Chapter 5

Ron woke up and got out of bed and stretched. He walked over to the balcony, whose doors were never shut because he liked the gentle breeze that was constant and leaned on the railing. He watched as the sun gently rose kissing the land and his face with her gentle light. He loved watching the sunrise, as it changed the sky's colours, from dark blue to purple to lilac and then to red to blue again. He watched as the stars winked at him and then disappeared. He sighed and turned back inside and removed his night robe and washed himself in the shower, something he was surprised the elves had, and then pulled on a new leaf green tunic and dark brown trousers with a bark coloured belt and his usual brown boots. He grabbed his bag and stuffed his wand into the handy little sheath that hung from his belt. He bushed his hair and noticed it seemed to be growing quite long at least for him, and also that the colour had changed a little, it wasn't nearly as vibrant, and was a lighter colour. That was the summer for you, his hair always went lighter because of the sun and he had been outside a lot. Although he noticed his freckles hadn't multiplied, which he liked, he hated his freckles when they were so obvious and many. He couldn't help but notice he had grown a good bit already and wondered at that, he'd been in Rivendell just over a week, although if he was honest, it felt like more then a month. He shook his head and left his room. He met up with Earithramir and Cilath outside the eating hall.

"Quel amrun Ron!" (Good morning) smiled Cilath

"Quel amrun Cilath Earithramir!" he grinned

"Up early today!" smirked Earithramir

"Yep!"

"I'm glad, now we don't have to go get you up and listen to you grumble about crazy elves and their ways!" giggled Cilath.

"Yes according to Prince Legolas you remind him strongly of his dwarven friend Gimli!" Ron blushed, but felt quite honoured, his history lessons were fun, because Cilath often had people who had been around during the time she was teaching come and give an account, and he had only yesterday started the history of the dark lord Sauron and the fellowship of the Ring in full. Cilath had promised to try and get her uncle to come and give his account of it and what happened.

"So what have you got today?"

"Herbology, History, DADA, Charms, Care of Magical Creatures, then I have sword practise with Sircyn, warfare and horse riding with Dan and Ro!" The twin sons of Elrond, Elladan and Elrohir reminded Ron so much of his own brothers, Fred and George. They had been out on a scouting trip on the enemy when Ron had arrived. They had agreed to teach him horse riding which was a huge load of fun, because they spent a lot of the time trying to knock each other off their horses. Warfare was with lord Glorfindel and it was very like DADA, except it was about the enemy and he was shown how to have a strategy in a battle.

"Sounds like your busy, when do you have a free?" asked Cilath, 'free' was the term for the time when Ron got to go and have fun with his new friends.

"At two."

"Good, good." They sat down and ate the fruit and bread and juice.

"Ok time for Herbology!" announced Ron as he stood up, slung his bag over his shoulder and walked off with a wave to his friends. He greeted and nodded to different people he had gotten to know, and arrived at the library just in time. Now Ron wasn't the biggest book fan or library fan, but he had to say he really loved this one. It was clean, yet clearly old, with scrolls of parchment that were as old as Elrond or older, books of both fiction and non fiction, it was well lit and like almost every room in the building had that outdoors while indoors feeling. What he liked most though was the smell of the books, he'd never say this to anyone, but he really did like the smell of an old books. But he couldn't risk telling anyone, Hermione would never let him hear the end of it.

"Hey Gaellyn!" he greeted, spying his Herbology teacher. Gaellyn was, like all elves, tall and lean, with black hair and dark blue eyes. He smiled at him kindly saying,

"Good morning Ron, today I thought we would go outside and I would show you how to take care of some of our healing herbs."

"Sounds good!" He followed him and watched and listened attentively as he was taken through all of the different herbs and their properties. Then Gaellyn asked him to recite what he'd just been taught, which he did with few mistakes. Ron loved this feeling of being smart; he now understood why Hermione like being top so much. After Herbology Gaellyn escorted him to the library where Cilath was waiting sprawled elegantly on a couch reading a book. Ron felt his stomach do a somersault as he saw her but ignored it and sat on a seat near her. Gaellyn greeted Cilath and then bid them goodbye and left. Cilath closed her book and looked at Ron who smiled at her. She smiled back and said

"My uncle is on his way, he agreed to give a talk to you about the fellowship and their adventure. He just wanted to grab some things before he came here."

"What things?" She shrugged and then reopened her book and continued to read. Ron took a random book off the shelf and began to read it. It was in Sindarin of course, Ron had been freaked out by the fact that he could read it since there was no similarities between it and the alphabet he was used to. Never the less he got used to it and could read it as easy as English. He was reading some old elven poems, which were very curious. They were about all sorts of things, love, sorrow, joy, anger, defeat and victory, but they were all worked into each other, like love is in sorrow, sorrow is in joy, joy is in anger, anger is in defeat, and defeat is in victory. He shook his head, he doubted he'd ever understand elven thoughts but still it was fun to ponder about. The door opened and lord Legolas stepped inside with a cloth-covered package. Ron jumped to his feet and placed his hand over his heart and then extended his arm out to him.

"Aaye heru en amin!" (Hail my lord) he said respectively. Legolas smiled kindly and said

"Hail my friend, you have no need of such titles, you are our equal and our friend." Ron beamed and nodded his head in thanks.

"So what have you got for us uncle Legolas?" asked Cilath sitting up. Legolas went over to the table and laid the package on the table.

"You shall see later, now I believe I shall tell you, Ron, of my dear friends in the fellowship."

"Yes please… Legolas!" answered Ron, his voice losing confidence as he said the elven lords' name. Legolas smiled kindly and nodded, he leaned back against the table and crossed his arms in a relaxed way,

"Well first there was Frodo, he was quiet, compassionate and far too young to bear the one Ring, but bear it he did and managed to fight it till the end…" Legolas described the others and Ron was touched by the love with which he spoke of them. He found he could almost believe he knew the people. Legolas also spoke of Arwen and Eowyn and Éomer and Farimir. Ron was captivated by his voice. He told of the fellowships adventure like a story, his musical voice speaking with the right tone for each point in the story. He sounded so sad when Boromir passed away and then Ron was almost on the edge of his seat as he described the chase for Merry and Pippin and the battle of Helm's Deep. Legolas left no detail out, he remembered things like accidents during the travels like Aragorn tripping over his own feet and falling face first into a 'gift' from Bill the pony. It made the whole story sound real, made the characters, the fellowship, seem believable as if Ron could actually speak to them had they been there. Legolas finished and then turned to the package he had brought.

"Time has made it hard to find some of these items but they are still in good condition." In the cloth were several weapons and other objects. Cilath was on her feet looking amazed

"Are those what I think they are uncle?" she asked her blue eyes wide. Legolas chuckled and said

"Yes, these are some of the fellowships weapons." He picked up a dagger that probably would have been a sword for a hobbit. He carefully drew it out of its sheath and showed it to Ron. "This is Sting, the elven dagger carried by Bilbo and Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee. Frodo gave it to me, just before he passed on as a kind of parting gift." Ron wanted to touch it but couldn't, he didn't feel good enough to touch it, Harry would and maybe Hermione but not him. Legolas placed Sting down and took another weapon, this one a long sword. He drew it out and said, "Anduril, flame of the west, borne by the great king Elessar, my dear friend Aragorn." Ron was awed by the beauty of the weapon; clearly it had been well kept for its lifetime. Next came Gimli the dwarf's axe, then Boromir's shield and the two pieces of the horn of Gondor. Then there was the phial of Galadriel and the necklace that bore the jewel of the Evenstar. There was a dried flower carefully wrapped, that came from Samwise Gamgee's garden in the shire, two more daggers owned by Merry and Pippin, a hand drawn picture of a woman, her hair caught in a breeze and her eyes sparkling as she danced. It was of Eowyn and was done by Farimir. These were Legolas most prized possessions, what was left of the fellowship save his memories. Ron suddenly realised he had to go to DADA, he quickly thanked Legolas deeply and bowed to him and Cilath then bolted off as fast as he could.

"Sorry I'm late Professor Snape, my history lesson went on too long." he gasped as he came in. To his utter amazement it wasn't Snape waiting for him, it was Lupin!

"Lupin! What are you doing here?" he asked as he overcame his shock

"Severus is on a mission for the order so I will be teaching you DADA but potions will have to be postponed." said Lupin kindly smiling at Ron. Ron shrugged and nodded

"So what's on the agenda today?" he asked sitting on a desk.

"I was thinking of letting you take a break for now and you tell me how you've been doing since I left."

"Well let's see, I've met the two sons of Elrond, I've more or less mastered the bow, standing still of course, I've made lots of friends… that's it really. So what's happening in the order?"

"Well not much, we've just been trying to get some more members for the Order and find out what Voldemort has been up to. We think he's doing exactly as Elrond predicted and allying himself with the system lords as they call themselves."

"Yeah or 'gods'! Honestly these Goa'uld are bloody self centered!" grumbled Ron folding his arms across his chest. Ron hadn't learned everything about them yet but he already hated them. Cilath had lost her father to them and in turn her mother died of grief. He and Lupin talked for a while longer and then Ron had to go. He waved goodbye and walked to Care of Magical Creatures or the elven equivalent of it. His teacher, Seviwen, was waiting for him with a small squirrel resting on her shoulder. While all elves had a strong bond with animals and nature, Seviwen had an especially strong one, second to Legolas and was able to almost summon creatures with a musical word or note of her voice. She had bark brown hair and leaf green eyes, her smile was wise as an Ents, and her form was willowy.

"Hello Ron, ready for a new lesson?"

"Yep. What's the creature today."

"A creature called Blast-Ended Skrewts." Ron's face was priceless, his eyes widened to a ridiculous size and panic filled them.

"Your kidding right? Right?" She grinned and laughed

"Yes I am, don't worry, but your Professor Hagrid is here and will be taking your class while I watch. He told me about them, although I have to say I didn't like the sound of them."

"They looked worse then they sound, trust me. But Hagrid's here? Great, I can't wait."

"Well here he comes now." Ron looked to the forest behind Seviwen and saw a familiar large figure coming through the trees, with something in its grip. Hagrid stepped out of the shadows and beamed at Ron. He looked a heck of a lot better then the last time he had seen him.

'Looks like Grawp's behaving better now a days.' Ron thought to himself.

"Hullo Ron, how ya been?" asked Hagrid in his usual friendly demeanour. In his arms was a mournful looking bird, thin and looking like an underfed vulture and its feathers were greenish black. Seeing Ron was looking at it worriedly Hagrid said "Oh not to worry this is 'ow it's supposed to look, see it's an Augurey or Irish Phoenix if yeh prefer, great little weather forecasters, always know when rain's cumin." Hesitantly Ron reached his hand out and touched the bird's head. It was very silky smooth and soft. The bird closed its eyes and made a little noise of contentment, obviously enjoying it. Ron smiled as he stroked it, it seemed like a nice little creature.

"Does he have a name?"

"Uh no I haven't given him one, see I only just found him and he was a bit poorly so I took care of him now he's back to perfect health. Only thing is I think he should have an owner, seein' as he is a bit too domesticated too be released back in to the wild." Ron looked back at the bird who was looking at him with blue eyes, almost pleadingly.

"Could I have him Hagrid?" he asked finally,

"Well o' course you could only they're useless as mail birds." said Hagrid

"That's fine, I still like him."

"Well alright Ron there ya go!" and he passed the bird to him. The bird made a happy noise and put its head under it's wing and fell asleep. Ron laughed and Hagrid beamed

"Well since you need to know how to take care of them then I guess that can be our lesson for today." Ron learned that an Augurey eats large insects and fairies, made tear shaped nests and only flew during heavy rain. He was also warned that during a heavy rainfall it wouldn't shut up so he may have to put a silencing charm on it. Afterwards he took the bird up to his room and conjured a tear shaped nest for it, and carefully placed it in. He saw it was two and he had his free now. He went in search of Cilath and Earithramir and found them with a big group of elves. He knew them all; there were the twin sons of Elrond, Elladan and Elrohir, another set of twins, Maedd and Cer, in contrast with the dark hair and eyes of Elladan and Elrohir, Maedd and Cer had blond, almost white hair and sky blue eyes. Also they were in confliction with each other, Maedd the older twin was serious and suspicious, while Cer was fun loving, care free and a constant worry to Maedd. Also while Cer and Ron got along great, Ron felt like he was walking on eggshells with Maedd and trying not to break them. There was also Kinthia, a pretty elf, the oldest of the group and Maedd's lover, Isaldur, her younger brother, his best friend, Frudo, who was the son of Gaellyn. Finally there were Kuli and Fend the youngest two, technically they were younger then Ron, and acted it. They were sitting near a pool where the younger elves liked to swim, talking and laughing.

"Hello!" sang Ron cheerfully as he plopped down, quiet noisily, beside Cer. They each greeted him, some (Maedd) more stiffly then others.

"How was your lesson with that half giant, Hagrid?" asked Cer eagerly, he was obsessed with the strange, so Hagrid would no doubt have made him giddy.

"Great, he gave me a pet Augurey, or Irish Phoenix and spent the lesson showing me how to take care of him."

"Wow, what you call him?"

"Right now, nothing, I want a good name for him, maybe something in Irish but I don't know any Gaelic."

"You could ask Dumbledore he probably knows the language."

"Yeah, except I haven't seen him since last week; he's doing stuff for the Order."

"Well then you could always asked one of your professors if they knew a little since it wouldn't take much for you to learn it or something."

"Yeah I suppose, anyway, what are you guys up to."

"Nothing really, but I've got an idea, how about we do some swimming!" said Isaldur standing up. They agreed and stood up. Before Ron could say a word, the boys all stripped off all their clothing and jumped into the pool. The girls blushed pink and looked away giggling

"Coming Ron?" called Cer looking at him over his shoulder. Ron was frozen to the spot staring at his now naked friends in utter shock and embarrassment. His face was beet red.

"Um, uh, I, ah… no thanks" he stammered, "I think I'll just stay here with the girls."

"What's wrong, can you not swim?" asked Kinthia her eyebrows raised.

"Oh no I, I can, but,"

"But?"

"Well… you see…"

"Oh I get it!" laughed Elladan, "He's embarrassed by the fact that we have nothing on!" The elves all laughed, not meanly, just amusedly.

"What's wrong with it?" asked Cilath, rolling over on the grass onto her stomach, resting on her forearms.

"Uh, nothing really, it's just um…" Ron was saved from having to answer because suddenly Kinthia cried out in pain and clutched her head in agony. She writhed and twisted her eyes squeezed shut. Cilath left Ron, who was shocked by it all and held her friends hand. She whispered softly in elvish to her and finally she quieted. She shot up straight and said

"Orc attack! South forest! The warriors are outnumbered!" At once the elves sprang into action, the boys all scrambled out of the water and pulled their clothes on, not caring that their skin was still wet. Maedd scooped Kinthia into his arms and carried her away. Ron quickly stood up and asked

"What's going on?" to no one in particular.

"Later Ron, later!" said Cilath, "Just follow me." She took off at a sprint, leaving Ron in the dust. He took off as fast as he could, wishing he was a faster runner. The group bolted inside and Cilath pulled a rope that hung near the door. A low dull bell chimed, it's sound reverberated through the whole homely house. As it died down, elven warriors, armed to the teeth, came rushing out, heading towards the south of the forest. All but Ron and the girls went to the armoury or their rooms where they kept their weapons. Elrond, Glorfindel and Legolas rushed to the trio and Elrond said

"Did you have a vision?" Kinthia nodded wearily,

"Yes I did, orcs were attacking the south of the forest. The warriors were out numbered."

"Well you acted quickly, well done, hopefully this attack can be quelled without any losses on our part."

"Uh excuse me!" said Ron tentatively, "But what was that all about?"

"Oh I'm sorry Ron I forgot you didn't know! You see Kinthia receives visions from the Valar, that was one telling her that there was an attack."

"But she was in pain!"

"I'm afraid it sometimes comes with the package."

"But, do you experience pain, Lord Elrond, when you get one?"
"Oh no, I don't, but my visions are different. Kinthia's often are showing what is happening now, and if they are very urgent they can be painful."

"Oh!" was all Ron could think of to say that.

"Come and help me take her to her room." said Cilath supporting Kinthia. Ron went to her other side and together they helped her up the stairs to her room, which was on the second floor. She lay down on her bed and fell asleep. Ron and Cilath walked out so she could sleep in peace. Ron listened as he heard noises of the fight going on. He went to a window and stared moodily out.

"What's wrong Ron?" asked Cilath coming up behind him

"Just I wish I could go out and help them. I'm supposed to be their captain and yet I'm the least qualified of all of them!"

"Ron, don't think of it like that. Think of it as you just learning to become as great a warrior as you can be, not a captain, the rest will fall into place." Ron sighed, and nodded.

"One step at a time, that's all I can do."

(Three weeks later)

Ron ducked as the orc swung its sharp weapon at him, and moved his own white knife up into its stomach. The orc shrieked in pain and Ron, taking advantage of its distraction, used his other knife to cut its head off. He then turned with his knives blackened by orcs blood, out of breath, exhausted but determined to keep going. He had a slash on his arm and a gash on his head, the blood dripping down his face. He looked for Earithramir and breathed a quick sigh of relief as he saw his friend was doing well. He then stabbed an orc in the back and then lobbed its head off too. Before long all the orcs were dead and the elves were gathering them up to be burned and tending to their own. Ron wandered around helping where it was needed. Cer grinned at him and said

"I killed ten!"

"I got you beat, eleven!" Cer pouted but then grinned again and clapped him on the back, saying,

"Honestly Ron that's great, especially it's been just over a month, I wasn't even using real weapons by then!"

"That's 'cause you're a klutz!" said Maedd as he came up, his injuries taken care of. Ron knew he should get his own checked just in case but he wanted to help out first. As if reading his mind Cer said, after glaring at his twin,

"You should have those looked at, orc weapons have a nasty tendency to be poisoned!" Rolling his eyes he nodded and wandered off in search of a healer, preferably one who didn't poke and asked if it hurt. Of course it hurt! You just poked me! Thankfully he was lucky to get Cilath who wasn't a poker, well not much anyway.

"I have to say Ron, you're doing very well, eleven orcs!" she praised, making him blush slightly as he tried to ignore how nice it felt to have her fingers touch his skin.

"Well thank you little lady!" he spoke in a terrible southern accent. Cilath just looked confused, "Sorry, joke!"

"Oh! Alright then." She cleaned his arm and wrapped it, then moved to the gash on his head. He hissed as she touched it even though she was gentle.

"Sorry."

"It fine, I've already had worse." he said quietly, his fingers tracing the still sore scar that was on his throat. He didn't remember much about that day two weeks ago.

(Flashback)

The smell of men's aftershave…

Invisible hands around his throat…

Cold metal slicing through his skin…

Blood pouring through his fingers as he tried in vain to stop the flow…

The world going black…

(End flashback)

Ron was lucky, he had been found quickly and his would be killer must have either been so nervous and inexperience that he hadn't cut deep enough to kill instantly or he'd done it deliberately as warning. Ron decided he'd call it luck. He had woken up in the healing wing with Earithramir and Cilath beside him their faces etched in concern. Elrond had told him that he would most likely have a scar there for a long time. It had been a few days before he could speak properly but he was up and about in no time. Lupin had paid a visit to him and told him they had considered it best to move Harry and Hermione to Grimulda place but Harry had all out refused, showing his stubborn streak, so they'd stayed and that although they were doing alright they were clearly missing him. He had been touch by that. Cilath gave him a sad smile as she applied an herb ointment, apparently guessing his thoughts. Ron noted she had a nick on the soft skin of her neck and almost reached out to touch it. His fingers twitched but a voice broke his thoughts about it.

"Things are getting harder." said Legolas coming over to them with his own white knives black with orc blood. Ron nodded which wasn't smart as his neck still hurt like hell. Cilath's fingers left his arm.

"I think maybe they're trying to exhaust us without depleting their own forces, orcs reproduce easily so there's no need to send the Jaffa in."

"I agree, but we are not ready to take on the main army they have been rumoured to be building, there is only so much the elves can do." Ron sighed and spoke something that had been bugging him since he'd first arrived.

"This is not your fight, it's the wizards fight always has been, you shouldn't have to risk your people for it." Legolas let out a breath and looked out at the land, his eyes narrow in thought.

"It is no longer just your fight Ron, we elves had lost people to the Goa'uld long before this all started, and so we are involved as long as the Goa'uld are, besides this is also the fight of the non magical people too, they suffer because of one mans small mindedness. This battle, this struggle, the whole world is involved, not just the wizards." Ron said nothing, he knew Legolas was right, but he'd gotten to know so many elves and almost all of them were connected to some loss due to this war, he didn't want them to suffer any more. Legolas gave his shoulder a squeeze before walking away. He massaged his temples and said to Cilath

"Have you got anything for a headache?" she smiled and gave him a leaf of an herb

"Chew that, but don't swallow it, and come to me or another healer if you feel any nausea or dizziness."

"Yes ma'am!" Ron gave her a salute and walked off, popping the leaf in his mouth, grimacing at the awful taste. The elves medicine was like Madam Pomfrey's potions, absolutely foul! Nevertheless his head cleared and the pain dulled till he barely noticed it. The orcs corpses had been gathered and were set alight. Ron wrinkled his nose at the awful smell, as did many other elves. He spat out the headache herb and then went in and looked for Earithramir but couldn't find him anywhere, he wandered down a hall looking around, he turned a corner. And abruptly turned and went back the way he came, his eyes huge and face as red as beetroot. 'Well,' he thought to himself, 'I found Earithramir!' Peeking around the corner just to be sure he had really seen what he had seen. Sure enough there was Earithramir in a loving embrace with Lomli, another elf Ron had met. One little detail though… Lomli is a GUY! Doing another about face Ron practically ran away from the couple, without making a sound, he was good at stealth now. He was so desperate to get away that he crashed into Cilath who managed to stop them both from falling.

"Are you alright Ron?" she asked her eyes searching his.

"Uh well, um, I just saw Earithramir and he was uh-"

"Say no more, who was it this time?" asked Cilath rolling her eyes.

"Uh, come again?"

"Who was he with this time and how much were they doing?"

"Uh Lomli and they were just kissing." muttered Ron feeling embarrassed.

"Well if that's all then why do you look like you walked in on them making love?" Ron went even redder at that thought.

"B-but,"

"But? What?"

"They're both guys!" Cilath looked bewildered and shrugged her shoulders saying

"So?"

"So, both guys, hello!" exclaimed Ron amazed that she didn't seem to understand what he was talking about.

"I think Ron has an issue with two people of the same gender displaying such feelings." said Elrond coming up

"Were you eavesdropping lord Elrond?" asked Cilath her eyebrow raised.

"Well Ron is so loud its hard not to hear him." smirked the elven lord, Ron rolled his eyes, there were constant jokes about how loud he was compared to the elves, although he was getting better. Cilath followed his example and then said to him

"Would it be any better if it were two females?" Ron made a peculiar face, "No? So you think only male-female relationships are appropriate? That even if two people of the same gender fall in love and want to spend eternity with each other they should forsake that love for a more appropriate relationship with the opposite gender?" Cilath sounded like she was torn between confusion, annoyance, and disgust.

"Well um, no i-if-" Ron cut himself off and sighed running a hand through his hair, "Look its just, in my species, humans, same sex relationships… are held in a kind of uncertain way, some think it's wrong and some are just unnerved by it. My generation although we are a bit more open to it then maybe the generation before, it's still something we're not exposed enough to, I guess, to be without reaction if you know what I mean." Cilath looked curious now. Elrond chuckled,

"Ron, while your kind, have a bit of difficulty accepting it, with elves its normal. To us it doesn't matter if its male-male, female-female, or male-female, it's all about sharing body and soul with someone you care about."

"Well that's the rule but Earithramir seems to not know it because he's been with… twelve boys and eleven girls, he just doesn't know what he wants." said Cilath shaking her head.

"Ok." Ron knew he would never comfortable around Earithramir again. Laughing lightly Cilath looped her arm through Ron's and said

"Come on Ron, I bet you're hungry, you always are."

"You know me too well Cilath!" laughed Ron as she led him to the kitchen. Elrond chuckled and then turned as someone came up behind him.

"So how do you think he is doing?" Dumbledore smiled

"Very well, the professors say that they have been seeing a side to Mr. Weasley that they never knew existed. It seems he is indeed the one to lead the army behind Mr. Potter."

"Not behind, beside. There's a difference." Dumbledore thought for a moment the smiled and nodded

"Indeed." The two men walked to Elrond study, only to find two people there already. Dumbledore only recognised one of them, the tall blonde elf, but he had no idea who the man who could have probably passed for his brother was.

"Ah Gandalf, Legolas what can I do for you?" smiled Elrond pleasantly

"We just wished to be here when you spoke to Lord Dumbledore." said Legolas

"Of course you're more then welcome to." smiled Elrond, Dumbledore, seeing there was no fourth chair, conjured a comfy one for himself. Legolas raised his eyebrows appraisingly and said curiously

"I wonder, could you create a fire to burn snow in a snowstorm?" Dumbledore blinked in confusion then said

"Yes I believe I could." Legolas smirked at the white clad Istar as if to say, 'If he could do it then why couldn't you?' and the Istar glared at him.

"Gandalf this is Professor Dumbledore, Professor Dumbledore, this is Mithrandir, or Gandalf the White, the last of the Istar."

"How about you just call me Gandalf, the rest is such a mouthful." Dumbledore chuckled and said

"My full title in the wizarding world is worth three mouthfuls."

"What is it?" asked Legolas smiling.

"Another time perhaps, I fear I have forgotten most of it. The penalty of old age." Legolas said nothing, only nodded slowly as if unnerved.

"So how is young Ronald doing?" asked Gandalf smiling, he had a soft spot for the boy from when he had first met him two weeks before just after he had been attacked.

"Very well, he's soaked up everything like a sponge, he's a strong healthy person and he is getting stronger everyday, his skill is amazing, he's a natural with the weapons, favouring the white knives, bow, dagger and long sword. He had a bit of difficulty with shooting an arrow on a galloping horse but he should overcome that soon." Dumbledore smiled, and nodded saying

"A month here and you've changed him so much. The teachers have told me he is improving with his potions, and wand work, more improvement in one month then in all his years in school. They were getting ready to give up." Elrond frowned

"That's odd, he's a brilliant student, Cilath and his other elven teachers quiz him regularly and he always gets top marks."

"Hmm, perhaps it's the relaxed atmosphere around here, it makes him feel like he doesn't have to prove himself, some of my teachers are quite strict, Severus and Minerva especially."

"Well I believe it is a combination of things." said Legolas, "Anyway, shouldn't we be discussing the information our scouts have collected?"

"Of course, now our people have said that there is a training base for the young Jaffa in the area where Voldemort was supposed to be, we have three rebels infiltrating it and a Tok'ra on the inside posing as a servant to one of the system lords, he and Severus are aware of what the other is and have spoken briefly, now I believe our next course of action should be…"