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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. 12:Dark Tidings
"The preparations are made, my lord. The attack will commence at dawn."
"Excellent. Once we take Hogwarts there will be nothing standing in our way."
"I have received word from the Dementors, my lord. They will arrive in a few days."
"No matter. Everyone will be dead by then anyway."
"And what of Dumbledore? He will not be easily defeated."
"Leave him to me, Lucius. You have your orders. Follow them and Hogwarts will be ours for the taking. But I am a good sport I will give them fair warning."
Voldemort smiled. "However, I am not sure how much they will like my warning."
It was the last class, Friday, for Harry and his friends. This had been their first Defense Against the Dark Arts class this year and Harry was bored. They were, of course, learning Patronus Charms and Hermione seemed to be the only one who was having any luck (except Harry of course).
As they neared the end of the class, Professor Lupin asked Harry to come up and demonstrate. The class sat in awe as a great, silvery stag shot out of the tip of Harry's wand. Everyone clapped and even Hermione was impressed.
It was then, that the giant black owl flew through the window and dropped a letter right in front of Harry. Harry watched in amazement as the bird circled around the ceiling before suddenly exploding in a gush blood and feathers.
As student screamed all around him, Harry suddenly felt a searing pain in his scar. Professor Lupin acted immediately and threw a handful of red powder into the classroom's fireplace. He summoned Dumbledore and began talking quickly.
Harry, meanwhile, was looking at the letter. It was unmarked, but he had no doubt who it was from. He opened the letter and a thick cloud of black smoke rose from it. From within, came a hissing that only he could understand:
"Your end draws near, Potter. You have no idea how close death is. But fear not. You will be able to see your mudblood mother and gutless father again. Then, you can tell them 'hello' for me. No one can save you now. Not even Dumbledore. You have until dawn to prepare for an attack. You can be assured that I will be the last thing you will see before you die.
Fair warning from the wizard who is going to kill you,
Voldemort
As the smoke cleared, the only thing that could be seen on the card inside, was the image of a glowing skull with a snake protruding from it's mouth: the Dark Mark.
Seconds later, Dumbledore burst intro the room, flanked by Snape and McGonagall. "What has happened?! Dumbledore shouted.
"Voldemort's going to attack the school at dawn!" Harry shouted across the room.
Everyone in the room went silent. Suddenly, there was a flash of light as the letter caught fire and disintegrated. Dumbledore paled. "We have work to do."