In a separate room, a large cauldron sat over a great fire, the potion inside continuously boiling.
Kael extinguished the fire, waiting for it to cool completely before pouring two large barrels of dragon blood into it. He stirred constantly.
The dragon blood fused with the potion, triggering a violent reaction. The mixture became scalding hot, churning like red lava and radiating intense heat.
The temperature was so extreme that anything falling into it would be instantly cooked through.
Mayors Luke and Butch, waiting nearby, swallowed hard. Cold sweat beaded on their foreheads.
Though the lord had already shown them the images and they'd mentally prepared themselves, facing it in person was still terrifying.
"All right, you two, remove your clothes and enter the cauldron together now," Kael said.
This time, he had specially changed to a larger cauldron, large enough to accommodate two people entering together.
Hearing Kael's words, the two looked at each other, then took deep breaths. With expressions of grim determination, they began undressing.
Kael had no interest in watching two old men undress. He turned his head in another direction.
If not for clothes being made of cotton and linen materials that easily caused problems when added to the potion—even causing the potion to fail or become poisonous—he wouldn't want this hassle.
The two quickly undressed and approached the boiling cauldron together. Standing on high stools, gritting their teeth and steeling themselves, they simultaneously jumped into the cauldron.
With two splashes, both men's upper bodies submerged into the potion, only their heads remaining outside.
Both instantly contorted in agony, faces twisting as if falling into lava.
Luke could still grit his teeth, releasing agonized, low growls.
But Bree Mayor Butch opened his mouth wide, releasing piercing screams that echoed throughout the entire empty room, even reaching outside.
Steward Edward, busy in the castle, heard it and immediately smiled knowingly. He was quite pleased that others were finally experiencing the suffering he had endured.
Arwen, watering flowers in the garden, with her keen hearing, also heard the screams. She paused, shook her head, then continued watering.
She had been surprised by this method that could give ordinary people magical abilities. She knew her husband was cultivating more wizards and completely supported this. She silently helped Kael collect more potion materials, supporting his endeavors.
Returning to Kael's room.
In the cauldron, Luke painfully persisted in the potion while Butch screamed, trying to escape. After all, the scalding potion not only seemed to melt people but also drilled through pores into the body, occupying blood vessels, flowing toward the heart, penetrating bone marrow.
That scorching temperature seemed to burn all internal organs. Streams of black blood were squeezed from within, gushing from eyes, ears, mouth, nose, and pores, causing them immense agony.
Seeing Butch still had energy to try escaping, Kael waved his wand, conjuring a wooden mallet. He hammered Butch back into the cauldron, continuing the process.
As time passed, both men in the cauldron were wrapped in thick blood cocoons, completely silent.
The potion was also completely absorbed by them, leaving only blood stains and a faded liquid.
Finally, both broke free from the blood cocoons, emerging and gasping for fresh air.
"I, I became younger?!" Butch looked at his skin with delighted disbelief, touching it.
Butch was already nearly sixty years old. Originally full of wrinkles and age spots, he is now not only more robust with fewer wrinkles, but also appears to be only a forty-year-old man.
Luke also became much younger, appearing only in his early thirties.
The two excitedly observed themselves and each other in the cauldron, not at all concerned about being naked together.
But Kael couldn't stand such strange scenes. He waved a Scourgify charm, clearing all blood stains and wastewater from their bodies and the cauldron, then tossing their discarded clothes into the cauldron.
"All right, stop standing there dazing in the cauldron. Put on clothes and come out."
"Ah? Oh!" Both quickly came to their senses, hastily grabbing their respective clothes and putting them on, faces still lit with uncontrollable joy.
They hadn't expected to gain such a great benefit. Actually, becoming twenty years younger. This was an immense surprise.
After they came out, Butch asked eagerly, "My lord, are we wizards now?"
Luke also looked at Kael with expectant anxiety.
Kael smiled and shook his head. As their hearts sank, he said, "Not quite yet. You don't have suitable wands yet and haven't learned magic. You can't be considered true wizards. At most, you can be called apprentice wizards."
"Phew! My lord, your words are too frightening!" Butch and Luke both rolled their eyes internally. This lord spoke in riddles, jerking their emotions around. They almost thought they had failed.
Kael stopped teasing them, taking out two wands from his pocket and handing them to the two.
"Use these two wands first. You can go to the library to find the Standard Book of Spells, or ask Steward Edward for guidance. He mastered basic charms before you and can provide references and pointers. If that doesn't work, you can also ask my portraits, or come find me when I have time."
These two wands were made by Kael using Mallorn tree branches with elf hair cores.
They were universal wands that Kael made during his leisure time. Now he was letting them use them temporarily for practicing ordinary charms.
Receiving the wands, both were delighted, treasuring the wands in their hands, terrified of accidentally breaking them.
Their gratitude toward Kael deepened immeasurably, their loyalty even more unwavering.
After receiving Kael's permission, they eagerly headed to Kael's library.
Seeing the enormous library containing countless books, both were shocked.
The room was expanded by Extension Charms to several football fields in size. Row upon row of orderly bookshelves were stacked densely with books.
These books included many of Kael's collected works from throughout Middle-earth. Elves, dwarves, Númenóreans, even orcs, and Mordor books.
Additionally, Kael compiled all the knowledge of the Harry Potter magical world and the books he had obtained from check-ins into a library, placing them in this library.
Including spells, transfiguration, potions, astronomy, herbology, runes, alchemy and other book knowledge.
Only the most dangerous dark-magic books, such as "Secrets of the Darkest Art" and "Curses and Counter-Curses," were categorized and placed in a single area designated as a Restricted Section. Only accessible by himself or with permission.
Looking at the dazzling array of books, some flying through the air like birds, Luke and Butch were momentarily at a loss.
Looking at the golden desk facing the entrance, a quill pen was rapidly writing something in a blank book.
The two were like newcomers, not knowing which books to study first.