Authors Note: I am really sorry for how long it's taking me to update this story! Hope you guys enjoy the update and thank you to those who reviewed my story! Your comments have been greatly appreciated and is the reason I continue to write (even when life gets in the way).
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and his universe was created by the wonderful J.K. Rowling. The Hobbit, and all characters associated with his writing are the work of the brilliant and masterful J.R.R Tolkien.
Everything else belongs to me.
It was obvious that she was going to lay into them, so her companions were quick in ushering her away from Gandalf; both her and Granger casting the altered version muffliato spell they had created.
"Please," She demanded in a surprisingly calm voice once the spell was in place. "tell me that you were not going to follow them into Erebor?!" They all stared back at her unable to comprehend why she was so upset or the danger they had been in.
"Gandalf seemed to be the only one who offered any kind of help at finding you and getting us home" Luna offered when no one stepped forward to supply an answer.
"Besides," Potter said. "It isn't like we haven't faced a few dragons before and Gandalf seemed confident in our ability."
I'll just be he did, she thought with a silent snarl as she fought the urge to shoot the old man a dark and thunderous scowl.
"Lila," Granger hedged carefully, almost as if she were dealing with caged animal. "what aren't you telling us?"
It was at this point that Lila realised that –unlike her– they didn't know just how dangerous dragons were in this land or how different they were from the ones that resided in England.
Now Lila felt guilty.
It wasn't their fault that no one had thought to explain to them what the dragons in this word were like or that they hadn't thought to ask. Well, it was partially their fault, Granger of all people should have asked, but given what they had undoubtedly been through it was understandable why she hadn't.
"What do you know about that dragon?" She looked around the circle catching the eyes of her companions. "Or even the dragons from this world?"
Granger suddenly looked as if she had been given a test she didn't know the answers to (an occurrence that was no doubt comparable to her worst nightmare). "Well we—"
"Were a bit preoccupied." Ginny interjected when it became obvious that Granger didn't know how to answer her question. "What with being dumped in this bloody awful place, finding you, and dealing with the wanker under the mountain and his minions."
Lila's lip twitched in amusement and for a moment she wondered what exactly the king under the mountain had done to warrant such open hostility from her companions. It was true that the Thorin Oakenshield wasn't the most trusting of folk and had a gruff exterior that could –and did– rub people the wrong way, but was his behaviour truly this bad?
Had it been that bad?
Seeing the looks of frustration and confusion on almost every single face, Lila let out a deep sigh, a look of apology replacing her thunderous scowl.
"Well, to start with Dragons are vastly different in this world then in ours. They're not misunderstood creatures and to go up against one –especially unprepared and with little knowledge on the beasts–would be complete—."
Potter cut her off. "They may be different but are magic isn't." Harry said, annoyance creeping into his voice. "and with all of our magic combined we would have been just fine."
"We would have been just fine." She repeated slowly, the roaring in her ears making it almost impossible to think straight. Both of her brothers shifted, though whether that was due to discomfort or to stop her from throttling potter she did not know. "Is this the same fine that almost got my brothers and your best friends SLAUGHTERED BY WEREWOLVES!?"
The last part came out shouted, her pent-up fear and anger from the last two months pouring into her words. Potter blanched and everyone else fell silent, either from her words or the memories that they conjured. Under normal circumstances, Lila would not have brought up the events of that horrific night (her friends and siblings were not the only ones who still bore the scars from what had occurred) but there was nothing normal about their circumstances and Potter needed to realise that his over confidence in their magic could get them all killed— and he needed to learn the lesson quickly.
"Harry," She said as calmly as she could once she had taken several deep breaths. "you of all people should realise that magic can't always save you and that it isn't the answer to everything." He didn't respond but he clearly understood that she was talking about his mother's love and how it had saved him. "The dragons in this land are completely different than the ones you've faced and to take them so lightly would be beyond foolish."
"How are they different?" Granger asked as she produced a thick book and a quill from the infamous beaded bag. "Gandalf wasn't exactly forth coming on information."
With a small sigh, she leaned against a tree as she went over in her head all that she could remember about the breed and the dragon in question. "To start with, they're twice the size of the dragons in England and Smaug is considered one of the largest in this age, though not the largest." Her forehead puckered in concentration. "If I remember correctly that title belonged to Ancalagon, a dragon who lived during the first age of this world."
At this tidbit of information Granger's eyebrows shot up into her hairline. "Age? Is that how they measure time in this world?"
Lila smiled a little at the familiarity of the situations and was only too happy to answer her questions. "The time in Arda –or earth- is typically rendered in what they call Ages and is based on one epoch of the Valar, otherwise known as the Holy Ones. According to their calendar we are currently in the third age or the Years of the Sun."
Lila briefly let her eyes roam over the group and was not surprised by the confused looks she could see on some faces. It was a lot to take in and process in such a short time and in their defense, she was leaving a lot of information out; information that would have perhaps made it a little less confusing.
"Let's see what else…." She frowned in concentration. "Their hide is like iron and only the tip from a black arrow can penetrate its scales or an –almost impossible- shot to its underbelly." She noted Ron and Harry's expression and quickly added. "They go to great lengths to protect that bit on their body because they know it is the weakest part."
She scratched at the wool cap covering her head, the anger and fear ebbing as she continued to lecture. "Their minds are dangerously sharp and their capable of speech." She let the information sinking in for a moment, noting the shocked and grave expressions on some of their faces before she added. "The dragons of Middle Earth also have an unrelenting thirst for gold and treasure and will kill anyone –even their own kind– to protect it."
Choosing her next words with great care, Lila said, "It was the gold that brought Smaug to the Lonely Mountain and it was his unrelenting desire to protect what he believed was his that lead to the destruction of Dale." As many times as, she had imagined the destruction of Dale it still made her heart ache for the people that had lost their lives. "He slaughtered an entire city –men, women, and children–to eliminate what could have potentially posed a threat to his treasure."
"Sweet Merlin…." Ginny muttered, disbelief and horror colouring her words.
"What they're attempting is insanity," An indiscernible emotion flickered across her face. "but I can understand why they're attempting it."
Harry rubbed his hand over his scar, a habit she was certain he didn't realise he still did and let out a heavy sigh. "Well, at least we don't have to worry about that anymore." He dropped his hand and shoved them both into his pockets. "We found you and now we can go about finding a way home."
Lila wasn't so sure that things were as easy as Potter believed they were. It was true that she knew a substantial amount of information on Middle Earth (not that they knew that) but that information wouldn't be of any help getting them home. She had no idea what sort of spell had brought them here or why, more to the point she didn't have a single idea where to find the information that she needed in order to find a way home. Not to mention there was also the fact that magic in this world and in theirs were considerably different and she very much doubted that anything like this had ever happened before.
"I know you're not going to like it Harry," Granger paused and flicked a brief glance in her direction and at her nod continued. "But I think we should stay with Gandalf."
Harry's expression was anything but pleased and Granger rushed on; obviously worried that Harry would explode before she could explain her reasoning behind staying with Gandalf. "I know it hasn't been great and I know that Thorin hasn't made that time pleasant, but Gandalf is the only one with answers and the only one who could possibly get us home."
Harry's face darkened and for several tense moments Lila feared he would explode but as it had with Thorin reason won out and Harry heaved a heavy sigh. "The problem is," his hand once again found his scar "if we stay with Gandalf then we'll have to face that dragon at the end of their little journey."
"If we worked together couldn't we defeat the dragon Lila?" Luna asked as she stared at nothing in particular, a frown marring her features.
"We could," She said slowly. "but it will take some pretty powerful spells and a lot of team work." She rubbed her hands over her face. "And I wouldn't even know where to begin in terms of what spells to use. I don't know if any of the defense spells we know could penetrate Smaug's hide or if his mind could be effective with something as simple as the confundus charm. Dragons aren't exactly willing study subjects and so there isn't a whole lot of information on them."
"Is there anyone who knows more about dragons?" Ginny flopped down next to where Blaise was sitting. "I mean besides Gandalf."
She frowned and contemplated this. "There is one other person who might know," She said slowly. "but there is no way we'll get within 30 miles of the place if we're traveling with Thorin and no certainty that he knows anything"
"Why?" Granger asked as she chewed on the end of her quill.
"Because he's an elf and if there is one thing that Thorin and every single dwarf in middle earth hates more than Smaug it's the race of elves."
Granger blinked, and Draco arched his brow. "Am I correct in assuming that the elves in this world are different than the elves in ours?"
Lila chuckled and nodded at Draco's question. "Yes, elves in this world are very different than the house elves in ours, like night and day." She looked thoughtful "If I had to compare them to anything I would say that they resemble Veela's. They're very beautiful and graceful but fierce warriors." Granger was frowning once again, and Lila knew that she would either dread what the smartest witch of their age was thinking or dread the question she was about to ask.
"Lila how is it that you know all this?"
Apparently, there was a third option.
Grangers frown was soon joined by Ginny's "And since when do you do so much wandless magic?" The fiery red head added.
"I stopped using my wand after I had a little run in with some villagers and their torches," Lila said smoothly and without any hesitation. "and I know all this because –just like you Hermione- I asked questions," She smiled at the girl. "a lot of questions." She technically wasn't lying but she wasn't exactly telling the truth either.
Truth be told, her little run in with the villagers wasn't the only reason she had stopped using her wand, in fact it wasn't even number one on the list. In actuality, the major reason she had stopped using her wand was when she realised that her spells were not as strong as they were in England and when they started blowing blew up in her face, quite literally. It had only taken her almost blowing herself up twice for her to realise that something was wrong with her wand and that if she didn't start practicing wandless magic she was going to end up like Seamus Finnigan: with no eyebrows.
"Well," Ron said, saving her from answering anymore questions from Hermione or Ginny. "I suppose that doesn't leave us much of a choice does it?"
Lila shook her head. "No not really…" She rubbed her forehead. "but as I said if we're going to do this then we're going to have to be prepared."
They all nodded and after a few moments of silence both she and Granger lowered the spell around them. "I'm going to inform Gandalf that we'll be staying with them." She made her way towards Gandalf; very much aware that Granger's eyes were not the only ones tracing her footsteps.
"I trust everything is well my dear?"
Authors Note: Quite a bit of the information that was used in this chapter was either pulled from memory or Lord of the wings Wiki if anything isn't right-please feel free to let me know!