Hello loves!

Again I'm not saying much, as this chapter is a second prologue.

With the first real chapter I'll give you all a bit more information about the story.

Hope you enjoy the new chapter!

Prologue II

Gandalf the Gray followed Gimli at a sedated pace. The mage's gaze wandered intently, scanning the mists of the Gorge of Moria for danger. Ever since they had begun the descent into the gorge, he felt as if he were walking into a trap, and the feeling grew stronger with every step. They had no choice, however, as Saruman had made the Pass of Caradhras impassable.
Gimli was unaware of the danger, too eager to see his kin in Moria again.
Legolas smiled weakly. "Gimli is buoyant and light-footed like a young Elf. You wouldn't want to believe that in a dwarf."
"What anticipation can do," Gandalf replied, leaning on his staff. They had finally reached the bottom of the stairs and the gorge stretched out before them. It was getting darker already, and the fog also swallowed up some of the daylight. "We shouldn't linger too long."
"Come, come. It goes this way." Gimli turned purposefully to the right, along the lake.

Gandalf's tiny hairs rose suddenly as he felt the crackle of strong magic around him. "Hold on, Gimli," he blurted out and his eyes darted frantically, searching the gorge before him.
"Gandalf? What do you feel?" Legolas was immediately at his side and the four hobbits also flocked to him. Boromir, Aragorn and Gimli drew their weapons and looked around searchingly.
"Magic... wild, impetuous and strong magic..." He couldn't get any further with his explanation.

It hissed above them and the fellowship was caught in a violent suction that almost suffocated them. And like a distant, almost past echo, they heard a panicked male voice: "Longbottom, you big idiot..."

Gandalf closed his eyes and focused on the magic whirling them around - time and space flashed past them, shaking them for what felt like an eternity until they landed abruptly and without warning in a dungeon.

Gandalf could stay on his feet, but he was the only one.
The four hobbits were all quite green and were lying in a knot between two tables. Boromir was lying on his back across a table, his hand on a silver cauldron "Ah...hot!" he exclaimed promptly, he pulled his hand away in a flash and jumped off the table. Aragorn was lying face down over a fallen chair and was just getting to his feet. Groaning, Legolas struggled up from a kneeling position and then rubbed both knees, his face contorted in pain. Gimli sat astride a chair, but then, at this sudden arrival and the momentum they had had in doing so, he tipped backwards and banged his head on one of the massive tabletops.
"Gimli, are you hurt?" Gandalf asked immediately.
The dwarf sat up, shook his head and then looked up at Gandalf. "A little smack on the back of the head doesn't upset a dwarf... ow!" His hand went through his hair and he rubbed the spot where he'd been slapped against the table.
"He still can tell jokes, so it can't be that bad," Boromir said with a crooked grin, whereupon Gimli threw him an evil look. Legolas shook his head in mild amusement and Aragorn chuckled but then turned serious again.
"Are you alright?" he asked the hobbits, who had scrambled to their feet.
Sam felt down at himself. "All is still there... no blood... yes, I'm fine, I'd say."
Frodo and Pippin just nodded and Merry murmured, "I think that hobbit here is alright."
Gandalf straightened to his full height and leaned on his staff. "As long as no one has suffered significant injuries, we should set about exploring this place. It looks like a brewing kitchen in Isengard."
"But we are not in Isengard," Legolas stated.
Gimli snorted, "And what makes you think so?"
Legolas tapped his ear with his forefinger. "People move overhead, far too many for Isengard. And the voices I hear are mostly of younger ages. We must be in a significantly larger place than Isengard, footsteps coming from all directions, moving towards a central point."
"Are you sure they aren't orcs..." Gimli drew his ax and grinned pugnaciously.
"I am sure. Too light-footed for orcs, too clumsy for elves, too strong for hobbits, too delicate for dwarves." Legolas gave Gimli a mischievous look at his last words. The Dwarf just snorted.
Gandalf took a closer look at the room they were in, worked his magic and immediately sensed the energy emanating from the cauldrons. "Pull these cauldrons from the fireplaces. I believe this concoction is the catalyst for our little journey here. Another accident of this kind is to be avoided if possible. But don't spill anything. Maybe with a more detailed investigation we can find out the problem and fix it."

After all the cauldrons were placed next to the fireplaces and these were extinguished, the fellowship made their way out of this dungeon. Always following Legolas' hearing, after a few minutes of walking, they entered an entrance hall. They looked around in astonishment and Gandalf murmured, "Definitely not a place that I know of. We must be in a very large castle."
Legolas' gaze had wandered upwards. "A magical castle to boot. Behold, the stairs are moving, and so are the pictures."
"Very impressive. That explains the strong concentration of magic I feel here. The whole castle must be infused with magic." Gandalf turned towards one of the two great portals. "Based on the noise level I suspect that we will probably meet the many people you heard in the dungeon behind these doors."

He slowly pushed open the portal and stepped into another huge hall. His comrades followed immediately, alert, hands on weapons.
The picture they saw could not have been more chaotic and at the same time more peaceful. Hundreds of human children sat at four long tables, ate, laughed and talked loudly. Only at the other end of the hall, a little higher, was a table with obviously adult people. "Some kind of school?" Boromir mused. "The children all wear the same clothes, apart from the different color accents."
"A school of magic, I suppose," Legolas added. "I had no idea there were so many mages in Middle-earth."
"You are not wrong about that, Legolas," Gandalf replied. "The number of children here alone is enough to believe in many, many more adult magicians around here, thousands at the very least. We... are no longer on Arda, we have traveled through space and time."

At the long table, an old man rose and gazed at the group in amazement, his gaze fixed primarily on Gandalf. Gandalf's gaze, however, was no less puzzled. The man looked a lot like him. "If I didn't know better, I'd be wondering if I've found a long-lost brother..."
In the hall, the students fell silent and attention gradually turned to the fellowship. Faint whispering started everywhere around them. Legolas, who understood some of this, had to smile, because the students were also amazed at the resemblance of Gandalf and the old man at the end of the hall. "That's not Aberforth Dumbledore." "They look alike though, is that Professor Dumbledore's brother?" "Wow, almost like twins, look..."

Gandalf took another step into the hall. "Greetings. Forgive our intrusion and the interruption of your meal."
"Sure sure. What can we help you with?" The old man also seemed to have regained his composure and smiled friendly.
"Well, we have been victims to a magical accident and ended up stranded here in this fabulous building. Specifically, in a brewing kitchen in the dungeons. Could you perhaps help us to reach our starting point of this unfortunate journey again?"
A stern looking lady stood up abruptly. "In the dungeons, you say?" she blurted out, irritated.
"Yes. A room with many bubbling cauldrons left unattended. My magic told me that this brew was responsible for our journey, so we put out the flames as a precaution."
The lady let her gaze wander across the four large tables. "Seven years Gryffindor Slytherin and Severus are completely missing... Oh my..." With that she rushed around the table and towards Gandalf. "Sorry, I have to check..."
The old man had meanwhile come around the table too, followed by a very short, bespectacled man, smaller even than Gimli, but obviously not a dwarf. "My name is Albus Dumbledore, my colleague here is Filius Flitwick. Welcome to Hogwarts, Britain's largest school of witchcraft and wizardry."
"Thank you, Master Dumbledore..."
"Oh, professor or mister is enough for me. I'm afraid I don't get much out of the term master."
"Of course... Professor Dumbledore, I am Gandalf the Gray and my companions are Legolas Greenleaf; Gimli, son of Gloín; Aragorn of Rivendell;, Boromir of Gondor; and Messrs. Frodo Baggins, Samwise Gamgee, Meriadoc Brandybuck, and Peregrin Took of the Shire... Aren't you well?"
Dumbledore paled with each name and stared at Gandalf in utter disbelief. "Gandalf the Gray? How... I mean... you're from Middle-earth?"
"Oh, you know Middle-earth?"
"Yes... no... I mean..." Dumbledore shook himself. "Your world is just a fantasy world for us, invented by a very talented writer, you all exist for us on earth only as characters from books... And now the Fellowship of the Ring is gathered here in the great hall of Hogwarts? Please excuse my astonishment."
"Albus... Albus!" The stern lady ran up, panting. "They have disappeared! Severus, Miss Granger, and Messrs. Potter, Longbottom, Finnegan, Weasley, Malfoy, Goyle and Zabini are gone, I have consulted the wards, they are no longer at Hogwarts."
Dumbledore looked back and forth between the fellowship and the lady. "Are you sure, Minerva?"
She pursed her lips as the only answer and Dumbledore sighed heavily. "There seems to have been a terrible mishap. We are short of nine, and here are nine from Middle-earth..."
Professor Flitwick shook his head with a stricken look on his face. "What has Mister Longbottom done this time?"
"The name..." Legolas looked down at Flitwick. "Longbottom...I'm sure I heard a male voice say that name as we were being pulled through the whirlpool."
"If Longbottom's potion is to blame for this mess, Merlin have mercy on us..." moaned the lady...

Ginny Weasley sat in her seat as if on hot coals and listened to the conversation between the professors and the fellowship with increasing horror. She'd been wondering where Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville and Seamus were, but put it down to the Muggle flu, which was prevalent among the higher classes at the moment. "And you're sure they're not in the hospital wing? The flu blocks all magic, maybe the castle can no longer sense them?" she interjected loudly.
Professor McGonagall looked at her and shook her head. "They are not. Even if they had caught the flu, there would still be enough residual magic in their bodies for the wards to recognize them. The other students with flu are all listed."
"Shit..." Ginny exclaimed, horrified. "Mom will freak out!"
"Well, not just your mom. I'll bet you Malfoy will stage a general uprising because his son is missing," Collin Creevy predicted, scowling.
"Nobody's betting against that," boomed Tracey Davis from the Slytherin table.
Dumbledore cleared his throat. "Such speculation will not get us any further now, my dears..."
"And WHAT exactly brings us further?" McGonagall gave him a pointed look.
Dumbledore sighed, "If I knew, Minerva, I would feel better."

So, now you know where everyone is, the tone is set.

Hope you enjoyed and maybe leave a comment?

Cya next time!

Jazzmine