D/N: I don't own anything!

Author's Note: You know I do my best thinking in school either at the library or here in the computer lab. K thanks for the reviews chants Only 6 more days till LOTR premiere EEEEEEEEK!

Ch. 9 The Biggest Mistake

There was a knock at the door.

"Come in", said a voice from inside.

Professor McGonagall entered the room. She silently closed the door behind her. "Ah, hello, Professor McGonagall I have been meaning to speak to you", said Professor Dumbledore from his desk. Professor McGonagall looked around the office nervously. She seemed to be expecting something to pop out at her from the walls.

"Albus, it has been", she began. "Would you like to have a seat, Minerva?" interrupted Dumbledore extending his hand to one of the two empty chairs in front of his desk. Professor McGonagall took a seat and she continued, "Albus, it has been exactly a day since young Potter and his friends have left for Middle-Earth. In Middle-Earth it has been a whole entire month! Have you not gotten any word from Saruman? I mean Harry, when he went into the chimney he said the words "Middle-Earth" not Isengard. I know it was my responsibility to tell him to be more specific, but I completely forgot while I was consoling Ms. Granger. And now I am afraid that poor Harry and the others are lost in the unknown world. And what if, if…"

Professor McGonagall stopped and began to rub her forehead. All this time, Professor Dumbledore had been listening patiently. He now looked at her with a smile on his face. He got up from his desk and walked around it. Professor McGonagall had not looked up while Dumbledore had gone around his desk. He sat down in the other chair and took Professor McGonagall's hand into his own and began to stroke it gently with his thumb. Professor McGonagall looked up and stared at Dumbledore.

"Do not blame yourself, Minerva. It is not your fault. It is no one's fault. You know as well as I do that in Middle-Earth if Harry said the country's name he and his friends would have landed up almost anywhere. Let's just hope that he landed among friends. Now, as for my cousin Saruman, he has indeed sent me a message. It came early this morning telling me that everything was perfectly fine and that Harry is having tons of fun. Of course, my cousin has never been a very good liar; at least, he hasn't gotten anything by me, yet. You see, Minerva if Harry had in reality arrived at my cousin's home, he and the others would have arrived with him. Therefore, Saruman would have sent them all back. But this letter that he sent me, has obviously proven otherwise. I am pretty sure that Saruman is looking for Harry at this very moment even as we speak."

"So what do you plan to do Albus? You can't just leave them out there all by themselves. They will surely not survive." Professor McGonagall was looking very stressed out. Her usually tight bun was not too tight today, as if she hadn't had enough time to make sure every little strand of hair was not sticking out. Today there were a couple of stray hairs that stuck out from her head making her look like she had just woken up. Dumbledore by this time had let go of Professor McGonagall's hand and was now looking at an open book on his desk. His eyes darted back and forth from one side of the page to the other. His brow furrowed as he read on. Professor McGonagall, not wanting to interrupt, looked at Dumbledore. She was sure that him not answering her question was for a good reason. She looked from his concentrating face to the book that lay open. After about five minutes the great grandfather clock from behind Dumbledore's desk chimed 12, noon. It was time to eat lunch.

"Albus, I am sorry to interrupt, but we must get down to the Great Hall. Lunch will be served any minute." Dumbledore looked up from the pages for the first time. McGonagall could see concern written all over his face. She furrowed her eyebrows with concern. "What is it, Albus?" she asked. Dumbledore looked deeply into her eyes and said, "Ah, Minerva I think I have made the biggest mistake in my life. I have put young Harry and his friends in terrible danger."

"What do you mean, Albus? It is not your fault that Harry said Middle-Earth instead of Isengard." Professor McGonagall was trying hard to figure out what on earth the headmaster was saying. Dumbledore looked back hurriedly at the open book. He flipped through its pages.

"Albus, what is wrong? Please, can't you tell me?" asked Professor McGonagall. She began to get her worries back. Dumbledore looked up from the book. "It is far too complicated to explain, Minerva. But one thing is perfectly clear." He paused as if trying to pick out his words. McGonagall leaned forward in her seat with anticipation. "Yes, Albus?"

Dumbledore lifted his head and said slowly, " That Harry and the others might need our help." He then quickly closed the books and swiftly made his way to the door. Professor McGonagall took the chance to look at the title of the book. She frowned. What did this all mean? Dumbledore called to her and she left the office. Fawkes, the phoniex flew over to the desk and stared at the closed book. The title read, The Lord of the Rings; The Fellowship of the Ring. Fawkes then flew away from Dumbledore's desk and onto the globe. His tail feathers knocked over the book. The booked opened to the page that Dumbledore had finished reading. The chapter was called The Council of Elrond.(author's note shall explain at the end of the story)

* ~ * ~ * ~

The wind blew strongly. The beating of the horse's hooves on the ground seemed to fill the air. Gandalf rode on toward a tall tower off in the distance. His mind was crowded with questions and puzzles. His only answer lied in that tower. After a couple more minutes his steed, Shadowfax, had borne him to the tower, which had seemed so far away. Gandalf rode through the gates of Isengard. He rode all the way up to the entrance of the tall tower. At the entrance of the tower, waiting for him was a figure all clad in white. Gandalf got off his horse and bowed his head as the figure came up to him.

"Gandalf, my old friend, what urgency you ride here to me. Tell me what is troubling you."

"Saruman, I have indeed come here with great haste to seek your council and wisdom", answered Gandalf.

"Ah, I see," said Saruman, "come lets take a little walk, shall we?" He extended his arm in the direction of the grounds. Gandalf nodded.

Once in the garden their conversation continued. "So it is true, then the Ring of Power has been found", said Saruman.

"Yes, Saruman all these long years it has been in the Shire. Under my very nose in fact." Saruman then stopped and looked at Gandalf.

"Your love of the halflings has clearly slowed your mind", said Saruman coldly. "Now tell me, Gandalf, is there something that you would wish to tell me?"

Gandalf looked at Saruman, one eyebrow cocked. "No", he replied.

"Are you sure?" asked Saruman. Gandalf nodded, until it hit him. " Oh actually, now that you mention it there is another thing that I would wish to discuss with you."

"Oh, over what matter?" asked Saruman.

"You see a month ago, this is going to sound strange, I was at the Shire."

"Well, how can that sound strange you only visit the Shire practically every chance that you can", said Saruman.

"Oh well no, that is not the part that is strange. What is strange was what happened in the Shire while I was there. You see it was my dear friend's birthday and I was inside his home. When suddenly out of nowhere, from his chimney rolled out four children. There were three boys and one girl. They said that they were from this place called Great Britain. One of the boys identified himself as Harry Potter. He said that his headmaster, I cannot recall the name, had sent him here. He said that he was looking for you. He was supposed to be sent to you. I wasn't exactly sure what to make out of it."

"I see and did this boy tell you why he was to be sent to me?" asked Saruman.

"Um, yes he spoke of being taken here to Middle-Earth to be safe from a murderer that was coming to kill him," answered Gandalf. Saruman looked at him. He was clearly aware of this Harry Potter. " Well, what did you do with him?" he commanded.

"I told them that I would gladly take them to Isengard, whenever I had the chance. Of course, I couldn't take them that very night for it was my dear friend's birthday. So I decided to wait. Then that night I became aware that the Ring in my friend's possession had gotten him acting strange. So I made my decision to go to the White City to prove my theories. There I found out more information about the One Ring. Fearing the worst I came back to the Shire and told Frodo what was to be done. Then I realized that I had to go and see you for council. So I…"

"WHAT DOES THIS HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE BOY? I ASKED YOU TO TELL ME WHAT YOU HAD DONE WITH HIM, NOT TO GIVE ME YOUR WHOLE LIFE'S STORY! NOW TELL ME RIGHT NOW, WHAT DID YOU DO WITH THE BOY!" screamed Saruman (obviously, hint the capitalized words.)

Gandalf stood there in shock staring at Saruman. Saruman was looking somewhat taller than he was usually. His fists were clenched as well as his jaw. His eyes had a fire kindling inside of them. Then, as if regaining his composure, Saruman calmed down and seemed to shrink. Gandalf stared at him.

"I am sorry, Gandalf, I-I have been having a terrible day. You see the dealings with Harry Potter are true. My cousin did send me the boy for his own protection from a criminal. And you see it has been nearly a month now and I have looked everywhere looking for the boy for he did not arrive the day he was suppose to. So when I heard that you were riding towards Isengard I could only hope that with you was some form of news over his whereabouts. But you say there were four of them, my cousin was only suppose to send me him and him alone. But then again my cousin might have changed his mind. But I am sorry for yelling at you like that, my old friend."

Gandalf accepted his apology although he was still not over the shock.

"So about the Ring, Saruman we still have time to counter Sauron if we act quickly," said Gandalf trying to get back to the matter at hand.

"Time? What time do you think we have?" asked Saruman. " And besides in the end, Gandalf, what did you do with young Potter?"

"Well, what do you mean we don't have time left? I would think we would have plenty of time to prepare ourselves for this upcoming war."

"Answer my question, Gandalf what did you do with the Potter boy?" asked Saruman losing his patience.

"Harry? Why I left him with Frodo. Why do you continue to speak of him when there are far more important issues to discuss? Saruman if you say we don't have anymore time then why do you insist on going back to the subject of Harry?" Gandalf was bewildered at how much his master had changed since his last visit to Isengard.

"So he is still in the Shire. That will do and in the care of a hobbit, even better." Saruman muttered under his breath. Gandalf could not hear what Saruman was saying. "Now as for the issue about the Ring, let me show you something Gandalf."

"Sauron has regained much of his former strength. His great eye sits in a fortress ever watchful for the Ring. He is calling all evil to him as he builds an army that will soon be large enough to assault all of Middle-Earth." Saruman and Gandalf were now inside Isengard in one of the many chambers. Gandalf was taking in this new information with fear and disbelief.

"You know all this, how?" he asked. Saruman grinned maliciously and said, " I have seen it."

Gandalf then realized that Saruman must have a Palantir, a seeing stone that allows one to see all things.

"A Palantir is a dangerous tool, Saruman", said Gandalf coming over to the pedastel on which the seeing stone was placed.

"Why? Why should we fear to use it?" asked Saruman who then uncovered the cloak.

"They are not all accounted for, the lost seeing stones, we may not know who else could be watching", said Gandalf. He then took the cloak from Saruman and placed it over the Palantir.

"The hour is later than you think. Sauron's forces are already moving. The Nine have left Minas Morgul." Saruman looked at Gandalf with an evil grin. Gandalf looked at Saruman with disbelief. "The Nine?" he asked.

"They cross the river Isen, on midsummer's eve dressed as riders in black," continued Saruman.

"They have reached the Shire!" exclaimed Gandalf.

"They will find the Ring, and kill the one who carries it."

"Frodo!" exclaimed Gandalf as he turned to leave. Then the door closed as well as all the other doors leading out of the chamber.

"You did not honestly think that a hobbit could contend with the will of Sauron? There are none who can. Against the power of Mordor there can be no victory. That is why we must join with him, Gandalf. It will be wise my friend."

Gandalf turned around and looked at Saruman finally understanding everything.

"Once Sauron has taken over all of Middle Earth then we can make our move. We can trick him to make him trust us and then that would be the time to attack him."

"Are you mad Saruman how can you even think of attacking Sauron?" exclaimed Gandalf.

"Of course, not by ourselves are we to be able to accomplish this. Of course not you fool. We shall use the young Potter boy", growled Saruman.

"Harry? What does Harry have to do with any of this Saruman?" asked Gandalf.

"Has the boy ever told you his story? How he got that scar of his. You do realize Gandalf that young Harry Potter is famous in his world for that scar. Young Harry when he was only a year old defeated the greatest dark wizard that their world has ever seen. He tried to kill him, but for some reason the curse backfired and now the dark lord, Voldemort, is no longer strong. He is weak and what did he do to young Harry? He survived with only a lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead."

"Yes, Harry has told me his story. How he became known as the boy who lived. But what does this have anything to do with Sauron?" asked Gandalf although he already knew the answer.

"Gandalf, you fool, don't you see? If we can have that power that the young Potter boy possesses then we could be undefeatable. We could get rid of Sauron and then have Middle-Earth for ourselves. We could make into the way we always wanted for it to be. If we can learn somehow to drain that boy from his power no one could stop us!" Saruman said all of this like he had gone mad. He laughed cruelly. He stopped and looked at Gandalf. " It would be the right thing to do my friend."

"Tell me friend, since when did Saruman the Wise abandon reason for madness!" replied Gandalf.

Saruman had obviously had enough and he used his staff to blow Gandalf off his feet and press him against the wall. Gandalf broke free and attacked Saruman with his own staff. The battle raged on for a couple of minutes in which they were both tossed and turned all over the place. Saruman then held out his hand and took away Gandalf's staff from him. Now weaponless Gandalf looked on. Saruman threw him down to the floor and began to make him spin as he used both staffs.

"I gave you the chance, Gandalf but you have chosen the way of pain!" exclaimed Saruman as he lifted Gandalf up from the ground until he was taken to the top of the tower of Isengard.

After a while Gandalf opened his eyes. He looked around him. Something had woken him up. He was on the top of Isengard with no way to get down. He looked around him. It seemed that Saruman had already begun to work on his plan of conquering the world. Down below a bunch of orcs were tearing down the trees and beginning to make dig mines. Gandalf groaned. How on earth was he suppose to warn Frodo. Suddenly out of no where he saw Saruman appear.

"Finally, awake Gandalf? I am actually very surprised that you have slept for so long."

"Why how long has it been since I kicked your ass?" asked Gandalf with a smile.

Saruman growled, "If I were you I would shut my trap if I knew what was best for me!" Then he smiled. " I know what you are thinking. But you would be too late. I learned from a very valuable source that you are to meet your friends in the village of Bree."

Gandalf froze. "Ah, I see that my information is true", sneered Saruman.

"Well, what good will that do to you, Saruman? You are not about to send one of your filthy hosts of orcs into the village of Bree. That is madness. The men of Bree may not be warriors, but they will be prepared to take down a host of orcs. They will hunt them down even after they have invaded the village."

"Oh but I do not plan to send forth a host of goblins. No, I have plans to do it in secrecy."

"Oh, really? Well exactly how do you plan to do that then?" asked Gandalf with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

Saruman growled again. Then he smiled evilly and said, " I have my ways."

He then called to someone in a strange tongue. From out of nowhere a raven came down from the sky and landed close by to Saruman. And to Gandalf's surprise it changed its form into what looked like to be a man with a hooded cloak. Gandalf gaped at the man. The man smiled. He looked exactly like a man, but Gandalf knew what is it was. A shape-shifter. Saruman smiled wickedly as if he was proud that he had such a person working by his side. "Soren, please take a good look at Gandalf we won't want any mistakes now would we?" Soren the shape-shifter smiled. Gandalf stared at him.

"You don't actually think that he can pass himself off as me?" asked Gandalf. "Frodo has known me all of his life there is no possible way that he will be tricked by this imposter!"

"Well, we shall see." Then turning to Soren Saruman asked, " How soon can you leave?"

"Immediately", answered Soren his voice was rough and rather hoarse. Saruman nodded and added, " Remember bring me the Ring, and kill the Ring bearer if you must, but try not to attract too much attention to yourself alright? Oh and bring the Potter boy unharmed. Is that clear?"

"Crystal, my lord" answered Soren. And with that he suddenly changed into an eagle. With one whoosh from his wings he was off in the western direction. Saruman smiled at Gandalf. "Well, now that that is taken care of I must return to business." He held on to his staff and sinked into the ground. Gandalf stared at the place where Saruman had once stood.

"SARUMAN!" he screamed.

Author's Note: Now about the whole Council of Elrond thing, at first I thought that the chapter was called the Treason of Isengard because that is one of the title's for the soundtrack. But I went back to my book for reference and it turns out that there is no such chapter called The Treason of Isengard. So I searched to find the place where it explained about Saruman betraying Gandalf and everyone else and it was in the council of Elrond so just so that I can be correct with the book. k that is all I hope u liked it! ;)