Hogwarts wizards who signed in to Middle-earth...

Although the mission was to give Thorin and his companions a hard time, Gandalf and Duy still made sure to scout ahead.

Although the two were walking, they were both moving at a considerable pace.

Especially when he was with Gandalf, influenced by the power of Naya's Ring of Fire, Dui didn't feel tired at all.

Dui could only express his envy.

He really wanted one of those amazing artifacts.

Unfortunately, all three Elf Rings were in the hands of three powerful individuals, and he had no chance of obtaining them.

It's no wonder that the white wizard Saruman was jealous of Gandalf because Cildan gave him the Ring of Fire, Naya, and that this caused a rift between them.

Who wouldn't want such a magical artifact?

Thinking this, he then thought of the One Ring.

The One Ring is currently in Gollum's hands in the Misty Mountains, but it won't be long before it falls into Bilbo's hands.

This made him somewhat curious about the power of the One Ring.

After all, this ring is said to be more powerful than the Three Rings of the Elves, but it seems that in Bilbo's hands, it only helps him become invisible and has no other abilities.

But when he thought of the One Ring's corrupting power, which even Gandalf and Galadriel dared not touch, he gave up the idea.

He didn't believe he was stronger than Gandalf or Galadriel, or that he was immune to the power of the One Ring.

Duy and Gandalf walked along the main road until nightfall, until they passed an unnamed village.

But what made Dui and Gandalf even more solemn was that the small village had been severely damaged and there wasn't a single person to be seen.

Judging from the signs of damage, the damage occurred relatively recently.

I don't know if the villagers have already suffered misfortune or have been lucky enough to escape.

Dui and Gandalf would prefer the latter.

But when they entered the village and saw some bloodstains and untouched furniture, their mood became heavy.

Clearly, the people here are more likely to have met with misfortune.

Gandalf carefully examined the signs of destruction, then said in a somewhat somber tone, "The force of the destruction was immense, and there were also huge footprints. This must have been done by trolls."

The two left the village in silence and continued walking, encountering several more small villages along the way.

Without exception, they were all severely damaged, and there was not a single person left in the village.

Their mood grew increasingly heavy.

"The previous plan is canceled!" Gandalf suddenly said to Dui. "Our top priority is to find the trolls that destroyed the village. They have abducted quite a few villagers, and it hasn't been long, so there may still be hope for their survival."

Dui naturally had no objections.

The two stopped walking forward and instead changed direction, heading deeper into the ogre forest, following the ogre's footprints in their search.

The two walked deeper and deeper, until midnight, just when they thought they had found their target.

They encountered a large swamp.

Gandalf frowned as he looked at the swamp in front of him.

The swamp was muddy, and the ogre's footprints were submerged in the water, ending all traces of their tracks.

Dui remained silent. He remembered the guiding spells in Harry Potter, but the problem was that he hadn't learned them yet, so he was willing but unable to.

[Hogwarts Check-in System: Location: Troll Forest, check-in required?]

The system suddenly issued a prompt.

Dui paused for a moment, then quickly muttered to himself, "Sign in!"

[Sign-in successful! Congratulations on acquiring the Snake-like Voice talent!]

A talent for speaking in a parsnip-like voice? Dui was somewhat taken aback, not expecting to receive this from this sign-in session.

But after waiting for a while, he didn't find anything extra in his possession.

Could it be that we failed? That shouldn't be the case.

"Sigh~" Gandalf sighed, looking somewhat disappointed. "Duir, now we can only rely on luck to see if we can find the ogre's cave as soon as possible."

"Uh, Gandalf, I have a way to try, but I don't know if it will work..." Dui suddenly said uncertainly.

"You have a way?" Gandalf's eyes lit up, and he stared intently at him.

Dui, feeling somewhat insecure under Gandalf's gaze, nodded: "I don't know if it will succeed, I'm just giving it a try."

Everyone says swamps are places where insects and snakes gather, so Dui tried to imagine himself as a snake and shouted into the swamp, "Are there any snakes?"

Just as Dui awkwardly thought he had spoken human language.

From Gandalf's perspective, however, he sees Dui hissing at the swamp.

The voice contained power, sounding cold and eerie, like the intimidating hiss of a venomous snake flicking its tongue, inspiring unease and a sense of mystery in the listener.

"What language is that?" Gandalf asked in surprise. "It sounds like a snake flicking its tongue."

Dui realized he had actually spoken Parseltongue and was overjoyed. He explained, "This is Parseltongue, or snake language. It allows me to communicate with snakes."

Just as Dui was explaining, a commotion broke out in the swamp. Countless snakes emerged from the water and grass, including water snakes, venomous snakes, and pythons, all converging on Dui's direction.

The sheer number of snakes, large and small, was enough to make one's scalp tingle and give one goosebumps.

Seeing this, Gandalf was surprised, and said meaningfully, "I'm afraid it's more than just communicating with snakes?"

However, Dui's attention was not on Gandalf at the moment, so he did not hear what he said clearly. He did not expect that there were so many snakes living in the swamp, especially after he gained the talent of Parseltongue. At this moment, he only felt that there was a lot of noise around him.

"Hey, human, did you summon us? Why do you speak our snake language?" a water snake asked, tilting its head back.

"I was just making a baby with Little Red when this wretched human summoned us. I really want to bite him!" A bright green venomous snake flicked its tongue in annoyance, but dared not actually bite.

"I'm so hungry, I haven't eaten for over a month. Human, can you give me this old man to eat? I promise I'll treat you well..." a giant python, as thick as a bucket and over ten meters long, said hungryly.

……

Dui felt his head buzzing and immediately shouted, "Quiet down!"

Hissing snake language emanated from Dui's mouth, and all the snakes seemed to be controlled by some force, instantly becoming quiet and limply lying on the ground.

As Dui gradually adapted to his talent for Parsleyan speech, he immediately commanded the snakes, "Does anyone know the location of the nearby troll cave? Lead us there right now!"

The hungry python answered first, "I know where the ogres are! Give me food and I'll take you there right away."

Dui raised an eyebrow.

It even knows how to make demands? Looks like a clever snake.

He laughed and agreed, "As long as you lead the way, we'll kill the troll later, and you can have the whole troll as yours to eat. How about it?"

"Really? You can take down an ogre?" the python asked skeptically.

"Of course it's true. I am a wizard; otherwise, why would I be able to speak to you?"

"Then I'll believe you!" The python nodded, then turned its massive head, as big as a bowl, toward Gandalf, its eyes filled with lust.

"But can't I eat the old man next to you first? I know several ogre caves with lots of shiny things inside, things that you humans like. I can take you there to get them, how about it?"

Upon hearing this, Dui's lips twitched, and he glanced at Gandalf, who was completely unaware of what was happening.

It seems I spoke too soon; this snake has brains, but not many.

"Alright, enough talk, just lead the way!" Dui urged without further ado.

The python could not disobey the snake-man's command, so it immediately turned around and led the way in a certain direction of the swamp.

The other snakes scattered and left.

Duy immediately turned to Gandalf and said, "Let's go, Gandalf. This boa constrictor knows the location of the troll's lair. Let's just follow it."

With that, he waved his wand, and a sturdy stone bridge appeared in the muddy swamp.

Dui stepped onto the stone bridge and followed the direction of the python.

"Wonderful magic! Magical language!"

Gandalf sighed in admiration and then stepped onto the stone bridge to follow him.