After several hours of girl talk, the girls slowly opened Hermione's door, laughing. It was almost dinner time, their conversation sucking up most of the day. Hermione turned to scale down the stairs when she stopped dead in her tracks. They all did. They looked down on the wreckage that was the common room. Books and papers strewn about, broken bits and bobs littered the floor. And then there were the bodies. Bodies of Harry, Ron, Draco, Zuko and Sokka. Hermione took in a sharp intake of air in sheer terror when she noticed something glinting in her peripheral vision. Bottles. There had to be at least 3 bottles of firewhiskey on the ground, 20 bottles of butterbeer all over the place. Hermione let out a sigh of relief. The arses were passed out.
"What in the bloody hell happened?" Ginny said as they stumbled down the stairs. Zuko was laying face down on the floor, upon closer inspection Luna found that he was snoring quite loudly. Ron sat, his head resting on the back of the couch, his legs wide open and limp, mouth agape. In his lap was Draco's head, a bottle of butterbeer falling out of his hand as they slept in a position that caused Hermione to snort in a very un-lady like manner. Toph slowly walked over to a broom closet, feeling something weird inside of it, as she opened it, the sleeping form of Sokka fell out. Toph cackled. Aang was passed out on the stairs…with no shirt on… Finally, Harry was sitting halfway in the chair in the nook, someone had…written all over his face. Ginny walked up closer to get a good look at him, she read, "Draco Malfoy is a foxy gentleman…" She smirked.
Katara turned towards Hermione, who had the decency to look apologetic as she surveyed the destruction. "I think they may have gotten a little…sloshed." She uttered.
"Sloshed?" Katara implored.
"Drunk, inebriated, intoxicated." Hermione continued. "They drank something…"
"Say no more." Katara concluded, reminded of the effects of Cactus juice. It'll quinch ya. "So what do we do now, should we just leave them and head down to dinner?"
Hermione looked over to Ginny, and together the girls grinned wickedly. "No…growing boys need their nourishment." Hermione stated, pulling her wand out of her pocket.
"Yes." Ginny continued. "They also need to learn that there are consequences for naughty behavior." She pulled out her wand as well.
"Sonorous!"
"Aguamente!"
Harry woke up to deafening noise, drenched in cold water. As if the splitting headache wasn't enough. Draco and Ron were woken up in the same manner, as soon as Draco felt the water hit him he fell off of Ron's lap, yelping "Im hit!" as he fell to the floor. Katara and Toph grinned and Katara, ripping water from the air, immediately shot it at Aang. Toph stomped her feet causing a mini-earthquake under Sokka. The only one to not wake up in the fray was Zuko. Who was still stretched out on the floor. Katara walked up to him, smirking, and quickly smacked him on the back of the head yelling, "Get up you buffoon!" Zuko shot up and immediately laid back down as the quick movement made him feel nauseous.
"What happened…" Zuko muttered, covering his face in his hands.
Ron looked around for a moment, not really seeing anything, when a figure stood in front of him. "Her…mione?" He muttered, as her name was always the first name to come to his mind.
The figure kneeled down in front of him. "Hello Ronald." Hermione said, smirking at him. "Come on then, it's time for dinner." Before she could walk away, Ron pulled her down next to him, embracing her tightly.
"Are you still angry with me? Please don't be angry with me anymore, I cant stand it. Im sorry I was such an arse. You make me crazy sometimes, you do." He whispered in the crook of her neck. Hermione closed her eyes as she felt his breath against her skin once more, she knew then and there that he was forgiven. She smiled, she was pathetic.
"Oh Ron…Im always upset with you…but I suppose your brash, emotionality is what made me fall for you in the first place." Hermione concluded, kissing Ron on his temple. "Now up you go, time for dinner."
Ron kissed the tip of his Hermione's nose before slowly getting up, groaning. He stood, making a face. "Excuse me a moment." He said before immediately doubling over and throwing up mere inches from Draco, who threw up in response, setting off a chain reaction of male vomiting that mortal words could not describe. Hermione quickly drew her legs up on the couch, before waving her wand, performing several cleansing charms. Ginny and Luna followed suit.
Ron collapsed back on the couch, burying his head in Hermione's lap, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Uh done thun ah cun du thus." He muttered.
"What was that?" Hermione said, smirking once again.
Ron turned his head. "I don't think I can do this…"
Hermione smiled warmly, stroking her hand down the side of Ron's face, causing his eyes to flutter closed at her touch. "Tough bullocks, you and the rest of the party boys WILL be bringing your sorry hides down to dinner. People will start to talk if no one sees you ALL day." Hermione said, plucking Ron's ear. She got up pulling Ron with her. "Honestly, WHAT were you thinking, getting drunk in the MIDDLE of the day?"
"Actually, it was more like the middle of the morning." Sokka interjected, earning him several glares from the hungover boys.
Hermione arched an eyebrow, "Well then, let me CONGRATULATE you on your SOUND decision making! Ginny, where did I put their award again?"
Katara laughed, "Yes, the 'You're a bunch of complete morons' award."
Ginny laughed, patting herself down, "I must have misplaced it… perhaps it's in one of their puddles of sick? Is that where it is, Harry?" She said, causing Harry to grimace at the word 'sick'.
Toph laughed, "It's ok, you can just borrow one of Sokka's."
Zuko rolled on his back. "Im not going anywhere, you can eat dinner without me."
Hermione eyed Zuko. "Oh, there are other ways of making you move your backsides, perhaps a nice levitation charm? Ginny, do you still do a mean Bat bogey hex?" Zuko's eyes widened at her implication.
"Actually, I've gotten quite better at it. Would you like to see it Draco, I believe your familiar with it…"
"NO!" Draco yelled. "NO!" He yelled again in a failed attempt to control the volume of his voice. "Let's just go." He said turning to Zuko, "Trust me on this."
"DRACO!" Harry's voice yelled in the background, causing all the guys to wince. Harry stumbled towards the main common area, glaring at Malfoy. "DRACO MALFOY IS A FOXY GENTLEMAN?"
Draco arched an eyebrow when he saw Potter's face. Slowly, he pulled himself up off the floor to examine him closely. He smirked, "Looks like an improvement to me Potter, don't get mad at me, you and Weasley helped me…it was your idea actually."
Harry couldn't remember, although he knew that it was probably true. Slowly, he dragged himself upstairs to wash his face and maybe throw up again.
…
Dinner was a painful affair. While the girls all chatted about the start of term, and what they would be learning, the blokes sat in silence, heads against the table. It would seem that the chatter of the Great Hall was actually a thousand times louder than Harry had ever realized. The food was horrifying to look at, to smell. Neville came striding over, sitting down next to Harry, a satisfied look on his face. "Well! It looks like the new batch of Ligonous vines are a little agitated about having to be re-planted. Nothing Professor Sprout and I can't handle!" He said, full of life.
Harry raised his head off the table just enough to see Neville covered in fresh cuts. "OI! Neville, what happened to your face?" Harry muttered, horrified.
"Oh, this is nothing..."Neville trailed off, looking down he noticed the guys for the first time. "Blimey, Harry, what happened to YOUR face? What happened to all of you? You were fine this morning!
Suddenly, Ernie Macmillian appeared, plopping down across from Neville with a knowing look on his face. "I know that look! That's hangover face, that is!" Ernie said, smiling wide. "Starting the festivities a little early, eh Harry?"
Ron groaned. "I hate you, MacMillian." He said from where his head rested on the table.
Ernie laughed, "It's not me you should be hating, mate. It's Ogden, you should be hating."
Harry snorted. MacMillian was kind of funny.
Soon, the gang was joined by Anthony Goldstein and Micheal Corner, loyal D.A. members and returning Ravenclaw seventh years. "Oi!" Anthony exclaimed. Who's the bird with the ponytail? She's kind of cute, huh?" He whispered to Harry, smirking, causing Aang to pop his head up a little.
"She would be my girlfriend." Aang said, rather loudly causing the girls to look over. Katara was apprehensive of the look on Aang's face, it reminded her of the face he made before he went into the Avatar state, before he could control it.
Anthony looked nervously at the boy before arching an eyebrow, noticing something under his bunched up hat. "What's that on your forehead?"
"What?" Aang exclaimed shooting up from his slumped over position, causing the hat he was wearing to flop off his head before he could stop it.
"Whoa!" Micheal Corner yelled, eyes wide in shock. "Is that a…tattoo? On your FACE?"
Hermione quickly interrupted. "Of course! Aa…Kuzon is from…an indigenous tribe…in Asia..." She looked around frantically for support from the others, who nodded their heads furiously in agreement. "You see, it's tradition for boys who comes of age to get the…Watsabi tribal tattoo." She finished, rolling her eyes at how stupid she sounded.
"Wow…" Ernie said in astonishment. "So…why is it an arrow?"
"Aaahh…" Aang stuttered, turning red. Thinking about his people, the answer just came to him. "It means Enlightenment… freedom from the bonds of the Earthly world." He finished mysteriously, smiling. Hermione looked relieved as well, it was exhausting having to come up with on-the-spot back stories.
"Wow…" Ernie repeated again, looking deeply introspective. Sokka shook his head in amusement.
"…Right. So, I heard that Hogwarts was hosting some guest students this year. I suppose it must be a ministry move, yea? Diversity…acceptance." Anthony was quiet for a moment in thought. "Anything to gloss over the muggle-born travesties of last year… So, how are you liking our school?"
Zuko sighed. "It's very…abrupt." He said, resting his head back on to the table, thinking about how all these people kept appearing, insisting on talking. Talking…too much talking. "It's different from home, I suppose."
"How so?" Micheal said, popping a potato into his mouth.
Zuko groaned. He hadn't meant to ENGAGE these people. He pushed his hair out of his face, causing Micheal to involuntarily jump back in his chair at the sight of Zuko's scar, a move Corner tried to immediately cover up by pretending to look under the table. Zuko sighed again, "It's very…lively. People running around a lot, but…in a happy way." Zuko finished lamely, the only time he had ever seen so many people running from here to there was in battle.
Anthony arched an eyebrow. "Well…that's…good?" He finished.
Ernie MacMillian was still staring at Aang in awe. "So Kuzon, are you…like…a Buddhist or something? I don't know about it much meself, bein a pureblood and all, but I learned about it in Muggle studies. Sounds interesting!"
Aang smiled. He had no idea what 'Buddhist' meant. "Um…yea, kind of like that. A lot of mediation and fruit pies, lemurs…"
"Lemurs?" Ernie asked excitedly.
Aang froze for a second…oops. "Yea, kind of like pets." He quickly changed the subject. "So…you say you're a pureblood?"
Ernie was quiet for a moment, realizing what he had just announced… "Yea, but not by choice!" Ever since the war being a pure-blood was a bit of a taboo subject.
Hermione chimed in. "Oh, well where Kuzon's from they don't have blood stauses per say…" She finished mysteriously, not sure what to say next.
Aang smirked, hit with a brilliant idea. "Yes, in my... er, native language, they call us…benders."
Toph snorted into her juice, putting on a wide smile.
Aang continued, "Yes, that's right. What you call magic, we call bending."
"Brilliant!" Ernie exclaimed, fascinated with Aang. "Maybe you can teach me more about your culture sometime!"
Aang smiled. "Sure thing…Ernie."
Eventually, Ernie, Anthony, and Micheal pulled themselves away from the newcomers and wandered off to their respective tables. Upon noticing this, Harry pulled his head off the table and rested it in his hands. "I suppose we should all just call it a night and meet back up at the Head's suite tomorrow… head straight to Hagrid's, yea?" The guys just groaned in what Harry had decided to take as agreement.
Later, Harry had dragged himself into his common room, Hermione staying at the door to kiss Ron goodnight. Aang had collapsed on the couch, pulling the blanket Harry had left him over his face. Katara walked over to the nook, deciding to read the Witch weekly magazine she eyed on the floor. When she opened it, she gasped in surprise at the moving pictures, quickly smiling in interest.
Hermione eventually entered the room, a serene smile on her face. "Well! Im off to bed!" She announced. "Try not to get drunk in the meantime."
"Im done with drinking, woman!" Harry yelled from his bedroom door. "Goodnight!"
Aang smirked, sleep quickly taking him, he supposed they would clean up this mess tomorrow.
…
Harry woke up feeling refreshed. The horrible hangover of yesterday evening seemed to have passed in the night and the mere thought of light was no longer offensive to him. He sat up in bed slowly, yawning, thinking about what the day had in store for him this time. After the war, Harry had thought the days of waking up to an uncertain future were behind him, he now knew that the very idea was laughable at best. The events of the last couple days, if anything, cemented the fact that the future was always uncertain. He started to sit back, sinking into a deeper contemplation about the malleability of time, when he heard a knock at the door. "Come in." He yelled.
Slowly, the door pushed open to reveal a very calm looking Ron. "Hermione told me you were awake." He said with a grin.
"Why so pleased?" Harry said, grinning. He knew why.
"Oh you know. A little of this, a little of that." Ron replied.
"A little of Hermione." Harry finished, his grin turning to a smirk.
"It's just snogging, mate." Ron replied, a serious look on his face.
Harry arched an annoyed eyebrow at Ron. Of course it was just snogging, this was Hermione Granger they were talking about, she was no trollup. Harry and Ron had never been able to really talk about girls. Harry was dating Ron's sister and Ron was dating Harry's best friend, the subject was a mine field. Still, it was kind of sad. Ron would never have anyone close to talk to about relationship things…intimate things. Harry would never have anyone to get advice from about the subject. It was like they were missing out on something... And then there was another person at the door.
"WHAT is snogging?" Sokka said, an amused look on his face.
Harry laughed. "It's kissing, mate. Please don't tell me you don't have kissing where your from."
"Oh Harry. Harry, Harry, Harry. My name is Sokka, have we met? Master swordsman? Ladies Man? 'Snogging' Expert…" Sokka trailed off in a self-satisfied manner.
Ron turned around grinning at Sokka, "As I recall mate, you have had all of two girlfriends." He said repeating Aang's words from last night. "Im starting to wonder if ANYTHING you say is true…"
"Ron, there is a reason the ladies gravitate towards me." Sokka finished in a knowing manner.
"Amusement at your delusions of grandieur?" Katara yelled in response as she passed by, on her way to the bathroom.
Harry laughed. It was nice not to be so in shock anymore at these newcomers. They all had these unique personalities that Harry hadn't noticed until now, like they were characters in a television show or something. Aang was lively, full of curiosity. Katara was sweet. Toph was strong but kind. Sokka sold it with a cocky personality and a great sense of humor. Zuko…well, Harry hadn't quite figured Zuko out yet. He was quiet, very pensive. He seemed to be plotting his words even as he spoke them. He was very…careful. Harry would be lying if he said he didn't suspect something was going on with him. The only person he seemed to talk to that much was Draco and even then, he didn't seem to care for Draco that much either. Who did? At the same time, Zuko didn't come off as sinister, just…deliberate. Harry was broken out of his head by Sokka.
"You just wait, in a couple days, everyone is gonna love Sokka, especially the ladies."
Sokka said grinning.
Ron rolled his eyes in amusement, "So Harry, shall we get going to Hagrid's then? Everyone is here. Seems you slept in a bit, mate."
"Sure, just give us a sec." Harry finished.
…
The gang made their way down the steep hill to Hagrid's hut, all dressed smartly for the waning days of summer. Aang thought Katara looked especially beautiful in the sundress Hermione insisted she wear, telling Katara that she couldn't quite fill it out anyway. This statement earned a stream of compliments from Katara and Ron, causing Hermione to blush. Aang concluded that Hermione was probably just making a passing comment and didn't intend for the onslaught of positivity. Still, the girl had taste. When he was finished ogling his girlfriend, he took stock of the environment. It was very hilly, in the distance he could see the strange place with the three rings that he had stumbled upon his first night in the new world. He would have to ask Harry about that at some point.
Suddenly, Aang felt something. Something strange. He couldn't quite tell if it was panic or mania. He felt elated and terrified at the same time. He stopped in his tracks and knelt to the ground.
Katara turned to see what was happening when she could no longer hear Aang's steps behind her. As she turned, her eyes widened in horror. Aang was kneeling on the ground. His tattoo's glowing off and on. "AANG!" She yelled, racing back to him, causing the others to snap around at all the commotion.
The Avatar gang raced towards Aang's side, but the Golden Trio and Draco stood dead in their tracks. He was glowing. Aang was glowing. Why was he glowing? How was he glowing? For the first time in a while, it wasn't the Avatar gang who was shocked. Draco yelped out in surprise when he saw it.
"What…WHAT IS HE PLAYING AT!" Draco yelled, backing away.
"WHAT'S HAPPENING?" Harry yelled, forgetting his initial horror, he too, ran up to help Aang.
"IT'S THE AVATAR STATE!" Katara yelled as she kneeled over Aang. She thought that he had control over this now…
"Quick, we need to distract him!" Sokka yelled, looking around frantically for anything that could be construed as distracting. But just as soon as Aang's state began, it was gone. Aang looked up into Katara's face from his kneeling position and smiled somewhat.
"Im fine, Im fine." Aang said, trying to smile reassuringly. But he was most definitely not fine. He hadn't lost control of himself, no, he had pretty much mastered the Avatar state. But he knew something was up. He had no idea what, but something was definitely going on.
"WATCHER HARRY!" A voice boomed from further down the hill. Harry shot Hagrid a look and a wave before quickly turning back to Aang.
"Are you sure your alright?" He asked, his concern evident.
"Im fine! Let's just get going…only, try to be careful." Aang finished somewhat mysteriously.
"What?" Harry said, he started to speak again when he was cut off by more boisterous yelling from Hagrid.
" HELLO THERE, HARRY! He yelled again. Aang knodded impatiently at Harry to just go.
Eventually, they all made their way down the slope and the avatar gang was immediately apprehensive. The man before them had to be more that 8 feet tall, he looked much smaller from a distance…
"Well, Harry, yer seem ta be getting along alrigh'! Hagrid greeted them happily, finally he set his eyes on the newcomers and suddenly looked a bit concerned. " Er…who all are yer friends?"
"Oh!" Harry said, still a bit distracted from earlier although Aang seemed to be doing just fine now. "Well, that's Kuzon, Wang, Sapphire, Melone, and Lee. I'm sure you've seen them around!" Harry lied, telling his classmates they were exchange students seemed like an easy fit, but telling the faculty… that seemed like a foolish idea. They would probably know whether or not Hogwarts was having an exchange program.
Hagrid looked skeptical. "Er…well, I suppose I have at one time er another…" he trailed off. He guided Harry to the side a bit, kneeling down to speak with him. "Er…Harry, I was hopin' ter speak with you lot in private. I…well, I found somethin' in ther forest that's just a bit…odd."
"What?" Harry asked.
"Well…I reckon I don' really know what it is. Can't get a good look at ther thing. Some little bugger of a pest won't let me get close enough to it, keeps attackin' me when er' I try to get close to it but… whater' it is…I think et's hurt..."
Before Hagrid continued, there came a resounding groan from the Dark forest. Harry had no idea what it was but whatever it was, it was big. Harry looked off into the dark forest, he couldn't bring Aang and his friends into there! What was he thinking? There was no telling what that thing was. Why was Hagrid always calling HIM when he found a new pet? Harry was lost in his predicament, when he saw Aang, out the side of his eye line, shoot off into the forest. "Aa…Kuzon!" Harry yelled after him, MAN that kid was fast. Harry had to stop him, he had no idea what he was running into! But just as he was about to run, the rest of the Avatar gang ran off feverishly after Aang.
"Kuzooonnnn!" Harry yelled, as He, Hermione and Ron took off after them, leaving Hagrid and Draco standing in their wake, confused.
Harry, Ron and Hermione ran as fast as they could, following Katara, Sokka, Zuko and Toph. Aang was way too far ahead. Harry could feel himself being cut by underbrush, barely missing a rogue tentacular vine, when all of a sudden the avatar gang slowed down. The golden trio almost ran straight into Katara and the rest as they came up upon Aang in the distance.
Suddenly, Harry was under attack as the avatar gang continued on. Something was swooping down on Harry, Ron and Hermione. Harry looked up as he got quick glimpses of the offending creature. It was small, lean. It looked to be a bat of some kind, a large bat.
"Bloody Hell!" Harry heard Ron exclaim as they whipped out their wands to protect themselves, but just as the creature had come, it had left. Harry looked off into the distance to see the Avatar gang attempting to catch up with Aang, who was barely visible. "Come on!" Harry yelled, determined to protect his ignorant new friends from whatever lied within the forest.
Quickly, they closed the gap, eventually running side by side with Katara, Toph, Sokka, and Zuko. Sure enough, they finally caught up with Aang. Harry had no idea how far or how long he had been running, but the prognosis didn't seem good. Aang had stopped in his tracks, Harry eyed him for a moment before being distracted by Ron.
"H…Harry." Ron sputtered out, causing Harry to look at him and then look towards Ron's line of sight. That was when he saw it. It was huge. A giant beast. Harry gasped in horror, when suddenly he heard Aang shout out.
"APPA!" Aang yelled as he ran up, flying into the air (courtesy of his airbending) and landing squarely on the beast's forehead, in what looked like a hug. The beast groaned in…relief? Harry wasn't sure what relief sounded like for a giant beast, but he was pretty sure the sound it just made wasn't aggression. He looked towards the Avatar gang, they were all…smiling? Suddenly, a smaller bat-like animal flew down and landed on Katara's shoulder. Harry whipped out his wand, ready to stun the animal that he recognized as his attacker from earlier, when he noticed Katara laughing. She stroked the animal, a look of unbridled happiness on her face. Harry looked around to see the rest of the avatar gang burst out into laughter as well, into happiness.
"What?" Harry mumbled, again, he wondered how many times he would have to say that. Aang seemed to take no notice of him, he was firmly attached to the beast, and what's more, the beast seemed to be just as content. Hermione arched an eyebrow and looked fearfully at Ron, who immediately grabbed her and placed her behind him.
"WHAT IN THE BLOODY BLAZES IS GOING ON!" Harry yelled out, wanting to fall to the ground, partly from exhaustion, partly from frustrating confusion.
Katara turned around at his demand. She was so elated from this new discovery that she had forgotten that Harry and his friends were with them. As soon as she heard the groan coming from the forest, she knew it was Appa. As soon as Aang took off after it, she was just as desperate to do so as well. She had forgotten where she was, who she was with, what was happening. All she could think about was reuniting with a dear friend, when she saw Momo fly overhead as she chased after Aang, she knew that it was, really and truly, Appa making himself known in the forest. Nothing else mattered. Then she felt guilty, Harry and his friends must be so confused.
"Appa!" She yelled back to Harry. When Harry and his friends just looked at her in horrified terror, she continued, "Appa! Our friend! Appa's here! He's been here the whole time! And Momo!" She said, nodding her head toward the bat creature. "They're here! They're ok!" It was all the description she could give at the moment, far too excited to delve into any details.
Harry looked over to Hermione and Ron, who just shrugged exasperatedly in return. Appa? Momo? What? Hermione took notice of the serene look on all their faces. Obviously these…creatures, must be…friends of theirs? They didn't seem afraid of the animals, and the animals certainly didn't seem afraid of them. She arched an eyebrow at the whole situation. Slowly, she moved passed Ron's protective arms, despite his protests, and walked towards the Avatar gang, coming up on the side of Katara and the…bat thing.
Katara looked over at Hermione as she approached her, smiling. "You can pet him, you know." Katara said, nodding her head at Momo. "He won't bite."
Hermione looked apprehensive. "Well, I would have an easier time believing that if it hadn't just finished attacking us..." She whispered. The animal, Momo, looked at Hermione, it stuck it's tongue out. Hermione didn't know if it was mocking her or just being an animal.
Katara was lost in thought for a moment. "This is Momo." She said, winking at the animal that was now climbing on her head, apparently, trying to get a better look at the newcomers. "And the big guy over there is Appa. They are from our world." Katara finished pensively, did the light get them too? "Momo just probably thought you were chasing us or something, you'd be surprised how often people chase us…" Katara finished, sounding a lot like her brother.
Hermione didn't know where she had summoned the courage. She didn't know what pushed her forward. But slowly, she walked away from Katara, towards the giant beast.
"Hermione!" Ron whispered desperately, panicking.
Hermione ignored him, slowly making her way up to the creature, his giant eye following her movement. Trembling, she reached a hand out to the beast, slowly stroking it's dirty white fur. It closed it's eyes at her touch. She smiled. Slowly, she turned around and was startled to see Ron and Harry standing directly behind her, wands out. Again she smiled, her boys.
Suddenly, Hermione, Ron, and Harry found themselves being bombarded with something giant, wet, and slimey. Before they could figure out what was going on, Aang landed right in front of them, laughing.
"Appa likes you! He only licks people he likes!" Aang stated through laughter. Harry took notice of the sparkle in Aang's eyes. How attached WAS he to this thing?
The Golden Trio just groaned in response, trying in vain to shake the drool off of them.
Just then Harry heard footsteps pounding in the distance. He whirled around, raising his wand, to see none other than Firenze galloping towards them in the distance. He and several other centaurs approached the gang.
"What the…" Sokka muttered in surprise. The avatar gang gathered around Appa protectively and yet, Appa didn't seem too concerned. The centaurs looked over at the newcomers, then nodded somewhat towards Harry.
Firenze spoke, "Hello Harry Potter, I have not seen you since the Great War. I trust you have been well?"
Harry smiled, "Firenze, I think you would already know whether I was well or not."
Firenze smiled back, "The stars are not definitive Harry Potter. They just guide."
Zuko stomped forward, tired of the mysterious small talk. "Can someone please explain what the hell is going on?" He shot a distrustful glare at these half-horse people, who returned his glare with apparent insult.
Harry stammered for a moment. "Th…The centaurs are a noble and proud people, Zuko. They fought alongside us in the war, even though humans have treated them with great disrespect." Harry finished, trying to sound as poised and humble as possible. The last thing he wanted was to piss off the centaurs. "You should treat them with dignity, Zuko."
Zuko's eyes flew wide in anger and he looked as if he was about to say something when Aang cut him off, "It is an honor to meet you. We were just looking for our friend." Aang concluded, gesturing to Appa.
Firenze arched an eyebrow, "Yes, we have been caring for the beast since the stars dictated he would venture into our forest. He has a kind heart." Firenze finished, smiling at Appa.
"Caring for him?" Aang trailed off weakly. Was something wrong? He whirled around to look at Appa. "Appa?"
Firenze gaze softened when he saw the fear in the child's eyes. "He will be fine, I think. We just came to bring him…and his companion, some food." He concluded, gesturing towards Momo, who immediately flew over to Firenze and tried to ramsack the bag of food he was carrying. Firenze laughed, "The little one has quite a bit of…spunk to him."
Katara walked towards Appa, forgetting about the company around her, she bended water around her hands and started looking for anywhere that Appa could be hurt, eventually locating a large wound on Appa's paw. "Aang…" she whispered, causing Aang to sprint to where she stood.
Katara worked her magic, as it were, and took a sort of diagnostic of the wound. She was quiet for a moment, "He should be ok, he'll need a few healing sessions…"
Hermione ran to where Katara stood, examining the wound herself. "Hmm, I will speak with Hagrid, see if he can't help us make a potion for animal wounds. In the meantime, I'll procure some dittany. It's uses in animals haven't been quite as thoroughly studied as I would have liked, but I think it might help." She concluded looking towards Aang and Katara in, what she hoped, was a comforting way.
" 'ARRY?" Someone yelled in the distance.
"Hagrid! Over here!" Harry yelled back, relieved that Hagrid was able to find them. Getting back out of the forest would probably be far easier with the help of Hagrid and Firenze. Hagrid arrived, Draco in toe, and his jaw dropped at the awesome beast that was before him.
"He's…He's…BEAUTIFUL!" Hagrid said in Awe. Ron, and a terrified Draco, rolled their eyes. Of COURSE Hagrid would think it was beautiful, it was giant, had six legs, and looked like it could eat all of them in one gulp.
"Hagrid!" Hermione yelled, "It's wounded on it's left paw, do you know if there is anything we can make for it?"
Hagrid was pensive for a moment. "Well, I suppose ther's always's Newton's Elixer. I dun kno how good it'll be wit this beast, mostly use it on dragons, but I reckon it couldn't hurt…" Hagrid said, nodding a hello at Firenze, who returned it cordially.
Sokka gulped. "Dragons?" He said quietly.
Hagrid continued, "In the meantime, I reckon I shoul' get you kids outta ther forest, fer McGonagall tans all our hides." He motioned for the kids to follow him. The avatar gang stood rooted to the spot. Hagrid arched an eyebrow.
Firenze, noticing Aang's stark apprehension, walked up to him, slowly putting his hand on his shoulder. "We will care for him, do not worry. Hagrid and the centaurs have always had a deep respect for the sanctity of life when it comes to magical creatures. We will protect him."
Something about Firenze struck Aang, reminded him of his own people. "You said the stars told you Appa would be here…"Aang trailed off in a whisper.
Firenze nodded, "Yes, the light of the stars can sometimes guide one through the darkest of nights. So too with Time, young one."
Aang looked into Firenze's eyes. In his eyes, Aang thought he could see the light. In his eyes, Aang thought he could see eternity.
Author's Note. Hey kids! So, I know I super suck. Been MIA for a couple days, I have solidified my thesis defense for the 10th of August and have been working like a drunk monkey in preparation for it, thus the story went a bit by the wayside for a sec. Hopefully, you liked my little surprise for you, although I think many of you prolly saw it comin! Kudos to GirlWaterShaman for making the correct prediction! Soooooooooo, what'd ya think? I originally wasn't gonna have Firenze in this at all but I came up with something that necessitates his presence. But I think it was funsies. Appa's here! And more importantly, Momo is here! I plan for some fun little hi-jinks with Momo's crazy self. At this point, the story will move at a faster pace. I just wanted to really set up what the first couple days in the strange world was like. As always, shoutouts to my regulars Peridot-15 and Hooahrtr for their reviews. And shoutouts to all my new reviewers, Im so glad you have enjoyed the story so far! Next up, it's the first day of classes for our gangs, how will Hogwarts fit for the Avatar and his friends, we shall see. Should be fun!