Disclaimer: I do not own the works of Tolkien or the works of J.K. Rowling. I am merely borrowing them for this story.

Summary: A Harry Potter/Lord of the Rings crossover that's a bit different to the norm.

AUTHORS NOTE: I regret two things that I have previously added to this story. I regret putting the settlement on the Langwell River – I should have put it on the Greylin – and I regret making Harry unable to speak the language. Had I not done both of those things the story would have flowed easier.

Chapter two shows some of my substandard writing ability. The way I have portrayed Harry is, as reviews have shown me, out of character, if I were a good author this would not be the case, also if I were a good author I would have shown you what Harry's relationship with the residents of that settlement was and shown you how his life was rather than telling you. I'm sure I shall see even more failings as the story progresses.

This should be the last chapter that this code is needed for. Code for the following chapter: English Westron

~ Chapter Three ~

A rocking motion, none too gentle, stirred Harry from unconsciousness. It was not a pleasant awakening. Pain surged through his left leg, pain swept up his back and around his torso, pain throbbed in his head and lingered like a thousand sharp knives pricking at his spine.

Groaning he raised his head to look around him and immediately regretted it. Spots danced in front of his eyes, blinding him for a minute or so.

When the spots died down he found himself surrounded by darkness. He could hear the sound of many marching feet seeming to echo and he could feel a cold breeze blowing past his face.

Glancing down he saw that he appeared to be draped over a large rock…a large rock that was moving? Ok, so maybe it wasn't a rock but just looked like it. Some kind of rock-creature? Whatever.

The lumbering steps of the creature were what caused the rocking and the uncomfortably hard and bumpy surface of its shoulder made the journey very unpleasant.

What the hell was going on anyway? Had he been captured? Or was this come kind of rescue party? Where were they taking him? And how long would it be until he'd be allowed to walk himself?

His eyes began to adjust to the darkness and in doing so he became aware that he was no longer in the wide open fields not unlike the Scottish Lowlands he had become accustomed to over the last few weeks. All around him was rock and stone, some carved, some broken, some rubble but clearly rock and stone nonetheless. There was only a dim light of torches in the distances by which to see anything and shadows danced with the flames, making the darkness seem alive.

Surrounding him and the creature that carried him were more of those small, greenish creatures that had attacked the settlement. They were grumbling to each other as they marched forward into the darkness

Harry was not the only human present. About twenty others were being forced to follow those creatures, surrounded, herded like livestock. Amongst them were some familiar faces, no one he knew intimately but people he recognized, they were clearly scared and confused.

A gruff voice shouted a harsh command from the front and the convoy found itself herded into a side chamber where Harry was unceremoniously and none to gently dropped on the ground where the rest of the captured were huddled. This, as to be expected, forced him to vocalize his pain once more.

Once he was on the ground he took stock of his own physical condition. His leg was wounded and he was unlikely to be moving at anything more than a marching pace in the near future, he felt numerous sore spots that were bound to be bruises or bumps or maybe even broken bones or torn ligaments. Needless to say he was no in the best of conditions. Luckily, however, his unconscious mind had recognized the need to keep hold of his wand at all cost and the relief he felt when he could still feel it gripped in his right hand was great.

"You alright lad?" A voice asked in an almost whisper. It came from behind him and sounded somewhat familiar.

Harry turned his head to glance behind him and squinted in an attempt to make out the features of the man sitting there. This was made exponentially hard by the darkness and the pain. Eventually he made a guess; "…Beor?"

"Not quite lad," The man answered with a shake of his head. "Leod"

"Leod…how?" Harry asked, trying to convey all the confusion he felt in two words.

"Good question that! Buggers caught me in bed! No warning. One moment I was…well…you don't need to know about that but, next thing I know three of the damned things are upon me. I'd kill whoever was on guard duty if I was not certain he is already dead. If I could have had a few minutes warning I would have taken many of them down before they could lay a hand on me." Leod answered, his eye burning in anger as he did so.

Harry turned his gaze back to the creatures as they dragged one woman from the group crying and screaming from the room. Several of the creatures remained as an armed guard.

Harry had understood only a few words Leod had said so he went a bit unanswered. He didn't mind really, he'd gotten a bit used to it over the last few weeks, he was able to work out most of what someone was trying to say through body language and the tone of their voice – in Leod's case he had been captured and wasn't happy about it. His thoughts turned to a different question.

"What?" He asked and gestured with a nod towards the armed guard. "What… are they?"

"Goblins lad." Leod said quickly with overtones of disgust and hatred in his voice.

"…Goblins?" Harry had an image of a Goblin. It was a diminutive creature, wearing a suit and standing on a podium with a large book in front of him and a quill in his hand, or otherwise carrying a set of keys standing in front of a doorway. These creatures were nothing like the Goblins he knew.

"Aye, Goblins. Foul creatures. They eat man-flesh, steal livestock and crops and take children from their homes in the dead of night. They are a plague on us all!" Leod continued.

"What…do they…want?" The Goblins he knew were obsessed with gold but he didn't know about these creatures.

"What do they want? Probably to eat us, after torturing us for a while, no doubt." Leod was deadpan. As if confirming this very conclusion and woman's scream echoed through the caverns. The agony expressed in that scream was bone-chilling.

"What can we do? Get away?" Strangely Harry felt no intimidation, no fear, despite the circumstances he found himself in. It was almost familiar to him.

Leod was silent for a moment. "I cannot see a way out lad. We are trapped here, with no weapons and guarded. There are no warriors amongst us and many of us are wounded – including you." He stopped again and glanced around the cavern, counting the guards as he went. "No, escape is impossible. All that is left is to choose which way we die."

Harry wasn't sure he'd understood correctly, certainly he knew he hadn't heard properly but Leod's resigned demeanour to his fate confused him even more than the language barrier did. "…Die?" he asked, wanting clarification on that more than anything.

"Aye, that is what I said." Leod continued in his deadpan tone. "We either die tortured at their hands, and trust me that would be cruelty unimaginable, or we try to fight and bring our deaths upon us sooner. Some may manage to escape if the Valar smile upon them but I do not doubt the Valar have abandoned us to our fate. The only certain point is that we will not live to see the sunlight again."

"I…do not…want…to die." Those words in a different context could sound pathetic, could sound pleading or pitiable but not from the mouth of Harry Potter. Those words, broken though they were, were said with determination and with fury.

"Death will come to us all here lad, but I like your spirit." Leod clapped Harry on the shoulder and as their eyes met the fury that they both held merged and ignited each other. "What say we give them hell before we die? We stand no chance of course but we will die like men!"

Harry, for once, had no trouble understanding his companion. Language was not needed to understand that the two of them were about to throw their lives away for a quicker, more painless death. He turned to watch the Goblins, to bide his time and wait for the moment to strike and grasped his wand tightly.

. . . . . . . . . .

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

. . . . . . . . . .

The Goblin's were not efficient guards. While it was true that two stood vigil in front of the only entrance to the chamber the other nine of them crouched around a fire, eating, bickering and fighting with each other. Occasionally other Goblins would arrive and take away one of the prisoners but they didn't stay long, too obsessed with their desire to inflict pain on their victims to notice much.

Leod had been secretly moving around the company of prisoners, attempting to convince them that they were better of fighting and dying quickly than waiting for a rescue that would probably never come and being taken away to suffer a slow and agonizing death. He convinced all but a few. They waited only the large man's signal and would be prepared to attack as soon as possible.

While Leod had been busy with this duty Harry had concerned himself with studying how the Goblins behaved. He noticed their haphazard approach to guarding their prisoners and noted one other thing, every two or three hours the Goblins on the door would switch and for a vital five to six minutes the Goblins would argue over who was to stand guard next. While this happened they were distracted and the doorway left almost open. If they were to have any chance of escape they would have to move at that time. He had explained this to Leod by way of drawing in the dirt, just visible in the flickering light of the Goblins' fire. It had taken a while to make himself understood but he had managed it in the end.

The time would soon be upon them and they were as ready as they could ever hope to be.

There was commotion in the entrance way. One of the Goblin guards ran to his companions around the fire and said something which forced them all to stand up and move to stand to attention in front of the entrance.

"What are they doing?!" Harry whispered harshly to Leod.

"I don't know lad, must be something important to get them moving like that. Something must be coming." Leod answered, thoughtfully.

"Trouble." Harry answered; completely sure that what was going to happen would be no good.

Leod nodded "No doubt."

Four Goblins rushed into the room, each carrying large spears and small circular shields, they wore helmets and mismatched pieces of armour that were partially rusted. They were clearly more important than the lowly Goblins assigned to guard some farmers. They filed into the chamber before moving off to one side.

Entering the chamber, carried by six Goblins dressed only in rags, sitting upon a cushioned chair was a Goblin that was twice as big as any of the others and three times as fat. The chair was lowered to the ground and the Goblin sat up straighter in his chair.

Leod hissed at the sight of him.

"I bid you welcome men-folk of the north land!" The fat Goblin. If anyone was surprised to hear the Goblin speak in their own tongue they kept that surprise to themselves. "Welcome to my home. I hope you have not found it un-welcoming"

No one answered him. Some dared not, or risk the anger of the clearly powerful and important Goblin to fall upon them, while others bit their tongue out of blind fury and could not bring themselves to converse.

"Oh dear, it seems you have not enjoyed my hospitality." The Goblin continued in a mocking tone. The Goblins around him snickered. "Well then I must try harder to help you enjoy your stay. You will all discover what true Goblin hospitality is but do not be afraid; few of you are likely to come to know it for long."

Harry could hear Leod growl beside him. It was as like an animal, a wolf or hound, cornered and injured and angry. Harry could emphasize but it would do no good for any of them to attack now while the heavily armed Goblins were nearby. So he grasped Leod's wrist and held him tight, keeping him in place.

"Others will come." Someone from the crowd said. "They will come!"

"Others?!" The fat Goblin laughed, it was a thoroughly unpleasant sound, made even worse by the harsh laughter of his followers. "There are no other that would dare enter my domain, you are alone. Your Chief is foolish and frail, your warriors dispersed and weak, I am lord of this realm and you are playthings to my will. You shall learn to despair of this. And rejoice in the knowledge that you are serving my will."

The cries of denial and objection rose from the captured, much to the amusement of the Goblins. The Goblin chief gesture to one of his armed guards who nodded and advanced on the prisoners. An Goblin armoured grabbed a woman – a girl in truth, she could only have been fourteen at most – and brought her, kicking and screaming, forward to be inspected.

"I think…" The Goblin Chief began before pausing; he turned his gaze at his prisoners and noted the girl's mother weeping and being held back and basked in the torment he had created. "She shall have the honour of enjoying my hospitality first. I may return her to you once I am done, or I may keep her." He laughed at the tormented wails of mother and daughter. "Come. The night is young and I would not be a proper host if I did give her all of my attention."

The chair was raised off the ground as the girl was ushered out of the chamber by two armoured Goblins. The Goblin Chief was lift up and began to follow them when Leod's patience finally broke.

With a roar he tore himself from Harry's grasp and leap at the Goblin Chief but before he could lay hands on him he was thrown to the ground by five Goblins and held there, with a knife to his throat.

"You monster!" He cried. "I do not know how - I do not care how but you will pay!"

The Goblin Chief laughed once more and turned in his seat to regard Leod. "Many better than you have tried to take my head and all have failed. There is no man who is my equal, none who can surpass me."

Unabashed and unafraid Leod answered in challenge. "Had I my axe now I would cut you down! You are a coward! You come like a thief in the night and torment women and children! Give me a weapon and face me, one to one, and we shall see if you have no equal!"

"Ha! You?! You are unworthy! Caught in you bed without as much as a fight! Not even your greatest warrior could stand against me! He fell screaming and crying in pain and despair as I crushed him!" The Goblin Chief answered in derision.

"You lie!" Leod denied.

"Here." The Goblin chief said as he threw a sack from his chair that landed next to Leod's head. "This is the proof of my words. Think on them before you challenge me again." And with that he was gone.

As the crowd of Goblins dispersed and went back to what they were doing before Leod reached out for the sack. With some trepidation he opened it and looked inside the immediately pulled back with a moan of anguish as he wished he hadn't.

Harry, in morbid curiosity, advanced to kneel beside Leod and took the bag from him then glanced inside. He too immediately wished he had not for inside the sack was the severed head of Beor, his gracious host. Harry felt very ill indeed.

"Two hours..." Leod muttered. "Two hours."

. . . . . . . . . .

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

. . . . . . . . . .

"'ere why do we have to guard that filth?" One Goblin asked another and gestured towards the prisoners.

"Cause Boldog told us to." the other answered.

The first Goblin snorted "Boldog don't know what he's doing no more. Day's was when we'd slaughter the lot of them and be done with it, none of this hospitilizin'. I miss that."

"Well times're changin' and you got ta live with it." The second Goblin responded. "Boldog said we gotta teach 'em whose boss round 'ere and we can't do that by killing 'em all."

"How 'bout the odd one then?" The first Goblin said. "Can't I have just one of 'em? That little one on the end's been starin' at us for ages. I don't like it."

It was the second Goblin's turn to snort. "Ain't no way that's happenin'! We ain't gonna get any of 'em. They're all called fer."

"But who's gonna know. It's just the little one, no one'll miss just a little one. Boldog and 'is lapdogs can't even tell 'em apart anyway." begged the first Goblin.

"No! I aint gonna get in trouble just cause yer can control yerself!" The second Goblin refused.

"Come on! What's the harm? If no one squeals no one knows." The first tempted.

"No way!" the second continued his refusal.

"Why not?! We deserve some fun! We've been guarding the filth for ages!"

"Shut yer mouth!" A third interrupted. "It's yer turn to guard the door."

"It ain't my turn! I did it last time!" The first goblin denied.

"Yer lying scum!" The second accused. "Yer aint done it fer hours!"

"I 'ave! I did it when yer were stuffin' yer face." Answered the first.

The second shoved the first roughly "Yer were stuffin' yer face next ta me! Yer tried to steal my meat!"

"I don't care what yer were doing! One of yer have got ta go guard the door!" the third interjected.

"Yer keep yer fat nose out of it yer dungfilth! It ain't got nothin' to do with yer!" The first shot back angrily.

"Bite yer tongue maggot! Befer I rip it from yer mouth!" The third angrily retorted.

With a cry the first Goblin threw himself at the Third and a brawl began. The second Goblin threw himself into the fray and was followed by another and another until five or six of them were hitting, biting and scratching each other in a melee. The Goblins around the fire watched the action and cheered the brawling group on and in turn the Goblin's guarding the door turned their attentions to the brawl.

CRACKLE

The fire began to burn with a greater fury.

CRACKLE

The Goblins, seemingly unaware of the growing heat and intensity of the flame, were absorbed in the brawl.

CRACKLE

Emerald eyes glimmered in the darkness, gazing intently towards the fire.

BOOM!

The fire burst up into a column of smoke and flame. The Goblins around it were thrown off of their feet and scrambled away from the out of control flame. The Goblins began to run around in a panic, some looking for water to douse the flame and some just running around in circles unable to think of anything constructive to do.

"Beor!" Shouting the name of his murdered friend Leod threw himself on the closed Goblin to him and grasped its head and, with a quick twist, broke it neck. Picking up the Goblin's knife he led the charge as the rest of his fellow prisoners followed him.

Harry, wounded as he was, could not charge with Leod and found himself left behind. But he did not stay idle. Concern for the elder man drove him to follow in Leod's wake. All around him were the cries of fury of battle and the cries of pained anguish that followed a mortal wound. It was a hopeless situation. There would be no victory, or at least no victory with any meaning, and although he had played a major part in the creation of this, now that it had started he began to question his own judgement.

A cry from before him drew his attention to the front. There the Goblins had formed a line before the Chamber entrance, only four of them but each carrying formidable looking swords. Several of the prisoners had attempted to reach the door and escape while the Goblins were confused but none had made it and were now being cut down with ease by the resurgent Goblins.

Leod charged regardless, fearing neither injury nor death, thrusting and slashing his stolen blade with abandon. His fury was great, apparently uncontrollable, but appeared to Harry as recklessness. There he was, one man with a knife, charging four Goblins, each armed with swords and armoured in mail. He stood no chance on his own.

Breaking himself from his stupor he moves as quickly as his injured leg could carry him in the direction of the Chamber door, praying he would reach it in time to help Leod.

A sword swept over his head and Harry was force to throw himself to the ground. No sooner had he done this than the blade came stabbing down towards him. He rolled out of the way just in time to avoid it only to receive a kick in his side that left him doubled over in pain.

A cry drew Harry's attention briefly to the entrance where Leod had met the Goblin defenders. The large man was crying in fury as he drove forward, his body litter with gashes and scratches from the Goblin's blade, his blood staining his clothes.

But although he was worried about Leod he had his own troubles. Turning his attention to the Goblin attacking him he was forced to move again to avoid another blow from the sword. He tried to stand only for his left leg to collapse under him.

"Damn it!" he cursed. Looking up he saw the Goblin raise its sword above its head for a downward swing and knew he had to do something or else he was dead. With a glare he brought his wand up quickly to point at the Goblin and shouted "Expelliarmus!"

The Goblin, a shocked look on its face, flew across the chamber and was lost in the darkness. Its sword seemed to hover in mid-air for a moment before it dropped to the floor with a clang.

"What is wrong with this place?!" Harry grumbled to himself as he picked himself up off the floor. "The Goblin Wars ended hundred of years ago people!"

He picked up the Goblin's sword and turned to march towards the Chamber door where Leod was still battling with three Goblin guards. Harry raised his wand again and aimed at one of the Goblins. "Stupefy!" he called and watched as the red light hurtled across the chamber. It hit a Goblin dead centre in its chest and the Goblin fell to the floor, incapacitated,

Leod brought his knife down in an arc and imbedded it a Goblin's neck with a vicious joy before the feeling was drowned out by a pain in his side. The last remaining Goblin had pieced his side with its sword. With a growl Leod clasped his hands together and swung his arms at the Goblin with all his strength. A sickening thud followed and the Goblin fell to the ground, knocked out if not dead.

The chaos was now dying down. The Goblins, armed though they were, had been overwhelmed by magic, numbers and surprise and had been killed of fled but the victory was gained at a cost. Only three of the prisoners had managed to survive the encounter and one of them had suffered a mortal wound.

"Leod?!" Harry called out in concern as he approached the larger man. Leod had slumped against the wall, his hand clasped tightly to his side in a vein attempt to keep the blood from pouring out of the gaping wound in his side. "Your hurt! Is it bad?"

"I fear so lad." Leod answered with a grimace of pain and a sharp intake of breath. Just talking sent unimaginable pain through his body. He continued in gulping breaths and short sentences. "Listen. There is not…much time. Take whoever…you can and…try to escape. It is probably hopeless…but…it is worth a…try…eh?"

"But…" Harry began.

"There is no time!" Leod interrupted as he slid to the floor. "The Goblin's…will return…with greater numbers…if there is…only a small hope…of escape…you must take it! Forget about me…I am already…dead."

"But Leod…I…"

Leod smiled up at him through the pain, his eyes started to glaze over. "Do not fret lad…it was…one hell of a battle! I am…glad that I…died this way. I shall be able…to look…Beor…in the eye when I…meet him once more…"

Shouts and screams in the hall accompanied but drumming and horns altered them to the Goblin's imminent arrival. With this sound the one other survivor in the room ran through the doorway to escape.

Leod face became panicked. "Go!" he said earnestly. "Go! If you are trapped here…you shall never escape!"

Harry himself was torn. He didn't want to leave Leod there to the mercies of the Goblin's but he knew nothing of healing and Leod was badly wounded. He wrestled with himself for a good few minutes before, with a frustrated sound he began moving out of the room. He was halfway out of the door when he stopped and turned back.

Leod was on his side now, blood pooling around him, life leaving him. "Go…" he whispered.

"I am sorry." Harry said then turned and fled.

. . . . . . . . . . .

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

. . . . . . . . . . .

The Boldog was not pleased. "Can somebody explain to me how a group of unarmed farmers managed to killed nine of my warriors and escape?" His voice was cold and calm and the other Goblins shrank from him.

"Boldog, your greatness," one of them cowered. "They wasn't jus' farmers sir. They 'ad sum kind'o magic-type power sir."

"Excuses, Gorbuk, are worthless." The Boldog continued in his unnaturally calm voice.

"But it's true Boldog sir! I saw 'im! 'e's got this stick thin, see, that 'e pointed at Raggok and 'e said sum word then - bang! Raggok got blasted over there. An-an' there was this fire, right? 'e did sumthin' to it tha' made it go woof! An' out'o control an' wild like. We could've 'ad 'im if 'e didn't 'ave magic." Gorbuk continued in earnest.

"Be that as it may, I have no use of excuses!" The Boldog's calm voice lowered into an angry hiss as he drew his blade and swung it, taking Gorbuk's head off his shoulders with one swipe. "I want the cave searched! I want those two rats found! None of you will rest until they are brought to me!"

The Goblins stood staring at him, the body of Gorbuk and his rolling head in fear and terror and didn't move. The Boldog growled at them again, raised his blade and began to advance on them and they scattered.

Alone in the room the Boldog gazed around the carnage in disgust. He nudged the dead body of Leod with his foot and gazed down on him with hatred. "Filth!" he said and kicked the dead man away.

He began to walk out of the chamber but stopped at the door. "….Magic…interesting…"

~End Chapter Three~

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