Author: Tamiamus
Rating: FR-16
Beta: Tals
Summary: When Harry Potter is six he is whisked away to Rivendell by a burst of accidental magic. How will growing up as Lord Elrond's foster son change his time at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry?
Disclaimer: Harry Potter is owned by J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers. Lord of the Rings is owned by Tolkien and his estate. I only play with them for a while before giving them back unharmed. No money is being made from this.
"blah" talking.
'blah' thinking.
"blah" elven language.
Warnings: Child abuse, slash pairing much later in the story (Harry/Glorfindel).
A/N: Harry's elven name will be Estel; yes I know this is Aragorn's name, but I felt the name would fit Harry better, since it means 'Hope' and that is how the wizarding world sees him. Harry has also gained new hope for his own future by coming to the elves and that is why I chose it. So for this fic, let's just pretend that Aragorn was called something else by the elves.
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t a m i a m u s 1 . l i v e j o u r n a l . c o m ( remove the spaces, of course)
CHAPTER THREE
Harry had been with the elves ten days now, four of them out of bed after his injuries had healed.
This morning found him sitting in a corner of the library, almost hidden from view by the book cases and a tapestry hanging on the wall beside him. He was curled up in a patch of sunlight that had managed to penetrate the clouds and was halfway asleep when Elrond found him.
Elrond reached out a hand to gently shake him awake.
"Harry, child, wake up it is time for your breakfast."
Harry startled awake, flinching at the unexpected touch.
" No, I'm sorry, I didn't do it, please don't hit me, I sorry."
He babbled, trying to disappear into the wall behind him. His eyes were wide in fright, and his voice shook with fear.
Elrond frowned, the boy was more affected from his abuse than he had first realized, not that he had expected him to come out of it fully healed, inside and out, but he would have to be careful with his new son. Very careful and gentle if he wanted the boy to truly trust him and his own safety in this place. He had no idea what Harry had said, since his panicked words had come out in his own language instead of elvish. Then again, he barely needed to understand the words themselves to understand the meaning.
"Child, please calm down, I mean you no harm, you are safe here. I promise you that none will harm you while you are in my care. Please believe me, you are safe."
Elrond made sure to keep his voice low and even, and he slowly, gently reached out to the child. When his hand landed on the boy's shoulder, he felt it stiffen, but kept it there. After e few minutes Harry seemed to have calmed down a bit and Elrond slowly drew this child into an embrace, making sure to keep it lose enough for the boy to break it in case he wanted to. It would be best for the boy not to feel trapped by him or forced into anything. Harry had clearly had little control over his own life and even over what would happen to his own body in his previous home. He needed to feel in control of the situation to feel safe, that much was apparent to Elrond.
After a while the boy relaxed fully within the embrace, he even curled closer into Elrond, almost afraid to let go of him lest he suddenly disappear.
Such occurrences happened more often as the days went by, often at night when nightmares of Harry's relatives plagued his dreams and his screams would wake up Elrond who had taken residence in the neighboring room. Then Harry's new Adar would come in and shake him awake, reassure him that he was not angry with being waken, and hold the child until he had stopped trembling.
This place was so different from Privet Drive No. 4 as he could possibly imagine, yet he still found himself wondering when the gentle words and kind encouragement from Elrond and Arwen would turn to yelling and beatings. He still flinched at unexpected noises and he was terrified of any unusual things happening around him. He had managed to hide most of the times he had had flowers suddenly blooming, or light suddenly appearing when it was too dark for him to see. Elrond and Arwen had both tried to reassure him and sometimes he believed them. The two elves knew that Harry's road to recovery would likely be a slow one, his physical wounds had healed, the scars been removed, but the ones on his soul were still raw and bleeding. He was getting better though, he knew more and more that he was safe here, he still forgot sometimes, but he was no longer afraid of waking up his Adar when he had nightmares and the nightmares themselves came less often now.
Harry was often found alone in the library reading, this was both because he loved to read but a small part of him still thought that being out of sight was safer.
Arwen had taken great pains in coaxing him out of the library every now and then, showing him the rest of the house he would now live in as a part of her family. And to Elrond's pleasure Arwen's gentle approach seemed to work; the boy was found exploring the house together with his daughter more often as the days passed and slowly but surely he had started smiling and even, hesitantly, asking questions when there was something he didn't understand. From the way he always looked ready to dart away whenever he did open his mouth to ask, it was clear that his previous caretakers had not approved of his questions at all. Elrond still couldn't fathom how anyone could punish a child for showing curiosity but he wowed that Harry would never again have be afraid of speaking out. Harry's progress into a normal child, feeling secure and wanted, was slow but steady, and every elf living in the 'Last Homely House' was pleased with the young boy's growing self confidence. In fact Harry had charmed them all; the servants working in the kitchen always made sure to leave him the best and sweetest fruits, and the linen on his bed always came freshly warmed by the fire. Harry himself seemed not to be aware that he was treated to the best the elves had to offer, nor was he aware of his own growing popularity.
Elrond had sent the three elves who had first found the child to Lothlorien in search of answers about his strange lightning bolt shaped scar. If anyone would know about it, or his new son's origins, it would be the Lady Galadriel who had access to a magical mirror that showed her the past, the future and the present. His twin sons had eagerly taken the chance to go to the 'Golden Forest' as the sons of man called Lady Galadriel's domain, both to get the answers they needed, but also for the chance to see their friends, Rumil and his twin Orophin again. As he knew his sons they would most likely take delight in driving the Lothlorien twins' elder brother, Haldir, insane with their pranks.
It had been more difficult to get Glorfindel to accompany them, the stubborn 'Balrog Slayer' wanted to stay and make sure that his future soul mate was healed of his injuries. Elrond however had insisted that this was more important, Harry injuries would heal with his help, and his mind would heal with the gentle help of his daughter and his own patience. While it had been some time since Lord Elrond had taken care of small children he had reared three of them himself and even though none of them were former victims of abuse he would do his utmost to ensure his new son's happiness. The answers he needed, both about the scar and his son's past would be important for his future, he could feel it in his very bones. And so Glorfindel had been persuaded to keep his two sons company, and more importantly, keep them out of the trouble they were so very good at finding.
It had been almost three months since Harry had come into Elrond's life in a burst of accidental magic and right now, the young boy was sitting inside the great hall with his Adar drinking hot chocolate after having spent four hours outside playing with the snow. Elrond smiled at his son's excited story of how he had not only built a snow man but won his snow ball war against Arwen. Arwen too was smiling at her new brother's excitement while she was wringing her long black hair dry from all the snow that had been heaped upon it by a laughing and giggling Harry. When she looked at her brother now she could almost not believe that he was the same boy who had been so scared and timid just two and a half moths ago. Harry had not only become assured of his own place amongst them, he had also, shyly, started to show the two of them a bit of the magic that had so often gotten him into trouble in his former family.
She still remembered the first time the young boy had gathered both her and their father into his room, locked the door and blown out the candles. In the darkness that filled the room her little brother had held his hands up, almost like cupping something, and then he had been cupping something; a small ball of white light. The light had illuminated all their faces and both she and Elrond had made sure to praise him for it. That was the turning point in the healing of his spirit. From thereon Harry had stopped flinching altogether, he had walked the halls with a new certainty and he had no more doubt that his new family truly wanted him.
Harry had just finished his hot chocolate when Elrond carried the yawning child to bed.
"Sleep well, my son, tomorrow your two brothers, Elladan and Elrohir will be coming back from Lothlorien and and in a week I will formally adopt you."
Harry smiled tiredly at his Adar's words. Even though he couldn't remember having seen his soon to be brothers for more than a few minutes before he fell unconscious the day he arrived in Imladris, both Elrond and Arwen had told him about them. The two twin brothers who always made jokes and pranked everyone in sight. Arwen had told him that they had both been asking about his health a lot before their father had sent them to Lothlorien to gain answers about his past and his scar.
He knew now that all elves had been horrified by his treatment by the Dursleys, and while he did not speak a lot about it to any others than Elrond and Arwen, the nature of his injuries had made the details of his former life clear to all. He had in his time in Imladris, as Rivendell was called by the elves, learnt that he was more than welcome, and he knew that his new brothers would welcome him into the family just as Arwen had done. He was looking forward to the formal ceremony that would truly make him part of the family, he would even be given an elven name.
The next morning Harry slowly came awake to the sounds of voices whispering unintelligible just above his bed. He frowned, since it was rather early and he was still somewhat tired from the long day he had yesterday. Playing in the snow for hours and running around the house to avoid Arwen's revenge for hurtling snow down her cloak was tiring, after all. After a few minutes of annoying whispering, Harry decided that the chances of the voices going away and him falling asleep again were quite slim and opened his eyes. The two faces above him were identical and with their similarity to Elrond he quickly decided that these must be the twins he had heard so much about.
"Look, Elrohir, our little brother has finally woken up! It's about time too! Welcome to the family Harry, I am Elladan, your new brother, and this hideous creature beside me is your other brother Elrohir."
Elladan grinned at Harry giggles and ducked when his brother took a playful swipe at his head. He was relieved when he saw the boy's condition, even though he knew how good a healer his Adar was, he had still worried. 'Valar, (gods) with as many injuries as the child had suffered before he came to Imladris, it had been a wonder that even Elrond's powers could heal the boy.'
Elrohir, too was pleased with the results of his Adar's healing powers.
He remembered how helpless he had felt, carrying the thin, bleeding child to the 'Last Homely House'. The thought that they might have been too late had kept him up many nights. And the pure fury that someone could do something like that to an innocent child had only abated now, when he could see for himself that the boy would survive.
If he ever caught the ones responsible for his new brother's poor condition on his arrival in the forest, he would happily strike them down.
'That is, if I can get to them before Elladan, Elrond and Glorfindel. Mordor, even Arwen would show them no mercy if she ever finds them. For someone who looks so innocent, my sister can be scary when someone strikes at her family. Or if someone colors her hair green.'
Elrohir snickered to himself, he still remembered her screeching, which could be heard all trough the house, the morning she had woken up to find her long black tresses olive green. He and his brother had been forced to sleep outside for a month, fearing her revenge.
"You shouldn't call your twin brother hideous, you look like mirror images to me. If he is ugly, then so are you."
Harry smiled sweetly at Elladan, who called up a look of insulted pride upon his face, then smiled at him.
"It is good to know that you will fit in with our family, young Harry, though I can't wait for you to gain an elven name when you are formally adopted, the one you carry now sounds odd to my ears."
Elladan then took a hold of Harry's blankets and yanked them off the boy, now was not the time to lay in bed. Oh no, now was the time to make some mischief, and Harry's sweet innocent face would help them get away with it.
The boy grumbled, but got up and dressed anyway, clearly the two laughing elves would not let him go back to sleep when they had spent so much time getting him up. But Harry would make sure to wake them up before the sun even painted the slightest colors upon the eastern part of the world tomorrow. Then they'd see how much they liked being waken up before the crows. Harry smiled at the thought, if he asked Liria from the kitchen he could probably get a bucket of ice water to wake them with. Arwen had told him quite a few stories of the pranks they had afflicted her with, a bit of revenge on her behalf would not go amiss.
Elrond sat in his council the day after his twin sons and Glorfindel had arrived from Lothlorien. The twins had already met Harry again, and from the twin screams that had echoed in the house this morning, as well as Arwen's and Harry's satisfied smiles, he would fit right in with the family. Elrond had timed this meeting for just after breakfast and while Glorfindel was on time, as always, the twins came in five minutes too late, still toweling their wet hair. When Glorfindel raised his brow in question at their state, both twins grumbled something about young brothers, vengeful sisters and icy water. Elrond took a look at them and prudently decided that this was one thing he did not need to know about.
Elrond waited until his sons sat down at the table and looked over at Glorfindel.
"What have you discovered from your trip to Lothlorien? Did Lady Galadriel see anything in her mirror of new my son?"
Elrond truly hoped that they would have the answer, and he doubted that they would be empty handed. Harry's arrival had been too mystical for Galadriel to see nothing in the mirror. When he had asked his guards the day of Harry's arrival if they had seen the boy pass them on his way through the forest, the answer had been negative. Elrond knew that the beings that could pass by his guards unseen were few, even fewer now that Glorfindel trained them. For a young child, bleeding and half dead to do so, was unheard of. No, his new son had come to the forest some way other than by walking, and this made Elrond certain that Galadriel's mirror had not been unresponsive.
When the council doors opened to let out his sons and Glorfindel, Elrond could barely believe what he had been told. Oh, it had been nothing but the truth, Galadriel's mirror did not lie, but it was unexpected knowledge, to say the least.
His new son was as he had suspected one of the Istari (wizards), but he was not from this world, and even in his own world he was different. The child he had taken into his heart had once had loving parents. Parents he had lived with for a full season and almost a half, before his little family was torn apart by prophecy.
In Harry's world there had been a dark lord too, Lord Voldemort, and this lord had killed untold people simply because they opposed him. This Dark Lord had, much like Sauron, desired ultimate power, but he had also wished to rid Harry's world of all he deemed impure. The only ones he would allow the right to live were those from pure Istari bloodlines.
Elrond had never before heard of something like that, oh there had certainly been some tension in the elven-dwarfen relationship, but to desire the complete annihilation of any other race than your own was unthinkable. What Galadriel had seen in her mirror was that the Istari of Harry's world were a hidden minority, living in secret from the non-magical humans around them. A war had broken out many years before Harry's birth, between those who followed the Dark Lord and those who followed the light. Harry's own parents had fought Voldemort and because of their defiance towards him they were singled out in a prophecy and killed.
Elrond remembered Elladan's shiver as he had retold how Galadriel's voice had changed, deepened as she spoke the words of prophecy that had changed his new brother's life forever.
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches..
born to those who have thrice defied him,
born as the seventh month dies...
And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal,
but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not...
And either must die at the hand of the other,
for neither can live while the other survives...
The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord
will be born as the seventh month dies."
Apparently Voldemort had come to Harry's family and killed them with green magic. Galadriel had told Glorfindel how she had heard Harry's mother plead for his live, willing to sacrifice her own in bargain. After the demise of his parents, their murderer had come to the small toddler, raising his wooden wand and yelled out the same foul curse that had ended their life, only this time the magic barely hit the toddler before it rebounced upon the caster, obliterating him.
Elrond had been pleased to hear this, but then Elrohir who had taken up the tale, had said that Galadriel had felt Voldemort's continued presence even after he loss his body. This, Elrond knew, together with the prophecy he had been told, could mean nothing else than Voldemort being able to come back to life somehow. And he knew that if that happened, Harry's life would be in danger.
All who were present in the council chambers frowned at the thought that Harry would not be spared from more danger in his life, he had already suffered so much, yet he would likely suffer more.
Glorfindel had been the one to tell Elrond of why Harry had been placed with the Dursleys. He had already heard much of them from his son, and had been furious that anyone would place such a young, helpless child with people so deliberately cruel. That it was done to protect him from Voldemort's followers through magical means meant little to him. Surely whoever placed him there would have thought to check up on him, apparently that was not the case.
Elrond did not want to believe that the only reason his poor son had been forced to suffer so at the hands of his blood relatives was simple carelessness. After the others had exited the chambers he quietly swore to himself that he would keep the child as safe as elvenly possible.
Harry might have to go back to his own world to train his magic at their school and fulfill his part of the prophecy, according to Galadriel, but Elrond would make sure that he was as ready as possible; that he would know he was not alone, that he always had someone to turn to.
Elrond sighed, it would be his task to tell his youngest son of this, and not a task he relished. At least his son would know that once upon a time he had had parents who loved him enough to die for him, that they were not the drunken fools the Dursleys had made them out to be. Maybe that would be enough to soften the blow.
There were days when Elrond, Lord of the elven realm of Imladris felt every one of his many years. This was one of them.
Harry was in his room playing with a wooden horse when Elrond found him later that day.
"Harry I need to talk to you. Do you remember that I told you I sent the twins and Glorfindel to Lothlorien shortly after you came here? As you know they have returned and Lady Galadriel has seen your past in the mirror. She discovered quite a few things that you need to know."
Lord Elrond beckoned Harry to sit with him on the bed and started to tell him what he had discovered about his world, the prophecy and the sacrifice of Harry's parents. When he had finished his tale the boy was silent for a while, a thoughtful look on his face.
"I know it is much to take in Harry. Remember that no matter what happens you are not alone, you have the support of your family."
Harry gave his father a weak smile, he had always dreamt that his parents loved him, though he had almost given up on that dream under the insistence of the Dursleys that they were nothing but drunken fools. To learn that he had been loved by them, so much that they had given up their lives to protect him was bittersweet at best. The rest of the tale, with evil wizards and prophecies sounded almost too strange to be believed. But he did believe it, not only because Elrond would never lie to him, but because he remembered green light and a high pitched, cruel laughter. Still, it felt too big for him, too big for a six year old boy, who could barely survive the wrath of his former relatives, to be expected to save a whole world.
He didn't realize he was trembling before his father embraced him, rubbing his back and murmuring soothingly to him.
"Hush child, it will be all right, you are not alone, never again. We will face your future together. I am here for you, remember that always my child."
Harry didn't know how long Elrond held him like that, he only knew that he must have fallen asleep because when he woke up his Adar was sitting in the chair by his bed reading a report from Erestor.
He smiled at his father, the truth he had learned yesterday was still too big for him, and scary, but just as Elrond had said, he would be all right. He was not alone, he would never be alone again. That gave him hope for his future. With his new family he could face even a prophecy and a Dark Lord, of that he was certain. Yes, it would be all right.
The day of Harry's formal joining with his new family was upon him. He smiled as he got dressed in his finest outfit. The one Arwen had spent two months making for him, ever since she knew that he would become a member of her family. The thought that she had gone through so much trouble for him, starting two months ago when he had still been so unsure of his place here, made him happy in a way he had never known before coming to Imladris.
The clothes consisted of a pair of black breeches, a green tunic and white robes. Harry looked at himself in the mirror, twirling around a couple of times just to see the garment flare out around him. When Glorfindel came into his room to bring him to the glade where the joining ceremony would be held, he flushed at being caught playing with his new robes. Glorfindel didn't seem to mind though,and smiled at him asking him if he was ready to go to his new family. Harry grinned at him and answered that yes, he was ready to join his family. This too was a part of the ritual. The child who was to join a new family could not be brought to the ceremony grounds by a member of said family, but had to be brought there of his own free will by someone not related to either new or old family. Harry had spent many days practicing the correct words with Erestor, Elrond's councilor and remembered them all flawlessly. He took the hand Glorfindel offered him and followed him to the glade in silence. After Glorfindel had escorted Harry to the glade he left the boy with his soon to be family and the waiting Erestor at the ceremonial grounds.
At the ceremony grounds all snow had been swept away from the ground in a large circle. Around the circle was a ring of water maybe a foot wide and three inches deep. This had been prepared just yesterday to keep the water in the ring from freezing in the cold weather. Within this circle was his new family. Elrond stood flanked by Arwen on one side and Elladan and Elrohir on the other, all four of them where wearing white robes over their finest clothes, just like himself. For this ceremony Erestor would be the officiate; he stood outside the circle wearing green robes, facing in Harry's direction.
The ritual itself was quite simple, Harry would walk once around the circle while Erestor asked him if he consented to join his life with the family inside the circle. After Harry gave the positive answer he would walk around the circle again, but in the different direction while Erestor questioned his new family's will to join Harry's life with their own. After another positive reply Harry would cross the ring of water making sure to stand in it with his bare feet for a few seconds. The water was dreadfully cold but it signified him dissolving the bonds to his former family before joining the new one. The next part of the ceremony consisted of his new family members confirming his new place among them. First he went to Elrond who acknowledge him as his son, then to Arwen, his oldest sister, thereafter the twins. When all had acknowledged him as either son or brother they stepped out of the circle leaving Harry alone within.
The last part of the ceremony would consist of his family calling their son or brother to them. It would also bestow on Harry a new, elven name. Harry himself had no idea what name he would get, since it was his family's duty to name him. Elrond spoke first.
" Come forth Estel, I name you Hope for the way you have found us. I name you Hope for the future, the future of our family and of yourself. Come forth Estel, I name you my son."
Elrond smiled at him from outside the circle.
"Come forth Estel, I name you my brother."
Arwen's voice was steady as she spoke the words that would bring her a new brother.
"Come forth Estel, I name you my brother."
Elladan smiled, his words infused with a seriousness that was normally absent in his voice.
"Come forth Estel, I name you my brother."
Elrohir too, seemed formal and serious, his eyes locked on Harry's, no Estel's form.
With those words Estel stepped out of the circle, careful not to touch the water this time, and joined his family.