Hogwarts wizards who signed in to Middle-earth.

Chapter 171 Heart of the Flame Demon
Lórien,
The city of Caras Galazon,
In the palace of the lord and his wife.

Celeborn and Galadriel meet with Due and Gandalf.

"You have slain the Balrog in the Mines of Moria. This is truly a great feat!" Celeborn exclaimed in admiration, gazing at the two with eyes full of admiration.

"The great commotion on Silver Teeth could be seen even in Lórien. Perhaps in years to come, songs will be sung of that great battle: the Grey and the Black wizards atop the mountain slew the last Balrog, bringing peace to Moria."

Gandalf suddenly laughed and shook his head. "What can be said about the lyrics? Except for those with sharp eyes like you, Lord Celeborn and Lady Galadriel, who can see through the mystery, the people below looking up can only see the peak shrouded in a blizzard. They hear the rumble of thunder, see the dazzling lightning, and see tongues of fire on the peak. How can they understand what is happening?"

"Someone will always know. Wind, snow and fog cannot hide your deeds." Galadriel smiled softly, her eyes full of deep starlight.

Her eyes fell on the clothes of Due and Gandalf, and the robes they had conjured up by Transfiguration were clearly visible to her.

"I can sense that your souls are weary. Go wash away the dust and weariness in the Nimrodel River. I will send for new robes for you to wear."

Neither Gandalf nor Dewi refused, and without anyone leading them, they arrived at the River Nimrodel with ease.

They immersed half of their bodies in the river. The icy water flowing from the mountains made Dui feel cold all over, and he couldn't help shivering.

The elves composed many songs about the river, praising its magical powers.

The Nimrodel River lived up to its reputation. Bathing in the river, Dui felt that his physical and mental fatigue was gradually washed away, and a feeling of drowsiness after the extreme fatigue was relieved came over him.

With his upper body leaning on the soft grass by the river, Dui gradually fell asleep in the cold river water. In his half-awake state, he seemed to hear the beautiful singing of the elf girl, as if she was telling him something.
"Wake up, Dui'er, don't sleep too long, or you will catch a cold!" Arwen's gentle voice woke Dui from his sleep.

When Dui opened his eyes, he saw Arwen looking at him tenderly.

"Arwen, why are you here?" Dui asked in surprise, his mind a little slow.

"Okay, Duir, come up quickly. Although the Nimrodel River can relieve fatigue, the water is icy cold and you will freeze if you stay there for too long." Arwen said with concern.

Dewi then realized that Gandalf had left at some point, and only he and Arwen were left here.

Perhaps because his body was contaminated with the fire of the Balrog, Dui did not feel very cold except at the beginning. However, he did not refute Arwen's words. He stood up and walked out of the river.

Alvin handed over a stack of white robes.

"The clothes you are wearing are damaged. These are the clothes I made for you. Try them on and see if they fit you well."

"Did you sew this for me?" Dui showed a surprised expression.

Arwen smiled and nodded.

Dewi took the white robe and held her hand, exclaiming happily, "Arwen, you are so kind! I can't imagine how dark life would be without you by my side."

Arwen's eyelashes trembled like butterfly wings, and her eyes, which reflected the stars and flowing springs, curved into two crescent moons, and a smile overflowed from her eyes.

"Okay, change quickly, don't catch a cold!" Arwen urged softly.

"Change here? No need to avoid it?" Dui raised his eyebrows and asked deliberately with a joking look on his face.

Arwen looked at Dewy who was teasing her on purpose, and a faint blush appeared on her cheeks, like morning dew kissing flower petals. She waved the wand in her hand and summoned mist to cover Dewy.

"Stop messing around, Doir, and change your clothes quickly. Gandalf and my grandparents are waiting for you."

Seeing this, Dui looked a little regretful and quickly changed into the elven robe made for him by Arwen in the mist.

When the mist dissipated, Dui was revealed wearing a white, elegant elf robe with silver edges. His tall, slender figure exuded a noble and elegant temperament.

"How is it? Does it look good?" Dui turned it around and showed it to Arwen.

Arwen's eyes brightened and she nodded slightly.

"It looks good and suits you very well."

The two left the river, passed through the Mauron Forest, and came to Lady Galadriel's garden.

As soon as they came over, Gandalf, Galadriel, and Celeborn, who were sitting on the wicker chairs in the garden, all turned their heads and looked at them.

Looking at the two people coming hand in hand, Gandalf said jokingly, "I thought you would arrive even later. After all, young people always have so much energy, unlike an old man like me who is already old and withered."

Due and Arwen were both a little embarrassed by what Gandalf said.

Afterwards, after the two joined the tea party in the garden, they couldn't help but start talking about the Fire Demon.

Gandalf slowly recounted their battle with the Balrog, including their fall into the abyss and their pursuit of the Balrog from the bottom of the abyss to the top of the mountain.

It inevitably mentioned the nameless creatures in the abyss tunnel.

Hearing about the harrowing experience of being on the brink of death, Alvin gripped Duy's hand tightly, her expression a mixture of worry and relief. Kellerborn, however, was so engrossed in the nameless creature Gandalf had mentioned that he didn't notice his granddaughter's actions.

He was extremely surprised and puzzled. "I originally thought this was just a legend, but could such a creature really exist deep within the earth?"

Gandalf was still terrified when he recalled it. He shook his head and said thankfully:

"I used to think it was just a legend, but after meeting them, I was sure it was true. I don't want to elaborate too much and leave you with a psychological shadow.

But if it weren't for the Fire Demon's guidance, Dui Er and I would have been in an even more dangerous and desperate situation. So, to be honest, the Fire Demon saved our lives."

Dui also agreed very much. Whenever he recalled being locked in the gaze of an unknown creature, the despair of nothingness and absolute darkness would surge into his heart, making him shudder.

Even though he didn't see the true appearance of the nameless creature, the fear it brought to him was countless times greater than that of the fire demon.

It was as if it was an unspeakable horror!
"What exactly is that nameless creature? Why does it frighten you so much?" Arwen was a young elf and had never heard of the legend of the nameless creature underground. Seeing Duir so frightened, she couldn't help but feel concerned.

Galadriel slowly stood up and walked to the water mirror next to her. She gently stirred the water with her hand and said slowly, "That is a very ancient and mysterious creature. It is far older than the Orcs or even the Balrogs. It has existed since the birth of the world of Arda..."

As his fingers fiddled with the water, countless fragments of images flashed in the water mirror, as incomprehensible as illusions.

Suddenly, the mirror surface turned pitch black. The black was very sticky, deeper and thicker than the night sky. Even light and shadow did not exist. Just by looking through the mirror surface, an unsettling sense of darkness and fear emanated.

There seemed to be indescribable ancient whispers in the darkness, as if it was pregnant with some great terror!
Galadriel stared at the pitch-black water mirror, as if she was looking at the creatures in the darkness through the water mirror, but before the darkness could notice, she waved her hand to erase the image and restore it to the appearance of an ordinary water mirror.

"Was that an unknown creature deep underground?" Arwen asked in shock.

Galadriel nodded and said, “There are some beings in this world that were not created, such as the oldest Iavain-ben-Arda (Tom Bombadil), the evil god Ungoliant who was born from the darkness of the void outside the world of Arda, and the nameless creatures deep in the heart of the earth.

In ancient legends, in the deepest and darkest parts of the earth, something unspeakable will arise, gnawing at the very foundations of the earth until, at the end of the great movement, it will burst through the ground and devour everything.

Seeing Arwen's worried look, Galadriel smiled and reached out to stroke her face.

"Don't worry about it. The end of time is far, far away. Even if measured by the lifespan of an elf, it will be an extremely long time. By that time, the elves may no longer exist."

Apart from being surprised at first, Dui accepted it well.

Isn't this nameless creature similar to Nidhogg, the black dragon that gnawed at the roots of the world tree in Norse mythology, and Leviathan in Hebrew mythology?
They all represent the end of the world.

But he didn't expect that there would be such a setting in Middle-earth?

The topic of the end of the world was too heavy, so no one discussed it any further and instead shifted the focus to the Fire Demon.

Dui took out the heart of the fire demon - the red magic crystal.

Looking at the red magic crystal emitting high temperature on the table, everyone was very surprised.

Especially the black flames inside, which carry a violent, dark and evil aura full of destructive power.

People can feel the terrifying power contained in it.

As a fallen Maia, Balrog was once a lesser god associated with fire. He was bewitched by Morgoth and became a demon. The sacred fire he originally controlled also turned into evil fire.

But even though the flame was tainted by the dark power of Morgoth and its properties changed, its essence remained unchanged.

"Duir, are you planning to use the Balrog's eternal fire to forge the Phoenix's nirvana fire?" Galadriel asked.

Dui nodded.

As a fallen demigod-level Maia, the Fire Demon's natal fire is of divine level.

If this eternal fire can be transformed into the fire of Nirvana, then after his Animagus evolves into a phoenix, it will definitely be more powerful than the phoenix in the Harry Potter world.

"But if you use such an evil fire, you might fall into darkness and even become an evil spirit?" Celeborn said with a frown.

"So before we use it, we need to purify the Balrog's flames," Gandalf explained with a smile.

"The Balrog was once a Maia whose essence was fire. After being seduced and corrupted by Morgoth, its eternal fire was contaminated by Morgoth's dark power and turned into an evil fire.

As long as the evil fire is purified and restored to its purest state, the pure flame can be used to forge the immortal phoenix."

Gandalf continued, "Lady Galadriel, your power of purification is unmatched, so we would like to ask for your help in purifying the Balrog's fire."

Upon hearing this, Galadriel looked at the red magic crystal in front of her, then glanced at the anxiously expectant Due and the pleading Arwen.

She smiled and nodded in agreement.

(End of this chapter)