harry didn't know when the veil had been created, but this paper looked old. He'd have to really rummage his brain to figure out what this was. But he had to try. This could be his way home. He took the second scroll, this time prepared to lean away as the dust spewed into the air.

He frowned as he looked at the scroll. This scroll wasn't as organized and professional as the other one, more looking like someone's notebook than a way to travel between dimensions. He frowned as one word caught his attention. Wait, doesn't that look like tea…

"Are you kidding me?" Harry, he whispered. He honestly didn't know if he should laugh or cry. He almost wanted to throw it away, but honestly couldn't bring himself to. There was one more scroll that he could look at. He put the other two in his green bag and took the last one out of its place. A deep rumble shook the whole building, making yelp in surprise. He braced himself on his knees, looking at the shaking floor, confused. He grabbed the last parchment, stuffing it in his bag and looking out the door. He cursed when he saw sand coming through the ceiling. He looked back at the room, hesitating about whether to get anything else. Harry hurried, trusting his spirit instinct sight to help him. He took the scrolls that looked close to Egyptian, Mayan or Greek. Or well, he assumed that's what they were.

He hurried out of the door, panting as he ran in a random direction. He hadn't expected to have to remember the way! He twisted and turned between the bookshelves, almost tripping on the sand multiple times. His legs were burning, his breath coming out in pants as he tried to find their exit. He didn't care about the researcher, he was not going to climb a rope to get out, no sir. A big crash resonated from in front of him. He burst forth, eyes going wide as Katara, Sokka and Aang were being chased by Wan-Chi, anger set in his eyes. Harry started running towards them, only for all the group to shake their heads, as much as one could while running.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

"NEVER MIND THAT! GO UP! WE'LL CATCH UP! BE READY TO PULL US UP!" Harry stared at his friend for a few seconds, before shouting okay, and heading in the direction Aang had pointed. He really hoped the exit was that way. He ran as fast as he could, hearing the desperate scramble of his friends behind him. He had to remind himself that going up with a spirit, was not a battle that he could win. It's not like he could help them running, but he could help them up with magic.

Harry nearly bowled over in relief when he saw the innocent-looking rope that was still there from when they had previously entered the library. Climbing would not be fast, and so the only solution was bending or magic. He fidgeted for a few moments, before an idea came to mind. He quickly cast Wingardium Leviosa on himself. He floated in the air, for a few seconds, flailing. The firebenders concentrated, praying with all his might that this would work. He angled his palms to the floor, and produced a jet of flames. With a shout of surprise, he rocketed towards the ceiling. He started to spin in place, his arms straining with the effort. Without magic, this would've been so much more difficult.

He looked up, and quickly let go of the steam, losing momentum and hitting the ceiling with a little bit of speed, instead of becoming a pancake. Before he could even fathom the idea that he was safe, deep whines reached his ears. Harry quickly manipulated himself to float out the window, looking out below. "You've got to be kidding me!" Appa was being restrained by sand benders, whining in high distress. Anger settled in his chest, as he dropped the spell. He plummeted to the ground, dearly wishing for his broom as he cast the spell a bit before hitting the ground. The landing was still rough, and he struggled to stand for a few seconds. Luckily for him, the kidnappers were apparently stunned of the flying man, and dropped what they were doing.

He stood up, wand at the ready. A nasty smile reached his ears, "Hi." He snarled, before aiming his wand at the ropes that were lined up. "Diffindo!" The spell cut through the three ropes on Appa's left side in one swoop. The sky bison, finally free, lifted into the air with a triumphant yell. Harry grinned, before startling as sand grabbed his feet. "Spongify!" as he cast the spell, the sand around him became soft, soft like mud. Which would have been logically impossible if not for magic. Obviously, the benders were not used to this, and the one controlling the sand around him scrambled in confusion.

Speaking of confusion, he waddled through the soft sand and aimed his wand at other benders that we're still trying to catch Appa. "Confundo! Depulso! Tarantallegra!" he shot spell after spell. Most missed because of the agility of the benders, but some hit, leaving confused or dancing benders. He grunted in annoyance as more sand tried to tie him down, reaching his wand. Panic shot through him, throwing a fireball at the sand benders that were close to him. Some fell, startled at the sudden use of firebending. He quickly cast Incarcerous on the benders, before they could really use his sand and dominate him. He retrieved his wand and ran towards Toph that was struggling to hold the building up.

"How long can you hold this?"

"NOT LONG!" Harry had nothing that could help her keep a whole building down, and so headed towards Appa. He cast stupefy on all the sand benders to be sure that they weren't going to try further kidnapping. "Come on buddy, we have to go help our friends." He quickly got on, urging the sky bison at the window of the building, which was sinking rapidly. The wizard hopped through the building and looked down. Below, Katara was climbing at the rope. "Carpe Retractum !"

The magical rope latched onto her waist, and he tugged. She ascended really fast, and Harry feared that she would go past him. He extended his other arm and managed to catch her before she got too far. She grinned at him, still panting from the effort.

"Where's Aang and Sokka?"

"They had something to check."

Both of them looked at the ground below, the wizard pacing slightly in worry. Going down there was more than dumb, especially if Aang could use airbending. He needed to be there for Sokka. That didn't stop him from wanting to jump down every five seconds. "Were they close to you?"

"I don't know, they headed back to the eclipse room?"

"Eclipse room? Why would you want to look at eclipses?"

"It might be our way to defeat the fire nation!"

Harry frowned, trying to think how the sun covering the moon or vice versa could possibly help them defeat an emperor of a giant nation. Yells reached both of their ears, and they leaned down, seeing their two friends reaching the exit.

"SOKKA! GRAB ON!" He cast the seize and pull charm, pulling up a screaming Sokka by the wrist. He ascended to the ceiling, Katara whipping out a water whip to catch the screaming teen. Aang joined them with his airbending, and the group hopped on the sky bison, leaving the tower.

"YOU CAN LET GO NOW!" the wizard screamed at Toph. She obliged, letting go of the tower, that quickly descended through the ground, never to be seen again. "We found a way to defeat the Fire Nation!" shouted Sokka in excitement, "It's in … wait what happened here?" Around were unconscious and tied up benders, with Toph almost unconscious from the effort.

Harry rushed to her, Katara high on his heels. "Are you okay?" The earthbender is panting, her fingers rough and bloody. "Katara, can you heal her?" The waterbender nods, her brows furrowed in concern. She takes out the water in her water pouch, and wraps them around Toph's bloody fingers. It's a testament to how exhausted she is that she doesn't even protest at the manhandling.

"Is she going to be okay?" asks Aang, clear worry in his tone.

"I'm … going to be … fine, Twinkle-Toes." She pants out, smirking despite her tiredness. The group sighs in relief as a whole.

"Thanks… Harry. I don't know … how I could … have held them … off." The wizard smiles, he was glad he hadn't gone back for his friends. Appa would surely have been lost to them.

"Yeah, who are they exactly?" asks Sokka, poking one of the kidnappers with his foot.

"They were trying to get Appa. They had almost gotten him when I arrived."

"You couldn't do anything, Toph?" asks Aang, earning him a glare from Harry and Toph.

"She was holding up the building!" "I was making sure you guys didn't become sand!"

They both exclaimed, making the airbender back off with a guilty look on his face.

"You're right I'm sorry. I'm just glad we could save both Appa and get out of there."

Toph frowned but eventually huffed in assent. "Where's the researcher anyways?"

"He decided to stay in the library." Interjected Katara, shrugging when everyone looked at her in incredulity. "Even Hermione isn't that bad." Harry muttered under his breath. Wait would she though? I mean if the sand was damaging the books, maybe not? But she did stay she'd want to live in a library once…

"Never mind all that, we have a way to beat the Fire Nation!" exclaimed Sokka, waving a parchment in the air. Everyone squinted at it, only Katara gasping in excitement.

"Is it…?"

"It is!"

"And this is a wizard that can't read Chinese thingy and a blind person." Harry deadpanned.

"What's Chinese?" Aang asked, tilting his head in confusion.

"What's on the paper twinkle toes?!"

"The date of the next solar eclipse!" Sokka triumphed, looking as excited as he did when food was in front of him.

"The firebenders will lose the power of the sun. They'll be at their weakest!" explained Katara, before further questions could be asked.

Harry felt himself smile as well. Even if he were weakened as well, this was a chance for them all to finally finish a war. It's going to be one step closer to safety, and home. With the scrolls that were still in his bag, maybe they had a shot.