Harry stared at the wide ocean before him, his blue coat flapping slightly in the wind. He'd never seen the ocean before, the largest body of water being the lake at Hogwarts. He inhaled the salty air, as the rest of the gaang were saying their goodbye to the Northern Water Tribe, before they left for Omashu. The wizard had had a crash course on the war that was constantly happening all over the world.
He sighted, leaning his elbow against the border of the small ship as he stared at his hand. After a few seconds of concentration, a small flame appeared, over the thick mittens he was wearing. The flame danced for a few seconds as he looked at it before it disappeared. Doing fire bending wasn't that hard, but he never got good results beyond this small flame. The fact that he could make a jet of flames with his wand, didn't make his skill very useful. Because everyone, except maybe Aang, were wary of fire benders, he tried not to do it often in the public eye. Even if this felt a bit like second year, this was different. While using parseltongue was not something he liked to do, fire bending just felt warm and nice. It was unfortunate that the fire benders were the bad guys. The Potter luck really reared his head on that one.
He was curious about the two fire benders that had helped them fight off Zhao. From the teenager's sayings, they'd been trying to capture Aang since he woke up in this time. But at that time, they hadn't. They simply left while everyone was preoccupied when he fainted. He would be wary of them though, who tried to kidnap a 12-year-old on a regular basis?
"Hello, Harry." He turned around, the princess of the Northern Water Tribe standing in front of him. She had been saying her goodbyes to Sokka, which had been filled with discreet kisses and tears. He bowed his head slightly, a little bit awkward with dealing with royalty. She only smiled at him, a warm and gentle smile that made him feel a bit more comfortable. "How are you doing?" she asked, kindly. "I'm doing okay." He responded with a small smile. After his last breakdown, he had largely been ignoring the turmoil in his heart, preferring to focus on learning about this world, and not getting beat up by some water tribe who were sure that he would betray them to the fire nation.
"I wanted to thank you." Yue's gentle voice brought him out of his thoughts, tilting his head as he registered her thanks. "If Zhao had managed to kill the Moon Spirit, I fear that I would've had to do something … drastic." Harry said nothing for a few seconds, looking at her odd silver aura. That's what that meant, he mused. "It's nothing, I was just doing the right thing." She smiled at him, before reaching into her pocket. She held out a blue necklace, with what looked like a small white scale dangling at the end of it. Harry's eyes widened, at the similar aura that the scale held to Yue's own. "I came back to pray to the water spirits when you were still asleep. The Moon Spirit swam towards me, and left me this." She smiled, stepping towards him and dropping the necklace in his hands. "When I picked it up, I knew it was meant for you. I hope you make it home, Harry. You'd deserve it." She quickly leaned in, kissed his cheeks, before heading off the boat.
The wizard at the empty space before him for a few seconds, before looking at the jewelry in his hands. The only other spirit apart from the water spirits that he'd met, was Lily. And she'd not seem to care about him at all. He was rather a convenient expendable toy to fight her battles. The moon spirit had helped him to be rid of Voldemort, and giving him a part of them. Maybe not all spirits were bad after all.
"You alright?" he lifted his head to look at Katara. After seeing that he really didn't know anything about the fire nation and was firmly against the crimes they committed, she'd warmed up to him. Harry had never asked why she always touched her necklace when speaking of the fire nation, but he had been extremely curious. Sokka, while he'd never been as cautious as his sister, had treated him like a member of his own family. It was … nice. To be this accepted of new people. The fact that they had no knowledge of his Boy-Who-Lived status, also amazed Harry at their friendliness.
"Yeah, Yue gave me a gift from the Moon Spirit." He showed her the necklace that she took in her hands after his nod. She looked at it, almost wistfully before handing it back to him with a small smile. "It's very pretty. You should be honoured that the Moon Spirit gave you this. Do you want me to put it on for you?" Harry nodded, turning his back to her. He felt the cold beads touch his neck, startling as the aura of the scale spread through his body, before dissipating to a soft humming. Katara hadn't seemed to have noticed, as she only looked him over. "Looks good on you!" she exclaimed.
"All aboard!" the captain's voice boomed from the front mast, as everyone hurried to finish their goodbyes. Before long, the few people that would work the boat to the location were on board. They had to pry Sokka away from Yue, who was tearing up. The water tribe boy was very … loud, which annoyed the rest of the group a bit. After a few minutes, the boat finally left to the sea, mesmerizing Harry. It was the first time he didn't see any land at all. He was very glad that he wasn't seasick, because the trip would've been very annoying.
As they sailed, the wizard relaxed and conjured a small flame in his hands. He really loved doing this new trick, it felt like using his magic, but just a different part of him. It made him feel warm and fuzzy, like when he saw Hogwarts for the first time. He was a bit suspicious as to why he liked it that much, but if he could get some comfortable in this world, where he knew no one, he'd use it.
While he was reminiscing about cozy time in Gryffindor Tower, and just watching the group talking amongst themselves, the boat finally arrived on what looked like the middle of nowhere. As Aang, Katara and Sokka were talking with Pakku, Harry approached Appa quietly. "Hi buddy, can I get on your back?" the animal only looked at him, and grunted. Remembering Buckbeak, Harry looked at him in the eyes and bowed to his waist. Appa looked at him for a few uncomfortable moments, blood rushed to his cheeks as the wizard felt pretty silly.
He was saved from the embarrassment as the sky bison shuffled towards him and nuzzled his face gently. Harry chuckled softly, straightened his back and gave small pets to the animal's face. After a few seconds, Harry climbed slowly to the saddle on top of the animal's back. He settled himself as Aang and Katara received their gifts, to the dismay of Sokka who pouted his way to his seat. The wizard patted his back with a sympathetic look. Harry startled as the sky bison tensed and floated up into the sky with a tap of his tail. Wind ruffled his air and cheeks, as his clothes floated in the wind around him. A wide grin illuminated his face as they flew steadily to the Earth Kingdom stronghold. While this was not the same as riding his broomstick or riding on Buckbeak, it was familiar enough that tears pooled in his eyes.
"Flying's awesome, isn't it?" Aang's voice brought him out of his thoughts, a wide excited grin on his face. "Yeah, I've always loved flying!" exclaimed Harry, still on his happy rush. The airbender tilted his head to the side in slight confusion. "How did you fly? You weren't a fire bender before." Harry perked up even more at that, he'd not even thought about that! If he managed to use big fireballs, he could maybe fly with them! "Oh no, I flew on a broomstick." The group stared at him, as if he'd gone mad.
"A broomstick? Yeah right, broomsticks don't fly" scoffed Sokka, clearly not believing him for a second. Harry scowled at him, before a mischievous smirk replaced the scowl. He pointed his wand at the teenager, and before Sokka could react, uttered with a loud voice, "Wingardium Leviosa!" Sokka lifted slowly in the air, as Harry struggled to hold his body weight. Sokka flayed in the air with a yelp of shock. The wizard quickly let go, as he realized that they were flying away from the teen, letting him drop the small distance. Aang and Katara gaped at him for a moment, as the Water Tribe teen groaned in exaggerated pain. A snort passed through Katara's lips, and before they knew it, everyone was laughing at Sokka's expense. Sokka himself was pouting, but he didn't seem that offended.
It was in good spirits that the group arrived at the place, General Fung was waiting there a firm smile on his face. I congratulate you on driving off the Fire Nation flee! With the full moon enhancing the power of the water benders and Avatar Aang's might, you were able to drive off the full force the Fire Nation! I congratulate you!" Fireworks exploded behind them, as the General praised them. While Harry this was a little bit over the top, the rest of the group muttered excitedly between themselves.
"Now, you must hurry to the Earth Kingdom to meet with King Bumi. Defeating the Fire Lord is our top priority! We will give you sleeping quarters for the night and will escort you the earliest tomorrow morning. We will serve you a grand meal, and you can train with the guards if you want." With that, he left, leaving the rest of the group with some guards that led them to their sleeping chambers. Everybody picked a bed, and put away their stuff. "Do you guys want to go train with the earth benders?" asked Katara, as she adjusted her pouch on her hip. "It would be a great way to get different kinds of training." Agreed Aang, as he bounced on his toes.
"Ah, I think I'll stay behind." Said Harry with a wince, "I don't think they would take too kindly to a fire bender and my magic is off limits." Katara hummed in understanding, and after a few reassurances that he'd be fine, they left to go to practise. Harry sat on his bed for a few seconds, sighing as he let himself fall and bury his heads in the scratchy covers. In moments like these, he couldn't help but wish to be back home. How Hermione and Ron would be by his side. They'd either be practising their spells or he'd play chess with Ron while Hermione nagged them in the background about their homework. And Sirius… Tears welled up as he thought of his godfather, which annoyed him to no end. Shouldn't he be over this already? He didn't have time for dramatics.
He hadn't had the time to get to know Sirius all that much. With so much worry over his hearing, he had talked to him only for some time, and it had been too dangerous during the school year, especially with Umbridge. Anger coursed through him with just the thought of that toad. He felt his fire react to his anger, and a jet of fire came out of his breath when he exhaled angrily. He yelped in alarm and took out his wand. "Aqua Eructo!" The fire was immediately extinguished, but his bed was now soaking wet.
Harry sighted, before taking out his covers outside to let them dry. He looked out the open field, where a few guards had been selected to train. The wizard couldn't but admire all the fluid movement as everyone dodged and weaved around each other, pillars of stone rising up to throw themselves at the three teenagers. Sokka seemed to be having the hardest time, but he wasn't giving up, though, which Harry admired. Looking at them made him realize how much he was going to have to work. He couldn't expose his magic here, people would either think he's a spirit or the Avatar, which was bad in either case. And sadly, fire bending would get him a lot of unwarranted suspicion, leaving him pretty much out of options.
As he looked at Katara manipulating her water whip, an idea came to mind. Dumbledore had done some wandless and wordless magic. Maybe he could pretend he was a water bender? While the idea seemed a bit … counterproductive because his fire, this was magic and therefore not technically water bending. It hadn't felt weird to use his water spell earlier, so maybe he could give it a shot? He looked around to make sure there was nobody close. Even if he was high up, if he projected off the walls, he wouldn't rain on anybody. He closed his eyes, concentrating on his magic. With the addition of his fire, recognizing his magic throughout his body had become a lot easier, something which he was grateful for. He decided to try first with wordless magic. He concentrated on the spell, brandishing his wand. Aqua Eructo! He thought as hard as he could. He opened his eyes as a small swirl reached his ears. A miniscule water orb was there, only to disappear as he lost concentration. His smile dropped, but fierce determination shot through him, he would do this!
Two hours later, Harry had managed to make a small jet of water that wouldn't harm anyone but would at least convince people he was a water bender. Utterly exhausted and famished, he quickly made his way back to the hall where they had been promised food. He was happily surprised to see the group also heading towards the hall as they excitedly discuss what they had learned. Aang caught sight of him, quickly heading over and explaining all the training they'd done. Harry smiled as they all settled down to eat, everyone talking excitedly over what they'd done. They were all very excited of the progress he'd made with his magic, congratulating him, as he promised to show them later. He went to sleep with a big smile on his face.
XxX
A small groan and the rustling of sheets woke Harry up, who instantly woke up. He tensed, staying silent as he tried to make out what had woken him. Another groan made him towards Aang's bed, the small teen shaking and muttering in his sleep. Harry quietly slipped out of his bed, and padded to the teen. "Aang, wake up! Aang!," he whisper-shouted as he gently shook his shoulders. Aang's eyes shot open, sitting up frantically, his breathing quick. "Hey, it's just me. You're okay." Harry whispered, looking him in the eyes.
After a few seconds, the avatar calmed down, before sighting heavily and slumping against Harry. The wizard tensed in surprise, before wrapping his arms around Aang back, feeling a little awkward. "Are you okay?" he asked instead of breaking the hug, letting his friend get comfort from him. He felt Aang sight again, "I dreamt that … you were never there. That Zhao killed the Moon Spirit, and I couldn't do anything about it." He murmured; his voice muffled by Harry's shirt. "And I only managed because of your help, I don't know if I would've been able to save the Moon Spirit. Even the spirits knew I would have failed, so they sent you."
Harry stayed quiet for a few seconds, not knowing what to say. "Lily … did not seem like the spirit to have faith in anyone. I think she would have sent anyone regardless. And … in a fight with any bender, I would probably lose. I don't have enough agility, reflexes or the brain to improvise in a fight. If I get some lucky hits in, then yeah sure, but for the rest, you would beat me in seconds. I was very lucky that there was no one when I appeared at the Oasis, and if no one had come to back me up, I would've been exhausted pretty soon." Harry answered, thinking back to the training the group had done this afternoon. He smiled, as he pulled Aang away from him to look at him in the styles. "I'm confident that you would've been able to do this without me. It was pure coincidence that I was taken here." The wizard swallowed, as he thought back the veil. Even if he hated Lily for leaving Sirius to die and stranding him here, he knew that without her he'd died as well. Or that if he wasn't such quick-tempered and hadn't run into the veil, none of this would've happened. He regretted that decision to this day.
But he thought as he stared at the wide teary eyes of a child too young for his burden, I don't regret helping them. Harry startled as Katara and Sokka joined them, giving a big group hug. As he fell in the warmth of his new friends, Harry couldn't help but smile.
XxX: Hi guys! Hope you like the chapter! While doing half the chapter, I realized that the whole episode based on the Avatar State would never happen, as Aang never used in the North Pole. I had to delete two pages, but oh well. I'm going to try and merge some episodes together, to make it go a bit faster, but still believable. As you can already see, I'm planning to have Harry's presence change the plot, not just have the exact plot of each episode with added lines from Harry. Welp, I'll see you guys next week!