Chapter 1 draft
I do not own Harry Potter as it belongs to JK Rowling. I do not own Lord of the rings, the Hobbit, or any of the other works by J.R.R Tolkein.
For the purpose of this story, Westron and English will be the same language.
Westron/English - "Middle Earth"
Sindarin (and other elven languages) - "Middle Earth"
Summer of 1995, Earth
Harry Potter lay sprawled out on his bed at 4 Privet Drive. The heatwave currently hitting Little Whining made it impossibly difficult to find the will to do anything. The crushing guilt of Cedric's death weighed on his mind and left a lump in his throat, leaving him no room for to think about anything else. Harry let out a long sigh, things weren't looking good. Voldemort was back.
Over the summer, Harry had wondered when Voldemort would strike next. Everyday had been tense as Harry searched for old newspapers and secretly listened to the news on the telly, while his Aunt and Uncle sat in the living room complaining about non-important things that had happened recently in the muggle world. It gave Harry a sense of relief in a way, when he heard that nothing had happened, that Voldemort hadn't done anything. But at the same time it posed a big question, when would he strike?
He had tried to write to his friends but only received the most basic letters. They usually contained something along the lines of "Hey mate, how are you? Hope the muggles aren't being too annoying. Can't say much about things, but we'll be seeing you soon."
The lack of proper contact with the wizarding world left Harry feeling very bored, restless and frustrated. He felt like he was going stir crazy and longed to get out of Privet drive and do something. Because Harry had nothing to do (other than tending to Aunt Petunia's dying garden), he did a lot of thinking. Whether it be on long walks around the neighbourhood (which he found to be quite a good use of his time) or just lying on his bed. However the main topic of his thoughts was Voldemort.
"Slimy snake looking bastard" Harry mumbled to himself, as he rolled off his bed. A dark look made its way onto his face.
The past year hadn't been too kind to him. It had all started out with a tournament. The Triwizard tournament to be specific. A big multi-challenge deathtrap to whoever competes. The three champions had been chosen initially, however a fourth name had sprung out of the goblet. His name. So Harry was forced to compete in four gruelling tasks. First, the dragon, second the lake, and third, the maze.
The maze. Harry mentally groaned at the thought. What a disaster. Barty Crouch Junior rigged the Triwizard cup portkey to take Harry to the graveyard, where Voldemort's rebirth was to take place. However what he didn't count on was Cedric taking the cup at the same time as Harry. "Kill the spare," the dreaded words that had been haunting Harry's mind. The lifeless eyes of Cedric staring back at Harry, fright and shock filled eyes forever etched into his memory. Harry had also been having nightmares about the graveyard which left him shaken when he woke. The survivor's guilt tore at his heart but he knew he had to stay strong.
Just to add to the raging bonfire that was Harry's mind, a few days prior while Harry was walking home from the park, a rogue dementor had attacked both himself and his cousin, Dudley, right in the middle of Little Whinging. Harry fought them off instantly with the help of his stag patronus, but Dudley was still very shaken about it. Due to Harry performing a patronus charm in a muggle area, he was now suspended from Hogwarts and awaiting a trial at the ministry. It grated on Harry's nerves. He saved a life didn't he? All he had to show for it was a suspension from Hogwarts, a disciplinary trial, and a letter from Sirius saying to stay where he was. Not even a "Hey Harry, good job on defending yourself and your muggle cousin from the dementors, and performing a corporal patronus!"
Sighing, Harry rolled off the bed and trudged across the room to the corner where he kept his trunk, he had only half unpacked from the school year with most of his stuff just being tipped out onto the floor. Digging through his trunk, he tried to find something that he could occupy himself with. After rummaging around in his trunk he picked up a box containing his telescope. The one he uses for his astronomy class in Hogwarts.
Harry had always been interested in the stars. He didn't really know why though, it just felt natural for him. In his opinion they were so beautiful and he just couldn't understand how his peers couldn't hold the same level of interest. To him the stars in the sky were like jewels, shining beyond measure from their places in the crown that's the sky above the world. He could sit and watch them for hours. Because of this love of the stars, Harry's grades in astronomy were some of the highest in his year group every year. When his peers found out about it they looked at him funny and Hermione and Ron made it known that they thought it was a waste of time as a subject and that he should put more effort into other things. Harry didn't really care though, if he enjoys it, then he enjoys it and that's that. But, he thought to himself, it was good that the Dursleys never found out, or he'd never hear the end of it.
Harry set up his telescope and sat down. Through his telescope he could see all the brightest stars up close. He could see the constellations Gemini and Orion, then Ursa Major and the big dipper. It was very peaceful, just stargazing.
When Harry realised how much time had gone past, it was quite late and his eyes were drooping as he was quite tired. He felt a lot more relaxed after having a distraction and time to himself, the turbulent worries from earlier forgotten for the moment. He shrugged off his clothes and changed into his pyjamas. They looked quite worn and had been hastily and roughly mended by Aunt Petunia on the occasion that they got ripped or torn. Harry scowled when he pulled his pants up and they were too short for him, the ends sitting above his ankles. Harry had grown in height a bit this summer. He was happy about it, but was confused because it was rather sudden. He had always been on the tall side for his age, but now he was maybe even taller than Ron. Deciding it was too hot to wear a shirt, he just flopped onto his bed and shut his eyes. He was out like a light as soon as his eyes closed.
—-
Harry opened his eyes. A breath hitched in his throat as his eyes darted around quickly. He was definitely not in the same place that he fell asleep in. He sat up hastily, he was in a small clearing surrounded by colourful trees. The sounds of rushing water could faintly be heard behind him. His mind was screaming at him to be weary and on guard, but something about this place was very relaxing and calm, it felt homely and safe.
Standing up, Harry walked towards the edge of the clearing to see if there were any signs of other life around him, or for any clues of where he was.
Bare feet silently treaded across the grass as Harry moved through the edge of the clearing into the trees. Various creatures such as birds and insects made sounds all around him and the tree tops parted in a way in which Harry could see glimpses of the starry night sky above him.
As Harry walked further, he could hear another faint sound. It wasn't the trees rustling in the breeze, the chirping of nocturnal birds and insects, nor the faint sound of rushing water. It was a voice. A woman's voice, it was ethereal and sounded like beautiful bells. The odd thing is, this voice was familiar to Harry. It was like he could remember it, though very faintly. Like a memory from long ago. He had this odd sense that he needed to get to that voice, almost like it was calling him. He walked faster, then faster until he was running towards the voice. Bursting into another clearing, his eyes beheld a tall gazebo-like structure. It was as tall as the trees surrounding it and sported a beautiful carved roof and arches. Inside stood a woman with her back facing him. She was dressed in a flowing white gown that looked as though each individual stitch shone with warm light, and had long flowing platinum hair that danced around her in the breeze.
She sang in a language that Harry didn't know, but felt like he had heard before. He wracked his brain for any clues to why he felt this way. No answers. The sense of deja vu he was experiencing in that moment frustrated him to no end. After listening to the beautiful song for a while the curiosity and anxiousness to where he was overtook him. "Hey!" he called out to her. She didn't move a muscle. "Excuse me?" He tried again.
She didn't hear him that time either. Deciding that he must just be too far away for her to hear, he scurried forward until he was perched on the steps of the gazebo. "Excuse me?" He tried once more.
Still no acknowledgement. Harry tried thrice more but his questions and exclamations remained unanswered. Sighing in defeat, he sat down on the steps next to where he had been standing, and leant against one of the gazebo's support beams. It was made of various stones but it felt as smooth as silk, which was surprising, even though Harry didn't know much about the building of various structures he had to admit, the craftsmanship was amazing.
Harry sat there for a few minutes more listening to the song of this woman, it sounded mournful but yet, hopeful. He felt bad that he could have completely interrupted this beautiful lament if she could have heard him. As the last notes of the song had been sung, Harry watched as she gracefully turned around, facing in his direction. She started to pace over to exit the gazebo by-way-of the steps that Harry was sitting on. As she walked Harry could not see her face, for it was shrouded by her hair. As she came closer Harry stood up quickly and made his way to infront of her. When he reached her path, she suddenly looked up.
Harry awoke with a gasp. He bolted upright and fought to catch his breath. He was extremely confused and his head was aching. He briefly wondered whether it was a vision crafted by Voldemort to confuse him, but quickly dismissed the idea as it would be too out of character and the dream wasn't sinister, and had no similarities in feeling to any of his other visions.
Taking in a shuddered breath, Harry swung his legs over the side of his bed. Maybe he should send a letter to Sirius, or Dumbledore. Maybe they would know what's going on. However, Hedwig was yet to come back from delivering the latest letter that he had written so he shoved that thought to the side, for the morning.
Standing up, Harry grabbed his wand from his nightstand and shoved it in his pocket. He headed for the door of his room, dodging the random piles of clothes littered on the ground. Walking into the hallway, Harry suddenly smiled to himself, he had just remembered that the Dursleys had left the house as they had been called away to some event that he hadn't bothered to remember the name of. Come to think of it, Harry hadn't really seen or talked to them all that much since the incident with the dementors. He wasn't complaining though, and he didn't doubt that they wouldn't mind too much either.
He trodded down the stairs, jumping the last two and landing surprisingly silently at the bottom. He then stood up and kept walking to the kitchen. Stopping in front of the sink, he reached into the cupboard and took out a glass, he then filled it up with water and leant back on the kitchen bench. He hated the kitchen at the Dursleys, he spent many hours when he was younger cooking for the Dursleys, and if he got anything wrong, like overcooking the bacon even just by a little bit, he'd get in trouble, and be sent back and made to do it again until it was completely perfect. He wouldn't even get the food that he apparently cooked wrong, because Dudley would just eat it anyway.
Deciding he didn't want to stay there any longer Harry opened the back door and stepped outside onto the porch. The cool night breeze blew softly against his face, and he smiled. It was so much better than the inside of the house. It was a lot cooler in temperature.
Harry had finished sipping his glass of water and was about to head back inside when he heard the sound of hushed voices from inside. Harry's heart sunk in his chest. What if these were death eaters coming in the dead of night to try and kidnap him? Suddenly a fire of courage burned in his chest, if they were here to take him, he wouldn't be going down without a fight. Pulling out his wand, he stalked quietly into the kitchen and down the hall to the stairs. As he reached the stairs the voices became louder. Harry heard one of the people say in a gruff voice, "This must be his room here."
He watched the silhouettes of some of the intruders walk into his room. "He's not here." The gruff voice said, annoyance evident in his tone.
Harry crept closer with quiet steps not making a sound. It was quite dark at the top of the stairs, and the figures were facing away from him, so he could ambush them quite readily.
As they argued amongst themselves, Harry slipped behind a short man standing at the edge of the group. The man was wearing a funny purple hat. He didn't think this was what death eaters looked like, but he wasn't going to take any chances. Quickly whipping his arm around the shorter man's neck, putting him into a choke hold and pressing his wand to the man's throat. Harry hissed menacingly "Who are you and what do you want?"
The man squeaked in fright and wriggled round, but Harry kept a firm hold, preventing his escape. The man's heart was pounding rapidly. Startled, the rest of the group jumped and spun around. "Come on, tell me. Or he gets it." Harry said impatiently. "Lumos" a voice spoke through the darkness. The bright light from a wand filled the hallway. "Harry?" The voice questioned softly.
To Harry's surprise it was Lupin at the end of the wand. The rest of the group had come into view as well. Harry noted that Mad-eye Moody, a tall man of African descent, a woman with shockingly bubblegum pink hair, another older man, and two other women who he didn't know, were also there. "Professor? What are you doing here?" Harry questioned. "We've come to take you away from here, Harry."
"Oh." Harry muttered, surprised.
The man Harry had in a headlock squeaked nervously, "Can you let me go please."
"Ah, sorry." Harry replied sheepishly, an embarrassed look making its way onto his face. Harry let the man go and he immediately shuffled to the other side of the group.
"Anyway," Lupin said quickly, "You already know, but this is Alastor Moody," the man in question stared at him, his magical eye spinning wildly. Lupin then pointed to the tall African wizard, "This is Kingsley Shacklebolt," Lupin pointed to the next two men, one of them tall with greying hair, and the other one was the short man with the purple hat. They were introduced as Elphias Doge and Daedalus Diggle, they both waved to Harry. Doge merrily, and Diggle apprehensively. "This is Nymphadora Tonks" Lupin started, gesturing to the lady with pink hair. "Don't call me Nymphadora," she cut him off angrily.
"Sorry," Lupin said, "She prefers to go by her last name, Tonks." Tonks gave Lupin a satisfied look.
"And lastly Emmeline Vance and Hestia Jones." he pointed over to the two other women, who smiled at Harry.
"Nice to meet you all." Harry said shyly. "And sorry again for startling you all, I thought you were intruders." Harry didn't want to say death eaters, because he wasn't sure how some of the people would take it.
After a small silence Harry clapped his hands together and asked "Should I go and pack my things?"
"Yes, and do be quick please, we'll meet you downstairs." Lupin replied.
Harry didn't waste a second and slid past the group and into his room. He flicked the light on and suddenly became very aware of two things. The first being how messy his bedroom actually was. And the second being that he was only wearing a pair of long pyjama pants. Before anyone else could come into the room, he dived over to his trunk and pulled out a shirt. The shirt was red and had Gryffindor quidditch written across the back. It contrasted horribly with his blue and white striped pants, but Harry couldn't care less.
He then shuffled around his room, picking up random things and throwing them haphazardly into his trunk, which lay open against the wall. Clothes, books, stationary, owl treats for Hedwig. He packed up his telescope into its case and laid it on top of his trunk before closing the lid and clicking shut the lock. Walking over to his cupboard, he reached behind it and pulled out his firebolt. He'd hid it there to keep it from being confiscated by his Aunt and Uncle, or Merlin forbid, Dudley taking it and wrecking it just to spite Harry. The broomstick had been a Christmas gift from his godfather, Sirius, and held quite the value to Harry. Not only was it sentimental and reminded Harry of his godfather (and the only family he had left), but it also enabled him to fly. Harry loved flying, whether it was in quidditch, or just for fun. The feel of the wind on his face and the adrenaline rush from being up in the air made him feel so free, all the expectations and worries that plagued him just disappear into the background.
Picking up his trunk and firebolt in one hand, and Hedwig's cage in the other, Harry shuffled out of the room, careful not to scrape his belongings against the flowery wallpaper. At the bottom of the stairs, Tonks was leaning against the bannister. "Wotcher Harry," she said cheerfully. "You ready to go?"
Before Harry could answer, he was startled by a sudden realisation. Wasn't your hair pink earlier?" he asked.
Indeed her hair had changed colour. The bright bubblegum pink from earlier had changed to a deep electric blue that looked startlingly out of place in the drab household that was the Dursley's. "Yup!" Tonks said brightly.
Harry couldn't understand how she could be so joyful at this hour in the morning. "You see, I'm a metamorphmagus." Before Harry could ask what in the world that was, she started again, "It means I can change my appearance to whatever I want."
As soon as she said that, she morphed her features again, and standing there was a complete copy of Harry. His jaw dropped. Tonks laughed at his stunned expression. Changing back, she took him by the arm and pulled him outside the front door next to the stairs. "Come on, it's time to go."
Hope all the readers enjoy! Also any feedback and reviews are completely welcome!
Sorry theres not too much happening in this chapter. Also I tried to give Harry a few elven traits (e.g loving the stars, being taller than the average human), so he might seem a bit out of character in those instances.