Disclaimer: Harry Potter and related characters and settings belong to J. K. Rowling. The Lord of the Rings and related mythology belong to the heir of J. R. R. Tolkien.
A/N This title "Olor" is strictly Elvish. In other words, it's the exact same word used in both Sindarin and Quenya meaning "dream". How I wish all of my titles were this easy.
Chapter 10: Olor
Over the years, Harry had had many dreams concerning Voldemort. He had learned that most of these dreams indeed had something to do with the Dark Lord. Thus, there was no question in the back of Harry's unconscious mind that what he was seeing was indeed happening at that very moment.
Harry saw Fudge, Umbridge, and Kingsley being restrained by Death Eaters and forced on their knees, surrounded by the bodies of their comrades. Fudge and Umbridge's faces were twisted into pure terror while Kingsley held an expression of grim determination. Surrounding them were scores of Orcs, all cackling menacingly and seated on his throne was the armored form of Voldemort-Sauron reading... the Quibbler?
"Most entertaining," said the Dark Lord in Voldemort's voice. "I have been keeping in mind to keep an eye out on this publication ever since it had printed Harry Potter's story. I must say I didn't expect to be entertained this much." His scarlet eyes looked up to gleam toward Fudge and he said in both voices, "But we may now put that aside for some more immediate forms of entertainment for now."
"W-what do you plan to do with us?" squeaked Fudge, his voice barely audible. Voldemort was still recognizable by his eyes but so changed in form was he in his monstrous armor that Fudge couldn't even think of being frightened anymore.
"We haven't decided yet," said Voldemort-Sauron, leaning back on his throne. "But no matter, we have plenty of time to decide what to do."
It was that moment when Kingsley suddenly blasted away the Death Eaters holding him to the ground. He quickly leapt up to his feet his wand ready. The Orcs started attacking the tall Auror but Kingsley fought each of them off one by one with continuous bursts of magic. Fudge and Umbridge however were in far too much shock to notice what was going on around them.
"Oh look," said Bellatrix Lestrange from her position near the throne, "the little Auror wants to play. Let me take care of him." The Dark Lord however raised his hand stopping Bellatrix.
"Impressive," said Voldemort-Sauron as Kinglsey beat off another Orc. "But we wish to have another do the job in this situation Bella. Khamul, please take care of our guest."
From out of the shadows behind the right side of the Dark Lord's throne, the Nazgul known as Khamul emerged forth. Kinglsey's face momentarily flickered with fear as the Ring-Wraith descended upon him. Khamul lunged at Kingsley, drawing a dagger forth. Kingsley beat off the dagger with a spell and some tricky footwork. Khamul lunged again and Kingsley once more beat him off.
"Khamul is the mightiest of the Ulairi following the Witch-King whom has yet to be reborn," said Voldemort-Sauron. "He cannot be defeated that easily."
"Expelliarmus!" shouted Kingsley. The dagger flew out of Khamul's hand. Kingsley suddenly grinned as if he had a sudden chance at victory. Standing proudly, Kingsley flung his arms forward and shouted "Expecto Patronum!" The silver cloud of light burst forth from his wand and surrounded the startled Khamul.
On his throne, Voldemort-Sauron started clapping a slow clap. "Well done Mr. Shacklebolt. You have proven yourself to be a truly skilled wizard. Your power, your reflexes, your determination, your bravery: all worth being commended. However, you have made one fatal mistake," he said, "Ring-Wraiths, though they look a lot like them, are not Dementors."
From within the silvery patronus form, the Nazgul's gauntleted hand burst forth, grabbing Kingsley's throat. The silver cloud quickly faded as Khamul held the chocking Kingsley aloft.
"Little man, little man, did you really think the Nazgul could be defeated so easily?" hissed the voice of Khamul from beyond the Ring-Wraith's hood. "You will die now."
"Don't kill him Khamul," said Voldemort-Sauron. "We are leaving that to another. Just hold him in place for now." Khamul said nothing but merely continued to hold the struggling Kingsley up aloft.
The Dark Lord reclined back in his throne and pulled out the Quibbler once more. "This article here is most interesting," he said, reading through the magazine. "It claims that we have under our command several... what is this, 'heliopaths'? This is a most interesting claim."
"What is it to you?" shouted Fudge, suddenly finding a second wind. "The Quibbler is nothing but rubbish!"
"Our dear Cornelius, please do not be so quick to dismiss the Quibbler," said the Dark Lord. "For you see, this particular article is true: we do have an army of Heliopaths under our command. Though, they prefer to be referred by their ancient name."
As if in answer to Voldemort-Sauron, the throne room suddenly shook with a rumble. The Orcs started muttering amongst themselves, clearly fearful of something and the Death Eaters all looked nervous. Even Khamul seemed to be a little uneasy though his grip on Kingsley's throat didn't let up.
From behind the left side of the throne, a monstrous figure emerged. It was at least 20 feet tall though it fit into the throne room easily. It was hard to truly visualize the creature though it took on the appearance of having truly fiery eyes and great wings. It was surrounded by shadow, yet flames emerged forth from it, bathing the room in an eerie mix of shadowy darkness and sinister light: shadow and flame.
"I am Gothmog II," said the creature in a terrifying, deep and husky voice, "We are the Balrogs. We come to serve the Dark Lord!"
"We had been under the impression that Durin's Bane had been the last of the Balrogs," said Voldemort-Sauron. "Imagine our pleasurable surprise to learn that there were still a few who survived the First Age in a deep slumber far within the ground! Gothmog II, who takes his name after the original Captain of the Balrogs, was the first to answer our summons but in total five came. Five! We have now five Balrogs, eight Nazgul, hundreds of Death Eaters, Dementors, and trolls, thousands upon thousands of Orcs, and slews of many other Dark Creatures at our command. There has not been a force for Darkness like this since the First Age; that is the army that first the Wizarding world and later the Muggle world will be facing! Can you just imagine?"
Fudge and Umbridge were now in too much of a state of shock to really observe anything. With a hand gesture from the Dark Lord, Gothmog II suddenly brought forth a devastating whip of flame and used it to whip Kingsley Shacklebolt out of Khamul's grip. The battered, broken body of the senior Auror was thrown into the ceiling whereupon it fell to the ground with a sickening thud; thus perished Kingsley Shacklebolt.
"Well Cornelius," said Voldemort-Sauron standing up. "Before you die we want you to know that we will be taking control of the various Ministries of Magic around Europe. Since all of the Ministers and top aides have been killed here today, I doubt there will be much opposition. We have already occupied Azkaban two days ago, though I doubt you actually knew that, believing you still controlled the fortress. But Azkaban holds a special purpose for us. Indeed, the real struggle will be at the two remaining Magical Schools, Beauxbatons and Hogwarts. Let us show you something."
The Dark Lord beckoned two of the Death Eaters, McNair and Dolohov to bring something before him. The two Death Eaters brought in a bronze chalice: it had no adornments or decorations or jewels. It was simply a bronze chalice, nothing more. "This chalice is one of three," said the Dark Lord in Sauron's voice. "It was constructed by the direction of I Anatar, by the Noldor Elves of Eregion during the Second Age along with the Rings of Power. The three chalices seem to have nothing for them, no markings to distinguish them, yet they hold an incredible power within them that the Elves and Numenoreans discovered only after the Fourth Age had begun." The Dark Lord started speaking in both voices again, "To prevent their power from coming into use, the three chalices were separated and passed along by various Numenoreans until all three of them came into the possession of the Founders of Hogwarts."
From across the Throne Room, Peter "Wormtail" Pettigrew suddenly started. "My Lord: those chalices! It can't be!" he exclaimed, his face deathly pale.
"You know of them, Peter?" said Voldemort-Sauron, clearly amazed. His voice had a hint of warning in them as he said, "It would suit you well not to speak out of turn Wormtail!" Wormtail said nothing though he remained pale and nervous.
"What these two chalices can do is of no concern right now," said the Dark Lord. "This particular chalice was hidden within the confines of Durmstrang Castle in a most secure spot though not too difficult to locate by our trusted Nazgul. The other two are naturally located somewhere within the castles of Beauxbatons and Hogwarts. And we wish to claim them for ourselves! And now that we have shown you a glimpse of our plan, it is time to die."
Voldemort-Sauron stood up and made his way over toward the cowering figures of Fudge and Umbridge. He signaled the Death Eaters restraining them to let them go. Fudge and Umbridge were dropped to the ground at Voldemort-Sauron's feet.
"It is a strange experience to share two minds in one body," said Voldemort-Sauron. "Both Voldemort and Sauron wish to dispose of these pathetic cowards, yet both have their own way of going about it. Which one do we choose? There are two to kill so we would think that we could use both methods. So the real question is which one shall we dispose of first and what method shall we use?" After a moment of silence, the Dark Lord said, "It is decided. We shall dispose of Cornelius Fudge first, using the Sauron way."
Before Fudge could react, the Dark Lord had grabbed his face in the palm of his right hand and lifted him up aloft. Fudge started screaming in agony as steam started issuing from Fudge's face where Voldemort-Sauron was grabbing him. Within seconds, the smell and sound of burning flesh drifted around the room as Fudge's body became more and more charred, his screams growing more agonizing. Finally, all that was left of Cornelius Fudge were his clothes and a pile of ashes that blew away in the wind.
"Cornelius Fudge did not necessarily deserve the honor of being killed the same way Erenion Gil-Galad was," said Voldemort-Sauron. "We simply decided to grant him an honor. And now, for the other one..."
Umbridge suddenly received a second wind. Screaming at the top of her lungs, she bolted as fast as her stumpy legs could carry her toward the doors of the chamber. She started banging on them, screaming incoherently.
"In the end we were rather hesitant about touching that thing which is why we used the Sauron method on Fudge," said the Dark Lord, "These two are not worth it for us to kill ourselves, but we are providing a service." The Death Eaters started mumbling amongst themselves wondering what this "service" was. Voldemort-Sauron simply continued, "Normally we would have a lowly Death Eater complete this job but just this once, we shall do it ourselves, the Voldemort way."
Voldemort-Sauron held his left hand out in front of himself. A bright, green fireball started forming at the Dark Lord's finger tips. At first the size of a golf ball, the green fireball quickly grew to the size of a beach ball, roaring with ferocity and spinning vertically.
"Avada Kedavra!" The green fireball suddenly burst forth into the familiar green light of the killing curse, only a killing curse far more ferocious and powerful than any had seen before. Not only did it kill Umbridge upon contact but it also blasted away half of her body, leaving behind a smoldering crater in the floor.
"Feed that thing to the Orcs," said Voldemort-Sauron gesturing to what remained of Dolores Umbridge, "and leave us alone." Several Death Eaters dragged out Umbridge's remains and all the others present in the room either disappeared into the shadows or left the chambers. Voldemort-Sauron sat on his throne, sitting slightly hunched over his elbows on the arms of the throne and his held together, the fingers interlaced before his face.
"Surprised that I was able to break through your Occlumency skills, Potter?" he suddenly said in Voldemort's voice. "It shouldn't have been that surprising given that my powers have multiplied with my alliance with Sauron; I can break into your feeble mind anytime we wish." The Dark Lord sat up straight on his throne, his scarlet eyes shining with malice and though it was hidden by his helmet, he was clearly smirking. Voldemort's voice continued, "What you have seen today is a service Potter: a service into what I have planned for the very near future as well as a small demonstration of my own power. Why do I give you glimpse at my plans? Because this time there is no way that either you or Dumbledore can stop me. Go ask Dumbledore yourself, he won't even know what the true purposes of the chalices are. I assure you that everything you have just seen right now is everything that has actually taken place." Voldemort stood up, his posture barely containing his evil mirth. "Unlike the image of your tortured godfather I sent two years ago." With that, the Dark Lord started laughing.
* * *
Harry bolted awake, screaming and clutching at his scar in pain. "No!" he yelled, as he tumbled out of bed.
"Harry, what?" exclaimed Ron. He jumped out of his bed and rushed to Harry's side, their argument temporarily forgotten. "Harry mate, are you OK?"
"What's going on?" exclaimed Neville, also waking up. "Harry?" He rushed over to Ron whom was busy trying to calm a near hysterical Harry down. "What happened?"
"I don't know," said a near panicked Ron.
A few seconds later, just as Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas were climbing out of bed, the door of the dorm burst open and Hermione followed by Ginny and a sleepy looking Lavender and Parvati entered the room. "Harry, are you OK? Was it Voldemort?" asked Hermione, quickly sitting down next to Harry and ignoring the shudder of the others in the room. She drew Harry into a gentle hug, which finally started calming Harry whom was desperately trying to hold back tears.
"What are you girls doing here? This is the boys' dorm!" exclaimed Seamus.
"Oh please, like you haven't had me up in this room before," said Lavender. Seamus couldn't help but grin.
"Woohoo, way to go man!" said Dean, clapping Seamus on the back. Ginny and Neville just rolled their eyes.
"Anyway, to answer your question," said Parvati, "Hermione suddenly woke up saying that Harry needed her and bolted out of the door. We thought there was something more, let's say scandalous about to go on with these two and we took it on ourselves as school gossips to find out what was going on. That is until Ginny came by saying she heard Harry screaming."
"And I only heard Harry because I was out getting some hot chocolate," said Ginny. "Amazing how Hermione was able to just know that Harry needed her."
Hermione meanwhile had managed to calm Harry down sufficiently by just rubbing his back and whispering soothing words into his ear, occasionally placing a kiss in his hair.
"Hermione?" Harry managed to whisper.
"It's OK, Harry. I'm here for you. I'm not letting you go," whispered Hermione.
Harry nodded, his grip on Hermione growing tighter. Finally, he managed to choke out, "Take me to Dumbledore."
To be continued...
A/N That was perhaps the most visually gory thing I've ever written in my entire writing career. Hopefully that will be the goriest chapter of all by given that there will be major battles coming up, there might be just as descriptive scenes. Poor Harry for having to witness all that.