Dark Puck - Crossover Time! [My FF.net Account] [Ongoing Fic Post] [Wingless Archangel Studios]
April 16th, 2008
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Crossover Time!
This is what happens when I start wondering what Houses certain characters ffrom Avatar: The Last Airbender would be Sorted into and then get my cowriter involved.

Title: Magicbending
Authors: Eleanor and Puck
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Crossover
Summary: Haru, Teo, and Zuko are accidentally Portkeyed to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Hilarity Ensues.
Warning: Takes place after the Firebending Masters. Includes some of my personal crackship because I refuse to let it go. Ever. To that effect, the events of Just One Night are considered canon to this fic.  Some parts of the story are from necessity lifted directly from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Neither of us is precisely thrilled about it, but it had to be done. There are several events where the Avatar characters' presence will not interfere with the actual outcome. The point is not to demonstrate to the Potter cast that they are doing it wrong, but to show how the Avatar cast would adapt to this strange new world.

Thanks to the confused tangle of limbs and clothes, it was a few moments before Teo, Haru, or Zuko noticed that something was wrong. To that, it was Zuko who noticed first, as Haru was checking Teo over for injuries while the younger boy insisted he was fine.

“…We’re not at the temple anymore,” the erstwhile prince said abruptly.

Haru glanced up at him. “What? How do you…?” His voice trailed off as he stared at the completely random trees surrounding them.

The younger man frowned, examining one of the trees closely. “…I’ve never seen trees like these before,” he said, softly.

“Me either,” Teo said. “Haru, could you help me into my… oh…” There was no sign of the young teen’s wheelchair.

“…What. The hell. Is that.” Zuko was staring at what, to Teo at least, appeared to be empty space between two of the trees.

“What is what?” Teo asked as Haru turned his head the same way.

The oldest boy stiffened. “It… looks like some kind of lizard-horse…”

Frowning, Teo glanced from one bender to the other. “What are you talking about? I can’t see anything!”

“…Something is definitely wrong here,” Zuko muttered, not taking his eyes off the seemingly invisible lizard-horse.

“Very, very wrong,” breathed Haru as he scooped Teo up into his arms. “May I suggest we back away slowly?”

He nodded. “I’ll go last.”

The older bender didn’t argue. He moved to one side, keeping one eye on the ground in front of him and another eye on the empty space. Zuko backed away after him, keeping his eyes on the space where the lizard-horse seemed to be.

“The edge of the forest is half a mile behind us,” Haru reported softly. A pause, and then, “… I think.”

By this time, the lizardhorse was screened off by trees, so Zuko turned to walk forwards. “…Strange. Trees’re getting closer together.”

“I know,” Haru replied. “This forest is excessively weird.”

The younger man nodded, and drew his swords. Just in case.

Teo kept looking around, his wide grey eyes taking in everything surrounding them — and then he looked up. “…you m-might wanna go f-faster…”

“What is it?” Zuko asked, following his gaze.

A monstrous insectoid with eight hairy legs was staring at them, crouched in a tree. “…You two run. I’ll hold it off,” the prince muttered, then, without waiting for a response, launched himself up at the insectoid.

“Idiot!” Haru snapped as the thing scuttled around the tree. “You didn’t have to provoke it!”

“I was trying to distract it so you two could get away!” Zuko snapped back.

“Duck!” shouted Teo.

He chose not to, rather spinning and bringing his swords up, hoping to gut the creature as it came back around. Instead, something sticky attached itself to the blades, all but gluing them together. The insect chittered at them.

Zuko swore and tried to set the beast on fire.

That worked; the creature howled and fell back, trying to douse the flames. “Run, you idiot!” yelled Haru, letting go of Teo with one arm for a split second to jerk Zuko towards him. “It’s all of us or none of us!”

“No, I’ll hold it off, so at least some of us can get out of this!”

In response, Haru slammed his foot down; a boulder flew from the ground and hit the insect again, throwing it further away and pinning some of its legs. All of us! Now!”

“Stop arguing and move!” Zuko shouted, trying to unstick his swords.

The insect screamed again and again, causing Teo to put his hands over his ears. “I think it’s calling for reinforcements!”

“RUN, dammit!” the prince shouted. “I’ll come last!”

No, you’ll come with!” Haru snapped back. “We need you!”

“Someone has to bring up the rear and keep those things from getting too close,” Zuko pointed out. “Go, I’m coming.”

“If you make me come after you, there will be Words,” Haru promised, resuming his retreat.

The prince counted to ten, then shot a second fireblast at the creature and took off after the others, pausing every minute or so to check and make sure the insect (and its equally-large and many-legged friends) kept their distance.

The fire seemed to be enough to keep them away, but it wasn’t easy to tell. Finally, he made it out of the forest — and stumbled right into Haru.

“…Why’d you stop?” he asked, tearing off part of his shirt to stop his arm bleeding — he’d cut it on a treebranch while running.

“Zuko?” It was Teo who spoke. “Just look.”

He looked.

A large stone building greeted their eyes, topped with spires and glass windows and just generally very very strange.

“…That looks…like a very oddly-constructed palace,” Zuko said, after a moment.

“It’s huge,” breathed Haru.

“Not as big as the Northern Air Temple,” Teo decided.

“…Do we want to check there for shelter? It’s about to rain.” The prince pointed up at the gathering thunderclouds.

“I don’t think we have much choice,” Haru muttered. “There’s a strange house that’s closer, but I wouldn’t trust it to keep rain out.”

“…Nor would I,” Zuko said, just as the clouds opened up.

“Go!” Haru suited action to words, pelting for the odd palace.

Zuko followed at a run.

“You knock,” said Haru once they’d arrived, breathing heavily. “My arms are full.”

The prince nodded, and pounded on the door.

Haru fell back slightly, shifting Teo in his arms and wishing the wheelchair had come with them. He didn’t mind carrying the younger boy, but Teo was thirteen years old and a growing child. He was not a light burden.

Zuko’s knock was answered by a severe-looking woman with dark hair pulled back into a tight bun. “…Yes?”

Haru put on a smile. “Um, hi. We’re… a little lost, and were hoping you might offer shelter from the rain?”

She eyed them for a long moment, then stood aside, pulling the door open.

“Thank you,” Haru said, entering first.

“You’re welcome,” she said, as Zuko followed the older bender.

Once inside, it took all of Haru’s self-control to keep his jaw from dropping open. The place had clearly been designed by a madman. Zuko’s eyes — or, at the very least, his good eye — widened, taking in the entrance hall.

It was Teo who noticed the small details. “Whoa! Did that painting just move?!”

“Yes, I did,” the painting told him. “Minerva, that one’s bleeding.”

“I saw.”

Haru jumped. “What the hell?!”

“Come with me, please,” the woman — Minerva, apparently — told them, then started heading off further into the building.

The boys exchanged a glance, and then did as they were instructed. The floor was cold to Haru’s bare feet, but he was picking up the weirdest things from the stones and was thus loathe to request shoes. Toph’s teachings were both blessing and curse.

Zuko, too, was suspicious, and kept his swords (still mostly stuck together) out and ready for anything. They were led to a smaller room containing another woman, who took a look at Zuko’s arm, tutted, and drew a stick of wood from her robes.

He watched both woman and stick suspiciously.

Pointing the stick at his arm, she said, “Condico! Before their startled eyes, the cut healed instantly. This only made the prince’s suspicion of her, “Minerva,” and this entire place increase.

Now the woman turned to Haru. “Now him.”

Haru took a step back. “What about him?” He apparently was as suspicious as Zuko.

“She can help,” ‘Minerva’ said quietly.

“Help what? I’m fine,” Teo insisted. He, however, simply sounded confused.

The unnamed woman arched an eyebrow. “You’ve obviously hurt one of your legs.”

“Oh — I can’t walk,” Teo corrected her. “I’ve been like that since I was a baby.”

‘Minerva’ turned to the unnamed woman and arched an eyebrow.

“Was it an injury to your legs, or to your back?” the woman asked the boy.

“I’m not sure,” Teo said. “Things were… very confusing at the time.”

“Well, it’s still fixable.”

“I’ll leave them with you, then, Poppy,” Minerva said, then left the room.

“Fixable? Fixable how?” Haru asked. “Everyone knows back injuries are permanent!”

The woman — Poppy — merely raised an eyebrow. “And you found this place with that sort of attitude?”

Zuko, in the background, simply focused on cleaning off his swords, letting Haru do all the talking. He hardly knew Teo, after all. He had no right to get involved. Though if this Poppy woman wasn’t telling the truth…

“Here,” she was saying now, “Drink this—”

Haru cut her off. “What’s in it?”

“…you’re not very trusting, are you?”

“Trust gets you nowhere,” the older bender replied. “What’s in it?”

The woman told him, and Haru eventually nodded. “Very well.”

Zuko smiled a little at the older bender’s paranoia. Better safe than sorry, after all.

She gave Teo the drink, which he obediently guzzled, and made a face. “Ew.”

‘Poppy’ was giving Haru instructions. “If he’s been unable to walk from childhood, he’ll need to be taught. Are you willing to do—”

“Yes,” Haru said promptly.

“And he’ll need to take a dose every week, or it will wear off,” she warned him. “We haven’t developed a safe, permanent fix yet.”

Zuko hung around in the background, watching. His swords had finally separated, but he didn’t yet put them away.

“Minerva should be waiting out in the hall to show you to a room,” Poppy said. “All of you, out!”

The prince led the way out.

“Haru?” said Teo in a small voice.

Zuko said nothing, just kept moving. He hated infirmaries.

“What is it?”

“My legs feel… kinda funny.”

“How so?”

“…I can feel them.”

And what happens when this goes away? the younger of the two benders thought, morosely.

Haru stopped them before they got to Minerva again. Checking to make certain there were no portraits around – there was one, but the occupant appeared to be sleeping – he called Zuko back. Lowering his voice to be safe, he said, “We’ll need some kind of story to tell these people when they want to know where we came from. And that story has to match up between all three of us.”

“Agreed,” the prince said. “Are we keeping our real names?”

Haru nodded. “Teo’s already used mine—”

“Sorry,” muttered the younger boy.

“Don’t worry about it — and it’d be easier. We can easily establish that we came from a small, isolated place, which would also explain why we didn’t know about the fix.”

After a moment’s consideration, the other boy nodded. “Right, then. What about history? How much of it do we tell?”

“Well, sooner or later it’ll come up that we’ve been involved in a war. Just from reactions you and I might have to…um, surprises. So we have to leave that in.”

“Right.”

Haru frowned, setting Teo down so the younger boy could try to get his feet. He wobbled, but the older bender steadied him. “Just try to stand for now,” Haru told him. “Get your balance.”

“Right.”

After another few moments, Haru nodded. “Okay. I think I’ve got it. We’re originally from an island cut off from the outside world. There’s a taboo against leaving, which would account for nobody every hearing of us.”

“Civil war, then?” Zuko suggested.

“Yeah. …let’s go with your village versus ours, since it’s true enough.”

“That won’t account for — whoa! — us being friends with him, though.” Teo clung unsteadily to Haru’s hands as he tried to maintain his own balance.

“Sure it will,” Haru replied easily. “We’re refugees, all of us. We banded together to make surviving on our own easier.”

“And the two of us are young enough that they’ll believe we haven’t been drafted.”

“…yet,” Haru said. “I’m almost eighteen. Teo, you’re from the same village as me. Your dad entrusted you to my care when I left.”

“Mm-hmm.”

Zuko shrugged. “My point is, there won’t be awkward questions as to why we were allowed to leave, and why neither of us was in the military.”

Haru smiled slightly. “Who said anything about ‘allowed’?”

“…wait, are you saying you — ack! — left to get away from the draft?”

The boy nodded.

Zuko smiled slightly. “Fair point.”

“I’ll let you make up your own mind about if you left to avoid it or for another reason, Zuko,” Haru said. “Okay, Teo, can you handle it on your own?”

“I think so?”

Haru moved his hands, and Teo wobbled, but stayed upright. “I’ve got it! Haru, Zuko, I’ve really got it!”

Despite himself, Zuko smiled slightly.

“Anything else?” Haru asked. “We don’t want this Minerva to get too suspicious.”

The prince shook his head. “Not that I can think of.”

“Okay, let’s go find her. Teo, grab my hands and take a step. Might as well work on this walking thing for you.”

The younger boy nodded and took hold of Haru. They made slow, wobbly progress to where the severe woman waited for them.

She nodded when she saw them, seeming satisfied. “Follow me,” she said again, then led them on through the strange building.

Teo refused to let Haru carry him again, but after while, Haru picked him up anyway despite his protests. “You’re using your legs for the first time, kid,” Haru told the sulking boy. “You’ve gotta build up the muscle. You’ll tire quickly at first.”

Minerva led them to a small room with three beds.

“Thanks,” said Haru, setting Teo down on one of them.

“You’re welcome,” Minerva said, then left the three of them alone.

She’d been gone for less than a minute when Zuko stood up to leave.

“Recon, Zuko?” Haru asked mildly.

“Something like that,” he said, as he left the room.

“…he’s not very social, is he?” Teo asked Haru.

“You’d be surprised,” the older boy murmured.

Zuko finally rejoined them long after dark.

Teo had gone to sleep; Haru was watching him. “Find anything?” he asked, not looking at the prince.

“The staircases move.”

Haru was silent for a long moment. “…move, you say.”

“Yes. They move.” Zuko sounded rather annoyed with this fact.

“…what the hell kind of place have we come to?”

“I wish I knew.” He perched on the end of one of the beds, fidgeted a little, then stood up to leave again.

Haru rose as well. “Not without me you don’t.”

Zuko turned around and arched his eyebrow. “I’m just going to find someplace to drill for a few hours.”

“He’s sleeping. I need to look around too. And I’m not willing to get out of shape while we’re here, since we don’t know how long it’ll be.”

“…Fine then.” He turned again and continued exiting.

The earthbender followed in silence, closing his eyes and letting his feet and his ears guide him.

Zuko found an empty room and let himself in. Haru noted the size of the room and decided to continue on. He paused first. “Zuko — should we keep quiet about the bending?”

“…Yeah. Probably.”

“Right. I’ll let Teo know when he wakes up.”

Zuko nodded, then set about his drill. Haru closed his eyes again and continued to explore the castle.


Author's Note from Puck: Some of you are probably displeased with the choice we've made regarding Teo and his new ability to walk. This was a choice made after considering all the possible factors, specifically the factors that Hogwarts has about a million zillion staircases and that, wizard kids tending to be destructive, someone might try to push him and his chair down the stairs. My cowriter and I both believe that Teo is much more awesome in his wheelchair, hence the fix not being permanent. This was not done for potential angst, because angst just does not work with Teo.

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[User Picture]
From:[info]tigerkat24
Date:April 17th, 2008 04:35 am (UTC)
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This won't end well. I look forward to explosions with great glee.
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