Hogwarts wizards who signed in to Middle-earth.

Chapter 194 Saruman's Scheme

They successfully created the Middle-earth version of the "Ravenclaw Crown," the Crown of Wisdom.

Dui then plunged into a frenzy of studying and practicing.

With the Crown of Wisdom's blessing, the speed and efficiency of learning spells, transmutations, potions, alchemy, as well as Middle-earth witchcraft, spells, and elven magic all skyrocketed.

To Dui's even greater surprise, the benefits of meditating while wearing the Crown of Wisdom were also significant, almost several times more efficient than his usual meditation.

The only problem is that such high levels of brain activity quickly deplete the body's energy. Dui now eats several times more than before and needs to replenish his energy almost every moment.

To address this, Alvin specially prepared Lambas for him, thus avoiding his need to constantly eat to replenish his energy.

Moreover, the crown of wisdom cannot be worn for extended periods, as prolonged high-speed brain activity is extremely mentally taxing.

Therefore, Dui could only use the crown for half a day each day, and would remove it when he felt mentally exhausted.

However, even with the help of the Wisdom Crown, Dui understood the principle of not trying to do too much at once, so he focused his main energy on learning alchemy in order to avoid making mistakes when creating the Philosopher's Stone in the future.

After all, knowing how to make the Philosopher's Stone doesn't mean you can actually make it.

Otherwise, Nicolas Flamel wouldn't be the only one in the known history of the wizarding world to possess a Philosopher's Stone.

Dui stayed at the summit of Fengyun for several months, and although he had thought about making up for it, he also wanted to make the Hufflepuff Cup.

However, in addition to the requirements for the materials used, the creation of the Golden Cup also requires specific magical rituals and astrological conditions.

In particular, the magical ritual needs to be performed on the day of Saturn's opposition.

Saturn in Middle-earth is called Lumbar. Every 378 days or so, Saturn is at opposition, at which point it becomes extremely bright, its light even outshining the star Eyarendil.

With Saturn still more than half a year away from opposition, Dui needs to go out and continue searching for the remaining materials to craft the Philosopher's Stone, so he naturally can't wait until then.

However, Dui had made some preparations in advance. While Smaug was reluctant and aggrieved, he took out nearly a ton of gold from the treasury and put it into the mithril furnace.

After continuous calcination and refining, only a fist-sized piece of gold essence remained, free of any impurities.

Unlike the Ravenclaw tiara, the Hufflepuff Cup was created through a process imbued with ancient Celtic natural magic.

You need to draw ancient runes with the meaning of abundance on the gold nugget, then bury it under a piece of fertile land at the same time as the crops are planted, and it cannot be dug up in between.

The gold essence in the soil can only be dug out again when the crops on the ground are ripe and ready for harvest.

Then, he drew healing and protective runes on the gold and found an oak tree covered with mistletoe.

They carved a hole in the oak tree, then sealed the gold essence inside.

The gold essence can only be extracted from the oak tree when the oak bears fruit and the mistletoe flowers.

Dui naturally couldn't wait such a long time.

So he took the gold nugget with the harvest runes drawn on it, used Apparition to come down the mountain, and found the most fertile wheat field.

While the farmers were planting wheat, he cast an infiltration spell and buried the gold essence embryo deep in the field, ensuring that no one could dig it up. Then, he left a magical mark and quietly returned to Wind and Cloud Peak.

After not staying in the castle for more than a few days, Dui bid farewell to Alwen once again and set off for the White Mountains in the south to find the Soul Sulfur.

This time, however, Dui didn't have the giant eagle Sauron escort him. Instead, he first went to Lorien through the fireplace, and then used Apparition to arrive in Fangun Forest.

However, Dui did not meet Gandalf in Fangun Forest this time.

According to Treebeard, Gandalf left Fangon Forest several months ago and went to the Kingdom of Lohan.

Seeing this, Dui had no choice but to give up his plan to ask Gandalf for help. He traded a few bottles of plant growth potion with Treebeard for Ent drinks, then rode his flying broomstick away from the forest and flew south.

Midway through the journey, Dui spotted Osankta, the residence of Saruman, in the distance. However, Dui had no immediate plans to deal with the white-robed wizard, so he simply bypassed the area and continued flying south.

Although it's a bit of a shame that I can't check in, it's more important to find the sulfur of the soul in case of any unforeseen circumstances.

And just as Dui was flying south without looking back.

In a secret room in Essengard, Osankta.

Saruman sat on the long black table, his gaze unfathomable as he stared at the flying figure of Dui inside the sphere of true knowledge.

Suddenly, the image of Dui inside the crystal sphere vanished instantly, replaced by a fiery eye radiating a dark aura.

"Sauron, what do you want with me?" Saruman asked, frowning.

Although Saruman was misled by Sauron and chose to betray the side of justice, he had his own pride and did not consider himself Sauron's subordinate, but merely a partner.

Instead of answering Saruman's question directly, Sauron countered with, "You seem quite interested in that black-robed wizard from earlier?"

Saruman frowned, his expression seemingly indifferent, and said, "He's just an insignificant person!"

"Insignificant?" Soren smiled faintly. "If he were truly insignificant, why would he warrant you, a white-robed wizard, using the Crystal of Knowledge to spy on him?"

"And his reputation is much greater than yours now. Tsk tsk, the nemesis of the Orcs, the Lord of the dragon Smaug, and he even killed Moria's Balrog with the Grey Wizard. You can hear his legend even in the east of Mordor!"

Hearing Sauron's somewhat mocking tone, Saruman's eyes flashed with anger, and his face darkened.

"What do you want? I'm very busy, unlike you who don't even have a physical form and can only stay in Mordor doing nothing."

"Busy forging the Ring of Power?" Sauron's eyes flashed with sarcasm. "You wanted to forge a ring comparable to my One Ring, but it seems you haven't succeeded. It's not even as good as the ring of one of my Ringwraiths!"

Then, his tone shifted abruptly, becoming seductive, corrupt, and decadent:

“Saruman, I know your ambition and resentment. I can personally teach you how to forge the One Ring, granting you the greatest power! As long as you are willing to submit to me and become my servant…” “Impossible!” Saruman, worthy of being a Maiar of the same rank, remained arrogant even under the influence of Sauron’s power.

"No one can make me submit, not Vera, and certainly not you, Sauron!"

In his view, he and Sauron were only temporary collaborators, and his only goal was to obtain from Sauron the method to forge the Ring of Power.

As for submitting to Sauron, who was also a Maiar, that was absolutely unacceptable to the arrogant Saruman.

Sauron saw through Saruman's thoughts and sneered:
"But what conditions do you have for cooperating with me? The Moria Oak you wanted to ally with were all dealt with by the two wizards and the dwarves."

As for the Black Barbarians, as far as I know, that grey-robed wizard is in Rohan and has already persuaded the Rohan king to give the Black Barbarians a piece of ancestral land. Your attempts to sow discord seem to have lost their effect.”

"Gandalf!" Saruman's face darkened further, and he gritted his teeth in fury.

The two right arms he had prepared for himself had now been removed by Gandalf, causing his plans to fail completely.

This made him hate Gandalf, who had ruined his plans, to the core.

But what Soren said next shocked him.

Soren then pointed out, "Don't you find it too much of a coincidence? Why was the Ork there wiped out the moment you were about to form an alliance with Moria? And why did that Grey Wizard want to make peace between the Rohan and the Ork, causing your plans to fail without you even realizing it?"

Saruman was incredulous and filled with unease: "What do you mean?"

“I think you’ve been suspected! Especially that grey-robed wizard, he’s targeting you!” Soren said with a hint of schadenfreude.

"That's impossible!" Saruman stood up agitatedly. "What I did was so secretive that no one knew about it! How could Gandalf know about it? It must be a coincidence!"

Saruman was deeply uneasy, but arrogant as he was, he was unwilling to accept the fact that his plan would be discovered.

Moreover, even though he was secretly colluding with Sauron, he never thought he would be exposed.

This would cause him to lose his current position in the righteous path and his status as the leader of the White Path Society.

Especially now that his plans have failed, if what he has done is exposed, then the righteous path will have no place for him.

Even his current Osankta will no longer be safe.

In order to survive, he had no choice but to flee to Mordor, seek Sauron's protection, and then be forced to become Sauron's servant.

How could Saruman accept this?

But Soren didn't give him a chance to deceive himself, his eyes mocking as he directly exposed the truth: "You already have the answer in your heart, don't you? Think carefully about what's been wrong lately, and you'll understand."

Upon hearing this, Saruman couldn't help but recall Gandalf's sudden visit and the series of things he had overlooked afterward, which increased his unease.

“I kept this very secret; no one should know! Besides, I have the Crystal of True Knowledge; there's no way the entire Isengard region could escape my notice! How did Gandalf find out?”

Saruman paced anxiously, his mind a whirlwind of thoughts as he pieced together fragments of memory, searching for any clues that might be missing.

His gaze swept out the window and fell upon the tall, imposing trees outside. He instantly realized what was happening, his face turning extremely grim, and he gritted his teeth, saying:
"Oh dear! I completely forgot about the group of thieves who had their ears sticking out of the house!"

"I should have cut down all the trees here back then, not a single one!"

Seeing Saruman's panicked state, Sauron became even more gloating and said:

"You have been discovered. There is no place for you in the Light. If you submit to me, I will send the army of Mordor to help you, and even forge a power ring for you. What do you say?"

Saruman instantly calmed down upon hearing this and sneered, "Sauron, do you think I would admit defeat so easily? I am the disciple of Aulli, the god of craftsmen. Perhaps my talent in forging is not as great as yours, but I am more skilled in engineering and creation!"

"I have figured out how to breed stronger Orks, making them fearless of the sun and much stronger, enough to build a powerful army!"

And this is just the beginning. Given enough time, I can even cultivate more powerful monsters!

The Eye of Sauron within the crystal sphere flickered, changing the conditions.

"How about we formally form an alliance? I will send a dark army, completely under your control, enough for you to defend Isengard. You only need to cultivate a sufficiently powerful war machine, and then, together with the Mordor army, launch a pincer attack to annex Rohan and Gondor."

Saruman was somewhat tempted by the suggestion, but still shook his head.

"No rush. I need to confirm whether Gandalf has any evidence. If it's just suspicion, I can continue to lie low and secretly build up my power."

Unless absolutely necessary, Saruman does not want to openly betray Sauron and side with him now.

Besides not wanting to give up his current status, he also considered the reactions of the Vera's.

Upon hearing this, Soren suggested, "If you want to confirm, you can capture that black-robed wizard. He has close ties with the gray-robed wizard, and it was the two of them who killed the Balrog Moria together. He must know the information you want."

Upon hearing the name of the black-robed wizard, Saruman's eyes turned cold. He harbored the same resentment towards this person who had also ruined his plans.

He nodded in agreement: "This lad is highly regarded by Gandalf, so he must know quite a lot. Moreover, he's very strange; there's something about him that I can't see through. If we catch him, we can see what secrets he's hiding!"

What Saruman didn't mention was that when he first met the boy, he saw a very strange and subtle look in the boy's eyes. Although the boy had tried to hide it, Saruman still managed to catch it.

He didn't understand that look at first, but he realized it after he joined forces with Sauron.

That was the look one gives a traitor.

It was as if he had foreseen this outcome all along.

And that last look in his eyes made him even more uneasy.

(End of this chapter)