Harry Potter and the One Ring of Power

Harry Potter and the One Ring of Power

Chapter 21

Where the Shadows Lie

After a while, the four friends came out to a ledge overlooking a desolate plain. As far as the eye could see, it stretched out in front of the mountains, under a sky filled with cloud as dark as any Hermione had ever seen. In the distance, they could see Mount Oroduin, a black triangle rearing up from the grey flatlands below, silhouetted against the sky.

"It's so dark," muttered Hermione. Her wristwatch had somehow or other survived all she had been through; it was a fine Swiss diver's watch, a gift from her uncle on her last birthday. She peered at it in slight disbelief. "I can't believe it's noon." The watch was still going, and pointed almost straight to noon, but it was as dark as a cloudy late winter afternoon. If it had been this dark in Muggle Britain, the street lights would have been coming on, thought Hermione.

"At least I won't get sunburnt any more," observed Ron. He had managed to shake off the effects of his arachnophobia, and was back on his feet. "That's about the best thing I can say for this place. Did you ever smell such a pong of sulfur in the air in your lives?"

Hermione had to agree. The air had a distinct tang of sulfur, reminding her of Professor Snape's potions laboratory. It was warm, but not uncomfortably so, and there was a bit of breeze. She had seldom or never been anywhere where the air was drier, though.

"Welcome to exciting, exotic Mordor," intoned Draco. "Travel to different, wonderful places, meet new, strange people---and hope to Hades they don't decide to play Show-and-Tell with your innards!" He shook his head. "I've been in some very bad places, people, but this has to take the cake."

"Oh, it's not that bad," commented Harry. He looked around, taking in the desolate view as though it was the Cotswolds. "At least this should be the last part of this trip, and the gods know I'll be glad to have this over!"

Hermione muttered: "Damn that bloody Gollum's soul to the hottest pits in Niflheim! He said this way wasn't guarded." She snorted contemptuously. "If that awful city, and---what we found in the tunnel---didn't constitute 'guarding,' I'd hate to see what would!"

"We did," said Ron. "At the Black Gate, remember?"

"He said that Sauron wasn't expecting trouble, up this way," corrected Draco. "If he was right about Sauron expecting whole armies, I can actually see his point. An army would have had to fight its way past Minas Morgul, and then slog up those stairs, and then---there was that gods-awful spider." He shuddered for a second. "I'm no orc-lover, the gods know, but I wouldn't wish what must have happened to those dead orcs in there on He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named himself!"

Ron paled at the thought. "Can we discuss something else?" he asked in a strained voice. "Anything else? Please?"

"Okay, Ron. I'm sorry." Hermione would once have been less surprised to see Neville Longbottom getting points for Gryffindor from Professor Snape than to see Draco Malfoy apologizing to anybody, especially Ron Weasley. However, this new Draco had been through a lot of changes. Hermione had seen such changes before; a neighbor at home had come home much improved from a stint in the Army. She, herself, was greatly altered from the insecure little girl who had first gone to Hogwarts. If he'd always acted this way, we'd have probably always been friends, she thought.

She peered down the path again. Something was moving, and moving purposefully. "What's that?" she muttered, pointing down to where it was. Sure enough, it was trouble. As it got closer, she could see that it was an orc-patrol, heading in their direction.

"Bloody hell!" hissed Ron. "We're caught!" He pulled out his wand. "We're going to have to fight!"

"Easy, Ron," cautioned Draco. "They probably don't have any idea we're here. They don't act like they're actively trying to catch us. That's probably a routine patrol."

"How do you know so much about military matters?" asked Harry. He was squinting at the distant orcs, rubbing his glasses with a dirty handkerchief in an attempt to clean them. Hermione was quite grateful that her own vision was so good. She didn't know how well Harry could see without his glasses, and didn't like to think about how much they'd be hampered if he managed to break the silly things. Unless somebody put an Unbreakable Charm on them---I wonder if anybody thought of it? she mused. If only we'd covered those in Charms! But they hadn't, and unless a teacher or older student had done it, it wouldn't be done until they got back to Hogwarts.

"I have an idea, people," muttered Draco. "You know I know the Unforgivable Curses---"

"Yes, you do. I guess growing up to be the next right-hand man of the Dark Lord has its uses," commented Ron. Draco looked narrowly at him, obviously wondering if that was a dig, as Ron went on: "I was wondering---why didn't you use the Killing Curse on that...that...that spider?" Hermione was pleased that he'd gotten the word out without too much trouble.

Draco shrugged. "Of all three of the Unforgivables, it's the most tiring to cast. When we were in Moria, I was in better condition. By the time we saw---that nasty thing with eight legs---I was fairly well knackered." He looked haunted. "In Moria, and before---I had never cast the Killing Curse before, not for real I hadn't. I was surprised at how much it took out of me. I'd have mentioned it then, but we were busy."

"In any case, you do know the Unforgivables," snapped Harry, impatient with this digression. "What of it?"

"I was thinking that if you hid, and I took the Invisibility Cloak and put these orcs, or at least their leaders, under Imperius, we could pump them for information." Draco shrugged. "It's probably a stupid idea, though..."

"No, it's brilliant! I wish I had thought of it!" gasped Harry. He rooted in his pack, producing the silvery Invisibility Cloak. "Here! Put it on! The rest of us can hide, and keep an eye on things."

Suiting her actions to Harry's words, Hermione took cover, pulling her elven-cloak up over her head to disguise it. Their elven-cloaks blended enough with the rocks that even when you knew where to look and what to look for, the eye slid right past without noticing anything amiss. Hermione could see down onto the main path, and as the orcs got closer, she could hear them. They appeared to be from different tribes, which was a relief, since she could understand their speech.

These orcs had, plainly, been through the wars. They kept a close formation, moving up warily, their weapons at the ready. The two leaders, one with Sauron's own Lidless-Eye emblem on his helmet, the other with a sort of moon-with-skull, were out in the lead, discussing the situation.

"Garn, Shagrat, this is a fool's errand! Nothing, and I mean nothing, could get past Shelob! That Shrieker's just having nightmares, and they expect us poor Uruks to rout our boys out and march them all over to quiet their fears down."

"Hush, Gorbag! They've got eyes-and-ears everywhere---in my lot, and in yours, too, like as not. We've got our orders---'Nazgul uneasy. Spies feared on Stairs. Double vigilance. Patrol to top of Stairs.' And when Lugburz calls, we obey."

Gorbag spat. "Likely as not, somebody spotted Her Ladyship's Sneak---you know, that starved-looking thing?" Shagrat nodded, and Gorbag continued: "He went out this way years ago, and we had orders from Lugburz to let him pass. He was on some errand for Lugburz. He's been back this way a time or two---seems to have some sort of arrangement with Her Ladyship. Guess he's no good to eat; she wouldn't care about orders from Lugburz."

"That she wouldn't!" The two orc-captains laughed rather ruefully. "She's eaten enough of my boys, over the years!"

She? Her Ladyship? Hermione puzzled for a minute, before it came to her. Of course! The spider! Apparently the orcs knew perfectly well that she was there, and didn't like her either. Never thought I'd be agreeing with orcs! she thought.

Shagrat was going on: "In any case, I wish we had some of those snufflers---you know, the scent-trackers. These rocks don't show any footprints. A thousand spies could've come this way, and we'd never see a sign of them, would we?" The ordinary soldier-orcs were a little way away, and he lowered his voice. "Me, I'd like to get off, away from all the big bosses---the Shriekers, and Her Ladyship, and even Lugburz. What do you say?"

"Once the war's over, there should be a lot more room," agreed Gorbag. "We can set up somewhere quiet, with a few good boys. Like old times!"

"Ay, like old times," growled Shagrat. By this time, the two orc-captains were very close, and Hermione wondered when Draco would make his move.

"Imperio!" Draco's voice startled Hermione, coming out of nowhere close beside her; she hadn't realized he was anything like that near. The two orc-captains' faces went slack as the Imperius Curse hit them, robbing them of their free will. First one, and then the other, began spitting out orders in a harsh language. Hermione had heard that language before, in Moria, when they were fighting the orcs, and the sound of it made her shudder.

When their captains began giving them orders, the ordinary orcs hurried off, up the path past where the four friends were hiding. Once they were out of sight, Draco came out from under the Cloak. At his gesture, the two captains approached him, their faces blank and expressionless.

"Okay, people, you can show yourselves. I just told these two to send their troops off up toward the mountains, to make sure that nobody had managed to climb over those mountains. That'll keep them well out of the way for quite a while. I don't think I could control all of them, although orcs are easier to keep under Imperius than humans are." Draco quirked a grin. "They're already optimised to be controlled from outside---I just have to keep overriding Sauron's commands."

"Is that going to be a problem?" asked Harry, as he rose and came forward. "Sauron's incredibly powerful. Remember? He 'makes Voldemort, and all the Death Eaters that ever lived, look like Squibs.' I've got nothing but admiration for your skill---" Draco preened, as Hermione smiled to herself at his vanity---"but I don't think even Professor Dumbledore and Voldemort together could stand up to Sauron."

Draco looked slightly troubled. "I know. If Sauron were to bend all his will toward taking them back over, I wouldn't stand a chance of resisting him. However, Sauron's mind---I can sense it, vaguely, through theirs---is mainly occupied far away. He's fighting a big war in the west. From what I can pick up, he's concentrating heavily on attacking a big city in Gondor."

"Too bad for Gondor," muttered Harry. "Right now, though, I'm concerned with you perceiving Sauron's mind. What is it like for you?"

"Like being a mouse at a cat show," muttered Draco. "When I perceive him, I make myself very small and hope that he doesn't notice me there." He shuddered. "Sauron's mind is unbelievably powerful and ancient, and evil beyond anything I've ever experienced."

"Which, people, is why we're here," said Harry. "Can you get these orcs to tell us about their home?"

Draco narrowed his eyes slightly, and the orc wearing the moon-and-skull motif spoke up. "My name's Gorbag. I'm Captain of the Tower of Cirith Ungol. This---" pointing to the other orc---"is Shagrat. He's from Lugburz---the Dark Tower, as you call it." Despite the Imperius Curse, the two orcs gave each other a glower; Hermione thought that Gorbag hadn't liked having Shagrat sent to him, and Shagrat looked down on Gorbag. "We've got a few hundred of our boys---both the Tower garrison and the ones Shagrat brought here from Lugburz---back at the tower."

"Can you order them all out to patrol the hills?" asked Ron. He looked at the orcs narrowly, rubbing his chin. Gorbag nodded.

"They're not like us. We are the fighting Uruk-hai, the creations of the Dark Lord himself. They're common orcs---Snaga-hai, or slave-folk, we mostly call them. We order---they obey. Or else." Both captains gave the four friends very predatory grins, showing lots of sharp teeth. Hermione decided she really didn't need to know what "or else" entailed---she thought she had a pretty good idea.

"Good. Draco, put the Cloak back on and follow them back to their tower, and make sure that they clear all the orcs out of there. Once they're gone, we can use the tower to rest up in for a little while." Harry had made a decision, and Hermione couldn't find any fault in it. As long as Sauron remained ignorant of the subversion of the tower's commanders, there was a chance that they could sneak far into Mordor before anybody was the wiser.

While they were waiting for Draco to come back, the three Gryffindors sat down on the ground. Harry is awfully twitchy, Hermione thought. Ever since we've come in sight of Mount Doom, he's been acting odd. Or, she corrected herself, touching her cheek where he had slapped her earlier, more oddly than before.

"This place kind of puts me in mind of Egypt," muttered Ron. "I remember how dry the air was there, and it feels a lot like that here. Egypt didn't smell of sulfur, though; I imagine that bloody volcano off in the distance has something to do with that."

"It does," said Harry. His face looked haunted and haggard. "I can also sense the Lord of Mordor, through---the burden I carry. Orodruin's under his control, to some extent. He uses it to create a lot of this cloud cover we're under here," pointing skyward, "so that the servants he inherited from his old master, Morgoth, can move about freely most of the time. Trolls can't stand daylight at all---they turn to stone---and common orcs really, really dislike it."

A crunching noise on the path alerted them, and they looked up, wary as so many wild animals, as Draco Malfoy pulled off the Invisibility Cloak. "The orcs have all been given their marching orders---to disperse through the mountains and look for intruders---but we've got a problem, people."

"What's up?"

"Over in front of the castle, there's---something---I don't know what it is, but it radiates evil and magic. I was afraid to get too close to it. I want you to have a good look at it, because it puts me very much in mind of my late pater's collection of Dark artifacts." Draco wiped sweat from his brow.

"We're coming." With that, Harry got to his feet, sighing wearily, and Ron and Hermione followed him as he trudged down the path toward the main gate of the castle.

Hermione looked up at the castle curiously; she hadn't seen much that had been built by men since coming to Middle-earth. Moria, of course, had been built and designed by the dwarves, and Rivendell and Lorien were examples of elven architecture. It was obvious that this castle had not been constructed to defend Mordor from outside threats; its defenses were oriented inward, toward the plain of Mordor. Built against a sheer cliff, it frowned down upon the flatlands.

"This place isn't to keep people out of Mordor, but to keep them in," Hermione muttered. Ron nodded; they were walking side-by-side, with Draco and Harry up ahead, as they had in the tunnel. "It doesn't look like orc-work to me. Notice how carefully it was built?"

"You're right, as usual, Hermione," said Ron. "I'd bet it wasn't built by Sauron. Probably the men of Gondor built it."

"That, on the other hand, is the handiwork of Sauron," said Hermione, as they rounded a path and came in sight of the things that Draco had seen. They stood, or rather, sat, on either side of the path, guarding the gate into the old castle. At first, Hermione was reminded of the statue of the seated king they had repaired, in Ithilien, which now seemed like an unimaginably good and pleasant country. She took a second look, and shuddered at the sight of them; they radiated Dark Magic powerfully enough that she could have pointed unerringly to them with her eyes closed, as she could have pointed to the sun on a sunny day.

The two statues had tripartite bodies, and three horrible, vulture-like heads apiece. The heads were pointing in different directions, and watched in all directions at once. She knew, in an instant, that these were not the work of men. Everything about them screamed "Sauron!" in her mind.

"I---I think those things are watching the path," choked out Harry. "They're there to set off an alarm."

"So how do we disarm them?" asked Ron. At least this problem took his mind off giant spiders, thought Hermione. "Hermione," Ron went on, "do you know any good trap-disarmiing charms?"

Hermione gave it careful thought. "I can't think of anything I know of powerful enough to disarm those things. Magic here doesn't work quite the way it does at home---our Disarming Charms are a lot more powerful than they should be, at our level of experience---but I can't think of anything that would work on those."

"Maybe the Invisibility Cloak, if we all got under it, would do the trick?" ventured Ron. He could also sense the magic coming off the horrid statues, from the expression on his face. Hermione privately thought that even a Muggle, had one been present, would have been able to tell that the statues were evil.

"We can give that a try," said Harry, uncertainly. "I do not want to put on the Ring again, whether it makes me invisible or not. Here, in Mordor, if I were idiot enough to put it on, He would sense me in a second, and know just where I was. If he couldn't take over my mind, he would send those Black Riders after me, and even with the Ring souping up my magic, and you behind me helping out, that sort of fight could have only one end."

Hermione pictured it in her mind. She could see it all too clearly---the four friends, back-to-back on a hilltop here in Mordor, with the Nine Riders swooping in on them, their spells not enough to hold off the terrible servants of Sauron. The thought made her shiver---and then she thought about what would happen to them, to any of them, were they fools enough to allow themselves to be captured alive.

"Uh---Draco?" she asked. Draco turned and looked at her, slightly puzzled. Had she let her fear make her voice tremble? Angrily shaking her head, she tried again. "Draco---if, by some chance, we're cornered and we can't escape---"

"Yes?"

"If we're certain to be captured, I'd rather not be taken alive. You know the Unforgivable Curses. If there's no hope at all---I'd rather go quickly." As Draco's eyes widened---he had understood her instantly---she plunged on: "I'd rather go out by the Killing Curse than face Sauron's questioners. Can I count on you to do that, if there's no other way?"

Ron and Harry looked slightly green. Apparently they hadn't quite thought things through that far ahead---typical males, she thought with a mixture of affection and exasperation. Draco, obviously, had. He nodded solemnly, with no flicker of humor or malice dancing in his eyes, for once. "I'll do that, Hermione. I wouldn't let He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named face Sauron's inquistion." He looked at them all, his expression haunted. "I'll do it for all of you, if you want."

"But--what about you?" asked Ron. "You can't let yourself be captured, either!"

Draco nodded. "I know. I'll figure something out." He sighed, looking inexpressibly weary. "I don't know what, but I'll figure something out. I'll have to---and the gods know I'll have incentive to think, won't I?"

Ron looked up at the statues. "I wonder---how do those things work?" He turned to Draco. "Can you get our new friends here to tell me how they work?"

Gorbag nodded. "Yes. We can---turn them off---by informing them that you have a right to be here." He grinned a fanged grin suddenly. "I had to do that when Shagrat, here, arrived."

"Make it so." Draco's command spurred the two orcs into motion, and they lumbered forward, into the castle, past the terrible statues. After a while, Gorbag came out and motioned them on in.

As Hermione passed them, she took a long, hard look at them. She thought she could puzzle out how the various charms and spells on them worked, but she knew she didn't have the time---or the skill at dealing with unknown and dangerous enchantments---to do much about it. If Professor Flitwick or Professor Dumbledore were here, she thought rather wistfully, with a stab of sudden homesickness, they might be equal to disarming those things.

The inner courtyard had the usual signs of orcish tenancy. It was thickly strewn with litter and piles of dung and spoiled food. "These creatures keep house worse than anybody I've ever seen," commented Ron in an undertone. "If my Mum were here, she'd have the dark blue horrors that I'd even consider staying here."

"Needs must when the devil vomits into your kettle, Ron," murmured Hermione, earning herself a startled giggle from Ron. Of course, she thought, he hasn't seen Muggle telly and never saw Blackadder!

The interior of the castle, when they reached it, was even worse. "This place is a rubbish tip," commented Harry. "However, it is out of sight and under cover---as long as you can keep those orcs under Imperius, Draco."

Draco considered it. "Imperius usually needs to be specifically taken off, but can sometimes wear off on its own, or be fought off by a strong-minded subject. I don't think we have too much to worry about here. At the strength I used, it would take weeks or months for Imperius to begin wearing off, and orcs are not exactly creatures of strong mind, if you know what I mean."

"Good. Let's check this place out and settle on in." With that, Harry began ascending the stairs to the first floor, with his friends behind him. Despite the control Draco had over the orc-captains, they were taking no chances---their wands were out and ready for a fight. The stairs themselves were treacherous; ill-kept-up and scattered with all sorts of trash and orc-goo, they demanded careful climbing if one did not want to fall.

Even with careful climbing, though, things could happen. As Harry put his weight on one riser, it suddenly gave way, and Harry was pitched off-balance. With a howl, he fell off to one side, down to the ground floor of the castle, a storey below.

Ron, Draco and Hermione all swiftly cast charms to catch Harry and cushion his fall, but they had been caught unawares, and although they did manage to slow his fall somewhat, Harry landed very hard, lying still and silent on the ground floor. His friends rushed down to his aid.

When Draco reached Harry's side, he gently felt for broken bones, before lifting Harry's eyelids and peering at his eyes. He looked up at Ron and Hermione, his face grave. "He's alive---I think he'll be all right---but he's slightly concussed, and he'll be out for a while. I don't know how strong he'll be when he wakes up."

"Would an Ennervate Charm help?" asked Ron. Hermione shook her head.

"They told me in Lothlorien that only the fact that you got me there quickly prevented those from doing long-term damage. They said I should have had rest instead of having to run and fight and hike. We've got a safe hidey-hole here, at least for a while. I vote that we don't monkey with this more than we can help."

"Good idea, Hermione." Draco conjured a stretcher and loaded Harry aboard it, and they found a side-room to settle into. Once Harry was tucked up in the least-verminous orc-bunk they could find, Draco turned to his friends, and gathered them aside, a little way away.

"You know, I wonder if this isn't the time to do what we discussed, back in Hogwarts?" At their questioning looks, he went on: "We talked about sharing the Ring among ourselves, so that no one of us would fall too far under its influence. We forgot about that for quite a while, and Harry was---or seemed to be---holding up under it pretty well, so it slipped our minds. I don´t like what I've seen lately, though, not one bit I don't. I say we should take the Ring off him for a while, while he's out and unaware of it."

"Who should take it?" asked Hermione.

"And what do we do when Harry wakes up?" Ron wanted to know.

Draco rubbed his chin. "I'd say we draw cards for it---you do have your Tarot deck with you, Hermione; I've seen you playing solitaire-Tarrochia with it now and then. If Harry really raises a fuss when he wakes up, we give him the Ring back. But right now, I think it's fuzzing his judgement and making him do stupid things."

"Okay. I'll go along with this plan." With that, Hermione began delving into her pack, coming up with her battered Tarot deck.