Disclaimer: Harry Potter and related characters and settings belong to J. K. Rowling. The Lord of the Rings and related mythology belong to the heirs of J. R. R. Tolkien.
A/N Once again the titles are decently simple. The entire title is written in Sindarin. "Naruparv" is "Red Book". "Dundaur" is simply a literal translation of the name "Westmarch". So, the title of the chapter is "The Red Book of Westmarch".
Chapter 5: En Naruparv en Dundaur
Back at Hogwarts, Hermione spent several hours walking around in a daze. Harry was a long lost heir to a throne and was supposed to be the king of wizard kind. Hermione couldn't even begin to comprehend the magnitude of such a revelation. She had no doubt in her mind that Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge would be outraged at such a prospect and probably begin another outrageous campaign to discredit him. She also knew that if the general wizarding populace were to find out, most of them would throw Harry on to the throne without a second thought giving that he was the Boy-who-lived and that they were frustrated with the Ministry's incompetence at dealing with Voldemort and his Death Eaters.
Of course, she was dreading telling Ron about where Harry had gone. Like she had promised, she had no intension of telling Ron that Harry was due to become a king but she still had to explain to him that he would be gone for a few days. She didn't think she could offer a good explanation for Harry's departure from Hogwarts to find out if the king was indeed him.
The king; the thought still sounded so unbelievable to her. She always knew that Harry was special but that was certainly something she hadn't thought of him. She didn't know if this was only her insecurities talking but suddenly, Harry seemed to be even more out of reach and distant to her. Of course, she knew that Harry wouldn't break off their friendship just because he became king. And as if all of that weren't mind boggling enough, she couldn't help but think that the stories Dumbledore had told her were eerily familiar, as if she had known all about them at some point.
Suddenly she snapped to attention when an icy voice hissed, "It will suit you well Miss Granger to PAY ATTENTION IN MY CLASS!" Hermione cursed herself for drifting off in her thoughts in Potions of all classes.
"I am sorry Professor Snape. It won't happen again," she said.
"See that it doesn't! 10 points from Gryffindor," snapped the Potions Master Severus Snape. "All you Gryffindors constantly zoning out like the airheads you seem to be. Never take authority seriously. NOW GET BACK TO WORK BEFORE I GIVE ALL OF YOU DETENTION FOR THE WHOLE WEEK!" It seemed that Snape was in a particularly bad mood as he couldn't bully Harry for the next few days and was taking this out on the rest of the Gryffindors. From the front row, Harry's school nemesis, Slytherin Draco Malfoy smirked at Hermione as well as sending her, what she uncomfortably thought looked like a leer. Hermione rolled her eyes and went back to work.
* * *
"What the bloody hell do you mean he left with Dumbledore?" demanded Ron Weasley. "Where did he go that's so important that he go at this time?" They were having lunch in the Great Hall.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Oh honestly Ron, you know Harry's very busy with everything. If he's called away, I'm sure he'll tell you about it when he comes back." She pulled out Hogwarts, A History and started reading it. "Besides, why is it such a deal that he's gone for a few days?"
"Why is it a big deal? Because we have the Quidditch Match against Ravenclaw coming up!" yelled Ron, as if it were a taboo that Harry had left before that.
"While I do believe my childish big brother is overacting a little," said Ginny from next to Ron, "I must say that as Gryffindor Team Captain, I prefer my seeker to be ready for the final game of the Quidditch Cup."
"Harry will be back in time for your oh so precious, Quidditch Game," said Hermione sarcastically. She then muttered, "You'd think that no longer taking Potions and Divination would make you less aggravating, Ron."
Ron's look of anger instantly changed into a grin. "Ah, but there lies my moment of wisdom in that I, unlike you and Harry, decided to not take Potions anymore and stay out of Harry's hair."
Ginny snorted. "You mean you couldn't get an OWL score high enough to get into NEWT Potions," she said.
"Whatever. I'd still say it's a relief," said Ron. "I don't think I could take anymore of Snape's sadistic Gryffindor torturing pleasures for a further two years."
"Well that just proves that you're a chicken Weasley," said a sleazy voice from behind Hermione, "Too much of a coward to stay under the eye of the big, bad Slytherin head."
"Sod off, Malfoy!" snapped Ron. Draco Malfoy had come up to harass the Gryffindor like he often did. He was flanked by his two 'bodyguards' Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. Also accompanying them were Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bulstrode.
Pansy looked around for a moment before she said, "Well, looks like Potter's missing. I suppose he finally came to his senses and dumped this crowd of losers."
"About time I'd say," said Draco breezily. "Took him long enough to realize his so called 'friends' are nothing more than a pathetic poor boy and a Mudblood."
"You take that back!" shouted Ron, leaping to his feet and brandishing his wand.
"Ha! Make me Weasel!" said a smirking Draco.
Ron looked ready to curse Malfoy to oblivion any second. Hermione hurriedly stood up and soothingly said, "Stop it Ron. He's not worth it."
Draco was about to continue his taunting when an Eagle Owl suddenly flew into the Great Hall and deposited a letter on his head. Draco and his gang walked off a little ways and started reading the letter as Ron sat down, calming down a little.
"Damn that ferret!" grumbled Ron. "One of these days I'm going to corner him and..." Ron made a violent gesture with his hands.
"I could use him as a test subject for Fred and George's tricks," said Ginny. "I think I'll try to convince them to make 'Ferret Creams'. Then we can use it on Malfoy and bounce him around."
"Ah yes Draco Malfoy, the return of the bouncing ferret." Ron pushed his plate away and said, "I just lost my appetite talking to Malfoy. Let's go nick some food from the kitchens instead."
Hermione groaned as Ron and Ginny gathered there stuff but decided to accompany them anyway. The last thing she noticed before leaving the Great Hall was the look of interest and glee on Draco Malfoy and his gangs' faces as they read the letter.
* * *
"Harry Potter's friends are here! Harry Potter's friends are here!" exclaimed Dobby the House Elf as he bounded toward Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, still looking outrageous in his tea cozy and mismatched socks. "Dobby is honored that Harry Potter's friends have come to visit."
The multitudes of toga wearing House Elves all turned toward the party while still working on their various tasks. The Hogwarts kitchens were always staffed with a large number of Professional House Elves, ready to serve at the beck and call of anyone who entered. This was a constant source of annoyance for Hermione.
"Hey Dobby, get me a full course of all the sweets and desserts around here," said Ron. Dobby happily skipped away, followed by several other House Elves as Hermione scowled at Ron.
"Why do you insist on giving more work to the House Elves?" she demanded. "They're overworked enough as it is."
Ron scoffed and said, "Oh please, don't start going on and on about spew again."
"Its S.P.E.W.," hissed Hermione, "and maybe you wouldn't be so desensitized if you were being forced to work for some snobbish kids yourself all the time!"
"Well, good thing I'm not a House Elf then, eh?" said Ron. Hermione started fuming.
"Oh lighten up Hermione," said Ginny as she took an éclair one of the House Elves had given her. "The House Elves want to serve so who are we to get in the way of what they want to do?"
Hermione was about to retort when the entrance to the kitchens suddenly swung open and Luna Lovegood all people walked through. "Hello Ronald," she said as if she were expecting to see him there. Ron groaned. Luna turned to Ginny and said, "So Ginny, about what we were talking about earlier..."
Hermione never knew what it was exactly that made her snap but as it was, the irritation she was feeling at Ron over the House Elves' plight was released on Luna: "Oh must you go on about your so called 'Eldar' with House Elves present?!"
Luna naturally was completely unfazed by Hermione's outburst. However, the fact that the entire kitchens had grown completely silent was unnerving enough. All of the House Elves were starring at Hermione in total disbelief and something akin to wonder. Even Dobby had dropped all the snacks he was carrying to Ron and was starring at Hermione.
Hermine instantly became anxious. "What? What did I say?" she asked, looking around at the silent House Elves.
"Miss Hermione mentioned the Eldar," said Dobby, his voice laced with awe. "Miss Hermione mentioned House Elves' great cousins, High Elves!"
"C-cousins?" asked Hermione.
Dobby nodded and said, "House Elves were once Avari: unwilling to go west when called like the Eldar. House Elves no longer look anything like Eldar or original Avari but we still feel kinship with the great Eldar. Many House Elves believe that the Eldar will return one day. Dobby believes the Eldar will return one day."
Hermione's head started swimming as she digested this information. On the one hand she was trying to understand all Luna and Dobby were talking about concerning the so-called 'Eldar'. On the other hand, she was still trying to settle into the new understanding that Harry was the rightful king of wizarding kind due to his ancestry to Atlantis, or rather 'Numenor'. Yet, there was something so familiar about everything. Something at the back of her mind was telling her that she knew something about all this but she couldn't recall what.
"Freaky, Looney was actually saying something that may have some truth to it," muttered Ron.
"Everything I say has some truth to it," said Luna dreamily. "But you weren't quite right Hermione. I wasn't here to talk about the Eldar; I'm here to talk about Hobbits. They're about two to four feet tall, live underground, have large furry feet, indigenous to Britain, practically muggle in that they have no magic whatsoever..."
As soon as Luna had said the word 'Hobbit', something clicked in Hermione's mind. "Oh my God," she whispered. She then exclaimed, "Oh my God! Why didn't I realize it before?" Before anybody could ask her what she was going on about, Hermione ran out of the kitchens and down the hallway.
"Mental she is," said Ron. "Mind you, she's always been mental but I think Hermione's finally lost it."
"I want to see what it is she realized," said Ginny. "Let's follow her."
* * *
Hermione burst into the library ignoring the glare the librarian Irma Pince shot her. She simply made her way over to the shelves and started looking over the books at a fast pace. She was worried that the particular book she was looking for may not be in the Hogwarts library as she was under the impression that it was a muggle book. Luck was on her side however and Hermione let out a joyful shriek (inciting another glare from Madame Pince) as she located the large book hidden between Life by the Quaffle and Lover Witch. She set the book with a thud on the table as Ron, Ginny, and Luna joined her.
"I can't believe I couldn't remember this book!" exclaimed Hermione. "I read it when I was 7 years old for some light reading though I probably forgot about it over all the chaos at Hogwarts."
"You read that for light reading when you were seven?" said Ron incredulously, pointing to the extremely large tome on the table. Hermione rolled her eyes at him and started examining the pages of the book.
"Well what is it?" asked Ginny as she and the others sat in the chairs surrounding the table Hermione was sitting at.
"The Lord of the Rings by John Ronald Reuel Tolkien," said Hermione. "It's all here: Hobbits, the Eldar, the Numenoreans, Sauron, the White City... I thought everything I've been hearing the past few days sounded familiar but I couldn't correlate between them all until I heard Luna mentioned Hobbits." She beamed at Luna who smiled dreamily back at her.
"What the heck is she going on about?" whispered Ron.
"I have no bloody clue," answered Ginny. Hermione continued skimming the large book.
"The Fellowship of the Ring… The Two Towers... The Return of the King... I wonder." She stood up and went back to the bookshelves. After searching for several minutes, she shouted "Eureka!" and pulled out two more books: The Hobbit and The Silmarillion.
"So there was someone else who knew all about Elves and Hobbits," said Luna.
"It looks that way," said Hermione. She appeared to be lost in thought as she skimmed the books once more. Suddenly, her face took on a look of alarm. Gathering the books, she stuffed them into her bag before running out of the library shouting, "I've got to see Dumbledore!" leaving a bewildered Ron and Ginny behind with Luna in the library.
* * *
Dumbledore, recently returned from Minas Tirith, looked up from his desk as Hermione burst into his room. He smiled and said, "Why Miss Granger, how may I be of service to you?" as he placed the copy of the Quibbler he had been reading on his desk.
"Is Harry back yet?" Hermione asked.
"Alas not yet," said Dumbledore. "I myself have only just returned about an hour ago. I have left him in the charge of a trustworthy friend of mine, Rauthoron. He will be back in about three days. Now once again I ask, how may I be of service to you?"
Hermione said nothing and merely dumped the books on Dumbledore's desk. Dumbledore looked over his half moon spectacles at the books before smiling at Hermione and saying, "So I see you've found Professor Tolkien's books. I assumed you had already read them, which is why I allowed you to listen in on the latter half of the prophecy along with Harry."
"Then the books are true," said Hermione, more like a statement than a question.
"Indeed they are," said Dumbledore as he stood up and walked over to one of the cabinets. "Everything Professor Tolkien wrote about in his books is the genuine retelling of the History of Middle-Earth, as Europe was known as in those days." He pulled out an even larger book and blew the dust off of it before placing on his desk in front of Hermione. Its cover was made of tough, red leather and its pages were made of pamphlet. Hermione couldn't read the title of the book but she recognized a few of the letters as 'Tengwar' the alphabet of the Eldar.
"Professor..." asked Hermione as she ran her hand over the books cover. "Is this..."
"This is indeed what you think it is," said Dumbledore, already knowing what Hermione was about to ask. "This is the last surviving copy of the original Red Book of Westmarch: written by the three Ring Bearers, the Hobbits Bilbo Baggins, Frodo Baggins, and Samwise Gamgee. As a child, J. R. R. Tolkien discovered it in the English countryside in what I know believe to have been an abandoned Hobbit hole. He spent his entire life translating it into the very books you have before you."
"Then how... how did Voldemort come to know about Sauron and the Forbidden Zone if this is the last copy?" asked Hermione. "And how come it is now in your possession?"
"The answer is simple enough: Professor Tolkien showed the book to him himself," said Dumbledore. Noticing Hermione's confused face he explained, "Not too many people know that Tom Marvolo Riddle attended Oxford University for four years after leaving Hogwarts: Professor Tolkien was one of his instructors. Tom may have despised muggles but he definitely knew how to take advantage of them, including their education system. Tom ultimately impressed Professor Tolkien so much that he showed him the Red Book and the translations he was working on."
Dumbledore sighed wearily as he flopped back into his chair. Fawkes eyed the Headmaster concernedly as Dumbledore continued, "Of course, no one could've ever imagined that Tom would eventually emerge as Voldemort. Mere weeks before he passed away, Professor Tolkien gave the Red Book to me, believing that I should know what he had unwittingly told Voldemort. I half expected Voldemort to go revive Sauron that very instant but obviously it didn't happen yet. And I certainly had no idea that the Heir of Elessar would reemerge."
"So Harry really is descended from Aragorn and Arwen?" asked Hermione. "One of his parents carried the Numenorean Royal Blood?"
"Actually, both Lily and James were descendants of Aragorn and Arwen," said Dumbledore. "For Harry to truly have a legitimate claim to the throne of Gondor-Arnor, both of his parents needed the blood within in them, as some research I conducted several years indeed proved." The wise old man started thinking for a moment before he started chuckling. "Of course, its also somewhat humbling, not to mention amusing to realize that Harry's Aunt Petunia and cousin Dudley have Numenorean Royal blood in them as well, though miniscule compared to Harry."
To be continued...
A/N I am about ready to curse these computers at Fort Jackson. They won't let me go into Aim, Yahoo Groups, FF.net. So that means only my Portkey frequenters will be getting the updates regularly until the 9th, unless I can find a different computer to upload at. Hmm... that's something to think consider. I think I'll do just that.