Awakening of An Empire

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Disclaimer: See the Prologue if you wish to read this.

Story info:

Title: Awakening of an Empire

Author: SilverDagger

Chapters: 2 of  ?

Rating: PG-13 for violence and cursing. May be raised later in the story

Chapter Summary: The Daily Prophet reports the Rising of Lord Sauron. Hermione finds out about the legend of the Ring. Harry has a revalation.

Story Summary: HP/LOTR crossover - A ring is stolen… A man is thought to be dead… A war begins… An ancient Empire reawakens… All Hell breaks loose… And yet there is still hope, though Darkness may be on the horizon… Action, Adventure, Romance, Horror, and so much more… Look  on and read, as I tell this wonderful tale…

And now, on with the story!

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Awakening of an Empire

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SilverDagger

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Chapter 1

A Turn In Events

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Hermione Granger woke up on the morning of the 20^th of August in the same manner she had every other day of the summer. She showered, dressed and proceeded down stairs quickly.

As she walked into the kitchen, she found her parents sitting at the table, her mother looking at the morning’s mail, muttering things like ‘More bills…honestly.’, ‘Catalog… that can go in the bin…and that…’, and ‘Alistair, you have jury duty again…’. Her father, on the other hand, was reading the Daily Prophet. He had taken to doing this recently, as he was proud of being part of the Wizarding Community (however distantly), and therefore liked to stay on top of the current events.

He looked up as she came in, setting down the Prophet next to his eggs and bacon.

“There’s something in there that should interest you. It’s on the front page of the World Section.”

She picked up the A Section containing the world news, and carried it over to her place at the table as he began to look into the Metro Section for the ‘Current Events In Wizarding London’ column, an area of the Prophet that he perused frequently as well as the humor column and comics (He was delighted to find that they had some variations of the muggle comics he liked – and they moved).

She set the paper down, and moved off to the countertop next to the fridge where her mother had set out the breakfast. She took some for herself and sat back down before glancing at the headline on the page her father had given her. She gasped as she saw it, not believing her eyes.

Her Father looked up from his meal. “What is it? Read it aloud, will you?”

She calmed herself before beginning. She read it slowly, so that her father could hear every word of it clearly. Her mother looked up soon after she began, listening hard.

  Magical Artifact Stolen From

 Valuable Ring Is Stolen From Top Security Ministry Vault Early This Morning

By Gregor Edwardovich Staff Writer

Ministry Officials released a statement this morning to the public saying that a ring of some kind was stolen by a mysterious intruder early this morning. The Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Edward Michaels, 52, said that an ‘Intruder wearing a dark cloak of some kind broke into the early today. He has taken a very valuable Ring from one of The Department of Magical Research’s vaults in the building. The artifacts name is the Ring of Sauron. A Security Guard under our employ contacted our Aurors at about this morning. Winters allegedly spoke to the intruder. The Guard, a Mr. Jonathan Winters, said that the intruder named himself as Lord Sauron himself, that he had taken only his own ring, and that he wished to pass on a message through Mr. Winters. Mr. Winters will now speak with you.’ The guard then took the podium. He spoke of the encounter, and said that ‘He told me to tell you reporters that, and this is a quote, mind you, ‘Tell them that Lord Sauron has returned, that the Second War has begun, and that anyone who wishes to take a stand against Voldemort should join me.’’ Winters then left the podium. Michaels then said nothing more except that ‘Four Aurors were immobilized by the intruder, supposedly by using the ring. No more details were given. An unnamed expert on the subject of the ring said that ‘The ring will only answer to Sauron himself, no one else. It is my belief that whoever was under that cloak was the Light Lord. He has not been seen for over 15 thousand years, nor has his Ring been mastered. At one time, Gryffindor himself took up the ring in arms against Slytherin in the Great War of 500 BC. He could not however control its power, and he, too, died after being overwhelmed. It is said in many ancient script that the master of the ring is the true heir of The Light Lord. Who that is, however, is unclear.’ It is unclear whether or not the Ministry will conduct an investigation into the rings whereabouts. Many suspect they will let it go due to the rising dark presence of the recent weeks since the Ministry released that the Dark Lord has returned last month. ‘A Light Lord may be in order,’ said Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School. ‘I will try to get in contact with him soon,’ he said, before resisting further questions. For more Information on the Ring, see page A 25.

She stared at the page, an incredulous look gracing her face. Her father, on the other hand, was looking completely unfazed.

“What on earth is that supposed to mean?” he asked, “I know the importance of a break in, but what does the rest of it mean?” His wife nodded vigorously behind his back.

She looked into his face for a moment, wondering what to say before she remembered. She had to have at least one book in her vast collection that mentioned something on the artifacts of the . “I’ll be right back. Then I’ll tell you.” She said to him, before running hurriedly from the kitchen and upstairs to her library.

She had convinced her father to put this room in after her first year at Hogwarts. It was a vast room, bookshelves lining the walls, and some small ones in the space in the middle of the room. One wall was all Muggle books, and as for the rest, she had proudly filled this space with books she had bout from the Wizarding world. In the very center, there was a large desk with a lamp and large computer (a Sony, her favorite electronics company).

She went to it and put in a keyword, and clicked on ‘find’. The desktop hummed quietly for a second, and then a hit came up on the Excel database. It read, ‘Artifacts of Legend – Sventon, Mark, 1994 – Case 21, Shelf 9, Column 4’. She prided herself on her organizational skills. Every book she ever bought was entered onto that database, the only one of its kind.

She walked to the area the computer had indicated, and pulled down a black covered book with scarlet binding and gold scripted cover.

She retraced her steps, sitting back in her seat next to her patiently waiting parents. She opened the index of the book and son found what she wanted. She turned to the page before speaking slowly to her parents.

“There are a few pages in this book about the Ring, if that’s what you would like to hear about. Shall I?” They both nodded and looked on expectantly, so she continued.

The One Ring of Sauron

The legend of the One Ring goes back into the Golden Age of Magic, back in the days of Lord Cesar of the Romans. Legend tells of a continent inhabited only my Magical humans and creatures called Mordor, referred to in Muggle literature as the Lost continent of Atlantis. The Continent, supposedly residing in the , was ruled over by a man bearing a Ring with extraordinary Magical Powers. This man is referred to as Lord Sauron. Mordor was said to have possessed vast armies of Part-Human/Part-Demons such as Orcs and Uruk-Hai. He is said to be a Part-Demon himself, as he spoke their language, and had some of their qualities. Then again, this could have been part of the power of the Ring.

The Ring is said to have been forged by the Light Lord himself in the firs of a monstrous volcanic mountain, named for its constant restlessness. The Ring is said to have been able to grant it’s bearer with extended life, and powers beyond imagination. Control of the Ring has been attempted many times over the centuries, but all have tried, have died soon afterward. The Ring has not been seen for over a thousand years, but it is thought that the Ministry of Magic has it under wraps, so to speak. An inscription is said to have been carved into the side of the Ring itself, but ancient scrolls only give part of it to us, the rest is shrouded in mystery. Reliable sources tell us this much of the Ring’s inscription, the rest is shrouded in Mystery:

‘One ring to rule them all,

One ring to find them,

One ring to bring them all,

And in its power bind them.’

This part of the inscription is said to hold the key to unlocking the Ring’s true power, but many parts of ancient literature tell that though some may be blinded by illusions of controlling its power, they all have eventually died after being overwhelmed by the power itself. It is not, however, the entire inscription found on the ring, but merely a part of it. What the rest says, however, is shrouded in mystery.

There followed a brief copy of the rest of the inscription in unfamiliar writing. She looked up at her parents expectantly, waiting for something to be said.

“Is this true?” her father asked, breathless with interest.

“I don’t know. I don’t know at all.”

*~*

Harry Potter sat in his bedroom at Number Four Privet Drive, staring at a newspaper absent mindedly. He had known the article would contain what it had long before it had even been printed. He turned the ring he had taken from the that morning over and over in his hands. So many times he had tried to find out what the Prophesy had meant when it said ‘But he will have power the Dark Lord knows not.’  And finally, this summer he had found out what it was. He had had a vision. A vision so clear he had trouble not thinking that it was real sometimes. He remembered it vividly…

*{ Begin Flashback }*

He walked alone through the forest. He did not know where he was, but he kept walking. A…he did not know what it was really, but a…force…yes…a force was calling him forth through the forest. As he neared the edge of the tree line, he heard it.  A noise. Some sort of noise. Yells. Grunts. Cries of War.

He began to walk faster until he suddenly broke out of the trees and stopped, not of fear, but of wonder. Standing before him was a valley, a glorious valley. In its center was an immense tower. It was tall, with a jagged look to it. At the very top, he saw a huge electric blue eye. You could see the bolts of magical energy that made it what it was. It seemed to be made of some sort of blue magical fire, emanating from the slit that was its center, rather like a cats eye. It seemed to stare at him as well, as he realized with a start, as everyone else in the valley.

An army of what looked like humanoid creatures stared up at a figure at the top of the tower, who looked down upon his army with no expression on what you could see of his face. The creatures wore what looked like steel armor, and carried spears, swords, and other weapons of war. The man at the top of the tower was armored also, though he wore a long black cloak, so that only his mouth could be seen. Harry, who began to wonder how on earth he could see the man from this distance, found that he was no longer in the forest edge, but on top of the tower with the man, though to his left and slightly behind him.

The man spoke to his army with a booming voice that carried to the far ends of the valley.

“A new power is rising! Go my soldiers. I and my Riders shall meet you at the front lines. Fight in the name of Lord Sauron! This war will end soon, and you will be the victors! Go now, and may luck be with you!”

A roar of approval rose up from the crowds below, and they began to run from the valley at alarming speed.

The cloaked man turned to Harry and spoke softly to him.

“You and I are one in the same, Harry. A war on our hands. No other way to settle it than between two Lords, one dark and one Light. Take my Ring. Use it well. When you wake from slumber you will know what to do. Trust your instincts, my son, and may god be with you.”

As he finished speaking, the world around Harry began to fade, until only blackness surrounded him. He awoke with a jolt, and information began to flood his mind.

*{ End Flashback }*

He was mystified as to what had given him the vision that night. All he knew was that he needed to act on his newfound powers before possibility of it slipping through his fingers arose by way of confiscation by Albus Dumbledore came his way.

He could not for all his life figure out how to escape and make a few moves on the chessboard that is life without appearing to be gone…or…dead. That was it! All he had to do was appear to be dead. After that he could act from the side lines without being scrutinized to closely by the Ministry or the Order…

‘But how…’ he thought before it came to him. The Death Eaters. If they attacked the village, and he appeared to be dead after the attack, it would remove him from the suspect board even if someone decided to take a good look at the identity he could eventually fashion himself. All he needed was some time to make a plan…

*~*

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PLEASE READ

Authors Note: This was the first Chapter. I don’t find it that bad, but I wrote it, so who can tell? For the bit with the Prophet, I based it on the format of The Post. If it is a bit off, please forgive me. The next chapter should be up in around 1 week. I’ll need a bit of time to collect reviews from both FanFiction and Portkey in order to write my responses. I have some below for people who reviewed the Prologue. Also, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW. I value your comments for this fic. Please review for all chapters, and, if you are reading from Portkey, please include a rating.

                Again, If you want to get an e-mail when the next chapter comes out, here’s what to do:

                                *If you are on Portkey of Fanfiction and are an author, use the Author Alert function                                                       when putting through signed reviews. On Portkey, you can use this even if you                                                   aren’t an author.

                                *If you are not an author, please become one and use the function above. Otherwise, just                                                                check every so often.

Review Responces: Check to see if there is one for you if you reviewed me on the last chapter. If you did      and there isn’t one for you, sorry but I probably didn’t catch you when I was writing this chapter.

FROM Portkey

Harryherm84 – Thanks for the praise. I hope I don’t disappoint you.

shawnpickett – I haven’t the slightest notion of what on earth you mean, but thanks anyway.

bamaslama29 – As you have found out from this chapter, Harry is Lord Sauron. How else could he have used the ring?

The person who did not enter their name – You have effectively called me a conceited Bastard. My response is this: I do try to help along writers by telling them that they are good authors, but they could do better. That is, of course, if I like their fic, writing style, idea, etc. Even if I don’t like their work, I try to point out the faults so that they can watch out for them in the future. I know I am not Ernest Hemmingway (though I hate his work anyway). As for the insult, my response is ‘Go into the woods and play Hide and Go Fuck Yourself.’

perenelle – Thanks for the review. I really don’t know what most of that was about, but thanks anyway.

Perenalle (again) – I’ll have to ask why you reviewed twice, but hey. Thanks for the advice. I did pick up on the fault in the Prologue, but it’s a bit too late to change it. This will be in Hogwarts year 6. Thanks anyway.

FROM FanFiction

Nimohtar – Thanks for the compliment.

alphabet-psycho – Sorry if it was a little vague. Just remember, it was a Prologue. It is only meant to tell the reader what has happened to cause what will happen in the first chapter. As for the Sauron evil thing, this is an AU fic to some extent, so in this fic, he happens to be on the side of good. This is mainly as I want the ring on the side of good. This would mean that, since the ring can only be controlled by Sauron himself, Sauron has to be on the side of good.

SSD – As you have found out, no it is not Dumbledore.

Anonymous – Will do.

NEXT CHAPTER: The Death eaters meet. Harry ‘dies’. The sixth year at Hogwarts begins for Ron and Hermione.

That’s it. Be off with you now!

SilverDagger