Chapter 2 – Messenger from Middle Earth

LEGOLAS:

At last, after many Counsels in the House of Elrond, after countless meetings with the White Council and after the fair words of wisdom and guidance of the Lady of the Golden Wood, I was at last here. Here, in a land a great deal away from mine, a land so different, and yet similar to Middle Earth in a way I could not describe.

I do not remember at all the endurance of my journey, how many leagues I had walked, or indeed, if I had walked any at all. Nevertheless, the journey tolled a great deal on me, even though I had been walking only a half hour since I arrived.

I was on a worn trail that Gandalf had instructed me to use, and many times, a wild animal crossed my path. I breathed in. the air here was different in some way… it was newer, unlike the air in Middle Earth which was worn with time. Once, when I was very young, the air in Middle Earth had been like this. It was a time with less evils and wars, a time of merrymaking and feasts, where man, elf and dwarf lived together ceremoniously.

But that time had passed common memory and had been erased from history. Now, people in Middle Earth hardly believed in such things. Now, they lived in fear for their own lives, especially with the new evil that lurked in Mt. Doom, the evil that had stretched its clawed, blackened hands to the furthest corners of Middle Earth, slowly poisoning everything within its reach.

I wondered how long the air here would continue smelling like this. All I knew was that if the tidings I brought from Middle Earth were acted upon immediately, the air would cease being new and pure entirely.

After some time, a great stone castle loomed in front of me, its darkling stone walls frowning at me in the dim light of the ending day. It was vast, much larger than any castle that I had seen in Middle Earth. Its many spires and turrets gleamed red in the dying sun. Already, windows of dancing, merry, yellow light had appeared in square windows on the wall.

The earliest stars were appearing in the sky, and reflecting on a large black lake near the castle. Behind the lake, there was a dark forest, its trees' scraggly branches stretched upward.

I neared the heavily barred iron gates and sensed an ancient magic with every step closer that I took. It was unsimilar to the evil menace that dwelt in Khazad-Dum, although Moria had not always been host to such a terrible guest. It had once overflowed with riches; gems, gold, and mithril, while dwarves of Durin's ancestry feasted within its hollowed stone chambers.

Now, the halls of Durin's chamber were empty and evil, its very name enough to evoke terrible memories from anyone who dared utter it, or even think about it. I hoped that a different fate was awaiting this castle, for I knew that it was a good stronghold, a powerful fort against attacking enemies.

A woman appeared, holding in one hand a swinging lantern and in the other a bit of stick. She tapped the heavy bolts that kept the gates shut and the chains fell apart, clinking in the early evening air.

She swung the gate open to admit me and said sternly '"Welcome to Hogwarts, Mr. Greenleaf."