Silver Lining
Chapter Two
The Council
Elrond looked upon the people gathered to the meeting. Many had come, some had not. Gandalf the Grey had arrived after escaping from the holds of Saruman the White. The Elves of Mirkwood had sent a few elves to the meeting, even their prince, Legolas, son of Thranduil. The Dwarves had come in small numbers, Gimli, the son of Gloin, being the loudest of them. The Steward of Gondor had sent his older son, Boromir. Aragorn, better known as Strider, had brought the Halfling, Frodo Baggins, who had the One Ring in his possession. Elrond hoped that with these people they'd be able to decide what to do to the Ring of Power.
"Strangers from distant lands, friends of old…" Elrond began with his deep, calming voice. "…you've been summoned here to answer the threat of Mordor." he stated gazing over the listeners sitting in a half circle. "Middle-earth stands upon the brick of destruction. None can escape it. You will unite, or you will fall. Each race is bound to this fate. This one doom," Elrond continued trying to make clear how serious the matter was. Not that any didn't know it already. Most of Middle-earth had noticed the shadows creeping from the East.
"Bring forth the Ring, Frodo," Elrond said gently to the Halfling. Frodo stood from his place next to Gandalf and walked slowly to the stone table in the middle. Carefully he lowered the gold ring onto the table, and left reluctantly back to his place.
"So it is true," Boromir nearly whispered in awe. His eyes gleamed greedily as his mind started running over the possibilities.
Frodo sat back to his place and Elrond was ready to say something when they heard a loud crash which made the Halfling jump back up from fright.
"Bloody hell!" someone shouted loudly, startling all well-mannered elves. Swear words were rarely heard within Rivendell. Elrond rose from his place and started moving towards the sound. Many followed. The disturbance needed to be inspected before the meeting could continue peacefully.
After a short walk they came upon a strange scene. Elrond noticed one of the guards of Rivendell had already arrived to find out the reason to the commotion. With the guard there were six people, who looked to be Men, in weird looking robes in black or grey. Two of the men were young, most likely not seen twenty summers, and the other four seemed to be only few decades older.
"What is this?" Elrond questioned from them. Their attention was now turned to him. One of the younger men stepped forward. He was shortest of them, thus apparently youngest. His hair was as dark as the starless night sky, and his eyes like the greenest emeralds. Even with the loose robe, Elrond could tell he was slender. And even though he was beautiful, he was a male without doubt.
"My friends and I apologize for the disturbance," the raven began with a charming voice. "We're lost. Would you mind telling us where we are?" he looked ashamed to admit it as he said this.
"It would have been courteous to introduce yourselves first but I see no harm in telling your location. We are in Rivendell, and I am Lord Elrond. Who might you be?" Elrond said with a soft chuckle. He found it amusing that the youngest seemed to be the one in command.
"I must apologize again for my rudeness," the raven said with a slight blush on his cheeks. "I am Harry Potter and these-" he started but was interrupted by Gimli.
"Harry Potter. Now that is a weird name," the Dwarf exclaimed.
"And why is it a weird name?" the raven questioned angrily. "Who might you be?"
"Why, I am Gimli, son of Glóin," the dwarf said proudly.
"Ah…" the raven sighed. "Now I understand. There must be no surnames here…" he muttered quietly enough that only the Elves heard.
"The Hobbits do have two names. Other races rarely use other names," Elrond said making the raven look at him sharply. "But Frodo has been introduced only as Frodo…"
"I think it would be easier to explain why we are here first," one of the other men suddenly said. He had brown hair, amber eyes and the most noticeable future, scars over his face as if something had clawed him.
"How to explain this…" the scarred man murmured thoughtfully.
"The truth would suffice," Elrond told him. The man was startled but then he seemed to realize something that calmed him.
"Alright," he chuckled. "We are from a different world entirely. I do not know if it makes any sense but it is the truth."
"We do not know all the things possible. It might as well be the truth," Gandalf stated calmly. "Magic has ways we cannot comprehend."
"Indeed," the brunet said. "We were exile from our own world by the Ministry-" he began his explanation.
"Ministry?" Boromir questioned in between.
"Ministry consist of the people who…how to say this…sort of rule over us," one of the men explained. He also had dark hair, and black eyes. Elrond noticed that the man also possessed a fairly large nose, though it only gave him the feel of power over others, besides his demeanour that is. "Though the Ministry has become corrupt by greedy men and women whose only desire is to hold more power."
"Yes. The Ministry deemed us as a danger to them, though they told the public we were a danger to all of the wizarding world," the scarred man said and sighed in disappointment.
"Many thanks they gave us for saving them…" the younger of the blonds growled out. He, as the raven, was beautiful and slender, but otherwise he was the opposite of the raven. His hair was of a golden blond, his eyes as clear as the finest silver - only the sharp eyes of an elf could tell the light blueness in them - even his skin was as pale as ivory.
"But I assure you we mean no harm," the raven said suddenly getting the attention to himself again. Even though Elrond could tell he did not want it.
"You said something about surnames…What did you mean? The term is unfamiliar…" Elrond asked him again.
"In our world we all have a first name, like you have, Gimli or Elrond," he began to explain hesitantly. "Mine's Harry. If I were to introduce myself like you do, I would be Harry, son of James," he said with a small sad smile. "And then we have a surname, like Potter. A name we get from our parents, which men pass on to their wives in marriage and then to their children. A name that doesn't exactly mean anything."
"That is quite simple," Gimli nodded in understanding. This earned him a beautiful smile from Harry.
"Yes. And now back to the introductions…" Harry said still smiling. "As I said I am Harry Potter. These are my closest friends," he said pointing at the other men and started introducing them. "Remus Lupin," the scarred man waived slightly. "Severus Snape," the man with a large nose, who gave a quick bow. "Draco Malfoy," the younger blond gave a curt nod.
"Lucius Malfoy," the older blond who had a larger build then the other blond. Lucius had silvery blond hair and eyes of greyer silver then the younger. "He's Draco's father," Harry continued. "And lastly Sirius Black," the last man had dark brown, wavy hair and blue, haunted eyes.
"After which name shall we call you?" Elrond asked from them. They agreed to be called after their first names, much to the displeasure of Severus. After this Elrond introduced those who had come with him to inspect the disturbance.
"We mean you no harm. We only wish to start again from the beginning," Harry said again. Elrond could see there were no lies in his eyes.
"I can tell you speak the truth. And that is enough for me to believe you," Elrond told them. "And the others trust my word. You are safe here," he assured them. "I am intrigued by your arrival and thus you may stay here at Rivendell if you wish. I wish to know more of your world. But now we must continue the meetin-"
"Now that we have finished with the introductions, can we chance clothes? This bloody robe is irritating my skin," Draco interrupted the Elf Lord.
"Mind your manners, Draco," Lucius drawled with a deep voice.
"Your skin is as sensitive as mine-" Draco started to argue with his father.
"Yes. But I have learned not to complain about it," Lucius spoke in a manner that told the younger blond to stay silent.
"Of course," Elrond agreed. "Let us see if we can find you something."
"There is no need for that," Harry told him. "Let's see now," he muttered pulling various tiny trucks in different colours out of his pocket. "You see…The Potter, Malfoy, Black and Prince - Severus' mother's maiden name - are the wealthiest wizarding families - yes, we are all wizards if you hadn't figured it out yet - I did not wish to leave our possessions to the Ministry. So I brought everything with me."
"I took the liberty to collect your belongings as well," Harry said to his friends while sorting out the trunks after their colour. "The green ones are from the Malfoy manor," he told Lucius and Draco, and everyone noticed that the largest number were green. Pulling out six sticks of wood and five pouches from another pocket he continued. "I also managed to steal our wands back from the Ministry. And I asked personnel in Gringotts to collect our money, even though we might not have anything to do with them. But better have them here than leave to the Ministry."
"Thank you," Lucius said as Harry offered him the green pouch and his wand. Draco only nodded when he got his wand. The blondes started looking for the trucks with their clothes.
"The black trunks are yours, Sirius," Harry said as he gave the man his wand and the black pouch. Sirius hugged the younger man as a thank you.
"Your mind works in ways I cannot understand but I am thankful for what you have done," he said and went to look for a change of clothes too.
While Harry gave Remus the brown trunk and pouch, and his wand, the members of the Council saw how Lucius enlarged the trucks which hold their clothes. The blond pulled out clothes that also had been shrunk enlarging them too and giving some of them to his son.
"I collected your potion ingredients, too," Harry told Severus. He offered the purple pouch and the man's wand to him but got no response. Severus only strode to the purple trunks.
"I hope I didn't leave anything important behind…" Harry said while gathering his own truck and pouch back to his pocket.
"You brought all of this with you?" Legolas asked in wonderment. "They must have weight terribly."
"Yes, they would have," Harry said turning his eyes to the blond elf prince. "But thanks to the lightening charms, they did not."
"Ah…Much better," Draco said as he strode to the raven's side in his new clothing. "Thank you," he said and gave the smaller boy a kiss on the cheek.
"It was nothing…" Harry muttered. The others had also finished changing and had collected their belongings. They came back to the conversation.
"Your wizardry is different from mine," Gandalf said with a Dumbledore like twinkle in his eyes. "Perhaps magic is used differently in other worlds," he muttered to himself stroking his fingers through his long beard at the same time. Then Gandalf walked away from them back to the Council chamber and sat down in his own chair.
"Where did you say we were again?" Draco asked from the Elf Lord. "Rivendell?"
"Rivendell, Middle-earth," Elrond affirmed the blonde's memory. "Now, perhaps we can finally continue our meeting."
"Meeting?" Sirius questioned. "So we did interrupt something."
"A war is nearing Middle-Earth," Elrond explained as the other members of the meeting walked away to return to the Council chamber. "We were discussing what to do."
"Great!" Draco exclaimed throwing his hands into the air in frustration. "We finish one war and get sent to another."
"You have faced a war?" Elrond asked doubting his word as the blond was still so young.
"Yes," Lucius said in affirmation. "A war that lasted over twenty years and has finally ended."
"Then, perhaps, you could help us?" Elrond asked hopefully. "You now live in this world and if we lose this war we shall all perish."
"We will see," Harry said calmly. Elrond lead them to the others.
"Now let us arrange you some seats," Elrond proclaimed only for Lucius to lift his hand as a rejection.
"We can manage our own seats," he told them indifferently. "Where would we sit?" Lucius asked.
"You are wizards like Gandalf…In between him and the Elves," Elrond said bewildered.
Gandalf was about to rise so that they would move the chairs further but Harry gently pushed him back into his seat.
"It's alright," the raven told him. Then Harry levitated Frodo and Gandalf further ahead and Severus conjured six chairs for them to sit in. They moved to sit down in no particular order. Harry sat next to the Elves and Draco on his left. Severus and Lucius sat next to the youngest blond. As Severus sat next to the two empty seats, Remus sat down next to him and Sirius took the last remaining chair. No matter what, Sirius and Severus could not stand each other.
Elrond coughed to get himself out of the shock their magic use had brought upon him. "…Before we were distracted Frodo brought forth the One Ring that will change the course of the coming war," he began. "For our new acquaintances, the One Ring belongs to the Dark Lord Sauron who was destroyed many years ago but he still lives in this ring. And now his power is growing again," Elrond explained to the six wizards. "Now to decide what to do to the Ring."
"In a dream…" Boromir said as he stood from his place. "…I saw the eastern sky grow dark…but in the West a pale light lingered," he continued. Harry noticed Draco sudden interest in the young warrior. As a veela the blond had a destined mate and Harry wondered if Boromir was Draco's. "A voice was crying: 'Your doom is near at hand. Isildur's Bane is found,'" he said. Boromir had walked to the stone table and was now reaching out towards the Ring. "Isildur's Bane," he muttered.
"Boromir!" Elrond shouted making the man pull his hand away from the Ring. At the same time Gandalf stood from his seat and began to chant in a dark language making everyone move further away. Harry felt a shiver go over his whole body and knew that the language was for evil. While Gandalf continued the sky darkened. Harry felt how Draco took a firm hold of his arm to balance himself. Then suddenly it was over and the sky cleared again.
"Never before has any voice uttered the words of that tongue in Imladris," Elrond exclaimed accusingly. It should have not been used in an Elven realm.
"I do not ask your pardon, Master Elrond…for the Black Speech of Mordor may yet be heard in every corner of the West!" Gandalf snarled out in slight anger. "The Ring is altogether evil," he continued.
Harry could feel the truth of Gandalf's words from the Ring itself. Being connected to Voldemort for so long had made him sensitive to things purely evil. The Ring felt worse than Riddle's diary. At the beginning of the second school year it had not been as powerful as it was when the young Tom Riddle had managed to get a physical shape. Harry's thoughts were interrupted by Boromir.
"It is a gift," Boromir cried out eagerly. "A gift to the foes of Mordor. Why not use this Ring?" he asked and Harry was almost ready to shout back at him that it would not work the way the man wished. "Long has my father, the Steward of Gondor, kept the forces of Mordor at bay," Boromir was very passionate about the matter. "By the blood of our people are your lands kept safe."
No one said anything to stop him, yet. And Boromir continued to tell them his opinion.
"Give Gondor the weapon of the enemy. Let us use it against him," he almost demanded.
"You cannot wield it. None of us can," Aragorn told him trying to get him back in his place. "The One Ring answers to Sauron alone. It has no other master."
"And what would a Ranger know of this matter?" Boromir asked irritated and believing himself to be in higher standing than the other man. Legolas stood up.
"This is no mere Ranger. He is Aragorn, son of Arathorn," Legolas said determinedly. "You owe him your allegiance."
"Aragorn. This is Isildur's heir?" Boromir questioned in disrespect and bewilderment.
"And heir to the throne of Gondor," Legolas added. Harry liked the determination the blond elf showed in the way he held himself and the way he moved. He also felt strangely pulled towards the Elf Prince.
"Sit down, Legolas," Aragorn said in a language Harry could hardly recognize. He would have said it to be elvish. Harry was part elf but had never heard the language, but unconsciously he could recognize it.
Legolas sat down into his chair. He was frustrated at Boromir's behaviour. It would seem that the Elf Prince was not as calm as Elves normally were.
"Gondor has no king," Boromir growled lowly. "Gondor needs no king," he sat down but didn't look like he had given up the thought of using the Ring in his benefit.
"You cannot possibly consider using it?" Harry snarled at Boromir. Another Ginny Weasley would be terrible.
"What would you know, stranger?" Boromir growled in his anger.
"He knows enough of dark objects," Draco drawled out in his best friend's defence. "A former friend of his was possessed by a dark object and she was nearly killed because of it!"
"Draco, sit down," Harry tried to calm the blond. "…I have seen many things in my short life," he explained to them. "Many evil things…" Draco took a hold of his hand to ease the pain of his experiences. "I can feel the Ring. Hear it," Harry whispered and they could tell the fear in his voice. "And it whispers to me even from this distance…Things I desire to have in my life it promises to me but I have learned not to listen. Its promises will never hold," he kept talking softly like he was in a trance. Then Harry managed to get a hold of himself and snapped out of the Rings control.
"For you to take it would be too much of a temptation. And you would use it but only in the way it wants to be used," Harry said firmly. It had been and still was hard to him to talk about the things that had happened in his life. Harry had been avoiding talking about it and Draco had tried to get him to open up. Draco squeezed his hand to offer some sort of comfort.
"Aragorn and Harry are right," Gandalf said with a small smile to Harry. The old wizard could tell how hard it had been for the young man. "We cannot use it."
"You have only one choice," Elrond stated with the authority that came with age. "The Ring must be destroyed," he declared the only real option they had.
"What are we waiting for?" Gimli exclaimed picking up his axe and strode to the stone table. Harry stood up as to try and stop him but was too late. The Dwarf swung the axe at the Ring attempting to break it.
The great steel axe broke before it came too close to the Ring. The axe shattered into small pieces which luckily didn't hit anyone. As the impact caused Gimli to fall on his back Harry had a flash of a great, red and fiery eye. The flash had passed as quickly as it appeared but Harry was sure it would bring him a headache. The Dwarf struggled back up to his feet wondering what happened.
"The Ring cannot be destroyed, Gimli, son of Glóin by any craft that we here possess," Elrond scowled irritated by the simple stupidity and thoughtlessness.
"You didn't happen to take the basilisk's tooth with you, did you?" Draco whispered joking at Harry who gave a soft chuckled. Legolas smirked a few seats down, he too found it amusing for some reason he did not understand. The Elf hadn't heard of a basilisk. His own behaviour made him wonder if he was loosing his mind.
"The Ring was made in the fires of Mount Doom," Elrond said surprisingly calmly. "Only there can it be unmade. It must be taken deep into Mordor and cast into the fiery chasm from whence it came," he stated with the voice of years of experience. "One of you must do this," he said as a statement and not an option. None spoke for a while. Boromir was the one to break the silence.
"One does not simply walk into Mordor," the man stated. "Its Black Gates are guarded by more than just Orcs. There is evil there that does not sleep," he growled. To his surprise only the Halfling seemed to fear his words. The strangers didn't even flinch during his explanation of Mordor. "The Great Eye is ever-watchful. It is a barren wasteland riddled with fire, and ash and dust. The very air you breathe is a poisonous fume."
"Not with 10,000 men could you do this," Boromir said irritated. "It is folly."
"Have you heard nothing Lord Elrond has said?" Legolas stood up angrily. "The Ring must be destroyed."
"And I suppose you think you are the one to do it!" Gimli shouted jumping up to argue with the Elf.
"And if we fail, what then?" Boromir questioned standing up too. "What happens when Sauron takes back what is his?" he asked and many stand up to get out their own opinion.
"I will be dead before I see the Ring in the hands of an Elf!" Gimli shouted and it was the start of an argument over worthless things. "Never trust an Elf!" Gimli's voice cried over the other voices.
Severus leaned towards Lucius and whispered to him. "No wonder they are headed to their doom." And Lucius chuckled in good humour despite the situation.
"Do you not understand?" Gandalf's voice carried over all noise. "While you bicker amongst yourselves, Sauron's power grows! None can escape it! You'll all be destroyed!"
Draco had to physically hold Harry back from volunteering to take the Ring. In Draco's mind Harry had played his part as the saviour already, he didn't need to take up the part again. The blond would agree to go along on the journey with the others but he would not give the responsibility to Harry again. Not after such a short time.
"I will take it," Frodo said but none of the quarrelling people heard him. Harry shook his head in disappointment in the other people as the small Hobbit had to do this. "I will take it!" Frodo exclaimed louder making everyone fall into silence. "I will take the Ring to Mordor," Frodo stated and his voice quietened as he continued. "Though…I do not know the way."
Harry felt sorry for the childlike Halfling who had to take up the responsibility to take the Ring to Mordor and its destruction. Gandalf sighed resigned, he had not wanted the young Baggins to carry the Ring any longer. Gandalf walked to stand behind Frodo and put a hand on his shoulder in comfort. "I will help you bear this burden, Frodo Baggins as long as it is yours to bear," the old wizard stated softly.
Aragorn strode to them and kneeled before the Halfling. "If by my life or death I can protect you…I will," the Ranger promised kindly. "You have my sword," he said and stood up to stand behind him.
"And my bow," Legolas stated walking to stand next to Gandalf.
"And my axe," Gimli exclaimed striding to the Hobbit as to not be left behind the Elf.
"You carry the fates of us all, little one," Boromir said while coming closer to the small group. "If this is indeed the will of the Council then Gondor will see it done."
Harry stood up from his place as everyone watched his movement but he had been used to the attention many years already. He lowered himself so that he would be on the Halfling's eyelevel. "Yet again the fate of the world is given to the one with least ability to do it," Harry sighed and smiled softly to Frodo. Draco and the other foreign wizards rose from their seats. "But I have fate in you, Frodo Baggins. If I can save the world at an age of fifteen, there is a good chance you can do it, too," Harry whispered to the Halfling.
"Don't forget you saved us the first time as a one-year-old," Draco grouched to whisper to him and Frodo smiled in amusement.
"Hush now, Draco," Harry snapped softly at him. "If you allow my friends…" Harry said looking at the others who nodded in approval. "…and I, we will help you to succeed in destroying this Ring, Frodo," Harry promised for them all. Frodo simply nodded. Harry straightened up and stood in line with the others.
Then someone shouted from the bushes and another Halfling rushed to them in a hurry. "Mr. Frodo's not going anywhere without me," he exclaimed grabbing a hold of Frodo. He was very determined to come along.
"No indeed," Elrond said trying to sound angry but Harry could tell he was more amused than angry about it. "It is hardly possible to separate you even he is summoned to a secret Council and you are not," he scolded the Halfling who managed to look ashamed but only for a little while.
"Oy! We're coming too!" came another shout and two Halflings ran to them from the entrance of the chamber. "You'll have to send us home tied up in a sack to stop us," the shouter said before they abruptly stopped next to Frodo.
"Anyway, you need people of intelligence on this sort of mission," The other of them said proudly. "Quest," he paused again in thought. "Thing," he stated unsurely.
"Well, that rules you out, Pip," the other stated firmly. Harry chuckled as he was reminded of the Weasley twins by the two Hobbits.
"Fifteen companions," Elrond said thoughtfully. "So be it," he stated decisively. "You shall be the Fellowship of the Ring," the Elf Lord stated as a conclusion. He gazed over them and smiled pleased with the result of the meeting.
"Great!" the brighter of the last arrived two Hobbits exclaimed. "Where are we going?" he asked with silly smile on his lips. Harry couldn't hold the chuckle quiet as the look of bafflement crossed everyone's faces and Elrond shook his head in disapproval.
Disclaimer I do not own Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings
I apologize for taking so long but it could not be helped.
I will use mostly the lines from the movies - of course adding some of my own - but I might use the time line from the books. Otherwise the story will go forth too fast and the characters will not have the time to get to know to each other.
If there is something I have spelled wrong, tell me and I'll fix it.
Next chapter shall be about the two months the Fellowship spends in Rivendell before leaving on their quest, and of Harry and Draco getting to know their other halves.
Some corrections made June 1st 2011
