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Disclaimer: Nope, I still do not own any of the characters in this fanfic, except Emily Malfoy and Megan Jones (possibly more in the future). I used to own all of the characters… but then I woke up…Sadly that means I still 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. 8: Abandoned
"Lucius, I trust that all is in order."
"Yes, m'lord."
Voldemort smiled. "Lucius, you have more of my trust than all other death eaters combined. I trusted you enough to make you my secret keeper when we performed the Fidilus Charm. I know you will keep the location of this lair safe, and I know that you will not tell anyone of our plans until it is time. That is why I have not punished you for your failure to kill the girl's parents. I trust you, Lucius, and I do not trust easily. Do not disappoint me again."
"Of course not, m'lord." Something in the back of Lucius's head was still nagging him. "Do you suspect a traitor?"
"I do indeed." Voldemort paused. "Arthur Weasley has become quite troublesome, hasn't he?"
Lucius Malfoy snarled. "He was obviously tipped off. He was on his way home from the office, the muggles' house was completely in the opposite direction!"
Voldemort smiled at Malfoy's sudden burst of anger. "No matter. All will be revealed in time, and you will be able. I will leave Weasley to you, but when the traitor is discovered, I will kill him myself." Voldemort chuckled to himself before addressing Lucius again. "You will temporarily be in charge of the death eaters. I'm going to go for a walk."
Lucius frowned, "A walk, m'lord?"
"A walk, Lucius." Voldemort stopped to watch the sun rise. "I will be back by nightfall."
Lucius Malfoy bowed and left. It was almost flattering that the dark lord trusted him so much, but he did not tell him everything. Lucius had a feeling the Voldemort was going to do more than just walk.
Tuesday morning breakfast was as hectic as ever. Legolas, Gimli, and the hobbits sat at the corner of the Gryffindor table, as usual. Gimli seemed to be having a great time, and had taken quite a liking to Butterbeer. Legolas was grateful for the hospitality as well, but was becoming increasingly worried about Gandalf and Aragorn. Frodo and Sam were nervous as well, but Merry and Pippin seemed to feel much better after Fred and George taught them how to play Exploding Snap. Legolas sighed as he watched Pippin finish his fifth plate of eggs. It was then that the owls arrived.
Owls flew into the great hall from every direction, dropping letters, parcels, and packages to the students.
Harry Potter watched as Hedwig came to a stop in front of him. "Thanks, Hedwig," he said as he took the letter from her beak. "I was wondering where you were." Harry brightened when he saw that the letter was addressed in Sirius' handwriting. He quickly lowered his voice and whispered, "Ron, Hermione! Snuffles wrote back!" Hermione was very excited, but Ron was still staring at the front cover of his Daily Prophet. Wordlessly, he showed the cover to his friends. The headline read:
'AZKABAN ABANDONED!'
Ron started reading out loud, "'This morning, the Ministry of Magic's monthly inspection of Azkaban prison revealed that all Dementors, the guards of Azkaban, seem to have abandoned their posts. The facility was thoroughly searched, but no sign of the dementors or their prisoners were found.'"
Before they had a chance to say anything, they were cut off by the urgent voice of Professor Dumbledore. "I will make this brief and to the point. Judging by the look on your faces I can assume most of you have already heard that the dementors have left Azkaban. I will assure you that this is no mistake. I have no doubt that they have left their post to join Voldemort."
At this, there was a wave of gasps and disbelief. Dumbledore raised a hand for silence once again. "I received this news earlier last night. The dementors will quickly become, once again, Voldemort's most dangerous allies. I have taken drastic measures by hiring a temporary Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Whether he will stay or not is still undecided."
The teachers looked shocked. Professor Dumbledore had obviously not told them about this. Dumbledore called out to the back of the Great Hall, "You may enter!" The great doors swung open and the teacher stepped in.
A/N ~ The only reason I am posting this at this moment is because I wanted to post SOMETHING! I haven't been able to work on this for a while so this is all I have at the moment. I'm expecting to have the next chapter up later this week, so keep checking back. I'm still trying to find a good time to bring Dobby in, but I think it will be soon. Also, in answer to an anonymous reviewer: I am not sure if I can work Haldir into the story. Already I've pretty much dropped the idea of bringing Boromir back. However, if I do find a way to bring Haldir into the story, it would be towards the end. I will try, but just don't get your hopes up. Who is the new DADA teacher? Find out next time…
~Kettch