Disclaimer: I may be an overt and rabid Lord of the Rings fan, but at this
present time, I don't own any portion of it, Harry Potter, or the Mists of
Avalon. In my own little world, though.....
A/N: I know I promised to stop putting these in, but now that I have several reviewers, (stands up to make teary acceptance speech) I shall keep them in for the time being.
Nimohtar- I like your suggestion as to filing this story under the Harry Potter section; it is going to be equally divided amongst all of the main characters once they get out of Hogwarts. As to longer chapters, I'll see what I can do. Thanks!
*********Tales of the Nine*************************************************
Another set of knocks followed the first series.
"I know you're in there!" the voice on the other side of the door declared pompously.
"Oh, God, not her," Ron whispered frantically.
Dumbledore motioned for the Fellowship to hide. Several of its members were frantically looking for places to hide when Legolas whispered calmly, "Draw up alongside the walls; the cloaks will hide you." At that, they all rapidly pulled their cloaks about them and pressed themselves against the sides of the room. They immediately vanished, causing dropped jaws from the people around them.
Presently, the voice at the door became impatient; it cried out, "Toothflossing Stringmint!" before barging in with a haughty and important look.
"See here, Dumbledore! Educational Decree Number Twenty-Seven has just been passed, and I thought you'd like to know," a toad like woman with mousey gray hair and a high pitched voice announced. She brandished said parchment as though it was sacred.
"So it has, Dolores," Dumbledore said as he received the document. He adjusted his glasses and looked down at it. His face had showed the merest sign of displeasure at her entrance, and the look slightly deepened after reading the decree. The woman noted his change in expression with a look of sadistic happiness.
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny edged toward the door. The woman stopped them in their tracks when she announced, "I think you may like to hear this."
Dumbledore finished reading and placed a thin smile on his face. From his vantage point at the wall near the woman's right side, Frodo could tell he looked relieved: he had surely thought it would be much worse than it was.
"How kind of you to notify us," Dumbledore said.
The small woman stared around at the congregation as though she had just noticed them. She then swiveled back to Dumbledore.
"And, as it stands now, you are all in violation of Educational Decree Number Twenty-Four," said Umbridge. Dumbledore took the information in stride; he looked over his half moon glasses at her.
"You know, Dumbledore, that if such meetings as these continue to happen, this will be considered a club, organization, or group –" she watched Harry's mouth open to say something, definitely nothing she wanted to hear, and so she plowed on, "So I had better not hear of anymore groups of children in this office on a regular basis, as they seem to have become over the past few days." She smiled what she apparently thought a sweet and appeasing smile, which really looked more along the lines of a horribly distorted and toothy grimace.
Frodo noticed Merry in the opposite corner; Merry caught his eye and shuddered. Frodo nodded. Harry then looked in Frodo's direction and mouthed a word. He had to repeat the process several times before Frodo realized that he was saying, "Umbridge" while jabbing his finger in the woman's direction. He gave a shudder that was identical to Merry's; Frodo was hard pressed to suppress his laughter.
"Yes, I am well aware, and I can assure you that these meetings shall not be a regular basis," Dumbledore said to Umbridge. He smiled and continued, "If that is all, Professor..."
Umbridge jiggled her head in a sign of acquiescence and started out the door without as much as a second glance. Frodo was about to breathe a sigh of relief when Umbridge turned to say one final thing to Dumbledore. He felt his breath catch as there was a yelp.
In stepping backwards, she had planted her shoe straight on Pippin's small hairy foot.
"What was that?" she shot out accusingly.
Everyone who was visible attempted to look as though nothing had happened. Ron rubbed his own foot for good effect and said agitatedly, "What was that for, Hermione?!"
Umbridge, however, wasn't satisfied. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at her foot. "I swore I stepped on something," she muttered. She gently moved her hand towards the wall where Pippin was standing.
She gave a cry of surprise as she came in contact with something relatively small and furry. She grabbed at it and yanked once she caught hold. There was a roar of pain as Pippin was dragged out by his hair, hands flailing wildly in an attempt to fend off the toadish woman's fingers.
"What is this-this THING?!" she screeched in horror.
Everyone stood around the room in apparent shock; they tried their hardest to look just as befuddled and horrified as she did. (Though, if Umbridge had turned around, she would have seen Ron's face covered in a massive smirk.)
As everyone started babbling at once, mostly exclamations of, "I've no idea what that is!" and "Where did THAT come from?", Frodo was struck with a sudden brilliant idea.
He uncloaked himself and beckoned Merry and Sam from their hiding places. They all scurried over to Umbridge as she held the still struggling Pippin as far from herself as was possible while still keeping a firm grip on his brown curls.
Frodo did a small groveling motion and raised his voice several octaves as he said, "We is very sorry, Miss!" Umbridge took one look at him and gave another shriek.
"There are MORE of you?" she spluttered as her eyes darted from Pippin to the other three hobbits.
"Yes, and we is very sorry, Miss. Ollie should be down in the kitchens with the rest of us house-elves, but he snuck up here instead," Frodo said as he bowed; he saw immediate comprehension dawn on the faces of Merry and Sam. Pippin was still struggling and shouting, "Let go of me!" and had not heard.
"This is a house-elf?" she asked dubiously.
"'Tis true, Miss," Merry said as he and Sam groveled as well.
"If it would be all right with Miss, we'll take Ollie back to the kitchens with us," Sam said.
Umbridge shrugged Pippin away from her. She had regained her composure and was staring down her nose at Pippin.
"Go back down to the kitchens then. If I find you back near here again, I will be forced to report you to the Department for the Regulation of Magical Creatures," she sniffed. Frodo and Merry kept a hold of Pippin while Sam had a hold on his mouth to keep him from saying anything that might incriminate them.
Umbridge said, "I would like a word with you later, Dumbledore," as she let her gaze rest pointedly at the hobbits.
Dumbledore inclined his head slightly. Umbridge gathered her robes and swept out of the room.
The other members of the Fellowship materialized and everyone wore identical smiles of mixed relief and amusement. Pippin looked at his cousins in mock indignation.
"Ollie?" Pippin asked incredulously.
At that, most of the room's occupants burst out laughing; anyone who didn't smiled broadly.
"You bunch make good house-elves," said Ron through tears of mirth. Harry and Hermione were still laughing.
When the brouhaha had subsided, Ron said, "Hey, I've got an idea!"
"That's a change," Harry snickered.
Ron looked ready to pummel him into the floor, but Hermione tutted in the background so he simply continued, "Why don't we put them up in the Shrieking Shack? Everybody except a few teachers and us thinks it's haunted!"
Hermione brightened at the suggestion, but some of the Fellowship looked slightly apprehensive.
"Shrieking Shack? Don't sound too promising, if you'll pardon my sayin' so," Sam said. Legolas chuckled and said, "I do not think it is haunted, Sam." Sam still looked slightly wary at the thought. Pippin and Merry looked rather interested.
"But what is the Shrieking Shack?" Aragorn asked. Boromir and Gimli also looked puzzled.
"It's an old building right outside Hogsmede," Hermione explained.
"Don't worry, it's only called the Shrieking Shack because one of the students used to go down there to.....erm....." Harry stopped dead, mainly because he didn't think that telling them that someone used to use the old place to change into a werewolf once a month was the best way to reassure them.
Legolas spoke up. "It is probably the best place to rest for now; the students would find us were we to stay here."
"Besides of which, it would only be for a fortnight," Aragorn said.
Dumbledore finally put in his two cents; he had been conversing with McGonagall since Umbridge's swift departure.
"The Shrieking Shack is the only place where you wouldn't be found, I'm afraid. So I believe we had best show you the way, hmmm?" Dumbledore looked pointedly at the children. They motioned to the Fellowship.
"Follow us!"
A/N: The end of another chapter.....ahhh, such feelings of satisfaction are overwhelming me. This story's gonna be a long one, so I hope it to one day be around 100,000 words or so. Also, this will be part one of a three part story. (So for anyone who likes Diana Wynne Jones books, the second part will be a treat. I'm still deciding what to do for the third part. If you have suggestions, don't hesitate to send them.) See ya!
A/N: I know I promised to stop putting these in, but now that I have several reviewers, (stands up to make teary acceptance speech) I shall keep them in for the time being.
Nimohtar- I like your suggestion as to filing this story under the Harry Potter section; it is going to be equally divided amongst all of the main characters once they get out of Hogwarts. As to longer chapters, I'll see what I can do. Thanks!
*********Tales of the Nine*************************************************
Another set of knocks followed the first series.
"I know you're in there!" the voice on the other side of the door declared pompously.
"Oh, God, not her," Ron whispered frantically.
Dumbledore motioned for the Fellowship to hide. Several of its members were frantically looking for places to hide when Legolas whispered calmly, "Draw up alongside the walls; the cloaks will hide you." At that, they all rapidly pulled their cloaks about them and pressed themselves against the sides of the room. They immediately vanished, causing dropped jaws from the people around them.
Presently, the voice at the door became impatient; it cried out, "Toothflossing Stringmint!" before barging in with a haughty and important look.
"See here, Dumbledore! Educational Decree Number Twenty-Seven has just been passed, and I thought you'd like to know," a toad like woman with mousey gray hair and a high pitched voice announced. She brandished said parchment as though it was sacred.
"So it has, Dolores," Dumbledore said as he received the document. He adjusted his glasses and looked down at it. His face had showed the merest sign of displeasure at her entrance, and the look slightly deepened after reading the decree. The woman noted his change in expression with a look of sadistic happiness.
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny edged toward the door. The woman stopped them in their tracks when she announced, "I think you may like to hear this."
Dumbledore finished reading and placed a thin smile on his face. From his vantage point at the wall near the woman's right side, Frodo could tell he looked relieved: he had surely thought it would be much worse than it was.
"How kind of you to notify us," Dumbledore said.
The small woman stared around at the congregation as though she had just noticed them. She then swiveled back to Dumbledore.
"And, as it stands now, you are all in violation of Educational Decree Number Twenty-Four," said Umbridge. Dumbledore took the information in stride; he looked over his half moon glasses at her.
"You know, Dumbledore, that if such meetings as these continue to happen, this will be considered a club, organization, or group –" she watched Harry's mouth open to say something, definitely nothing she wanted to hear, and so she plowed on, "So I had better not hear of anymore groups of children in this office on a regular basis, as they seem to have become over the past few days." She smiled what she apparently thought a sweet and appeasing smile, which really looked more along the lines of a horribly distorted and toothy grimace.
Frodo noticed Merry in the opposite corner; Merry caught his eye and shuddered. Frodo nodded. Harry then looked in Frodo's direction and mouthed a word. He had to repeat the process several times before Frodo realized that he was saying, "Umbridge" while jabbing his finger in the woman's direction. He gave a shudder that was identical to Merry's; Frodo was hard pressed to suppress his laughter.
"Yes, I am well aware, and I can assure you that these meetings shall not be a regular basis," Dumbledore said to Umbridge. He smiled and continued, "If that is all, Professor..."
Umbridge jiggled her head in a sign of acquiescence and started out the door without as much as a second glance. Frodo was about to breathe a sigh of relief when Umbridge turned to say one final thing to Dumbledore. He felt his breath catch as there was a yelp.
In stepping backwards, she had planted her shoe straight on Pippin's small hairy foot.
"What was that?" she shot out accusingly.
Everyone who was visible attempted to look as though nothing had happened. Ron rubbed his own foot for good effect and said agitatedly, "What was that for, Hermione?!"
Umbridge, however, wasn't satisfied. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at her foot. "I swore I stepped on something," she muttered. She gently moved her hand towards the wall where Pippin was standing.
She gave a cry of surprise as she came in contact with something relatively small and furry. She grabbed at it and yanked once she caught hold. There was a roar of pain as Pippin was dragged out by his hair, hands flailing wildly in an attempt to fend off the toadish woman's fingers.
"What is this-this THING?!" she screeched in horror.
Everyone stood around the room in apparent shock; they tried their hardest to look just as befuddled and horrified as she did. (Though, if Umbridge had turned around, she would have seen Ron's face covered in a massive smirk.)
As everyone started babbling at once, mostly exclamations of, "I've no idea what that is!" and "Where did THAT come from?", Frodo was struck with a sudden brilliant idea.
He uncloaked himself and beckoned Merry and Sam from their hiding places. They all scurried over to Umbridge as she held the still struggling Pippin as far from herself as was possible while still keeping a firm grip on his brown curls.
Frodo did a small groveling motion and raised his voice several octaves as he said, "We is very sorry, Miss!" Umbridge took one look at him and gave another shriek.
"There are MORE of you?" she spluttered as her eyes darted from Pippin to the other three hobbits.
"Yes, and we is very sorry, Miss. Ollie should be down in the kitchens with the rest of us house-elves, but he snuck up here instead," Frodo said as he bowed; he saw immediate comprehension dawn on the faces of Merry and Sam. Pippin was still struggling and shouting, "Let go of me!" and had not heard.
"This is a house-elf?" she asked dubiously.
"'Tis true, Miss," Merry said as he and Sam groveled as well.
"If it would be all right with Miss, we'll take Ollie back to the kitchens with us," Sam said.
Umbridge shrugged Pippin away from her. She had regained her composure and was staring down her nose at Pippin.
"Go back down to the kitchens then. If I find you back near here again, I will be forced to report you to the Department for the Regulation of Magical Creatures," she sniffed. Frodo and Merry kept a hold of Pippin while Sam had a hold on his mouth to keep him from saying anything that might incriminate them.
Umbridge said, "I would like a word with you later, Dumbledore," as she let her gaze rest pointedly at the hobbits.
Dumbledore inclined his head slightly. Umbridge gathered her robes and swept out of the room.
The other members of the Fellowship materialized and everyone wore identical smiles of mixed relief and amusement. Pippin looked at his cousins in mock indignation.
"Ollie?" Pippin asked incredulously.
At that, most of the room's occupants burst out laughing; anyone who didn't smiled broadly.
"You bunch make good house-elves," said Ron through tears of mirth. Harry and Hermione were still laughing.
When the brouhaha had subsided, Ron said, "Hey, I've got an idea!"
"That's a change," Harry snickered.
Ron looked ready to pummel him into the floor, but Hermione tutted in the background so he simply continued, "Why don't we put them up in the Shrieking Shack? Everybody except a few teachers and us thinks it's haunted!"
Hermione brightened at the suggestion, but some of the Fellowship looked slightly apprehensive.
"Shrieking Shack? Don't sound too promising, if you'll pardon my sayin' so," Sam said. Legolas chuckled and said, "I do not think it is haunted, Sam." Sam still looked slightly wary at the thought. Pippin and Merry looked rather interested.
"But what is the Shrieking Shack?" Aragorn asked. Boromir and Gimli also looked puzzled.
"It's an old building right outside Hogsmede," Hermione explained.
"Don't worry, it's only called the Shrieking Shack because one of the students used to go down there to.....erm....." Harry stopped dead, mainly because he didn't think that telling them that someone used to use the old place to change into a werewolf once a month was the best way to reassure them.
Legolas spoke up. "It is probably the best place to rest for now; the students would find us were we to stay here."
"Besides of which, it would only be for a fortnight," Aragorn said.
Dumbledore finally put in his two cents; he had been conversing with McGonagall since Umbridge's swift departure.
"The Shrieking Shack is the only place where you wouldn't be found, I'm afraid. So I believe we had best show you the way, hmmm?" Dumbledore looked pointedly at the children. They motioned to the Fellowship.
"Follow us!"
A/N: The end of another chapter.....ahhh, such feelings of satisfaction are overwhelming me. This story's gonna be a long one, so I hope it to one day be around 100,000 words or so. Also, this will be part one of a three part story. (So for anyone who likes Diana Wynne Jones books, the second part will be a treat. I'm still deciding what to do for the third part. If you have suggestions, don't hesitate to send them.) See ya!