Disclaimer: I do not own anything of Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings.
"So who are you, again?" The old grey man smiled, but a very large part of her insides flipped, because there was a power behind it that Dumbledore had never had. And no matter how much this man resembled Dumbledore on the surface, there was underneath a power very much different. If Dumbledore's magic was part of him, like skin and muscle, this person was power, wrapped up in a nice little old man suit. It was extremely disconcerting.
"You may call me Mithrandir, child." And there was another difference, because she had always railed against anyone calling her 'child' in the past, but there was something appropriate about the event here and she found her normal protests drying up.
"But…what am I supposed to be doing here? I thought…well, the voices said I was going somewhere I belonged. Or could belong, which isn't quite the same thing, is it?" A nod, and she watched as silver-grey hair slipped across his shoulder, and seemed to surprise him for a moment.
"Quite right, child, quite right. This will not be an easy journey, but it's best to realize that at the start I think. Most people can't even realize it, so you are all ready rather well prepared." He seemed to catch sight of his hands, old and worn, and stopped to examine them, apparently fascinated. She cleared her throat slightly, and he startled. "Pardon, dear child. I'm afraid this particular body is rather new to me, and novel. Practice, of course." Which made perfect sense to him, from the way he smiled, but was not particularly illuminating to his companion.
"As it stands though, I am here to help you prepare. And to make a choice. The choice comes later, information first." He flicked a finger, and the curtain drew itself open, revealing that they were in fact in a ships cabin, on a very calm sea. The water was a shade of blue that didn't seem quite right for water, and everything seemed bright and clean. The light was comforting and overwhelming at the same time.
"You are, to borrow from an author in your world, in the Wood Between Worlds. Or ocean, rather in this case." He smiled pleasantly, as though he had ended world hunger and Oh look, it was just now time for tea.
"Excuse me?" This was not very enlightening.
"I believe you call him C.S. Lewis? You have heard of him? I was told his Chronicles were extremely well known." A shake of the head.
"I haven't had a lot of time for pleasure reading, if you must know." A sad shake of the head.
"Ah well. Can't be helped, I suppose. Still, the concept is simple enough. You are here, at a crossroads between worlds, between times. The world chosen for you is a past that might have been." Rose shook her head.
"You can't have a past that might have been. Past actions only affect the future. Duh." Mithrandir looked fairly confused.
"Well, how can that be? If you have possible futures, it makes just as much sense to have possible pasts. Do you think that different decisions of people create only future possibilities? How silly! And how lopsided. Everyone knows that you can't have a future without a past, and each decision made differently to create a different future could only have been made differently with a different past." This was massively headache inducing, but he didn't seem to notice.
"As it stands, we cannot put you in the past of your own reality. That is generally not good for continuity, you see, and apparently things start to unravel and it's all a big mess." Another smile that said so many pleasing things translation was impossible. It was, however, somewhat infuriating. "So, we have brought you to a past possibility where in the future, you never exist at all. So no worries about marrying your grandfather or anything of that sort." She almost made the fatal mistake of asking how he or They could know that, but decided against it. Some things, she had learned (the hard way) were better left unknown.
"So I am in a past that might have been, and one of the differences is that I will never exist."
"No, almost but not quite. You never exist in the future as you do in your world. In this world, you will exist, but starting in the past, so you can't exist in the future. You cancel yourself out, you see."
"But if my existence cancels my future self out, then what is the worry of marrying my grandfather if he won't actually be my grandfather?"
"Because it isn't the same at all! This world will not have a future you because it will have a past you. You weren't supposed to exist in the future here, which makes your presence now acceptable. Obviously. If you went to a world where future you did need to exist, then past you could destroy that and make a giant mess of everything."
It seemed unwise to ask any more questions, so she remained silent.
"And with that said, you have a choice. You need not make it now, we have many lessons to go over first."
"Lessons?"
"Of course! History, languages, customs, the like. You didn't think we would simply drop you in and expect you to know everything at once, did you?" The answer was perhaps, but a blush answered for her. "Don't worry. And even though you won't remember our time here, the information will all still be trapped in your head somewhere."
"I won't remember?"
"No. At least not for a while."
"Why?"
"Because here, you may see too much about the future. Everything is clearer, and it is quite easy to cheat and drive yourself mad trying to arrange the best future, knowing what you know. Yes, there are some to whom the Valar grant future Sight, but it is tightly controlled to protect their sanity. Here, you are more spirit than body, quite honestly, despite appearances, and can handle it better. Physical forms can only handle so much, especially the peoples of Middle Earth. Maiar such as myself may change to suit our needs, but Elves such as yourself, Dwarves, Humans, Halflings, you are all stuck with yourselves."
It was quite a bit more information than she needed to know, but she had asked the question.
"If it helps, I myself will face the same thing when I arrive. Much of myself will be forgotten, at least as well as anything is forgotten. I doubt I will recall much of you." He patted her hand, then looked startled at the sensation, peering at his fingers.
"But what if I forget the languages you teach me? And…and I don't want to forget my old world."
"Oh, you won't forget your own world. No worries there." And his eyes had something like sad understanding, so she looked away. "And you may forget that you know a language, but you will relearn it quite quickly. Besides, from what I know of you, you are rather one for the unlikely and supposedly impossible." She snorted at that.
"But your choice. The elves here live in two separate lands. There is Arda marred, where they are currently fighting one of my own fallen brethren. If you choose this path, it will be millennia before you reach the rest of Valinor. The other land, Valinor, is something of a paradise. Not quite, of course, as you will learn as you study history. But it is free from the wars that plague Arda, and if you seek healing, it will be found there." She twitched. As much as peace sounded…very nice…she couldn't.
"I see. You have heard your purpose, haven't you?" She nodded. "It isn't in Valinor just yet, is it?"
"No. It isn't." Perhaps she should feel resentful, but that emotion seemed beyond her here. Besides, this new world sounded like a challenge. She liked that.
"Well then. We will do our best to prepare you for the troubles ahead and child," he captured her full attention, "there will be trials."
"I thought that was obvious." He studied her, and then smiled his approval.
"Good. Then let us begin."
So, I submit to you not only my ramblings left over from excitement of the new Doctor (and there was great rejoicing) but also a bit of prologue to my Letters series. If there is any discontinuity between this and what I have written, please let me know so I can tweak. Thanks for reading!