A/N: Yay, here is the 16th chapter after a long wait. I'm sorry it took me
a while, but I was occupied with some stuff . . . I'm writing another
fanfic, it's called 'A Soldier in Battle.' Why don't you check it out?
Anyways, Nikki1, no there is not only 1 more chapter, but probably, well,
most likely, two after this one. So yeah . . . Well, go on! Read the
chapter already, sheesh! Oh, and remember, I do not own anything . . .
Anything at all . . . Nope . . . Nothing . . . Ok, I'm fine.
Chapter 16
The four hobbits plus Harry, Ron, and Hermione were walking briskly down the corridors, following Dumbledore as he continued to guide them. They had passed by Gryffindor Tower and the hobbits had gotten their things, including their old clothes. Now they were making their way to the new portal that was waiting.
They were walking in silence, until Hermione leaned over to the four hobbits and whispered,
"How come you never told us you were hobbits?"
They looked at her in amazement, and Ron and Harry in confusion.
"How- how did you know?" Frodo asked her.
"Well, it wasn't all that hard to find out, to be completely honest," she informed them, picking up her usual knowing voice. "I mean, you love food, you didn't know a thing about the wizarding world . . . and besides, we overheard Dumbledore calling you hobbits," she added with a small smile.
Just then they passed by the corridor that was lined with portraits of food. Merry and Pippin cast a look of longing down its length, as if they could see the food through the portrait of the bowl of fruit all the way at the end of the corridor. They sighed as one as they turned a corner and it was lost.
"So . . . what IS a hobbit, anyways?" Ron asked.
"A hobbit: a small being from the third age or earlier of Middle Earth, over a millennia ago, very much like a human, but not in physical form; they have the average height of 3'6'', have pointed ears, and have slightly larger feet with hair so that they don't require shoes. They are a domestic people, with their own habits and customs. They live in the Shire, but not in houses: they live in hobbit holes, which is similar to a house, but they are dug within the hills or ground. They also prefer roundish things, such as round doors, round fireplaces, etcetera. They have a fondness for nature, but not particularly for water, as most of them do not learn how to swim," Hermione recited.
Ron and Harry and even the hobbits looked at her with pure astonishment. She blushed slightly.
"Hermione, you will never fail to surprise me," Harry told her.
"Well, I do a lot of reading," she informed them. Ron shook his head.
"But, if they ARE hobbits, then why aren't they all, you know, small and whatnot?" Ron inquired.
"Well, that's obvious, Ron! Dumbledore must have performed a spell or two on them when they first arrived, to disguise them to blend with the students!" stated Hermione as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. She looked over at Frodo and the rest. They nodded in reply. Ron continued to probe Hermione with questions.
"But, uh, how did they get here? I thought you said that they were from a millennium ago or something?"
"Well, from what we've overheard, I gathered that there was a portal of some kind. I had read once about a portal that comes twice every hundred years or so, linking two different times in the space time continuum together. So . . . Frodo, Merry, Pippin, and Sam must have come through the first one, and from what I've gathered, Dumbledore was able to conjure up another one. Is that correct?" she asked the hobbits.
"Correct," replied not one of the hobbits, but Dumbledore up ahead. "And that is where we are heading now."
They looked around; they had now reached the Entrance Hall, and Dumbledore was now opening the front doors.
A sheet of weak sunshine spilled across the tiled floor of the Hall, and they filed outside to be welcomed by a small breeze. The sky was not blue, but a slight grayish color.
Once Dumbledore was outside as well and the doors were properly shut, he turned towards the forest and began to walk once more. The rest followed him.
"I made sure that the portal was deep enough in the forest so that no one would be able to see what we were up to," Dumbledore continued to say to them. "Once we are in a ways, then I shall transform the hobbits back into their original state."
They walked on, until they were at the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest. Dumbledore turned to the trio.
"Now, are you sure you would like to come with us? Or would you say your goodbyes here?"
"We'll come!"
"Yeah, please let us!"
"We would really like to give a proper goodbye-"
"Please?"
"Please?"
"Please?"
Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked up at Dumbledore with pleading looks. He chuckled.
"Very well then, let us be on our way." And with that, he turned and walked into the forest. They followed.
As they walked on, the trees became denser. Sticks and twigs cracked and snapped beneath their feet as they progressed farther into the wood. They brushed aside branches and leaves as quickened their pace to match Dumbledore's.
Suddenly, Dumbledore stopped somewhere a little ways ahead of them. They halted.
"Here is where I shall turn the hobbits back into their original selves," he informed them. The four of them nodded glumly. Dumbledore took out his wand and turned towards the hobbits. He pointed the wand first to Frodo and muttered a spell, making him shrink back to his own height. After Frodo his did the same to Sam, then to Merry, and then to Pippin, who sighed reluctantly. After their height was back to normal, Dumbledore adjusted their ears and feet to become what they once were. After their transformation back to hobbits, Harry and Ron were gaping at them. Hermione just looked politely interested.
"Wow," Ron said softly. "Hobbits are cool!"
The hobbits grinned as Dumbledore smiled himself.
"Right, now we need to get to the portal, and fast. I do not know how long it will stay, so we need to be quick if we want to send you back to your own time."
Frodo coughed and looked at the forest floor. He still wanted to tell Dumbledore that he wanted to stay, but he just couldn't bring himself to do so. Dumbledore looked for a split second at Frodo, and they made eye contact. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as he smiled and led the way once again. Frodo wondered if Dumbledore somehow knew . . .
They continued to walk on with Dumbledore leading them. Pippin was looking around at the canopy of the trees overhead, and didn't notice the tree root coming out of the ground in front of him.
As expected, Pippin tripped over the root with a loud cry of help as he sprawled forward on the ground. His cry seemed to ring through the trees around them, giving off an even more ominous feel.
Merry helped his cousin to his feet. Pippin brushed off some dirt on his clothes. Dumbledore was looking around at the trees, a small frown forming on his face. They looked at him, and once he noticed this, then he nodded his head once and continued on his way.
They had barely walked fifteen feet when the sound of hooves and a voice came from behind them.
"I thought we told you, Dumbledore, to stay out of our forest."
A/N: Hehehe, another cliff! I'm so good at doing that! Anyways, I bet you can guess where the voice came from. Can you? We'll see . . . Make your guess in your Review! No, just kidding. Unless you want to, that is. Erm, nevermind. Hey guess what? I got a sword from LotR! It's a real sword, too! It's Aragorn's sword, ain't that awesome?! I also got Arwen's Evenstar pendant. Coolness! Ok, remember, there's gonna be about 2 or so more chapters coming up, and then that is the end of this story. *sniff* So please please please Review, because I would like to know what you think of this story and whatever else you have to say. Also, my story was first designed so that it didn't receive anonymous Reviews, but now it does, so if you choose to be anonymous, then now you can give me a Review! So please Review me! As you can probably recall, I told you that this was my very first fanfic, so I want to know if you like the way I write things, or whatever you like about the story. If you just do that, then I will be very grateful! Thank you!
Chapter 16
The four hobbits plus Harry, Ron, and Hermione were walking briskly down the corridors, following Dumbledore as he continued to guide them. They had passed by Gryffindor Tower and the hobbits had gotten their things, including their old clothes. Now they were making their way to the new portal that was waiting.
They were walking in silence, until Hermione leaned over to the four hobbits and whispered,
"How come you never told us you were hobbits?"
They looked at her in amazement, and Ron and Harry in confusion.
"How- how did you know?" Frodo asked her.
"Well, it wasn't all that hard to find out, to be completely honest," she informed them, picking up her usual knowing voice. "I mean, you love food, you didn't know a thing about the wizarding world . . . and besides, we overheard Dumbledore calling you hobbits," she added with a small smile.
Just then they passed by the corridor that was lined with portraits of food. Merry and Pippin cast a look of longing down its length, as if they could see the food through the portrait of the bowl of fruit all the way at the end of the corridor. They sighed as one as they turned a corner and it was lost.
"So . . . what IS a hobbit, anyways?" Ron asked.
"A hobbit: a small being from the third age or earlier of Middle Earth, over a millennia ago, very much like a human, but not in physical form; they have the average height of 3'6'', have pointed ears, and have slightly larger feet with hair so that they don't require shoes. They are a domestic people, with their own habits and customs. They live in the Shire, but not in houses: they live in hobbit holes, which is similar to a house, but they are dug within the hills or ground. They also prefer roundish things, such as round doors, round fireplaces, etcetera. They have a fondness for nature, but not particularly for water, as most of them do not learn how to swim," Hermione recited.
Ron and Harry and even the hobbits looked at her with pure astonishment. She blushed slightly.
"Hermione, you will never fail to surprise me," Harry told her.
"Well, I do a lot of reading," she informed them. Ron shook his head.
"But, if they ARE hobbits, then why aren't they all, you know, small and whatnot?" Ron inquired.
"Well, that's obvious, Ron! Dumbledore must have performed a spell or two on them when they first arrived, to disguise them to blend with the students!" stated Hermione as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. She looked over at Frodo and the rest. They nodded in reply. Ron continued to probe Hermione with questions.
"But, uh, how did they get here? I thought you said that they were from a millennium ago or something?"
"Well, from what we've overheard, I gathered that there was a portal of some kind. I had read once about a portal that comes twice every hundred years or so, linking two different times in the space time continuum together. So . . . Frodo, Merry, Pippin, and Sam must have come through the first one, and from what I've gathered, Dumbledore was able to conjure up another one. Is that correct?" she asked the hobbits.
"Correct," replied not one of the hobbits, but Dumbledore up ahead. "And that is where we are heading now."
They looked around; they had now reached the Entrance Hall, and Dumbledore was now opening the front doors.
A sheet of weak sunshine spilled across the tiled floor of the Hall, and they filed outside to be welcomed by a small breeze. The sky was not blue, but a slight grayish color.
Once Dumbledore was outside as well and the doors were properly shut, he turned towards the forest and began to walk once more. The rest followed him.
"I made sure that the portal was deep enough in the forest so that no one would be able to see what we were up to," Dumbledore continued to say to them. "Once we are in a ways, then I shall transform the hobbits back into their original state."
They walked on, until they were at the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest. Dumbledore turned to the trio.
"Now, are you sure you would like to come with us? Or would you say your goodbyes here?"
"We'll come!"
"Yeah, please let us!"
"We would really like to give a proper goodbye-"
"Please?"
"Please?"
"Please?"
Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked up at Dumbledore with pleading looks. He chuckled.
"Very well then, let us be on our way." And with that, he turned and walked into the forest. They followed.
As they walked on, the trees became denser. Sticks and twigs cracked and snapped beneath their feet as they progressed farther into the wood. They brushed aside branches and leaves as quickened their pace to match Dumbledore's.
Suddenly, Dumbledore stopped somewhere a little ways ahead of them. They halted.
"Here is where I shall turn the hobbits back into their original selves," he informed them. The four of them nodded glumly. Dumbledore took out his wand and turned towards the hobbits. He pointed the wand first to Frodo and muttered a spell, making him shrink back to his own height. After Frodo his did the same to Sam, then to Merry, and then to Pippin, who sighed reluctantly. After their height was back to normal, Dumbledore adjusted their ears and feet to become what they once were. After their transformation back to hobbits, Harry and Ron were gaping at them. Hermione just looked politely interested.
"Wow," Ron said softly. "Hobbits are cool!"
The hobbits grinned as Dumbledore smiled himself.
"Right, now we need to get to the portal, and fast. I do not know how long it will stay, so we need to be quick if we want to send you back to your own time."
Frodo coughed and looked at the forest floor. He still wanted to tell Dumbledore that he wanted to stay, but he just couldn't bring himself to do so. Dumbledore looked for a split second at Frodo, and they made eye contact. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as he smiled and led the way once again. Frodo wondered if Dumbledore somehow knew . . .
They continued to walk on with Dumbledore leading them. Pippin was looking around at the canopy of the trees overhead, and didn't notice the tree root coming out of the ground in front of him.
As expected, Pippin tripped over the root with a loud cry of help as he sprawled forward on the ground. His cry seemed to ring through the trees around them, giving off an even more ominous feel.
Merry helped his cousin to his feet. Pippin brushed off some dirt on his clothes. Dumbledore was looking around at the trees, a small frown forming on his face. They looked at him, and once he noticed this, then he nodded his head once and continued on his way.
They had barely walked fifteen feet when the sound of hooves and a voice came from behind them.
"I thought we told you, Dumbledore, to stay out of our forest."
A/N: Hehehe, another cliff! I'm so good at doing that! Anyways, I bet you can guess where the voice came from. Can you? We'll see . . . Make your guess in your Review! No, just kidding. Unless you want to, that is. Erm, nevermind. Hey guess what? I got a sword from LotR! It's a real sword, too! It's Aragorn's sword, ain't that awesome?! I also got Arwen's Evenstar pendant. Coolness! Ok, remember, there's gonna be about 2 or so more chapters coming up, and then that is the end of this story. *sniff* So please please please Review, because I would like to know what you think of this story and whatever else you have to say. Also, my story was first designed so that it didn't receive anonymous Reviews, but now it does, so if you choose to be anonymous, then now you can give me a Review! So please Review me! As you can probably recall, I told you that this was my very first fanfic, so I want to know if you like the way I write things, or whatever you like about the story. If you just do that, then I will be very grateful! Thank you!