Hogwarts wizards who signed in to Middle-earth.

Chapter 289 Marriage
Dui went into the cellar.

The enormous cellar space, expanded multiple times by the Unseen Stretching Charm, was the size of several football fields.

The cellar was filled with mountains of treasure, which shone brilliantly in the dim light.

And within the golden mountain, the dragon Smaug slumbers.

When Dui appeared here, the dragon, which had been sleeping for a long time, opened its eyes again.

He stood up from the mountain of gold, and instantly countless treasures fell from his body, creating a clattering sound of jewels and gold coins.

At this time, Smaug the dragon had become even larger than a year ago.

It has doubled from the original 100 meters to a length of nearly 300 meters.

The aura it exudes is also stronger.

"Master, what brings you here?" Smaug asked in confusion, then his eyes lit up and he revealed a sly expression. "Could it be that you, Master, are willing to entrust the Philosopher's Stone to me for safekeeping?"

Dui rolled his eyes at him, annoyed. What good ideas were you thinking?

Entrusting the magic stone to this greedy dragon for safekeeping is like throwing a meat bun to a dog—it's gone forever.

Without wasting any words, he took out the mithril box, opened it to reveal the dwarf ring and the human ring inside.

"What is this?" Smaug asked curiously, peering over to take a look.

“This is one of Sauron’s Rings of Power. Now that you’ve absorbed the Frost Dragon’s Dragon Crystal, the temperature of the Dragon Flame should be even higher. Do you have the ability to destroy this thing?” Dui asked.

Upon hearing this, Smaug immediately revealed a proud expression and said smugly, "Although I have only absorbed a portion of the Frost Dragon's power, the temperature of my dragonfire is two or three times stronger, already surpassing most fire dragons and even rivaling the ancient dragons! Other fire dragons could destroy the Ring of Power, so of course I can now do the same!"

Upon hearing Smaug's confident words, Dui immediately handed over the box, saying, "Then the task of destroying these two items is entrusted to you."

“No problem!” Smaug assured him, patting his chest.

He then swallowed the two power rings from the box whole.

Then Smaug's chest emitted a scorching heat, as if it had transformed into a dragon-shaped furnace, his body filled with terrifying dragon flames.

As the dragon flames scorched them, the two rings of power could not withstand their power and gradually began to melt.

Finally, two loud explosions rang out from inside Smaug's body.

Smaug was unaffected; he simply let out a burp and exhaled a plume of black smoke that exuded an evil aura.

The black smoke dissipated quickly in the wind.

Smaug, looking completely satisfied, said, "Master, if there are any more good things like this in the future, leave them to me. This ring has stored a lot of power. Although it's been corrupted, it's still a good thing. It has even accelerated my absorption of dragon crystals!"

Duy was somewhat surprised to see that the Ring of Power worked on Smaug, but then he became happy.

After all, these rings of power were useless to him, so being able to put them to good use is a good thing.

Because of the nature and characteristics of dragons, even the One Ring is difficult to bewitch and corrupt, let alone the Ring of Power.

In other words, these dragons were already thoroughly evil and wicked enough that the One Ring could not make them any more evil.

Moreover, the dragon's attention was almost entirely focused on the gold treasure, and it had no interest in anything else; it had neither the desire to rule the world nor the power to live.

Therefore, the One Ring and the Ring of Power held no allure for the dragons.

Therefore, when Smaug discovered Bilbo possessed the One Ring at the Lonely Mountain, he had no intention of taking it.

Or rather, even if they wanted to steal it, it was only because the Ring was made of gold.

Just like the dragon Smaug standing before him, Dui never understood his thought process.

Gold coins and jewels are neither edible nor usable, but Smaug valued them more than his own life, and taking a single gold coin from him was like cutting off a piece of his own flesh.

Not content with that, they always sought to plunder more wealth from the outside into their own lair, and they couldn't forget the magic stone in Dui's hands that could turn stones into gold, their eyes burning with desire and their mouths watering every time they saw it.

Having dealt with the two Rings of Power, Dui left the crypt and returned to the castle. Meanwhile, far away in Mordor, Sauron also sensed the destruction of the two rings at the same time.

The Ringwraiths, who had only recently been resurrected from Sauron's Eyes, let out a scream and vanished completely when the ring was destroyed.

Of the original nine Ringwraiths, only seven remain.

This time, however, Sauron did not erupt in anger as expected. Instead, he looked westward with a sinister and cold gaze, and then devoted himself to corrupting Saruman, wanting to turn him into the strongest puppet like the Ringwraiths.

……

Time flew by and it came to September 21, 2948.

This day is the Harvest Festival in Middle-earth, and it is also the day of Dui's wedding.

At Hogwarts Castle on Windrise Peak, colorful flags fluttered and flowers bloomed in abundance. The castle's butlers, servants, and guards were all all smiles, busy with their tasks.

The castle floor was covered with a red carpet woven from spider silk, and every wall tile, floorboard, mobile armor, statue, and other object was scrubbed until it shone brightly.

The portraits were carefully cleaned by the servants, and the people in the portraits would occasionally complain that they had rubbed off a layer of skin.

Just like the festive atmosphere inside the castle, the portrait also depicts a celebration.

In the portrait, Duir and Alvin got married earlier than in reality. All the people in the portraits gathered in a castle portrait and held a wedding ceremony in the garden.

In reality, it was even more lively than depicted in the portrait.

Dui's wedding ceremony had not yet taken place, but a seemingly endless stream of people had formed on the road from the foot of the mountain to the castle, surging into the castle.

To celebrate the wedding, Dui invited all his subjects to the castle to witness the ceremony.

Receiving such an honor, the people of Hogsmeade and Brie celebrated as if it were New Year's Day, with lanterns and decorations everywhere.

The residents of Brie City, in particular, arrived in a large group a day in advance so they could attend the lord's wedding on time.

If someone were to take this opportunity to attack Brie, it would be very easy, since Brie is practically a ghost town at this time.

However, even if someone had ten times the courage, they wouldn't dare to attack Brie City.

After all, not long ago, the city of Bri was attacked by thousands of zombies.

However, before they could even enter the city, they were all wiped out by the lord's thunderbirds. The spectacular sight of those bolts of lightning not only became an unforgettable memory for the city's residents, but was also spread by out-of-town merchants, travelers, and adventurers in the city at that time.

There were also bards who wrote poems to praise the Thunderbird's graceful ride on thunder.

The residents of Hogsmeade, unlike the residents of Breeze, did not need to set off a day in advance, but they still decorated their homes with lanterns and new clothes, eagerly awaiting their journey to the castle.

Although Dui had given prior orders forbidding his subjects from bringing gifts, the residents still brought their own fruits, baked bread, and homemade delicacies, filling the air with various aromas along the way.

The two cities have a combined population of tens of thousands, which is more than enough for the castle's capacity.

The residents who entered the castle were all filled with shock and amazement as they looked at everything around them.

They gazed at the magnificent castle, admired the two tall, gleaming gold and silver trees in the garden, and watched as petals seemed to appear out of nowhere, raining down as if they would never end.

The moving armored figures stood like silent guards, but the sharp spears in their hands were adorned with flowers, and they would even offer a flower to a child they encountered.

In the huge fountain pool, the water droplets transformed into tiny mermaids, dancing merrily in the water, eliciting gasps of surprise from the children who craned their necks and peered at the scene in astonishment at the water's reflection.

But such behavior drew scolding from the parents, who told the children not to be rude.

Meanwhile, the golden statue of Smaug in the center of the fountain, seemingly dissatisfied that the mermaids in the water had taken away its attraction, flapped its golden wings and sprayed out a stream of countless gold coins, scattering them all around.

The gold coins scattered all over the ground immediately caused a scramble among the surrounding crowd.

However, after picking them up, they discovered that the gold coins quickly disappeared, indicating that they were fake.

There are also statues of dwarves, elves, and humans, forming a choir that sings cheerful and melodious songs that float throughout the entire castle.

(End of this chapter)