A/N: this story intermixes Harry potter with the tale of king Arthur and lord of the rings. Note this is a one-shot. This just came to me and I thought it might be fun.

The Legacy of the sword of ages

As Harry came into dumbledore' office at the beginning of his seventh year elated yet confused, at the start of term feast, the headmaster had announced a Christmas ball and Harry had finally acted on his crush he had developed on Ginny over the last year. He had asked, and though she was startled she eventually said yes once she got over her shock at being asked out by the person she pined over for years. The evening went great but before Harry got to the dorms his head of house said the headmaster wanted to see him and he couldn't help but wonder what was going on, he couldn't have done something wrong ….yet… Dumbledore motioned for him to sit down which he did and Harry saw the sword of Gryffindor that he had defeated the Basilisk with in 2nd year lying on the Headmaster's desk.

Dumbledore began in a somewhat indifferent tone, "I doubt you know the history behind this sword, so I will begin with it, but this much I can tell you now, this blade will play a much greater role than we could have imagined in the final battle. Listen closely and you may understand, but you must know the history behind it, I, myself could not fathom its potential till this new discovery." By now Harry was interested and gave the headmaster his full attention and nodded for him to go on.

So dumbledore began, "If you have ever read the story of Lord of the Rings by J.R.R Tolkien, it may have seemed a myth or fiction but let me assure you, Middle-Earth did exist, many millennia ago, before the world as we knew it was formed, and the legendary king, Aragorn was a real person. His sword, Anduril, the sword of kings was a legendary blade that fought against all forms of darkness, also called the flame of the west, it was forged from the shards of Narsil if you remember the legend. Do you know what became of that legendary blade, Harry?"

"No," Harry replied, "the tale never spoke of what happened at the end of the 4th age, it is known that aragorn died, but the blade was lost."

"And that is where our story begins," dumbledore countered, "the tablets explaining what happened have been found. The great king, Aragorn, knew his death was at hand so he traveled to a lake, a lake in a place now known as England. He instructed a mermaid to guard the sword and he gave it her as her own and the wizard Gandalf, did ancient magic that touched that mermaid with the very being of magic, transforming her. As well Gandalf said that the sword would one day be given to another and she would know what to do when the time came. The sword's appearance would change with its bearer. That ended that part of the story, but there is more before we come to the sword of Gryffindor."

"Okay," Harry shakily said, "I think I follow so far."

"Another legendary sword that belonged to a king and was a symbol of his greatness but its story was different, yet similar. A young boy new to kingship and a broken sword from a duel with his future knight begins the next chapter of our story. The young king Arthur, along with his adviser, the greatest known wizard, Merlin, himself, was in need of a sword had been broken in battle with sir Galahad. Merlin took him to a lake and called on the lady of the lake, for Merlin knew of her legendary sword. In exchange for a favor when she needed it, the mighty sword of Excalibur was born, transformed from its previous state yet still the sword of the king. The sword once again defended the right to kingship from Arthur's son, Mordred as he attempted to seize the throne while Arthur was at war. While Arthur was dying he gave Excalibur to one of his few remaining knights and told him to cast it into the lake back to the Lady of the Lake, which he eventually did, where it would once again wait for a new bearer. Arthur went to Avalon, sometimes called in Middle-Earth the Gray Havens."

At this point Harry was extremely freaked out, these tales of old were real but he nodded for the headmaster to go on.

"Harry," the Headmaster continued, "the next bearer was not a future king but a great wizard in his own right, the greatest of the founders, Godric Gryffindor. He was doing study and meditation on how to build Hogwarts near a lake, the Lady of the Lake appeared to him and told him that the sword was destined to go with him but she never spoke of its history merely that the time would come when the sword would be needed, for this sword contains in essence a portion of the spirit and power of all its former bearers. This sword was once again used to defend the light in the legendary battle between Gryffindor and Slytherin before Slytherin left the castle. Before Gryffindor died, he returned to that ancient to see the Lady and return her sword, but alas she told him, the sword was not meant to come back yet, it had not served its purpose. She told him to give it to he who splits and divides yet calls for oneness and unity. Gryffindor apparently decided the sorting hat fit these criteria. You know what happened since then. When a headmaster assumed headship here he is charged as the successor of the founder whose house he was in. Thus, I am called the 737th successor of Gryffindor to date and by showing the loyalty you did in the chamber to his successor; you summoned his bestowed weapon to yourself. The weapon did not accept you because you were not yet ready to assume the role as the successor of Aragorn, Merlin and Gryffindor. Now Harry, draw your blade, this is your test, every path you have trodden, through wilderness, and war, death and despair, had led to this path. Take up the sword of kings, become who you were born to be. Every wielder had an enemy to whom their life was dedicated to the defeat of. You are no different, now draw your weapon and accept your destiny."

Harry was shocked but slowly nodded rose and put his hand on the handle of the sword while dumbledore held the sheath in his palms. The handle felt warm for a second, then seemed to conform to his grip. Then Harry drew the blade and held the blade an inch from his face as if he had always been a swords master. The sword glowed and changed before his eyes. The blade became new and the word 'Gryffindor' vanished and in its place, on both sides, the Hogwarts crest was inside of a heart, and between the beasts on the crest was a white and black phoenix right in the center. The ruby encrusted handle melted and those rubies became new stones. The stones, were half red rubies and the other half of each stone was a green emerald, also the stones had sapphire and gold spots in them symbolizing every house colors. The sword joining of handle and blade had a lightning bolt shaped mark on it. As Harry admired the blade, he noticed it didn't feel like the sword had before, it felt like an extension of himself, it seemed to obey his very thoughts without question.

"Harry," Dumbledore voiced, "the final battle will take place at the end of this year, this sword will play its part, good luck.

After the final battle

Voldemort was dead, the blade through his chest, but sacrifices were needed, Harry lay gasping for breath, mortally wounded, barely alive. Ginny ran to him, during the year, they had become very close and loved each other deeply. Harry struggled to give the last instreuctions.

"Ginny," he gasped, 'I am going to die if I stay here, that cannot be helped, I need you to do something for me, take my sword, go to the lake of Hogwarts and call on the mermaid that is still alive there, one mermaid is still alive. Tell her I name her the new Lady of the Lake and cast my blade into that lake for when it is again needed. Do this then return here Ginny"

Ginny nodded, tears flowing down her cheeks from seeing him in such pain and she returned about 20 minutes later, telling him it had been done.

He gasped out a few more words, "Take me to the lake of Camelot, forcus on me, and you'll know how to get there, it wont matter so long as you trust in me, you can apparate there."

As she did so, they arrived at a lake with candles making a path to a lake where three men were waiting, Aragorn, Arthur and Godric Gryffindor. "Ginny," Harry was struggling to speak even more now, "Here is where I leave you, tell Dumbledore I have gone to the Gray Havens, he will understand. This is where I leave you, Ginny, I may come back some day, just don't forget about me. When people remember me, make them remember the truth. Tell them how I hated doing homework, how I was madly in love with my girlfriend, how I used to sneak out to the kitchens at night, how I used to brood, help them to remember the truth, don't let them make a lie out of me, good bye, Ginny, my eternal love, my one and only."

Harrry walked down the path and waded into the water, the other three following, he eventually vanished and the lit candles went out. Ginny spotted a trinket on the ground, it was a necklace, a golden lightning bolt with emeralds encreted in it with the message HP and GW forever. Ginny fell to the ground and cried.

Six months later, Ginny and all of Harry's close friends had co-written a book called, Harry Potter: Behind the Scar. His life and thoughts, Ginny was going to make sure he wasn't remembered in lies.

Harry's funeral was the largest in the history of the wizarding world, muggle and magic alike came to honor him, for the second war had alerted muggles to magic. Even Harry's aunt, uncle and cousin came, having finally realized the man the had kicked around, wishing for a second chance, but too late. His aunt cried on his grave begging forgiveness having to be dragged off where Ginny spoke to her afterword merely saying, "it was given before you asked."

His headstone read:

Harry James Potter

1981-1998

Raised in darkness

He still knew light

He will be forever missed

The Boy of light

His grave lies at Godrics' Hollow with the parents he waited so long to be with, forever joined with them at last. His grave has become a pilgramage for both tourist and residents of England alike. The Dursley's visit on every birthday and lay three bouquets of lilies on his grave. Ginny had the lightning bolt pendant carved into a ring, melted into a wedding band and considered Harry her husband, as they had been engaged. She never married, when asked why, she merely replied she would never cheat on the man she loved and he was merely away.

A/N: OK, I hope you like this, It just kinda came to me on the sword history I just added on the end for good measure. Now remember to hit the little button and review so I can feel my life is worthwhile.