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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. 11: Delusional Fudge
All was quiet in the teacher's boardroom at Hogwarts. Professor Dumbledore sat at one end of the table while the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, sat at the other. Arthur Weasley and another ministry official at on either side of him. On one of the long sides sat Professors McGonagall, Snape, and Lupin. (McGonagall sat between Snape and Lupin, of course) On the other side of the table sat Harry, Ron, Hermione, Legolas, and Gimli. Fudge was not very pleased.
So, Dumbledore. It seems that you are continuing to go behind my back. Again, it seems that you are determined to start a riot that will end the safety and security that the ministry has struggled to regain these last fifteen years. I have always respected you, Dumbledore, but this is madness!"
Professor Dumbledore spoke quietly, but firmly. "Minister, Voldemort was in the castle. He has been revealed as an Animagus. I will not hide this danger from my students."
Fudge's face reddened. "Again, man, I have seen no proof that Voldemort has really come back! The information comes from the same unreliable source as last time, and you know that the boy has a past history of being delusional!"
It was McGonagall that came to Harry's defence. "Minister! Can you hear yourself? Mr. Potter was not the only one who saw he-who-must-not-be-named! There were four other witnesses!"
"Which brings to mind another point!" Fudge said, quickly changing the subject. "These strangers popping out of nowhere! Bring the werewolf back without my permission! What else are you hiding from me, Dumbledore?!"
"Cornelius!" Dubledore shouted, astonished. "I am not hiding anything thing from you. I just did not see any reason to bring these issues to your attention. If you wish to help me try to stop Voldemort before he regains too much off his former power, I would welcome your help."
Fudge shook his head. "I cannot believe you, man! You are still babbling on about the Dark Lord! This is nonsense!"
Legolas glared at Fudge and spoke for the first time since the meeting began. "I don't know what power he had in the past, but I shot him in the shoulder with an elven arrow of Lorien, and he did not even flinch. That is not something that happens often."
Cornelius Fudge shrank back at Legolas' glare, but quickly found his voice. "I don't know what this 'Lorien' is that you speak of, but I have wasted enough of my precious time here."
Fudge bowed hastily in Dumbledore's direction and quickly left the room, followed by Mr. Weasley and the other official.
After they were gone, everyone was quiet. Dumbledore sighed, "Something has gotten into Cornelius. I can't explain it, but he's different."
"Bloody hell, he's different!" Ron shouted. "He's turned into a worthless bloke!"
McGonagall glared at Ron.
"Is it possible that he could be under an Imperius Curse?" Hermione asked.
"An excellent idea, Ms. Granger. Dumbledore replied. "But, alas, no. The new Dark Magic Detectors that have been put up this year would have picked up on that. There is no way that dark arts could be used in this school without our knowing about it. We would have known as soon as the Minister entered the castle."
"That is true Professor, however we also thought there was no way for He-who-must-not-be-named to enter the school either."
Ron stared at Snape. He actually said something worthwhile!
Dumbledore looked thoughtful. "Well then," he said. "This gives us all something to think about."
Lupin had remained quiet the entire time. He is starting to feel that he should not have come back.
The air high up in the mountains was very stale when Voldemort returned. It was Lucius, of course, that quickly greeted him. "Welcome back, m'lord. I trust that your walk was…enjoyable?"
Voldemort chuckled to himself. "Yes, Lucius. It was very enjoyable."
Lucius suddenly felt a little uneasy, so he decided to change the subject. "Master, I have good news."
"Go ahead."
"The death eater count has reached the two hundred mark, and the Dementors will be joining us shortly," Lucius said with pride.
Voldemort grinned. "Excellent. You have done well, my friend. You have redeemed yourself for your earlier failure."
"You are most kind, m'lord, but there is one more thing…", Lucius said with a smile.
"Yes?"
"I have acquired the artifact you requested from The London Museum of Wizardry."
At this, Voldemort froze. "Where is it?" he asked whispered quietly.
Lucius turned around and shouted, "Wormtail! Bring it in!"
Peter Pettigrew emerged from the cave behind the cliff carrying a long, thin box. He came to a stop in front of Voldemort. Kneeling, he bowed his head, and raised the box above his head.
The box was black, and decorated with green and silver jewels. Embroidered along the side of the box were two long, silver snakes.
Lucius said, "I was not able to remove the cover of the box, and make sure we had the right item." He slowly grinned. "I believe only a parselmouth can open it."
Staring in awe, Voldemort leaned toward the box and hissed, "Open!"
The two silver snakes suddenly started to move. They slithered around to the top cover of the box and formed a border around it. Then, the box cover vanished, and the contents of the box were revealed.
Inside, was a long, thin sword. Voldemort picked it up by the hilt and ran his finger along the blade.
Voldemort looked up at Lucius. "Rally the death eaters and inform them that we will attack Saturday, at dawn." Lucius and Wormtail bowed and left. Then Voldemort went back to staring longingly at the sword.
The sword looked very much like that of Godric Gryffindor. But this sword was different, much different. The name engraved on this sword, was Salazar Slytherin…