Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings

"He stooped. Very gently he undid the clasp at the neck and slipped his hand inside Frodo's tunic; then with his other hand raising his head, he kissed the cold forehead, and softly drew the chain over it. And then the head lay quietly back again in rest. No change came over the still face, and by that more than by all other tokens Sam was convinced at last that Frodo had died and laid aside the Quest."

"Harry felt himself slam flat into the ground; his face was pressed into grass; the smell of it filled his nostrils. He had closed his eyes while the Portkey transported him, and he kept them closed now. He did not move. All the breath seemed to have been knocked out of him; his head was swimming so badly he felt the ground beneath him was swaying like the decks of a ship. To hold himself steady, he tightened his hold on the two things he was still clutching Ð the smooth cold handle of the Triwizard Cup, and Cedric's body. He felt as though he would slide away into the blackness gathering at the edges of his brain if he let go of either of them. Shock and exhaustion kept him on the ground, breathing the smell of grass, waiting... waiting for someone to do something... something to happen... and all the while his scar burnt dully on his forehead..."

The force that was propelling him away from Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters finally came to an end. He opened his eyes and looked around. He was not anywhere that he recognized. The Portkey had not brought him back to Hogwarts at all. He was in a poorly lit tunnel, lying on his back. Both the Triwizard Cup and Cedric's body were no longer in his grip. It took him a few seconds to focus, and he saw a stout man looking down at him in utter amazement. The man was wearing dull, travel-worn clothes that looked vaguely medieval and holding a phial that was emanating a soft yet penetrating light. He was barefoot and the tops of his feet were covered in thick, wiry hair.

"Master Frodo...?" he quavered. The man was obviously in a state of great distress, as there were the signs of tears around his eyes, but Harry's unexpected arrival was definitely causing him even more anguish than he could bear.

Still woozy from the Portkey travel and physically and mentally drained from the recent confrontation with Voldemort and the Death Eaters, it took him a few seconds to think of what to do next. In that time, the man quickly hung a small chain around his neck with what looked like a gold ring attached to it, and had went from being incapacitated by emotion to enraged, but it was the rage of a desperate man stretched beyond his limits.

Drawing a sword, and kicking another one, that was lying next to Harry away, he shouted at Harry, "Where's master Frodo? What have you done with him?" Since an answer wasn't forthcoming, and Harry made no sign of moving, he could see the man felt more in charge of the situation after a moment, but still didn't let down his guard one bit. He demanded where Harry had come from and more insistently what happened to master Frodo.

All of a sudden, a wave of pain swept over Harry's body. The combination of his sprained ankle sustained when the giant spider in the maze attacked him, the gash Wormtail gave him when he needed Harry's blood to revive Voldemort and the throbbing of his scar, made him swoon. When his vision cleared, Harry appeared to be lying amongst some thick silky chords, which looked all the world like acromantula web, which he had come into contact with when he had entered the Forbidden Forest in second year with Ron.

To Harry he said, "You come with me, and any sign of trouble from you will be black for you. I don't understand how you got here, but we have no time to lose. There are orcs about, and that horrible spider (he had noticed Harry's dawning comprehension when Harry noticed the spider silk)." Harry didn't know what orcs were, but guessed he didn't want to find out.

For Sam's part, he had become a man of action in the space of a moment. All of the lingering dread that had been building over the months on the road, and not really understanding all of the responsibilities that Gandalf and Strider were bearing finally broke through to the surface, and manifested itself into decisiveness which he had seen those two and others involved in the quest exercise. The loss of Frodo was a heavy blow to him, but the arrival of the boy seemed to enervate him. As he led the boy upwards out of the tunnel, he noticed he was well behaved, and showed no sign of evil in him. His dress was different from what he had seen. The boy must come from some faraway land. Moreover, he had showed only passing interest when Sam put on the ring, so the Quest was not in any immediate threat. Sam decided that he would not tell the boy the true nature of the Quest, unless it was necessary. Also, he would fill him in on Gollum when he felt he could trust him more and had more time. They soon left the tunnel and started heading up a passage between two cliffs. It was dark, but there was a little light to see by. Presently they came to some steps, which led upward. The boy was limping, and was slowing him down.

He took pity on him and asked him, "How did that happen?"

"An acromantula, or giant spider, dropped me, and I fell on my ankle. I think that I can fix it up a little bit." With that, Harry took out his wand and said, "Ferula!" A splint appeared and bound itself around the affected area.

Sam's reaction was one of amazement and fear. He drew his sword, knocked the wand from his hand and demanded, "Are you a dark wizard the Dark Lord Sauron sent to trick me?"

Harry's answered emphatically, "No, I'm not!" Harry was tired of this man's suspiciousness. He felt that they both would be better off if they trusted each other more. Harry was beginning to revive and take stock of the situation. As the pain of his scar had faded somewhat, he could think more clearly. He must been transported to some other magical realm by accident when he grabbed the Portkey. He remembered Hermione going on about some magical realm where magic ruled more strongly than in the mainly muggle world in which they had grown up. She had mentioned this at the Gryffindor table at dinner one time, and he was only half-listening as Ron on his other side had been vying for his attention with some news about the Chudley Cannons. Could this be it? Was Sauron another name for Voldemort? Were there any good wizards like Dumbledore here? Would Dumbledore know where to look for him?

Harry continued, "I'm not a dark wizard, nor am I a particularly talented one either", he added apologetically. "My name is Harry Potter, and I am from England." All of a sudden, he realized they were speaking the same language. "Are you from England too?"

"No, I have not heard of that place. I see now that you are still young, and probably have a lot to learn about wizarding! My name is Sam Gamgee and I am from the Shire." Sam held out his hand and they shook hands.

Harry was about to ask him which shire, but the way Sam said it seemed to indicate that there was only one. "What is this land called?" he inquired instead.

Sam replied, "We are approaching Mordor, land of the Dark Lord, Sauron." He shuddered. Then he paused and reflected a bit. Perhaps this boy called Harry had come from another world altogether, he thought. He knew the elves were leaving Middle Earth for another realm. Could he be from this realm?

Sam added, "This is whole world is called Middle Earth. Are there elves where you are from?"

Harry was taken aback a bit by this seemingly bizarre question, but answered laughingly thinking of Dobby, "Yes there are!"

"Tell me about them!" Sam asked. He attentively waited Harry's response.

"Well," said Harry, "They are about two and a half feet tall," measuring a height with his hand at around his own navel, "and they work in wizards' houses doing the chores. They like to do work and refuse to take any payment for it. The more work they do for people, the happier they are." He stopped his commentary because his listener was visibly disappointed in what he was saying. Obviously the elves that were in Middle Earth were a lot different from the ones on earth.

Harry asked, "What are the elves like here?"

Unfortunately the description would have to wait, as Sam started and looked around. Sure enough, there were signs of activity. There was the sound of metal shod feet in front and behind them. He looked back along the pass they had been ascending, and saw torchlights flickering in a wavering line, coming towards them. Also, sounds were issuing from the orc tower that they were almost level with. So engrossed in his companion Sam was that he had failed to pay attention to this fact, although they had been both moving and speaking quietly. But not quietly enough, he admonished himself. Now they were trapped.

*                    *                    *

The crowd of students and staff were starting to worry that something had happened to Harry and Cedric. Both Fleur Delacour and Viktor Krum had been found unconscious in the maze, but red sparks had been sent up in both cases, so they were found quickly. It was all but dark outside, and the stars were starting to shine on this June evening.

Dumbledore surveyed the crowd critically. He noticed that Ludo Bagman appeared to be worrying about something else than the contestants' well being. Severus looked like he was in physical discomfort. He decided to shelve that last thought for later, when he could talk to the potions master.

The person exhibiting the most bizarre behavior was Alastor Moody. He was pacing back and forth as if he was expecting something calamitous to happen. And happen it did. All of a sudden, two bodies and the Triwizard Cup appeared at the edge of the maze. The majority of the crowd was a little ways away, so they didn't immediately see this macabre arrival. The staff was the first to run over, and Dumbledore was there first. He saw the inert body of Cedric Diggory. Another person was holding it loosely, but this person was not entirely human. He looked full-grown, but was significantly shorter than a full-grown man. His feet were bare and had hair on the tops of them. He was wearing a gray cloak, and had a thick thatch of dark hair.

Madam Pomfrey was on the scene shortly, as she had been attending to Fleur and Viktor, who were recovering from their injuries well. However, rumors of Cedric and Harry's death had already begun to circulate. Dumbledore tried to restore order and give instructions. He ordered that the two bodies be brought up to the hospital ward, and for no one to touch the Cup, because it was obvious that it was a Portkey. Dumbledore was encouraging the idea that the unknown man's body was Harry's as the revelation that it wasn't would have been much worse. Only a few people had registered that the body wasn't Harry's and were responsible enough to remain silent.

All of those in the know about the mysterious person appeared puzzled and very worried about Harry, except for Alastor. He goggled at the man, and seemed not to know what to do next. He then scratched his arm in a certain spot in an agitated manner, almost as if in a moment of inattention. Then Dumbledore knew. He began to walk quickly over to where ÔAlastor' was. Luckily Severus and Minerva followed his lead silently, and they converged on the unknown Death Eater.

"What is the meaning of this and who are you?" Dumbledore bellowed.

The Death Eater flinched and started to take out his wand, but the three staff members were quicker with their wands and shouted, "Stupefy!" in unison. The Death Eater fell to the ground, unconscious.

*                    *                    *

    Frodo awoke groggily. He felt nauseous, and at first his eyes couldn't focus. After a few seconds, an old man's face with a white beard swam into view. "Gandalf?" Frodo asked.

    "I am not Gandalf," Dumbledore answered, "Although it has been a very long time since I have heard that name."

    As soon as Frodo realized that there was an unfamiliar face looking back at him, he instinctively felt for the ring on the chain around his neck. When he realized that it was not there, he panicked. His face contorted in fear and tried to crawl on his back on the bed away from Dumbledore.

Frodo shouted out, "The treacherous wizard Saruman, servant of the Dark Lord Sauron! Get away from me!"

    "Oh dear," said Dumbledore, out loud to himself. "It is worse than I thought. Saruman has joined forces with Sauron. It is all right now," He said to Frodo. "You are among friends now. The poison from the acromantula, or giant spider, has worn off. I know Gandalf very well. We used to exchange messages, but he became very busy with Sauron a couple of years ago."

    Frodo had problems taking this in; though he now felt he could trust this kindly old wizard. There was only one thing on his mind, as the events up until the attack of the giant spider piled into his consciousness.

    "The Ring," he said to Dumbledore, "What happened to it?" Frodo felt again for the chain around his neck to confirm that it was missing.

    "Oh dear. The One Ring has been found... and a Hobbit was entrusted to carrying it. There are very strange things happening in Middle Earth indeed. Where were you before you appeared here?" Dumbledore asked.

    Frodo thought for a few seconds to reflect, and suddenly shouted, "Sam! Where's Sam? My poor Samwise! Now he is all alone in the Land of the Dark Lord!"

    Just then, Dumbledore heard raised voices outside in the corridor in the hospital wing. Apparently Minerva was very upset at Cornelius Fudge for some reason. Madame Pomfrey came hurrying in from the next room within the wing.

    She said to Dumbledore, "What is all this noise? Our guest is still recovering from the poison in his body. This is a hospital wing!" With that, she went to the door to see what the hassle was about.

"I have to leave you now, as there is a crisis at our school," said Dumbledore. "One of our students is missing, and is most likely where you came from. I will speak at length with you later." With that, he got up and left the room. After saying a few words of indignation, Poppy came back to care for Frodo. Soon Frodo fell asleep after drinking the special potion that Mme. Pomfrey had prepared for him.