Avatar: A Harry Potter Story

The Gateway

Book One: Air

After what felt like many, many hours of travel via invisible air bubble, we landed in a thick forest somewhere in Denmark.

"Are we there yet?" Ron groaned, his eyes barely keeping themselves open. The minute we landed on the ground he collapsed into me. I sat down and held his upper body in my lap. Hermione looked over the two of us fondly, suppressing a laugh. "We'll set up camp here and leave at twilight," she said, setting her small pouch in the grass, beginning to dig through it. I got Ron comfortable on a thick patch of foliage before looking at my surroundings. It was early afternoon. The bright, blinding sun was beating down apon us in the small clearing we had set up in. The grass was bright green and the trees smelt like berries. There was a small pond near by propped up against a large boulder, water trickling down it. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. It was a nice change from the brown grass and dull atmosphere of my old town.

"Will you miss them?"

I was snapped out of my thoughts when Hermione spoke. Homehow, she had managed to start a fire in between us. She passed me a wooden bowl and I looked inside it. Fresh water. I took a sip and sighed before answering her.

"I'll miss my cousin. Dudley. He was an arse when I first arrived but he ended up way better than his parents," I muttered, gulping down the cool water, the cold tickling my spine. Hermione chuckled, taking a sip from her own bowl. "What about you? Do you and Ron have family from the... Other World?" I asked curiously, still trying to wrap my head around it all and she blinked, thinking hard, though her expression was still soft. But I could see it in her eyes. Whatever she was thinking about was hurting her.
"My parents are dentists," she said all of a sudden and my eyes widened. That was definitely not what I was expecting. "As much as they applauded their daughter for becoming a witch, they weren't so happy when I told them I was going to look for the Avatar," she said, smiling sadly. "Witch?" I repeated, my mind still processing that word. "Oh yes. Some benders, though not many, are born with magic of other sorts. Witches and Wizards is what we call them," she smiled and my mouth fell open slightly.

"Like the Witches and Wizards from Danny Trotter?" I asked astonished Hermione's eyes widened. "I didn't take you as the kind to read," she laughed and I rolled my eyes. "Danny Trotter and Mercy Packston are the only books I've ever enjoyed," I stated and she laughed some more until we were laughing together. Once we had calmed down, she took another sip of water before placing her empty bowl down, smiling up at me from where she sat. She stretched her hand out and put it on mine.

"This'll all make sense in time, Harry. I promise," she whispered and I smiled back, regarding her hand and squeezing it slightly. "Thanks, Hermione," I smiled and she shook her head.

"We're friends, Harry. Call me 'Mione."

Hermione and I continued talking for two hours before tiredness got the best of us. She curled up against Ron and fell asleep. However, sleep didn't come to me as easily as I thought it would. Don't get me wrong, I did fall asleep. But the dream I had didn't seem to think it was a good idea to sleep.

A large group of warriors clad in red, blue white or green stood before a throne. The throne was dark and grand, fire blazing around it, casting beautiful shadows around the Throne Room. On the throne, disregarding his warriors, a man sat. Their leader. His face was not visible. All that was seen of him was his thick, deep red royal overcoat, the rest of his body and bright, crimson red eyes glowing through the shadows. Next to him, stood on a tall podium was a man with pale skin and platinum blonde hair. His eyes an eery grey. Suddenly, the man on the podium spoke in a voice so strong the room felt as if it were shaking. The blonde man completely ignored his shaking son who sat terrified in his mother's grip, the both of them stood next to the podium.

"Find the Avatar. NOW!"

"- arry! HARRY!"

I jolted awake, cold sweat running down my forehead in large beads. I was breathing so heavily my chest clenched and my throat ached. What was that?

"Are you alright?!" Ron asked, sitting me up whilst passing me the bowl of fresh water that Hermione had hurriedly passed him. Trying to keep my breathing steady, I nodded, swallowing the water deeply. It made me feel better, but I was still shaking. "Y-yeah. Yeah, I think so," I muttered, sipping again. Suddenly, my forehead ached and I yelped, staring up at it as if I could see through my skin. Hermione and Ron did the same and their eyes went wide. The odd, lightning shaped scar on my forehead was burning, making my head throb. A tingling sensation took over my entire head and I felt dizzy. After I while, I gained my composure and the burning stopped. I rubbed at my skin dumbfounded but nothing happened and the tingling slowly began to fade away.
"What just happened?" I asked softly, marveling at my forehead. "We must hurry. It is almost midnight." Hermione muttered, ignoring my question. She put out the fire with a small wave of her hand. She and Ron began packing things away, the weapons into Ron's bag and the others smaller things into Hermione's small, extendable pouch. "Wait, what?" I huffed, standing up with my backpack over my shoulder.
"We need to get to the Gateway! Quickly, before it closes!" Hermione spat, taking my hand. She, Ron and I ran through the forest. Dodging low hanging branches, fallen trees and thickets. The further we ran the harder it was to navigate through it. It just kept getting thicker and thicker. But we didn't stop. Not until we got to an eery clearing with a small mound in the distance. On the mound were four rocks placed as if they were forming a square. Ron sighed with relief. "It- it's still here," he huffed, running a hand through his hair. "Why wouldn't it be?" I asked and the both of them lowered their heads, leading us towards the rocks. "Somehow, they know that you're alive and the search for you has begun," Hermione clarified grimly.

Suddenly, the earth beneath us began to shake and looks of panicked appeared on both of their faces. "Together?" Ron asked and Hermione nodded. I had never seen the two look so serious. They stood before the rock alter and took defensive stances. It was as if they were moving as one as they began to wave their arms gracefully in unison. Both in deep concentration, I tried not to yelp as the ground began to crack and I had to move to several different places before the air around us seemed to change. It became thicker, almost. Water particals appeared around us and I stared in awe as Ron and Hermione's movements began to speed up and soon, the three of us as well as the alter were being surrounded by rushing water and cool, fresh gusts of wind. Several areas of the floor began to fall away into the unknown and I began panicking. Not knowing where I was supposed to stand if I waited a second longer. Ron and Hermione stopped bending and both grabbed my hand.

"RUN!"