The Bard of Hogwarts

Chapter 259 The Cursed Black Stone

In the tranquil campsite.

Sensing Fide's joy, Ino decided to investigate.

He wasn't sure which version of the story this ghost belonged to.

If these are magical ghosts different from those at Hogwarts, the kind of undead that have a physical form and can actively attack, they would be extremely valuable for research.

But if they are just scary green ghosts as described in the original storybook, then they are of no use at all.

……

Under the quiet of the night.

A streak of blue light flashed, and Ino's figure disappeared into the tent.

At the same time.

In the white mountains, a figure wearing a black hooded cloak quietly approached the camp at Morin Creek.

Lord Elrond of Rivendell also arrived quietly under the cover of night.

Logically speaking, Elrond, one of the few high elves in Middle-earth, wouldn't need to hide like this even if he went to Mordor.

Moreover, as the holder of Vya, the Ring of Air, the first of the Three Rings of the Elves, Elrond might actually be able to put up a fight against Sauron, who had lost the Ring, if he truly unleashed his full power.

Here we must mention the power of the three rings of the elves. The Ring of Water is Ya, made of mithril and inlaid with white gemstones. Although its power leans towards clarity and purification, it still has extremely strong protective properties.

The Ring of Fire, Naya, inlaid with dazzling rubies, represents the flame of passion and creation. It can ignite the fire in one's heart and also allow one to freely manipulate and resonate with the flame.

The Via Ring, with its gold setting housing a sapphire, embodies wisdom and the fluidity of the wind, allowing the wearer to roam freely among the air.

These three rings also possess even more powerful qualities and abilities.

Therefore, once Elrond dons the Ring of Air, there may be no place in Middle-earth that Elrond cannot go.

But today, or rather, at the end of the Third Age.

The rise of humanity has also led to the decline of the elves' power. There are many things he can no longer directly intervene in, but there are also many things he has to intervene in.

In the main tent of the camp, King Elrond first found Théoden and told him about Sauron's other army, a naval force composed of pirates.

……

Erech Valley.

Ino walked along the narrow mountain path, barely wide enough for one person to pass through, with Quiet Fied perched on his shoulder.

Feeling the curses and pain all around, the shadow beneath his feet began to stir.

Boggart instinctively raises black mist, but without actively using its power, the mist only appears within a limited area.

Even so, it creates a terrifying visual effect.

In the desolate mountain path, a shadow, more like a ghost, appeared in the distance. The mist surrounding it made it impossible to see what was inside, but only Fide was not favored by the mist.

It is likely that whenever someone looks into the mist, the first thing they will see is Fide's eyes.

Time passed slowly.

Following the mountain path, Ino arrived at this cursed land and also saw the legendary Gate of Death.

Perhaps sensing the breath of life, countless green figures began to emerge, pouring out of the Gate of Death until the entire area was enveloped in the aura of death.

Faced with this terrifying sea of ​​the dead, Ino looked disappointed; these were the undead described in the books.

Although these creatures are shrouded in death and curses, they are essentially no different from the ghosts of Hogwarts.

This is actually quite normal. If there really were an army of immortal undead, Aragorn wouldn't be stupid enough to easily promise to release them. It would be more cost-effective to attack Mordor first, defeat them, and then release them.

Disappointed as he was, Ino had no intention of leaving hastily.

Both Boggart and Fiedt thoroughly enjoyed the environment here.

Ignoring the spirits, he wandered around casually like a traveler. Under Fide's watchful gaze, all the spirits silently made way for him.

To be honest, the Edenians, whom Gando jokingly calls mountain people, do live in a really bad environment.

I don't know if it's because we've been bullied for so long, but the layout here is like a mole's burrow, complicated and messy.

"State your purpose!" a hoarse voice rang out.

As the last monarch of the Edenians, Oaks had long since noticed the human before him, but the aura surrounding him and the blue figure on his shoulder made him decide not to provoke him.

He didn't intend to cause trouble, but trouble came knocking on his door. The other party followed the mountain path all the way and went straight into the Gate of Death.

It seems they even intend to continue wandering around.

In this situation, AUX could no longer pretend not to see it.

"What brings you here?" Ino turned around and saw a figure wearing a crown appear among a group of undead.

"I came here with no particular purpose. I just came out of curiosity and will be leaving soon. You don't need to worry about me."

Faced with such a nonchalant attitude, Oakes felt an unprecedented humiliation. However, as he gripped his sword, his eyes involuntarily drifted toward the blue bird.

He was a spirit, yearning for liberation rather than annihilation, and his arm, which had been gripping the sword tightly, slowly relaxed.

"Then go ahead and watch, but remember to leave when you're done!" Oakes' hoarse voice rang out again.

However, compared to before, there was a hint of grievance and helplessness in her tone.

……

Return to Rohan camp.

"Tell me, what exactly did you do to them?" Inside the tent, Ino looked at Fied with a resolute tone.

He wasn't blind; the situation just now was quite obvious. Those were spirits cursed for three thousand years, not some harmless lambs. Although they had no physical form, they didn't give off the same harmless vibe as the Hogwarts ghosts.

Moreover, Fide had only experienced joy twice: the first time was after drinking the Despair Potion left by Voldemort, and this time something must have happened as well.

When asked, Fede reluctantly turned his head away.

After a moment of human-like contemplation, it opened its beak and pulled out a small black pebble.

"this……?"

Looking at the stone that had clearly been forcibly removed, Ino suddenly thought of a possibility.

But before he could react, the Boggart in the shadows instantly covered the black stones again, and the stones melted away as if they were liquid.

The sudden change happened in the blink of an eye.

Once it realized what was happening, Fide spread its wings and began pecking fiercely at the shadow, but its attacks were futile against Boggart.

There was some chaos inside the tent, but Ino had no time to deal with it.

Switching to second-person perspective, he discovered something different within the curtain-like blackness of the Boggart.

Upon closer inspection, it resembles a soldier wielding a weapon, and its shape and decorations, aside from lacking a bit of liveliness, are exactly the same as the undead from before.

What's even more terrifying is that there are more than one of these soldiers; at a glance, there are at least several hundred or even a thousand of them.

"The black stone erected by Isildur..." Upon seeing this, Ino finally confirmed his guess.

Thinking of this, he looked at Fide again, but the latter turned around innocently, using his magnificent blue tail feathers to block all view.

"You are a phoenix! Not a bandit..." Ino sighed helplessly.

Now that things have come to this, all he can do is try to make amends with concrete actions.

After all, if the items were really that easy to take, they wouldn't have let go of the Narnia Christmas presents in the first place.

(End of this chapter)