Chapter 2

Meanwhile at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry the students, professors, and the headmaster were enjoying themselves. Everyone was at the welcome back feast inside the castles Great Hall. Then when it was right in the middle of their meal the completely unexpected happened.

Suddenly out of nowhere some kind of portal opens up in the middle of the Great Hall and is hovering about twelve feet off of the ground.

There were screams of alarm from the students and the ones closest to it moved as far away as they could, pressing into the other students. The teachers all stood up in their seats with their wands drawn. This occurrence was unusual so they were on the alert, not exactly knowing what was going on.

Less than a minute later something even stranger happened. Everyone in the Great Hall could hear screaming coming from somewhere inside the portal and it was getting louder with every second.

Then a young man fell out of the portal and landed hard on the stone floor. He tried to get up but before he had the chance to even sit up a young woman fell screaming out of the portal and landed hard on his stomach. As soon as she had fallen the portal immediately closed behind them.

Everyone in the Great Hall was shocked into silence. No one dared to say a word that is accept for the two on the floor.

I groaned and sat up a little. I rubbed my head in pain. The groan was echoed beneath me and I looked down to see that I was sitting on top of Legolas.

"Oh I'm sorry," I said, getting off of him. "Are you okay?" Legolas sat up and rubbed the back of his head where it had hit the floor. "Yeah never better," he said.

I stood up and held out my hand to him. He grasped mine and I helped him get back onto his feet. As this was happening the two of us then realized that we weren't alone.

The two of us discovered ourselves in a large Hall of some sort that was filled up with people that were all wearing black cloaks. There were mostly adolescents, who were looking quite shocked and frightened.

At the end of the Hall that the two of us were facing a bunch of adults was standing. The professors had come around from the staff table while the two elves were distracted and were now standing in front of it, pointing their wands at the two.

Looking around it seemed that we had interrupted their evening meal.

Behind the shocked expressions everyone was expressing there was a bit of curiosity. These strangers seemed a bit strange to them. The young man seemed to be somewhere in his early twenties while the other seemed to be in her mid or late teens. The male had blond hair while the girl was completely white. They were both wearing strange traveling clothes and had weapons. They had a set of knives attached to their belts, they were carrying some kind of bows along with a quiver each that were filled with arrows, and a pack was lying close to them.

One of the teachers, Professor and Deputy Headmistress McGonagall, stepped forward with her wand poised to strike just in case. "Who are you," she asked cautious but firm.

Legolas and I looked on at her in confusion and then at each other. We couldn't understand a word that she had just said. The woman spoke again but we still didn't understand her.

A greasy haired man then stepped forward. "Answer her," he commanded. But we couldn't understand him either. This one got a bit frustrated at our silence. "Speak." He moved forward again, an intense look on his face.

In response to this Legolas held his arm in front of me and moved into a position so that he was in between me and the black haired man. He held his bow in his hands with an arrow at the ready even though he wasn't pointing it toward him yet. The professors tensed up at the sight of the arrow knocked onto the bow.

"I'm sorry. We can't understand you," I said in Elvish. Now it was their turn to look confused. No one in the room recognized the language that I had just spoken.

Then an old man with a long hair and white beard stepped forward to place his hand on the black haired mans shoulder. Albus Dumbledoor and Headmaster of the school.

"Calm yourself, Severus, all of you," said Dumbledoor. "They cannot understand us." Severus Snape reluctantly stepped back but did not lower his wand as did the other teachers.

Dumbledoor then stashed his wand back into his robes and moved closer to where Legolas and I were standing. Not knowing the man's intentions Legolas raised his bow and readied to release his arrow at the old man. There were shouts of alarm and the teachers raised their wands again, thinking he was going to attack.

Just as Legolas was about to release his arrow I raised my hand and placed it on his arm. "No, Legolas," I said softly, shaking my head. He looked at me for a moment, then to the strangers, and then back at me. After a few moments he then lowered his bow but still kept the arrow knocked on the string.

He was nervous and did not let his guard down. He did not trust these people. As for me I was a bit more at ease than him. I quickly came to the conclusion that if they had wanted to hurt us then they would have done so already.

Legolas and I looked back toward the old man. He was looking at us with a warm smile and some kind of twinkle in his eyes. I couldn't help but smile back. There was something about that smile that seemed very friendly.

The old man turned a bit and spoke to his comrades behind him. Legolas and I didn't know what he had said but we had a pretty good idea of what he had told them when they all lowered those sticks of theirs. By the looks on their faces and their body language they were reluctant to do so but they did so anyway. The old man seemed to be their leader.

As the elder one was talking to his companions something strange started to happen to me. I suddenly began to feel dizzy and my vision started to go all blurry. My body was feeling weak and I was having a hard time staying up now. I was beginning to sweat a little and I was trying hard to stay conscious.

Legolas noticed this. He turned his gaze away from the strangers in front of us and over to me. "Saphira," he said, quietly.

I swayed and fell against him.

"Saphira!"

At the sound of Legolas' shout Professor Dumbledoor and the teachers turned their attention back to us. They turned just in time to see Legolas catch me just as I was about to hit the ground.

Legolas knelt on his knees and cradled my head in his arms. "Saphira," he said, touching my face, gently. He then felt a wetness where his other hand was and looked down. He turned the palm of his hand and saw that there was fresh blood on it. There was blood seeping through the thread of my shirt. He then remembered the wound I had gotten while fighting the orcs. Because of these events he had forgotten it until now. He pulled up part of my shirt and his eyes widened. There were gasps of shock all around as people saw the livid wound in my side. Blood was now coming out in a slow river btu what really was worrying was the flesh surrounding the wound. It was starting to become purple with a mix of yellow.

Legolas recognized it for what it was. "Poison," he spat in Elvish. The orcs must've loaded the tips of their arrows with poision before they had attacked us.

Looks of concern appeared on the faces of Dumbledoor and the other professors. They moved closer and when they were about fifteen feet Legolas glared at them. He brought out one of his knives and held it at the ready. That stopped them in their tracks.

"Poppy," said Dumbledoor, turning to Madam Pomfrey. She nodded and started coming towards us again despite the warning glare she got from Legolas. She held out her hands palms facing outward, showing that she meant no harm.

Reluctantly Legolas lowered his knife and let her approach. Madam Pomfrey knelt down next to us and took a look at my wound. Like Legolas, she very quickly found out that something was seriously wrong.

Madam Pomfrey turned back to her Headmaster. "We have to get her to the hospital wing," she said. Dumbledoor nodded and spoke to the students. "Prefects," he said, "escort your houses back to you common rooms. Dinner will be continued in you Houses."

There was no room for argument and the look on his face definitely said not to argue.

The prefects of the four houses did as they were told and led their houses out, with some students stealing curious glances behind them before they left.

When all of the students were gone, action was taken. Dumbledoor walked past where Legolas and I were. He stopped just a few feet. He made a motion to Legolas that he took to mean to follow the elder, since Legolas couldn't understand him at all.

Legolas nodded in understanding. He placed a hand under my legs and my waist. He then lifted me up but before he started walking he glanced at our belongings. He gestured toward our things.

"Of course," said Dumbledoor, nodding in understanding. He motioned forward a large giant, Hagrid. "Please carry their things."

"Of course, sir," said the, giant. Hagrid then picked up our bows, my quiver, and our pack.

Dumbledoor headed out of the Great Hall with Legolas following behind him with me in his arms.

Madam Pomfrey was right on their heels along with the other professors. They were all curious about these strange people and how they had gotten into Hogwarts… and wondering if they were friends or foes.