Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or the Lord of the Rings.

A/N: It's almost here. That's right, B.L. (Before Laptop)is coming to a close! I shoudl be out buying one any day now! This'll be the last chapter on the family computer! YAY!

Chapter 27: Dreams and Visions

It was now very late, and the party in the Golden Hall had ended. While most of the people inside were on their way to bed, Harry was wandering through the hallways, searching for Aragorn. Something that he would normally have considered trivial was now occupying his mind, and he felt he needed to tell somebody what it was.

"Hey Harry! Where are you going? I thought you were with Ron."

Harry turned. It was George. "I was just looking for Aragorn," he replied.

"Is something bothering you?" asked the ranger himself, coming around the corner.

"Well…yeah," Harry wasn't sure whether he wanted to say this in front of George, as he was liable to stick up for the hobbit in question, but as he was staring at Harry expectantly, there wasn't too much that could be done. "You see, I got Ron in our room, and then I saw Pippin…" He proceeded to tell Aragorn about his strange encounter with Pippin.

Aragorn was frowning. "Did you find out what he was looking for?"

"Well, no."

"I'll bet he was looking for Saruman's stone thingy," George spoke up. Harry and Aragorn looked up, slightly surprised.

"How would you know that?" asked Harry.

"Because he wouldn't stop talking about it, and we were all wondering what it was. Merry reckoned we shouldn't touch it, since Gandalf wouldn't like it, but Pippin kept on talking about it so finally we dared him to find out what it was."

"You did what?" asked Aragorn sharply.

"I guess we shouldn't have done that?" replied George.

"No," said Aragorn, looking very serious, "You shouldn't have."

"Why? What is that thing?" insisted Harry.

"It is a palantir," explained Aragorn, "There are seven of them. Long ago the kings of Gondor and Arnor used them to communicate and see what was going on in different parts of the kingdom."

"Cool," said George.

"Yes, but now Sauron has one, and Gandalf believes he has been using it to communicate with Saruman."

"Oh," said George, reality sinking in, "So if one of us touched it…Sauron could see where we were?"

"Even worse, if Merry or Pippin touched it, he might suspect one of them as the hobbit with the Ring."

George winced. "Maybe we should just call off the dare then."

"I would advise you to do so."

"Aragorn," asked Harry as George left, "What are we going to do if one of them does pick it up by accident?"

"Let's just hope that Gandalf can keep it safe from them Harry," he replied.


Hermione tossed and turned in her sleep. Every now and then Gollum's sneering face would loom up in her dreams, causing her to wake up in fright. She was becoming utterly convinced that all was not well with the creature.

Then her dreams seemed to take a change for the better. She was standing in a beautiful green forest with a silver mist and birds singing cheerfully. She smiled and began to walk forward. There was the sound of hoof beats. Somebody was riding their horse along a nearby road.

Hermione peered through some more trees and was startled to see a whole group of elves walking along a path, looking beautiful and sad. They looked familiar, and she realized that they were all from Rivendell. A few of the noble elves were on horseback. One of them was a woman, and to Hermione, she was the most familiar of all.

"Arwen!" she gasped. Arwen didn't turn around. She continued to stare ahead, looking sad and deep in thought. Hermione called out to the elves, and walked through the trees next to the path, but none of them reacted. They walked past as though she weren't there.

"Where are you all going?" she asked. Nothing. They can't hear me! she realized in wonder, Why is that? Is this some sort of vision, like Harry gets? But that couldn't be right, Harry only had visions because of his connection to Voldemort.

Arwen rode her horse slowly along with the rest of her people. Staring at her closely, Hermione thought she looked a little depressed. In fact, all the elves looked a little sad. Where on earth could they all be going? She thought. And why are there so many of them outside of Rivendell in one place?

And then she remembered. Elrond and Arwen had told her all about the fate of the elves, how they would all eventually have to leave Middle Earth for a place called Valinor. Arwen had not wanted to go, because she wanted to stay with Aragorn, and Hermione had encouraged this. She believed in true love and thought Arwen's sacrifice was one of the most beautiful and romantic things she had ever heard of. But Elrond didn't appear to see it that way at all. He had kept pushing his daughter, trying to persuade her to leave. And now it was starting to look as though Arwen had caved in.

"Arwen!" called Hermione, beginning to panic, "Don't do it!" I can't believe this, she despaired, Arwen probably really needed me there as a friend! Oh why did I leave with the rest of the Fellowship?

Then Arwen slowly turned her head in Hermione's direction and seemed to freeze. Tears started to fill in her eyes. "Can you see me?" asked Hermione, "If you can, go back please!" Elrond might be disappointed, but Hermione could feel in her heart that it was the right thing to do.

Arwen didn't answer. But she did turn her horse and ride back in the opposite direction as fast as she could, ignoring the other elves' calls.

"Hermione? Hermione?"

Hermione felt the scene swirl and then opened her eyes to see Sam looking at her. "Begging your pardon, Miss Hermione, but you need to eat something before we move on."

"Oh. Thanks Sam," she said, puzzling over whether or not her dream had been real.


Pippin just couldn't sleep. George had warned him not to touch the palantir, but to no avail. He just had to look at it again. Anyway, what George said didn't make any sense. How could he come into contact with Sauron via a strange black ball? Nothing had happened when he first picked it up and handed it to Gandalf, after all. What could possibly go wrong this time?

He was about to find out.

Harry was tossing and turning in a fitful sleep. He kept dreaming about playing Quidditch, but the dreams always ended with his broom catching on fire and his hands burning up and then falling off the broom into a black abyss. Suddenly he heard screaming and was awake in a flash.

At first it looked like Pippin was really on fire! Then he realized that the hobbit's hands were glued to a flaming black ball, the palantir. Merry was yelling for Gandalf and Fred and George were dashing out of the room to get help. Ron was just staring at the scene with his mouth hanging open.

Without even thinking about it, Harry leapt over and grabbed the palantir away from Pippin. Instantly he felt his hands lock themselves on the ball and his whole body felt like it was on fire. Worse still, something happened that he hadn't felt since he arrived in Middle Earth, something he never expected to happen. His scar burst in pain.

Harry rolled all around, screaming, wanting badly to press his hand against his forehead, but he couldn't free them from the palantir. Then a voice spoke in his head.

Who are you?

Get off! Let go! yelled Harry.

The Voice, or whatever it was, pressed harder. Who ARE you!

I don't know, please get off, it hurts… moaned Harry.

His head was teeming with visions…orcs massing at a black gate, prepared to attack…a city by a river in ruins…Hermione stumbling along in a dark land alone…

Suddenly everything stopped. The Voice was silenced, his scar stopped hurting, and the palantir was gone. Harry felt dizzy and ready to throw up, and he still felt like he had been burned. He collapsed in someone's arms and passed out.


Night had fallen over Osgiliath. Faramir stood in his lookout position, waiting for a report from one of his guards.

"So far we haven't heard of anything definite," the guard was saying, "We think the orcs are mostly likely coming from the North, and we haven't seen any below ground. All except…" He broke off.

"What?" asked Faramir.

"Well…it's hardly worth mentioning…just a rumor going among the men…"

"What is it?" asked Faramir more urgently.

"Well…some of the men down there said they thought they saw a shadow. A phantom, they called it. It's not an orc, they're saying, they don't know what it is…they've seen footprints, and it looks like a human's, but they can never find it, it always disappears before they can get a good look at it."

"Has it ever attacked anyone?" asked Faramir.

"No, it just runs away."

"Then tell the ones who saw it to leave it alone. This is a strange thing, but it's probably a homeless wanderer of some sort who doesn't want to be in contact with other people. You're sure it's not an orc?"

"Sir, the men are sure that orcs don't move that quietly and swiftly."

"Speak no more about it then, because I don't want the other soldiers to jump to conclusions and panic. It has no importance to the conflict at hand."

As a matter of fact, it wasn't a phantom, a wanderer, or an orc. It was Ginny, and she prided herself on how well she had stayed away from the soldiers, lest she get caught. She wanted to be near the upcoming battle so she could prove herself to Faramir once in for all, and so she had exciting things to tell the others when she finally caught up with them. Hermione was off destroying an evil ring, Harry, Fred, and George were fighting Sauron's armies, and here she had to stay behind, in safety, away from her new friends.

Ginny's plan had originally been to keep watch in case an attack came from below. But she got tired, and eventually fell asleep. And like Hermione, she was having a very strange dream.

She was walking through some sort of tunnel, her heart beating very fast. She stumbled and landed in some sort of sticky string, a web. Then there was a clicking noise behind her, and suddenly Ginny was tearing down the tunnel, screaming, for some strange reason, for Frodo and Sam. Ginny had met both hobbits, but she wasn't as attached to them as Hermione had been. She tumbled through a small hole and ran straight into a massive web, where she dangled helplessly, like a fly she had seen get caught once in a web at the Burrow. Ginny screamed for help again as she heard something gigantic creep up behind her, closer and closer, and then she woke up, shaking all over.

"That was weird," she murmured, and went back to sleep again.


"Harry? Harry?"

Harry groaned and slowly opened his eyes. Ron, Fred, George, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli were staring down at him with grim expressions on their faces. Aragorn, Harry noticed, was gently pressing a cold wet cloth against his scar.

"What happened?" he moaned.

"That's what we'd all like to know," replied Gimli.

"Why?" asked Harry worriedly, "Is Pippin all right?"

"Gandalf and Merry are with him now," said Fred, "We would've gone with him, but you were going crazy, so we decided to stay here."

"We think that despite embarrassment and a lack of curiosity from now on," continued George, "Pippin will be just fine."

"So what happened to me?" asked Harry slowly.

"You just went berserk!" said Ron, "I hadn't seen anything like it since…well…since Dad was attacked."

"But what happened?" Harry pressed.

"You were rolling around on the floor, yelling louder than Pippin," said Legolas, "And when Ron kicked the palantir away from you, you started clutching your scar."

"Luckily, Ron had seen it before and knew exactly what to do," said Fred, "Aragorn caught you as you fell, and Ron got a pitcher of cold water and started dripping it on your scar."

"But…why?"

"Because we were worried about you!"

"No…I mean why'd I react that way?"

"Because you have a connection to bad guys?" George shrugged, "Who knows?"

"When you're feeling better Harry, Gandalf would like to speak with you," said a voice. Harry looked up. It was King Theoden.

"I'll be there in a minute," he mumbled, and closed his eyes. Aragorn continued to press the cloth to his face. It was such a calm, soothing feeling that in minutes he was fast asleep again.

To my reviewers:

Eclipse: I like Hermione too! Ron won't get a hangover though, 'cause that's how Fred's little potion works: no side effects!

MischeviousPuck: Ah the Race! Based on a true story! Well…not really. But my brother and I will definitely do whatever it takes to win a race! But Ron will never get one over Fred&George. Not ever. They're too clever for him!

Eleniel of the Stars: See what I like to do is take really dark, scary moments and make them funny! That's the way my sense of humor operates, for some reason. Don't give up on "Darkness"! I'm looking forward to reading it!

Tom Riddle Charlie: Very good! It was the palantir! Actually, the drinking contest wasn't fully my idea, it was in the extended version of the Return of the King movie. Adding Ron and the Ton-Tongue Toffee were my ideas though. Legolas put down all that ale because he's an elf, and had the capability to do it. Ron only survived because he's a wizard! But he was no match for Ton-Tongue Toffee!

Kaladelia Undomiel: I finished reading the 6th book at 4:00 P.M. on the 16th. I figured this was no great feat among Potter fans, and I could've gotten it done faster if I hadn't been forced to go to bed after midnight. But in my home it's an amazing, and slightly obsessive thing to do! Anyways, Hermione is starting to believe Sam. It's taking a while though. I wouldn't call Ron, Legolas, and Gimli "friendly competition" however. It always starts that way, but they always get out of hand! ;)

Brandy Lebeau: groans and bashes head against computer I know, I know!

HotShot14: Thanks! I always thought I was bad with tragedy. I get good ideas, but I always think my stuff sounds too sappy. I'm glad to hear someone likes it!

Darknesscomes: Thanks again!

Genvessel: gasp Not One Tree Hill! Nooo…I've never seen it, but I've seen enough previews to know it's not the type of show I like to watch. Though I'd much rather watch that then babysit screaming kids during a thunderstorm!

Brownie/Melody: Poor Ron! He'll never be up there with Fred and George! LOL, no, the spray bottle didn't work! Oh well. Pippin will learn…eventually!

Phantom666: Thanks, I most certainly will!

Harrypfan001 TEACHERLADY: Thank you SO much! Well, the sequel will take place in Book 7, but I won't give away anything else now or I'll spoil everything!

Bookyboo: Thanks, I love writing humor!

Winter Queen: Thanks for the ideas, I pretty much have the ending mapped out, but this won't be the end of the Hogwarts crew having adventures with their friends from Middle Earth! (They all thought Sauron was bad, wait'll they see Voldemort!) But you're right about one thing: I could never leave the twins in Middle Earth. It'd be too cruel to the rest of the hobbits! (I mean really, who needs that whole Scouring of the Shire thing when you have those two on the loose! Lol)

Prongs-gurl202113: Thanks, I'll try!