DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the exceedingly cool people in this fic. I
don't own the places either. What do you want from me!!! I'll give all
these wizards, men, elves and hobbits (grudgingly) back to Tolkien and
Rowling, who are Gods in my book. Sigh.anyway, if any wonderful soul out
there wants to give them to me, go ahead. No objections whatsoever. I'll be
eternally grateful. I might even send you a lifetime supply of.of.cookies?
NOTE: Yes, ladies and gentlemen, another crossover between HP and LOTR, complete with kooky verses, Elvish, and evil Dark Lord wannabes! I don't believe this is supposed to be serious, but hey, why not give it a whirl, eh?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Potter!"
Professor McGonagall's sharp voice stopped Harry dead in his tracks. He hastily ran the events of the whole day through his mind- looking for something that would give McGonagall a reason to yell at him.
"What did you do now?" muttered Ron next to him.
"Oh Harry, must you always be so stupid?" came Hermione's exasperated query. "Honestly, you get yourself into too much trouble for-"
"I didn't do anything," snapped Harry, glaring at Hermione before turning around to face the teacher. "Yes, Professor?"
"The Headmaster wishes to have a word with you" she said curtly. "Alone" she added, glancing at Ron and Hermione.
Harry followed McGonagall down the hallways, still racking his brains for something he'd done wrong.
As though reading his mind, McGonagall turned and gave him a small smile. "Don't look so sullen, Potter, you aren't in trouble."
Soon they were in front of the stone Gargoyle before Professor Dumbledore's office.
"Fizzing Whizzbee" said the head of Gryffindor House, sounding rather exasperated at the Headmaster's choice of password.
McGonagall stepped aside for Harry to get on to the moving stairs. "Go on, Potter," she said.
Harry knocked tentatively before opening the door to the headmaster's office. It was the same as it always had been, a beautiful circular room full of interesting little trinkets. Dumbledore himself was nowhere in sight.
Harry paused a moment to stroke Fawkes the phoenix, perched elegantly on his stand, then noticed a large map rolled out across the Headmaster's desk. Curious, he moved a little closer, carefully, remembering only too well how many times he'd been sucked into various magical things. He found it very much like the Marauder's Map the Weasley twins had given him in his third year- the map of Hogwarts his father and his friends had made. This one was a map of the country, with little labeled dots representing wizards moving about. He was getting a closer look at one labeled 'Sirius Black' (which was in the same place as 'Remus Lupin') when-
"Ah Harry!"
Harry gave a start and looked up. Albus Dumbledore was beaming down at him, his blue eyes twinkling.
"I was.just." Harry began.
"Looking for Sirius?" asked Dumbledore.
"Er, yes sir," answered Harry.
"I called you here to commend you, Harry," said Dumbledore with a smile; "You have proven yourself braver than any of us expected, especially with recent events taken into consideration." Harry knew what the Headmaster was talking about. He didn't want to mention that the thought of Hogwarts was all that kept him from running for his life from the Dursleys.
Dumbledore regarded him for a moment, his face suddenly drawn and weary. "With no help from Fudge and the Ministry, it's getting very difficult to keep track of Lord Voldemort-"
Harry felt a slight chill down his spine. He'd never feared the Dark Lord's name before, but after the events of last year.
" I know these aren't what you would call the best of times, Harry, and I'm afraid what I have to tell you isn't going to make things any more fun."
Harry gulped. Of course Dumbledore didn't just want to tell him he'd been brave. He just hoped it wouldn't be too bad, like hanging around with Snape for protection or something.
"You are to remain at the castle at all times, unless it is absolutely necessary to be outside." Harry almost sighed with relief. "Anyway, with Hagrid off running. errands.for me, and Quidditch matches temporarily off, I don't think there's anything of much interest outside, is there?" added the Headmaster with a smile.
Harry had to agree. When he heard on his first day back that Quidditch matches were 'off until further notice', he'd been dumbfounded. Of course, the Gryffindor team didn't even have a new captain yet, now that Wood was gone, so perhaps it would be a source of time. If they planned on putting them back on again, that is. The castle grounds were really rather boring now that Hagrid the gamekeeper wasn't around. There was only so much a person could take of watching the giant squid in the lake.
"Oh, and outside includes Hogsmeade, of course" said Dumbledore. Harry opened his mouth to protest, then realized it would be pointless and shut it. He nodded.
"Don't worry, it won't be that bad" said the Headmaster, reassuringly, "I'm sure Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger will give you full accounts of their trips to the village."
Harry didn't see what was good in that, in fact it would make things worse, but seeing as he didn't have a choice in the matter, nodded again.
When Dumbledore began poring over the map on his desk, Harry realized that it was time he left, and, muttering a 'good day', made his way out of the office. He had to tell his friends the not so good news.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"It is for your own good, you know"
"What d'you mean? How can this be good?"
"You Know Who is back in power, Ron!" snapped Hermione, "I agree with Dumbledore completely, it's best that Harry stays in the castle."
"What? You reckon You Know Who is going to walk right into Hogsmeade to blow Harry up?" Ron snapped back.
"Ron!" cried Hermione, shocked that he would dare speak of Harry being blown up.
"What?" asked Ron.
"I know it's for my own good!" said Harry, feeling he should have a say in matters concerning his life, "But Hermione, Ron's right, Voldemort wouldn't walk into Hogsmeade in broad daylight!"
"Remember when we thought Sirius was out to get you?" asked Hermione, "We thought he wouldn't be able to get past the Dementors, but he did, didn't he?"
"That's different!" said Ron, "You Know Who is not an Animagus!"
"How do we know that?" asked Hermione pointedly.
"Look" said Harry, putting an end to the argument, "Whatever you two say, Dumbledore's not going to change his mind, so let's just forget it. Good night!" he said, going towards the Dormitories. He was really not in the mood to hear those two bicker, and besides, the less he thought about it, the better.
"Now look what you did!" whispered Hermione sharply.
"What?" Ron whispered back.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Harry watched as the cloaked figure walked towards the mirror. The familiar stinging pain in the scar on his forehead told him who it was.
Voldemort.
He panicked. Any minute now, the Dark Lord would see him. If he was seen, it would certainly be the end; he didn't even have his wand. Not that it made a difference, but it would give him some time. To his surprise, Lord Voldemort walked right past him, and into the mirror.
People don't walk into mirrors, Harry thought numbly. For some reason, he had the strongest urge to follow him.
It was then that Harry became aware of a voice chanting something- a low, dangerous whisper. It wasn't English, but the meaning came to him, as though merely from how they sounded. They were translated, not in his head, but in his heart. Looking around wildly, he saw that he was alone, but the voice continued:
"Two worlds shall unite under darkness unknown
Two kingdoms shall fall to terror.
The night will ensnare all the unwary
The power of evil shall rise supreme"
Knowing something horrible would happen if he didn't follow Voldemort, Harry stepped into the mirror. Almost immediately, he felt himself falling and cried out in horror.
With a sudden jerk, Harry woke up at a violent shaking of his shoulder.
"Harry." Ron's face came faintly into view, "Harry, are you okay?"
"Yeah" said Harry weakly, "I'm fine. It was just a bad dream, that's all. Go back to sleep Ron"
Ron looked worried, then gave a yawn and sank back into his four-poster next to Harry's.
"You're sure you're okay, right?" he asked sleepily, and then began snoring before Harry could even answer.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Through all the classes the next day, Harry couldn't stop thinking of his dream. Why would Voldemort walk into a mirror? The only magical mirror he knew about was the Mirror of Erised, that showed your heart's deepest desire, and he didn't think you could achieve anything by walking into it. Even Hermione was stumped after he told her and Ron about it.
"I'll look up mirrors in the library," she said. "Maybe it's symbolic or something."
"Maybe it's just a dream!" cried Ron, "Come off it Hermione, the library can't have answers to everything!"
"I'm looking it up anyway" said Hermione curtly, and headed off in that direction.
"Might as well follow her," said Harry.
"Yeah" said Ron, "It's not like we have anything better to do."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Harry went to bed after a fruitless search for 'magic mirrors' in the library.
Hermione wouldn't give up, though, and she took with her a huge stack of books to look through.
When he was haunted by the same dream once more, he awoke with a start, realizing something about the room in the dream. He knew where it was. Exactly where it was, the location of the room in the castle, the mirror, everything.
"Ron!" he whispered, shaking him awake, "Ron, wake up!"
"What?" asked Ron, "For Heaven's sake Harry, it's two in the morning!"
"It's important!" whispered Harry.
"It had better be," said Ron, clambering out.
They found Hermione asleep on a pile of books in the Common Room.
"She's really into your mirror, isn't she" remarked Ron.
When they'd woken her up, Harry told his best friends that he knew the room in the dream.
"SO WHAT?" Ron exploded, "IT COULD BE ANY ROOM IN THE CASTLE! IN THE WORLD! IT'S JUST A DREAM!"
"Oh Ron, do shut up, you'll wake up the entire House" said Hermione. "Which room is it, Harry?"
"I'm not sure," replied Harry, "but I bet I can find it again"
Hidden under the Invisibility Cloak James Potter had bequeathed his son, Harry, Ron and Hermione made their way through the dark, almost deserted corridors of Hogwarts, carefully avoiding the caretaker, Argus Filch, and Mrs. Norris, his evil cat. Harry led them one way, then paused, changed his mind and went back another.
"Do you have any idea where we're going, Harry?" whined Ron.
"I think so" came the reply.
It was almost an hour before Harry came to a sudden halt outside a locked door. "I think this is it" he said softly.
"Alohomora" whispered Hermione, pointing her wand at the door, which immediately swung open, and crashed loudly into the wall behind it.
"Just perfect!" said Ron, shuddering as the sound echoed through the hallway. "Why don't we just call Filch personally and ask him to give us detention!"
"Let's get this over with!" snapped Hermione. "Harry-"
"Look at this you two!" came Harry's voice.
She whirled around to see him standing in front of a tall mirror.
"Is.that.it?" she asked.
"You mean there really is a mirror?" asked Ron incredulously.
"Well, I told you so!" said Hermione triumphantly, tossing her head back, "Ha!"
"Ron, you'd better keep an eye out." Whispered Harry, "Filch will definitely have heard the sound the door made."
"The door made?" muttered Ron, walking towards the door, grabbing the Invisibility Cloak on the way, "You mean the sound Hermione made! Knowing that old git, he's probably in here already, just waiting for us to get comfortable."
Harry and Hermione ignored Ron's muttering to himself and continued to examine the mirror. The first thing that was odd was that there was no reflection in it whatsoever. It was just a shiny polished silver surface.
"It can't not reflect!" said Hermione, "It's against the laws of physics!"
"Hello?" asked Ron's voice from where he was stationed; "You traveled through time two years ago! And for God's sake, physics can't explain flying broomsticks!"
"Shut up Ron!" said Hermione, prodding the surface of the mirror with her wand. The contact sent ripples across it.
"How-" began Harry, but he was interrupted by Ron.
"IT'S FILCH!" he cried, running into the room, cloak flying behind him like a cape as he slammed right into Harry and Hermione, knocking all three of them at the mirror.
They went right through it.
The next thing they knew, they were falling.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
NOTE: Suspense.dum de dum dum. not too lame, is it? It'll get better (we hope), cause the next chapter shall bring. no, we cannot reveal it. but I must.nooooo! 'Kay, just wait a while and you'll find out.
NOTE: Yes, ladies and gentlemen, another crossover between HP and LOTR, complete with kooky verses, Elvish, and evil Dark Lord wannabes! I don't believe this is supposed to be serious, but hey, why not give it a whirl, eh?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Potter!"
Professor McGonagall's sharp voice stopped Harry dead in his tracks. He hastily ran the events of the whole day through his mind- looking for something that would give McGonagall a reason to yell at him.
"What did you do now?" muttered Ron next to him.
"Oh Harry, must you always be so stupid?" came Hermione's exasperated query. "Honestly, you get yourself into too much trouble for-"
"I didn't do anything," snapped Harry, glaring at Hermione before turning around to face the teacher. "Yes, Professor?"
"The Headmaster wishes to have a word with you" she said curtly. "Alone" she added, glancing at Ron and Hermione.
Harry followed McGonagall down the hallways, still racking his brains for something he'd done wrong.
As though reading his mind, McGonagall turned and gave him a small smile. "Don't look so sullen, Potter, you aren't in trouble."
Soon they were in front of the stone Gargoyle before Professor Dumbledore's office.
"Fizzing Whizzbee" said the head of Gryffindor House, sounding rather exasperated at the Headmaster's choice of password.
McGonagall stepped aside for Harry to get on to the moving stairs. "Go on, Potter," she said.
Harry knocked tentatively before opening the door to the headmaster's office. It was the same as it always had been, a beautiful circular room full of interesting little trinkets. Dumbledore himself was nowhere in sight.
Harry paused a moment to stroke Fawkes the phoenix, perched elegantly on his stand, then noticed a large map rolled out across the Headmaster's desk. Curious, he moved a little closer, carefully, remembering only too well how many times he'd been sucked into various magical things. He found it very much like the Marauder's Map the Weasley twins had given him in his third year- the map of Hogwarts his father and his friends had made. This one was a map of the country, with little labeled dots representing wizards moving about. He was getting a closer look at one labeled 'Sirius Black' (which was in the same place as 'Remus Lupin') when-
"Ah Harry!"
Harry gave a start and looked up. Albus Dumbledore was beaming down at him, his blue eyes twinkling.
"I was.just." Harry began.
"Looking for Sirius?" asked Dumbledore.
"Er, yes sir," answered Harry.
"I called you here to commend you, Harry," said Dumbledore with a smile; "You have proven yourself braver than any of us expected, especially with recent events taken into consideration." Harry knew what the Headmaster was talking about. He didn't want to mention that the thought of Hogwarts was all that kept him from running for his life from the Dursleys.
Dumbledore regarded him for a moment, his face suddenly drawn and weary. "With no help from Fudge and the Ministry, it's getting very difficult to keep track of Lord Voldemort-"
Harry felt a slight chill down his spine. He'd never feared the Dark Lord's name before, but after the events of last year.
" I know these aren't what you would call the best of times, Harry, and I'm afraid what I have to tell you isn't going to make things any more fun."
Harry gulped. Of course Dumbledore didn't just want to tell him he'd been brave. He just hoped it wouldn't be too bad, like hanging around with Snape for protection or something.
"You are to remain at the castle at all times, unless it is absolutely necessary to be outside." Harry almost sighed with relief. "Anyway, with Hagrid off running. errands.for me, and Quidditch matches temporarily off, I don't think there's anything of much interest outside, is there?" added the Headmaster with a smile.
Harry had to agree. When he heard on his first day back that Quidditch matches were 'off until further notice', he'd been dumbfounded. Of course, the Gryffindor team didn't even have a new captain yet, now that Wood was gone, so perhaps it would be a source of time. If they planned on putting them back on again, that is. The castle grounds were really rather boring now that Hagrid the gamekeeper wasn't around. There was only so much a person could take of watching the giant squid in the lake.
"Oh, and outside includes Hogsmeade, of course" said Dumbledore. Harry opened his mouth to protest, then realized it would be pointless and shut it. He nodded.
"Don't worry, it won't be that bad" said the Headmaster, reassuringly, "I'm sure Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger will give you full accounts of their trips to the village."
Harry didn't see what was good in that, in fact it would make things worse, but seeing as he didn't have a choice in the matter, nodded again.
When Dumbledore began poring over the map on his desk, Harry realized that it was time he left, and, muttering a 'good day', made his way out of the office. He had to tell his friends the not so good news.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"It is for your own good, you know"
"What d'you mean? How can this be good?"
"You Know Who is back in power, Ron!" snapped Hermione, "I agree with Dumbledore completely, it's best that Harry stays in the castle."
"What? You reckon You Know Who is going to walk right into Hogsmeade to blow Harry up?" Ron snapped back.
"Ron!" cried Hermione, shocked that he would dare speak of Harry being blown up.
"What?" asked Ron.
"I know it's for my own good!" said Harry, feeling he should have a say in matters concerning his life, "But Hermione, Ron's right, Voldemort wouldn't walk into Hogsmeade in broad daylight!"
"Remember when we thought Sirius was out to get you?" asked Hermione, "We thought he wouldn't be able to get past the Dementors, but he did, didn't he?"
"That's different!" said Ron, "You Know Who is not an Animagus!"
"How do we know that?" asked Hermione pointedly.
"Look" said Harry, putting an end to the argument, "Whatever you two say, Dumbledore's not going to change his mind, so let's just forget it. Good night!" he said, going towards the Dormitories. He was really not in the mood to hear those two bicker, and besides, the less he thought about it, the better.
"Now look what you did!" whispered Hermione sharply.
"What?" Ron whispered back.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Harry watched as the cloaked figure walked towards the mirror. The familiar stinging pain in the scar on his forehead told him who it was.
Voldemort.
He panicked. Any minute now, the Dark Lord would see him. If he was seen, it would certainly be the end; he didn't even have his wand. Not that it made a difference, but it would give him some time. To his surprise, Lord Voldemort walked right past him, and into the mirror.
People don't walk into mirrors, Harry thought numbly. For some reason, he had the strongest urge to follow him.
It was then that Harry became aware of a voice chanting something- a low, dangerous whisper. It wasn't English, but the meaning came to him, as though merely from how they sounded. They were translated, not in his head, but in his heart. Looking around wildly, he saw that he was alone, but the voice continued:
"Two worlds shall unite under darkness unknown
Two kingdoms shall fall to terror.
The night will ensnare all the unwary
The power of evil shall rise supreme"
Knowing something horrible would happen if he didn't follow Voldemort, Harry stepped into the mirror. Almost immediately, he felt himself falling and cried out in horror.
With a sudden jerk, Harry woke up at a violent shaking of his shoulder.
"Harry." Ron's face came faintly into view, "Harry, are you okay?"
"Yeah" said Harry weakly, "I'm fine. It was just a bad dream, that's all. Go back to sleep Ron"
Ron looked worried, then gave a yawn and sank back into his four-poster next to Harry's.
"You're sure you're okay, right?" he asked sleepily, and then began snoring before Harry could even answer.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Through all the classes the next day, Harry couldn't stop thinking of his dream. Why would Voldemort walk into a mirror? The only magical mirror he knew about was the Mirror of Erised, that showed your heart's deepest desire, and he didn't think you could achieve anything by walking into it. Even Hermione was stumped after he told her and Ron about it.
"I'll look up mirrors in the library," she said. "Maybe it's symbolic or something."
"Maybe it's just a dream!" cried Ron, "Come off it Hermione, the library can't have answers to everything!"
"I'm looking it up anyway" said Hermione curtly, and headed off in that direction.
"Might as well follow her," said Harry.
"Yeah" said Ron, "It's not like we have anything better to do."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Harry went to bed after a fruitless search for 'magic mirrors' in the library.
Hermione wouldn't give up, though, and she took with her a huge stack of books to look through.
When he was haunted by the same dream once more, he awoke with a start, realizing something about the room in the dream. He knew where it was. Exactly where it was, the location of the room in the castle, the mirror, everything.
"Ron!" he whispered, shaking him awake, "Ron, wake up!"
"What?" asked Ron, "For Heaven's sake Harry, it's two in the morning!"
"It's important!" whispered Harry.
"It had better be," said Ron, clambering out.
They found Hermione asleep on a pile of books in the Common Room.
"She's really into your mirror, isn't she" remarked Ron.
When they'd woken her up, Harry told his best friends that he knew the room in the dream.
"SO WHAT?" Ron exploded, "IT COULD BE ANY ROOM IN THE CASTLE! IN THE WORLD! IT'S JUST A DREAM!"
"Oh Ron, do shut up, you'll wake up the entire House" said Hermione. "Which room is it, Harry?"
"I'm not sure," replied Harry, "but I bet I can find it again"
Hidden under the Invisibility Cloak James Potter had bequeathed his son, Harry, Ron and Hermione made their way through the dark, almost deserted corridors of Hogwarts, carefully avoiding the caretaker, Argus Filch, and Mrs. Norris, his evil cat. Harry led them one way, then paused, changed his mind and went back another.
"Do you have any idea where we're going, Harry?" whined Ron.
"I think so" came the reply.
It was almost an hour before Harry came to a sudden halt outside a locked door. "I think this is it" he said softly.
"Alohomora" whispered Hermione, pointing her wand at the door, which immediately swung open, and crashed loudly into the wall behind it.
"Just perfect!" said Ron, shuddering as the sound echoed through the hallway. "Why don't we just call Filch personally and ask him to give us detention!"
"Let's get this over with!" snapped Hermione. "Harry-"
"Look at this you two!" came Harry's voice.
She whirled around to see him standing in front of a tall mirror.
"Is.that.it?" she asked.
"You mean there really is a mirror?" asked Ron incredulously.
"Well, I told you so!" said Hermione triumphantly, tossing her head back, "Ha!"
"Ron, you'd better keep an eye out." Whispered Harry, "Filch will definitely have heard the sound the door made."
"The door made?" muttered Ron, walking towards the door, grabbing the Invisibility Cloak on the way, "You mean the sound Hermione made! Knowing that old git, he's probably in here already, just waiting for us to get comfortable."
Harry and Hermione ignored Ron's muttering to himself and continued to examine the mirror. The first thing that was odd was that there was no reflection in it whatsoever. It was just a shiny polished silver surface.
"It can't not reflect!" said Hermione, "It's against the laws of physics!"
"Hello?" asked Ron's voice from where he was stationed; "You traveled through time two years ago! And for God's sake, physics can't explain flying broomsticks!"
"Shut up Ron!" said Hermione, prodding the surface of the mirror with her wand. The contact sent ripples across it.
"How-" began Harry, but he was interrupted by Ron.
"IT'S FILCH!" he cried, running into the room, cloak flying behind him like a cape as he slammed right into Harry and Hermione, knocking all three of them at the mirror.
They went right through it.
The next thing they knew, they were falling.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
NOTE: Suspense.dum de dum dum. not too lame, is it? It'll get better (we hope), cause the next chapter shall bring. no, we cannot reveal it. but I must.nooooo! 'Kay, just wait a while and you'll find out.