Chapter 16

Cilath, Earithramir and Lomli were smiling at each other and congratulating themselves as they headed back into the Homely House when Ron and Urúvion burst into the courtyard at a gallop, skidding to a stop as Ron bellowed

"Yurch! YURCH! Get the men up!" They gaped at him for a second and then leapt into action. Cilath pulled hard on the bell and within minutes the elves were running out, dressed in their armour and weapons galore. Ron kicked Urúvion in the sides and the horse galloped around, as he called for their attention. They lined up and stood at attention. Ron surveyed their faces and then took in a deep breath.

"Alright! It's not even a day since I was given these weapons, and already they will taste enemy blood. The orcs are coming in from the north and they mass at around two hundred, nothing we can't handle." The elves all barked

"Yes sir!" Ron fought not to gulp. He reached down and took the hilt of his sword, drawing it out sharply and holding it aloft. For a moment, although all there saw Ron many also saw a great king, with dark hair and brilliant eyes sitting astride that horse, grasping that sword, looking strong and proud. It filled their hearts with warmth and strength and as Ron cried

"Lets go!" they all let out a cheer and charged, disappearing into the forest.

Dumbledore had to admit it was a grim scene, filthy evil bodies lying everywhere, silvery red elven blood marking the ground and a terrible stench of death hanging over the area. And they had won. The elves were tending to their wounded, thankfully no one had fallen, and gathering the orc bodies and piling them to be burned. After much searching through the quite sea the old wizard finally found what he was looking for. Ron stood with Lomli and the two were speaking softly as Dumbledore came closer he picked up what they were saying

"-is confounding isn't it?" Lomli spoke. Ron nodded, running his hands over the wood of his bow. He looked at the bodies near his feet and wondered softly

"Where are you all coming from?" Dumbledore paused and listened curiously. "How are they breeding you?" he continued.

"They can't have taken enough elves… if they even know how to do that ancient spell. If they don't, then where could they be getting the orcs from?" Lomli sounded frustrated, "Intelligence reports haven't anything to say on the matter at all, they cannot find out where or how, after millennia of being extinct the orcs have just started reappearing."

"I'll get the Order on it, this would probably be the wizards side of things then the Goa'uld." Ron nodded to himself as he spoke.

"Well it could be the Goa'uld, I mean they have had much more time to study elves, and they did manage to get their hands on the manuscripts that speak of them, thank the Valar we had copies."

"But how would they create them?" Ron asked pointedly. "That requires magic."

"Not if you have the ability to mess with genetics, how else do you expect that the Jaffa were created?"

"I know the history of the Jaffa Lomli." Ron grunted irritably. "And I was given a crash course in modern science, for a people still stuck in the medieval style of things you sure know a hell of a lot about the subject."

"Appearances can be deceiving." Lomli smirked. Ron gave a small chuckle of agreement. Dumbledore smiled slightly and walked up to them. Both youths straightened up and looked at him, coming to attention.

"I'm glad to see you have not suffered any injury Ron."

"You and me both Dumbledore."

"May I have a word with you?" Ron nodded, clapped Lomli on the shoulder and then followed him. Dumbledore noted that he cradled his bow to his chest, ready to use it. They walked in silence till they were far enough that Dumbledore felt they could talk privately. He paused and looked up at the sky, it was only just beginning to lighten, one couldn't even see the sun. He noted that the sky had an odd red hue.

"A red sun rises. Blood has been spilled this night." Ron quoted wisely, then he turned to Dumbledore and said, now all business, "What can I do for you Professor?" Dumbledore smiled slightly but he spoke seriously.

"Ron, I think you should begin to prepare to return to Hogwarts, there is only a week till the students arrive." Ron nodded slowly

"How many of my men do you want there?" It wasn't lost on Dumbledore that, not only did Ron say my men, but he didn't seem aware of it himself.

"Well how many men have you got?"

"In Rivendell? Six hundred."

"And how many are you willing to spare?"

"No more then two hundred and I'd prefer less. Rivendell doesn't have the protection of the school."

"But orcs are-"

"Resistant to magic, I know sir, but Rivendell is a much larger area too and a much more popular target. I'm afraid I cannot ask these people to abandon their kin to protect another species, just because that species has lost all ability to fight physically." Dumbledore raised a silver eyebrow. "I'm sorry if I'm being frank sir, but in all honesty it wouldn't kill wizards to be able to fight with daggers and swords, I know Aurors don't even learn how. That is nonsense! Have we become so overconfident in our magic that we don't see the need for physicality?" Dumbledore had to be honest, he hadn't a clue how to answer that. "Also sir, if you think about it, we have the animals in the Forest to defend their territory, the spiders will bite off a fair amount of any army no doubt, the centaurs would never stand for orcs to run amok in their area, threatening their young. So it is even. As well sir, I won't assign a single elf to Hogwarts till you give them something in return." Dumbledore did a double take at his sudden sharpness.

"Ron I am afraid I don't quite-"

"It's quite simple sir, in exchange for infiltration, and fighting and all the other things the elves are doing for you, you must give them something in return."

"But what can we give them? The elves are completely self-sufficent."

"Maybe but I'm not talking about resources, I'm talking about protection. Magical protection."

"But elves are more resistant to magic then orcs. They aren't even affected by the Unforgiveables."

"Maybe but at the moment they have no defence against the Goa'uld symbiotes. They have no way of protecting themselves from implantation. I want you to figure out a way. Some kind of spell that will prevent the symbiote from entering their body. And don't write it off, this is too important, I want to be able to come in to your office and for you to look up at me and say you were just working on it."

"Very well then Ron I can't see any reason why I cannot attempt to devise a spell."

"Do I have your word on your honour?" Ron held his hand out and Dumbledore gripped it.

"On my honour you have my word." There was a small flash of blue and the vow was sealed. While not as serious as the Unbreakable Vow, wizards took magical vows of any kind with great seriousness. Ron let go first and then his forehead creased in a thoughtful scowl. "I hear that old Professor Binns finally realised he was dead and decided to leave the school."

"Ah yes I'm afraid so."

"Well, I'm hesitant to recommend it, but why not replace him with Cilath and Earithramir? They'd love it, and it would certainly do the students good to learn some history of Middle Earth."

"Hm a good idea, but I shall only do it if you agree to do something for me."

"I already agreed to bring the elves to Rivendell."

"Yes but this is something else. I'd like you to teach our students to fight."

"Me? Haven't I got enough to do?" Ron scowled deeply.
"I only ask for you because the students know you. They trust you, after all you are Ron Weasley the best friend of Harry Potter, it gives you a lot of power over them." Ron's scowl deepened even more.

"What kind of class are we talking about here?"

"A class where you will teach them how to defend themselves. They'll be no longer then any other double class and you'll only have them once a week."

"Are we just talking about sixth year or every year?"

"Every year." Ron narrowed his eyes and said

"I'll have to think about it. You understand if I accept my job as a captain will always come first."

"Of course." Ron nodded at him and then turned and walked away. Without even seeing his face Dumbledore knew he was still scowling.