He turned to look at it and all he saw was a face full of white feathers, before a new sound registered in his mind.
"Hoot!" The deep breathy hoot was intimately fixed in his heart.
"Hedwig?!" He gasped and tears began to run down his cheeks.
"Hoot!"His first and dearest friend hooted and began to preen his hair.
"Hedwig! No! It's messy enough without your help." He uttered the familiar objection and just as familiarly, she ignored him and continued to preen him.
Harry sat on a carpet sixty feet above the convoy, as they took a well needed break, he knew that Oliver would be along to relieve him in a few minutes, but until then, he focused on the surrounding area. The convoy had touched down for their third 'convenience' break just a hundred yards from the edge of the forest, and that was causing Harry to be a little on edge, he could feel eyes watching from the trees.
In his peripheral, he saw Oliver mount a quidditch broom and shot skyward. His former captain looped and twisted, rising and diving, revelling in the freedom that a quidditch broom offered. Under the edge of the trees, Harry saw a trio of people stumble from the shelter in the direction of the convoy, and while they were elves, Harry could see that their bows were left behind as they left the trees.
"Expecto patronum." Harry waited for the stag to form. "Message to the convoy… Elves incoming from the forest. They left their bows under the trees. Still have blades but appear confunded or in shock. All underage, into the air, shields up. Now." Harry ordered.
It took two seconds for the stag to appear in the air above the convoy and another two for people to act. The younger students and Bombur leapt for a carpet and it quickly rose, gaining a shimmering glow that settled around them. The three elves paused when they saw the flurry of movement and slowed but didn't quite stop. The blonde elf that seemed to be their leader held his hands forward to show his peaceful intent, the redheaded female to his left copying his action while the brunette's shoulders slumped before he did the same.
"Harry, you better get down there, they're going to need you. I've got spotter." Oliver slipped from the broom to the carpet and handed the broom over to Harry.
"Thanks, Ollie." Harry gave his adopted brother a grin and leapt into the air, mounting the broom as he went. He skidded to a halt between Thorin and Sirius. "Hey," was all he said in greeting.
"Anything new to add?" Thorin asked.
"The elves paused when the kids moved but kept coming." Harry replied.
"So I see." Thorin nodded to the elves, who'd come to a halt about ten yards from where Harry and Thorin stood with Sirius and Dwalin to guard them.
The two groups eyed each other, the elves looked… for lack of a better term… freaked out, while Harry and Sirius were cautious and Thorin and Dwalin were suspicious. The three elves were clearly rattle though, even Thorin could see that something had broken through their usual haughty demeanour.
"Hello." Harry said trying to remain calm, he didn't know how many more elves there were and getting the rest of the convoy into the air and out of arrow reach, was going to take time. He was prepared to risk Thorin and Dwalin but only because he knew that he and Sirius could apparate them away.
The blonde elf opened his mouth and after a few seconds, closed it again.
"Greetings." The redheaded she-elf to the right, was the one that spoke. "We…"
"He flew!" Gasped the blonde elf, causing the brunette to sigh and send an apologetic look at Harry before he reached out and smacked the blonde across the back of the head. "What?!" The blonde turned to the brunette. "He flew! You saw him."
"I did, but I didn't blurt it out like a child. Honestly, Legolas, you're nearly three thousand years old. Surely, I've managed to knock a few manners into your head, by now." The brunette huffed. Harry bit his lip, the brunette sounded so like Hermione had as she'd lectured Ron during their time at Hogwarts.
"Kressian… I-" The blonde, Legolas, whined.
"Quiet. If you can't be polite, be quiet." The brunette replied, cutting him off and turning from Legolas to Harry and Thorin. "Greetings, I am Kressian Maple-silk, guide and mentor to this rude child, whose name is Legolas Greenleaf." He gave them a short bow.
"I am Tauriel Starfire." The female gave a similar bow.
Thorin glanced at Harry and watched as the young wizard gave him a small nod. "Greetings." He responded. "I am Thorin Oakenshield." He looked to Dwalin. "My cousin, Dwalin." Dwalin gave the elves a nod. "Our travelling companions, Harry, Lord of the House of Potter and Sirius, Lord of the House of Black."
"Greetings." Both Harry and Sirius spoke and gave short bows.
"He flew." Legolas pointed at Harry. "How…?"
"Nienna grant me patience." Kressian looked up at the sky. "Legolas! Shut your mouth!"
"But…"
"Now!" Kressian added and Legolas huffed. "Please excuse him, he was raised by a doting father, that never denied him anything.
"Accepted." Thorin nodded, but let a small smile twist his lips. "But he wasn't wrong. Harry did fly."
"Would you… How?" Kressian frowned.
"Ah… Harry and his people are… refugees… they are far from their homeland. In their homeland, magic users are… perhaps not common, but not nearly as rare as they are here." Thorin turned to Sirius. "How many did you say were born with the ability?"
"Roughly one in every million, some places were a little less, some were more. It depends on a number of factors, location being only one of them." Sirius replied.
"How many of you are here?" Tauriel asked Sirius.
"Thirty-five people but we brought quite a few animals with us." Sirius shrugged.
"Animals?" Tauriel asked.
"Forty-eight bowtruckles, thirty-five people, twenty-two hippogriffs, eighteen owls, sixteen unicorns, eleven kneazles, six fairies." Sirius answered. "Mind, that has increased, as some of the females have either birthed or hatched offspring."
"What?" Tauriel looked confused.
"Never-mind." Sirius waved her off.
"But what are you doing here?" Kressian asked.
"Harry?" Thorin asked.
"Sure." Harry grinned. "Well, we met up with Thorin and his Company a few weeks ago and decided to lend a hand. Thorin wants to reclaim Erebor for his people but has a dragon to deal with before he can do that. We have dragon experience." He paused as Sirius muttered something. "What was that?" He asked Sirius.
"You might have dragon experience, pup, but some of us have more brains than that." Sirius responded with a smile.
"Sure, and some of us have more brains than to chase a Fanged Frisbee, too." Harry snarked back.
"That was just once." Sirius squawked. "You did dragons twice."
"Techinally, three times, but one was a hatchling, so it didn't really count. And as for the adult dragons? Both times were Snakeface's fault. Crouch jnr entered me in the tournament, against my will and we had to break into Gringotts to get the cup from Bellatrix's vault, getting out on a dragon was Hermione's idea, not mine." Harry huffed.
"You've dealt with dragon's before?" Legolas asked.
"Sure. Charlie's a dragon handler, that was what he was trained for. He got an apprenticeship straight out of school, so that makes… seven years…? Yeah, seven years he's been working at a dragon preserve." Harry answered brightly. "His brother, Bill, is a curse-breaker and he's often been called in to work with Charlie, particularly if there's a curse or spells involved. Fleur was in the tournament with me and Hermione was in Gringotts with me."
"Do you know how to kill Smaug?" Legolas leant forward a little.
"Not exactly. We've got a whole slew of ideas, but until we actually sight the dragon, itself, we can't be certain which idea is going to be best suited." Harry replied.
"Ideas?" Tauriel asked.
"Well, bluntly, we don't know how impervious it is to magic. Charlie will be able to work that out and then we'll make our plans according to that." Harry explained.
"But you have plans?" Tauriel asked. "Plans that will work?"
"Depending on what Charlie says, yeah." Harry nodded.
"Like what? If the beast is impervious to magic?" Tauriel asked.
"He might be impervious to magic, but not to physical assault. A steel pike through his skull is one option. A reversed bubble-head charm is another." Seeing the blank looks, Harry sighed. "A bubble-head charm provides a bubble of clean air around the head of a person. A reversed bubble-head charm provides the same bubble but sucks out all the air instead. He'll suffocate and if he tries to breath fire, he'll end up burning himself, as the bubble will hold the fire in."
"Oh…" Tauriel gasped silently.
"And if he's not impervious?" Kressian asked.
"In that case, there's a heck of a lot we can do. Memory charms, turn him to stone, extinguish his fire, encase him in ice, I mean heck, we can always shrink him until he's small enough to no longer be a problem, but really…? Worst comes to worst, cutting curses or blasting hexes can be lethal if aimed right. Charlie can make sure we hit him in the right place to do the most damage." Harry shrugged.
"Shrink…" All three elves gasped.
"You can do that?" Legolas demanded.
"Sure." Harry flicked his wrist to let his wand fall into his hand and point his wand at a boulder a few yards away. "Watch. Engorgio." The boulder enlarged to twice its size. "Reducio. Reducio." It shrank to half its original size. "Finite." The boulder returned to its former size.
"Oh, melui Nienna ne-Menel." Kressian muttered. "Sen ava-meth mae. Ni dae ist sen."
"One moment, please." Legolas dragged Kressian and Tauriel a few yards away and spoke to them earnestly in low tones, too low for Harry or Sirius to hear without the aid of an eavesdropping charm and neither were ready to risk the loss of a potential alliance just yet, by casting one.
"Are you on a set timeline?" Legolas asked when they re-joined Thorin and Harry. "I would like to send a messenger to my father. He has long desired the end of the dragon but had never felt that there was a viable solution. If you have such a solution, I believe that he would be greatly interested."
"Your father?" Thorin asked.
"My father is Thranduil, king of Eryn Galen." Legolas replied, causing Dwalin to grunt and Thorin shake his head in disbelief.
"You think he would render us aid? He despises the Line of Durin, mostly for my grandfather's actions, I admit. But still… I cannot see him willingly providing assistance." Thorin warned.
"Your grandfather?" Legolas tilted his head in confusion. "I do not understand why your grandfather's actions would affect my father."
"I am Thorin, son of Thrain, son of Thror, King Under the Mountain. Erebor is our home, the greatest of all the dwarven kingdoms." Thorin answered the unasked question.
"Oh…" Legolas's eyes widened, and his mouth formed a perfect 'O'.
"Exactly." Thorin sighed.
"Father will not be responsive to any suggestion that involves the Line of Durin." Legolas.
"Leave that out, then." Sirius suggested.
"That could be…" Kressian tilted his head back and studied the sky in thought.
"If your report centred on Lord Potter and Lord Black, and only addressed Thorin Oakenshield as their travelling companions? Might that sidestep the issue?" Tauriel asked.
"It might. I would need to word it carefully, omit direct refence to the Line of Durin, perhaps address Thorin as Master Oakenshield, not as Thorin Oakenshield." Kressian nodded. "Yes, that might work." He looked to Thorin. "With your consent, of course, sir."
"I would like to know what you intend to report, before you leave." Thorin said.
"Perhaps, the four of you and Balin could sit down and work it out?" Harry said. "I don't know enough about any of this to contribute much."
"But we need your input, we know practically nothing about what you can do." Kressian objected.
"Not me. You need… hmm… What do reckon, Sirius? Charlie, Snape, McGonagall, Remus and Bill?" Harry looked to his godfather for agreement.
"Yeah…" Sirius hummed. "That sounds about right."
"Cool. You lot get started on that report and I'll get the others down and set up a camp." Harry looked around. "Maybe over there?" He pointed off to the north. "That rise?"
"Yes, that would easily defendable." Tauriel nodded.
"Great. I'll be back in a few." Harry gave them a grin, mounted his broom and rose into the sky.
Up at the convoy, he explained what had happened and slowly the convoy made their way in the direction of the proposed camping site.
Balin joined him and nodded, before frowning.
"I would not have thought that the Prince of Mirkwood would have so agreeable. I'd have expected a much longer negotiation before he'd truly considered sending a positive report." He then snorted. "Mind, I'd not have expected Thorin to be so accepting, either."
Harry laughed. "I think in Thorin's case, we've knocked the 'I don't need help' out of him. In Legolas' case, I think seeing magic is what changed his mind. Knowing magic exists is one thing, but seeing it the way we use it? That's a different matter altogether."
Balin nodded in thought as his chair floated alongside Harry's broom, while Bill, Minerva, Severus and Remus, with Teddy in his arms, followed them. Remus had been hesitant to bring Teddy, but Balin had told them that it would assure the elves that they were meeting to talk, not to fight, no-one brings a child to a fight.
The three elves looked a little wild-eyed to see flying armchairs and a sofa, but the sight of Teddy was what rendered them silent. They gazed at the baby in what could only be described as awe.
"Will he…? Will he grow up to be…? Will he do magic, one day?" Legolas whispered.
Remus laughed. "He's already doing accidental stuff. But this morning we discovered that he has his mother's gift of metamorphmagi."
"Meta… what is meta morph magi?" Tauriel asked.
"Metamorphmagi is the ability to change one's own appearance, be it hair, skin or eye colour. To change one's height or build or even bone structure." Remus answered. "His mother favoured pink or purple hair and whenever she was angry her hair would turn red. Teddy here, has at least her ability to change his hair, whether he will be able to control it or not, is another thing, but we won't know that until he's older. By the time he's five or six, we should be able to walk him through the changes and we'll know how far the gift extends."
"Oh, and I missed it?!" Harry squawked.
"You did, pup." Remus said. "You were busy with Buckbeak and Beorn."
"Oh… bollocks." Harry muttered.
"Language, Mr Potter. If I can issue your godfather with a detention, twenty years after he left school, I can certainly issue you, whom left school only a year ago, with one." McGonagall chided primly.
"Yes, Professor." Harry replied brightly, grinning at the witch.
"Oh, you… Get out of here, Potter, go and help your brothers set up camp. I am assuming that we'll be here for a few days?" McGonagall directed the latter question to Sirius and Thorin.
"At this point, yes. How many is unknown, yet." Sirius answered and raised a brow to Kressian and Legolas.
"Introductions first, mutt." Remus chided.
"Oh, yeah, right. Sorry." Sirius grimaced.
"I'm off, then. Come on over, when you're ready." Harry mounted his broom and rose into the air and flew away at a reasonably, for him, sedate pace.
"I'll come with ya." Dwalin trailed after him.
The four wizards, three elves, two dwarves and one witch settled themselves down at a hastily conjured table and began to rough out what Kressian would tell Thranduil.
A ghostly Patronus appeared in front of Harry and spoke. "The elf has returned, he's not alone. There's a dozen or so more with him. They all have travel packs, by the look of it, plus plenty of weapons. No horses, though. They're all waiting at the edge of the forest and Kressian has approached the boulders we used as a table to hash out his report on." Bill's voice informed him. "Do I bring them in? Or do you come to them?"
Harry looked from the Patronus to Legolas, who was instructing Headley in the finer details of archery, that he in his three thousand years of experience had accumulated.
"Legolas? Kressian has returned with a dozen elves. Do you want to see to them? Or shall I ask Bill to bring in?" Harry asked.
"Ah… I think I had best be among those to collect them, there may be a message from my father that needs my attention. And I doubt that elven warriors would happily take commands from an unknown person without objection." Legolas replied.
"Can I come, too?" Headley asked. He had given up trying to retain any of Dudley's personality and was now a bright and cheery boy, who enjoyed spending time with Harry, Colin, Dennis and Oliver.
Harry and Legolas exchanged looks and both shrugged, an action that Legolas had barely known prior to his time with the Hogwarts group.
"Sure, why not?" Harry answered and the three headed for the other elves, Tauriel joining them before they left the archery butts.
Upon reaching them Legolas nodded to Kressian. "Report."
"It took me a full day to reach the Halls." Kressian started. "I informed the commander of the watch, of your actions and requested an audience with the King. I was given time to bathe and dress, before my audience but no longer than that. I reported to his majesty and gave him the letter as you directed me to. He read it and dismissed me, informing me that I was to present myself to the audience chamber an hour after dawn, that he would have a decision made by that time. Upon entering the audience chamber the next morning, his majesty informed me that he'd given the matter much thought, overnight and had decided that your reasoning was sound. But… he was not overly encouraged to assist dwarves. That said, he ordered a call for volunteers to man an outpost at Erebor, enough for three patrols. They would be under your command, your highness." The last was directed at Legolas.
"Fifteen elves? That's it?" Tauriel demanded.
"Yes, captain, that's it, and even that comes with caveats." Kressian sighed.
"What are they?" Legolas winced.
"Your highness, captain Tauriel and myself will be the primary contacts with the dwarves, his majesty will have no personal contact with them, barring a battlefield. The cost of the outpost to the dwarves is the return of the White Gems of Lasgalen, to be interred with your highness' Lady mother." Kressian went on.
"Father commissioned them for her burial." Legolas said, nodding.
"And my grandfather denied him, them. I agree to this cost, they shall be returned, assuming that we can impinge on a witch or wizard to locate them for us." Thorin appeared at Legolas' shoulder, causing a few elves to tense.
"Thank you, I appreciate it." Legolas said, briefly, his emotions surging. "Go on. What else?" He asked Kressian.
"His majesty called for volunteers, stating that all must be single and of sufficient proficiency to lead a patrol, if it were necessary. I was given the directive to inspect, question and select the final personnel. The outpost is to be established and manned for a minimum of ten years, if at the end of that time, the personnel wish, they may return to the Halls, however after the dragon is dead or defeated, you may recruit elves from Eryn Galen, Lothlorien, Imladris or Mithlond. At the end of the ten-year period, one of two things may happen. One? The Outpost will move from a military installation to a domestic one, with you as the Head of State. Two? The Outpost will remain as an ambassadorial office. This will mean that all personnel will be rotated out and no-one will remain there for longer than a year. The choice will be yours."
Legolas frowned at Kressian's answer. "That's…"
"Anorion will rule after your father, his place is Eryn Galen." Kressian nodded. "You are the second son and your father had nothing to offer you but a place in his guard, this is his offering to you. A place to call your own, a Principality of your own. Anorion will be far happier with you away from the forest and you… I know that you long for the open sky. Yes, you will have to work hand-in-glove with Erebor, but is that really a hardship?"
"No. No, it's not. I would need to discuss the exact location with Thorin, but I can see an Outpost benefitting both Eryn Galen and Erebor." Legolas hummed in thought.
"Yes, I can see that, too." Thorin nodded.
"Excellent. I've brought three patrols, all volunteers, all willing to work to see the venture is successful." Kressian gave a small smile.
"Who did you bring?" Tauriel asked.
"Lendalen, Deranor, Finfain, Terrend and Rosslass are the first patrol. Thelren, Maelruin, Panthred, Jessian and Tomold are the second. And Kinrieth, Ambelen, Coreldar, Torvold and Windelor are the third. Plus, I have interest from another thirty elves, that are prepared to wait a year or more for the chance to live in the sun." Kressian replied and as he said each name, an elf came forward, their hand full of travel-packs. "We left our horses with a returning patrol, I figured that Harry's people's transport is likely to be faster than even the freshest of elven mounts."
Harry nodded and gave a smile. "That's true."
"And it would reinforce the position of the patrols, as a part of your party." Kressian added.
"It would." Thorin nodded. "Harry? It's reasonably early in the day. Are we likely to travel more, today? Or shall we wait until morning?"
"If the elves are joining us, I would prefer to wait until morning. At least. That would give Miss Sissy and Fleur a chance to test them and see if we need to make more crystals. Maybe give the quidditch queens a chance to teach them to fly. If they're interested, that is. If they're not, we'll pull out a couple more carpets and divide the elves up among them." Harry replied.
"Transport is your bailiwick, I shall leave that to you and your people to work out." Thorin allowed.
"Have you sufficient food for an extended stay?" One of the elves, Harry thought it was either Terrend or Rosslass, asked. "We are happy to hunt, if there is need."
"No, food's not an issue, we've got plenty of that. Enough to last a hundred people, at least three years, maybe more if we set crops. But thanks for the offer." Harry gave the elf a nod.
"You have that with you? What if you were to be raided?" Another elf asked, this time Harry had no idea what his name was.
Harry laughed. "Wouldn't help anyone. We've got it locked to any but us."
Bill held up a hand to get Harry to stop. "Enough, Harry. If we're adding elves to our group, they need to be seen by Sissy and Fleur."
"They do. Come on, let's get you sorted. Mione and Draco will work out where we're putting you all and how you're going to travel. Dwalin will want to know your weapons and how proficient you are with them." As he spoke, Harry gestured and began to lead the elves back to the encampment and the waiting Medi-witches.