THE FELLOWSHIP COMES TO HOGWARTS

CHAPTER 11 - ENCOUNTER WITH THE ELVES

Disclaimer: Unfortunately I don't own any of the characters, names, or places from either Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter. Would be nice to have a Hobbit though ;)

Apology: I'm so sorry that this chapter took so long is getting here but due to computer problems I lost chapters 11 and 12. Then to add to problems I found I couldn't upload anything. However, now the problems are fixed and updates should be regular. Thanks for all of your reviews J

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'Let's go and see Hagrid,' suggested Ron on the next morning.

'Yes, that's a good idea,' said Hermione, 'are you coming?' she asked turning to the Hobbits.

'Hagrid?' mused Frodo, 'the large fellow who Merry and Pippin stole carrots from?'

Merry looked at the floor and shuffled his feet in mock embarrassment which made everybody laugh. They all made their way down to Hagrid's hut, stopping only once when Pippin tried to curse a suit of armour that got a bit cheeky.

Once they arrived at Hagrid's they found him sitting outside his hut with Legolas who had a Furrel curled up on his lap.

'They're so beautiful creatures ain't they? Said Hagrid as they walked up to him.

'The Elves of the Furrels,' asked Ron slyly, casting a sideways glance at Hermione.

'The Furrels yeh silly thing,' said Hagrid, 'look at that little fella. He's taking a real shine ter yeh Legolas.'

The Furrel gave a little yawn and Legolas smiled, 'these creatures are amazing. I've never seen anything like them before,' he said.

'Great relationship with nature, the Elves,' said Hagrid.

'There are Elves here you know,' said Ron without thinking. Harry nudged him and tilted his head towards Hermione slightly but for once she didn't have House-Elves on her mind. She was looking at Legolas with glazed eyes and a dreamy expression. Harry had to suppress a laugh.

Ron coughed loudly and obviously but Hermione took no notice of him.

Legolas looked up, 'really?' he said, 'I have never happened upon any.'

'Well, they're very shy, avoid humans if they can,' said Hagrid, 'strange creatures they are.'

'I can imagine,' said Legolas, 'but I should very much like to meet one.'

'Yeh'll have a job,' said Hagrid, 'unless, well, Harry befriended one of 'em a while ago didn't yeh Harry?'

'Yes, Dobby. I might be able to talk to him, maybe he'll want to meet another elf too.'

'That would be very good of you, Harry, I'm curious about these House-Elves now,' said Legolas.

'Let's see if we can find Dobby shall we?' said Ron, pulling Harry's sleeve. 'Come on Hermione,' he said pointedly, 'stop your drooling and let's go,' he added quietly.

Hermione, who had been silent the whole time, jolted back to her senses. 'Oh, I, are we leaving?' she said.

'Yes!' said Ron in an exasperated voice, 'come on, we're going to see Dobby.'

The three of them, with the four hobbits in tow left Hagrid and Legolas with the Furrels and went off to the kitchens.

'What do House-Elves look like?' asked Frodo.

'Erm, well, they're kinda small. They look nothing like the Elves that you've been used to.' said Ron.

'Where can we find these little Elves?' asked Sam

'In the kitchens,' replied Harry, 'here we are, here's the entrance to them.'

They had stopped in front of a painting of a bowl of fruit. Harry reached up and tickled the pear which giggled and turned into a handle.

'Well, I've never seen anything like that before!' exclaimed Sam as Harry opened the door into the kitchens.

It was madness inside. The House-Elves ran about madly preparing a meal, probably dinner for the students that night.

'There's so many of them!' said Pippin, gazing at them in amazement.

'Well, it's a big castle, they have a lot of work to do,' said Hermione.

Harry and Ron looked curiously at her, this was not the kind of thing Hermione said about House-Elves without mentioning 'slave labour' in the same sentence.

Suddenly there was a squeal of 'Harry Potter, sir!' and Dobby came flying out of nowhere and attached himself to Harry's legs.

'Hi there Dobby,' said Harry, 'how are you?'

'Wonderful, sir, wonderful. And you? Dobby has not seen you in so long, he wonders if you are alright.'

'I'm fine Dobby, but I have someone here to meet you.' said Harry, gesturing towards the four hobbits. Dobby looked slightly alarmed at the sight of them. He cowered behind Ron's legs.

'What are they sir? Is they safe? Will they bite poor Dobby?' he said.

'No Dobby! They're called Hobbits and they are perfectly safe!' laughed Ron

'Dobby, this is Sam, Frodo, Merry and Pippin,' said Harry introducing them one by one to the House-Elf.

'Oh, Dobby is pleased to meet you Sirs, are you hungry, would you like some cakes?' said Dobby coming out from behind Ron's legs to get a closer look at the Hobbits.

'Cakes?' said Merry to Hermione, 'are there really cakes here? Can we have some?'

'Well, I suppose so, but you might spoil your dinner!' said Hermione.

Frodo laughed at this, 'I don't really think that's possible with Merry. Or Pippin,' he added.

'I'll get you caked, if the Bobbits wants cakes, they will have cakes.' said Dobby prancing around them now, 'CAKES!' he shouted into the crowd of busy House-Elves.

'Bobbits?' said Sam uncertainly but Ron and Harry just smiled. This behaviour was typical of Dobby.

Within seconds, a tray of cakes was floating towards them through the mass of House-Elves, it was carried along by four of them who set it down at the Hobbits' feet, bowed and then scampered off again. 'Cakes, sirs, eat your cakes,' said Dobby. Telling Hobbit's to eat of course, was completely unnecessary, and the four of them had already started eating.

Harry turned to Dobby, 'listen Dobby, how would you like to meet another Elf?'

Dobby's eyes widened, 'another Elf, sir? A new House-Elf?'

'No, not a House-Elf exactly. This Elf is a different kind of Elf.' said Harry

Dobby looked uncertain at this, 'Dobby is not sure, Dobby does not like strangers.'

'The Elf is a friend of the Hobbits,' said Ron,' he's staying in Hogwarts too, and he'd really like to meet you Dobby.

'An Elf-Friend of the Bobbits?' said Dobby, 'OK, Dobby will meet the new Elf, where is he?'

'Come on, we'll show you,' said Harry, 'come with us.'

'You four ready?' Ron asked the Hobbits.

Pippin nodded, looking completely full. Merry, Harry noticed, had picked up about five of the cakes to take with him. Now the strange company looked even stranger. Harry Ron and Hermione usually went about with the four Hobbits, but with Dobby bouncing along behind them, students stopped and stared at them. They walked back to Hagrid's hut where Legolas still sat with the Furrel who was laying on it's back, snoring. Legolas looked up at them and smiled as they walked up to him.

'Well, we've found a House-Elf,' said Harry, 'Dobby, this is Legolas, Legolas, this is Dobby the House-Elf.'

Dobby came forward and gasped when he was Legolas, 'you - you is - an Elf sir?' he asked in amazement.

'Yes, 'said Legolas, 'come here, I want to see you properly.' he beckoned to Dobby who walked slowly towards him.

'I know many Elves, but I have never met one like you before,' said Legolas, smiling at Dobby.

'And I has never met an Elf like you, sir. You are so tall!'

'OK, well, you two have fun, we'll leave you to discuss…..y'know….Elf stuff,' said Ron.

'Oh, Ron, you're so impatient, let's stay here a bit longer,' said Hermione.

'So you can stare at Legolas even more?' said Ron loudly in disgust.

Hermione squealed at him, 'Ron!' she exclaimed. Her face turned a vibrant shade of pink and she looked embarrassedly at Legolas who pretended not to have heard Ron, although Frodo pointed out later that he was smiling to himself.

'Bye Dobby,' said Harry as they turned to go but Dobby was too in awe of Legolas to take any notice. He was sitting on the grass, looking up at him, chattering nineteen to the dozen and firing questions at him as fast as he could.

'Does that count as our good deed for the day?' said Ron.

'I should think so, I'm hungry,' said Pippin, 'isn't it time for brunch or…some kind of meal yet?'

'Really you two! You've just eaten more than half of the cakes!' chided Sam

Merry gave a burp of satisfaction, 'and very nice they were too,' he said approvingly.

'Is there any chance of getting more of those cakes?' asked Pippin

'Well, maybe we'll go and see Dobby again soon,' said Harry

'I don't think Dobby will be back in the kitchens for a while, he seems to have gotten a little obsession with Legolas,' said Merry laughing

'Yeah, and he's not the only one - is he Hermione?' said Ron grinning

'Ron, you're ridiculous,' said Hermione, blushing again.

'Oh come off it Hermione, we've all seen the way you look at him.' replied Ron. He put on a sappy girly voice, 'oh, Legolas,' he simpered, fluttering his eyelashes exaggeratedly.

Hermione gave him a shove as they reached the Entrance Hall, which was a little harder than Ron expected and he was sent flying into someone on their way out.

'Oh, sorry-' began Ron, but then he saw it was Malfoy. He sneered at them, and then looked down his nose at the Hobbits.

'Rats seem to follow you everywhere don't they Potter,' he snarled, 'first Weasley and Grainger and then these little what-do-you-call-ems.'

'Take that back Malfoy,' said Harry, holding onto the back of Ron's cloak, and wondering at the same time if he ought to hold back Merry on Pippin too. As far as he knew they were still in possession of a wand, and therefore very dangerous.

Pippin stepped out from behind Hermione. He looked at Malfoy and suddenly squealed as if in fright and disappeared behind Harry.

'It's an orc! How did an orc get in?' he cried in mock fear.

Merry also took a look at Malfoy, and then proceeded to comfort Pippin, 'there there,' he said soothingly, 'it's just someone in a scary mask.'

Harry was trying to suppress a laugh at the disgusted look on Malfoy's face. Then Frodo joined in.

'I don't think that's a mask after all, you know. I believe it's actually someone's face,' he added with a grim smile.

'Poor fellow,' added Sam, 'he really should get it checked out shouldn't he?'

This was too much for Ron and he let out a bust of laughter which just infuriated Malfoy even more.

'Wow, Draco,' said Hermione, smiling, 'looks like you just got properly insulted by a few "what-do-you-call-ems". They're very observant aren't they?'

'You'll pay for this,' growled Malfoy, 'all of you,' and he stormed off.

'Oh no, now I'm scared,' said Sam rolling his eyes.