Previously on Buying Time:
'What should I do?' Harry asked himself. He could still hear echoes of what sounded like battling in the depth of the halls along with great roars from a beast of some kind.
'The dwarfs seem to have been routed or fled. All the treasures will go to waist somewhere.' Harry grinned at the though. 'Besides I can use magic if worse comes to worse.'
Grinning wickedly and never letting an opportunity pass where he might gain something while keeping it away from an enemy, Harry entered the entrance hall with sword and wand in hand.
Chapter 3
Grinning wickedly and never letting an opportunity pass where he might gain something while keeping it away from an enemy, Harry entered the entrance hall with sword and wand in hand. He knew where all the mined jewels, gold and mithril were held and set off that way immediately. After an hour of walking the slightly familiar halls, which were littered with dead bodies, he came to the door of the store rooms. He could easily make out the harsh, grating voices of the orc as they argued on how to distribute the wealth. The language they used was foul and Harry had no want to even try to learn any of it.
Knowing he had to be quick, Harry hid himself in the shadows just out of the broken doors. He counted eight in the room. Waving his wand two fell dead as the arteries around their hearts were severed. Two more fell in the confusion of trying to figure out what was going on. The other four orcs still didn't see where the magic was coming from and franticly searched for the attacker. As three gathered in a back corner Harry jumped into the room. Slashing his wand the three fell to the ground, the 'Sectumsempra' curse having cut deeply into their bodies. The final orc charged. The clang of metal rang in the room but Harry didn't give him a second chance. A quick Stupefy and the slimy dirty gray thing fell to the ground.
He felt exhilarated to be fighting with magic again and the feeling really caused Harry to pause at how he had changed in just a few short years. He wandered if it was just him throwing out his previous ridiculously high morals that Dumbledore instilled in him or if was because of some of the ritual he had done to himself that had tainted his soul as he knew they had.
'Probably a little of both.' He thought to himself as he enlarged his trunk and started piling cart after cart full of jewels and other precious metals. He ended up with five miner carts full of gems, another four of gold and silver. The best however was the more than thirty carts full of mithril. He had more than enough to make anything he could ever want.
'Should I try to mine more?' He asked himself.
'No that would be getting greedy. Besides after this is over I can help the dwarfs reclaim the mines and maybe get more as a repayment.
He was so caught up in his thoughts that he never even noticed the giant spear until it hit him dead center in his back. The force launched him over his trunk and into the wall. Goblins and orcs poured into the small room followed by a creature that looked more like a troll from his own world only more intelligent and menacing. The creatures studied the trunk carefully before the first one tried to open it.
It jumped back scattering those remaining as it clutched it's burning hand. Red, inflamed tissue blistered and cracked as they didn't know anything about counter curses. The others watched with amusement as the small bat like goblin rolled on the floor as the curse spread slowly over it's body. Then after ten minutes of rolling, burning and loosing blood the creature stilled in death.
The commotion gave Harry enough time to regain himself and for his magic to fix the broken bones from the spear thrust. As he sat catching his wind he noticed he only still held his wand. His sword had come out of his hand some time while he was in the air and before he had hit the wall. A brief flash of worry for his dragon hide duster was quickly pushed away for later inspection as he realized his situation. He cursed himself for his inattentiveness while praising his foresight to do the healing rituals he had done. Icy anger coursed though him as he regained his feet. The creature's attention had been taken from the now dead goblin to look at Harry with scared amazement.
"That was a very bad idea!" He growled out harshly. Then as quick as lightening his wand was raised and small white darts of magic flew from the tip. It didn't much affect the stone or the troll but each dart that hit an orc pierced its flesh like a pin. He didn't stop the spell until he had turned the six orcs in the room into pin cushions.
The troll gave a roar of rage and charged ready to bring down its giant spear on him once again. Harry was ready this time and was able to use his enhanced speed and reflexes to avoid the strike.
Spinning, Harry jabbed his wand at the troll and a cannon ball exploded from the tip. The troll hadn't even had a chance to turn to Harry before the iron ball crashed into the side of its head, crushing it instantly. Time seemed to slow momentarily as the giant creature slowly arced to the ground. The crash shook the ground and Harry only hoped that it didn't start a cave in. The other orcs started screaming in rage and fright but Harry wasted no time. Turning his wand toward the door he summoned one of his more powerful spells. Desert sand poured from the tip of the wand as a fierce wind blew it into the group of enemies trying to move through the door. All movement reversed as the driving sand storm tore the flesh from their bodies like sand paper. As the orcs fled Harry ran to his sword. After sheathing it he turned to his trunk and shrunk it then secured it in his pocket.
Harry ran from the room deeper into the halls of Khazad-dum trying to evade his attackers. Eventually Harry made it to a room that held a large tomb surrounded by dead dwarfs. Some were warriors but others seemed to be record keepers. Having escaped for the time being, Harry moved over to read the script on the crypt. During his time with the dwarfs he had learned the writing of dwarfs incase he ever needed it in the future. The tomb read
BALIN SON OF FUNDIN
LORD OF MORIA
"Balin's dead?" Harry whispered in shock. He had sat and had dinner with the dwarf not more that half a year ago. "When did all this happen?" Harry spoke to himself in bewilderment.
One of the scribes was holding a large book to his chest as if trying to protect it. Carefully turning the aged dwarf over he pulled his still slightly warm hands from the pages and opened it himself to read.
Through the pages the events of the past six months became clear. Four months after his party had left, the miners had come across a giant chamber deep under the roots of the mountain. They never knew until too late that it was the prison for one of the most foul and ancient of beings ever to have been created by Sauron during his war with the elves in ages past and the land was still young. The Balrog had not spent his long years in captivity idly and used what magic it's creator gave to it and created his own force of goblins to do his bidding. Tunnels had been cut out of the rock leading deeper into the earth and spreading out through the mountain. As the dwarfs went to explore the cavern the Balrog struck along with the goblins and orcs who had allied themselves. The Balrog escaped its prison and it looked like until now the dwarfs had fought against it to the last man.
Harry replaced the book in the dead dwarf's arms.
'Well, let's hope we don't run into this Balrog thing. It doesn't sound like a pleasant sort of creature.' Harry thought to himself as he moved to a door leading out of the back of the room. He had never been this way before so he tried his best to find a way out. After a week of roaming the remains of the once great dwarf made halls, Harry finally found himself in a familiar hall. This time though it was much darker. As he bore witness to the signs of battle, he had been more and more worried of what he would run into in the mines. He had, at that time, remembered he owned an invisibility cloak and had used it often to avoid detection but never let an opportunity go by to kill an orc if he could get away with it. His bow worked perfectly for the stealthy hit and run attacks, as well as causing a great amount of chaos and confusion for his enemies. What worried him the most though were the giant scorch marks that were burned into the rock or the burned bodies of both dwarf and orc that littered those areas.
Sitting down to rest Harry started thinking about what he had been through the past few days. He was tired of being underground. He felt trapped and wanted to see the sun again. With those thoughts he cast a few wards around him then drifted off into a light slumber.
Harry was jerked into wakefulness as the ground under him shook. 'Boom' it shook again this time louder. Adrenaline pumping Harry quickly stood and drew his wand. The ground shook again then again and again. Each time closer and closer and coming from the direction he needed to be going in. Soon the darkness was being driven back and light from dozens of torches seemed to be coming his way. Harry hoped that it was a group of dwarfs trying to take back the mines.
The hope was dashed quickly as a monster strait out of hell entered the hall. It was made of fire and shaped vaguely humanoid. Its feet looked like hoofed clubs, huge arms with giant claws for hands. Fiery wings jutted from its back an huge burning horns wrapped from the top of it's head to just in front of his mouth. Four titanic fangs jutted from the closed jaws.
"Ho…ly…Shit." Harry breathed out.
The creature's head whipped around at the sound of the noise. Spotting Harry it opened his mouth and roared. Harry noticed that even its throat was lined in fire. The Balrog reached around his hip and pulled out a flaming whip and started moving toward Harry.
Survival instincts kicked in and Harry started throwing spell after spell at the creature all the while ducking and shielding himself from the flaming whip. Finally getting pissed at not getting anywhere Harry circled his wand around his head and brought it down hard. A hissing molten quicksilver whip erupted from the wand tip. With a crack the whip lashed across the back and wing of the Balrog, cutting the majority of it off. Black blood spilled and boiled on the floor as the creature roared with fury. Another crack and the flaming whip fell from the bleeding hand. Another and another. The Balrog cried in pain as Harry used the only weapon he could get to work so far against the beast. With one last whip the beast fell to the floor as Harry severed the tendons around the things knees.
Dispelling the whip he quickly flicked the wand. Water poured from the tip like a fire hose, drenching the creature. Again it roared with inept fury but was far too injured to do anything at that point. The water dispelled the flames and left a black slimy creature in its wake. It had multiple deep lacerations in its tough skin from where the quicksilver whip had come in contact. Another sharp flick of the wand and metal cords bound themselves around the injured creature. The bellowing was controlled by a quick silencing charm to the mouth.
"Well that wasn't too hard." Harry said to anyone listening. He looked himself over and noticed a few smoking marks that wrapped around his duster. 'Good thing dragon hide is immune to fire' he thought as he checked himself for any more damage. "Thank God for magic though. I can see why you gave the dwarfs such a hard time." The creature only looked at him with blazing fury in its eyes.
"You know you might make a good addition to my staff." Looking the creature over, Harry eventually cut the horns from the creatures head and pulled the four jutting fangs. He also bottled a large amount of the blood still seeping from the many wounds into a good amount of spelled vials. Harry doubted the blood would be good for his staff but it might make a great potions ingredient. He also took some of the slime to run tests on. If he was right the stuff was probably like napalm that the muggles used back in his own world. It could be a useful weapon.
After taking what he wanted Harry left the creature where it was. If some of the things he had gotten from it were as good as he believed he would have to come back and get more. With that he left the mines of Moria and set out back into the world.
The years passed quickly for the wizard and Harry sought any type of training he could get. He had run across a man who called himself a ranger while was making his way to the shire to see what a hobbit looked like and ended up traveling and fighting many dark creatures together. Along the way the two became friends.
Aragorn had spent many months with him helping his sword technique in exchange for his services. The two got along famously together as both were quite modest with their talents. Eventually Harry confided in Aragorn about his magical abilities after they had been attacked by wargs that were ridden by orcs. That night Harry set up a blood ward and by the morning dozens of wolfs and riders were dead after trying to cross. Aragorn only looked at Harry in amazement. Never in all the old stories of Elrond had he ever heard of a wizard being able to manipulate his magic as Harry could. Still after much urging to go with him to the elves he agreed to keep Harry's secret but reserved the right to call on him and break that secret if the time was dire. Agreeing the two spent years searching and exploring Middle Earth.
Sometime in Harry's tenth year in Middle Earth, he, Aragorn and a wizarding friend Gandalf the Gray, were traveling the borders of Lothlorien when for the first time since he had come to this world he felt a probing on his mind. Panicking Harry threw his crude mental shield up. Luckily they were far enough away that the probe was extremely weak.
"Who lives in these woods?" Harry questioned his fellow riders as he gazed deeply into the dense forest below them.
"This is the wood of Lothlorien. Home of Celeborn and Galadriel, king and queen of the elves in this area." Answered Gandalf. "Why do you ask?" He was curious of the lad. They had been traveling together for a year now in search for Gollum to try to find some information about the One Ring from the vile creature and he had noticed the whispered conversations between his old friend and his new one.
Stopping the tan mare Harry looked at the two. "Can't you feel it. The push on your minds. Someone is trying to invade our minds and the source is coming from that direction."
"I have always had such strange feelings as passed these lands. Like a presence watching my movements. Is this what you speak of?" Asked Aragorn looking worried.
"Yes, do you know anything about it Gandalf?"
"I do but tell me how a mortal not even of the race of Dunedain could feel that presence. To my knowledge only those of long lived men, elf or wizard are able to understand what the Witch Queen does as she watches her lands."
Harry and Aragorn looked at each other, the later giving the former a significant look. "You can trust Gandalf Harry. He has been my friend for many years since even my childhood long ago. I do not believe him to be as meddlesome as your Dumbledore or a spy of any kind."
"Of course not!" Replied an indignant Gandalf. "Spy!" The gray mage harrumphed. "I ought to lace you to one of my fireworks and send you beyond the clouds for such a thing."
"Fear not my old friend." Aragorn laughed. "Our young Harry has many secrets, some of which he has shared with me. Secrets that could end or even start wars for his services."
"Really now?" Gandalf gazed deeply at Harry. "I would hope that after a year of traveling and fighting together you would come to trust me."
"It's not that Gandalf. I do count you as one of my closest friends here. It's just what I have to keep secret is that for a very good reason."
"Alright," Harry continued. "What would you say if I told you that I have fought a Balrog by myself and defeated it without sustaining any injuries myself?"
"Impossible." The old magician replied with certainty. "They were some of the most powerful abominations ever created by Morgoth and Sauron and I have seen even countless elves fall at one's hand."
"Let's head away from the probing of the Witch then I will tell you some of my tale." Harry cast a murderous gaze as he felt the legilimancy attack focus on him and push harder trying to get past his defenses. With a mental push he grabbed the attack and forcefully ejected it from his mind, slamming it back into the caster's.
"Lady Galadriel is not our enemy my young friend." Gandalf laid a hand on his shoulder to draw his attention away from the wood.
"I don't consider any one a friend who forcefully tires to break into my mind to see my thoughts. They are mine and mine alone unless I give that person access." Harry replied heatedly. He took a deep breath as the old mage looked at him worriedly. "You will understand better after I tell you my tale. I am not mad you. You need not worry."
Later that night and a good few miles further from Lothlorien Harry sat across a good camp fire contemplating what he would tell Gandalf.
"Well now that we have eaten our fill why don't you start young Harry." Gandalf prompted after quite a few minutes of waiting.
"Well first let me show you how wrong you were earlier." Harry gave a cheeky smirk to the elder mage. It had been rare that he had been able to correct Gandalf instead of being the one to be corrected.
From the black duster, that had acquired a few more slight scratches but nothing had been able to penetrate it so far. That combined with his dwarven armor had kept him safe all those years, he pulled his shrunken trunk. Placing a finger on top of it and pushing his activating the charm the trunk expanded.
"By all the gods." Gandalf said in awe of the site. "You are a wizard?"
"Yea, but that's beside the point." Harry's smirk widened at the dumb struck look on the old man's face. "This is my trunk. A good friend of mine back home helped me make it." Harry went on to show the compartments and how they expanded, further awing the elder.
When Harry reached the ingredient portion of his trunk Harry started routing around trying to find the pieces of the Balrog he had chopped off. As he leaned his entire top half of his body into the space, using one hand to keep from falling in, Aragorn laughed. It was followed by Gandalf. It wasn't every day one could see a site as such when on the outside it should seem impossible.
Finally Harry pulled out the jars that held the two horns and another with some of the slime and blood. He handed them to Gandalf. "Be careful with that clear one and the black one. After the fight I took the horns obviously but I also took some of it's blood, that's the black one. The clear is some sort of secretion that covered it's body. I've been doing some test with it the past couple of years and found it to be extremely flammable. As a matter of fact if I were to through this little bottle into the fire it would incinerate everything in a ten foot radius."
Harry then told Gandalf a small bit about himself, from the time of his childhood (minus much to do with the Dursleys) to the present leaving out things he wished to be kept secret like his mithril armor. Harry explained that the things in his trunk were for a staff he wanted to fashion when he though he understood magic enough to use it.
That was something that bothered him. After reading everything he could in his multi-books on staff making he found that in addition to the casting being done by intent and vision but it required an understanding of magic that perhaps only Dumbledore had known during his time. After that Harry concentrated on studying theory and anything he could from the books to help him understand more about magic in general and how it is used and what it is. Doing this was helping in other ways as well. Before when had fought the Balrog he had to still say the incantation he wanted for the magic to work. He had come to understand the magic enough to be able to only perform basic wand movements to instigate the effect, for instance a jab, flick or swipe of his wand. Now however he was able bend the magic to his intentions without incanting. It was difficult and one had to have a through understanding of what magic was and how it was used to do it but it was the last step before he could effectively use a staff.
Harry spent hours telling the two of his world and the battles he fought in. He explained Voldemort and what he had deduced from the final curse he had used. They spent even more time debating if they actually created a universe or if it just somehow created a gate to another world or reality coming to no real conclusion.
That night Harry stayed awake, eating one of the elf packed meals in his trunk to keep him from tiring. He read through the night trying to find something to help him with his much neglected occlumency training. Before he left it had been a major issue as he realized how easy a legilimancer like Riddle could predict his spells and moves. When he arrived in Middle Earth he had forgotten almost all about it after a few weeks of practicing. The attempted intrusion from the Witch of Lothlorien, Harry again felt the familiar vulnerability he hadn't felt for years and he didn't like it one bit. He had spent years in this world making sure he was the one in control of situations and could take care of himself. He would no allow some wanna be spell caster to enter his head.
In the early pre-dawn morning Harry sat reading Godric's journal for any hints on where he might start his search. The journal had been a wealth of knowledge be since he had found it and he swore he had read something about when the Founders were studying the mind arts but he couldn't remember what it was.
…We have finished the castle today and I must say it is a marvelous sight. The plans that our Mentor provided us worked out better than any of us expected. The amount of magic used seems to have brought the castle into it's own since of awareness and I can only think that it will increase as time goes on and more magic is used in the school. The one part I will remember most was when Mentor created a magical room that could respond to the request of the person inside. Magic was used in a way that I have never seen before in the making and it was amazing to watch.
Rowena has been spending a lot of time with him, as I believe she has a crush, but was able to tell us one of the reason Mentor was able to use magic the way he could was because of his study in mind arts. It has taken all four of us many months to determine what these "mind arts" are. Apparently there are two types of magic that can be done with just one's mind if they are skilled enough. Occlumency and Legilimency are the arts of shielding your mind from outside influences, occlumency, and using your mind to influence and see into other's minds, legilimency.
For some reason all of us feared asking Mentor what the arts were. I don't understand why we were so reluctant. He has never intentionally held information from us before even when we talked about the vile form of magic used in horcruxes. It seems though that through the use of occlumency it sorts memories into quickly accessible ways therefore having the included side effect of an almost perfect memory even from events that happened in childhood. This is in addition to building a 'wall' around your mind to keep out unwanted guests. The legilimency helps with casting magic because it helps the user feel what it is like to push magic to do your bidding. Mentor told us this is why he can no longer use a wand and only a staff, because the force of his magic is just too great and is bottled by the wand keeping him from his full potential…
…Mentor has told us there are two ways of learning these arts. The best way is just like learning any other magic, time and practice. This is the path my friends and I had chosen until now. It has been six months and we all have formed week mental shields and have sorted some of our memories but we are quickly becoming frustrated. Therefore we have decided together to talk to Mentor in the morning and ask him to help us with the second way of learning the mind arts, a ritual, which he has informed us he did to gain proficiency…
…We just finished our talk and I am both excited and worried at the same time. Mentor told us it was probably the most painful ritual he has ever accomplished and that is saying much since we are aware of the rituals he has performed to gain his power. Still the benefits seem to out weigh the negatives. The ritual is as follows. To anyone reading this please follow my Mentor's instructions of studying the ritual for at least two months before attempting. It is suppose to be much more difficult than it seems. We Founders have agreed to study it for six months before we try it…
…Six months have come and gone while we four have put our utmost into our preparations for this ritual. It has been much harder than I could have ever imagined. Tomorrow I under go the ritual and I will list my results here if I can. The more I learn of the consequences the less appealing the gain seems…
…It is six weeks since my last entry and the ritual worked like it was suppose to. I don't know a way to explain the pain of my memories being forced on me and rearranged inside my head. I can't describe the pain of the burrowing of the magical channels through my head as the legilimency probes formed and I don't know how to explain the pain I was in having a wall forcefully built around my mind. It felt of evil magic that violated my own mind but only for a short time. The presence is gone now but I understand the reason Mentor wouldn't want us to choose this path.
It was light outside when Harry finished reading the entries and how the ritual was done and he vowed to himself he would study it as long as Godric did and take his word to heart. Though he still felt he needed to do it. If the Founders couldn't do much in six months it would take him forever. And he didn't have that long.
The next day the trio set off in their search once again passing mile after mile with no sight of the creature known as Gollum. To help easy the weary journey Gandalf asked Harry what he could do with magic.
"I am able to do many things. With my magic I can do deeds that would go down in history either for good or for evil. Magic in general, even yours, I believe, is based on the intent of the user. I know curses that could bring down the tops of mountain and others that could heal a sword wound. I have used a curse that turned a person's blood to acid which ate him from the inside out to save an alley full of innocents. I have created a bomb that blew up hundreds of magical creatures to save my friends and me. Many in my world would classify me as evil or at least a dark wizard for using those. I have done many things that I can only justify as for the greater good. They weigh on my soul but I'm not sorry. They kept me and my friends alive."
"I see." Gandalf sat pensive on his horse as the day passed. He had never told Aragorn some of the more evil things he had done.
After an hour of speechless riding Aragorn spoke up. "Why, Harry, do you sound so defeated when you talk of your home world?"
After contemplating the question he answered. "You have to understand in my world I'm famous. Everyone in the country knows me and wants to know about me. I imagine it would be how a king felt when he milled about his subjects. The eyes of the entire world were constantly on me for something I don't even remember and if what Dumbledore and I think happed really did then I had very little do with it. A curse that kills any human on contact struck my head. And for the first time in recorded history it rebounded on the caster taking his body. I was hailed as the Boy-Who-Lived. Since then it's only gotten worse. Then I found out that a prophesy was made. It said I was the only person who could kill Voldemort. Me, an eighteen year old boy. I am the only person on earth capable of killing a wizard so terrifying and powerful that people fear to speak his name."
"I told you about Hogwarts and how it is a school that trains young wizards and witches like myself and how Dumbledore was killed by one of our teachers. After that though I hid away with my three dearest friends. We were closer than mere brother and sister. For over a year we studied in seclusion, training for the war that had already started. Voldemort had taken measures to keep him in the mortal plane and before we were even going to have a chance to kill him we needed to destroy them first. Any way we did a lot of rituals to improve ourselves. Some were light, others darker but we hadn't done anything evil yet. But we did. We each did a ritual that could only be considered evil to strengthen us. To tell you the truth, I am not sorry for it either."
Gandalf looked shrewdly at Harry every so often after the tale. Harry knew that he was trying to decide if he was a treat or not. Even though he had not told them what he had done, Gandalf was a skilled enough magic user to guess what had been done. As they bedded down that night Aragorn turned to Harry. "I am sorry that one as young as you had to take such drastic means to merely survive and I am sorry if my question overstepped or friendship. I too know the feeling of having people's lives on my shoulders. I would think that I too would take all the steps I needed to keep my friends out of danger. Goodnight my friend and try not to let the weight of your heart bother you."
Harry nodded happy to know that so far his best friend in this world didn't think anything less of him. The sight of Gandalf's judging look took away all the comfort. He made a vow that he wouldn't tell anyone else what he had done. He hated being judged by those who couldn't know what he had to go through.
The next few days they rode and Harry showed Gandalf some of his spells. He never showed any of the more powerful ones or those that could cause a lot of destruction. He had a feeling the old wizard was using the show as a possible way to judge how much of a threat he really was.
After another six nights of reading and studying the journal and the mind art ritual Harry was ready to just leave. Gandalf had not warmed to him but on the contrary seemed to grow even colder. So as they camped the next night Harry turned to Aragorn and smiled sadly. He had traveled with his friend for many days and nights. It would be hard leaving him but he needed to get away from Gandalf. He turned to the old mage and spoke.
"I know you think of me as an enemy Gandalf but you couldn't be further from the truth. I may have used dark mean to achieve my ends but I never used innocents and I have always fought for truth, justice and those who were not able to defend themselves. I have never bowed to any man light or dark lord and have always trusted the good judgment and morals that my parents instilled in me for the fifteen months I was with them. Slight me if you will but know this, you will wish me your ally and friend when the worse comes. Good bye to you. And you my friend." He turned to Aragorn. "We have shared many adventures together and a better man I have never found. We might meet again before the end."
With that Harry apparated away with a soft 'pop'. The two men stared at the spot Harry had just disappeared from for a moment both shocked to see someone just vanish from a spot. After insuring Harry was really gone and it wasn't just a trick like Bilbo's ring Aragorn turned to Gandalf and let the old wizard have a piece of his mind.
Harry listened from behind a tree some distance away and chuckled. It did sound as though the old wizard was getting an ear full. As he took his broom from his trunk he berated himself yet again. He needed to stop trusting people so easily, especially when they couldn't understand the circumstances. Mounting his broom he rocketed in the sky and let his worries disappear. He loved flying and the trill and freedom it offered him. He knew the time was starting to draw close to when he would be needed every skill he had to save lives and so he really needed to get back to training.
He flew and flew until the sun was high the next day. He finally found a place that would be perfect for him. An abandoned home on the top of a hill covered in wild flowers. At the bottom of the hill ran a small river. It would be his home for however long it took to finish what he needed to do.
Over the next year Harry concentrated on the how and why of magic as well as studying the ritual. He had quickly learned that the potion he was to make was well beyond his ability to make at that time so he concentrated his effort in that area of study. It was much easier learning as he used his multi-book to start learning the art all over again. Slowly he started to become more proficient in the subtle science. He made very few potions having only a set supply of ingredients from home but made many of the potions that he though would help him.
Over the year Harry had magically dug into the rock beneath the house and set up a potions lab and a ritual chamber even deeper in the earth. The lab was lined ceiling to floor with his ingredients. In the four corners of the room near the ceiling hung four white magical lights that gave off plenty of light to work with and made it much easier to read and study in than with the dim lighting of torches. Vents had been cut back to the surface and the air magically circulated through the room. The places in his trunk that use to be filled with haphazardly strewn about ingredients now held orderly rows of vial after vial of potions that Harry though he might need at some time. Maybe not for himself but for someone else. The vials held everything from Dreamless Sleep potions to Blood Replenishing potions to a blank space.
He was now working on the last four potions he would need to make before he deemed himself worthy of making the potion needed for his ritual. He had already started the Felix Felicis. It was currently simmering in the corner behind a protective barrier of magic. It would have to simmer for another two months with some stirring involved at specific times. A timer was on the wall counting down to the next step which was written on a large piece of parchment stuck on the wall next to the timer. Check marks knocked off the steps already completed and the next step was magically magnified so it would be easy to view from the cauldron.
Beside it on another table was another simmering cauldron that was in its second week of brewing. Beside it were another sheet of parchment with directions and a timer also counting down. On the top of the parchment listed Veritaserum. It had a long shelf life and the full cauldron would last through all the interrogations he would ever need to do.
Another empty desk stood beside that. This had another timer which was at zero currently as it was still waiting for the potion to be placed there. The parchment had Wolfsbane listed on it and had a few checked steps. Harry was currently in front of a large table in the center of the room standing over a large silver cauldron adding his already carefully diced lacewing flies. He stirred it in an even rhythm until it turned from a yellow/green color to a more silver/white color. Nodding to himself he removed the silver ladle and check off a step on the parchment beside him. The parchment of the wall above the blank cauldron magically checked its self as well. After carefully moving the cauldron to the empty desk and setting a fire under it to the correct temperature then setting the protective shield he smiled and let out a deep breath.
The Wolfsbane had been the hardest potion to date due to the need to follow lunar cycles not only when getting the ingredients but also brewing the potion. The ingredients he had didn't state when they were picked and he wouldn't really trust some guy he didn't know anyway. Luckily during his travels he had found quite a few plants that had matched up with what he had in his own world. After tracking them down in Middle Earth had been a chore he had eventually found what he needed and procured it at the right time of month. It was lucky the potion only took fairly basic plant ingredients. He had been worried that he would have to track down some weird sort of animal. If that was the case he didn't think he would be able to practice the potion. As it stood now everything was correct according to the description given to him in the large leather and steel bound book still sitting on the large desk in the middle of the lab.
He had one more potion that he wanted to complete for his store and that one might be one of the most important. Polyjuice Potion was easier technically than the other three but it always brought back the good memories he had with his Ron, Hermione and even Ginny. After fifteen years of being separated from them he still missed them dearly and knew they were missing him. They each shared a bond that not even being separated by an entire dimension could break it.
As the months passed, he tended to the potions he was already brewing and bottled those he had finished. The Polyjuice and Wolfsbane finished in the same week. The silver Wolfsbane filled six bottles so that would take care of Remus for three months when he got back home. Since he was able to find the ingredients here in Middle Earth Harry decided that he would try to make the potion every month. He wanted to try to make it better but knew that he didn't have the knowledge that was needed.
Life passed lazily for Harry and if he had to admit it to himself he would say he was happy to be able to finally live a quiet life. He figured he had been in this new dimension for nineteen years now but when he looked in the mirror he didn't look like he had aged a more than a year at most. He hadn't grown any but had filled out his lean frame much more than before. His features were sharper and it looked like the last vestiges of boyhood had been stripped from his body. His eyes now held power and wisdom that few held. They glittered when happy but turned into a raging inferno when angry. His hair was still as messy as ever but he had come to like it. It was part of who he was and it gave him distinction among crowds. He was becoming more appreciative of his individuality now that he was growing older, at least in mental years if not physical.
Harry kept up a vigorous work schedule over the years he stayed in his little house. Running and swimming to keep him lean and to strengthen his muscles but not to bulk them up. He had started doing yoga after he found a book detailing the practice in his multi-book. After nearly three years of practice he was now extremely flexible and he had found it did wonders for calming his stressed mind, helping with his constant battle to learn occlumency the slow but less painful way. It seemed to be an exercise in futility it seemed. Harry figured that something must be blocking his progress and he figured it was his link to Voldemort. Probably helped along by Snape. After spending his morning practicing his physical work he would retreat into the house and start his studies.
He hunted when he needed to. He was loathed to used all the elf made dinners encase he needed them later when times where lean. He had traded with the people in the towns near by for grain and seeds. He now was the proud owner of a large garden. Thanks to a few potions and magic in general every plant was currently loaded with its assigned fruit and twice as large as any Harry had seen before. Each stalk of corn was ten feet tall with at least fifty, foot long, ears on it. The stalks of wheat and barley were as tall as Harry. It was the same with all the vegetables, tomatoes, pumpkins, watermelons, lettuce, squash, cabbage, nearly anything that could be planted was.
Harry had also kept up his exploring. He had met many people in his explorations. Many an elf he had befriended, same with dwarves, which many knew him if not of him. He had spent some weeks in the White City of Gondor and while there helped fight down a host of orcs who had tried to invade the city. He stayed away from using magic as he didn't want to alienate himself but still fought more bravely and deadly than the other soldiers beside perhaps Faramir and Boromir who were both sons of the Steward of Gondor and sat as ruler of the city until the rightful heir of Isiuldur returned to claim the throne. As it was Denethor, an old man, had sat in the high seat for his entire life and Harry personally thought he was an ass and reminded him a great deal of Fudge back home. He sincerely doubted that if the heir did come back to reclaim the throne he would refuse to give it up. The two brothers were quite different from their father however. Faramir was more of a scholar than a warrior. Smaller of stature but still skilled in battle. He and Harry spent many hours talking and laughing about one thing or another and Harry enjoyed talking to someone who he could bounce theories off of. Boromir was the apple of Denethor's eye. Tall, strong and handsome, he was exactly the picture of who you would think of as a king. He tended to act first then think but his amazing fighting ability kept him from harm most of the time. He and Harry had also spent hours together dueling and practicing and talking about things. Each night all three would usually get together and talk about the state of Middle Earth. It was from these that Harry learned much about the lore and history of the lands. They had all worried together at the growing cloud of darkness that was coming from the East behind a set of mountains that looked taller and sharper than anything Harry had seen before.
As Harry left he tried to get into the land known as Mordor but his every attempt was stymied. He could see in the distance thousands of orcs building a hideous tower under the watchful gaze of some kind of fiery eye. The menevalent power he could feel even from his distance told the raven hair wizard it was an extraordinarily powerful dark lord and without a body he wasn't even at his full power. It also seemed that some kind of ward he had never seen or heard of was placed over the land. Try as he might he couldn't get in. He left for his home far away from the Eye knowing he had to hurry. War was coming to Middle Earth and he knew that he would be in the middle of it. He was never able to just walk away from things such as this to save his own skin.
In the winter of his nineteenth year Harry was finally ready to take the Mind Art potion. From his studies he found that it was some kind of knowledge transfer and summoning ritual. That worried him as he had no clue what he could be summoning but he figured that all five of the Founders had done it so at least he could.
Outside the ground was covered in layers of snow. A large bare patch could be seen where once was a thriving garden. Inside the little house it was warm with a cherry fire burning. Down a set of steps lead a tunnel that went deep in the earth. Small red balls of light illuminated the passage. A large, thick wooden door stood open to what was a potions lab. Harry walked further down the stairs carrying a small cauldron of a bubbling blackish red liquid. As he reached the final step he tapped the wall with his wand and a large slab of stone slid quietly out of the way and allowed him entrance.
He immediately set to work using the concoction in the cauldron to draw runes on specific spots on the walls. Each corner had a large torch giving light to the room. A stunned and bound orc lay on the floor. Time passed as Harry prepared the room to the requirements. When he finished he drew shapes around his head, which was now bald, with the last of the potion. Setting the cauldron aside he took four large beakers of blood, Harry's blood, and poured each one over the fire of the torches in the room. As he did, instead of banking the flames, the fire turned a bloody red. Placing the glass beakers in the cauldron Harry moved to the center of the room and picked up a crystal dagger he had made for this ritual. He knelt down in the exact center of the room and started chanting. Even though he was attempting to speak normally the sound coming from his mouth could only be described as demonic. The orc, who had waken at some point in the preparations, thrashed wildly trying to escape, scarred more than it had ever been in its miserable life. Holding the dagger point down by both hands above his head Harry chanted the last of his incantation and drove the dagger down into the heart of the orc. The blood of his sacrifice spilled onto the floor and flowed to each of the runes Harry had drawn earlier on the wall and himself. Blood red fire from the torches lashed about setting the bloody runes on fire that kept growing and growing until it slammed into the runes around the wizard's head. Harry closed his eyes and screamed as the fire burned into his mind.
The pain stopped suddenly and Harry opened his eyes.
A/N: Wow it feels like it's been so long since I've posted anything. I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year no matter where you live. I certainly had a great holiday season. But now back to the grind stone so to speak.
If anyone is looking for something to ease the wait time between posts look into reading David Eddings books. I received the Belgariad and Malloreon series recently and found I have loved them. When this is over you can expect a crossover with that world. It really is the perfect world for a Harry Potter crossover.
Every Thanks again to vampgoddesss, formerly vampireladyateres, for her wonderful Beta job. Without her hard work I would be posting… Let's just say THANK YOU.