Avatar: A Harry Potter Story

The Cave Rat

Book One: Air

I didn't know where the adenaline came from but before I could even register what had just happened, I was sprinting through the hooded forest, the darkness making the run a few dozen times harder. I could hear Ron panting ahead of me, his steps light and almost soundless. I guess the airbending helped him there. I was afraid I'd loose him at some point, seeing as the only reason I knew where he was was because of his ragged breathing. But at the moment, that wasn't what I was worried about.

The sink hole Hermione had fallen through was chasing me. Yes, you heard correct. I could hear the ground beneath my feet cracking and crumbling as I stumbled through the forest behind Ron- which proved even harder since he too, had his own trail of fissures following him. I was panicking, my legs suddenly felt like led and I wasn't sure how long I could keep running for. Suddenly, Ron shouted at me and I nearly stopped, but began running even faster when I heard his words.

"Harry! Grab my hand!" He screamed and I used every last bit of strength I had left in my legs to leap towards him. Ron caught me in his arms, pushed off of a rock just before the fissures in the ground destroyed it and the wind flew us into the air and we landed on a tree.

Sweat coated my body and I used my black hoodie -which had been wrapped around my waist earlier in the day- to wipe it off. Ron and I slumped in the tree on its thick branches, gasping and choking for air. I lay down and squeezed my eyes shut. When my voice came back to me, I spoke in an extremely high pitch that I'd never heard come out of my mouth before.

"What was  that?!"

"I-" Ron's voice cracked and he cleared his throat. "I don't know."

The three shook and my eyes shot wide open, gripping the branches tightly. The cracking of ground echoed through the trees and birds flew away. Ron and I glanced at each other and I immediately knew we'd been too late. A large area of land beneath the tree fell away into the ground and we were swallowed by the earth, hanging onto the wood for dear life. I screamed at the top of my lungs, refusing to open my eyes as we fell. I felt my body slipping and more panic rose to my chest.

The panic was cut short however, when the tree hit the ground with a defeaning crunch and I blacked out.

. . .

"Harry! Harry, wake up!"

My eyes fluttered open and I groaned, a headache threatening to form behind my eyes. I lay face flat on brown, rocky ground coated with cinnamon coloured dust. I sat up, my head spinning slightly and looked around.

Hermione sat next to me, her hair messier than it had been from camping on the beach, her clothes dirty and ripped. We were sat in a metal cage the size of a boxing arena. Beyond the cage, all I saw was darkness. I looked up and frowned. I couldn't see where Ron and I had fallen in. Nor could I see the tree we'd riden down here. All I could see past the cage we lay in were shadows darker than obsidian. As if we'd been encased in a blanket of ink.

My heart  suddenly skipped a beat and I whipped towards Hermione, my gut clenching painfully.

"Where's Ron?" I asked and she shook her head, looking just as baffled as I felt. "I don't know," she said helplessly. The stress in her voice made my heart sink. "I woke up a few minutes ago and it was just you and I in her." I looked around again and squinted, trying to see through the mass of darkness encasing the cage. "Where exactly is here anyway?" I asked nobody in particular, knowing that Hermione didn't have the answer.

Suddenly, a booming voice echoed around the cave, rattling the cell bars.

"Welcome!"

Hermione and I flinched towards each other. The voice seemed to be coming from everywhere, which greatly disoriented me. The voice had been so loud that debris fell through the bars of the cage and into my hair, though I couldn't see how far of a journey it had taken from the ceiling. The sound of stone grinding made me jump and soon enough, a man was standing right in front of us. Dust particles floating around his feet. Hermione and I yelped and backed away, standing up. Unlike the other times where I'd had sticks around me to use as self defense, I had nothing.

Hermione and I both stood in defensive positions. The man before us merely laughed, as if he were watching two toddlers play knights with plastic swords.

I watched the man closely. He was very unsettling. His hair -which was the same colour as the dust under our feet- fell in a mop on his head. Stopping just past his shoulders. He was tall and scrawny with skin so pale I doubted he ever saw the sun. He had a wispy mustache and a greedy glint in his dark eyes. His clothes were all black, silver chains hanging from his belt and neck.

"Who are you!" Hermione spat, glaring daggers at the man in the chains. The man clasped his hands together and grinned.

"Well, my dear. I'm Pete, of course! Don't you remember me?" Hermione's stance wavered slightly and she stared at him, confused. At that very moment, I realized that Pete reminded me of a cave rat I once saw on a school field trip...

"I-I've never met you before. Now what do you want!" Hermione said, attempting to gain back her intimidating physique. I shifted my eyes from Hermione to Pete. Something about this situation seemed very wrong...

"Aw, that's a shame-" Pete clasped his hands together again and frowned like a little kid. He brushed it off and grinned again. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. This man was already beginning to creep me out.

"But nevertheless, I'll introduce myself! My name is Pete, as you now know. And this, dear travelers- is a robbery!"