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Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this fanfic Draco's first year sister. She will be in later chapters. Harry Potter and co. belongs to J.K. Rowling and Lord of the Rings belongs to J.R.R. Tolkien. Sadly that means I do not own Gollum, for I find him quite hilarious…
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~ This fanfic contains spoilers from The Lord of the Rings books/movies and the Harry Potter books. ~
---------- Rated: PG-13 for violence and mild sexual reference. ----------
Two Heroes, Two Villains, One Ring
Ch. 2: Strangers From Nowhere September 6th 2002 A.D. England
Hogwarts…
Harry…
Harry…
Harry Potter…
Harry wasn't certain if he was conscious, or still dreaming. He couldn't see anything, and all he could hear was a cold, raspy voice.
Harry…
Potter…
Harry…
HARRY!
Harry quickly opened his eyes, and saw, at the side of his bed, a red haired, freckled kid. "Harry! Get up!" yelled the red head. "What time is it, Ron?" Harry asked, sleepily. "Time for you to get up." Said Ron. Harry rolled his eyes. Ron smiled. "It's 7:15. Hurry up and get dressed if you want to eat breakfast before the Quidditch try-outs at 8. I mean, I suppose they'll all want you there, seeing you're the Gryffindor team Captain, and you will be deciding who gets on the team." Harry groaned as he hurriedly got out of bed and grabbed his glasses. "Nooo… I forgot all about the try-outs!" Ron chuckled, "I still wonder why the entire team voted Mr. Sleepyhead to be Captain." Ron received a dirty look.
"Harry? Harry, are you up yet? You're going to be late!" a voice called up from the Gryffindor common room. It was Ron's turn to roll his eyes, "That, would be Hermione." Harry smiled. "Alright, go keep her occupied. I'll be down in five." "Gotcha!" Having said that Ron ran down the stairs, to the common room.
Harry sighed. He was still amazed at all the changes that had taken place in his life during the past five years. It was Harry's fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He had recently been named Captain of the Gryffindor House Quidditch team, and better yet, Draco Malfoy's sister started her first year at Hogwarts. Draco had been Harry's rival since his first year at Hogwarts. What had made this a good thing, though, is that the Sorting Hat did not put her in Slytherin. He could still picture the horrified/mortified look on Draco's face. What a perfect way to start the school year! Harry thought. He looked out the window and saw it was a beautiful Saturday morning. The sky was clear and the wind was just right… perfect flying weather. He still didn't understand the dream he had, but decided not to worry about that until later. Harry got his stuff together and hurriedly got dressed into his Quidditch robes.
Five minutes and eight seconds later, Harry arrived in the common room with his Firebolt in his hand. Ron looked at his pocket watch. "You're late for everything, aren't you?" Harry raised an eyebrow. "Wasn't it you who was ten minutes late for McGonagall's class yesterday?" Ron blushed. "Oh yeah…" "Oh please! If you're going to eat you'd better hurry. I saved some food for you and Ron." Together, they walked down to the Great Hall and within fifteen minutes, were on their way to the Quidditch pitch.
When they reached the field they saw a huge crowd of Gryffindors standing around the front row of bleachers. Students were talking back and forth excitedly:
"Are they dead?"
"I don't think so."
"What are they?"
"I don't know…"
"Maybe they're House Elves."
"Or Goblins!"
"Don't look like any House Elves or Goblins I've ever seen."
"Look at their feet! They're covered with hair!"
"Wicked!"
Just then, Ron's two seventh year brothers, Fred and George, emerged from the crowd with a puzzled look on their face. (I don't know if Fred and George are still in school, but in this fanfic, they are!) "What's going on?" Harry asked. Fred and George looked at each other. "We don't know." Fred spoke up. "They were here when we arrived. I've never seen anything like them." "Who?" asked Hermione. Fred and George exchanged nervous glances. "Um… you'd better come take a look."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione pushed through the crowd of Gryffindors and made their way to the stands. Before long they stood in front of the stands. Hermione clasped her hand over her mouth in a silent scream, while Harry and Ron gasped and took a step back. There on the bleachers lay the unconscious forms of two tiny men, wearing gray cloaks, and swords dangling at their sides. One wore a crystal phial around his neck. "Try-outs are postponed. Hermione?" "I'll go get a teacher," said Hermione, her lip trembling. With that, she ran to the teacher's lounge.
Draco Malfoy sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes. As he looked around the room he knew immediately that something was wrong. There was no one in sight. Everyone usually sleeps in on the first Saturday of the term. Something was not right.
Within ten minutes he was dressed and on his way out of the Boys Dormitory. When he opened the big metal door leading to the Slytherin common room he saw a large group of students huddled around the corner. "Out of the way! Move it!" Draco yelled as he shoved his way through the crowd. What he saw when he got to the front was not what he expected. Two small little men were sprawled out on the floor in the corner. They wore gray cloaks and swords hung from their waists.
Draco's eyes widened but he showed no other noticeable sign of shock or disbelief. To everyone's amazement Draco started chuckling. Then, chuckling turned into laughing hysterically. "They look like my old House Elf! Well, maybe a little better fed!" Draco exclaimed through his insane laughter. The other Slytherins started to laugh along with him. Draco was on the verge of crying, he was laughing so hard. "Crabbe! Goyle! Come on. We're going to find a teacher." Draco left the common room, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle, still laughing hysterically.
It was dark and gloomy in the Forbidden Forest even though it was only 8 in the morning. The leaves of the trees rustled and it almost seemed as if the trees were talking. This is how the forest was when Legolas and Gimli awoke from unconsciousness. They were in a clearing, surrounded by trees and bushes. Legolas was the first to stand while Gimli was lying on his back, groaning from a headache. Legolas helped Gimli to his feet before surveying his surroundings. It was a forest, all right. But what forest, and where, he did not know. Gimli suddenly remembered what had happened. "That murderous rogue!" yelled Gimli. "What magic is this? Where are the others? How did we get here?" Legolas shrugged grimly. "The last thing I remember is a blinding light. There is something strange about this forest. It is unlike any other I have ever been in." Gimli looked around with a confused look on his face. "Where are we?"
"You are in the Forbidden Forest. And when I say Forbidden, I mean no one is allowed in here, unauthorized, except me, the gamekeeper," Spoke a gruff voice from behind them. Legolas and Gimli drew their weapons, and spun around to see a huge, burly, bearded man, with a crossbow aimed at them, a Boar Hound at his side. The giant spoke again, "Who are you? And what are you doing in my forest?!"
After a few seconds the surprise had passed and Legolas, lowering his bow, motioned for Gimli to do the same. Slowly but surely, Gimli lowered his axe. It was Legolas who spoke first, "I am Legolas Greenleaf, son of Thranduil, King of Mirkwood. This," he said, motioning to the Dwarf, "is my companion, Gimli, son of Gloin, of the Lonely Mountain." Legolas paused for a moment, as if considering how much he should tell this man, before continuing. "There were others with us, but we cannot find them now." Gimli sighed, "As for your second question, we are not quite sure ourselves how we got here." They silently agreed not to mention Saruman or anything regarding the ring.
Finally, the giant lowered his crossbow and his face became kind. "Rubeus Hagrid." He smiled at the looks of confusion on the stranger's faces. "My name. But you can call me Hagrid. This is Fang," he said, motioning to the hound at his side. "If ya don't mind me askin', what…" Off in the distance they heard a low howl. Legolas tilted his head in the direction of the noise, his body suddenly alert. "Werewolves," Hagrid muttered. Suddenly all around them, in the bushes, they could hear low, hungry growls. "Perfect," Hagrid said sarcastically.
In the blink of an eye, a large gray shape bounded out from behind the bushes and knocked Hagrid to the ground. Legolas took in the scene in a second, as the werewolf prepared to pounce again. Hagrid fumbled with his crossbow, but couldn't raise it in time. As the werewolf leapt, an arrow flew out of the dark and struck it in the left side. The wolf whimpered and staggered a bit, but managed to keep its footing. Legolas readied another arrow as the wolf charged, but the second shot went wide and it dodged. The Elf rolled out of the way of the charging wolf and drew his long, silver knife. The beast charged again, but Legolas sidestepped and brought the knife down on the werewolf's neck, separating the head from the body, killing it instantly.
Two more werewolves plunged out from behind the foliage. With a warlike battle cry, Gimli ran to meet the first of the two attackers. Gimli ducked an upward swipe and swung his axe hard, knocking the wolf's legs out from under it before bringing his axe down on the attackers skull. The remaining werewolf gave up and ran, but an arrow struck the back of its neck before it could disappear into the woods. It was dead before it hit the ground.
Hagrid, who had now recovered, lowered his crossbow. "Thanks for the help. That was really impressive fightin' there. Now, if ya don't mind me askin', what are you?" Gimli was enraged. "What am I?! What do you think I am?! Why, I'm a…" Another howl was heard off in the distance. Hagrid eyed the woods cautiously. "I think we'd better finish this conversation later." Legolas and Gimli nodded. "Still, yer trespassing, so I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to insist that you come with me," Hagrid said. "I'm takin' ya to see Professor Dumbledore. Maybe he'll know what to make of this… situation." "We'll follow, as long as we can keep our weapons with us," Gimli said. Legolas nodded his agreement. Hagrid grumbled his approval and led them out of the forest.
**So ends chapter two. What will happen to the strangers? Where are Gandalf and Aragorn? And where is that blasted Gollum? All will be revealed in Ch. 3… well, maybe not all… =) Chapter Three will be up soon.**
Please R&R!