Chapter 18: "Time's Arrow"

Sam and Frodo said their good-byes. Sam spent his last hour down in the kitchens with the House-elves. They had fed him well and frequently, Hobbit-fashion. Hagrid joined Sam there.

Frodo spent his time with Hermione. She accepted his fate, although it was a terrible grief to her to lose two friends within the same day. Frodo sang her an old song:

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow if I can,
Pursuing it with weary feet.
Though friends may weep that I must go,
I hope one day our paths may meet,
Beyond the earth and stars that glow.

The moon set. They walked hand and hand down the lawn to the Hogwarts Gate. Sam, Ron, Snape, and Dumbledore were waiting for them. Frodo took the Ring out of the locket and set it again on its silver chain. He gave the locket to Dumbledore. "I believe I should enter my world again the way I left it," said Frodo.

Snape approached and stooped before Frodo and Sam. He put his hands on their shoulders. "Farewell Sam. Farewell Ring-bearer. I have borne what you bear. But your road is longer and much harder than mine. May it take you finally home and then West." Snape's eyes traveled to the Ring; but, with a great effort, he rose and turned away.

"The Mirror of Galadriel is prepared. Are you ready?" asked Dumbledore.

"Yes," said Frodo.

"Yes," said Sam.

Dumbledore gazed into the mirror. The stars reflected in it, then went out. Mists covered the surface, then cleared. Dumbledore saw a jagged, barren, hilly landscape, and commanded a date: February 29, 3019 of the Third Age of Middle Earth. He touched his wand to the water and uttered the words "Incanto Tempus." A great mist rose up just beyond the Hogwarts Gate. The two Hobbits joined hands, walked outside the Gate, and vanished, never to be seen again in this age.

Dumbledore returned his attention to the Mirror. He commanded it to show a different scene, at a different time. He looked at the wood of Lothlorien in the Fourth Age. The Elves had been gone for many years. Arwen lay quiet in her green grave. But the Mirror of Galadriel had remained behind, forgotten, never to be used again until the time of Lord Voldemort. Dumbledore put his wand into the water, pointed it at the Mirror in the Mirror and said, "Reducto!" The Mirror in the Mirror flew into pieces, and the spells wound about it came apart.

As Albus Dumbledore drew out his wand, the Mirror itself vanished. And then the arrow of that timeline stopped. Everything collapsed.



"Let's go to Hogsmeade!" said Ron.

"What, tonight?" asked Hermione.

"Why not? We haven't been allowed to go since You-Know-Who turned up again. I'm getting stir-crazy. Harry's got his Marauder's Map and his Invisibility Cloak. Why not sneak out? A fun Friday night at the pub, what do you say, Harry?"

Harry smiled. He had been feeling a bit restless lately, too. The school year so far had been like waiting for the other shoe to drop. He was tired of being careful. "Why not!" he said. "Let's go."

Suddenly all three of them stopped talking. A powerful and strange sensation caught and washed over them. Everything around them seemed to shimmer, collapse, and reform. They recovered, feeling as if they had woken up from a beautiful yet bittersweet dream, although they could not recall any part of it. Hermione found herself crying, but did not know why.

Harry said, "What was that?" Ron and Hermione shook their heads.

Wiping away her tears, Hermione said, "Harry, I know I'm being a pain, but I think you should be careful. I don't think Hogsmeade is such a good idea tonight."

"You're probably right," said Harry.

"Voice of reason," grinned Ron.



"Well, master, we're in a fix and no mistake," said Sam Gamgee. He stood despondently with hunched shoulders beside Frodo, and peered out with puckered eyes into the gloom of the hills of Emyn Muil.



So begins Book 4 of The Two Towers

And ends Harry and Frodo

THE END