Chapter Five

A/N: I do not own anything from either Avatar: The Last Airbender or Harry Potter. Those two properties belong to both Nick and J.K Rowling respectively. I only own the plot of this here story.

*ducks incoming projectiles* geeze, where do you guys keep finding these things? First off, I'm sorry for the delay in uploading. I had gotten caught in an update loop in another story and this one sort of fell to the wayside. Not an excuse though and I'm sorry. I'm going to do better this year though. I've got a New Year's resolution to update a fanfic once a month-now it doesn't mean that this story will be updated every month but it does mean it should get updated more than once a year.

Now, I must address the air bison in the room. If any of my readers here are from Australia, please stay safe! I've been fortunate to not have to deal with fires (closest I've been is Montana during fire season). I can't imagine what it's like for you guys right now.

If any of my readers are American: DONATE, DONATE, DONATE! Over a billion animals have died during these fires. Koalas will have to go on the endangered species list because, and this may get dark, they climb when they're afraid and the trees they climb are filled with oil so when it's on fire, it just goes straight up. The poor things don't have a chance. Plus, when Katrina hit our Gulf coast, Australia donated $7 million dollars to help us rebuild. Donating what you can would be a start to repay them.

To all my other readers: just donate. Please?

*deep breath* Okay, dark section's over. Please don't go after me in the reviews for this A/N. It's the only thing I could think of and yes, I've donated myself. My roommate has a friend from Australia and we've asked for some reputable charities we could donate to. If you want the names, I'll put them on my profile.

Please let me know what you thought of the chapter! Promise, next chapter won't be as long a wait!

Harry had to wonder about the first person to 'meditate'. Did they know they were doing it or did their mind just go blank one day without them realizing it?

Oh Merlin's pants, why can't I keep my mind clear? Harry grumbled inwardly as he opened his eyes and saw that the item Aang had wanted him to move was still in its original location. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

Okay, I can do this. I've done it before—what was different between that time and this?

You were being attacked?

I would like to be able to air bend without constantly being under the threat of attack, thank you!

You realize that by having this argument, your mind is not being cleared?

Bugger!

As he struggled to clear his mind while under the watchful stare of a twelve year old, Harry realized that no one was good at teaching a person to clear their mind. Either that, or Harry was just bad at it.

But you may ask yourself, why would you think that Harry? He thought as he struggled to make a whiff of air come out of his hands. Well, self, you might think it's because it's been two bloody hours and I haven't moved a freaking pebble?

It was a lot different than learning to levitate a feather, that's for sure. At least then you had the aid of a wand. Plus, there were around thirty other eleven year olds failing at the thing too. It wasn't just you.

"Why don't we take a break?" Aang suggested after a bit, probably sensing Harry's frustration. "We can pick up in an hour or two?"

"Um, yeah," Harry nodded, running a hand through his hair and watched as Aang walked off to talk to one of the other members of his group. Harry sighed and shook his head. Maybe it would be better if he went over with Suki and Sokka since the air bending he did back on the mountain was a fluke.

"You know it wasn't a fluke," Zuko's voice sounded from behind him and Harry nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Stop doing that!" He exclaimed and rolled his eyes as he saw Zuko's smirk.

"No."

Harry sighed and straightened his glasses that had gone askew when he jumped. "What wasn't a fluke?"

"Your bending," Zuko elaborated. "You don't just bend once and then never again. It comes and goes, like the tide of the ocean or the flame of a fire. Benders get their strength at different times. For instance, the full moon can increase a water bender's power while the sun increases a fire bender's."

"Okay, but supposedly I'm an air bender," Harry said, rubbing his forehead in frustration. "Yet I can't clear my head enough to move what Aang wants me to move. Also, what are you doing over here? I thought you were training Ron and Ginny?"

"I saw Aang gave you a break and so I gave them one too," Zuko said with a shrug, causing Harry to stare at him in shock. "What?"

"You put two people with extremely volatile tempers together and then left them alone?" Harry asked. Before Zuko could respond, Harry could hear the raised voices of the Weasley siblings echo from their location, which was a little bit aways away from the rest of the group due to the extreme nature of fire.

"One moment Zuko," Harry said and turned to run toward the arguing siblings but Zuko's grasp on his arm stopped him.

"What are you doing?"

"Stopping an argument between two of my friends?" Harry answered though it came out more like a question. Zuko sighed but released his grip on Harry's wrist. This was something that Harry was certainly thankful for, as Zuko had a particularly strong grip. Not as strong as Uncle Vernon but pretty strong so that it hurt.

"When a bender is mad, you don't approach. When two benders are arguing, you keep a clear distance. Running in head first can only get you hurt. Especially around new benders."

"Okay but what you don't understand is the only thing worse than leaving Ron and Hermione alone is leaving Ron and Ginny alone," Harry told him. "You said that new benders are volatile? Well, that describes those two to a t."

Zuko paused and then looked over at Harry. "I see. So what you're saying is—"

"You're an idiot for leaving them alone? No, of course not," Harry said, wincing a little as his scar stung. "But I need to make sure Ginny doesn't hurt Ron or vice versa. We do need to get back to our world after all."

Zuko nodded. "Of course. But don't run. The last thing you want to do is startle a bender."

Harry sighed but nodded and then made his way over to where Ron and Ginny were stationed. Oddly enough, it was one of the first pairings he came across.

Well, air does put out fires, he thought.

That's water, you idiot. Air helps fires grow!

"Hey there Harry!" Ginny's chipper voice broke through Harry's thoughts and he couldn't help but smile as she waved at him. "Come to make sure Ron and I didn't murder each other while Zuko checked on the others?"

"Um, sure. Let's go with that," Harry chuckled and waved at Ron, who was sitting down on a nearby log. "You alright, mate?"

"Yeah, just tired," Ron explained. It was then that Harry realized that there were singe marks all around the target. None of them had actually hit said target but it was more than what Harry had been able to do.

"Bending really takes it out of you," Ginny told him, sitting down next to Ron and pulling her hair into a low ponytail. "I know one thing, I'll sleep well tonight."

Harry looked out over the area, mainly to avoid any questions about how his bending was going. He knew it was nothing to be ashamed of; there were bound to be people better than them just like at Hogwarts.

Yet, the small voice sounded through his head just like it did when Ron became a prefect.

Are you sure about that? After all, Ron's a pure blood. Wouldn't it make more sense that he'd be better at this than you?

What the heck are you talking about?

You're just a half blood.

Sometimes, the voice was logical and made sense. This was not one of those times. What would his blood status have to do with his bending ability?

"Hey, why's Hermione with Toph?" Ginny asked, pulling Harry out of his thoughts.

"Someone as grounded as Hermione? Why shouldn't she try Earth bending?" Harry asked and Ginny shot him a look.

"No, I mean," Ginny said and then looked around to make sure the brunette couldn't hear her. "Look, you know I love Hermione but Luna told me about the incident on the train at the beginning of the year. Hermione doesn't trust in things she can't read about. How well do you think she's going to do with bending?"

Ginny certainly did have a point and, as Harry looked back out to focus on Hermione, it was clear that she was having difficulty with it. In fact, it looked as though she hadn't moved a single thing.

Though, maybe that was just Harry projecting on to his best friend.

"I'm going to go check on her," Harry said, nodding to the two Weasleys.

"So Aang didn't give you a time limit for your break?" Ron asked, causing Harry to pause.

"He said we'd meet back up in an hour or two," Harry said. "We've been talking for about seven minutes."

Ron chuckled. "Okay mate. Just wanted to make sure you wouldn't get in trouble for skiving off training."

"We can't train all day," Harry told him as he walked off. As he made his way toward Hermione, Harry couldn't but notice Luna's training out of the corner of his eye. Anyone else who was watching would understand why he was momentarily distracted as Luna seemed to be moving the water from the ocean in her hand.

"Well of course she is," Harry muttered and rolled his eyes at his own stupidity. Of course Luna was a water bender. Someone as free spirited as Luna? It just made sense. Harry turned and made his way to stand next to Neville, who was also watching Luna's mini performance.

"Hey Harry," his house mate said as he realized Harry had arrived.

"Hey," Harry responded. "You surprised?"

"Not in the slightest. You?"

"Nope."

Neville sighed. "I was rubbish at it though. Couldn't get a single droplet to rise."

"Doesn't mean you're rubbish," Harry told him. "Maybe you're just not with the right bender?"

Neville frowned. "But wouldn't water be the best fit for me? Maybe I'd be better off with Suki and Sokka."

Harry shook his head and then paused. "Hey Nev? Was this where you were standing when you were trying to water bend?"

"Yeah," Neville nodded, looking perplexed at the question.

"Look down."

The brunett boy shook his head but did as Harry suggested. To his surprise, there were small cracks on the ground stemming from his feet.

"But…."

"That's why you couldn't bend the water Nev," Harry said, looking at his friend. "Because you were already a bender in another element. From what I understand, only Aang is able to bend more than one element."

Neville nodded, still shocked that he had not only been able to actually bend but that it had been the element that he considered to be the most difficult looking.

"Let's flag down Katara and let her know that you're going to be switching over to Toph," Harry said. "Then the two of us can go rescue Hermione."

"Sounds like a plan," Neville said, his voice still faint from the shock.