Disclaimer: I, LokiMinerva, do solemnly swear that I don't own Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, or the Mists of Avalon. I also don't own many other things, but the list would be too long to post if I mentioned all of them. (I always wanted a car…..)
A/N: Back for another rousing, action packed, ahhhh……let's just get on with this, shall we? This chapter should be a little more interesting than the previous few. It took a while to set up the plot.
natalie: Wow! I never knew you liked my story so much! Thanks for the constructive criticism; it was enlightening to hear your opinion. I know Gandalf has fallen, but the title will refer to something else later on; not to the Fellowship. As for Umbridge meeting the rest of the Fellowship, you'll just have to wait and see…..;-)
**********Tales of the Nine**************************************
Thirteen days had elapsed since the Priestesses had revealed themselves to the Hogwarts inhabitants and their guests. For those thirteen days, the members of the Fellowship had been residing in the Shrieking Shack, which wasn't as bad as Sam's first impressions had led them to believe.
All of the time, however, the company had been growing more and more anxious in their thoughts regarding the Ring. They had spent several nervous days and nights trying to figure out a way to accomplish their mission. They had to get the Ring to Mordor, whatever should happen at Hogwarts or anywhere else; their first and foremost priority was to save Middle Earth.
This particular night, the company sat in a gloomily silent semi-circle, each person contemplating the same thing: Middle Earth's fate.
"Do you think everyone will be alright?" Pippin asked, finally voicing a thought aloud.
"There is no way to be sure, Pippin," Aragorn said.
"But, the Ring is here, with us," Merry said, "So, if Sauron can't find it, he won't be able to return to power!"
"That is not entirely true," Legolas explained, a mournful tone to his voice, "he can never return to full power, but he may be commanding enough to bring Middle Earth under his sway as it is."
The Fellowship returned to its previously depressed state. Sam had his face set in a sad frown, Aragorn and Legolas were still deep in thought, Pippin and Merry hadn't yet resigned themselves to the destiny of going back to a nonexistent Shire and were muttering optimistic remarks to one another; Frodo sat with his knees pulled up to his chest while his head rested upon them.
"Why did they have to bring us here?" he suddenly burst out, as much in confusion as frustration, "they seem to know perfectly well that our own lands will be destroyed if we do not finish our task!" He sighed and placed his head back upon his knees.
Gimli shrugged his shoulders and answered the hobbit; he and Boromir had felt rather detached and hadn't offered much to the recent conversations. "Perhaps, young hobbit, they thought that their own world was in far more peril than ours, though that is no excuse for bringing us here against our will."
"You're right," Frodo agreed, "They have no right to drag us from place to place. We have to finish our journey, and I don't know how long I can stay here before someone finds out about the Ring, or before I am consumed by it." He said the last part softly, as though he didn't want to think about it.
Sam clapped a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder. "Don't worry, Mr. Frodo, we'll find a way," he said, "Where there's life, there's hope, as my gaffer used to say."
"Besides, you have us here, right Merry?" Pippin piped up. Merry nodded vigorously. Legolas smiled, "Though you bear the burden, Frodo, we are all bound to help you," he said. "It does not look as though we have any choice on the matter as of now!" Gimli added. They all laughed at this.
"I hear the children," Boromir said. He had grown rather fond of them, for all his gruff exterior.
Sure enough, the tramp of footsteps above them was heard, along with the now familiar voices of Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny.
"Hi everyone," Harry said as he and Ron entered.
"How are you all holding out?" Hermione asked.
"As well as can be expected, considering the circumstances," Boromir replied. The children sat themselves down; completing the circle of people on the floor. Ginny and Hermione immediately immersed themselves in conversation with Merry and Pippin, while the others began their own discussion. Ron and Harry filled the others in on the goings on about Hogwarts; the Fellowship members were extremely keen on learning about the odd school.
"D'you know, though, Umbridge was really suspicious of you lot," Ron addressed Frodo and Sam. "She was searching the castle for you. I guess it finally got through to her that you weren't house elves. Took her long enough," he finished with a snicker.
They all chuckled from relief at having gotten away and amusement at Umbridge's stupidity. Frodo finally stopped laughing and looked thoughtful. "Harry, I've been meaning to ask you something," he said. "Why did you look so unhappy when you said that we all knew your name?"
"Famous Harry Potter and all that," muttered Harry. Boromir looked distinctly bewildered. "What about famous Harry Potter?" he queried.
Harry sighed and looked down at his feet. "It's a long story," he said morosely.
"We appear to have the time, if you're willing," Gimli urged. Legolas, Aragorn, and Boromir looked dubious. The young man did not look as though he wished to explain, but he took a deep breath and related his story to them. At the end of it, all of the company, including Merry and Pippin, who had listened as well, wore faces of sympathy and horror.
"Why would anyone want to do that?" Pippin asked in astonishment.
"Because You-Know-Who is an evil wizard," Hermione said simply.
"This Voldemort seems to be not much different than the Enemy, Pippin, though he dominates a far smaller force," Aragorn added. Harry stared angrily at his feet; no matter the number of times he thought about what had happened it never got easier.
"You know, Harry," Frodo leaned over and whispered to him, "I think I can understand a little of what you feel." Harry raised his eyebrows in at Frodo. "Listen to me. My parents drowned when I was a child, and I lived with many of my other relatives until my uncle Bilbo adopted me nine years later," Frodo said knowingly. Harry viewed Frodo with more respect after this; up until now, he had doubted that any of the hobbits had ever dealt with any crises at all.
"Many of us left our homes to come upon this journey," Legolas said. "We are going to do what we must to stop Sauron before he obliterates everything."
"So, in a way, your world is in pretty much the same fix as ours?" Ginny asked. The company gave a collective nod.
Hermione looked at her watch. She instantly started and murmured, "It's ten to nine, we have to get back or Umbridge will have our hides." The children uttered hasty goodbyes and headed back through the passage. With a jolt, everyone remembered that the women would be back the next night.
**************************************************************
The final day while the company was in the shrieking shack was uneventful, though tension and tempers, especially Gimli's, ran high. Merry and Pippin were becoming increasingly restless, and couldn't wait for a chance to get outside. Frodo looked a combination of bored, tired, and slightly anxious, dark circles becoming increasingly prominent underneath his eyes – as well as the eyes of most of the other members of the company, because Merry and Pippin had been singing on and off for the past twelve hours – while Aragorn sat in his corner and smoked the pipe that he had dug out of his pack, waiting for the night.
"Ho, ho, to the bottle I go…." Merry began before cutting himself off listlessly. "It's no use, Pip, we need ale to sing the song properly."
"I know," Pippin said. He looked over at Sam, who decided that the best way to pass the time was to sleep, which it was. Pippin's entire figure drooped as he blew out a frustrated breath of boredom. He had waited for a fortnight cooped up in this musty old shack, and for what? He looked around again. Merry was thinking of another song to sing.
"Farewell, farewell, to hearth and home…..no that won't do either," he said. He was taken by a sudden inspiration. "Sam, why don't you sing for us?" he asked.
Sam opened his eyes from his nap. "What's that sirs?" he inquired as he stifled a yawn. Merry calmly posed the question again. "Or at least recommend a song we can sing before we waste away from sloth," Merry ended. Pippin and Frodo both perked up. Sam thought for a while before he groaned unhappily. "Nothin' I can think of I haven't sung already." The hobbits returned to their previously silent states before Pippin jolted up.
"I've got one!" he said happily.
The Road goes ever on and on,
down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the road has gone,
and I must follow if I can.
Pursuing it with weary feet,
until it joins some larger way.
Where many friends and errands meet,
and wither then I cannot say
.
All the hobbits joined in after the first two lines. They thoroughly enjoyed themselves and sang it twice more in the elation of the moment. As they finished the song for the third time through, and Legolas and Aragorn clapped and shook their heads – Gimli had covered his ears after the first time through – the children hurried down the tunnel and cascaded into the room. The Fellowship looked startled as the children hastily all began to speak at once.
Finally, they managed to get the words out and Harry cried, "Umbridge found out about you! You have to leave, or the Ministry'll take you to Azkaban for questioning!"