Hello loves!

Welcome to my very first story in english. I am not a native speaker, so I hope you can overlook or point out any errors I make :)

So, about this Story? Its a Crossover between my two favorite Books, Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. I wont get into much details for now, I just hope you enjoy reading it!

For any german speaking reader who thinks, they know that plot: That really could be, as this story exists in german too on another website, and yes, its my story. My name from over there was taken here already, so I decided on another name. So no worries, this is not stolen.

Without further delay I give you

The flubbed portal potion

Prologue Part I

With his cloak billowing, Severus Snape entered his classroom and slammed the door shut with a bang. As always, this resulted in the students suddenly falling silent and looking at him. Especially in the seventh grade Gryffindor Slytherin, attention was the be-all and end-all, this class after all included Draco Malfoy plus bodyguards and Harry Potter and his entourage, who always caused trouble - and the walking catastrophe Neville Longbottom. Only five more months, he thought happily. Five months, and then he would never have to deal with those pests again, either in the classroom or anywhere else at Hogwarts. There were new idiots coming along, like every year, but nothing would top this group any time soon.
His gaze swept over the tables in his usual routine and he frowned. "Where are Thomas, Patil, Brown, Parkinson, Bulstrode, Greengrass, Nott and Crabbe?" he blurted out angrily. Eight students were late, five of them from his house? No way...
As always, Miss Wise-Wise raised her hand, albeit reluctantly, and he gave her a sharp look, "Granger?"
"They're all in the hospital wing because of the flu," the girl replied firmly.
Severus frowned. "Flu? Since when does Madam Pomfrey keep the students in the hospital wing for this?"
"Professor... It's the muggle flu. And the hospital wing has filled up rapidly today, half of our class is already affected..." She quickly fell silent under his piercing gaze.
"Well then we'll have to continue without the gentlemen." Muggle flu. At Hogwarts. That hadn't been the case for a long time. Surely one or two Muggleborns had brought the flu with them from the Christmas holidays and started this little epidemic. Potions and magic didn't help against the muggle flu. And the sick couldn't use magic for the duration of the flu either, they were essential like squibs. The affected students would be absent from all classes for one week.
With a flick of his wand, a recipe appeared on the blackboard. "The portal potion... You have ninety minutes. Begin." Against his better judgement, he hoped once more that all the students had internalized the relevant chapter – just as he had instructed them to do at the end of the last lesson before the Christmas holidays.

With eight students missing, plus four students that Severus normally kept an eye on due to their sheer incompetence, the lesson was actually much more manageable and quiet. Only Granger kept helping Longbottom with hissed orders and hints. This time Severus even let her get away with it, because this potion wasn't without its pitfalls and dangers, and he only had two eyes in his head, even if the students certainly did think otherwise
Potter, Draco, Goyle, and Weasley dutifully kept their heads above their own cauldrons, luckily for them. Severus was still pretty mad at the four, or rather five, after all Crabbe was partly to blame for the chaos of the last hour. But the detention from before Christmas had put the silly nonsense out of their heads for the time being, it seemed. Nevertheless, Severus was alert, striding between the brewing tables and especially keeping a close eye on these four troublemakers.
The lesson was drawing to a close when he finally pulled out his wand with a surly snort and made Weasley's potion disappear. "That's a T for this lesson, Weasley. By Monday next week I expect a two foot essay on the effect of nightshade in this potion, and a foot on why you absolutely must not stir clockwise at the stage your potion was in."
Weasley hung his head and bit his lower lip. Probably to pinch a comment. Severus grinned evilly. "Twenty points from Gryffindor for wasting expensive ingredients..."

There was a loud crunching sound from Longbottom's seat, then there was a violent convulsion and an almost deafening hiss sounded over Severus. Completely horrified, he looked at the ceiling where a huge portal had opened. "Longbottom, you huge idiot..." he exclaimed in panic, while the pull of the portal grabbed everyone in the classroom and pulled them upwards...

Groaning, Severus got to his feet and shook his head to shake off the dizziness that had gripped him. Around him lay his students, all in various states of consciousness. Granger, Finnegan and Draco were already on their feet like Severus himself, Potter and Goyle were still sitting on their behinds, both holding their heads, Longbottom, Zabini and Weasley were lying on the floor blinking against unconsciousness.

Granger was the first to look around. "Where are we?", she asked in a muffled voice and got her classmates' attention. Severus, on the other hand, looked around himself, searching. They had landed in some kind of valley or ravine surrounded by tall, craggy, dark rocks. Severus wasn't entirely sure, but based on the dim lighting conditions he assumed it was either early morning or late evening, the light was diffuse and the fog hanging low over the ground didn't make it any easier to see where they ended up here. Quiet splashing from inside the fog indicated a lake or stream, maybe they could walk along it and escape from this hollow.
But first he had to take care of the students. "Hopefully we'll find out soon, Miss Granger," Severus sneered and looked around. Longbottom, Zabini, and Weasley were on their feet by now, albeit still rather green. "Is anyone hurt?"
A collective murmur of negatives answered him, and he rolled his eyes, but bit back the hint of a proper reply, preferably ending in 'sir' or 'professor'. He actually had bigger problems to deal with right now... "Well, if no one needs medical attention, let's find out where Longbottom, in his utter incompetence, has gotten us to."
Longbottom at least had the decency to blush at Severus' words and mumble an apology to himself.
Severus pulled out his wand and held it up in the air. "Lumos solem!"
The spell, which normally illuminated everything as bright as day, had little effect on the mist. Severus looked in all directions. Behind them was a sheer, very high cliff, snaking left and right into the mist, ahead he could just make out the shore of the river or lake, which he was hearing faintly all the time. The ground was also rocky, barren and dark, there was no green to be seen, not even on the shore. He let the spell fade away and looked up, but again that ever-present fog obscured any view.
"It's getting darker," Granger stated. "We're definitely not in our time zone anymore, we're half a day ahead." She frowned and Severus could almost hear the wheels turning in her head as she mused. "In purely mathematical terms, we should be somewhere between China, Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific. It's getting dark, it's cold. We are probably in the northern hemisphere, where it is now winter like in Scotland. Then we're probably in Russia or somewhere in the Himalayas, that would fit best in terms of time. But if we are in the southern hemisphere, then I would guess the New Zealand mountains. A few years ago I was in New Zealand with my parents, there it can get very cold in the mountains even in midsummer. But it is definitely too cold for Australia, and it would also be much brighter there still."
Apart from Finnegan, everyone looked at Granger in irritation and Severus grunted, "Been as overzealous in geography as in any other subject, Miss Granger?"
Granger snorted softly, "Seems to be doing us some good now, doesn't it? Seamus, what do you think?
Finnegan shrugged slightly. "You may be right. I'm not that good at geography, but it's a fact that we're not in Australia. And to be honest, I don't think we're in the Himalayas. There's no snow anywhere here, and it's not that cold either." "It's winter in the rest of Russia and China, too," Potter put in thoughtfully. "Uncle Vernon saw a report about Russian winters a few years ago, and I caught a few glimpses. And then when I remember how thick the Durmstrang uniforms were, I don't think we landed anywhere there."
"So probably New Zealand. But at the moment the knowledge doesn't help us at all, we're somewhere in the middle of nowhere and have to find civilization first", Severus ended this discussion with a sharp tone.
Draco, who had remained silent the whole time, sighed, "Can't you portkey us out?"
"No," Severus replied, giving his godson an annoyed look. "Portkeys only work at this distance if you know exactly which Longitude and latitude and at what altitude you are at, after all, you have to take into account the curvature of the earth. I'm definitely not going to risk sinking us somewhere in the sea, or worse, ending up in the middle of a mountain."
"And Apparating doesn't work either?" Draco asked.
Severus rolled his eyes and didn't even answer that question, instead he turned to face the mist. "Here is water. And where there's water, there's a way out of the hollow here. We follow the river if there is one. Follow me." Without waiting for an answer or approval, he stalked off, wand held loosely in his hand.
Behind him, the eight students hurried, and from the rustle of cloaks he assumed the little fools had their wands out as well. "Hold off any spells, understood? No one does magic without my permission. We're most likely not in the magical world, muggles might run into us here."

The hike through the fog had already lasted about an hour when the students stopped. "Professor... It's not a river, it's a lake," Granger finally stated, annoyed. "And I feel like I've been here before. We're running in circles."
Severus stopped as well and pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. So his feelings hadn't deceived him after all. "Then we should go to the cliffs and see if we can find an exit there. Apparently the lake is fed from underground."

"Professor..."
"What is it now, Granger?" Severus growled indignantly. It was dark now and everyone had their wands lit with the Lumos to see enough.
"Look here in the wall. It looks like inscriptions." She approached the rock. Severus turned to her and saw her go completely rigid in one fell swoop. "That... can't be..." she blurted out, irritated.
The students and he surrounded them and also looked at these inscriptions. They formed a semicircle in the middle of the rock, and around it it seemed as if the outline of a great gate had been carved.
"That... is Elvish... Sindarin! But..." she stammered.
"Sindarin?" Severus exclaimed, annoyed - and Draco amazed.
Draco stepped closer to the rock. "You're right Granger, this is Sindarin. Speak friend, and enter!"
Granger whirled on Draco and stared at him in horror. "You can read that too?"
"Hmhm..." Draco's facial expressions vacillated between disbelief, fascination and fear, while Granger's expression was almost entirely fear.
"What is Sindarin?" Potter asked the question Severus wanted to ask.
Draco turned to him. "The Elvish language that Tolkien devised for his book The Lord of the Rings. These squiggly symbols are letters. And it says: Speak friend, and enter. If I didn't know better, I'd say we're in Middle-earth, the continent the book is set on, off the mines of Moria, home of the dwarves. According to the book, this is the main entrance to the mines."
Silence reigned over Draco's words. Until Severus shook his head. "I don't think so... But there is probably only one way to find out the truth. What is the answer to open the gate?"
Draco gave Severus a meaningful look that Severus couldn't place for a few seconds, then looked at Granger. "Friend..."
Her lips trembled as she answered.

"Mellon..."

Severus' hands practically flew to Draco and Granger and he yanked them both away from the suddenly glowing gate. The other students also stumbled backwards as the glow intensified, chafing stone against stone after a few seconds as the gate slowly opened outward.
"It can't be true... What is that spell?" Granger shook her head wildly. "It's a damn book!"
Severus released her and fired another sun charm, this time into the black maw behind the gate. And this time no fog prevented the view of what was in the cave...
Corpses, dozens and dozens of corpses in armor.
"Oh by Merlin's old socks," Weasley whispered, horrified. "What happened here?!"
Draco and Granger answered as one. "Orcs."
"Orcs invaded the mines and slaughtered the dwarves. They've nested there... There's no way we can go through there! We need to find the rock stairway that leads out of the hollow here," Draco explained, his voice slightly hoarse.
"And where should we go then?" Severus growled. It was written in a book... It could only be a very, very stupid joke!
Granger, of course, had an immediate answer. "To Rivendell... Unless this is a lunatic trap set by Voldemort."
Severus shook his head slightly. "No... that doesn't suit the Dark Lord. Far too filigree."
"But then how do you explain that we're obviously not on Earth anymore?" Draco muttered.
Severus shrugged. "Magic and an incompetent dolt at the cauldron?"

Granger rolled her eyes and started to answer, but instead let out a high-pitched yelp and was thrown violently backwards. Tentacles slithered out of the water and attacked the entire group.
"Oh crap, the Kraken!" groaned Draco, whipping out his wand. "Get Granger down there! Diffino!" Two aimed spells at the tentacle holding Granger by the ankle upside down over the lake took effect and she fell into the water screaming. Severus kept shooting Diffino onto the tentacles while Potter and Zabini dragged Granger out of the water.
More and more tentacles pressed ashore and slithered towards the students with incredible speed. "Back!" Severus yelled, aiming into the water. "Bombarda!"
A fountain spiked upward, tentacles flew through the air and slapped the rocks around them with a sickening sound.
Granger whimpered "Not in the mines, that's our death sentence!"
"Staying out here isn't an option either, go ahead!" Potter grabbed her arm and dragged her with him, the others following the duo - only Draco hesitated. He joined Severus and also cast spells into the water. "Granger is right, only death awaits in there."
"Potter, tough I hate to admit it, is right too. There's this critter out here, and I don't know if we'll find the stairs out of the hollow without casualties. That thing has more arms than I thought possible!" Severus nodded backwards. "In with you, now."
Draco put his hand on Severus' forearm. "You too, come. Weasley, Blaise and Finnegan are at the entrance, covering us."

Simultaneously, the two sprinted, followed by many tentacles. Zabini, Finnegan and Weasley joined the dash into the depths of the mine as soon as Severus and Draco were with them, for those tentacles followed them relentlessly despite the barrage of spells - until a massive body stopped in front of the gate and couldn't go any further .
At the end of this corpse-paved hall, the Nine stopped and stared at the tentacles and the crumbling rock. "Oh god, this is like in the book, Malfoy. The gate is falling down and we're stuck here!"
"I see..." Draco murmured as the falling rocks buried the tentacles, completely blocking their way out and the cave went pitch black.
Draco cast a sun charm into the cave and swallowed. "I don't like that at all!" He looked at Granger and hesitated. "Tell me... What's that?!" With two long strides he was on her side and his hand went to her neck. Gently, he pulled a gold chain from under her school robes, from which dangled a wide, plain gold ring. "Do you always carry around a replica of the One Ring? I've never seen you wear gold chains..."
Granger stared at the ring in complete disbelief before starting to laugh hysterically. "That... is a bad joke... Damn it, Fred, George, if you have anything to do with this, God help you!"
Draco examined the ring closely before releasing it with a disgusted expression. The trinket dangled innocently from the chain around Granger's neck, reflecting the soft glow of the Lumos Solem. "It emits incredibly black magic, Granger. If I really wanted to believe that we were in Middle-earth, I would tell you: That is the One Ring."
She squinted calculatingly down at the ring. "We'll see about that." With skillful fingers she opened the chain, took the ring and laid it on the floor in front of her. Then she pulled out her wand. "Move out of the way."
Everyone backed away from her and the ring. "What are you up to?" Severus watched her with a scowl.
"Burn the ring." She drew a spell around the ring before pointing her wand at it. "Incendius inferna!"
Severus' eyes widened. Hellfire? How did that brat know this spell? If she couldn't handle that, then...
The almost unbearably hot flames of Hellfire erupted from her wand and lunged hungrily at the gleaming metal. Granger hastily drew a barrier around the ring and the pulled it upwards, forming a dome. It was clear to see that maintaining the barrier was a strain on her, within a few seconds she was sweating on her forehead and her staff hand was beginning to tremble, so Severus came to her aid and Draco and Potter also lent their magic until the flames finally extinguished.
Granger stared despairingly at the glowing ring, on which writing had formed and stood out against the gold. "You... you're right, Malfoy... what does that mean?!"
Draco looked around at everyone, including Severus, and sighed heavily. "We are nine, you have the ring, we are buried in the mines with only one way out... I'm afraid we are the fellowship... But then: where are the real members of the fellowship?"

So, I hope you enjoyed reading and maybe leave a comment?

Cya next time!

Jazzmine