Legolas --
The Headmaster here makes me nervous. He is far too...cheerful. I'm used to wizards, but I have never met a wizard who was quite so cheerful.
"Ah, Legolas!" he says, the instant he sees me. Well, there goes any chance of getting away before he talks to me. Damn.
If my father even heard me THINKING like this, he would be so ashamed. And then I'd get a lecture on how he didn't raise his sons to be rude, and well, that certainly explained why Nana had wanted girls.
I've heard it before. Every one in the House of Oropher has heard it before, including those who married into it. Every one in the palace has heard it, if not all of Mirkwood.
Father's voice carries.
I manage a polite smile and turn to him. "Yes, Professor?"
He smiles at me. "I wanted to talk to you about giving lessons to some of the students."
I arch an eyebrow. "What kind of lessons?"
"Archery," he replies. I barely contain my noise of disbelief. He wants me to teach a bunch of children archery? I haven't the patience. Or the temperment. Or the inclination, really.
"Why?" I ask, tilting my head curiously.
He just shugs. "I believe that many of the students would be interested in learning. It's of no practical use here, of course, since we fight our battles with magic."
That just does not strike me as the right way to do battle. The Elves of Mirkwood have used magic in battle before, but that's the innate magic granted to us by the land and it is my father's power only. Well, the power of the House of Oropher, although I can't do half the things my father can do.
"I've already approached Kayli," he adds. "She's agreed to teach them the hand-to-hand. Although perhaps if you could assist with that as well?"
I sigh and nod. If I say no, Kayli will never let me hear the end of it. Besides, it'll give me something to do other than useless research.
The Professor beams at me. "Ah, yes." He pauses. "Also...well, I'm afraid more people from your world have landed here."
I freeze. Oh, Elbereth, who now? "Who?" I ask. Even I am surprised by the resignation in my voice. Now we have to worry about getting even more people home. It was bad enough when it was just us.
"A pair of twins," he says, serious now. "Elladan --"
"And Elrohir," I finish. I swear. Of all the people in Middle-Earth, it had to be them. "Of course."
He seems to be considering something for a moment. "I think perhaps it would be better if we kept the Weasley twins away from awhile," he says, like I'm supposed to know who they are. But if they're anything like the twins I know, he's probably right. "Your two friends struck me as...well, one of them seemed to be a bit of a prankster."
"Both of them are," I tell him. "Elrohir just hides it better." I sigh and try to work the tension out of my shoulders. I wish Kayli were here. She could take care of the tension.
No, not like that. Dirty minds.
"When do you want me to start teaching?" I ask.
"As soon as possible," he tells me. "Talk to Kayli about a lesson plan, she would be better help than any of the teachers here. Also, she said that one of the twins is a trained Healer?"
"They both are. Elrohir is better at it then Elladan, that's all." Elrond would not have let those two lose in the wilds without some kind of medical training. And he had to patch them up enough when they were young, he probably figured they should just have to do it themselves.
He smiles and wanders off. It's an aimless stride, and he's looking around at the pictures, stopping to converse with some of the inhabitants.
I somehow doubt that he is half as mad as he acts. Keep your enemies confused, and all that. Someone with that much power cannot be that mad and keep this place running so smoothly.
I shrug it off. It's none of my concern, after all. I wonder where Kayli is.
Harry --
I don't think I've ever seen anyone this confused by a quill. She keeps forgetting to refill it, then glares at the thing like it's all it's fault she doesn't know how to use it. If she was magical like the rest of us, it would have burst into flame about ten minutes ago.
It's very amusing.
Hermione is patiently trying to instruct her on how to use it. Once, Kayli snaps at her, then shrugs and apologizes. She seems to be even more on edge than usual. Her and Legolas have probably been fighting again, knowing our luck.
She finally finishes what she was doing, reads it over, then tosses the quill across the table.
"So what's all that for, anyway?" Ron asks, looking up from his Potions essay. I hate Snape.
"Lesson plans," she says, and yawns. "Dumbledore has me teaching a voluntary physical defense thing." She pauses. "Who's Hagrid?"
"Groundskeeper and Care of Magical Creatures Professor," Hermione responds absently, not looking up from her own textbook. "Why?"
She shrugs again. "I'm supposed to ask him about getting my hands on some training weapons."
"They're different from regular weapons?" Ron asks. "I just thought they used the same ones."
Kayli laughs. "Oh, hell no. I'm not giving you kids anything with an edge until you know how to use it."
"You gave me something with an edge," I say.
"I didn't have anything else," she replies. "I even made my Men train with wooden swords for a month or two. They didn't take that too well, let me tell you." She makes a face and shakes her head. "Men. You take away their sharp toys and they sulk like children."
Professor Snape chooses that moment to walk into the library, robes billowing out, looking evil, intimidating, and kind of greasy. Kayli looks a little revolted. "Potter," he snarls. "Causing trouble, as usual, I'm sure."
"Doing his homework, reading," Kayli says, and shakes her head. "Shame on you, Harry. No decency at all."
Snape glares. "And who, pray tell, are you?"
"Kayli of Gondor," she replies. "Who're you, Sarge?"
"I am Professor Severus Snape," he snaps back. "And I want to know what you think you're doing, interfering with the work of students?"
"I thought they were causing trouble," she replies easily, leaning back in her chair and looking relaxed. I have the sneaky suspicion that if Snape made a threatening move, she'd be on her feet with a blade in her hand before any of us could blink.
She's a lot scarier than Snape is.
His eyes narrow, and he straightens up to his full height. "Whatever they are doing, you have no right to be in here."
"On the contrary, I have every right to be in here. I'm a teacher now. Voluntary physical defense."
Snape laughs disbelievingly. "Are you trying to tell me that YOU know how to fight? Physically?" He shakes his head. "I've never understood the honor of trying to gut your opponent with something pointy."
"And what honor is there in hexing your opponenent to his back?" she asks in return. "The method of battle you people seem to have is even less honorable than ours. At least we have to see our opponents face to face, instead of waving a pointy stick at them and using magic."
"She has a point," Ron says after a moment.
"It's pointless," Snape snaps. "I want you out of here."
"Tough," she says.
"I can remove you."
"No, you really can't."
He pulls his wand. Kayli's entire body tenses. "What are you trying to prove?" she demands. "That you're big and bad? Please. I've got scarier people than you in my family."
"Yeah, you're married to one of 'em," Ron mutters.
Snape tucks his wand back up his sleeve. "Dumbledore said I was to approach you if I required any form of assistance. I believe I'll go to the Slytherins, instead. You haven't the brains."
Kayli shrugs. "Whatever you say, Casper."
He growls and storms out.
The three of us immediately start to laugh. Nobody but Dumbledore is willing to stand up to Snape like that. I have some pity for him, some understanding, since I saw what my father did to him when they were young. But that's no excuse for how he treats everybody else.
Ron claps her on the shoulder. "Thanks for that."
She grins. It makes her look a lot younger than she usually does. "I live to serve." She gathers the papers she's been working on. "I gotta go see Dumbledore. Will I see any of you in my class?"
"I'll be there," I say. "Remus'll give me permission."
"I'll tell Mum it's a dueling club," Ron says.
Hermione looks thoughtful. "It might be useful, but I don't know if I can do it."
Kayli smiles. "Neither did I."
She leaves. We all make an attempt to go back to our homework. After a few minutes, Ron slams his textbook shut. "I can't concentrate anymore," he mutters, and starts rolling up his essay. "I've got most of it done, the rest I can do tomorrow."
Hermione holds out one hand. Ron sighs and hands it over. She holds out her other hand to me. I hand mine over as well.
Without Hermione, Ron and I wouldn't have learned nearly as much here.
"So," Ron says after a moment. "Do you think they're here for a reason?"
I stare at my hands. Hermione's quill stops scratching. "I don't see what reason it would be," she says, like she's confessing something horrible.
"Maybe to help us fight Voldemort," I say. "And maybe if it's not him, it's his Death Eaters."
Ron looks doubtful. "No offense to Kayli or Legolas, but what good is a knife or a sword against magic? You have to get a lot closer with them than you do a wand."
"But not with a bow," I say after a second. "I think Legolas is a lot scarier than we're giving him credit for."
"I don't know," Ron says. "I'm giving him a lot of credit."
"And what about their friends?" Hermione asks. She's put down her quill, but she's still playing with it, like she knows she should be doing work. "They were...rather frightening, too."
"Yeah, they're just scary 'cause they reminded you of Fred and George," Ron says. "Only armed."
"Well, yes, there was that, of course," she says. "But it was...just...they seem so OLD!" she bursts out.
"Well, that's insulting," says a voice from behind us.
Hermione squeaks. Ron falls out of his chair. I pull out my wand.
One of the twins is leaning in the doorway. He's taller than I thought, and his hair isn't in the funky braids anymore. Do all Elves have such long bloody hair? It's past his waist! That would just be a pain to take care of.
He walks into the library, looking around curiously. "We're not all that old, actually," he tells us. "We're among the youngest left amongst the Elves."
"So you're still bloody old, by our standards," Ron responds.
He shrugs. "Humans are young," is all he says.
"Which one are you, anyway?" Hermione asks.
"Elrohir," he says, bows, and then smiles. Hermione blushes. Ron looks insanely jealous. It doesn't seem like Elrohir sees it, but I have a feeling he does, anyway. "According to my brother, I am the humorless, fun-stealing stick-in-the-mud."
"Are you?" Ron asks.
He laughs. "Probably," he admits. "But I am also the one who puts all the more subtle touches on our plans."
"So...uh...you're a bit of pranksters, then?" Ron asks, looking curious.
Elrohir's grin is huge, and makes him look like a kid. "Us? Absolutely not."
"Do people actually buy that?" I ask.
He laughs. "No," he admits. "But we're the sons of our father, so they pretend."
Hermione immediately starts asking questions, apparently interested in the fact that they seem to be the kids of an important man -- er, Elf. Half-Elf. Whatever. He answers her, and they fall deep into conversation again.
I lean back and listen in. You'd be amazed what you can learn if you pay attention.
Something else I learned from Hermione.
TBC...