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The darkness began to fade and the sound of chirping birds filled the crisp cool air. Go Away! It's too early for this! The horrid squawking of those damn cheerful birds was NOT helping my pounding headache.
Images of the final battle rushed into my mind.
I jumped up feeling my arms, head, and then torso to make sure that everything was still there. The first words that came out of my mouth were "Bloody Hell! I'M ALIVE!"
To my embarrassment I heard a small chuckle from behind me. I spun around to face the person who witnessed my outburst.
Dumbledore? My eyes widened to epic proportions.
"Ah, I see that you are awake, might you tell me who you are and why you appeared out of thin air?"
Apparently not.
The man had an uncanny resemblance to my deceased headmaster; he even had that annoying twinkle in his eyes. The only notable difference that I could see was the lack of colorful clothing. The man in front of me wore a grey robe and hat. However, the closer I looked the more differences I could see; he was slightly taller, and his facial structure was more defined. The mysterious man cleared his throat to catch my attention.
"Hermione" I replied, he may look like my former headmaster, but that did not mean that I could trust him with more than my first name. I did not know what this man was capable of, so I put up my occlumency walls to protect my thoughts and wiped my face of all emotions.
I took the moment of silence that followed to assess my surroundings. I was in a forest, maybe the Forbidden Forrest? No the trees are too pretty…
Crap!
Where am I? Maybe this man will know where I am. Before I could ask where exactly I had landed, he removed the pipe from his mouth and spoke.
"I am called by many names, but you may call me Gandalf."
Gandalf gave me a slight smile and I gave a nod in acknowledgement. He stood up from the small boulder he was sitting on and took a small puff from his pipe. Making it clear that it was now my turn to speak.
"What is this place?" I asked in a cool voice. I looked directly into his eyes and he let out a small sigh.
Removing the pipe once again he said, "You are currently in Eregion, which is close to Rivendell."
"I'm sorry, but those names mean nothing to me."
Gandalf frowned and said, "You are in Middle Earth, where did you come from?"
I then realized that I must have been transported here when all of the curses hit me at once. This man would have absolutely no knowledge of my world. It would be okay to tell him a little more about where I came from, but I don't think that I will share anything of the ongoing war quite yet.
"I was last in Scotland, at the private school I attend, when I blacked out and woke up here, in these woods." Keeping eye contact with the man, I reached down to pick up my charmed bag that was lying on the forest floor.
"You have been injured." He stated looking at my stomach.
"Shit!"
Eloquent as always, Hermione. I put my hand over my wound and vaguely remembered being hit with a slicing hex. It was still bleeding. White light surrounded my hand and my stomach healed, leaving no trace of my injury. Interesting. Quickly, I healed other minor cuts and bruises.
"A wizard." The man, Gandalf, murmured, "fascinating". He stroked his beard thinking about what he should do next.
"Well, you might as well come with me to Rivendell; we may be able to help each other."
I nodded and we started our trek north. As we walked we took turn speaking of our worlds. I told him that the school I attended was a magic school, and in turn he told me the creatures that lived in Middle Earth. I spoke of my non-magical parentage, and he of the oncoming war over a small ring. Apparently this ring had immense power and needed to be destroyed before it fell into the hands of the enemy. The only problem was that the ring could only be completely demolished in the lava of Mt. Doom, which was in the center of the enemy's stronghold.
The ring sounded like the horcrux Voldemort used to attain immortality. I dropped hints that the world I came from was not the most peaceful, but did not give any definite information. We stopped when the sun began to set to make camp. Out of habit I placed wards around the camp. He looked at me curiously. I decided that I would explain the concept of wards.
"I placed a few wards around our camp. They make the camp invisible to anyone outside of the premises. I also added a charm so that anyone who wanders too close would simply feel the need to walk in another direction." I shrugged and plopped down next to him.
He looked impressed and lit up his pipe once again. We sat in silence by a small fire reflecting on the day's events. I recalled him saying earlier that we could help each other; did that mean he could get me home? What did he need my assistance with?
"What do you need my help with?" I asked hiding all emotion from my voice.
"I am short on powerful allies, I have just returned from attempting to gain council with another wizard, Saruman, but it seems that he has turned traitor. I would like to have another magic user to help take the ring to Mordor."
I nodded in understanding. This would be a difficult task, but I could use my knowledge to keep the company safe and hidden on the journey. My mind drifted to Harry, I know he would not hesitate to help anyone in need and if I couldn't help my own world I would try to make a difference in this one.
I lifted up my small purse and pulled out a large text on ancient ruins for some light reading. The Dumbledore lookalike gawked at me in amazement.
"Expansion charm" was all I said and continued reading by the light of the fire. When the fire was nothing but coals I put the text away and pulled out the tent I used when traveling with Harry and Ron. Gandalf did a double take. I invited him inside the tent, chuckling when he said that it was too small to possibly fit us both.
"Not everything is always as it seems." I answered and beckoned him to enter the tent. Gandalf hunched down and stepped into the tent. I entered after him.
He was standing in the center of the main room of the tent. I calmly went over to the space on the right and gestured to the small "room" telling him that he could stay there. I sauntered over to the left and entered my "room". If we ever needed more space I could just use a charm to add more "rooms". Each room was a nook about eight feet across and ten feet deep, with a small bed and night stand. I pulled out a pair of exercise shorts and tang top to sleep in from my bag. After changing I stretched out and drifted off into a sleep plagued with nightmares.
I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. Suggestions are appreciated!