Looking at the petrified Gollum frozen before him, Kael snorted coldly. With a casual wave of his hand, he levitated the rigid creature downstairs.
Bilbo waited anxiously in the sitting room. Seeing Gollum brought back by Kael like a caught fish, he felt first startled, then undeniably delighted.
Kael unceremoniously dropped Gollum onto the floor, waving his wand to release the petrification spell.
"Don't even think about attempting escape, or I won't guarantee your survival. You know perfectly well I can kill you." Kael's cold laugh accompanied his words as he watched Gollum trembling in terror, those large pale eyes constantly darting around, searching for exits.
Hearing Kael's icy tone, Gollum shuddered violently, instantly restraining his scheming instincts while looking up at the wizard with pure fear.
"Speak clearly. How did you manage to travel all this way here? And why attack Bilbo's home before coming to my castle? What exactly are you trying to accomplish?"
Gollum's eyes rolled cunningly, answering with careful words. "Gollum, Gollum wants to find his precious. Gollum's precious was stolen by the Baggins. Gollum only wants to find his precious!"
"Still trying tricks with me? Crucio!"
With his Legilimency ability, Gollum's scattered thoughts lay transparent before Kael like an open book. He mercilessly cast the Cruciatus Curse without hesitation.
Hit by the terrible Crucio, Gollum instantly released piercing, agonized screams. He curled on the floor in absolute torment.
The wretched creature felt unbearable pain spreading through every nerve—even worse than Sauron's torture in Barad-dûr. It was utterly unbearable, beyond anything he'd experienced.
His fractured dual personalities constantly switched frantically, desperately trying to share and somehow alleviate the soul-piercing agony.
Bilbo initially felt vindicated watching his attacker suffer. But seeing Gollum's veins bulging grotesquely, his eyes nearly popping from their sockets in agony, the kind-hearted hobbit gradually felt unwilling pity creeping in.
He opened his mouth to speak but found he didn't know what to say that would help.
However, Kael didn't prolong the torture unnecessarily. When Gollum grew too weak to even make sounds, collapsing into whimpering silence, he finally stopped the Cruciatus torment.
Casually casting several healing spells on the broken creature, he looked down at Gollum coldly. "Can you speak truthfully now? Or should I give you several more Crucios to properly consider your options?"
Gollum stared up at Kael, his expression filled with absolute fear. Now Kael seemed infinitely more terrifying than even the Dark Lord himself. He frantically shook his head. "No, no! I'll speak! I'll speak everything!"
Then he began his tale from the beginning—when Bilbo had taken the Ring in the dark tunnels, how he had obsessively followed the expedition's direction, tracking them for years.
He explained how outside Isengard he'd been swept away by Saruman's tornado straight to Mordor, tortured brutally by Sauron, then inexplicably released to search westward.
He described traveling all the way to Weathertop's vicinity, his failed infiltration attempt, and then traveling to Bree, where he'd accidentally spotted hobbits working there.
Gollum himself had once been a hobbit centuries ago. Remembering that Bilbo was also a hobbit, he had secretly targeted Bree's hobbit workers for information.
From these unsuspecting hobbits, he'd heard valuable news about Bilbo.
After all, Bilbo had become quite famous throughout the Shire—not only for his legendary Erebor quest spreading through hobbit tales, but also for being the black-robed wizard Kael's close friend, an honored guest at Hogwarts Castle itself.
So Gollum had easily learned about Bilbo's detailed information and exact address from these talkative hobbits.
Thus, he had traveled toward the Shire, eventually found Bag End, and attacked Bilbo violently, desperately trying to reclaim the Ring he believed Bilbo had stolen.
But the Ring had long since left Bilbo's possession—Gollum naturally gained nothing from his violent search.
Then suspicion had grown—had Kael taken the Ring? So seeing Bilbo use Floo Powder to transport to Hogwarts Castle, he had learned to use the magical powder himself, attempting to infiltrate the castle to find his precious.
He'd even calculated that Bilbo fleeing would definitely bring Kael back to investigate, so he'd taken a desperate, risky gamble on the timing.
Hearing Gollum's complete confession, both Kael and Bilbo felt amazed at the creature's sheer perseverance.
The Erebor quest had occurred in 2941—now a full seven years had passed since then.
Unexpectedly, to find the Ring, Gollum had never given up. Alone he'd crossed the treacherous Misty Mountains, traversed dangerous Mirkwood, and evaded orcs, wargs, giant spiders, elven patrols, and wrathful Ents—somehow surviving until now. Truly remarkable fortune for such a wretched creature!
"When you tried crossing the Black Lake and were caught by the giant kraken, who wounded it to save your miserable life?" Kael interrogated further.
Hearing Kael's pointed words, Gollum frantically shook his head in genuine confusion. "I don't know! I really don't know! After leaving Mordor, I just kept running and running. But I felt eyes constantly watching me! But I could never see them—
I desperately swam from the lake to shore, then kept running, running all the way to Bree before stopping to rest.
I kept trying desperately to shake off those hidden eyes, but they quickly caught up no matter what I did. I came to the Baggins' home, came here through the fireplace—only then did the eyes finally disappear!"
Gollum's words were somewhat chaotic and rambling, but Kael's Legilimency confirmed he wasn't lying.
So Sauron had released Gollum while secretly having Nazgûl track him continuously?
Even ensuring Gollum wouldn't die before finding the Ring, so when the giant kraken was about to eat him, the Nazgûl had struck and wounded the kraken, allowing Gollum to escape?
Then those Nazgûl were very likely still lurking in the Shire, desperately searching for any sign of Gollum?
Thinking this through, Kael suddenly conceived a clever idea.
He smiled coldly at the trembling Gollum. "Gollum, how about we play an entertaining cat-and-mouse game? If you cooperate well, I might spare your miserable life. What do you think about that offer?"
Hearing Kael's unexpected words, both Gollum and Bilbo showed confused expressions.
Kael retrieved a simple gold ring from his pocket, casually throwing it to the cowering Gollum.
"My precious!" Gollum instantly showed a delighted, greedy expression. He grabbed desperately at the gold ring, immediately putting it on his bony finger with reverence.
But soon the delighted expression transformed to stunned realization, then bitter disappointment and rage. He furiously threw the gold ring on the floor.
"No, this isn't my precious! Fake! It's fake!"
Kael waved his hand, making the rejected gold ring float back before Gollum's face. His expression brooked absolutely no argument. "No. From now on, it is real. You will treat it as real."
Gollum, frightened by Kael's cold, dangerous gaze, immediately shuddered and cowered again as if his previous hysteria was a mere illusion.
Kael ignored his pathetic changes, continuing calmly. "Soon, I'll publicly announce that I've lost a valuable treasure, stolen by a sneaky thief. So I'll issue an official warrant, searching for you throughout my entire territory."
"So Gollum, you must take this 'treasure' you supposedly stole and wander outside more visibly, trying to draw out those hidden eyes constantly following you."
"I think, Gollum, you don't want those eyes constantly watching your every move, correct?"
Hearing Kael's manipulative words, Gollum looked at the gold ring floating before him with obvious hesitation and fear.
Kael didn't give him any chance to refuse. He walked directly before the cowering Gollum. "Extend your hand. Now."
Gollum looked up at Kael fearfully, tremblingly extending his thin, unnaturally long hand.
Kael pressed his wand tip firmly against Gollum's pale arm, silently casting a dark spell.
Gollum showed a pained expression, but fearing Kael's overwhelming authority, he still didn't dare move or resist.
On Gollum's arm, an intricate Two Trees mark gradually appeared, burning into his flesh.
This was Kael's improved version based on Voldemort's Dark Mark. He'd found Voldemort's original Dark Mark far too gloomy and ugly, so he'd changed the design to the Two Trees mark—the White Tree and golden Mallorn from Weathertop.
This was Kael's first time actually using such a Dark Mark on anyone. The Dark Mark was Voldemort's primary means of controlling his Death Eaters—not only summoning them instantly but also remotely contacting them through it. Once Death Eaters attempted to betray Voldemort, the Dark Mark would torture them unbearably.
The gold ring imitating the One Ring—Kael had also carefully enchanted it, making it emanate temptation and a dark aura.
Of course, this was merely a clever application of the Confundus Charm, making anyone who saw the gold ring immediately mistake it for the actual One Ring. Wearing it would even trigger an invisibility charm, creating effects remarkably similar to the true One Ring.
It was quite a decent magical decoy.
"Alright, you can leave now. But if you don't want unbearable suffering, obediently do exactly as I say."
He activated the Dark Mark slightly for demonstration. Instantly Gollum felt severe, sharp pain radiating from his marked arm. The Two Trees' roots rapidly grew and spread like living things, piercing deep into flesh and bone marrow, gradually spreading toward his entire arm and even threatening his whole body.
Moreover, the wider the mark spread, the more the pain intensified exponentially—no lighter than the Cruciatus Curse itself.
Kael had no intention of prolonged torture. After letting Gollum properly experience the terrible pain, he mercifully stopped, allowing him to leave with the enchanted gold ring.
After Gollum nervously wore the gold ring, he instantly became invisible and disappeared from sight.
Seeing this convincing effect, Bilbo immediately exclaimed in genuine surprise, his eyes widening as he frantically scanned around, trying unsuccessfully to find any trace of the invisible Gollum.
Only Kael could sense Gollum's moving direction precisely through the Dark Mark's connection.
Watching Gollum invisibly leave the castle, creeping toward the mountain below, Kael smiled with satisfaction and turned to Bilbo. "Alright, let's publicly announce this unfortunate news—that a valuable treasure you stored with me for safekeeping, dear Bilbo, was stolen by a cunning thief."
Bilbo nodded, somewhat confused about the elaborate plan but trusting his friend completely.
He felt Kael was always reliable and clever, so he would simply follow his instructions.
Soon, dramatic news spread rapidly from the castle throughout the territory: A sneaky thief had infiltrated Hogwarts Castle, stealing a valuable treasure belonging to their lord's friend that had been stored there for safekeeping. Reportedly it was a gold ring possessing the power to make people completely invisible.
The lord had issued an official warrant, vowing to catch that dangerous thief. He warned all territorial subjects to remain vigilant—the thief might invisibly hide anywhere, including their own homes, so everyone should protect themselves and their property.
Simultaneously, a detailed wanted portrait of Gollum was hastily drawn and prominently posted at Hogsmeade and Bree's city gates, offering very generous rewards for information.
Instantly both prosperous cities erupted with excitement. Many worried citizens fretted about their property being stolen, hastily hiding valuables while closing doors and windows tightly, trying to prevent invisible thieves from breaking in.
But even more people were attracted by the substantial reward and the gold ring's legendary power itself. After all, a ring making people completely invisible was more than enough to attract countless people's desire and greed.
So many began actively trying to find the ring-stealing wretch, devising all sorts of creative strategies.
Some used tempting food as bait, hoping to lure him out. Some employed hunting hounds to search by scent. Others looked carefully for unusually small footprints in mud or snow.
News even spread to other territories beyond Weathertop, everyone becoming curious and longing for the legendary gold ring.
Under everyone's combined determined efforts, they actually discovered concrete traces of Gollum's presence. Someone found dead poultry that had been violently bitten and eaten raw, discovering obviously smaller-than-human footprints nearby. Using trained hounds' keen sense of smell, they quickly locked onto Gollum's general position.
They successfully found Gollum desperately devouring stolen food in an abandoned warehouse.
After fierce chasing and confrontation, though regrettably letting him escape through a window, everyone had personally witnessed that terrifying monster put on a gold ring and then vanish completely into thin air before their astonished eyes.
Thus, excited topics about the mysterious gold ring and that monstrous thief became even more widespread and lively throughout the region.