Chapter Text
In the Wizarding World, particular wizards and witches are granted the ability to bend an element of the world without the need for a wand. Once every century, an Avatar is born, a witch or wizard capable of bending all four elements and is the most powerful person in the wizarding world. Many try to be the Avatar, but it was a destiny rather than something that could be controlled.
One wizard, hungry for power, wanted to be the Avatar so badly, however, he was not. Instead, he swore to track the Avatar down and kill them. There had been speculation that if someone were able to kill the Avatar, they would take over the mantle. However, the wizard was never able to track the Avatar down. So, he bought himself some time, he created horcruxes to keep himself immortal. In the meantime, he tracked down every element bender and forced them to make a choice; join him in tracking down the Avatar, or face his wrath. Many went into hiding; physically or metaphorically, while others decided to fight back.
The war was long; many served their purpose and time for the side they were fighting for. Even a few non-benders got involved with the dispute despite having no need or motivation but to help those they cared about. The benders were beginning to lose hope as they were constantly losing people they cared about and fought beside.
Then, one especially powerful airbender came forward. Albus Dumbledore. The man claimed to have the answer they sought, and while the leaders were hesitant to put their trust in one wizard, his reputation preceded him for taking down Gellert Grindelwald during the war between wizards and muggles. Dumbledore confronted the wizard and partook in a duel that would go down in history, next to the duel between him and Grindelwald, as being one of the most infamous duels.
When the wizard had been dealt with, and his followers were rounded up to serve their time, peace had been brought to the Wizarding World. However, despite their imprisonment and complying with the law, the wizard’s followers remained loyal and vowed that they would see their leader once more and that until he did, they would keep his mission alive in tracking down the Avatar, just in a more subtle manner.
As the years passed, the memory of the wizard was just that, a memory. Then, in the year 1980, a young boy was born to a waterbending Muggleborn witch and an earthbending Pureblood wizard. His dark brown hair only barely covered a small, white symbol that the couple immediately felt an unease in seeing. It was the mark of the Avatar. After consulting some of their closest confidants, the couple made the decision to go into hiding. However, the wizard’s followers got word of the new Avatar finally surfacing. Following the Avatar cycle, they knew that the next Avatar was to be an airbender.
After coming back to life, the wizard tracked down every newborn airbender, eventually finding out about the couple. In no time at all, he tracked the couple down, killing both benders. Yet, miraculously, the Avatar disappeared before he could find the boy and kill him.
Sirius Black, an animagus and the best friend of the child’s father, had been in the backyard setting up some powerful wards around the house when Lily had come out with her son. She insisted that Sirius take Harry away, somewhere far away from their home, and raise him as his own. Although he had been confused at first when he had heard James shout for Lily to run, Sirius realized the seriousness of the situation and apparated away to 12 Grimmauld Place, a place he hadn’t been in a very long time, but he knew no one would find him.
Despite being asked to raise the boy, Sirius had no idea how to raise a child, so he had to learn as he went, doing the best he could to raise his godson. As Harry grew up and began showing signs of being an Airbender, he taught the boy to hide his mark on his forehead and hide the fact that he was both a bender and the Avatar. Sirius didn’t go into too much detail as to why the kid had to hide who he was, but he simply said that there were people out in the world who wished to harm anyone who could do what his godson could do. Although the Dark Lord, the wizard responsible for everything that had happened, was dead once again thanks to a spell that both James and Lily had cast as a sacrifice so Sirius and Harry could escape, it by no means meant the world was suddenly eradicated of bad people who would do anything to go after a bender or the Avatar.
He was the most scared when he had gone through one of the worst days a parent could go through when Harry received his Hogwarts letter. Sirius didn’t want to let his godson go for a couple of reasons. The biggest being that he was afraid that Harry would be found out as an Airbender or, at worst, the Avatar, and be harassed by kids and eventually turned over to the Dark Lord’s followers.
The other reason he didn’t want Harry to go was simply that he had never been apart from his godson for very long, and he wasn’t too sure he would be able to handle the separation. However, he knew that Harry needed to go. He needed to make friends, learn how to interact with society, and build skills that would help him in life. Harry needed to live his life, not just survive in it and hide from things that could harm him. He deserved to be a kid who got to do ordinary things such as getting into trouble with the professors, worrying about grades, playing Quidditch, and flirting with plenty of girls.
Sirius may not have liked it, but he helped his godson prepare for Hogwarts, getting him everything he believed the boy may need. They started off the day by grabbing Harry’s school uniform from Madam Malkin’s, got First Year textbooks from Flourish and Blotts, a broom from Broomstix, some quills, parchment, and ink from Magical Menagerie, and then stopped for lunch at the Leaky Cauldron. After eating, they traveled to Gringotts to grab some money for Harry from his parents’ vault in case of emergencies, to Eeylops Owl Emporium, where Harry got a snowy owl, which Harry named Hedwig, and their second-to-last stop was Ollivanders, where Harry received his wand before they made a short stop at Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlour to grab a scoop.
Then, the dreaded day had arrived. Sirius went with Harry to Platform 9 ¾ to say farewell before his godson was to board the Hogwarts Express.
“Be safe, Prongslet,” Sirius told him, patting him on the shoulder as he tried to hold back tears. “Make your parents proud, yeah?”
“I will, Uncle Sirius,” Harry grinned, giddy to go to Hogwarts. “I won’t let you down either. Just like you, I’m going to end up in Gryffindor!”
Sirius chuckled. “I’m sure you will. Now remember,” he knelt to his knees so that he was on the same level as Harry, “keep that special power of yours hidden from everyone and make sure that mark is covered and glamored at all times. You remember the spell?”
Harry nodded his head up and down, promising he’d do as his godfather said. “I promise!”
“Good man.” he ruffled the boy’s hair, causing Harry to laugh and swipe Sirius’ hand away. “If you ever need me or feel like you miss me, you can always ask my bud, Remus, to use his floo and give me a call.”
“I know.”
“You better write to me every week too.”
“I know, Sirius!” Harry laughed. “I’ll be fine. You don’t have to worry about me so much.”
“I’ll always worry about you, Prongslet,” he sighed, wrapping the boy up in a hug. “Just… have fun and make some friends, Harry. That’s all I want for you.”
“I love you too, Uncle Sirius.”
The man broke down after that, no longer able to hold back the tears that had been threatening to fall since they arrived at the platform. If James and Lily were there, he knew they’d be just as emotional as he was, if not more so, considering how much of a sap his best buddy could be. The man cried at his wedding before it even started. Regardless, he knew that James and Lily were looking down on them and marveling at how much their son had grown.
When the Hogwarts Express pulled into the station, Sirius wiped away his tears and sniffled. Grounding himself and taking a breath, he lightly pushed Harry away and tacked on a smile.
“Get out of here, kid, before I change my mind about letting you go,” he joked, ruffling his godson’s hair one more time.
Harry grabbed his trunk and other belongings and boarded the train, though he stopped and waved to Sirius before heading inside and finding a compartment that was free.
It was the beginning of a new life for Harry James Potter. He didn’t know what was to come, but he knew that although his godfather tried to hide just how bad things had been when he was born, the bespeckled wizard knew better. His dreams were showing him things he had never seen before but felt like he had lived them. The bad wizard who caused the death of his parents may be dead, but the guy’s followers were still around and looking for him. All he had to do was keep a low profile. Should be pretty easy for him.