Chapter two: The first signs
The following morning he drifted back to 'the here and now' by the sound of a loud knock onto the door.
"Just a minute." He said, while putting on his clothes. Seconds later he was ready: "Come in."
The door opened and revealed a stone-faced looking Aragorn.
"Lady Galadriel sent me, she asks you to come down with your belongings. We are leaving as soon as you are ready. The others are already down. I am surprised you were not awake yet, don't Elves always awaken at dawn?" he asked sarcastically.
Legolas winced at the sound of his voice, but he guessed he had it coming. He straightened his clothes and turned away to grab his bow and arrows, all the while trying to gather his thoughts.
"Estel,… Aragorn. I-I..." Legolas started to apologize, when Gimli stormed into his room. "Ah there you are, crazy Elf. We are all waiting for you two. What is taking you so long?"
"I… was still asleep. So Aragorn had to wake me up." Legolas told him.
Gimli looked at them both suspiciously. He knew very well that Legolas wasn't telling him everything as the air was filled with tension. "I see." He said finally. "Well, just hurry will you." he added before leaving them both alone again.
"Wait up, Gimli." Aragorn called after the dwarf. "I am coming with you. There is nothing left to keep me here." He said looking disappointed at Legolas. The Elf looked back with pain and sadness flowing through his eyes. That made Aragorn hesitate for a moment and his expression momentarily softened, but soon his features turned grim once more as he walked out of the room.
Legolas quickly grabbed his spare clothes and put all of them into a light package. He threw on his cloak and quickly descended the stairs in search for the others.
It didn't take him long to find them.
"Now that you are all here I will explain to you how everything is going take place. First you will have to drink from this bottle, which will enable you to venture from one dimension to the other safely. Without it your mind and body would tear apart, through which you would die instantly. However that does not matter for I have made the potion. Once you have all taken it, I will open the portal through which you have to go to reach the other world. It is very important that you each hold on to the one standing next to you, so you will not end up in another dimension. Should such a thing occur it will be near to impossible to get you back. When you arrive into the right dimension you will know. Albus Dumbledore will be waiting on the other side."
"How will we know, Lady Galadriel?" Frodo asked.
"Trust me young Hobbit, you will understand once you get there." She said mysteriously as ever.
"Well then, do you have all your belongings with you? Please stand back for a moment." She asked, before spreading her arms and feverishly starting to talk in Elvish. After a while she started to glow brighter than usual and a ball of light appeared in the air. It slowly grew larger until it was about 7 foot in height and 4 foot wide. The fellowship looked at each other astonished.
"Quickly, drink the potion all of you and grab hold of each others hands." Galadriel told them. She was already getting a little weary, because of all the energy she needed to uphold the portal. When they had all taken the potion, everyone grabbed the hand of the person next to him. For Legolas it was Aragorn, who grabbed the Elf's hand reluctantly and only held it loosely at first.
But when he started to enter the portal he took a hold of Legolas' hand more tightly and pulled him close behind him. Legolas himself clasped both of his hands around Aragorn's, for he was the last one to enter the portal and didn't feel like getting lost into some other dimension. He really didn't like going into the portal at all!
When Aragorn saw his fear and discomfort, he only pulled the elf more closely and grabbed him around his waist, making sure he wouldn't get lost in any way. Legolas smiled gratefully at him, now holding onto Aragorn's shoulders.
When the light engulfed him, he couldn't see anything at all, which only frightened him more. He didn't understand why everything was so dark, while the portal had been so bright.
Although he couldn't see him, he could still feel the Man's body against his and that made him feel a little better. Apparently Aragorn couldn't see him either, because he faintly heard him calling his name. His voice seemed to come from far away and sounded like a mere whisper to his Elven ears. As an answer he pulled himself closer to Aragorn's body. All of the sudden the world started to spin around them and after a few more seconds it stopped as abruptly as it had started. Legolas could see some sort of light ahead of him now and started to walk towards it, following the others, who also seemed to be pulled into that direction. When they had reached it they could see some sort of room behind the blur of light. One by one slowly walked through the portal again and now came into the chamber one by one. They all checked if everyone was there. Legolas quickly let go of Aragorn as soon as he stood into the room, looking very embarrassed. Aragorn had let go of him as well, briefly looking if the Elf was alright, before turning his attention to the others. When everyone had made sure that they had all come through safely, they started to look around the room. Soon they spotted an old man, who was watching them closely with a smile on his face.
He stood up and walked towards them. "Greetings, I'm Albus Dumbledore head of Hogwarts, school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You must be the fellowship I have been waiting for."
Gandalf approached the old man first extending his hand. "It's a honour to meet you. I am Gandalf the White and these are my companions and friends: Frodo Baggins, Samwise Gamgee, Meriadoc Brandybuck also called Merry, Perregrin Took – Pippin for short. Gimli son of Gloin, Prince Legolas Greenleaf and King Elessar, also known as Aragorn." They all extended their hands towards the old wizard, who returned the gesture, while looking at them curiously.
"If you don't mind me asking, but what kind of race are you all. I can guess what some of you are, but some I haven't got clue" He asked curious, looking first at the hobbits, then at Gimli and at last at Legolas.
"Well, we are hobbits. We live in holes under the ground and enjoy our lives a lot. We eat and party all the time and just like to take everything slow." Merry said, pointing at the halflings surrounding him. "Gimli is a dwarf and they also live underground, but they almost always stay under ground and we only sleep there and eat and play and…" Pippin punched him lightly, telling him to shut up. "Right," Merry said looking a little annoyed at his friend. "Anyway, they like to work in their mines digging for things like gold and diamonds. Gimli has slain many Orcs and wields his axe like no other.
Then you have our friend Legolas over here, who is an elf. They are very much attuned to nature and they see and hear far better than us mere Mortals. They are also immortal and Legolas is about 3000 years old. He can also walk over snow and without leaving a single footprint, and on top of that he is skilled with the bow, rumoured to be the best archer in Middle-Earth" Legolas looked embarrassed at the compliments and silently gazed at his feet.
Although Gandalf and Aragorn appear human they are not, Gandalf is an Istari, whose wisdom has helped us in many dangerous situation. He is further more a powerful wizard and is almost 9000 years old! Aragorn is the king of Gondor, was raised by the elves and is the last descendent of the … uhm… well he can become much older than any normal human. He is also a skilled warrior… Well, I think that's about it." Merry smiled contentedly.
"Now we have all formally met, why don't we go downstairs and have some lunch." Dumbledore proposed. "We are in luck as the new term starts tomorrow, we have the entire Great Hall to ourselves."
While they ate they discussed all sorts of things. Legolas didn't talk that much, but was content listening to his friends. He found that the food tasted particular indeed, as he wasn't used to eating human food, especially not this kind. He couldn't even recognize what it was he was eating. He finally stopped poking around in his food and decided to just try something again. He took a piece of what was called a 'chocolate cake' with lots of 'sugar' and 'whipped cream' on it. It smelled okay, he thought. So he took a large bite. As soon as he tasted all the sugar in his mouth, he began to choke. This was way too sweet for his liking! He coughed several times before he finally managed to swallow some pieces of the cake. His eyes had started to water and he could feel someone clapping his back. After a minute or so the cake in his mouth was completely gone and when he had taken a large sip of his glass of water, he managed to say: "That was disgusting!"
Everyone looked amused at him, trying not to laugh.
"That, master elf, was a chocolate cake. I assume you are not used to eating something this delicious?" Dumbledore asked innocent, his eyes sparkling.
"Most humans and, as I can see now, also Hobbits, are very fond of it."
Legolas glared at all of them, deciding not to eat anymore. He pushed his plate aside stubbornly, which only made the others smile broader.
As soon as they were all finished, Dumbledore took them to yet another room, which seemed to be some sort of hospital wing. There they found three other people waiting for them. One man and two women. The man had black greasy hair and his skin looked almost white. He had a hooked nose and his eyes looked almost black. He reminded Legolas a little bit of Wormtongue, but he noticed that this man didn't look evil or untrustworthy. He even gave a timid smile when they all entered. The woman closest to him also smiled at them. She wore glasses and her grey hair was bound on top of her head in a tight bun. Her eyes were greyish blue and radiated a lot of intelligence. The last woman seemed to be a nurse as she was wearing a white uniform, she had red hair and two small green eyes, which were staring at him. Her mouth was slightly parted and she hadn't even blinked once since they had entered the room.
Legolas looked at her uncomfortably. He didn't like the way she was looking at him, so he quickly positioned himself behind Gandalf and Aragorn. Unfortunately that didn't help as Gandalf moved away from his spot to introduce himself and the others.
Aragorn could hear Legolas behind him, shifting uncomfortably from one side to the other. He looked back at him ready to question him of what was wrong. But as soon as he followed Legolas' gaze, he saw what was bothering him. One of the women, called Madam Pomfrey, was now walking up to his friend, probably meaning to talk to him. No one else seemed to notice for they were all discussing of what was to be done. Aragorn decided not to interfere just yet and see how it would go.
"Hello," the nurse said to Legolas. "I'm Poppy Pomfrey and you are?"
"Legolas Greenleaf." He said shortly, not daring to name his title, because he suspected that then the woman would be probably all over him.
"What a beautiful name, it suites you well," she said closing the space between them a little.
"So, you are here to help us with our struggle against the Dark Lord? You must be very brave then, to leave your world behind and risk your life for some strangers. You must be a very noble man." Poppy said, almost drooling. She was now moving closer still and Legolas quickly backed away until he had his back against the wall. When he saw that she was closing in on him again, he made a swift moment, gaining new space to back away.
When he looked around him to see if anyone could help him get rid of the woman without hurting her feelings, he saw Aragorn looking amusedly at him. The Elf pleaded with his eyes for help, but his friend didn't move an inch and only laughed. Legolas glared at him and turned his attention to the woman, who was now reaching for his fair blond hair. The Elf grabbed both of her hands and put them down. "I'm sorry, but I'm already married."
Pomfrey looked at him sadly, while she slowly backed away from him.
Legolas turned around to look at Aragorn, triumph shining in his eyes. Aragorn looked at him strangely as Legolas approached him. "What?" the Elf asked him.
"I did not know that you had bonded yourself to someone," he whispered.
Legolas looked at him, surprised. "Of course you do not. For I am not really married," he whispered back secretly.
Aragorn's eyes seemed to brighten at this.
"If you tell this to her, I am seriously going to have to kill you!" Legolas added only partly joking.
Aragorn smiled at him. "Your secret is safe with me."
"I was hoping you would say that."
They turned their attention to the others and soon found out about the plan. Most of the fellowship would go undercover at the school. Either as a student or as teacher. Only Gimli had another task. He was to keep an eye on Hogsmeade, a small town nearby and where only wizards and other magical beings lived.
The hobbits were going to be first year students as they could easily pass for eleven years old humans. Legolas would become a seventh year student, supposedly a transfer from Australia to England's Hogwarts school for Witchcraft and Wizardry. Aragorn would become the new Herbology teacher, as Professor Sprout was on a year of absence and Gandalf would be the latest Defence against the Dark Arts teacher.
"Now each of you knows about your tasks, I have another not so pleasant thing to tell you. Since most of you come from races unknown to this world, we may have to remove some of your race's features, so you can blend in."
Legolas looked at Dumbledore in shock. Albus saw the Elf's look and quickly added:
"Of course you will be easily restored in your original shape as soon as you go home.
Legolas thought about what had to be changed on his part. His ears for one thing, hmmm anything else? He groaned as his realized that his hair probably needed some changing too.
The first ones to be changed were the hobbits. Their feet were reduced to the size of that of a human of their age by a simple shrinking potion, then Madam Pomfrey changed their ears and their hair a little so they wouldn't look too much alike. Then it was Gimli's turn. The nurse removed most of his facial hair, which caused him to look much more human.
At last it was Legolas' turn. He sat down reluctantly, praying he wouldn't look too stupid with his hair short. First the nurse lay a spell on his ears, making them appear round just like any other human's. Then she took a pair of scissors and started to cut his long golden hair. Legolas held his eyes shut, not wanting to see what they were doing with his hair.
When the scissors had stopped, he peeked through his eyelids to see everyone staring at him. He slowly opened his eyes fully and looked around in search for a mirror.
He didn't have to look far, for Pomfrey was walking up to him holding one.
He gasped when he saw his reflection. All of his fair locks were shortened. The longest bits now only reached just above his ears. He touched it slowly, pondering his new appearance.
"Alright, if you are all ready, follow me to your temporary rooms, where there will be some new clothes for you. When you have all changed, we're going to Diagon Alley to buy you all kinds of new things, which you will be needing this year."
Legolas and his friends were led to almost the other side of the castle where they went up to some stairs. Legolas couldn't believe his eyes, when he saw the people in the pictures on the walls moving and talking to each other. Some even greeted him, but he wasn't able to say something back, as he was at a loss for words at the moment. The other strange thing was that the staircases changed. As Legolas was at the rear of the group and stayed a little behind. He was so in awe of his surroundings that he noticed too late that the staircases he stood upon was starting to change. He quickly ran and jumped to the others. Aragorn grabbed his tunic, just to be sure he wouldn't fall backwards, even though that wasn't very likely.
The two teachers, who they had learned where called Severus Snape and Minerva McGonagall stared at him in disbelief.
"What did I do?" he asked wary, looking around him to see if he had possible damaged something.
"Well, you just jumped about ten feet down, with the floor being more than a hundred feet beneath you."
"So? Any of us has done the same at the bridge of Khazad – Dûm." He said with a shrug.
The two teachers looked at him strangely, but decided to drop the matter and started to walk again.
"I do not think you should do that again, when the students have arrived," Aragorn whispered to him. "That goes for all your Elven skills."
Legolas sighed. "I will try my best not to."