Kael was intimately familiar with this particular dark power—the wound had clearly been left by a dreaded Morgul-blade.
He felt genuinely surprised by this discovery, but seeing the giant kraken bleeding profusely while writhing in obvious agony, he prioritized emergency magical treatment first.
Waving his wand while casting multiple healing spells to repair the deep wound proved completely useless—even the specialized magic created by Professor Snape to heal the dark curse Sectumsempra didn't work at all.
Seeing this failure, Kael quickly retrieved the Golden Cup. He scooped up lake water, shook the cup three times, then directly poured the enchanted liquid onto the corrupted wound.
The gash began healing at visible speed, the blue blood flow stopping almost immediately.
But Kael still didn't relax his vigilance. The Morgul-blade's most insidious and dangerous aspect was that upon piercing flesh, it left cursed fragments that continuously burrowed deeper into tissue, flowing through blood vessels until eventually piercing the heart, transforming victims into enslaved wraith-world puppet creatures.
Kael simply transformed into his phoenix form, squeezing several precious tears directly onto the wound.
The tears falling on the corrupted wound immediately produced violent sizzling reactions, rapidly purifying the embedded dark power, dissipating as wisps of black smoke.
Simultaneously, the Morgul-blade fragments burrowing deeper into flesh seemed to encounter their natural nemesis, being melted away and expelled from the body.
The giant kraken finally recovered fully, screeching gratefully at Kael with obvious relief.
"Alright, now explain clearly—how exactly were you injured?" Kael demanded.
The kraken immediately released an excited series of screeches at Kael, who listened carefully to its thoughts through their bond. His expression became increasingly surprised.
The kraken hadn't actually seen who ambushed it. According to its confused account, it had been preparing to eat someone attempting to smuggle across the lake when something had suddenly materialized at the lake bottom, directly attacking with weapons, then vanishing back into invisibility.
Hearing the kraken's description of that would-be smuggler, Kael immediately had strong suspicions.
Waving his wand, he conjured a detailed image of Gollum's twisted form. "Is this the person you saw?"
The kraken nodded vigorously in confirmation.
Kael's expression became grave with concern. He genuinely hadn't expected that Gollum would suddenly appear in his territory—and the invisible attacker was very likely one of Sauron's Nazgûl.
The Nazgûl attacking his kraken clearly aimed to prevent the creature from eating Gollum before he could complete some mission.
These dangerous beings appearing in his territory—Kael immediately guessed their true purpose.
After all, these creatures appearing here could only be seeking the One Ring's location.
So Gollum had been captured by Mordor's forces? And Sauron now knew about the One Ring's existence?
Thinking this through, Kael felt distinctly uneasy.
But remembering that the One Ring was protected by the Fidelius Charm and safely in Tom Bombadil's keeping, he calmed down somewhat.
Gollum and the Nazgûl appearing here most likely meant they knew the Ring's trail was somehow related to him, but they hadn't confirmed its actual location yet.
Kael reasoned that Gollum couldn't have run far from the lake. He raised his wand decisively. "Point Me!"
The wand shot forth a beam of golden light. The beam followed the lake's surface, pointing directly toward Hogsmeade village.
Kael Apparated to the opposite shore, just preparing to track the trail further. But he discovered the guiding light became chaotic here, pointing in wildly uncertain directions that made no sense.
Some powerful magic was actively blocking his tracking spell?
Kael's expression grew even graver.
He quickly cast Homenum Revelio to reveal any possibly hidden Gollum nearby, but still achieved no results.
He quickly returned to Hogwarts Castle, retrieving the palantír to try tracking Gollum through the seeing-stone.
But just as he looked into the palantír's depths, a massive flaming Eye suddenly appeared in the stone, staring back at him.
"Sauron!" Kael gritted his teeth with anger.
Without any hesitation, he retrieved the Phial of Galadriel, directly shining its holy light on the stone. The Eye retreated immediately from the sacred illumination.
Seeing that Sauron was actively watching here through the stones, Kael had to quickly store the palantír away. He placed it together with the Phial in a reinforced mithril box and sealed it completely.
Sauron held the master stone among all the palantíri, allowing him to freely spy on everything here through any connected stone, essentially using his stone as a remote surveillance device.
With the palantír now useless, Kael briefly considered consuming Felix Felicis to find Gollum through luck.
But thinking it over more carefully, he felt he couldn't waste such a precious potion on this relatively minor matter.
Gollum himself wasn't truly important—what genuinely mattered was that Sauron was actively trying to find One Ring information.
Though unable to use the palantír to locate Gollum, Kael absolutely didn't plan to give up the search.
He transformed into his magnificent phoenix form, circling high in the sky above Weathertop. He radiated brilliant light that illuminated the earth below, releasing melodious, haunting songs that echoed throughout the surrounding area.
Phoenix light was filled with brightness and holiness, more than enough to leave darkness absolutely nowhere to hide.
Phoenix song carried powerful magic, combining Narya's and the Horn of Victory's abilities—not only dispelling fear and calming emotions but also acting like thunder against dark creatures and dark-hearted people, having strong restraining and intimidating effects.
Sleeping Hogsmeade residents hearing the phoenix's song all smiled peacefully in their beds, immersed in sweet dreams, sleeping even deeper than before.
Thorondor also flew from his golden nest, circling above Weathertop and the surrounding lands. He carried gathering storms and crackling lightning like a thunder god descending, his sharp eyes monitoring all ground movements.
An entire night passed until dawn broke without finding any trace of Gollum's figure or definitive Nazgûl presence.
Seeing this frustrating result, Kael could only sigh that Gollum was remarkably good at hiding when motivated.
As for the Nazgûl, because they could enter the wraith-world at will, without sufficient preparation and specialized weapons, even Kael couldn't effectively handle these undead servants.
Unable to find them despite his efforts, Kael could only give up the immediate search. But as a precaution, he still set up detection wards around the entire area—once Gollum or any Nazgûl appeared again, he would discover them immediately.
As days passed swiftly, Kael's long-anticipated wedding day drew steadily closer.
But suddenly one afternoon, the castle's fireplace burned with distinctive green flames.
Bilbo appeared from the fireplace looking thoroughly disheveled and panicked. "Kael! Gollum came to the Shire! He attacked me at Bag End!"
"What?" Kael felt genuinely surprised, but he first carefully examined Bilbo with concern. "Are you alright?"
Bilbo shook his head, trying to appear calm. Besides several bloody scratches on his arms, his hand bore an obvious deep bite mark.
"I'm mostly fine, thanks to having Floo Powder accessible. I managed to escape here from Bag End through the Network, but Gollum is probably still there now!"
Kael immediately raised his wand, casting healing spells to repair Bilbo's wounds first.
"Let's go to Bag End immediately." Kael transformed into his phoenix form, gently grabbed Bilbo in his talons, and they both vanished in a burst of golden flame.
Reappearing instantaneously, they had arrived directly inside Bag End's familiar round door.
Kael became human form again, frowning deeply at the surrounding chaos.
Everything showed obvious signs of being frantically searched, as if someone had desperately looked for something specific.
But Gollum was no longer anywhere to be seen here.
Obviously, Gollum had been searching desperately for the One Ring.
"Specialis Revelio!" Kael waved his wand forcefully. Golden mist sprayed throughout the room, then condensed into vivid scenes showing previous events.
The magical replay showed Bilbo sitting peacefully in his study, quietly editing his travel memoirs about the Quest of Erebor. Gollum had secretly infiltrated Bag End, striking Bilbo unconscious with a wooden club before being discovered.
Then he had tied Bilbo securely with rope, first frantically searching Bilbo's body—finding nothing, he had searched all of Bag End with increasing desperation.
After searching everywhere unsuccessfully, the urgently frustrated Gollum had angrily interrogated Bilbo about the Ring's whereabouts.
He had even pressed a sharp kitchen knife to Bilbo's throat, threatening him to reveal where the Ring was hidden.
This tense scene made even Kael worry for Bilbo retroactively.
But Bilbo, having experienced the dangerous Quest of Erebor and subsequent adventures, was no longer that naive initial hobbit. Even in this dangerous situation, he hadn't panicked foolishly.
Instead, he had cleverly used careful words to delay Gollum, deceiving him by saying he had hidden the Ring somewhere absolutely no one knew, promising to return it peacefully.
Successfully tricking Gollum into untying his bound feet, Bilbo had seized the opportunity to kick Gollum over hard. He quickly ran to the fireplace, grabbing Floo Powder and throwing it in, disappearing into the green flames before Gollum could catch up.
The dazzling green fire had frightened Gollum into retreating momentarily, only able to watch helplessly as Bilbo escaped.
At this point, Kael assumed Gollum would immediately leave Bag End.
But unexpectedly, Gollum's large pale eyes had fallen on the remaining Floo Powder jar. Learning from observing Bilbo, he grabbed a handful, throwing it into the fireplace.
Gollum tentatively extended his hand into the green flames—feeling no burning sensation, he immediately showed a delighted expression.
Then he directly walked into the green fire, his mouth moving slightly as he spoke, and quickly disappeared into the fireplace.
Though unable to hear audio in the replay, Kael could still clearly discern from lip movements that he had said "Hogwarts Castle."
So they had just barely missed crossing paths with Gollum by minutes?
Bilbo, seeing this revealing scene, immediately showed shame and nervousness. "Sorry, Kael. I seem to have brought you serious trouble!"
Kael shook his head, speaking consolingly. "No need to apologize at all. He's walking directly into a trap, actually saving me the considerable effort of tracking him down."
Then he waved his wand efficiently, restoring everything in Bag End to its original neat state.
After temporarily closing Bag End's Floo Network connection for security, Kael brought Bilbo back safely to Weathertop.
Just returning to Weathertop, they found it was already very lively with alarm.
Thunderbird Thorondor released warning cries from above. Dark storm clouds filled the castle's sky with dramatic lightning and rolling thunder.
The wall portraits competed enthusiastically, discussing the unwelcome intruder appearing in the castle.
"Where is he hiding?" Kael asked his own portrait directly.
"Seventh-floor portraits reported seeing Gollum's figure briefly. He should be hiding somewhere nearby right now."
Kael nodded grimly, immediately Apparating to the seventh-floor corridor.
"Homenum Revelio!"
Kael cast the revealing spell in all directions around him.
A magical light wave rapidly spread throughout the area—anyone hiding nearby would be instantly exposed.
"Found you!" Kael sneered coldly, instantly discovering Gollum hiding in a fireplace's narrow chimney.
Seeing himself discovered, Gollum showed absolute terror. He directly pulled out stolen Floo Powder, desperately throwing it at the fireplace below while shouting, "Bag End!"
Green fire ignited obediently but didn't transport Gollum anywhere.
Gollum didn't give up, again pulling out a large handful of Floo Powder and throwing it down frantically. His mouth constantly shouted various place names he could remember.
But he remained stubbornly in place, instead choking badly on soot with streaming tears and snot.
Kael showed open mockery—he had already closed the castle's entire Floo Network. No matter how much desperate shouting, it was completely useless.
With a casual wave, the fireplace bricks automatically separated, revealing the terrified, trembling Gollum cowering inside.
"Petrificus Totalus." One precisely aimed spell froze Gollum completely in place.