Disclaimer: I own the plot, though I apologize if it's been done before. Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, Lord of the Rings belongs to J.R.R. Tolkien.
There and Back Again
Chapter 6
Ata Hogwarts - Part B
By Jess S
"I can't believe this!"
Harry looked up from his breakfast to see Hermione glaring at the front page of the Daily Prophet, Ron seemed to be reading an article over her shoulder. "What is it?" he asked curiously, as he began adding strawberry jam to his already buttered toast.
After a moment, Hermione turned the paper around for him, and pointed at a heading. Which read:
Ministry Seeks Educational Reform
Dolores Umbridge Appointed First-Ever "High Inquisitor"
'That doesn't sound good...' Harry looked up at them, raising an eyebrow. "High Inquisitor?"
Hermione nodded, before beginning to read the article aloud, while Ron sat himself down and began helping himself to breakfast.
In a surprise move last night the Ministry of Magic passed new legislation giving itself an unprecedented level of control at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
"The Minister has been growing uneasy about goings-on at Hogwarts for some time," said Junior Assistant to the Minister, Percy Weasley. "He is now responding to concerns voiced by anxious parents, who feel the school may be moving in a direction they do not approve."
She stopped, to spare a glance at Ron, who'd emitted some type of growl at his older brother's name, before continuing.
This is not the first time in recent weeks Fudge has used new laws to effect improvements at the Wizarding school. As recently as August 30th Educational Decree Twenty-two was passed, to ensure that, in the event of the current headmaster being unable to provide a candidate for a teaching post, the Ministry should select an appropriate person.
"That's how Dolores Umbridge came to be appointed to the teaching staff at Hogwarts," said Weasley last night. "Dumbledore couldn't find anyone, so the Minister put in Umbridge and of course, she's been an immediate success---
"She's been a what?" the youngest Weasley brother demanded loudly, dropping his fork in the process as he turned to glare at the paper.
"Wait," Hermione told him grimly, "there's more."
---an immediate success, totally revolutionizing the teaching of Defense Against the Dark Arts and providing the Minister with on-the-grounds feedback about what's really happening at Hogwarts."
It is this last function that the Ministry has now formalized with the passing of Educational Decree Twenty-three, which creates the new position of 'Hogwarts High Inquisitor'.
"This is an exiting new phase in the Minister's plan to get to grips with what some are calling the 'falling standards' at Hogwarts," said Weasley. "The Inquisitor will have powers to inspect her fellow educators and make sure that they are coming up to scratch. Professor Umbridge has been offered this position in addition to her new teaching post, and we are delighted to say that she has accepted....
Hermione stopped reading, quite obviously frustrated as she looked around the table at all of the Gryffindors, who'd ended up listening in.
"Well," Harry sighed, "now we know how Umbridge managed to become the Defense teacher."
The others nodded.
"Fudge passed this 'Educational Decree' and forced her on us! And now he's given her the power to inspect other teachers!" Hermione was now breathing fast, and her eyes were bright with fury. "I can't believe this! It's outrageous...."
The others nodded in agreement.
"Well," Harry sighed, "come on. We don't want to be late if she's inspecting Binn's...."
Once again, only silent nods met the statement as the majority of the Gryffindor table rose to their feet, to head to their first class. As it turned out, though, Umbridge wasn't there to inspect History of Magic, nor was she in the dungeons, to inspect their Potions class as they were handed back their moonstone essays.
Harry wasn't entirely sure why Snape was watching him so closely when he came in, but that was only before he picked up his essay. It was very unusual for Harry Potter to get a good grade of any sort from the Potions Master, let alone an E. [I'd like to say thank you to everyone who corrected me on that! Thank you! ^_^]
It wasn't any wonder the Head of Slytherin was in such a bad mood...
The first thing he did, of course, was hurriedly placing the parchment in his bag, beyond his friends wandering eyes. 'I might want to try to do a little more poorly from now on...' He thought, 'If I remember correctly, this is the first time I've gotten above an A in Snape's class!'
~ * ~
Middle Earth - Mirkwood, June 20th, 3108 3A
It was in the great realm once known as the Green Wood, or Eryn Lasgalen, now known as Mirkwood, for the shadows that haunt it, where Gandalf had taken Gollum, after Aragorn's successful capture. For many years, Thranduil had little difficulty keeping the fiend imprisoned, as many Elven magic's, even those as simple as the spells woven into their ropes, weakened the creature.
Nonetheless, it was a clever thing, and had managed to escape, only to be caught again, more then once. It wasn't until this day that it was not recaptured. For Thranduil's kingdom had fallen under attack, giving the creature the perfect opportunity to escape, which it did.
They would later learn that the Dark Lord's forces had also attacked a city of Men, Osgiliath of Gondor. Which is primarily why this day, out of all days, is known as the day the War of the Ring has began.
~ * ~
Back on Earth - Hogsmeade, September 7th, 1995
"But Harry, it's awful crowded in here," Hermione objected for the (according to Ron) seventh time. "And students come here all the time! We'll be overheard!"
Harry shook his head, smiling slightly as he followed his two best (human) friends into a corner of the Three Broomsticks, a large group of students following behind them as they made their was over to the tables in the far corner, which happened to be empty.
When they reached the farthest table, as the others pulled two different ones over to it, he replied to her objection. "Think about it, Hermione. The noise is good, it means we're less likely to be overheard. And yes, students come here all the time. Therefore a gathering here is far less suspicious then a gathering at the Hog's Head..."
"Right!" Cho smiled at him as she sat down, "and besides, everything in the Hog's Head is simply filthy!"
"Yeah," her friend, another sixth year Ravenclaw-girl with curly strawberry-blonde hair (who didn't appear overly pleased with being here) agreed, "even the mugs they serve the butterbeer in! They don't even clean them!"
Harry raised an eyebrow at Hermione.
After a moment's thought, she sighed, "Well, all right..."
"Well," Harry looked at her, "you wanted everyone to be here, mind telling us why?"
"He doesn't know?" one of the other boy's there sounded incredulous.
Harry picked a boy, who he thought was called Terry Boot, out of the crowded table around them. "Know what?"
"Well," Hermione was blushing slightly now, "umm, you see...the thing is, Harry...remember the Defense thing you mentioned earlier? When we were on our way to Umbridge's class?"
"And you were complaining about the way she teaches?" Harry replied, then nodded. "Yes."
"Well...erm...well, I had this idea - that it might be good if people who really wanted to study Defense Against the Dark Arts - and I mean, really study it, you know, not the rubbish that Umbridge is doing with us," as Hermione continued, her voice began to become stronger and more confident, "because nobody could call that Defense Against the Dark Arts--"
"Hear, hear," said Anthony Goldstein, bringing his mug down on the table each time.
This seemed to hearten Hermione somewhat, and she smiled at him before continuing. "Well, I thought it would be good if we took matters into our own hands." She paused, looked sideways at Harry, before continuing at his nod. "And by that, I mean learning how to defend ourselves properly, not just in theory, but the real spells--"
"You want to pass your DADA O.W.L. too though, I bet?" Michael Conner interrupted, watching her closely.
"Of course I do," Hermione replied immediately, nodding. "But I want more than that, I want to be properly trained in Defense because...because..." here, she took a great breath, and then finished, "Because Lord Voldemort is back."
As one might expect, this immediately called forth some rather predictable reactions:
Cho's blonde friend shrieked and accidentally slopped butterbeer all over herself.
Terry Boot gave a, barely noticeable, almost involuntary, twitch.
Padma Patil shuddered while Neville gave an odd yelp, which he managed to turn into a cough at the last moment.
All of them, however, looked, rather eagerly, toward Harry.
"Well...that's the plan anyway," Hermione continued, before looking fully at Harry. "And I was hoping you'd be willing to teach us."
Harry raised an eyebrow, but at the same time he turned his attention inward, paying little mind the various pairs of eyes that were on him. 'It's a good idea.... And even if I hadn't gone to Middle Earth, and wasn't over two thousand years their senior, I'd still probably be the one they'd turn to, if only because of my so called 'experience'...' he suppressed a sigh, continuing to ignore the now anxious eyes sent his way. The longer he spent the more worried they became. They were, after all, true teenagers, and therefore relatively lacking in patience... 'It would also be easier on Violet, if she knew some of my friends, and some of the other people of my world... Some of them might even want to help with the war. The more, the better, as I'd hate to drag the Elves of this world into without showing any real effort on our side, and it's not like the Order of the Phoenix would really listen to me... Well, they would...eventually, but we might not have enough time to explain it, and even then,' now, he smirked inwardly. 'Who'd believe a fifteen-year-old? Especially with a story like mine?' Finally, he returned to the world of the waking, to meet twenty-seven anxious pairs of eyes with a gentle smile, 'And Hermione's right, they need to be ready...' "All right, I'll do it."
Hermione wasn't the only one who released a sigh of relief at this. A moment later, however, she smiled, looking around the table(s) as she continued, "If you want to join us, we need to decide how we're going to---"
"Where's the proof You-Know-Who's back?" the rather aggressive demand came from a blonde Hufflepuff off to Harry's right.
"Well," Hermione began, "Dumbledore believes it---"
"You mean, Dumbledore believes him," the blonde boy countered, nodding at Harry.
Ron glared at him, and demanded, rather rudely, "Who are you?"
"Zacharias Smith," the Hufflepuff replied, "and I think we've got the right to know exactly what makes him say that You-Know-Who's back."
"Look," Hermione intervened, rather snappishly, as this was obviously beginning to irk her, "that's really not what this meeting was supposed to be about---"
"It's okay, Hermione," Harry stopped her quietly.
It was rather obvious, so much so that he was surprised that he hadn't seen it before, why so many people were here. At least some of them, maybe even most of them, had evidently come hoping to hear Harry's story firsthand.
'Not that I could really help with that,' he thought, 'I barely remember it!' He shook his head, before meeting Zacharias's eyes, his own eyes several shades darker than they usually were. "You want to know why I think Voldemort's back?"
Several of the people present who knew him well (or thought they did) gave a start. They'd never heard him speak this way before, it was almost as though he was a completely different person. His voice seemed to be one that was used to being obeyed, making him seem completely in control of the situation, and therefore, much older than a fifteen-year-old wizard.
After a moment's pause, the blonde nodded, though he didn't appear nearly as demanding as before.
"I saw him." Harry continued, in the same quiet, measured tone. "But Dumbledore told the whole school what happened last year, and if you didn't believe him then, or believe me now, I don't have the time to waste trying to convince you." He raised a hand to forestall any protest, an action which mystified many of his friends, for, again, it was the action a leader would take, and while Harry had always been leader material, he'd never really wanted that control. "If you've come to hear exactly what it looks like when Voldemort murders someone, I can't help you." 'The Boy-Who-Lived' sighed, shaking his head slightly, almost sadly. "I don't want to talk about Cedric Diggory, all right? I, personally, feel he's been dragged out as a conversation topic far too many times, and it dishonors his memory. Considering the courage he showed that day, I won't allow that when I can prevent it. Understand?" He raised an eyebrow now, "So, if that's what you're here for, I suggest you clear out."
After several moments, in which no one rose to leave, Hermione continued, her voice rather high-pitched as she began. "So....So... like I was saying... if you want to learn some defense, then we need to work out how we're going to do it, how often we're going to meet, and where we're going to---"
"Is it true," a girl with long, plaited red hair down her back interrupted, looking at Harry, "that you can produce a Patronus?"
There was a murmur of interest around the group at this.
"Yes," Harry replied calmly, raising an eyebrow. "Why do you ask?"
"I heard some of the teachers talking about it during third year," the girl replied, "and my auntie told me it's really hard to make a corporeal Patronus! Can you make a corporeal Patronus?"
"Yes," the Gryffindor Prefect nodded again, now smiling softly. "It comes out as a stag."
"Blimey, Harry!" Lee jumped in, looking deeply impressed. "I never knew that!"
"Mum told Ron not to spread it around," Fred told him, grinning at Harry. "She said you got enough attention as it was."
Harry smiled slightly, shaking his head, "She's not wrong."
A couple of people laughed.
"And did you kill a basilisk with that sword in Dumbledore's office?" Terry Boot demanded. "That's what one of the portraits on the wall told me, when I was there last year...."
After a moments pause, in which Harry was struggling to remember how he'd killed the basilisk in his second year, he nodded. "Yes, I did."
Justin Flich-Fletchley whistled, while Lavender uttered a soft "wow", and (almost) everyone else (in their group) exchanged awe-struck looks.
"And in our first year," Neville jumped in, "he saved that Sorcerous Stone---"
"Sorcerer's," Hermione hissed.
"Yes, that, from You-Know-Who," Neville finished. [LOL...]
By now, Hannah Abbott's eyes were about as wide as Galleons.
"And that's not to mention," Cho began, smiling at him, "all the tasks he had to get through in the Tri-Wizard Tournament last year -- getting past dragons, merpeople, acromantulas, and whatnot...."
This called forth a general murmur of impressed agreement around the table.
Harry sighed, then began speaking. "Look, my past accomplishments are really that, past. And I had a lot of help on it. Yes, bits and pieces of it I did on my own, but--"
"Are you trying to weasel out of showing us any of that stuff?" Zacharias demanded.
"Here's an idea," Ron snapped at him, before Harry could reply, "why don't you shut your mouth?" he demanded, glaring at him.
Zacharias flushed, "Well, we've all turned up to learn from him, and now he's telling us he can't really do any of it!"
"That's not what he said," Fred snarled.
"Would you like us to clean out your ears for you?" George inquired, pulling a long, and rather lethal-looking, metal instrument from one of the Zonko's bags. [*snickers*, I love these two. ^_^]
"Or any part of your body, really," Fred put in, "we're not really fussy as to where we stick this."
"Yes, well," Hermione interrupted hastily, "moving on... the point is, are we agreed that we all want to take lessons from Harry?"
A general murmur of agreement was her response. Zacharias didn't say anything, choosing instead to fold his arms, though that may have been because he still had his eyes on the instrument in George's hand.
"Right," Hermione nodded, looking relieved by the fact that something had finally been agreed upon. "Well, then, the next question is how often do we do it. I really don't think there's and point in meeting less than once a week--"
"Hang on," Angelina cut in, "we need to make sure it doesn't interfere with our Quidditch practice."
"No," Cho agreed, "nor ours."
"Nor ours," Zacharias Smith put in.
"I'm sure we can find a night that suits everyone," Hermione replied, sounding a bit impatient. Then again, she'd never been overly fond of the sport. "But, you know, this is rather important, we're talking about learning to defend ourselves against V-Voldemort's Death Eaters---"
"Well said!" Ernie Macmillion barked, surprising Harry, who'd he'd been expecting to speak a long time before. "Personally, I think this is really important, possibly more important than anything else we'll do this year, even with our O.W.L.'s coming up!" He looked around, probably looking for objections, but continued when none came. "I, personally, am at a loss to see why the Ministry has foisted such a useless teacher upon us at this critical period. Obviously they are in denial about the return of You-Know-Who, but to give us a teacher who is trying to actively prevent us from using defensive spells--"
"We think that the reason Umbridge doesn't want us trained in Defense Against the Dark Arts," Hermione began, "is because she's got some... some mad idea that Dumbledore could use the students in the school as a kind of private army. She thinks he'd mobilize us against the Ministry."
Luna Lovegood, a girl with straggly, waist-length, dirty-blonde hair, very pale eyebrows, and protuberant eyes, which gave her a permanently surprised look, seemed to be the only person who wasn't absolutely stunned at this news. For she immediately piped up, "Well, that makes sense. After all, Cornelius Fudge had got his own private army."
Harry blinked, but before he could say anything Ron demanded, "What?"
"No, he hasn't," Hermione snapped.
"Yes, he has," Luna insisted, "he's got an army of heliopaths."
"What are heliopaths?" Neville asked, looking more than a little confused.
"They're spirits of fire," Luna replied. "Great tall flaming creatures that gallop across the ground burning everything in front of--"
"They don't exist, Neville," Hermione interrupted her, rather tartly. Harry only shook his head in amusement, as did many of the others.
"Oh yes they do!" Luna insisted angrily.
"I'm sorry, but where's the proof of that?" Hermione snapped.
"There are plenty of eyewitness accounts, just because you're so narrow-minded you need to have everything shoved under your nose before you---"
"Hem, hem," Ginny interrupted in such a good impression of Professor Umbridge that several people looked around in alarm, and then laughed. "Weren't we trying to decide how often we're going to meet and get Defense lessons?"
"Yes," Hermione replied immediately, "yes, we were, you're right...."
"Well, once a week sounds cool," Lee Jordan suggested.
"As long as---"
"Yes, yes, we know about Quidditch," Hermione cut her off, in a rather tense voice. "Well, the other thing to decide is where we're going to meet."
That...was easier said then done. The whole group fell silent for several minutes, thinking.
"What about the Library?" Katie Bell suggested, a little while later.
Harry shook his head, "Somehow, I don't think Madame Pince would take to kindly to that." As the others tried to decipher another location, he sighed, 'The sooner, the better...' "I know of the perfect place..." he looked at Hermione, "'Mione, out of curiosity, when was the last time you read Hogwarts, a History?"
Hermione blinked, "This last summer, why?"
Ron, and several others present, gaped at her, "Are you serious?"
"Yes, Ron," she rolled her eyes.
Their raven-haired friend shook his head again. "Did it say anything about the Room of Requirement?"
Hermione frowned, but after several moments of thinking, she shook her head. "No, it didn't...Why? What is it?"
Harry sighed, then shook his head again. "I'll explain that at the first meeting." He looked around at the group. "Tell you what, I'll have one of the house elves deliver a message to everyone who wants to come, giving you directions to the room, and the time of the meeting, some time in the next few days, ok?"
After a moment's consideration, everyone nodded.
"All right, then!" George said, rising.
"Are we done?" Fred asked, looking around.
"Wait!" Hermione was rummaging through her bag for something. A moment later, she placed a piece of parchment and a quill on the table. Then, she hesitated, almost as though she was steeling herself to say something.
Harry smiled. 'Trust Hermione to think of something like this... I wonder if it's a true Wizard's Contract, and if so, what consequences has she tied into it?'
"I-I," the brunette stopped, and took a deep breath, before continuing. "I think everybody should sign there name here, just so we know who was here. But I also think," she took a deep breath, "that we all ought to agree not to shout about what we're doing. So if you sign, you're agree no to tell Umbridge - or anybody else - what we're up to."
Fred reached for the piece of parchment and cheerfully put down his signature before passing it to his twin. But Harry wasn't surprised to see that several people looked less than happy at the prospect of putting their names on the list. Actually, he was a bit surprised that the twins would sign it so readily. After all, what most people here were worried about was the possibility of the list being discovered, thereby resulting in their expulsion. Fred and George Weasley, on the other hand, were far more likely to comprehend the likelihood of what this actually was, and that there were probably consequences to it. 'But,' he thought, 'then again, there are few people as averse in the face of authority as these two are, and Umbridge becomes more and more of a totalitarian each day...'
"Er..." Zacharias began slowly, making a rather conspicuous effort to avoid taking the parchment that George was trying to pass to him. "Well... I'm sure Ernie will tell me when the meeting is."
Ernie, however, didn't look anymore pleased with the idea of signing. When Hermione raised her eyebrows at him, he burst out, "I - well, we are prefects! And if this list was found... well, I mean to say... you said yourself, if Umbridge finds out..."
"You just said this group was the most important thing you'd do this year," Harry reminded him, careful to keep his voice and expression impartial.
"I - yes," Ernie nodded, "yes, I do believe that, it's just..."
"Ernie," Hermione began testily, "do you really think I'd leave this list lying around?"
"No. No, of course not," Ernie shook his head, looking slightly less anxious. "I - yes, of course I'll sign."
After that, no one raised any objections, although Harry noticed Cho's blonde friend gave her a rather reproachful look before adding her name.
Once the last person, Smith, had signed, Harry raised a hand as everyone began to rise. "A moment, please," he nodded toward the parchment that was now in Hermione's hand. "May I see that a moment, Mione?"
The brunette blinked, clearly surprised, but nonetheless, didn't hesitate to hand it over.
Harry then took out his wand, and murmured, "*celo'ab-rimari'coniveo*," before tapping the list with his wand and handing it back to Hermione.
"Wha-?"
"It's a concealer," Harry told them, "so only people who have signed the contract, can see anything on it. And you have to know what it is you're signing when you sign, otherwise, you still won't be able to see it."
And thus, it was with a much more relieved air that the group, which would later be known as the foundation for the DA, departed, with said members enlisted:
Harry Potter
Hermione Granger
Ron Weasley
Fred Weasley
George Weasley
Ernie Macmillion
Lavender Brown
Dean Thomas
Neville Longbottom
Parvati Patil
Padma Patil
Cho Chang
Marietta Snitch
Luna Lovegood
Katie Bell
Alicia Spinnet
Angelina Johnson
Colin Creevey
Dennis Creevey
Justin Flich-Fletchley
Hannah Abbott
Susan Bones
Anthony Goldstein
Michael Corner
Terry Boot
Ginny Weasley
Lee Jordan
Zacharias Smith
~ * ~
---- By Order Of ----
The High Inquisitor of Hogwarts
All student Organizations, Societies, Teams, Groups, and Clubs are henceforth disbanded.
An Organization, Society, Team, Group, or Club is hereby defined as a regular meeting of three or more students.
Permission to reform may be sought from the High Inquisitor (Professor Umbridge).
No student Organization, Society, Team, Group, or Club may exist without the knowledge and approval of the High Inquisitor.
Any student found to have formed, or to belong to, an Organization, Society, Team, Group, or Club that has not been approved by the High Inquisitor, will be expelled.
The above is in accordance with
Educational Decree Number Twenty-four
Signed:
Dolores Jane Umbridge
High Inquisitor
Harry shook his head as he made his way through a corridor on the seventh floor, that woman seemed to become more and more outrageous each day. He was quite certain, that if he was his fifteen-year-old self, she'd probably bother him a great deal more then she bothered him now, when he was technically two-thousand-one-hundred-and-fifty-nine years old. Although, if she got much worse than the notice she'd placed up this morning, he might not be able to say that...
It didn't matter though. All of them were fools, to not be regarded. The group would both meet together in the Room of Requirement, and all of them would meet Violet, and learn an edited version of his story, tonight...
He stopped when he came to a large tapestry that depicted Barnabas the Barmy being clubbed by trolls. Once there, he glanced at the wall opposite a moment, before stepping forward and reaching his hand out to seize the brass handle that suddenly appeared where he was reaching. The first time he'd wanted to enter this room, he had to pace back and forth along the wall three times, thinking about getting to the room she was in. She had done the same, in order to create the room(s), only she'd done so, primarily by thinking of Rivendell, which explained the architecture. Now though, the room(s) she was staying in was basically always there, and you really only needed to know that she was there, to enter.
As he quietly shut the door behind him, he looked over toward the balcony, and wasn't surprised to see the room's present, semi-permanent, inhabitant coming towards him. "Valina anduune, melda nin..." {Good evening...} he murmured, nodding in greeting.
Violet returned both the nod, and the smile, "Mae govannen, melda nin." {Welcome.} she offered a hand to him, which he accepted, and led him over to the balcony, which presently offered a dazzling view of the sun setting over the Forbidden Forest, it's reflection a spectacular show of color on the lake's surface. "Ta luu?" {It is time?}
"Uma," {Yes,} he replied softly, turning to watch her. The beauty and grace her people were blessed with never ceased to amaze him. He smiled as a gentle breeze caressed her pale, flawless skin before spiraling through her dark locks, bringing them slightly aloft, enough so for the dusk's slowly fading light to reveal the unusual, yet natural dark, glittering-purple highlights in her otherwise ebony-black, waist-length hair.
"Nwalya le na..." {You are worried...} she murmured softly, not questioning, simply acknowledging.
"Uma, na nin." {Yes, I am.} he agreed.
"Mankoi?" {Why?} The Elven lady now inquired, turning to face him, her concerned eyes the same shade as the dusk's darkest edge, the twilight, yet infinitely deeper. "Na e mellon lyaa. Mellon tana ilkenale ten enando. Mankoi maure kaure le en nyaryale isanda?" {They are your friends. Friends you missed for so long. Why should you now fear telling them the truth?}
Harry sighed, "Im ilhanya..." {I do not know...} he shook his head. "Intya nin... ilnyaryale ta ilen naikelea taare nyaryale." {I suppose... Not telling is easier than telling.}
"Illaa ta na," {Of course it is,} Violet replied, sliding around behind him and reaching up slightly to begin massaging his shoulders. "Dan taare uume kare ta vanima..." {But that doesn't make it right...}
"Laa," {No,} he agreed with a sigh, "ta uume." {it doesn't.} After several moments pause he turned his head slightly towards her. "Levoitre na hwinyale o olwen lyaa?" {Have you been practicing with your wand?}
"Illaa..." {Of course...}
~ * Flashback * ~
Harry smiled as he stepped onto Diagon Alley. That had to have been the only time he'd ever passed through the Leaky Cauldron without everyone else in there staring at him the entire time. He may not be able to perform magic with his wand over the summer, thanks to the Ministry's detectors, but that didn't prevent them from using Elven magic. And it wouldn't be a problem next summer. He fully intended to remove the spell from his wand over the course of the school year. That way, he wouldn't have to worry about it at all.
Of course, while he hadn't been stared at by the clientele, Violet certainly had been. She hadn't really noticed, but that wasn't overly surprising. As a general rule, Elves were incredibly beautiful, it was just part of their genetic make up. Furthermore, Violet had traveled to some places on Middle Earth with him, and the pub atmosphere usually lent itself to an audience.
"Ai, mammen ta iolwenn-kara?" {So, where is the wand-makers?} Violet asked, turning to smile at him. She wasn't the least bit disconcerted by the fact that her companion didn't really look much like he usually did. He was in disguise, which wasn't overly unusual. Usually, whenever he'd been in disguise during their travels, she had too, but not always.
The disguise was a relatively simple one. Aunt Petunia had managed to hide his scar with some Muggle-make-up, and they'd just used a hair growth potion to make his hair longer. They'd grown it out down to just past his shoulders, and then tied it back. His boots also had small heels, to make him a little taller, and his robes were much more elegant than Harry Potter would usually wear.
"Ta yallume ityelimalle." {It's at the end of the street.} Harry replied, keeping his voice an octave lower than usual.
The elf nodded, the only change in her appearance was a small, Elven glamour to disguise her ears. If anyone noticed the magic in that area, they'd probably just assume it was hiding an ear infection, or slightly-overlarge ears, which wasn't unusual in the Wizarding world.
After a short time, they reached the last, narrow and shabby shop. The letters that golden read Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 b.c. were still peeling, and the wand in the window was still gathering dust on the faded purple pillow.
Harry had to smile when they stepped inside to be greeted by the sound of a tinkling bell, as he watched Violet attempt to look everywhere at once. There weren't really many things to look at. The shop was rather tiny, and seemed even more so, thanks to the many tall piles of narrow black boxes, each of which housed its own wand.
Both turned to look as an old man with wide, pale eyes that still reminded Harry of moons came out from the back of the shop. He appeared more then a little startled. Of course, that wasn't overly surprising in retrospect, Harry thought, as he remembered the shock the old man had given him in his first year. He supposed the wand maker liked startling people, and/or it was simply a very rare that he failed to do so. But he really couldn't move quietly enough to escape the notice of an Elf and someone who was trained by Elves.
"Good afternoon," Ollivander greeted them sharply as he made his way over to them, stopping when he stood right in front of them. "May I help you?"
"Yes, please," Violet began with a small smile, friendly, as always. "I'd like to buy a wand, please."
Ollivander raised an eyebrow, "A replacement?" he inquired, while pulling a long tape measurer with silver markings out of his pocket. "Surely you're too old to be starting school now?"
"Quite," she agreed, still smiling. "I'm afraid I had some difficulty beginning my magical education, family matters, you see. I won't be attending Hogwarts."
"Ah, hold out your arm, please. That's it. Home schooling?" the wizard inquired, as he measured her from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit, and then around her head. Both Harry and Violet tensed slightly at the last, praying he would run into her ears, which, thankfully, he did not.
"You could say that," the Elf nodded, watching as he stepped back.
"Every Ollivander wand has a powerful magical substance, Miss--?"
"Lórien," she replied smoothly. They'd already decided not to use her true name, "Jane Lórien."
"Miss Lórien," the wand maker nodded. "We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand.... The exception might be, if you were using the bond of someone you were immensely close to, a twin or perhaps a soul mate, but even then...." He nodded to the tape measure, "That will do."
At that command, the tape measure crumpled into a heap on the floor.
"Right, then, Miss Lórien. Try this one. Ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, springy. Just give it a wave."
Violet immediately accepted the wand, but knew it wasn't hers as soon as she grasped it. Nonetheless, she began to wave it, only to have the wand maker snatch it back half-way-through.
"No, no - here, try this one, maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. Quite whippy......No! Here, try this one, holly and unicorn hair, nice and supple."
She felt something there, but it was still snatched away from her.
And so it continued... for nearly two ours.
Wands, wands, and more wands!
The 'tried pile' grew higher and higher with each try... Harry, who'd been expecting a long wait, remembering how long it'd taken to find his own wand, was amazed at the time. He was even more amazed by the wand-maker's reaction. He'd remembered the difficulty of finding a wand had pleased Ollivander the last time he'd seen him. This time, however, it seemed to bother him...
'Maybe he's never had a customer take this long before... And the fact that she technically isn't from this world might change things...' and a horrible thought occurred to the wizard. 'What if he doesn't have a wand for her?!'
And he had to shake his head, as he watched from the spindly chair near the front, growing slightly more concerned with each tried wand. Nearly twenty-two centuries old or not, the Elf's patience was rather obviously wearing thin. And the unnecessary anxiety and nerves he'd known she'd long been concealing were quickly replacing that patience.
"No, no," Ollivander shook his head as he snatched another wand back, this one twelve inches of mahogany with a phoenix feather at its core, and tossed it back to the ever growing pile of tried wands. "Not to worry, not to worry," he told 'Jane' with a smile, as he walked over to the shelves again, pulling out another long, black box. "There's an Ollivander's wand for everyone, even the trickiest customer…"
Violet smiled softly, somewhat reassured.
"Now, here we have yew, with a phoenix feather core, twelve inches, rather bendy."
The Elf frowned the moment the wand was within her grasp. Again, there was the same, minute warmth, but it still wasn't right.
"No, no," the old wand maker snatched this wand back as well, "not quite… very peculiar…" he made his way over to the assorted wands again, and rummaged through them for a moment, before something seemed to occur to him. He turned around to inquire, "Forgive me for asking, Miss Lórien, I do apologize if the question offends you, but how aware are you of your ancestry?"
Violet blinked, but before she could reply, Harry did so for her. "Completely. Why, pray tell?"
"Do you know if all of your ancestors were human, or Wizarding, in nature? Or were there any of other races?"
"I am not completely human," Violet admitted, watching the wand maker closely. "Does that really matter?"
"It may…" the old man nodded, and after a moment, he walked over to the front of the shop, past both of them, over to the window. Once there, he picked up the faded purple cushion, balancing the wand on top of it, and brought it over to her. "Would you care to try this one, please?"
After a short moment's hesitation, she did so. Suddenly, the air around the shop began to move, swirling around her suddenly irradiant form, glittering white and silver lights dancing on it.
"Ah, yes… very good," Ollivander nodded, smiling as the lights show died down. "Very good, indeed…" he moved over towards the shelves again, pulling a long, dark box out of one of them. "Yew, with two cores;" the wand maker told them, while holding the open box out towards Vivian. It was black like the others, on the outside, but the lining was a pale royal purple shade. "The hair of a unicorn and a phoenix's tail feather, ten inches, long and swishy."
Violet smiled slightly, while setting her newfound wand down in the box, which he immediately, yet very gently, clicked shut. "Thank you."
"Oh, you're quite welcome, my dear." The old wizard smiled, "It's been a long time since we've managed to sell any of the double core wands. Very few wizards have compatible spirits with them... What's more, they're extraordinarily powerful. I trust," he began, now fixing her with his pale stare, "that that power shall not be abused?"
"Of course," Violet agreed, nodding firmly.
"Yes..." Ollivander nodded, "very good, very good," he murmured, while reaching down into his robes to pull out his own wand, a long, bend one, which appeared to be made of oak. "If you like, I can remove the underage-detector from the wand now, so you won't have to bother running it through the Ministry."
"Oh, yes, please."
Not paying much attention to the spell that the other wizard was muttering, as he knew Violet would catch it anyhow, Harry made his way over to the counter as well, pulling a leather pouch out of his robes. "How much will that be, sir?"
"It is an expensive make, I'm afraid," the wand maker told him, "the wand itself is thirteen Galleons, the removal of the age detector is two, seven, if you'd rather not take the test."
Harry nodded, "And, I'm afraid we offered to buy some wands for some relatives. Jane's cousins, they're twin brothers," he told the wand maker. "Could you possibly find wands for them without them here."
"Why, yes," Mr. Ollivander replied, "but I'd need a focus."
Harry pulled two small bags out of his robes and set them on the counter.
The wand maker tapped each with his wand, and they came undone, to reveal two, apparently identical, strands of hair.
"Will that do?"
Ollivander nodded. "Certainly," he then began muttering to himself, waving his wand over the focuses.
After a few minutes, the wand maker's forehead was coated in sweat, but, finally, both hairs
began to glow. And a moment later there was the sound of boxes falling somewhere in the back, before two long, black boxes came rushing towards them.
The wizard stopped chanting, and the boxes floated over, to settle themselves on the table. He then tapped both boxes with his wand, causing them to open, and reveal the wands within. "Ah, yes. That would make sense. You said these two are twins?"
Both Harry and Violet nodded.
"That would explain the similarity," Ollivander nodded. "Both are thirteen inches of yew, with different phoenix feathers and different dragon heartstrings at their cores... Very daring, and powerful..." he shook his head, then looked up at them again. "These are not students, either?"
"No, sir," Harry confirmed, "they're not."
"Very well," the wizard nodded, then waved his wand over each of them, muttering, "*Commeatus Aequalis*", as he did so.
Harry smiled, "And that will be?"
After paying a grand total of sixty-two Galleons, and once the bag was restored to its previous location, Harry offered a hand to Violet, and Mr. Ollivander bowed them from his shop.
~ * End of Flashback * ~
"Merne le an rakta sii?" {Would you like to practice now?} Harry asked, turning to smile at her.
Violet thought a moment before inquiring, "Il ihosta sinome rato na?" {Won't the others be here soon?}
Harry nodded to the clock, which read twenty-past-seven. "Il kenna kainen o, il'yallume. I omentie uuma esse kenna tolto." {Not until ten of, at least. The meeting doesn't start until eight.}
"A, kena nin..." {Ah, I see...} After another moment to consider, she smiled brightly, "Il'mankoi?" {Why not?}
With that, both of them left the balcony, and crossed the dining room, until they came to the door on the other side. The room is admitted them to was, quite obviously, a training room. They could sense shielding and cushioning wards all around the room, especially along the walls, which were all mirrors. On top of that, the entire floor was padded.
A few, short minutes later saw the pair facing each other in the center of the room. After bowing, they raised their wands before them.
End of Chapter 6.
AN: Well, that's it for Chapter 6! What'd you think? Sorry if any of you were waiting all day. My parents kept me busier than I thought they would. Thanks for reading! ^_^
Translations:
Ata Hogwarts - Back to Hogwarts
Venefica - poisonous, magical
Cancri - the disease: cancer
Celo - to hide , conceal, keep secret
Ab - from, away
Rimari - to pry into
Coniveo - to close the eyes
Commeatus - coming to free passage
Aequalis - of equal age
Response to Reviews:
Gara - Thank you very, very much. ^_^
Xirleb70 - LOL, I never really thought of it that way, but now that I do... Hmm, let's see school = dementor? ... *Nod* Yup, I think I'd have to agree.
I know, that can be terrible, can't it? I hate writer's block! You really just have to find a way to break it. A great movie, a good book, something. What really kept me writing while I had writer's block was guilt, but I never post those chapters until I've improved them in some manner.
Anyway, I hope things start to look up for you soon. Bye! ^_^
Aensland - Thank you. ^_^
...I don't think I changed that much. I've mostly been following timelines, and by that all the years should fit. I don't remember how they were shown in the book though, I read it a long time ago...
Evyominique - Thank you. Yes, I know, I read (what's been posted) a few days ago, and I have to agree, it's great. ^_^
Darth Kottaram - Glad to hear it. Thank you. ^_^
Silver Sparklze - Thanks. ^_^
Hmm... I can't remember all of the places I got the Elvish from online, but I do have a few of them listed:
- LotR Fanatics Library: Languages ()
- Tel'Mithrim - The Grey Company () [It can be a pain to download, but the list is pretty good.]
- Quenya Corpus Wordlist ()
I hope that helps! ^_^
William Black - Thank you. ^_^
LOL, *shakes head* sorry, I would if I could, but I can't always focus on one story at once. It's a good way for me to develop writer's block. I will try and keep the chapters coming though.
Serpent of Light - LOL, thank you. ^_^
Yes, that probably would be rather amusing.
That can happen. I know, I looked back and some of the fan fics that I started last year, but never posted, because I couldn't really seem to get them going anywhere... Am I glad for that! They're terrible!
Thanks. ^_^ How was this one?
Saruman the White - Thank you. ^_^
Oh, I got more then enough reviews, just not enough Sunday! -_-* *muttering* Both weekend and birthday over... no fair... Science first thing tomorrow... bad...
LOL, yes, I suppose it is rather amusing... I don't know. I've read a few HP/GW fics that make sense and are well written (dramatic emphasis on the few). But I really can't see why so many people are so fanatical about it! Of course, HP/HG is worse. I have seen only two fics that do it well, and they barely ever show it. One of them I only really liked because I loved Harry and Hermione's daughter.
Well, it depends on how you look at it. But yes, there is a bit of an age gap now... more than a few centuries.
LOL, yes, I'd have to agree on that. ^_^ Thanks for reading.
Hoshi-tachi - Thank you... LOL, thanks. ^_^
*Smirks*, very soon, as this chapter should have hinted...and if it didn't, please tell me, so I can change it... I think it did... It did... right?
-_-* I hated that scene... There may be a variation of it, but no, we won't be suffering through much of that... I'm thinking of giving Cho a little more character, but Harry's off limits.
...not telling. Sorry, that'd take to long to explain, and if I did explain it... I'd of told you the whole story, and therefore it wouldn't be worth reading. You'll have to wait and see, sorry. :-P
Lady Cinnibar - LOL, here ya go. ^_^
Thank you very much.
You know? You're the only one who's remembered that! Well...besides me... But I can't answer that, although I think there's going to be a bit on them in the next chapter. Not sure though....
Rachel A. Prongs - Thank you. Yes, they can be refreshing after book five... ^_^
Oh, he might get a few, but not nearly as many... He hasn't given Umbridge much of a problem (openly)...yet, but he still doesn't like her. And he won't stay silent forever.
LOL, yes, it is, isn't it? *shakes head* I can't say I'm overly fond of her either. Although she is a rather good character.
Rayvern - No, you may be right. I'm really not that sure. I tried to stick to the timeline pretty closely, but I may have slipped a bit...
No. One of the things a lot of people assosiate with the Elves is a lot of emotional control, that undoubtedly comes from experience, which Harry does have. Therefore, he's obviously going to be quite a bit harder to get to... *smirks* True...
Sorry, can't answer that in detail. I will say that it's probably coming though. I haven't entirely decided, but there's a pretty high chance of it.
Alena - Thank you.
Wait and see! ^_^
Narwen - Hi. ^_^
True, true. Any others you could recommend? I haven't gotten a chance to read 'There and Back Again' by Down the Rabbit Hole, yet, but I like to keep asking.
She does, doesn't she? I try to make sure that she doesn't become overly detached, and so far its worked. I just hope it continues to.
Harry's not quite sure about approaching Dumbledore on the subject. The next chapter is when Hermione, Ron, and a few others find out, but no adults. If you think about it, adults would have a much harder time accepting it then kids would, so it makes sense that he'd go to other students first. Dumbledore would probably be able to follow, but that doesn't work for the story, yet, so Harry may not be going to him for awhile. Not too long though...
...*sigh*, sorry, I can't answer that. :-P
Rogue1615 - Good, I'm glad. ^_^
LOL, yes, that should be interesting...Don't worry, there not all that far off.
Well, actually, that's before the Elves of the HP world, and rather soon, at that.
Webweaver - I'm glad. ^_^
True, true. Actually, some events will be changing rather soon. ^^
LOL, sorry about that. I've had a bit of a writer's block on all of my stories as of late (thanks to school...) But I think the stories going along pretty well now.
LOL, thank you for recognizing that. But I like to reply to the reviews that I can actually reply to.... It's just the 'repetitive remarks' that bother me!
*Sigh* it did, really, all of them did... Sunday just wasn't long enough... -_-
Lunawolf - Thank you. ^_^
To question #1, it varies. Some people are going to be finding out rather soon. Others won't.
#2... that varies to. I'm not trying to rewrite book 5, but some parts will be closely linked.
Thank you very much. ^_^
The only places I can remember for the Elvish are:
- LotR Fanatics Library: Languages ()
- Tel'Mithrim - The Grey Company () [It can be a pain to download, but the list is pretty good.]
- Quenya Corpus Wordlist ()
I hope they help! ^_^
A-man - I'm glad...
LOL, yes, but Ron and Hermione don't know that, and he's been trying to not let it on much. The most he's shown on the matter was in Chapter 3, but we should see some more of it pretty soon.
Thank you. ^_^
Greiver666 - Thank you very much. ^_^
*smirks* Harry will be going back to Middle Earth...eventually. Not quite yet though.
As to the rest... Sorry, can't tell. You'll have to wait and see! :-P
Thanks to:
Virusgod
Prd2bAmerican18
LonKire
Star Mage1
Entwife
Wytil
Sarah
Lady sakura
ArwenMGranger
Magikal kat
Szelij
I'm going to bed now... Good night! ^_^
~ Jess S