Hello everyone. :) Yes, I finally got around to working on a rewrite for this chapter, and then next two. I figured these had to be rewritten because I was skipping around too much, instead of letting scenes flow. So, that's the reason I rewrote this chapter and Chapters 11, 12 and 13. Hopefully, it's better this time. :)
Following his usual morning routine, Frodo changed into his Hogwarts hobbit clothes. He loved the way his wardrobe changed to a different uniform… did he love the idea? He paid no heed to this. Today, he wanted to check up on Aria. Maybe she was hungry, too. That was a good excuse to head to the Great Hall with her. However, when he climbed down the steps and entered the Ravenclaw Common Room, he hardly expected meeting a blonde-haired first year girl, who sat on one of the blue couches, reading a magazine upside down.
"Hello Frodo Baggins," the dirty blonde-haired first year said in with a distant smile. "I'm Luna Lovegood."
"Hullo." Frodo asked, politely, "Is this your first year?"
"Yes. Quaint, isn't it? Hogwarts," Luna asked, curious.
"It's like a second home," he said, shuffling his feet. He asked her next, "What are you reading?"
"The Quibbler," she replied. Closing the magazine, she extended it towards him. "Here. I've got other copies."
Hesitant at first, Frodo took The Quibbler from her hands. On the front was a strange lion-like beast with a scorpion's tail, in replace of its tail. He didn't know what the creature was or why it was on the cover of the magazine. Still, it didn't hurt asking Luna… only when he looked up, she had disappeared. It only took a matter of seconds before he spotted her, Luna wandered out of the common room.
He sighed… no. He would get another chance to ask… someone tapped his shoulder. He spun around, only to come face to face with Aria, of all people.
"Aria!" He exclaimed. "What brings you here?"
"I was coming down to see you," Aria spoke at the same time Frodo asked his question. There was a momentary pause between the two, at which the hobbit boy proclaimed:
"Well, you go ahead," Frodo said, gesturing with a free hand for her to continue.
"You're reading the Quibbler," Aria asked, pointing to the magazine in Frodo's hands.
"Luna gave it to me," he spoke, truthfully. "Luna Lovegood." There was no response from Aria. He said, surprised, "Come on, Aria. You know what's about to happen."
"I'm only on… oh wait," she said, remembering now where she was in the Harry Potter books. Frodo wasn't surprised in the least.
"I thought you knew Luna. You've read about her," Frodo inquired.
"Maybe," Aria said, doubtful. Frodo knew she wouldn't reveal too much to him. At least, he hoped she wouldn't. He didn't need to know all the details of Harry's life or what his future would be like.
"Aria, I'm not replacing you," Frodo said. He added with encouragement, "Come on. Let's head to the Great Hall." Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, Frodo led Aria out of the common room. As they descended down the spiral staircase, Frodo stopped mid-step. This reaction caused Aria to stop, and yet her expression was distant. He instructed her, by saying, "Aria. You know we're friends, right?"
"Yes," she said, softly.
"You can tell me anything. I'll listen." Frodo smiled at her, hoping Aria would come out of her doubting thoughts.
"Anything?" Aria asked, curious and suspicious.
"Eh…" Frodo was unsure how to answer. He grinned at her, thinking it was best that she didn't reveal everything girly to him.
"Frodo, are you afraid to talk to girls?" She asked. It was a good question. Frodo could admit that much about the subject.
"It's not that I'm afraid to talk to girls." Frodo admitted, "It's just… eh." He was afraid now, and Aria was a girl. Maybe he was overthinking this subject. Maybe they should just switch to a different topic.
Aria giggled. Great. This is just what Frodo feared would happen. Aria persisted, happily, "Come on. We should head to the Great Hall, before breakfast is up."
"Wow." Frodo beamed a sweet smile at her.
"Wow what?" Aria asked, curious now. She moaned, cheerily, "Come on. I'm starving."
Not saying 'no', Frodo chased after Aria for a time. By the end of their journey, they reached the Great Hall. Checking to make sure she was okay, Frodo led Aria to the Ravenclaw table. They were as early as they could come, but at least they made it. Finding an empty spot, they sat down right across from Folco, who looked like he had a rough sleep.
"What is it, Folco?" Frodo asked his hobbit friend.
"A nightmare?" Aria chimed in. Frodo returned his gaze to Folco, who ate down half a sausage.
Folco shook his head.
"Roommate trouble?" she asked further, much to Frodo's surprise. Aria recovered fast, "Not trouble from you two, right?" She apologized, "I'm sorry. I was just asking."
"Don't worry about it," Frodo answered, waving his hand in front of him a few times, in an effort to calm Aria down.
Aria bore a small grin. It was enough to convince Frodo that everything was all right between them. Frodo turned his gaze to Folco, who gave a quizzical expression. Clearly, there was something he knew that he wasn't telling his friend. Confused, Frodo let the thought pass. Maybe he would figure it out later, but he didn't know when or where he would figure out what Folco knew.
Time passed in the Great Hall. Soon, more students filed in to eat their breakfast or read the Daily Prophet. As they ate their fill of food, Folco opened up a newspaper, hiding himself in the morning news. This loud reaction stunned Aria and surprised Frodo. However, it was Folco who eventually set the paper down. Okay. Frodo wondered what was up with his hobbit friend.
"Folco, you okay?" Frodo asked a bit too soon, for Ron's howler spat various, loud statements at him. The howler got everyone's attention, or those present in the Great Hall, but it didn't stop Frodo from nearly covering his ears, before doing the same for Aria's ears sake. Minutes passed before the howler stopped its screeching, leaving Frodo, his authoress friend and everyone in the Great Hall in a pool of silence. He looked up and over at the Gryffindor table, wondering then if Ron was okay.
He snapped out of this state of mind, leading him and his friends to eat breakfast. It was good that the food on their plates was hot and scrumptious. For a moment, Frodo forgot he was at Hogwarts. The food was too good. Aria could agree, for she was gobbling the food up. Frodo smiled. He was glad that Aria was his friend.
When Professor Flitwick came around the Ravenclaw table, shortly after Frodo and Aria finished their morning meal, he passed out schedules to the students of his house. Frodo waited until he and Aria were given their schedules, before comparing his schedule to hers. For a moment, Frodo nearly thought they would have the same mess as they did the previous year. This year, the schedules were a little more organized.
It turned out that Frodo and Aria only had a few classes together, but it was better than last year. At that time, Frodo found out on the holidays that he had an authoress. Aria happened to be his authoress, but how she ended up chosen to be his was something he needed to look into. Maybe this year, he would find out the reason behind the Authors and Authoresses' logic, how it worked.
Only one thing remained: get to class and be a good student. Grabbing their belongings, Frodo followed Aria and Folco out of the Great Hall. Folco was running ahead, bumping into students. Frodo chuckled behind his teeth. Well, he hoped his Ravenclaw hobbit friend would make it to class on time. As for Aria, he hoped that she would be all right taking classes with him. But then, given their first lesson was together, Frodo wondered if she was a witch, too, or had some magical abilities. Maybe he would find out this year if that was the case.
However, on their way to the Grand Staircase, a camera flashed before Frodo's eyes. The camera belonged to a blonde-haired boy, a first year. Either way, he was determined to get a picture of him and Aria. But just who was this boy?
"Hi Frodo, Aria!" the boy introduced himself to them: "I'm Colin Creevey and I'm in Gryffindor, in the same house as Harry Potter. I hadn't imagined meeting the Ring-bearer and his authoress. Frodo and Aria. Do you know that it's possible to create moving pictures? I'm going to try my hand at it."
"Hi Colin." Aria said, frozen a little.
"Well, Aria and I need to get to class," Frodo told Colin, doing his best to be polite.
"Oh, that's fine. I'll see you two later," Colin said, giddily. Frodo waited until Colin had dashed off before heading into the Grand Staircase with Aria.
It was going to be a long school year. And it was only going to get better.
o-o-o
As Frodo sat in Defense Against the Dark Arts class, listening to Professor Lockhart's speech on his adventures in the Wizarding World, thoughts crept up on the twelve-year-old hobbit boy. Thoughts of whether Lockhart actually went on these travels during the holidays, and whether the professor was all he said he was.
With classes resumed for this term, there was already so much going on that Frodo could hardly keep up. And yet, he performed splendidly, to the best of his abilities to get through the first week of his second year at Hogwarts. It was true, the only classes he had with Aria was Transfiguration, Charms and Herbology, but at the same time he was told by McGonagall that the classes between hobbits and theirs authors and authoresses would eventually become one as the years passed. Whether this was true remained to be seen, but Professor McGonagall certainly admitted the truth to him. Now he had…
"Mr. Baggins, pay attention in my class," Gilderoy Lockhart said with a warm smile.
"Sorry professor. I…" Frodo looked about him, only to find the rest of the students had packed up and were ready to attend their next class. He attempted to do the same, only to stop him with a question that had been forming in his mind for a long time. "Sir, you wouldn't know if J.R.R. Tolkien was in Middle-earth, would you? He wrote 'The Hobbit', but I was curious…" He hesitated. Gathering his courage, Frodo asked further, "Was J.R.R. … I mean, did he visit Middle-earth? Did he know what would happen to me, in the near future?"
"Ah," Lockhart blurted. "Yes, my lad, I would know J.R.R. Tolkien. Was he, per chance, a wizard? Because authors and authoresses pose some sort of magical abilities in them. Now, did J.R.R. Tolkien visit Middle-earth? Yes. Eh… well that depends. Did you know if he came to the Shire?"
"I…" Frodo paused. That was a good question. He could ask Sindri, his upcoming dwarf teacher, but Lockhart, from his behavior, sounded like he knew what authors and authoresses were. He admitted, still confused, "I don't know. Maybe he's been in Middle-earth this whole time. How would he know about me, or my Uncle Bilbo? Why would Bilbo ask me to ask you these questions?"
"Perhaps he wanted to get a bird's eye view of a famous wizard or two." Lockhart said, profusely, "Now, shouldn't you be heading off to your lessons. I suggest you get going. You don't want to be late."
"Yes sir." Frodo said, heading out of the classroom. He was certain there was more that Lockhart wasn't telling him. One thing was made clear: the authors and authoresses had some magical abilities about them. Would that mean the same for him, if he ever came around to writing a book? This was all new to him, and yet he was eager to meet up with Aria. Maybe Harry, Ron and Hermione were also around to give him some advice. He certainly hoped so.
Moving past the students and some of the staff, Frodo found the trio out in the Transfiguration Courtyard. Harry, Ron and Hermione were in the middle of studying when he approached them. They looked up at him, their expressions mixed.
"Hello Frodo," Hermione asked, perking up.
"Why aren't you with Aria?" Ron asked, crudely.
"Ron," Hermione badgered the ginger-haired second year boy and friend.
"What gave you the impression that I'd be with Aria?" Frodo asked Ron, confused.
"Well, you were hanging around with Aria and your hobbit friends a lot on the first day back," Ron admitted. "We thought you'd forgotten us."
"I'm sure that wasn't it, Ron," Hermione addressed him.
"We've only had one adventure with him, Hermione," Harry said. "Last year, Frodo spent more time with us than his hobbit friends."
"Thanks," Frodo said, sarcastic.
"You can visit whomever you'd like, Frodo. You don't have to stick by us," Harry told him.
"I know, but…" Frodo sat down next to the trio, "I wanted to spend time with you three. I didn't forget. I was just waiting for the right moment to come and see you three. Is that all right?" He asked further.
"That's fine," Hermione said. She turned to Harry, who was distracted, "Harry, are you all right?"
"Huh?" Harry asked, looking up. "I was just… thinking…" he stood up and approached Frodo. "Can we talk?"
"Uh… okay," Frodo said, confused. "Talk… about what?"
"I'll see you later," Harry said, waving to his friends before moving away from them. He asked the hobbit boy first, "Frodo, have you heard anything? Anything at all?"
"I'm not sure what you mean," Frodo admitted, confused. "Harry, what…"
"Like a voice?" Harry told him, calmly, "I know you and Aria traveled with me to find the Sorcerer's Stone. I wondered if you two heard any voices…"
"I'm not sure… when did you hear voices?" Frodo asked, trying to help Harry.
"Before Lockhart's class. There was this voice, a slithering voice," Harry lowered his voice. "Didn't you hear it?"
"No, I…" Frodo stopped upon hearing, or thought he heard, a mysterious voice in the air. However, the voice was too low to interpret, let alone understand. The second he gave up on hearing a voice, he looked up.
Harry had mysteriously disappeared… no, Harry was back with his friends. However, he was slightly paranoid and giving Frodo a cautious gaze. Whatever the sound was, whomever the voice belonged to, Frodo couldn't quite tell. He nearly thought he was going mad… no, he should head to his next class. He would discuss it further with Harry at some point, just to make sure neither he nor Harry were going mad.
If anything, Frodo hoped things would turn out for the better. But then, Aria was into dreams and anything spiritual or supernatural; at least, that was the impression she gave him. As for himself, Frodo didn't know what to make of the situation. Only that it was one of the strangest moments he had yet to encounter. He hoped beyond hope that was he heard was only coming from another student's mouth. Maybe Lotho was pranking him again. Or rather… he didn't know what to call this situation, only that Harry might have been pulling his leg.
Or rather… no, he should just give up on the notion that there were voices in the air. It was too surreal to stop and think about anything else. Minding his own business, Frodo darted down the corridors, back to the Grand Staircase. It was time for Potions class. He was already dreading the thought of being taught by Professor Snape. Hopefully, this year he would combat this fear of the Potions' teacher.
He hoped as much would happen. He hoped it, at least. Oh, he would just head onto class like the good student he was. That would give him some credit from the teachers, right? Oh, he would just go to class. Yes, that sounded like a good idea.
Okay, so I incorporated a bit of the PC game "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" into the end of this chapter. But it is much better than what it was the last time around, which is good and flows better. :) Thanks for reviewing. :) Now, its onto two more rewrites and we should be caught up again. :)