Chapter 2
Ron sat there, eyes wide and bewildered. Had he really just been told that he was to lead an army against Voldemort's forces? He wasn't sure how long he sat there in a daze, but he only snapped out of it when Lupin shook his shoulder.
"What!" he shouted. Elrond wasn't taken aback by his rudeness.
"Yes Ron I saw you leading the army."
"This is a joke right? You can't be serious, I'm not a person to lead an army, I can't be, whenever a leader's need either Harry or Hermione would be the one to lead. I would just be the dumb idiot who gets in the way and causes more trouble. I'm not brave like Harry and I haven't a hope of becoming as smart as Hermione, why the heck would you want me?" Elrond smiled kindly,
"Ron I wasn't shown directly who the leader was, all I knew was that he was close to the one who was chosen to defeat Voldemort himself, the one who struggles through life and is always overshadowed by those around him. Does that sound familiar?" Ron didn't answer, everything sounded like his life, he was Harry's best friend, and he'd always felt like he was in everyone's shadow, Harry for being Harry, Hermione for being smart, all his brothers, even Ginny because she was the only girl and the baby of the family, he did have to struggle in a sense, because of not always, if not never having money. He looked the elven Lord in the eyes and found he was understood without having to say anything. Slowly he nodded,
"So what do I have to do?"
"Well first we will go to my home and get some food to eat then you will be given your room and get some rest for tomorrow." said Elrond standing up extending a hand to Ron who took it and was helped up or more just pulled up as the elf was surprisingly strong. He was surprised to find he was shaking, but whether from excitement or fear or both, he really didn't know. He found he was able to walk normally again without being uncomfortable.
"Well let's get back on the horses then everyone." announced Dumbledore. Ron inwardly groaned and he could have sworn Dumbledore winked at him in amusement. He decided he would try to get on with out having the horse kneel down; it was way too embarrassing. He watched as Lupin and Dumbledore hopped on and tried to mimic them. It was surprisingly easy and he managed to do it smoothly. He saw Lupin both smile and look surprised at the same time. He took his bridle and after seeing Elrond nudge his horse into movement he copied and the horse set off at a trot, right behind the elf lord. Elrond cried
"Noro lim, noro lim!" and all the horses took off at gallop. Ron leaned forward and as he watched as the world rushed by, he couldn't help but feel like his life was doing the same. They continued for a long time in silence, never stopping. Ron was about ready to fall asleep on his horse when Elrond called them to a halt. Ron sat up straight and gasped. From where they were now he saw the outlines of hills and realised that the whole forest was in a valley. And there, just hidden among the forest, was a building. It wasn't as big as Hogwarts but it was just as impressive. It seemed to be a part of the environment around it, with elaborate architecture and a waterfall over which was a narrow bridge.
"Bloody hell!" he breathed
"I take it you like my home." chuckled Elrond
"I'll say, it's amazing, and didn't you say you and your people were here only for six years, well that place would take years to get like that."
"Well this was here six thousand years ago, we just cleaned it up a little, not that it really needed it." Elrond laughed and nudged his horse into a walk towards the building. Ron nudged his own and followed never taking his eyes off the area; it was too beautiful. That is until they reached the narrow bridge and Ron saw it was only just wide enough for the horse to go over.
'O you've got to be joking, someone please tell me he's not going to have us go over that thing on the horses!' he thought as he looked around pleadingly, but his pleas weren't heard obviously because Elrond went over the bridge with ease, Dumbledore right behind him followed by Fudge who was obviously as terrified as Ron was.
"Go on now Ron, just don't look down." encouraged Lupin. Ron gulped and nudged his horse forward, the mighty beast tossed its head and walk towards the bridge with no fear. It began to cross and Ron focused on the trio on the other side. In no time he found himself on the other side, sighing with relief.
"Worry not master Ron for you will become accustomed to crossing the bridge in no time." smiled Elrond
"My Lord Elrond!" called a voice. It was an elf with blonde hair and blue robes, he was similar to Elrond with his air of knowledge and was obviously older then his appearance betrayed.
"Ah Glorfindel!" cried Elrond happily dismounting his horse and embracing the newcomer. "This is Lord Glorfindel, the Balrog slayer and an old friend of mine." Glorfindel bowed to them and said
"'Quel undome, goth en gothamin." Ron had no clue what he just said so he was thankful when he spoke in English, "Good evening, foe of my foe. It is a pleasure to meet you all." He then looked at Elrond who looked directly at Ron. Glorfindel looked Ron in the eyes and Ron sat up straighter on his horse. Glorfindel nodded approvingly and then nodded again to Elrond.
"Come it is very late and you all must be tired, I will show you to your rooms, where food has already been sent up." said Glorfindel extending his hand to the beautiful building. They dismounted and several more elves came over and took the reins from them. They were brought inside the beautiful house.
The place was more beautiful inside then it was outside. The architecture was amazing with pillars and arches and it made you feel like you were still outside while still feeling secure in a building. Soft light came from an unseen source. Ron couldn't see enough; it was amazing. He saw some more elves, some were sitting and talking in elvish, others were looking up at the sky and others were singing. Ron had unconsciously stopped to listen to them; their voices were so enchanting, more beautiful then a Phoenix song, more haunting then a ghost, more sorrowful then anything he'd ever heard.
"You approve of the song." Ron jumped, he'd been so enthralled by the song that he hadn't realised he was holding the group up.
"Oh yeah it's great, but it sounds so sad."
"Because they are lamenting for the world that has once again fallen into darkness."
"Why are you here? Why are you trying to help us clean up our own mess?" asked Ron softly, looking the elf in the eye. Glorfindel looked a little surprised at the question, then he smiled approvingly and nodded slightly,
"Why indeed? Why indeed?" he sighed sadly, "Because we are bound to this earth, and as such have a duty to it, even if we do not cause the problem, we still must play a part in the stopping of it. We have many times decided against helping the Edan with their woes; like the last time this happened, in your world wars, some of us had said we didn't belong in your parts of the world, but the truth was we couldn't abandon Valinor, it is our home, it is the reason we left this land the first time, and we still felt the pull upon our souls, it did not leave us after we arrived, rather it stayed but lay dormant but we always knew it was there to stop us from returning."
"But now?"
"Now it appears the Valar have decided we need to be here." Glorfindel said no more and he led them to their rooms. Ron was the last. As Glorfindel led him down the corridor he noticed the elf was staring at him
"Sorry but why are you staring at me?" he asked uncomfortably
"My apologies if I have made you uncomfortable, but it has been very long since I have seen an adolescent human, and it just, well your height is impressive!"
"What?"
"It may have been a while, but I know well that you are extremely tall for your age, but forgive me if you do not like being stared at but you may get more of that from others, as some who were born in Valinor, will have never seen a human."
"Ok I guess I'm probably gonna be the same with you so it's only fair." Ron chuckled.
"Ah here's your room, now I'll send someone along to wake you up in time for breakfast and they'll have some clothes for you to wear, best have you not sticking out too much."
"That may be a bit difficult considering…" Ron gave his hair a tug, indicating the flaming red colour. Glorfindel smiled and nodded as he opened the door.
"Wow!" exclaimed Ron, the room was amazing, and the bed was HUGE! There was a desk in one corner, double doors of glass that led to a balcony, two doors, one that connected to an adjoining private bathroom, and the other led to a closet.
"Good night Ron, tomorrow every question you have will be answered." said Glorfindel closing the door. Ron sighed and slowly walked around the room. Opening the double doors, he walked out onto the balcony, the view was breath taking, the massive forest he had just left was spread out before him, it was majestic and beautiful, perfectly framed by the balcony. He leaned against the wooden railing of the balcony, and bowed his head in exhaustion, but his mind was whirling around with everything that had happened. Suddenly he heard something. Singing. It was a feminine voice and was very beautiful to listen to; he looked up and could tell it was coming from the balcony above and to the side of his. He couldn't see the person who was singing but supposed he could always ask Glorfindel who it was. He looked around the room again and saw a tray of food on the desk. It smelled great, he only just realised how hungry he was, so he dug in. it was great, albeit quite light, but that was a good thing considering his stomach was doing flips and jumps and all sorts in nervousness. He set down his bag, and opened it out. He set the picture of his now sleeping family on the desk, made his truck go back to it's normal size and then set his wand down on the desk too. He opened up the truck and, after some rummaging he found his pyjamas. He was about to put them on when he saw something on his pillow. It was a night robe, obviously made for a man or man-elf he wasn't sure, but he figured he should try it on and put it to good use. He slipped his clothes off and pulled the robe on over his head. It fitted perfectly and was very soft. He crawled into the very comfy bed and fell asleep straight away.
Ron was in a large room and it was literally made of gold, the walls, the floor, the pillars and they were all covered with minuscule inscriptions that, on closer inspection were Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphics. The room was lit with torches, casting strange and warped shadows. In the centre of the room was a throne also made of gold, but also velvet or satin to soften it. It looked really comfy he had to admit. Suddenly a door to his right opened and a man entered. He was also clothed in gold. Ron stared at him; he looked like a pharaoh, without the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt. The man was handsome, with a well-built body. But when he turned towards Ron and he saw his eyes his blood ran cold. They were heartless and empty of any compassion, full of confidence and arrogance. He stared straight at him and he smirked coldly at him. Then he took a menacing step forward and his eyes flashed with a golden light. Ron gasped as, from the shadows, another man appeared. He was amazingly tall and thin, with white skin and red eyes. Ron stepped back, wide eyed as he saw the man Harry had faced so often and only just survived. The first man turned slightly and glanced at Lord Voldemort with an almost careless expression and then back at Ron, staring at him cruelly. Ron could almost hear a voice, the pharaoh's voice, eerily flanged, so deep and dangerous yet seductive. It said 'Do not fear him, he is meaningless. I am the one to fear, the one you ought to worship.' Voldemort laughed, his voice was cold and high pitched. The pharaoh ignored him and stepped closer to Ron, and hissed in that same voice,
"Bow before your God child and I will spare you from the suffering that is to come." The eyes flashed again, that mesmerising golden light. He stared at the sensuous eyes, feeling a weight on his chest, he couldn't breath! Suddenly a scream echoed through the whole room, reverberating against the lavish walls. Both the pharaoh and Voldemort turned towards its source and both smirked in sadistic pleasure. Ron arched his neck to see the sufferer. But all he saw was a pool of blood. The pharaoh went over to it and dipped a golden goblet in it. He then straightened up and turned to Voldemort and raised the goblet in a mocking fashion, but Voldemort didn't seem to see him as he was staring hungrily at the blood, but made no move to it. The pharaoh then turned back to Ron and walked slowly over to him, till he was right in front of him. He stared at him coldly, his eyes were chocolate brown, and his skin was a lovely golden brown. Slowly he raised the goblet, this time as if to show him something. Ron tore his eyes away from the mesmerising face and looked into the goblet. It didn't contain just one blood, it contained many, all mixing but staying separated at the same time. There was the vivid red of human blood, there was a blood that was red with a silver hue, morbidly beautiful blood, and Ron knew it came from the elves. There was a blood that was black and another that he recognised as unicorn blood, another was purple with a green hue; mermaid blood. Then, before he could identify more of them the pharaoh moved the goblet to his lips, and drank from it slowly, much to Ron's horror. The eyes though never left his own and the weight on his chest increased. He gasped for air and he heard a pounding noise. The pharaoh dropped the goblet to the ground and pressed a hand to his chest over his heart. Blood stained his lips, his eyes widened and they flashed once more. Ron wanted nothing more then to get away. The pharaoh's lips moved but the pounding noise was drowning him out. Voldemort moved behind the pharaoh and drew his wand-
Ron eyes snapped open, and he was panting quietly. He was shaking and he finally understood what a cold sweat was. Suddenly a knock on the door alerted him to the fact that that was why he'd woken up.
"Ron, are you awake yet? I have been knocking for many minutes now." called Glorfindel. Ron groaned as he rubbed his face, he felt like he'd only just gone to sleep. He willed his hand to stop trembling but it didn't really help.
"What time is it?" he groaned
"An hour past the dawn, come or you will miss breakfast."
'He has got to be joking!' Ron thought as he pushed away the covers and shivered in the brisk morning air that came from the still open balcony doors. He took in a deep breath and pushed the frightening dream to the back of his mind. He went and opened the door to greet a bright-eyed elf-lord.
"'Quel amrun, young one!" Ron stared at him in shock, then he remembered what Elrond had told him, compared to these people he was a baby, so 'young one' was being kind. He groaned, a headache coming from everything he'd been told stuffing his brain. Glorfindel held out some fresh clothes to him
"Here quickly put these on, your friends are waiting for you."
"Oh bloody brilliant." grumbled Ron, ot bothering to correct him as to what his association to the others was, as he took the clothes and shut the door again. He really wanted to take a shower but apparently there wasn't time, so he used a quick cleaning spell and then quickly changed into the pale blue under tunic, navy over tunic, navy trousers, a navy belt and light boots that he noticed Glorfindel wore as well. He looked at his reflection and had to admit the blue somehow managed to tone down his bright red hair, something he was very thankful for and he looked pretty good. He opened the door again and nodded to Glorfindel who nodded in turn and lead the way to the hall. It was as impressive as the Hogwarts great hall, with more people and many different colours instead of just the school colours. All of the people sitting there were elves save for the people he'd arrived with last night. Glorfindel had not been exaggerating about the amount of stares that would be sent his way. As soon as he entered the room everyone turned to look at him. Many were interested, a few looked suspicious, some were extremely curious. Ron felt like he was being judged, and right on cue he felt himself go bright red. Glorfindel cleared his throat loudly, and announced
"My lords and ladies, may I present young Ronald Weasley!" Ron shot him a wide-eyed look as many of the elves stood and placed their hands over their hearts and then extended their arm towards him. Ron nodded in response, as he wasn't sure what else he could do. Glorfindel then took him over to Lupin and Dumbledore and the rest and he sat between Dumbledore and Elrond, Glorfindel sat on the other side of Elrond.
"Dumbledore if you wouldn't mind I would really appreciate if I could speak to you and maybe after that I could request something for a headache." he groaned as he rested his forehead in his hand. Elrond chuckled but he looked sympathetic. Suddenly Ron remembered something he meant to ask Glorfindel
"Pardon, but may I ask who was on the balcony above and to the right of mine last night?"
"I believe that is the room of Lady Cilath, why do you ask?"
"Oh just that I heard singing and was wondering who it was, because it was very nice, I wanted to compliment the singer on their remarkable talents." Ron answered cordially. He was looking at Elrond so missed the impressed looks that were sent his way from the professors, Lupin and Fudge.
"I daresay you will meet her very soon as she will be one of the two elves to help you settle in and show you around and help you in your training and education, which we will discuss in private." smiled Glorfindel. Ron nodded and began to eat; the breakfast was mainly just fruit, with fine glasses of sweet juice, and some tasty bread. Ron ate some, but his stomach was doing flips again and he couldn't eat much without the risk of bringing it back up. When they were finished they all stood and left.
"We will go to my study." said Elrond and he let them into a fine room with many books and scrolls, which managed to make the place both tidy and untidy. They all sat, Dumbledore conjured some extra chairs and waited for a few moments in silence. Just as Ron was about to ask what they were waiting for there was a knock on the door and someone entered. Ron felt his jaw drop. It was another elf, but she was more beautiful than any of the others he had seen. Her hair was a pale blond, that cascaded down her back in soft curls, her blue eyes held an intensity he had never seen before, she was slightly taller then him, and her skin was flawlessly porcelain. She carried herself with an air of royalty and strength. She was wearing a pretty green dress that had a low neckline and laces up the back that showed the pale skin on her back from just above the waist up. She smiled at him and greeted Elrond who nodded and motioned to a spare seat.
"May I introduce Lady Cilath. She will be helping you, Ron, settle in and be your guide to understanding our people."
"Saesa omentien lle Ron Weasley." (Pleasure meeting you) she said with a small bow of the head, her voice was musical and reminded Ron of laughing water.
"Pleasure to meet you too." said Ron automatically, without thinking. Elrond and Dumbledore looked surprised at the response. Ron realised that Lady Cilath had spoken in elvish, but that he had instantly translated it.
'Weird.' he thought. Elrond was silent for a moment then said
"Lle n'vanima ar' lle atara lanneina!" (You're ugly and your mother dresses you funny) Ron was irked.
"Well that's lovely, what did I do to deserve that kind of insult?" Elrond was clearly stunned for a moment then he murmured
"Lle quena i'lambe tel Eldalie?" (Do you speak elvish?)
"Uma, amin uuma." (No I don't) Ron responded
"Um, you just did." said Glorfindel sounding as stunned as Elrond looked.
"Did I?" asked Ron then he widened his eyes as he realised that he had, "How the heck did I do that?"
"Perhaps…" began Lupin but then he shook his head and sighed, "No it's not possible, at least I think not."
"Spit it out Lupin!" snapped Snape angrily
"Well it's possible, but highly unlikely that Ron is, the Linguistus Exceedus!"
"The what?" asked Ron very nervous now; things were getting weirder and weirder
"The Linguistus Exceedus. Born once every twenty generations, he or she has the ability to speak languages fluently after only hearing a few words, Dumbledore if you wouldn't mind say a few sentences in any language, just to see if I'm right." Dumbledore nodded with a pleasant smile and asked Ron if he spoke any French to which he replied no.
Dumbledore then began talking in perfect French and at first Ron could barely catch a word let alone know what he was saying, but suddenly the words became more defined and he was able to understand at first just a few words but then finally he could get what Dumbledore was saying,
"... et alors la sorcière a dit au lutin, 'que n'est pas un rocher, qui est ma fille !
(… and then the hag said to the goblin, "That's not a boulder that's my daughter.) He then chuckled at the joke then was about to continue when Ron said in perfect French
"Ce semble être assez de professeur. Je peux comprendre chaque mot maintenant et vous remercier." (That appears to be enough professor, I can understand every word now and thank you.) He smiled getting into it. Dumbledore chuckled and looked at him over his half moon spectacles knowingly
"I think that proves it Albus." smiled Mc Gonagall, it was the first time she had spoken since Ron had arrived.
"Yes well while this is very fascinating, we still have a lot to do." said Snape silkily, "Now perhaps we should give him his results."
"Results?" squeaked Ron, that word only brought one thing to mind!
O.W.L.s!
"Yes your O.W.L.s results, you see Mr. Weasley, not only will you be becoming a captain of an army and so training with weapons and the like, but you are also going to finish school over a summer, as well as no doubt developing your knew found gift." smiled Dumbledore. Ron paled and felt a bit sick; this was too much for him to take in.
"Do… do you mind if I just…" asked Ron motioning to the door that led to a balcony.
"Of course." said Elrond nodding his head. Ron stepped into the cool breeze that was blowing, and took a deep breath, he was now really confused, not to mention completely terrified.
'Why me I'm worthless, the least important in the family, the dummy and coward of my friends, oh Merlin why do they want me?' he asked himself.
"You doubt yourself." Ron jumped as he heard a feminine voice behind him, and whirled around. Lady Cilath was standing there staring at him with wise eyes that were both sorrowful and mischievous at once.
"Yeah I do doubt myself!"
"Why?"
"Because I am a worthless person, whose only achievement is getting in the way of everyone else."
"I do not think that is the case, for I have heard from Lord Lupin that you are a noble man, who stays by his friends side forever and unto death."
"Its about the only thing I got to offer." said Ron bitterly
"It is more then many people could ask for, and a great gift to offer. I understand this must be very hard for you for I have been told of what occurred in the Department of Mysteries, as you call it and now you have been told you must achieve a great many things in two months, but if your friends have faith in you, you can achieve it." Ron looked at her; up close she could have passed for his age or only a few years older, if it weren't for her ageless eyes. He couldn't deny he was attracted to her, but there was no way she'd be interested, not with all the attractive men around in this place.
'What if this is my chance to prove to myself and to everyone that I'm not just Harry Potter's sidekick? Merlin knows that's all anyone sees me as, that or another poor Weasley.' Ron slowly drew in another breath and turned and walked back in.
"Ah Mr. Weasley welcome back." greeted Dumbledore warmly, "Now if the minister would be so kind as to hand over your O.W.L.s results we can go over them and begin to sort everything out." He looked at Fudge who took an envelope out of his coats breast pocket and handed it to Ron, who took it uncertainly and slowly opened it. As he looked over his scores, all the others could see was his eyes widening more and more with each new line. Finally he looked up and choked out
"Is this right?" Lupin came over and looked over Ron's shoulder to read it as he did his face broke out into a huge grin and at the end he burst out laughing,
"Oh Ron when Hermione sees this, she'll go mental!" he chortled happily, while Ron began to grin.
"Well Mr. Weasley please don't keep us in suspense." said Snape icily with sarcasm lacing each word. Ron realised the teachers didn't know his score but he couldn't bring himself to read them so Lupin did happily:
Transfiguration: Outstanding
Charms: Outstanding
Potions: Outstanding
Care of Magical Creatures: OutstandingHerbology: Outstanding
Defence against the Dark Arts: Outstanding
Astronomy: Outstanding
History of Magic: Outstanding
Divination: Exceeds Expectations
"Well congratulations Mr. Weasley, that is a wonderful score!" smiled Dumbledore, though he looked a tad surprised, while Snape was staring slack jawed at the red head.
"Thanks Professor!" said Ron breathlessly, a huge grin on his face.
"How in the name of Merlin did you get Outstanding for Transfiguration and Exceeds Expectations for Divination?" howled Lupin, "They're as different as salt and pepper!"
"Got lucky I suppose." Ron was feeling so delighted with himself that he was surprised he wasn't floating on air.
"Luck has nothing to do with it if you got Outstanding in transfiguration." said Mc Gonagall with a smile at Ron. Ron sat down and reread his results.
"Now Ron we do have a lot to do so, I'm afraid you will have to celebrate later." said Elrond with an apologetic smile. Ron looked up and nodded.
"So do you mind if I go over what exactly you have told me so far?"
"Of course not."
"Ok I'm gonna finish the last two years of school in two months, become an adult, as well as learn how to become a captain of an army, as well as developing a new found talent. Well you're certainly not asking for much are you?"
"I realise what we are asking is a lot but we all feel you can do it. Now, tomorrow you will begin your training so perhaps Cilath would you mind taking Ron and showing him around?"
"Of course Lord Elrond!" replied Cilath standing and giving another curtsy. Ron followed her example and bowed slightly and awkwardly and followed her out the door. Dumbledore looked at the ancient elf and said softly
"Well what do you think?" Elrond slowly nodded
"He has great potential, he reminds me much of Aragorn in his behaviour, he doesn't believe he can do this but he knows he has to, that is a mark of a truly powerful person, also this ability with languages will make things much easier as a few elves cannot speak common tongue or English as you call it now." Dumbledore agreed and they then began to discuss the terms of their newfound allegiance.