Flying Without Wings

Chapter Ten

Ginny's POV

It was the third day after we, that is, the dwarves, Bilbo, Hermione and myself and I found myself wishing that I could least ride a broom or better yet, a horse as the walking was getting a bit much. We walked during the day, only resting at night before leaving at the crack of dawn the next day. Hermione had her soothing potions that helped, but it would have been nice if I apparate or create a port-key. Hermione then shot down that idea stating that the dwarves may not like the idea of suddenly teleporting to the Mountain and there was also the fact that it may not work because we were in new world. I then remembered how when I first woke up in this new world, I had tried to apparate, as did Hermione and it didn't work, which was confusing as most of our magic worked, but no transport such as apparation. Port-keys were also a no go, as we didn't know the area and the dwarves didn't know the magic. Brooms were out as well as it could bring attention, according to Thorin, who had just wanted to get to the Lonely Mountain.

At first, he didn't want to stop at night, preferring to keep walking, only stopping for little breaks every now and then. This didn't sit well, as some of the dwarves, Bilbo and myself needed to rest. So for a change and just to annoy the dwarves, I transformed into my animagnus, which was a horse and Hermione transformed into her border collie form and she rode on top, which made the dwarves confused as to why a dog was riding a horse. Needless to say, Thorin wasn't amused, but he relented in allowing us to set up camp for the night, and leave early in the morning.

However, the scenery made up for the walking as Middle-Earth was beautiful and captivating. We had walked over hills, through snowy mountains and forest. I was also thankful that Middle Earth was cool, and not hot, thus allowing me to be cool and content while doing loads of walking. Hermione enjoyed the scenery too, and after three days, she had changed from the dress she wore into the tights, tunic and coat that were similar to the clothing I wore. I was glad we still had magic, as refreshing and cleaning spells were a gift after a few days of no baths. Hermione was also leaving traces of our path, discreet clues that only Athena would be able to find with her wand, so that she could find us. Though, it was worrying as to why Athena and Gandalf had not yet caught up, but I knew that she would be safe, and so would Gandalf.

And so, on day three, we were heading into even more snowy mountains. We walked past rocky cliffs with waterfalls, and walked up to the Misty Mountains, heading higher into the sky. We were on a particular mountain, following a pathway into a darken rocky valley. After a while, the pathway began to get smaller and smaller, with the dwarves, Bilbo, Hermione and I all falling into a single line. Hermione decided to head up to the front of the line, near Thorin and be on watch out, just in case something happened. I stayed near the back of the line, making sure that nothing came up from behind. After a while and getting higher into the mountains, it had started to rain, pouring down heavily upon us. Hermione tried to cast a weather spell, but the rain was just too heavy and so we ended up placing a clear spell to allow the company to see clearly in the pouring rain. It helped, as the dwarves could see things clearly and were more steady on the narrow path. But after a while, I began to wonder if there was a place we could find shelter, as it was beginning to get even more cold, and we needed to set up camp, as night time had fallen.

"Hey! Hold on!" Thorin cried out. In the pouring rain, I could only barely hear him.

Suddenly, Bilbo slipped from the narrow path, almost going over the edge, but he was held back by Dwalin. I pulled out my wand, ready to catch him just in case he fell again.

Thorin spoke again. "We must find shelter!"

Suddenly, the rocks began to shake and I held on to the rocky wall behind me.

"Watch out!" Dwalin shouted, just a massive rock hurled its way at us, heading to the rocky cliff we were on. It crashed just above us, breaking into many pieces, and I saw Hermione pull out her wand, and a bright light emerged from it, making the rock pieces turn into water. As if we didn't already have more water on us, but it was quick thinking from Hermione. We all gathered ourselves and looked around to see where the rock had come from.