AUTHORS: The Inebriated Lion-Minion
CATEGORY: Action/Adventure/Humour
WARNINGS: HP/LotR crossover
RATING: T
BETA: A.C.Mathur, Tigerwulf
DISCLAIMER: Everything belongs to either JKR or Tolkein. Unfortunately, they do not belong to me.
Considering the large number of swords now surrounding him, Harry decided this might not have been one of his better ideas.
XxXxXxX
Flashback:
"Psst"
"What?" asked an irate Hermione.
"Is that…Dumbledore?" asked Harry incredulously.
"Well, how many other ancient white-haired wizards do you know?" asked Hermione sarcastically.
"But why would he be carrying half a tree?" Ron asked her.
"Dunno…" muttered Harry, that look on his face. The one that usually signified he was about to do something stupid and/or dangerous."Harry, we are NOT following him!"
"Aw, come on Hermione, we haven't done anything interesting recently!"
"Ron, 'because he's got half a tree' is NOT a good reason to go gallivanting after Dumbledore!"
"Is too!"
"Is not!"
"Is too…where's Harry?"
The duo turned around in time to see the edge of a black robe vanish out the door.
"Harry! HARRY!"
"Oi!"
"What?" he asked irritably, turning around to face them.
"What do you think you're doing?" Hermione asked.
"Going after Dumbledore. What'd you think?"
He strode off, putting on his invisibility cloak as he did. Half-invisible, he stopped and turned around.
"You coming?" He asked them.
"You bet, mate!" Ron answered, joining Harry in disappearing.
"Hermione?"
"Well, someone's got to come along to keep you two out of trouble!" She grinned and slid under the cloak with them, and together, Hogwarts' Golden Trio doggedly pursued their Headmaster.
"Ow!"
"Shh!"
"That was my foot!"
"Oops…sorry…"
"SHHH!"
"Sorry…"
Harry wished his friends would shut up. He was trying to watch Dumbledore, who was acting strangely, to say the least.
He was wearing strange grey robes, a grey hat, and was still carrying half a tree. Dumbledore then picked up a pinch of something lying by the side of the fireplace, before throwing it into the fire. Floo Powder.
"Imladris!" He shouted as the flames turned green.
As soon as he was sure the professor had gone, Harry pulled the cloak off the trio.
"Hermione…Where the heck's 'Imladris'?" asked Ron.
"Shall we go after him?" Harry asked.
"Why not?"
"Because we have no idea where on Earth he's gone to?" asked Hermione.
"Other than that?" said Ron.
Harry picked up the discarded invisibility cloak and took the tin of Floo Powder, offering it to his two friends before stuffing it into his robes with the cloak.
"I'll go first…IMLADRIS!"
What followed was worse than a muggle roller coaster. It felt like his insides were being pulled out and shredded. Slowly. After what felt like eternity, he tumbled out the fireplace, Ron and Hermione crashing into him.
To be confronted by a load of men.
And considering the large number of swords now pointed at him, Harry decided this might not have been one of his better ideas.
XxXxXxX
Dumbledore looked up from where he had been greeting Lord Elrond of Rivendell, also called Imladris.
The flurry of movement had attracted the Lord's attention as well, though it would have been hard to miss the sounds that heralded half the occupants of the Hall of Fire moving to surround…something. It must have been a great need indeed to cause them all to draw their weapons; evil was not found afoot in Imladris, so great must have been the need.
"If you would excuse me, I believe that my presence may be required…"
"I will come also." Dumbledore added.
Together, Elrond and Dumbledore followed the sounds of commotion to their root, and found in the centre of circle of warriors, a pile of moving bodies.
"Who enters my domain?" asked Lord Elrond in a singularly fearsome voice. One of the heads in the pile looked up. Raven black hair, green eyes, lightning bolt scar…
"HARRY POTTER!" Dumbledore bellowed, making eye contact with Harry for the first time in several months.
"Mithrandir, you know them?" Asked Lord Elrond.
"Mithrandir, who's Mithrandir?" asked Harry.
"You don't know Mithrandir? This is Mithrandir!"
"You're Bonkers, that's Dumbledore!"
"Ahem," coughed one of Harry's Travelling Companions.
"Professor Dumbledore then."
"Pardon?" asked Elrond.
"Gandalf?" asked another man, walking into the room.
"WHAT!? Harry practically shouted.
"Harry, quiet! And to answer your question, yes I do know them…" His professor trailed off into thought.
"So, then, my omniscient friend, you should be able to tell me who they are, where they hail from, and what, precisely, they are doing in my realm! In the middle of a war!"
"First two, without a doubt: the young man with black hair is Harry Potter, the one with red hair is Ronald Weasley, and the girl is Hermione Granger…they, well, you know my situation with the Valar and their 'world-hopping' – they attend my school…and, well…"
"I hope that's not all the answers I will be getting?"
"HE might get answers, but we want them too…like when we get taken out of the range of the illegal weapons?" Harry's question merely got a raised eyebrow from Elrond, and no sign of letting up of the swords.
"I think this might be a long story; have you anywhere we may adjourn to?" Dumbledore asked, choosing to ignore the three students behind him.
"This way, then…"
Dumbledore was just slightly amused at the situation Harry had gotten himself into this time.
Sitting down in Elrond's office, he began to explain all about the Boy-Who-Lived.
"So, you travelled here, not realising that you were being followed, and therefore managed to unwittingly bring this boy and his friends into Arda, where we are in the middle of a war – in which they couldget killed, when they are necessary to their world, correct?"
"Pretty much…"
"I also find out that all three of them are wizards – which, although not completely common, is not rare – and there is enough of them for there to be several big, 'schools' for them, correct?"
"Yes."
"And also that these 'wizards' that you term them, are very powerful and can cast spells with a miniature staff and a single word…And you expect me to put up with them?!"
"Well, unless you can think of a better plan…"
At this present moment in time, Elrond could quite happily strangle Mithrandir.
Harry looked around him as they waited in a room for Dumbledore and his companion to return from their discussion. It was pretty freaky, though, to fall though the floo, end up on the floor – and in a place clearly not in the wizarding world, but rather (according to Hermione) in a completely parallel universe, whatever that may be. For example, who didn't know Dumbledore?
However many different scrapes the three of them had got themselves into, this had to be the first where they had been threatened by swords; wands, yes. Never swords, which made sense, considering (if he remembered his muggle history correctly) that swords had been abandoned a couple of centuries ago – guns just worked better.
Harry glanced around the room that they had been unceremonially left in by the armed guards – who were still standing outside the door. Ron was sitting on the floor, fiddling with something that had been in his robes. Hermione was systematically flicking through every book on the shelf, complaining to herself because it was in a language she could not read; and not even in Roman lettering.
He wondered idly whether Dumbledore would be back soon.
Having eventually persuaded Elrond it would be in his best interests to leave the three wizards here – length of time not determined – Dumbledore walked with his old friend to inform his students of the changing circumstances. (Otherwise known as "you're staying here until we say so.")
The Gandalf part of him was informing the rest of him that these three had some part to play yet. The Mithrandir part of him was telling him that he really should refer to himself as either Gandalf or Mithrandir (depending on the company; men and elves respectively.) but out of the wizarding world, he was not Dumbledore.
After all, Dumbledore was only 150 years old, whereas Gandalf/Mithrandir was seven thousand (approximately). Then there was Olórin… but that was Valinor-only.
His musings had left him front of the room where his students were being kept.
"Mithrandir?" The wizard belatedly realised that the Lord of Imladris had been speaking to him.
"Hm?"
"Were you listening?" Well, it was to be expected – after all, if you couldn't tell that someone wasn't listening to you after several thousand years of friendship, something was the matter.
"Indeed, omniscient as always."
"I was asking if you were ready to… question… your students?"
"Oh, right…" Gandalf muttered, entering the room.
"So…" Elrond began, as the three students sat down on the chairs in front of them. "The way is shut. You cannot get back. There is ancient magic, older than your world, which closes the portal until it is needed. Therefore, there is obviously a need for you… children to be here. And I doubt the Valar sent you here as a mere conundrum to be solved by those who are accounted wise. What shall you do?"
"They shall attend the council, Elrond. They must be somehow tied up in the fate of the ring, like so many others who will." Gandalf replied, even though the question wasn't directed at him. Besides, the questioned were unlikely to answer – the confused look on the face said it all.
"Professor, what's this council?"
"The Council of Elrond – the council that will decide the fate of the free peoples of Middle-Earth!" Elrond informed them.
"Pardon?" Harry asked.
"I'll explain – this could take a while, since the entire history of middle earth may have to be explained… I don't suppose you have any copies of Middle Earth: A History in Westron, do you? It would ease a lot of the pain…" Gandalf muttered in Sindarin.
"Erestor would know… I will return shortly…" Elrond departed, leaving the Maia with three very confused and very impatient students.
Harry sat back in his chair; trying to process the vast amount of information he had been given. Needless to say, he failed. He'd have to ask Hermione for a summary later.
"So, basically, we're caught up in a war, and we can't get back until we are no longer needed?" Hermione summarized.
"Does that mean we get to miss school?" Ron asked hopefully. Dumbledore laughed.
"No, you will arrive back at exactly the same time as you left Hogwarts…so you needn't worry, your school work will not suffer!"
Harry grinned at his two friends' reaction to being told this – completely contradictory, yet equally amusing….
The three of them looked up as a whole as Lord Elrond entered, carrying the largest book Harry had ever seen – and that was after being friends with Hermione for the last four and a half years. (give or take a few months)
"Ah, so you had it?" Dumbledore asked him.
"Indeed… But I must leave you, I need to persuade my son to have a wash…" Dumbledore laughed as Elrond left.
"Poor Aragorn, he will be most upset at the prospect of two showers in one day… Nevertheless, I must leave you here as well, I need to check up on the Hobbits – they will need feeding. Oh, this is for you," He finished, handing the huge book to Hermione, who promptly sat down and started to read.
A/N:
Thank you for reading my story – I hope you enjoyed it. Now, make my day by telling me what you thought of it. I really don't mind.
Thanks, The Inebriated Lion Minion