Chapter 311: Vanishing Cabinet
As a long-distance transportation tool, the Vanishing Cabinet offered a longer range than Apparition, arguably without distance limitations. Moreover, it was more stable than Portkeys. While Portkeys could transmit over longer distances than Apparition, they couldn't simultaneously transport large numbers of people or overly heavy objects.
The cabinet also didn't require pre-connecting to the Floo Network like fireplaces, nor did it need Floo Powder for directed transmission. The greatest advantage of Vanishing Cabinets over other magical transportation methods was their ability to continuously transmit between two cabinets without any limitations on people or weight. With Vanishing Cabinets, large numbers of personnel could be rapidly assembled and transported in short timeframes.
So Kael planned to first restore and reproduce a Vanishing Cabinet, then thoroughly understand its magical principles before extending and developing them. Eventually, he considered establishing Vanishing Cabinets between Bree and Hogsmeade, and with Isengard, making these places completely integrated.
Then, whether for communicating directives or providing rapid assistance like during the previous wight raid on Bree, they could quickly respond or retreat. Currently, even the journey between Bree and Hogsmeade took a full day, to say nothing of reaching Isengard, a thousand miles away.
The Floo Network remained limited by the availability of Floo Powder and couldn't become a universal means of transportation. Floo Powder production had always been under Kael's control, previously made by him alone.
But now with a group of wizards under his command, Kael was considering selecting people to establish magical factories specifically for Floo Powder production. Once production increased, he could completely establish public fireplaces in Bree, Hogsmeade, Isengard, and other places. He might even sell Floo Powder externally, letting territory subjects use it.
Turning to the task at hand, Kael cut a barrel-thick branch from a Mallorn tree. This branch was mere peripheral matter for the towering Mallorn—completely unimpactful.
Kael processed the Mallorn branch, cutting it into wooden boards, sanding, measuring, and polishing. Each step required meticulous attention and care.
Then he took out a mithril carving knife and carved mysterious patterns and runes on each board. The work was extremely intricate, ensuring that no errors occurred. After the carving was completed, a week had passed.
Kael, like a carpenter, joined the carved boards to craft an approximately three-meter-tall obelisk-shaped cabinet. Mallorn bark was silver-gray, but the inner wood was golden, like that of a gold-crafted item. Though the current cabinet's style was very simple, it radiated a noble atmosphere. Mysterious patterns and runes covered the cabinet's exterior.
After making one cabinet, Kael similarly crafted another identical one using the remaining wood. The Vanishing Cabinets were still merely semi-finished. They were completely unusable.
Kael used mithril inside the cabinets, beginning to inscribe densely packed runes. Thousands of runes interconnected, composing mysterious array-like patterns. After inscribing runes in both cabinets, another month had passed.
Looking at the two Vanishing Cabinets before him, Kael couldn't help sighing. No wonder Vanishing Cabinets were so expensive in the magical world. Besides lost manufacturing techniques, manufacturing complexity was probably another issue.
He'd spent over a month crafting one pair of Vanishing Cabinets. Although mainly due to unfamiliarity with first-time production, manufacturing was truly not easy.
Kael positioned the two cabinets back-to-back, then stood before one of the cabinet doors, inserting his wand at the lock position. He simultaneously chanted incantations while continuously outputting magical power. As magic flowed into the cabinet, its runes lit one after another. Soon, the entire cabinet became shrouded in mystical energy, as if concealing secrets within.
After activating one cabinet, Kael approached the other cabinet door and similarly chanted while inputting magic. With this cabinet also activated, a mysterious connection formed between the two cabinets. They seemed to be two sides of one whole, radiating the same magical fluctuations.
Having completed all this, Kael extended his hand and opened the cabinet's double doors.
Inside the cabinet was pitch black. The inscribed runes disappeared. From outside, the cabinet was barely a meter deep.
But standing at the door, looking inward, the backboard directly ahead transformed into an endlessly deep, black passageway. That black passageway. Even light couldn't reach it, as if leading to an unknown place, or perhaps like a black hole.
Kael, looking at this, revealed a smile. This meant the Vanishing Cabinet had been successfully created.
He went and opened the other cabinet. Inside was similarly bottomless, the lightless black passageway stretching beyond sight.
The Vanishing Cabinet was successfully made, but Kael didn't immediately try it himself. He waved his hand, summoning a small snake, and let it enter one cabinet. With Parseltongue commands, the snake naturally obeyed, crawling into the cabinet and disappearing into the darkness.
The next moment, it crawled out from the other cabinet.
Having preliminarily confirmed that transmission between the two cabinets was harmless, cautious Kael tested several more times. He wanted to ensure no accidents would occur. Once all tests showed no problems, Kael himself walked into a cabinet, heading toward the dark passageway depths.
The next second, his vision fell into complete darkness. The void swallowed him entirely. All sound disappeared.
But before unease surged, light and sound returned completely.
He blinked, discovering himself inside the other cabinet, facing its door.
Kael exited the cabinet, extremely satisfied and amazed with the transmission ability. This cabinet transmission was incomparably better than Apparition, Floo Network, or Portkeys. It completely lacked the dizzying, suffocating sensation of a rubber tube. Just in a blink, briefly entering darkness before appearing in another cabinet.
Kael sensed no magical wave from the transmission. It was like simply passing through a door.
Moreover, Kael discovered this cabinet's transmission resembled the Platform 9¾ entrance. Both passed through darkness before appearing elsewhere. Platform 9¾ likely operated on the same magical principles as the Vanishing Cabinet.
Having made the Vanishing Cabinet, Kael considered how to position it. With various magical transportation methods available—the Floo Network, Portkeys, Apparition—the cabinet's function wasn't particularly important. This perhaps explained why Vanishing Cabinets gradually disappeared in the magical world, even as the knowledge to manufacture them was lost.
After all, compared to Vanishing Cabinets' complex manufacturing and expensive costs, Floo Powder was very cheap. Almost every wizarding family used it. The latter—short-distance Apparition, long-distance Portkeys—it wasn't surprising this ancient cabinet was replaced.
However, Kael didn't find the cabinet useless. Vanishing Cabinets, compared to Floo Network, Apparition, and Portkeys, had stable and comfortable transmission and could transmit large numbers in short timeframes. In this regard, they surpassed other transmission methods.
So Kael simply placed one cabinet of the pair inside the castle, taking the other to far-eastern Hildórien. As humanity's birthplace, Hildórien was not only a paradise but also held the divine protection of Creator Ilúvatar. Kael treated it as his own private garden and ultimate sanctuary.
Though Portkeys allowed transportation, they had time limits—never as convenient and comfortable as Vanishing Cabinets. With the Vanishing Cabinets in place, traveling between Weathertop and Hildórien became as simple as visiting neighbors.