Part 4 of More to The Story. It's about a family that are the key-holders and Gatekeepers between our world/Wizarding World and Middle Earth. Adventure, friendships, and love. Part 4 picks up after the final battle of The Battle of the Five Armies, with equal parts of books and movies with the crossovers. OC's and real characters.
Everyone is together, dwarves, humans, elves, witches, and wizards, either in Dale or in Erébor. However, Jordan's curse has finally take over and she has the hardest choice she will ever have to make: love for the dwarf she would spend the rest of her life with, or the life of her brother who is counting on her to rescue him.
I do not own anything from the Hobbit or Harry Potter; only the OC's and their story. All Harry Potter/Hobbit references and characters belong to J.K. Rowling, J. R. R. Tolkien, and Peter Jackson.
Chapter 3At the highest peak of the mountain, Fili sat on the lookout wall. He had come up here to get away from everyone and all the noise. His ears were popping from the altitude. The cold and wind bit his skin, freezing his tears on his cheeks. His heart was broken and his dream, his whole world, was falling apart. He was exhausted, drained physical, mentally, and emotionally. How much more could he take? His mind would not stop racing in every direction, trying to find a solution or connect the dots to make better sense of it all.
Jordan had disappeared behind a gate and must have returned to her own world. The Gatekeeper family had split again. Priscilla and Karah went to Dale to try to inform Bard what was happening, locate their belongings and find another key. Ruben and Jeremy stayed at the spot the gate would be made to keep watch. When he saw the family start to plan, their next move, Fili asked Kili to come fetch him when they were ready so he may join them. Right now, however, he needed some time alone.
He clutched the small potion bottle and the letter tightly in his hand, afraid to read it. He knew the only way to find out what was inside was to open the envelope. It took him a few tries as his hand would not stop shaking. Tears were blinding him and he had to dry his eyes many times in order to see what he was doing.
Fili,
I don't have the words to say how sorry I am for all the trouble I have caused you. There is nothing I can say that will change the past, but there is something else I can do for the future. You may recognize this bottle, it contains the Forgetfulness Potion. I added my DNA, and by drinking it, you will forget the feelings you had for me, our memories, and my whole existence. You gave me the best gift of knowing you and I have cherished and treasured it. I love you and I wanted to say, yes, I would marry you. But circumstances and my choices will have made that impossible. To be honest, I've doubted my survival since I left home. And by the time you read this, I'll either be dead or captured. Probably dead. I intended to make my tormenter pay for what he did to me and my family. My gift to you is a new and brighter future. Forget me, and take care of your people. I know you will be an amazing king.
-Jordan.
He slumped to his knees on the ground and wept. He clutched the letter to his face, feeling his nails scratching his skin as he bawled. He didn't care, the pain gave him some form of release of the agony in his heart. His whole body shook. Sweat beaded on his forehead and in his palms. He knelt there so long he could no longer feel his limbs. Will he really never see her again? Was she really dead? Gone from his life until he died too?
A loud thud of something big landing on the ground next to him snapped his blurry eyes up from the letter. He could not make out what this thing was, only that it was moving and moaning. Fili dried his eyes completely and saw it was a man. His wild long hair covered his scruffy face. His clothes were similar to Jordan and Karah's: foreign, casual, not enough clothing to keep him warm for the winter. It took him a few moments to sit up, his face looked pale green as if he was about to vomit.
Fili stumbled back, struggling to get to his feet and find a weapon. Many of them were removed when he was recovering in the infirmary. He would have to settle for his fists to defend himself if the need arose. "Who are you? Where did you come from? How did you get here?"
The man moaned again and rolled away dry-heaving. The clanking of wood and metal bounced off the rock, a magic wand and a key teetered out of reach.
Fili finally calmed down enough to realize he should be used to people just popping up out of thin air. When the man rolled on his back again and his breathing was normal, he asked. "Are you a Gatekeeper?"
The man nodded, "yeah. My name is Blair. Do you know my family?"
Fili could not believe it! She did it! Jordan freed her brother! "Yes. They're here!"
"Can you take me to them? Or to someone named Fili?" Blair looked at him, his eyes glassy, sweaty skin, and weak composure.
"I'm Fili. Let's get you to the infirmary first, then I'll summon your family." Fili offered him a hand, "can you stand?"
"Just a second. I don't feel good." Blair tried to control his breathing so he could sit up. "When I came through the gate, my sister activated a portkey. It's the worst way to travel, if you ask me." He found the wand and key, and stuffed them in his pocket.
When Blair accepted the help, Fili could not hold his next question back any longer. "Where is Jordan? Is she alive?"
"Back home. When the gate cleared, she pushed me through it and closed it behind me."
"Can we get back there?"
"Yes, but we will need help. Milhauke has an army waiting. "We need numbers and magic."
"That won't take long."
"Good." Blair nodded and followed Fili inside the mountain door. "Wait! I think I'm going to throw up again."
It took them a long time to get to the infirmary. Blair had to stop many times to rest. He briefly explained everything that had happened while in being held prisoner. Promising to further explain when his family got there. As he just didn't have the energy to tell the long story and walk at the same time.
The quarantine restriction had been lifted and there was still a line of dwarves waiting to be seen by the healers. Fili did not want to make them suffer and wait longer, so he brought Blair straight back to the apartment Nicole and the children were occupying. He asked Sarril to send someone to find his uncle and brother, and bring them to the apartment.
Knocking on the door, Fili had to help keep Blair propped up while he leaned against the wall. "Nicole? René? Gage? Anyone there?"
René came to the door and shrieked, "Blair! Mama, come look! It's Blair!" She hugged the taller man around his waist.
Nicole arrived and nearly dropped the full cauldron she was carrying. "Merlin's beard! Mum! Mum! I need your help!" She set the potion on the floor and rushed to her cousin's side.
Alicia rushed out of the same room and immediately started crying and hugging him. "Oh my god, Blair!"
"He needs to lay down before he passes out," Fili explained.
They all hovered over him as they made him lay down on the couch, which was the closest place. He settled in and asked for some water. Fili went to the kitchen and found a clean glass and filled it. When he handed it to him, he saw a familiar object around Blair's red and swollen wrist.
"Where did you get that bracelet?" Fili asked him.
"It's a portkey," Blair explained. "Jordan gave it to me and charmed it to go off when she pushed me through the gate."
Alicia was astonished, "Jordan made a portkey? That's very advanced magic! I didn't know she could do that."
"There is a lot about Jordan we don't know." Nicole stated sadly. "Where is she, Blair?"
"She's back at home. She forced me to take her wand when we escaped. We hid in the forest behind our house so we could open the gate. But they found us. She set off the portkey, pushed me through the gate, then threw the key at me to close it. She didn't want Milhauke or his army getting in to Middle Earth."
The witches could hardly contain their joy that Blair was alive and back with them. It was a dream come true. He promised to tell them everything when everyone else got there, as he was quickly draining the little energy he had left. Alicia insisted he try to sleep and they would wake him when the rest of the family arrived. Only he refused because he was worried it would take an act of God to wake him again.
Fili just stood in the apartment, lost in everything going on. He was losing hope Jordan would be alive, if they were even able to find her. He needed to do something. The waiting was killing him more than any orc blade. He was about to leave the apartment when he walked right into his uncle and brother.
Thorin grabbed his oldest nephew from falling over, "are you alright? What's going on?"
Fili rubbed his face, "Jordan's brother, Blair, is here. He appeared out of thin air at the top peak where I was sitting."
"I thought her brother was dead?" Kili asked.
"That's what we were supposed to think," Fili clarified.
Thorin remembered what the elves said, "that dark wizard who cursed her when she was a child, he used her brother to blackmail her to get the book."
"Is she still alive?" Kili hoped for her and his brother's sake.
"We don't know." Fili replied, then handed him the letter. "She wrote me this, and left me a potion."
Kili and Thorin read the letter and their hearts fell. It was hard to not assume the worst, so they clung to the thin shred of hope all was not lost. Thorin was already forming a plan of action to do what they could and help the family retrieve Jordan from their world.
They did not have to wait long for the Gatekeepers to arrive. Thorin ordered the guard to allow the Gatekeepers freedom to come and go as they pleased. Alicia sent a patronus to her husband and in laws, begging them to come quickly. They were followed by the company of dwarves, Bilbo, Gandalf, Galadriel, Celeborn, Elrond, and Thranduil. Thorin was about to suggest they move to the throne room, as the small apartment was jam packed with people. Until he remembered the state of Blair. He should not be forced to move in his weekend health.
Blair told everyone everything, starting with what he learned from Milhauke cursing Jordan at his grandparents' party. "She witnessed him stealing a key. He cursed her, and summoned the orcs to raid the party. It made a diversion for him to escape to our world and everyone thought the orcs kidnapped him. A few months ago, he showed up at our house looking for Jordan. He and his lacky tortured mom and dad to try to find her, then I showed up and they tortured me too. She was on tour with her band and wasn't due home for a couple more months. When she turned up suddenly, he killed mom and dad, and was going to kill me too, but Jordan begged him not to. She offered herself to save me. He took her bargain and cursed her again. He learned Legilimency from You Know Who."
Fili stood by his brother and uncle, and Bifur was next to him. They all seemed to bring some comfort to each other. "What is Legilimency?"
"And who's You Know Who?" Kili asked.
Priscilla's eyes went wide in fear and anger, "Voldemort is the evilest wizard of our world, a mass murderer bent on killing all muggle-borns. He wants to bring wizards out of hiding to rule over muggles. He wants to be the most power wizard in the world. Legilimency it's what you might call mind-reading, however it's much more complicated than that."
Ruben's surprised of discovering his former friend alive, and what he had done to his family started in a quiet and controlled rage, growing louder with each word he spoke. "And Milhauke somehow joined his ranks, killed my daughter and son in law, cursed and tortured my grandchildren, and threatened the lives of my remaining family. I will kill him! There will be nowhere he will be able to hide from me!"
Blair further explained, "he won't hide from you, Grandpa. He wanted to come here with his army. But I don't know if he can anymore. Jordan stole his key, and tossed it through the gate as it closed. Here, it's in my pocket." He handed the key over to his grandmother who was the closest to him. "He has an army of creatures that I don't really know what they are, some kind of over grown, illiterate, uglier version of a goblin. But that's not the worst of it, he also has many Inferi."
Thorin despairingly added, "and now he has the book written by Morgoth."
Balin stopped this worry right away, "he does not, You Majesty!" Everyone turned to him in shock. He held up a book for everyone to see the proof. "I went to the library to check on the hiding place. I was able to remove the book and saw the cover of what appears to be a children's book. Though the joy and life seem to have been sapped out of the pleasant pictures. Jordan tricked us all. She switched the bindings. The Dark Lord Morgoth's writings is still here in the mountain; the book she took and gave away is not his evil works."
"Let me see!" Priscilla asked carefully. "The Tales of Beedle the Bard."
"Don't open it, my lady, I beg you," Balin pleaded. "I already have and its dark energy will drain you. I was foolish to look on its pages alone and could feel it try to influence me in its evil ways. I only brought it as proof that Jordan did not betray us as she would have had us believe."
"Milhauke threatened her to get the book or he would kill us. While she traveled, he used legilimency to torture her many times as a reminder. And when he got really mad, or when he found out You Know Who was dead, he tortured me too." Blair continued with the story.
Priscilla's heart broke and the guilt ate at her. She was a terrible mother. She should have been able to protect her child, her baby girl. The fact that her daughter and son in law were murdered almost put her in her own grave. Add the death of her grandson nearly tipped the scale; had the discovery of her granddaughter not happened. She remained alive for the sake of Jordan and the rest of her family. They needed her. "Oh, you poor boy. I'm so sorry for leaving you behind. We all thought you were dead. We saw your body along with your mum and dad. And with Jordan's confirmation, we didn't question it. We only wanted to get her and the rest of the children to safety."
"That's what you were supposed to do, Grandma." Blair assured her. "I'll be okay. I promise. If you had known, Milhauke would have killed us all right then, including," His gaze fell on René and Gage but could not bring himself to say the sickening truth out loud.
"And the Dark Lord is really dead? Thank the Four Founders! One saving grace in all of this." Nicole noted, hugging her children tightly, wanting to get the attention off them or keep them from asking questions about what Blair was alluding too. "Did you say he has Inferi?"
"Yeah. I even recognized one of them. He worked at the local gas station." Blair shook his head to try to forget the memory.
Jeremy, Alicia, and Priscilla all went pale. The rest of the room waited for an explanation. Jeremy was the only one of them who actually met one. "They're dead bodies bewitched to do their creator's bidding. American Muggles would call them zombies, but that's not quite right either. They don't eat human flesh like the American zombie. Inferi don't eat at all, just destroy. They were created, not formed, and they don't think. They are incredibly dangerous, especially in the masses. But they can be defeated. They don't like light or heat. Just cutting them down isn't enough, they best way is fire. Witches and wizards can use the Firestorm spell."
Thranduil was disgusted by the picture he was seeing in his mind. "Your world sounds ghastly."
Elrond glanced at him then at the young man on the couch, still a boy in many ways, "Every world has forces of darkness that seek to destroy the light."
Fili's impatience was getting the better of him. "So, what do we do now? Jordan needs us, and I'm through with sitting around waiting for something to happen!"
Priscilla cautioned him to not act foolishly, "we need to prepare to fight."
Ruben agreed, "Milhauke wants to bring his army here. We should beat him at his own game and go back to the house while he is still stuck there. We could still prepare the valley with many fire pits to take down the Inferi. Just in case he's more prepared for us than we think. Blair, do you recall anything about the goblin creatures?"
"Just that they were nothing like the ones back home. These are unintelligent, uneducated, over-grown versions of the goblins we know. There's nothing magical about them. Nothing to worry about other than being strong, have claws, nasty sharp teeth, and are much taller, or of human height." Blair sighed. "He kept both kinds of creatures in large cages until Jordan arrived. Then he let the goblins out to track us in the woods behind the house."
"They sound like orcs." Gandalf identified.
Thorin rolled his eyes. "Here we go again."
"They're not capable of speech likes orcs." Blair added.
Ruben looked around the room, "I'll not ask any of you to fight for my family. This isn't your problem, but ours. It is our responsibility to protect the gates, and our mess to clean up."
Thranduil surprised everyone, "it is everyone's problem that a dark wizard intended to use ancient evil magic to do harm to the our world, any other world out there. Milhauke must be stopped."
Galadriel smiled proudly at the elf king. Looking to Ruben, "you have been a friend to all of us, and your family has guarded these gates for generations. You have helped others when they needed it. Now it's your turn to accept help, whether you've asked or not. We will help you in rescuing your granddaughter."
Thorin decided it was time for them to vacate the apartment. They needed to strategize and would need some room to do. Not to mention: Blair needed to rest, Nicole and Alicia were still brewing healing potions for the injured, and the children did not need to hear about another upcoming battle.
There was a conference hall nearby. Priscilla, Jeremy, and Karah magically cleaned and adjusted the room to accommodate the various races of people. Ruben could not help but be proud to finally witness dwarves, humans, elves, and even a hobbit, working together once again. They all sat around a large table, strategizing, dividing tasks. It took less than an hour and they were ready to execute their plans.
Balin insisted on returning the book to its hiding place before anyone else could get their hands on it. He asked for Ori to assist him so it would not try to temp him again. Karah asked if she could go as well. Thorin did not like the idea of another person knowing where it was kept.
"I can add more protective charms to the safe so it will not be so easily accessed." Karah explained. Kili massaged her shoulders, nodding his agreement. "Balin can be in charge of placing it, I will put the enchantments on it, and if anything goes wrong, Ori can be the voice of reason, or get help."
Thorin reluctantly agreed to this, then added, "please join us in the valley as soon as you are done. We will need everyone's help.
The party of three took off to the library. Ori recounted how he found Jordan there and how it broke his heart. He did not see where Jordan got the book from, and both he and Karah were surprised by the ingenious hiding place.
Balin breathed deeply many times before he held the book out, hesitantly taking small unthreatening steps towards a picture with a black dog. The dog started to snarl and show his teeth the closer he came.
"How did you get the book from the grim in the first place?" Karah asked, dumbfounded at Balin's approach.
"I found a piece of broken wood on the floor and threw it. The dog chased it for only a couple seconds before he realized what I was up to. I barely got my hand out of the picture in time. Surely if he could, that dog would have ripped it off." Balin was starting to sweat.
The snarling turned into attack mode. Grim would not be fooled by him again.
"Hold on, Balin." Ori stopped his mentor. "I think I have some dried meat I can give him. Maybe that will help." He reached into his coat and held up the food. "Are you hungry? Who's a good guard dog? You are, aren't you?" The dog began to snarl at him, but it lessened when he heard Ori's soft voice and smelled the food. He tossed the meat into the picture, right at the dog's feet. Grim sniffed it, then ate. This exchanged happened a couple times before Ori was able to hand the book to the dog. "Now be a good boy, hide this." Ori instructed.
Grim understood the command and ran out of sight in the picture. He was gone for a few minutes before he came back and sat, waiting for his treat. Ori handed him another piece of meat and praised the dog for his good work.
Karah was amazed by how well Ori handled the Grim. It was a particular omen that scared most wizards. Since it guarded one of the most dangerous and deadly artifacts in Middle Earth, it was quite fitting. "I'm surprised that this book is all that's here. I would have thought all dark artifacts would have been kept all locked up together."
Balin shook his head, "such dark and powerful magic cannot be locked away all in one place. Evil and hate feed off each other and only grows; they fester until it takes over everything good and pure. If it's kept isolated, it cannot corrupt anything else around it."
"I can understand that. What I don't understand is why didn't anyone ever just destroy that thing, rather than hiding it in the shadows?" Karah interrogated. "There will always be evil in every world, but this one could have been removed and prevented my cousin, my best friend, from being hurt. She was only a child when that greedy man cursed her. For what? This book? This inanimate object full of hate? And now she could be dead because of it."
"Lass, stop." Balin interrupted her. "You can't think like that."
Ori hugged her tightly, "don't give up, Karah."
Balin pulled a hanky out of his coat pocket. "Dry your eyes, lass. It's not too late. There is still work to be done."
Karah accepted the offering and dried her eyes. She promised herself, when this was all over, she would demand Thorin to let her find a way to destroy the book. Then they would never have to worry about it falling into innocent, or the wrong, hands. She needed to have full concentration for the Intruder, Security, Room Sealing spells, and the Imperturbable Charm. This sort of magic was always difficult for her to conjure. Balin pulled Ori back, who was standing in awe over the lights and the incantations. He wanted to learn everything he could and put it to memory so he could write it all down for record keeping. Balin would have to be sure Thorin rewarded her for her efforts to keep the mountain's secrets.
When she finished, they left the library and hurried to the main gate. The guards pointed them to where everyone else was working to prepare the valley. Much of the debris was cleared away, fire pits were stationed so the non-wizards would be able to stop the most dangerous threat. Once the gate was opened, Gandalf, Bilbo, and the company were going to lure the creatures back through the gate where the armies would wait to ambush them; the Gatekeepers would hunt Milhuake, his apprentice, and find Jordan. Fili demanded to stay with the Gatekeepers and Thorin did not have the heart to argue with him. There was no convincing Karah to stay behind like she did last time. Kili lost the argument when she pointed out she was more trained to fight the inferi than he was. He really caved when she asked him to stick with her and go to her world. He wanted to keep a close eye on her and see her where she grew up; he would take any opportunity to learn more about her. Alicia and Nicole stayed behind with the children, still making healing potions and helping the injured.
The valley was ready. Fires snapped and crackled in the pits. The smoke in the air made the group appear much more fierce and powerful. The army of all races stood ready to fight once more. They all watched as Ruben and Priscilla marked the place where the door would be, as calmly as they could put the key in the lock, and open the gate.