A magical journey that begins at Hogwarts

“The breath of freedom,” Aaron said smugly. “I knew this door couldn’t hold me back.”

The dwarves all laughed, and Bilbo was especially excited.

He was about to walk out of the cell when Aaron quickly pulled him back.

“Don’t rush. Breaking out of prison is a huge undertaking. Opening the door is just the first step,” Aaron said patiently. “There are elves everywhere outside. If we are discovered, we will be caught very quickly.”

"What should I do?"

Aaron patted him on the shoulder and said meaningfully, "It's up to you now, top-notch thief."

Upon hearing the words "top-tier thief," Bilbo immediately realized that it wasn't impossible for him to use his magic ring to become invisible and find the best escape route in this woodland kingdom.

"I will find my way."

“And the key,” Balin immediately reminded him, “the key to our cell door.”

"Okay, I'll bring it over."

“And weapons,” Dwarin added. “We can lack anything else, but we absolutely cannot lack weapons.”

“And wine,” Groin said. “It would be even better if there was food.”

"Hey, hey, hey, don't go too far." Aaron couldn't stand it anymore and turned to look at Bilbo, whose face had darkened. "Don't listen to them. We're lucky to have found the key and the way."

But if possible, please bring my wand back.

Bilbo sighed helplessly, "I'll do my best!"

Once out of sight of everyone, Bilbo put on his magic ring and became invisible.

He proceeded cautiously, not daring to make a sound, and after wandering around for most of the day, he finally found the elf who held the key to the cellar and followed him into the wine cellar.

Chapter 253 Even traveling by water isn't safe

"Gallian, you old bastard, we've almost finished our drinks."

"Those empty barrels should have been delivered to Esgalos hours ago; the boatman is waiting for them!"

"Complain all you want, our king has a bad temper and a very high taste for wine."

"Here, Ellos," an elf said, handing Ellos a bottle of red wine. "Have a taste."

“I also have to supervise the dwarves.” Ellos said helplessly as he pulled out a bunch of keys.

"They're locked up, where can they go?"

Ellos thought so too, so he hung the key on the wall and turned to enjoy the wine with his friend.

Bilbo, bored, squatted behind a large barrel until he heard snoring. He then tiptoed out and took the key from the wall.

He himself did not expect everything to go so smoothly. He got the key and found the exit, which was the passage for transporting those empty wooden barrels.

In addition, it is also a wine cellar, which perfectly meets Groyin's requirements.

He was truly powerless when it came to weapons; the ordinary weapons were locked in the armory, which he couldn't access at all, and even if he did, he couldn't possibly retrieve that many items.

As for the Beastbite Sword and the wand, they were both in Legolas's possession, and he wasn't confident he could get them from the highly skilled Elven prince.

Bilbo didn't linger and quickly returned to his cell.

The dwarves were astonished to see the key in his hand; they hadn't expected him to complete the task so quickly.

"Have you found the exit?" Aaron asked.

Bilbo nodded as he opened the dwarf's cell. "Found it. There aren't many guards on that road. We should be able to get through safely if nothing unexpected happens."

"That's good."

“Follow me down that path,” Bilbo said in a low voice. The dwarves spontaneously lined up and followed him, but when they arrived at the wine cellar, they were all dumbfounded.

The elf who was supposed to be guarding the dwarves was fast asleep, sprawled on the table, next to a pile of empty wine bottles.

"I can hardly believe we're in the wine cellar," Kili said, both excited and puzzled.

Groin pointed to the empty bottles on the table with a regretful look, "It's a pity there aren't any left."

“You should lead us out of here, instead of letting us sink deeper,” Boff said dejectedly.

"Is there a secret passage or a hidden room?" Aaron pondered, because his family's wine cellar was like that.

Bilbo nodded, then led the group to a pile of empty barrels. "Everyone, climb into the barrels quickly."

“You’re crazy, they’ll find us,” Dwarin said angrily to Bilbo.

Bilbo was about to say something when a voice came from above saying, "They've escaped!" Elves had discovered their breakout.

“There’s no time to explain, you have to believe me,” Bilbo said anxiously. “Please.”

"Do as he says."

At Thorin's command, the dwarves all crawled into the barrels.

Aaron also crawled inside. He could vaguely hear the sound of water flowing from under the floorboards, and immediately understood Bilbo's plan.

"Be prepared, there might be an underground river below us."

“It’s much safer to go by water than through the gate,” Bilbo said, pulling the switch. The plank slowly tilted, and all the barrels on it rolled into the underground river.

Just as Bilbo was about to leave, the plank returned to its original state.

The switch remained on, and the guards' footsteps grew closer. Bilbo, flustered, retreated hastily.

But as he took a few steps back, the plank began to tilt under his pressure, and Bilbo slid into the passage below, but was still seen by the pursuing elves, including Tauriel.

Pfft!

Water splashed everywhere, and Bilbo managed to grab a wooden barrel to avoid getting too disheveled.

A dark underground river flows out, forming a small waterfall.

Their only means of transportation was a wooden barrel, which meant they could only drift with the current and struggle to move forward with the swift current.

Upon seeing this, Legolas, who had chased after them, immediately ordered his men to close the sluice gates of the waterway.

As the melodious horn sounded, the elf guarding the dam pulled the switch, and an iron gate slowly closed.

"No!" Thorin roared in grief and anger; he was only half a meter away from escaping.

"Sigh!" Aaron sighed and shrugged at Bilbo in the river. "It's not that you didn't find the right way, it's just that we were a little unlucky."

"It's alright, we're still valuable to Thranduil, he won't kill us."

“But we’ll still be locked up, and this time it won’t be so easy to escape,” Bahrain said bitterly.

"It's not that there's no way out. At worst, we can stick to the original plan and try to break out of prison after we're released. However, whether we can get to Lonely Mountain before the Turin Day is uncertain."

“Absolutely not! We have to find a way to open the gate and pull the switch before the elves catch up,” Thorin said urgently.

"I'll go," Qili volunteered, and started paddling towards the shore.

"Where are you going?" Aaron grabbed his barrel. "There's a squad of elven guards up there, and you're unarmed. One arrow from each of them could turn you into a sieve."

"What should I do?"

Aaron hesitated for a moment, then turned to look at Bilbo.

Besides him, only Bilbo could turn invisible and pull the switch openly and silently.

"Me again?" Bilbo pointed at himself speechlessly. "Can't you do it?"

“My wand has been confiscated,” Arren refused righteously. He could cast spells without a wand, but there was no need to expose himself.

"I'm sure Mr. Thief knows what it means to be more capable and do more work, right?"

Bilbo's lips twitched; it seemed only he could do this job.

I'll do my best!

Bilbo sighed helplessly and prepared to dive into the water to put on the ring.

But before he could do anything, he saw an orc climb onto the dam.

"Ugh!" Aaron shook his head wearily. "One problem after another!"

"Watch out, Oak is coming."

The elves discovered the orcs and decisively abandoned the dwarves below, engaging the orcs in battle.

However, faced with this sudden attack, the few elves, who were completely unprepared, were quickly overwhelmed and suffered heavy losses.

"Kill them, quickly, kill them all."

A burly orc roared from a high place, and an army of orcs surged out from behind him.

"Who is that?" Aaron asked in surprise. "He doesn't seem weak, and he's much taller than the average orc."

“Borg, the Orc Warlord,” Balin said solemnly. “He is Azog’s confidant, and his strength is no less than Azog’s. Among the Orcs, he is considered one of the strongest.”

"Commander-in-Chief?" Aaron raised an eyebrow. "Judging from his decisive victory over the elves, he certainly deserves this position."

“They might not be after the elves,” Ou Yin said in a deep voice.

"If they're not elves, then are they us..." Aaron's words trailed off, his expression changing drastically. "What the hell!"

As if to prove his point, several orcs jumped off the bridge and attacked the group.

The dwarves fought back fiercely, and although they had no weapons, they were able to barely hold off the attack with their fists alone.

Bilbo killed an orc, and Aaron immediately snatched the dagger from his hand, using the crude weapon to defend himself.

"Damn it, I take back what I just said."

"What kind of brain does he have? Even if he wants to ambush us, there's no need to do it in the elves' territory. Wouldn't it be easier if we escaped?" Aaron was furious, but he quickly realized something. "No, we are the main target, but he doesn't intend to let the elves go either."

"Bilbo, hurry up, we need to get out of here quickly."

“I really can’t do it now.” Bilbo looked troubled. He could have taken the risk if it were before, but now he was surrounded by a bunch of barrels, blocked under the stone bridge, and with the Orks around him blocking his way, he couldn’t move at all.

"I go."

Kili jumped to the shore, killed an orc, seized his weapon, and rushed toward the switch.

A distance of a dozen meters is not long, but four orcs blocked his way and wanted to kill him.

Fortunately, with the help of the people under the bridge, he successfully reached the switch.