A magical journey that begins at Hogwarts

A wisp of silver smoke emerged from Aaron's head. With a wave of his right hand, a scene appeared in the magnificent hall, a fragment of his and Bilbo's memories of searching for the Arkenstone.

In the scene, Smaug smirks triumphantly, stating that he had considered letting Thorin take the Arkenstone, only to watch him be consumed by the stone and fall into destruction.

He even cited his grandfather as an example, briefly describing how Saul became arrogant due to greed, ultimately leading to the destruction of his country and family.

Aaron dared not release the memories of the One Ring that followed, as this would cause Bilbo considerable trouble.

"see it?

Thorin, you are following in your grandfather's footsteps.

Thorin shook his head in disbelief, "Impossible, this must be fake."

“It’s true,” Dwarin cried out anxiously. “Look at what you’ve become!”

Thorin, once an indomitable pioneer for the dwarves, was determined to reclaim Iluber and restore the dwarves' glory.

But what about now? They've fallen into greed and madness, even disregarding the lives of their own people.

"You are the king, you have always been our king, we have never doubted it before, but now we have to."

"It's not true, it's not true..." Thorin muttered to himself, repeating these words over and over.

Seeing Thorin's expression, Dwarin felt a bitter taste in his mouth and even a glimmer of tears in his eyes, but he breathed a heavy sigh of relief because he could tell that Thorin had begun to doubt money.

Aaron quietly gestured for him to go out and inform the others to prepare for battle, while he himself fiddled with his wand, thinking about what spell to use later.

But then he thought again and put the wand away.

For a neurotic patient like Thorin who is obsessed with money, illusions are much more effective than spells.

Snapped!

Aaron snapped his fingers, and the entire hall turned a dazzling gold. His own figure became transparent, replaced by a lifelike dragon (Hogwarts ghost version).

The gold coin beneath Thorin's feet transformed into a massive golden vortex, instantly plunging him into it. He struggled desperately to climb out, but by sheer coincidence, he witnessed his grandfather, Thor, screaming in agony from the deeper part of the vortex—a sound so heartbreaking it brought tears to the eyes of all who beheld it.

At that moment, Smaug's ghost appeared before him. It said nothing, but grinned, its eyes filled with obvious sarcasm, as if to say, "I knew all along that the descendants of Turin would come here."

Just as he was being swallowed by the gold coins, Aaron dispelled the illusion in time.

"Thorin, what's wrong? Are you alright?"

"It's nothing, I just had a nightmare, it felt so real."

It felt so real; I even saw my grandfather waving at me.

Aaron chuckled inwardly, thankfully Irubone had no shortage of Thor's statues, which provided him with ample material for creating illusions.

"It's good that you're alright. You can continue to guard this gold here!"

"Bahrain and I are going to reinforce the battlefield. Their loyalty to the King has never wavered, but they simply cannot bear to watch their compatriots die in battle."

"Wait." Thorin stopped Aaron nervously, then took off his crown and threw it into the pile of gold coins. "I'll go with you."

Aaron feigned surprise. "You've figured it out?"

“I don’t want to end up like my grandfather, where gold was never as important as my people.” Thorin drew his longsword, removed the metal ornaments from his body, and walked toward the city gate.

At this point, the remaining Ironfoot Army was powerless to resist and was forced to retreat to the walls of Iluber.

As if he could already see the dwarves' doom, Azog immediately ordered the horns to be sounded, preparing for the final all-out attack.

The dwarves on the city wall felt extremely guilty. They didn't want to be cowards. Just as they were feeling utterly dejected, Thorin slowly walked towards them with his sword in hand.

When Kili saw that he could no longer bear it, he cursed Thorin, saying, "I will not hide behind the stone wall forever and watch others charge into battle, and it is for our sake."

"I'm not that kind of person, Thorin."

“No, no.” Thorin looked at his nephew with satisfaction. “We are all descendants of Turin, and the descendants of Turin will not back down in the face of battle.”

He walked up to the crowd and said apologetically, "I have no right to give you orders anymore, but can you listen to me one last time?"

The dwarves remained silent, but they all rose from the ground and gripped their weapons to show their stance.

Aaron rolled his eyes. He admitted that the scene was very moving, but if Thorin hadn't stopped them, they would have rushed out long ago.

"Ahem! I've prepared something for the dwarf army."

You charge ahead first, I'll follow shortly.

At this point, the dwarven army had nowhere to retreat, with their backs against the foot of Lonely Mountain. Dane ordered them to build a shield wall and prepare for a final, desperate fight.

Seeing this, Azog ordered the orc army to remain in place until several giant beasts reached the front ranks before he ordered the horns to be sounded and a general attack to begin.

With several giant beasts leading the way, the dwarves' morale immediately dropped. Their shield wall could stop the orcs' charge, but a swing of the giant beasts' clubs would likely shatter their formation instantly.

Crossing the cold mountains and mist, we reached deep cellars and ancient caves...

We need to set off before dawn to find the location of the beautiful gold...

The pine trees howled on the highlands, the strong wind roared in the night, the crimson flames spread mercilessly, and the trees howled like torches...

Suddenly, a melodious tune filled the air in Irubone. Aaron waved his wand and, like a conductor, played the poem that Thorin and the others had sung in the Shire across the entire battlefield, making slight modifications.

The orc army, which was originally about to launch a general offensive, was completely bewildered and did not understand where the tune came from.

But the dwarves felt an indescribable sense of national pride and patriotism from the music. If they had been a little panicked before, they were now absolutely ready to die for their country.

The dwarves went through countless hardships and suffered numerous injustices to reclaim Iluber, and they were determined to protect this dwarven kingdom even at the cost of their lives.

Each dwarf gripped his weapon tightly, letting out a blood-boiling roar, eager to fight the orcs to the death.

Meanwhile, Pang Bo, who had just hoisted a large horn onto the city wall, looked speechlessly at the music conductor beside him. "You've gone this far, are you still going to blow the charge or not?"

"Why are you looking at me? This is art, art that boosts morale."

"My music teacher taught me a few war songs, but I was worried you wouldn't understand them, so I found one that's more down-to-earth—at least in my opinion, there's no melody that can stir the dwarves' emotions more." Aaron said proudly, "But your bugle call is the real command."

Upon hearing this, Pang Bo nodded hurriedly, took a deep breath, and vigorously blew the horn.

Chapter 283 Fight for the King, Capture the King First to Capture the Thieves

hum~

As the horns sounded, a golden bell smashed through the gates of Irubor's city wall, and Thorin led twelve dwarves in a fierce battle to break out of the battlefield.

After Thorin recaptured Lonely Mountain, he became the king of the dwarves, and their morale soared instantly. Fighting alongside their king was an honor even if it meant sacrificing their lives, and the soldiers made way for them.

"For the King! For the King!" Dane shouted as he followed Thorin, and his Ironfoot army charged forward fearlessly.

The dwarves, with high morale, charged straight into the orc army in a spear formation. Although the orcs outnumbered them, each dwarf showed no fear and fought bravely.

Bilbo, looking at the battlefield outside the city, called Gandalf with some surprise, "It's the dwarves, they've fought back!"

"They fight for the King." Gandalf was also deeply gratified. Thorin had finally gotten over his greed. With the King himself on the battlefield, the soldiers were naturally in high spirits.

Swish!

The thought entity teleported in front of the two, saying, "This advantage is only temporary; there are too many orcs."

"Where have you been?" Bilbo asked.

"I helped Barn transport the elderly, women, and children from Long Lake to the church, and also set up an illusion there. It took me quite a bit of time."

"An illusion?" Gandalf paused, "Was that me on the ice dragon also an illusion?"

"Otherwise what?" The Memory Entity shrugged, ignoring the black lines on Gandalf's face. "I just had him say a few words and he boosted morale."

Upon hearing this, Gandalf nearly coughed up blood.

But he couldn't say anything bad about Aaron, at least Aaron was very clear on matters of right and wrong.

“Oh right, I almost forgot.” The thought-form looked at Gandalf somewhat embarrassedly. “The illusion said the time for the counterattack was coming soon, and now is the time.”

Gandalf's eye twitched slightly. He knew what Aaron meant. He wanted to stop him, but the words he wanted to say turned into a silent sigh.

Do whatever you want!

My old face is still worth something.

"Great." The thought entity gave a thumbs up, then decisively contacted the main body.

Aaron had just finished playing a BGM exclusive to dwarves and was about to leave the city to help when he received a message from the Thought Entity.

He looked up at the ice dragon that had torn a giant beast in two, silently apologized to Gandalf, and then promptly conjured an illusion of Gandalf, standing on the ice dragon's back.

Roar!

The battered ice dragon roared to the sky and flew from a more remote part of the battlefield to above Irubor.

The illusion of Gandalf loudly proclaims that the call to strike has been sounded, urging everyone to take up arms, kill all the evil orcs, and defend their homeland.

After shouting, the illusion disappeared again, but the ice dragon did not leave. Instead, it spread its tattered wings, revealing a body length of more than ten meters, and charged rapidly towards a half-orc army below.

boom!

The violent impact, mixed with the screams of countless orcs, echoed across the battlefield.

Hundreds of orcs were crushed into mincemeat, and the ice dragon, completely overwhelmed, turned into ice blocks of all sizes.

At the same time, the townspeople of Lake-town, who had just repelled a wave of orcs, also heard Gandalf's voice and were greatly encouraged. They all looked at their leader, Bard.

Whether to fight or not depends on your decision, and of course we are inclined to fight.

Bard knew that this was a golden opportunity, and he immediately made up his mind.

"Those who are willing to fight to the end, follow me."

The people of Long Lake immediately followed suit, this time taking the initiative and engaging the orc army in a fierce battle in the alleys.

The elderly, women, and children in the church also picked up weapons and farm tools, ready to live and die with their families. Even Tilda, who was not yet ten years old, stood up.

Only Alfred was too timid to go to the battlefield, so he disguised himself as an old woman.

However, his act was so convincing that it was easily discovered by others.

They ignored the coward, giving him disdainful looks before calmly walking out of the illusion's range.

Gandalf, who was fighting the orcs, noticed that the townspeople were fighting back and even showed signs of driving the orcs out of Dale. He murmured in surprise, "Maybe we can actually win."

“That’s right,” the narrator joked. “You’ve staked your reputation on this, we can’t lose.”

Gandalf: ......

Look, is this human language?