A Long Strange Journey

A Somewhat Expected Party

As Gandalf and Hannah were making their way back to Bag End the following afternoon for tea, as Bilbo had so unwittingly agreed to, they  encountered several of the Dwarves that were to be in their party.

"It's Gandalf! At your service!" they greeted him with sweeping bows.

"Ah, Hannah. Meet Dori, Nori, Ori, Oin, Glóin, Bifur, Bofur, and Bombur," said Gandalf. "All of you, this is Hannah Hayes."

"At your service," they greeted her with another bow.

"At yours," she answered politely, bowing in return.

"Is this wee lass our burglar?" asked Glóin, though Hannah stood an inch or two taller than he. "I thought it was supposed to be a fellow by the name of Bilbo. That's what it said in your message."

"Oh, no, the message you received was correct," said Gandalf. "Hannah is my apprentice, and she will be accompanying me on this venture." Hannah was surprised by her sudden promotion, but she kept her face perfectly straight and gave away nothing.

"Oh, a Wizard's apprentice! Well, that's something you don't see every day," said Bofur as they all gazed at the young girl with appraising eyes, deeply impressed. For now they were sure there must be more to her than  meets the eye.

"Are you sure you should be telling them that?"  Hannah whispered to the wizard as they continued on their way to the hobbit's hole, walking behind the others. They were clearly under the wrong impression that she was capable of magic.

"Why not? After all it is true, to certain extent," said Gandalf. Indeed, she had shown such a keen interest in his fireworks that she had practically begged of him to teach the art and science behind their making to her, in addition to everything else she was learning. Hannah may not be the wizard or witch the others imagined her to be, but she was not without  skills of her own.

Ding-dong-a-ling-dang the Dwarves rang the hobbit's bell, and the door was pulled open with a jerk, causing them all to fall in one on top of the other, shooting into the hall like the cork of a pop-gun. Only Gandalf and Hannah, who had been at the very back, were spared. Peering past the pile of Dwarves and the gaping hobbit who answered the door, the Wizard could see that a few more members of their party had already arrived and appeared to be making themselves at home.

"Gandalf," said Bilbo when he saw the Wizard, looking flustered. He had been very angry and altogether bewildered and bewuthered, but he found himself somewhat relieved now that there were at least one or two familiar faces present.

"Oh, this is lovely," said Hannah once they were all inside, complimenting the hobbit's home.

"Thank you its—" Bilbo began to answer when he realized the Dwarves were all swarming into his pantry to help themselves. "Those are my pri—! Excuse me, not my wine. Put that back. Put that back," he said as he ran over to try to stop them, but the Dwarves appeared to either possess some very selective hearing or simply did not understand the word no. One after another, they brought out as much food as they could carry. "Not the jam, please," said Bilbo sternly. "Excuse me. Excuse me. That's a tad excessive, isn't it?" he asked Bombur when he emerged laden with several large cheese wheels. "Have you got a cheese knife?"

"Cheese knife? He eats it by the block," said Bofur as he passed by with the ham.

"Ugh," groaned Bilbo. He started when he saw that they had now begun to move the  furniture. "No, that's Grandpa Mungo's chair— No, so is that. Take it  back, please."

"I cannot hear what you're saying," said Oin as the hobbit stood in his way, doing his best to protect the family heirloom.

"It's an antique. Not for sitting on," Bilbo said louder. All of this Hannah and Gandalf watched with a combination of sympathy and wry amusement. Hannah was almost tempted to help him, as she would also be quite miffed  if a bunch of strangers had suddenly come into her house and tried to the same, but Gandalf bid her to follow him into the hall, where the  dwarves had moved the dinning table to help set it.