Hogwarts wizards who signed in to Middle-earth.

Chapter 283 The Stolen Ring
Looking at the petrified Gulu, Du Yi snorted and waved, leading him downstairs.

Bilbo, who was waiting, was first surprised and then delighted when he saw Gollum brought back by Dui.

Dui threw Gulu on the ground and waved his hand to remove the petrification from his body.

"Don't even think about running away, or I can't guarantee I'll kill you. You know I can do it." Du Yi said with a sneer as he watched Gulu tremble in fear while his eyes kept glancing around.

Hearing Du Yi's cold words, Gulu shivered, instantly suppressing his thoughts and looking at him with fear.

"Speak, how did you travel all this way here? And why did you attack Bilbo's house and then come to my castle? What are you trying to do?"

Gulu's eyes darted around as he cautiously replied, "Gulu, Gulu wants to find his treasure. Gulu's treasure was stolen by Baggins, and Gulu just wants to find his treasure!"

"Trying to outsmart me? I'll tear your heart out!"

With his mind-stealing ability, Gollum's thoughts were laid bare before him, and Dui mercilessly cast the Cruciatus Curse.

Struck by the Cruciatus Curse, Gollum let out a shrill scream and howled, curling up on the ground in agony.

Gollum felt immense pain, far worse than the torment inflicted by Sauron.

The two personalities constantly switch between each other in order to share and alleviate the soul-wrenching pain and torment.

Bilbo initially felt a sense of relief, but as he watched Guru's veins bulging and his eyes about to pop out in pain, he gradually began to feel sorry for him.

He opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say.

However, Dui did not torture him for long. When Gollum was too weak to even make a sound, he stopped the Cruciatus Curse.

He casually cast a few healing spells on Gollum, then looked at him coldly, "Now can we talk properly? Or should I give you a few more Cruciatus Curses to think it over?"

Gulu stared at Dui in terror. At this moment, Dui was far more terrifying to him than the Dark Lord. He shook his head repeatedly, "No, no! I'll talk! I'll talk!"

The story then begins with Bilbo taking the One Ring and how he followed the expedition in its direction.

The story goes on to recount how he was swept away by a tornado outside of Isengard, taken to Mordor, tortured by Sauron before being released, and eventually made his way to the vicinity of Windrise.

After failing to infiltrate the city, they went to Brie and unexpectedly met a hobbit working there.

Gollum himself was once a hobbit, and he also remembered that Bilbo Baggins was a hobbit, so he secretly set his sights on the hobbits of Bree.

And from the Hobbit people, he heard the news of Bilbo Baggins.

After all, Bilbo is quite famous in the Shire now, not only because his expedition to Lonely Mountain is well-known, but also because he is a friend of the black wizard Duyle and a guest of honor at Hogwarts Castle.

So Gollum easily found out about Bilbo and his address from the hobbits.

So they traveled towards the Shire, found Bag End, and attacked Bilbo in an attempt to reclaim the One Ring that Bilbo had taken.

However, the Ring was no longer in Bilbo's possession, so Gollum naturally gained nothing.

Then he suspected that the One Ring might have been taken by Dui. So when he saw Bilbo use Floo Powder to teleport to Hogwarts Castle, he also tried to use Floo Powder to sneak into the castle in order to find the One Ring.

He even considered that Bilbo would definitely bring Duir back, so he took the risk of trying to take advantage of the time difference.

Upon hearing Gollum's words, Dui and Bilbo were both amazed by Gollum's perseverance.

The expedition to Gushan took place in 2941, and now a full seven years have passed.

Unexpectedly, Gollum never gave up in his quest to retrieve the One Ring. He traversed the Misty Mountains and the Dark Forest alone, evading the pursuit of orcs, wargs, giant spiders, elves, Ents, and others, and has survived to this day. He is truly blessed with good fortune!

"When you tried to cross the Black Lake and were caught by the giant octopus, who injured the giant octopus and saved you?" Du Yi interrogated again.

Hearing Dui's words, Gollum shook his head frantically, "I don't know! I really don't know! After I left Mordor, I ran nonstop, but I felt like there were eyes watching me! But I couldn't see them..."

I swam desperately through the lake until I reached the shore, and then I kept running until I reached Brie before I stopped...

I kept trying to get rid of those eyes in the shadows, but they always caught up with me so quickly. I came to Baggins' house, through the fireplace, and only then did those eyes disappear!

Gulu's words were somewhat incoherent, but Dui was still certain that he wasn't lying.

So, after Sauron released Gollum, he secretly sent the Ringwraiths to follow him?
Even before finding the One Ring, to ensure Gollum's survival, he intervened and injured the Kraken when it was about to eat Gollum, allowing Gollum to escape.

So, does that mean the Ringwraiths are still in the Shire and searching for Gollum?
Thinking about this, Dui suddenly had an idea.

He smiled at Gulu and said, "Gulu, how about we play a cat-and-mouse game? If you cooperate well, I can spare your life. What do you say?"

Upon hearing Dui's words, Gollum and Bilbo, who was standing nearby, both looked puzzled.

Dui took out a gold ring and tossed it to Gulu.

"My darling!" Gulu's expression instantly lit up with surprise and greed. He grabbed the gold ring and immediately put it on his finger.

But her expression of surprise quickly turned to astonishment, followed by disappointment and anger. She threw the gold ring to the ground. "No, this isn't my treasure! It's fake! It's fake!"

Dui waved his hand, causing the gold ring to float up and fly to Gulu's front. His expression left no room for argument. "No, from now on, it's real!"

Gulu was startled by Du Yi's cold gaze and immediately shrank back, as if his hysteria just now was just an illusion.

Dui ignored his change and said, "In a little while, I will announce that I have lost a treasure, which was stolen by a thief, so I will issue an arrest warrant and search for you throughout the entire territory."

"So, Gulu, you need to take this 'treasure' you stole and wander around outside as much as possible, and try to lure out those eyes behind you."

"I think you don't want to be constantly watched by those eyes, right?"

Hearing Dui's words, Gulu looked at the gold ring in front of him and hesitated.

Dui didn't give the other person a chance to refuse. He walked up to Gulu and said, "Hold out your hand."

Gulu looked at Dui with fear, and tremblingly reached out his withered, thin hand.

Dui pressed the tip of his wand against Gollum's arm and chanted a silent spell.

Gulu looked pained, but fearing Dui's authority, he still dared not make the slightest move.

On Gulu's arm, a double-tree mark gradually appeared.

This was an improvement on Voldemort's Dark Mark by Duy. Duy disliked Voldemort's Dark Mark as sinister and ugly, so he changed it to the double tree mark, which is the shape of the White Tree and the Maurice Tree on Storm Peak.

This was the first time Duy had used the Dark Mark on a person. The Dark Mark was Voldemort's means of controlling Death Eaters. It could not only be used to summon Death Eaters, but also to communicate with them remotely. Furthermore, if any Death Eater wanted to rebel, they would be tormented to the point of unbearable pain by the Dark Mark.

Dui also enchanted the gold ring that was a replica of the One Ring, making it alluring and dark.

Of course, this is just a confusion spell used to make anyone who sees the gold ring immediately think it is the One Ring.

Wearing the ring will even imbue you with an invisibility spell, making it similar to the effect of the One Ring.

It can be considered a pretty good magical item.

"Alright, you can leave now, but if you don't want to suffer terribly, then do as I say."

As he spoke, he activated the Black Demon Mark, and instantly Guru felt a sharp pain in his arm. He saw the roots of the Twin Trees growing and spreading rapidly, penetrating deep into his flesh and bone marrow, and gradually spreading to his entire arm and even his whole body.

Moreover, the wider the spread, the more intense the pain becomes, no less severe than the Crucifixion Curse.

Dui didn't intend to torture him further; he simply let him experience some pain before stopping and allowing him to leave with the gold ring.

After Gulu put on the gold ring, he instantly disappeared.

Upon seeing this effect, Bilbo gasped in surprise, his eyes widening as he scanned his surroundings, trying to find even a trace of Gollum.

Only Dui, with the Black Magic Mark, was able to sense Gollum's direction of movement.

Watching Gollum disappear into the shadows and run down the mountain, Dui smiled and turned to Bilbo, saying, "Alright, let's announce this unfortunate news now. We'll say that one of your treasures that you entrusted to me has been stolen by a thief."

Bilbo nodded, looking somewhat confused, unsure of what Dui was going to do.

But he felt that Duir had always been reliable, so he listened to him.

Soon, news spread from within the castle: a thief had broken into Hogwarts Castle and stolen a treasure entrusted to the Lord by his friend—a gold ring that supposedly made one invisible.

The lord has issued a warrant for the arrest of the thief and warned the people of the territory to be careful, as the thief may be hiding anywhere, including in their homes, so they must protect themselves and their property.

They also drew a wanted poster of Gollum and posted it in front of the gates of Hogsmeade and Brie, offering a very generous reward.

In an instant, both cities were in an uproar. Many people were worried that their property would be stolen, so they quickly hid it and closed their doors and windows to prevent invisible thieves from breaking into their homes.

But many more people are attracted by the reward and the gold ring itself; after all, a ring that can make someone invisible is enough to make many people desire it.

So many people started trying to find the thief who stole the ring, and came up with all sorts of schemes to do so.

Some use food as bait, some use hunting dogs to search, and some search for footprints...

The word even spread to other places, sparking curiosity and desire for gold rings.

Thanks to the efforts of many people, Gulu's trail was indeed found. Someone found poultry that had been killed and eaten raw, and discovered footprints that were significantly smaller than human footprints. With the help of the hunting dogs' sense of smell, they quickly located Gulu's position.

They successfully located Gulu wolfing down his food in an abandoned warehouse.

After a fierce chase, although they regretfully let it escape, everyone witnessed the monster firsthand. After quickly putting on a gold ring, it vanished into thin air.

At this point, the topic of the gold ring and the monstrous little thief became even more lively.

(End of this chapter)