Chapter 6

The company waited there for a few seconds, listening to the sounds of the orcs and wargs trying to find the dwarves. Then the sound of horns blew out into the valley, along with the sound of flying arrows and hoofbeats. Without needing to see them in person, Harry knew that those horns were Elvish. After the noises died down within a couple of minutes, since he figured Gandalf would lead them to Rivendell. He took up the rear guard, making sure they didn't leave anyone behind.

As the company traveled through the tunnels, Harry heard waterfalls and felt a slight breeze. During his travels throughout the years, he had always loved Rivendell, as it was very peaceful and safe. After that first night with Gandalf, the two wizards had traveled to Imladris and Harry had spent a week here, just recuperating and resting. (He had been glad to finally be able to rest in safety, just a couple days ago, he had been fighting for his life.)

Once the company made it past the tunnels, but before they arrived in Rivendell, Harry shifted back to human shape. Harry watched the dwarves look at Rivendell, wonderingly. Bilbo was gazing at it, with a fond expression on his face. Lord Elrond and Gandalf talked together in Elvish for a minute or two and then the elf offered the group food, which made the dwarves very happy. Harry stayed behind and said hi to Elrond, then followed the rest of the company.

After they all had dinner, Gandalf, Thorin, Bilbo, Balin, and Elrond went to go attempt to read the map. Harry and the rest of the dwarves chose a spot in Rivendell to lay out their bedrolls. Some dwarves lit their pipes and others continued to eat. Fili and Kili sat down together; Fili behind Kili with his legs around the younger, straightening other other's braids. Harry laid out his bedroll in the middle of the dwarves.

"So, I've never seen someone able to change shape before. Not even Gandalf can do that," Bofur said.

"Yeah, and most wizards in these parts are not that ferocious," Gloin commented.

"Uh, right. I... the thing is, I'm not from around here, originally." Harry replied. At that many of the dwarves looked at him in confusion.

"What do you mean, not from around here?" Kili asked, with Fili and Ori and the rest of the dwarves listening intently. "And what forms can you take?" Fili asked, questioningly.

"Well, I was born in... another place, not Middle Earth. I was transported here when I was 18, after..." Harry trailed off, remembering the 'extenuating circumstances of the last few days before he was transported here. All in all, he much preferred it here. And not just here in Rivendell, but just 'here' as in Middle Earth. There were no evil wizards(though he had heard about that Sauron guy) and no pressing need to rescue the population by letting himself die. It was nice, made even nicer with this company of dwarves.

"Harry, Saruman the White is here, along with Lady Galadriel. They might try to prevent the company from leaving." Gandalf said in Harry's mind.

"Noted. I shall tell Thorin that we must leave earlier than we thought. You will catch up with us later, right?"

"Of course. Be careful in the mountains."

Hearing someone clear their throat brought Harry out of his brooding and he realized that Thorin, Balin and Bilbo had returned from reading the map and had laid out bedrolls in and around the company. Thorin had placed his bedroll near Dwalin's and they were both in a quiet conversation. Bilbo laid his bedroll right next to Harry's and laid down.

"...I was transported here after defeating an evil wizard in my home," Harry finished softly, "Hmm, as to the shapes I can take, you've seen the cat, the hawk and the big cat."

"You've defeated a dark wizard already! When was that? What was your home like?" Kili asked.

"Um, well, I was transported here roughly 200 years ago, so it was a long time ago." Harry responded.

"200 years ago? But you still look young!" Kili exclaimed.

"Are you part elf?" Fili asked at the same time.

Harry chuckled, "No, at least I don't think so. That would probably give Thorin a fit if he found out, though." However, Harry had realized that he wasn't aging at all and didn't die from that wound a couple of years ago. He had figured that he might be immortal, like the elves of this land. "But my home was fine, when we weren't under attack from the evil wizard. My best friends were really great. My homeland had a lot of great cities, like this one does, but unlike here, there were wizards aplenty."

"How do you do your magic? Actually, I think we've just seen you change shape. What other kinds of magic can you do?" Bofur asked.

"Yeah, show us something!" Kili exclaimed.

"Alright, then I'm going to bed, I'm tired and we'll likely get up early." Harry replied. With all of the dwarves watching him intently, and the three youngest with excitement, Harry concentrated on his happiest memory for a patronus, which was still hearing his parents when he was child. He pulled out his wand and whispered the incantation, "Expecto Patronum."

There were plenty gasps of excitement and surprise when Prongs leapt fourth from his wand. Prongs glanced around their current location, as if looking for a dementor, but once it saw nothing to charge at, looked at Harry, curiously. "No danger today, Prongs." Harry murmured. He had yet to stop missing his parents whenever he used this spell. With that, the deer cautiously ambled around the circle of dwarves and hobbit. A couple of the dwarves reached out to try to touch Prongs, but found that it wasn't a real deer.

Harry let Prongs fade out after a few minutes, bade everyone goodnight, and laid out his bedroll right where he was sitting. He then got up and approached where Thorin and Dwalin and Balin were conversing about what path to take through the Misty Mountains.

"I heard from Gandalf; we may want to leave earlier than you were thinking, Thorin." Harry said, once he got their attention.

"How exactly did you hear from Gandalf?" Thorin asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I can communicate with him over long distances, with my magic. It's a handy thing to have, mostly." Harry replied.

"Alright, we'll leave at dawn, then."

Harry bade the three of them goodnight, then left to tend to his nighty routine, which included brushing his hair. It had gotten pretty long during these years and now it was a couple of inches past his shoulders. During the day, he usually kept it back in a horsetail, pulled back with a tie. But at night, he liked to pull it loose. When he was done, he came back and shifted into his small cat form to slowly fall asleep on his bedroll, to the sound of low humming and singing.