Looking around at the verdant forest Harry smiled. 'Looks like I'm on my next Great Adventure!' After taking a few precious minutes to ensure there were no immediate dangers he summoned his shrunken castle through the portal. As the doll house appeared safely on the other side he side. The Potter House Elves were contained safely within his home. When shrinking an object it actually just put them in a temporary bubble dimension with a miniaturized duplicate as the 'doorway'. He'd spent years research to make sure the bubble dimension wouldn't interfere with the dimensional gate but still wasn't 100% sure. His elves though were persistent little beings and wouldn't hear of him leaving without him. So he'd spent the last couple decades buying unwanted elves or young, untrained elves from those with too many. He wanted to make sure there were enough for a viable population. Five hundred elves all desperate for work to do, it had been a trial for all concerned but they'd made it.

Now to scout around and find somewhere to call home! His elves were in stasis so they'd be ok for a while. He'd had them studying everything they would need to do to make a new home from scratch for years as busy work. Little did the mage know the extent of the elves plans when he blithely instructed them to "figure it out" so long ago. An entire generation of elves had been raised waiting for the day that they would settle into a new land!

A quick point me spell led Harry to a slow moving small stream. Birds startled and flew into the air at his cautious approach but otherwise the area was deserted. Minutes later a perimeter alarm in place to give him warning the mage began to scry. Water scrying using the river itself as a starting point Harry searched for empty land. He found it in abundance! Knowing full well that land rich in wildlife and greenery would be claimed by someone he searched further afield.

Many thought that House Elves bonded themselves to wizards because they needed their magic to survive. This led to the urban legend of no more than two elves per wizard or the elves would suck all his magic! This was of course a complete fallacy. In his years of research Harry had found that the elves had more than enough magic to support themselves. What they needed and found in a bond with wizard kind was protection! Years ago when the earth was less crowded the House Elves had abundant lands to themselves that they farmed. An empathic race that lived in peace they were ill-prepared for the expansion of non-magical humans into their territories.

House Elves were by and large simply incapable of fighting. Their empathy was too strong to allow them to harm other sentient creatures. Indeed Dobby himself was considered an almost out-of-control Bezerker for his actions against Lucius Malfoy back in Harry's second year at Hogwarts. Bonding to wizards broke up their nation but allowed them to survive since wizards had no problem warring against anything and anyone!

Given their magic Harry knew he could live in areas too cold or barren for regular beings to successfully farm. He'd need the room after all. Once he had decided (or more accurately the House Elves had demanded) that his servants would go with him it had opened up a whole range of problems. If he had been by his lonesome he wouldn't have worried about farming, animals or plants. He was confident he'd be able to get by with whatever he found. House elves on the other hand relied on stability and wouldn't be content to simply forage. Of course the number of elves he brought made that prohibitive as well.

He'd left what was needed up to the elves once he was sure they understood the magnitude of their quest. With virtually free reign over the impressive hidden vaults Harry maintained in the castle the elves went a bit overboard. Harry left them to it and simply put everything into stasis, shrunk them and then stored them in the many empty rooms within the castle. He wasn't quite sure why he needed so many chickens, pigs, cattle, horses or the many other animals but if it kept his elves happy it was fine with him. He truthfully had no idea the number or variety of plants he had similarly stored but had full confidence in his elves.

His scrying revealed he had successfully found the True elves he had searched for! He found three settlements relatively quickly and noticed they were spread rather far apart. Since all the roads were unpaved he figured the only transport was by foot, horse or magic. The few human settlements he found had little in the way of technology. A few water powered mills seemed to be the extent of their machinery. The tell-tale smoke from forges and kilns further convinced him of the world's differences.

Of course when he went further west and found volcanic mountains and foul looking creatures he was taken aback. They seemed brutish and their numbers were too great for that wasteland to support. 'Magic must be in existence here to some extent then, unless they cannibalize each other of course!' he laughed to himself. A few moments of scrying later put end to his mirth as he found they did indeed feast on the remains of their kinsfolk. Shuddering in horror he quickly turned his eyes away. As he did so the water rippled, he wondered if something there had sensed his view. Determining to stay away from those lands he waited for the water to calm before viewing again.

Directly north of the middle True Elven settlement he found forest petering out into uninhabited mountains. Past those mountains lay vast tundra covered with lichen, hills and large groups of a very hairy deer. He'd passed unknown number of miles from the closest settlement when he found an area that appeared perfect. Similar to the Elven settlement to the south it was surrounded by mountains traversed only by frozen rivers. It had a large hill in the center that Harry thought he could use for his castle. It would give him the advantage of an elevated view and good security from the surroundings.

'Now how to get there,' the solitary mage pondered. He could fly but that would take hours and he didn't know what aerial creatures may be about. He had to play it safe until his elves were secured. He searched and found several spots isolated but on the way to his future lands and nodded decisively.

'Apparition is it then!' he announced the the few birds and squirrels daring enough to investigate the strange creature. The animals were quite indifferent to the strange mage's words and continued their search for bugs and berries respectively. Humphing at their attitude Harry laughed delightedly. Grabbing tight hold of his castle he disappeared with a loud crack. Minutes later the birds and squirrels returned to their peaceful foraging completely ignorant of the giant that had been in their midst.

Harry reappeared at one of the points he had memorized in the stream. The forest was now sparser, the air colder. A few minutes rest and he with another loud crack he was once more gone. This time he appeared in a small flat area surrounded by mountains. The sharp air was cold here and stole his breath for a moment. A quick warming charm and he could enjoy the scenery much better. His final jump occurred shortly after he became accustomed to the air.

Finally, he was there, Harry exclaimed to himself. Looking around at the land he picked through the river's view he was very satisfied. With nothing but tundra and a few straggly trees cover the valley between the mountains he knew he could make this work. Or rather his House Elves would make it work. Good enough for him. Floating his castle beside him he walked the brisk half mile to the valleys center hill. A small herd of deer departed at his approach and he thought in the far off distance he heard a wolf's howl. Apart from that and his own misting breath all was silent. The mountains cut the breeze to nothing but it was still chill.

Harry walked around the hill and smiled, it was pefect. He could spend a lot of time flattening the hill and angling it just so before resizing it really but it was unnecessary. The weight of the castle would flatten the hill just fine. Its magic would prevent any damage to the ancient stronghold so the hill would simply give way. A quick judge of north and south had Harry facing the large drawbridge to the southern river's exit. Another quick jog so he'd be out of the way of the soon to be 'life-size' structure and he released the spell. The ground rumbled and quaked as the sound of tons of earth being displaced and rocks pushed away rocked the valley. Harry stood at the ready, just in case but the castle soon settled.

A few minutes later the drawbridge lowered seemingly of its own accord and a veritable army of House Elves emerged. Harry smiled at their excitement. He loved the peaceful race. Although he avoided overly befriending any after Dobby's own grandchildren passed away the race had a firm place in his heart. His Head Elf, Dodsy, approached.

'We are all here and in good health Master Harry," the wise elf informed his wizard. He had felt his wizard's concern as he approached and reassured him at once. Gray ears flopping in excitement as his big eyes took in the valley. He'd expected the cold from previous planning sessions with his wizard. The protection offered by the mountains was a hoped for but not relied upon bonus.

'Alright, Team 'Warm Toes' front and center!' shouted the Head Elf. Harry watched in bemusement as the team responsible for placing the area warmth charms assembled. Under Dodsy's directions they popped to the tops of the mountains looking down on their castle home. A quiet chanting began and Harry felt the stir of magic in the air and beneath his feet. Time marched forward as the chanting grew louder and the magic pressed stronger until suddenly with a snap and a shout it was released!

A strong breeze swept through the cold air leaving warmth behind. Harry felt his toes begin to thaw as the ground beneath him thawed. The castle groaned as it settled down a couple more feet as the frozen earth beneath it gave way. Harry startled, but relaxed as nothing further happened.

"Well done Team 'Warm Toes," Harry shouted for all to hear. 'Honestly Team 'Warm Toes'?' the wizard laughed inside at the House Elves quirks. Silly names and all he would be a much more dour wizard without their company. The House Elves all began to cheer as the long anticipated resettlement began. No sooner had the very exhausted team of House Elves return then they were bustled inside to rest.

After that Plan 'Make Master Harry Happy' commenced. Dodsy watched with careful eyes as Phase 1 began. Dozens of House Elves trained exhaustedly in wilderness survival, stealth and tracking began popping away. They would survey the land around them, carefully using their magics to stay hidden and learn all about this world. They'd be gone for varying lengths of time. Some returning in mere hours while others would be gone for months. It was their duty and honor to scout for their Master.

Phase 2 began as another team of House Elves exited the castle to survey the land and begin planning. Confident that his elves could handle it all a tired Harry returned to his room for a nap. Dimensional portals and long distance apparition after all were hard work!

In the far off distance the Wizard Gandalf was disturbed from his rest by a loud sound. Startled he looked to the sky and listened as the winds of change blew strongly throughout the breadth of Middle Earth. Cautious of what changes this could entail in such increasingly dark times the ancient wizard put away his pipe and resumed his journey. Troubling rumors of the Ring had been heard and the danger from Mordor was only increasing.