Chapter 24: The Old Tale
Hermione gazed at the owls surrounding them and suddenly suggested, "You know, I should get an owl too so I can write to you during the holidays."
"You're welcome to come to my house as a guest as well. It's only a two-hour drive away. My house... is quite spacious," Artel responded, his mind drifting to an inexplicable thought: My library is vast.
Hermione nodded happily, already thinking about visiting Artel's house during the school breaks, despite the fact that the school year had just begun.
Meanwhile, Ron on the opposite side received a copy of the Daily Prophet. His expression shifted as he read it, and he turned to Harry, saying, "It's alarming."
"Harry, look, first, Gringotts was breached, then Knockturn Alley was plundered, and now there are reports of a quiet infiltration of Azkaban."
"See, the wizarding world is far from peaceful," Ron stated with conviction.
Harry took the newspaper, studied it carefully, took a deep breath, and said, "The vault in Gringotts, the one whose contents Hagrid retrieved, he said it was a top-secret item for Hogwarts. After he took it, someone broke in..."
Ron mumbled with a mouthful of chicken leg, "Could it be the gang that raided Knockturn Alley?"
Harry inquired with curiosity, "Why do you assume it's a group of people?"
"Knockturn Alley is a gathering place for dark wizards. Do you think one person can loot Knockturn Alley alone?" Ron chimed in as they discussed the matter.
Meanwhile, Hermione leaned over to Artel and asked in a hushed tone, "You don't seem very interested in all this."
Artel replied, "That's because I don't want to involve myself unnecessarily. After all, I'm just an eleven-year-old wizard. Would the Ministry of Magic permit me to investigate such matters?"
Harry and Ron exchanged glances, and Ron whispered, "I swear, there's something going on between them."
"I think they make a good match," Harry responded, and Ron grunted in agreement, saying, "Isn't that right? They're both Muggle-born, and they're both academic geniuses"
After lunch, Artel and Hermione went their separate ways. Hermione had History of Magic, while Artel had no classes until the next day, when he had History of Magic in the afternoon.
Artel returned to the underground Slytherin common room, though he couldn't say he particularly enjoyed the atmosphere. The numerous silver and green serpent emblems gave the place an eerie vibe. With no natural light coming through the windows, it was pitch black, and strange sounds occasionally echoed in the underground chamber. The serene waters of Black Lake shimmered outside the windows of Slytherin's dormitory.
Artel returned to his dormitory, his companions seemingly lost in the castle's labyrinthine corridors. Perhaps they had assumed he would return here and hesitated to follow.
With a moment to spare, Artel decided to access the system mall. After successfully completing the quest to join Hogwarts, he had acquired 100 plot points. Although these points couldn't be exchanged for iconic items like the Lord of the Rings or the Holy Sword of Arthur, they did open the door to various artifacts from Middle Earth.
Artel decided to spend 20 of his hard-earned plot points on an ancient quill.
This feather pen possessed a unique quality: whatever it wrote would appear as if it were aged and imbued with ancient magic, as though it had been passed down through the ages.
Artel retrieved a piece of parchment he had previously summoned, intended for recording weather data. It appeared to have belonged to an elf, with an otherworldly aura and an ageless quality that intrigued Artel.
Wielding his wand, Artel erased the original writings on the parchment and allowed the quill to hover, guided by his thoughts.
The quill began to write on its own, producing text in an ancient script distinct from Artel's own handwriting.
[ Recorded on January 25, 3019 of the Third Age of Middle Earth.
On January 15th, we escorted 'that thing' to Moria, where we encountered a terrifying dark creature, the Balrog. ]
From the perspective of Gandalf, Artel narrated the tale of his encounter with the Balrog, their epic battle, and ultimately, the defeat of the Balrog within a span of ten days.
At the diary's conclusion, Artel, adopting Gandalf's tone, explained that one of their escorts had been injured during the encounter, and the Balrog's fiery magic contained a sinister dark power that defied conventional spells. Hence, he had created a spell of his own, known as the Aura of Light, a high-level healing spell in Holy Light magic.
Artel couldn't actually perform this spell himself due to Sauron's dark influence and its high magical energy requirements. Nevertheless, he included it in the diary as a testament to his craft.
Beyond the Balrog, Artel also meticulously documented another creature residing within the depths of Moria: the cave troll. This information was critical because Hagrid had stumbled upon a troll in the Forbidden Forest, and it was only a matter of time before he reported it to Dumbledore.
With both the evidence of the Aura of Light and the troll's existence, Artel's records would lend credence to the story, making it more believable within the wizarding world.
Artel had a grander plan in mind: to gradually spread the legend of the Lord of the Rings throughout the wizarding world. This, he believed, would help the world accept most of the summoned characters.
In the future, Artel knew he would have to summon Sauron and confront him. Why not seize this opportunity to craft a legend that would pave the way for their ultimate showdown?
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