Chapter 3
Chapter 3
Year 421 of the First Age
Conversations and Departure
Harry/Lomion walked down the familiar hall of the King's Tower that led to the kitchens of the Royal family. If he was being honest he had avoided this hall or any general vicinity of the palace really like the plague. This section of the palace was where Lomion was unfortunate enough to frequently run into members of Turgon's court. At one point the only reason he voluntarily came this way was to see Idril and attempt to get close to his uncle. Both reasons became moot after the necklace incident 9 years ago. Honestly, with how much Harry/Lomion avoided Idril it was a wonder she ever thought he was in love with her. Though to be fair the girl had lost her mother in a violent accident on the Helcaraxe and was then forced to watch her aunt die because of him. Deep down he suspected that Idril was looking for someone to be angry at since she couldn't be mad at her father for saving her and not her mother. Of course he had no plans to sit around and be her punching bag. He already came dangerously close to fading the year following the incident after her vicious rumors caused all the palace staff to outright sneer at him. It was also painfully obvious that Turgon did indeed have something wrong with him and Harry/Lomion believed it may have been damage to his Fea, caused by losing his wife.
Hmmm...he would have to take a look, now that he had regained his powers. For all the headaches the "Master of Death" title gave him, one neat perk was being able to look at a person's soul and assess the damage. Huff, now wouldn't that have been a fun ability to have during the whole dark lord madness. Though to be fair considering Tom had split his soul into 7 pieces.....yeah he was probably better off never learning what that looked like.
As Harry/Lomion entered the kitchens he was greeted with the usual flashy white halls that was Gondolin's theme. The kitchen was lined with white marble pillars and grand wood table's and chairs that lined the halls in a procession like manner. Ugh this was too flashy for a place to eat. Turgon was always one to be gaudy, it really made you wonder how he was raised to end up like this. Harry/Lomion knew that the Noldor liked shiny things but this was just ridiculous. Then again based on the information from the book they all pretty much got themselves acked off for a bunch of shiny rocks. As he walked through the walls to where the servants handed out food he noticed that there was no sign of the other court members. Especially no sign of Glorfindel, Ecthelion, Rog, and Saglant; phew he was in luck. While Harry/Lomion had no personal qualms with any of them and they had never gone out of their way to harass him he just couldn't help the stinging disappointment he felt towards them. They had all been friend's of his mother and had pretty much ignored his existence during his stay in Gondolin. This truth only seemed to worsen after Idril had spread those vicious rumors about him. Harry/Lomion already could ascertain what they thought of him, they believed those rumors. Well maybe not the orc spawn bit because Glorfindel and Ecthelion were too honorable for that but they certainly believed the whole being in love with his cousin bit without even talking to him. Honestly, elves could be so stupid sometimes which was funny seeing as he was one now. If there was one thing Harry learned about the elven race after regaining his memories it's that they were extremely narrow minded when it came to good and evil. They always thought they were incapable of doing bad and when something bad did happen they would just always say "marred" like brainwashed little puppets. His mother and father had always preached that elves valued their children above all else, but he hadn't seen one bit of that during his stay in Gondolin. For goodness sake he just turned 101, was considered a child by elf standards the last 20 yrs, and was still scorned.
Yeah, no.
It's no wonder the first age ended in disaster for the elves. Pfftt poor Namo probably had a heck of a time giving the dead Gondolindrim a reality check.
With that thought in mind Harry/Lomion approached one of the servants. This particular servant had his hair tied into intricate braids that formed a bun with a diamond hairpiece at the end; ah he must be a Noldoran elf then. The servant took one long look at Harry/Lomion and frowned saying "What do you want my prince?"with a clear sneer in his voice. Sigh, this treatment was not unusual since the necklace incident. With a blank face and a stern eye Lomion said "the usual, but add in at least a week's worth of dried meat". The servant raised an eyebrow at this and with a know-at-all look asked "What do you need so much food for my prince, surely you can't be feeling extra hungry lately?" Harry/Lomion returned this sneer with a platanic retort of his own "Hmmm I was not aware the staff were allowed to question the actions of the royal family, but if you must know I'll be down in the forges for a while working on a new project for the city" "A project by the way that was assigned to me by the King." The servant froze at this response and immediately finished with a "yes, my prince" before retreating to the kitchens to acquire the food items.
In truth this was not a lie as by this part of the story Turgon would soon assign Maeglin the task of constructing Gondolin's 7th gate, the gate of steel. Tch, yeah Rog could handle that since he would be long gone by then. This was also a good alibi Harry/Lomion had come up with while he was packing. While he was sure nobody would notice he was gone for probably a long while, he wanted to at least be sure that on the very off chance someone did go searching for him they would all think he was brooding down in his personal forge. On that note the servant had returned with the food items packed in a medium sized bag. While some would think a week's worth of food wasn't much, it certainly was more than enough for a former wizard with an expanding tent that housed a freezer, oven, and fully modern kitchen. If worse came to worse then Harry could simply hunt his own food using one of his animagi forms. He probably would need to use at least one of them as a means to hide out for a few weeks if the first stages of his plan came to fruition. He seriously doubted anybody would be hunting for a Saker Falcon or an adorable black-chinned hummingbird. His third Animagus form though would sooner kill him from embarrassment if he were truly forced to use it.
An involuntary shiver ran down his spine at the thought. Just as he was leaving the kitchens and heading back to his room, he heard a voice call in front of him that made him pause in his steps to look up "Well this is a rare sight, I can hardly believe you're here today considering how frequently you like to avoid being seen." What he saw was his cousin by blood Idril Celebrindal or otherwise known by her Quenya name Itarille. She was wearing a blue dress today that matched her blue eyes and complimented her golden hair. However, this warm coloring was a contrast to the cold look she was giving her little cousin. Harry/Lomion made no reply and just blankly stared at her, a dozen thoughts going through his head. Apparently Idril didn't like this as she promptly followed her comment with another "What's the matter why aren't you saying anything or are there inappropriate thoughts running through your head right now? Have I not made it clear that we are only cousins by blood and that you must conform yourself to what is expected of a prince of the Noldor." Harry/Lomion once again made no comment and stared blankly at the person he once wanted to love as family. Why did he think she would change or say anything different? For just a moment he thought about how similar this situation was to the relationship between himself and his former cousin Dudley. However, the major difference in that relationship was that Dudley had grown up by himself and made amends with Harry following all the hardship they faced from the war. Though there certainly wasn't a situation where Dudley thought Harry was in love with him. Now the perpetrator of a cake falling on his head? haha certainly but not like what Idril has in her head. It was in this moment that Harry/Lomion realized that things were never going to change between them if things stayed as they were and he didn't leave. She was kind once but one misunderstanding had sent her into hating him for something he didn't understand. So with this thought in mind he steeled his resolve and said, in the most calm and platonic voice he had ever used with her, the one thing he had wanted to tell for the last 9 yrs.
"I don't love you cousin."
...................
".............................................What?" she said as if she were frozen.
"I don't love you Idril Celebrindal, niece of my mother Aredhel whom I loved with all my heart. I have not loved you for the past 9 yrs." "I do not know why you hate me, I do not know why you are like this with me or what I did all those yrs ago to offend you. At the time I truly just wanted to be your friend, but please know I do not plan to purposely bother you going forward" he said and when those words left his mouth he felt something deep in his fea that lifted him up into a sense of freedom.
He had severed his bond with Idril, he had cut off his connection with one of the only blood relatives on his mother's side that he had gotten to know for a short while. This would normally cause great alarm for most elves but for Harry/Lomion it felt like he had cut out a poisonous thorn that would have eventually ruined him. If only the original Maeglin had done this. How much would his tragic fate been changed had he just found the strength to pull away from the source of his pain. Well he wasn't the original Maeglin, he was Harry Potter and he was going to pave his own path and for others that got sad endings due of fate's sick game. He head the power, the knowledge, and he was going to use them! As this last thought pulsed through his mind he fast walked past Idril before she could say anything and headed straight for his room where tonight he would soon depart.
What he did not see though, was the look on Idril's face as he passed.
He did not see the look of pain, realization, and almost panic on her face.
He did not see the hand she tried to reach out to him.
He did not hear Turgon enter the hall and call out "Lomion?"
He did not see nor would he know for a very long time as it was too late for such actions to truly matter anymore.
It was approaching nighttime now and the last of Harry/Lomion's things had been shrunk with a quick "Reducio" charm and securely packed in his bottomless bag. The pouch had been designed to look as an ordinary wallet bag that was usually used to hold a handful of coins. To anyone else the bag would only dispense a few gold coins, but to Lomion and possibly very close blood relatives his tent, spare broom, and food were safely stored inside from greedy or curious hands. He had created two brooms for the trip his Nimbus 2000 and Firebolt. It would be his Firebolt that would take him out of Gondolin, and he wasn't too worried about the eagles spotting him seeing as he was wearing his invisibility cloak, had already casted a "Silencio" spell on himself, and a powerful notice-me-not charm. He even had time to prepare a leather pack that would wrap around his leg should he choose to continue his flight as a Saker Falcon. Sigh, many times he wished his favorite animagi had been a Peregrine Falcon but alas his petty self could not have it all.
He took one last look at his room, the room that had been his home for the last 21 years. It looked more like a guest room honestly seeing as he hadn't decorated it with anything to imply he lived here. Well anything except Anguirel, his father's sword which he had safely tucked on his belt. He had kept it all these years and would now put it to good use during his travels as it would not raise as many suspicions as compared to using magic. There really was no choice, he had to leave tonight. He had no doubt his altercation with Idril this morning would leave nothing but more problems for him on the morrow and he was too weary to deal with any of it.
No, this was goodbye for he knew after tonight he would probably never see Gondolin again.
This was Harry/Lomion's last thought as he stepped onto the balcony railing of his former room, looked up at the starlit sky, and took off into the air.
Completely unaware that the song of Ea was about to change forever.