Hogwarts wizards who signed in to Middle-earth

Dui nodded.

This was a gift he had chosen specifically for Bilbo. Although it was not as good as a real divine weapon, it was also carefully crafted by dwarf craftsmen.

He remembered that Bilbo would encounter his Sting sword in the Trollwood, but until then it would be a good idea to use this dagger as a substitute.

"Thank you! I like it very much!" Bilbo was very excited holding the dagger, and kept stroking it as if it were a treasure.

"I'm glad you like it. Oh, by the way, can you prepare a darker room for me? I need it." Dui said.

"A dark room?" Bilbo was a little puzzled, but he did not ask any further questions. Instead, he answered, "Then it can only be the cellar at the deepest part of the cave. There is nothing there except some wine. You can go there."

"Okay, thank you. I understand." Dui nodded. He then placed the petrified mandrake back into the glass greenhouse, shielding it from sound with several layers of glass.

Then another pot of mandrake was brought into the cellar, along with a pot of black mud, thirteen bats in cages, a large bag of sea salt, and an earthenware basin.

The cellar was indeed dark. Apart from a small skylight that let in light, there were no gaps for ventilation.

But as soon as Dui arrived here, he sealed the last small skylight, preventing any light from coming in.

Then Dui pulled the mandrake out of the pot and replaced it with the black mud he had brought with him.

This black mud was dug from the cemetery at midnight on a full-moon night. Dui didn't want to recall the excavation process, as it would damage his image as a wizard.

After replacing the black mud from the cemetery, Dui grabbed a bat from the cage, expressionlessly cut open the bat's chest with a dagger, took out the heart inside, dripped the blood on the mandrake roots, and then buried the dead bat in the black mud.

The whole process looks bloody and weird. If others saw it, they would suspect that he was an evil wizard!

After doing all this, Dui stopped.

In the days that followed, he only needed to water the mandrake with the blood of a bat every day, and he didn't need to do anything else.

So in the following days, Bilbo could see Dewy going to the cellar every day and coming out with a faint smell of blood.

Although Bilbo was curious, as a good friend, he restrained his curiosity and did not ask too many questions.

On the 13th day, Dui took the last bat out of the cage, took out its heart and dripped its blood on the mandrake roots, then buried the bat in the black mud.

At this time, the soil of the mandrake grass became fishy and smelly, and the mandrake grass also became gloomy, as if it was a plant growing in the dark, exuding a weird and ominous feeling.

At midnight on the thirteenth day, Deuy pulled the mandrake out of the black mud.

Then fill the basin halfway with sea salt, place the mandrake in it, and cover it completely with the remaining sea salt.

And tamp it down to make sure the mandrake doesn't struggle out of the salt.

After doing all this, Dui covered the pottery basin with a black cloth to ensure that no light would be exposed to the basin.

Only when the moon comes out at night will the black cloth be removed and the skylight opened to allow the moonlight to shine directly onto the sea salt.

After seven days, the sea salt became darker and darker, and finally turned completely black.

Dewy took out the mandrake buried in the sea salt.

At this moment, the mandrake was dead, with distorted facial features, small eyes that were dark and strange, and a dark and ominous aura emanating from its body.

This is the cursed object made of mandrake - the voodoo doll.

"Dark Forces: Defense Guide" mentioned: "Using Mandrake to make curses is like handing the scythe of the god of death into your own hands - it reaps not only the pain of the enemy, but also the soul of the caster."

Although Dui took the warnings in the book seriously, he did not avoid them.

After all, black magic like curses will indeed affect people's character and easily distort their souls if used too much, but its power and effect are unmatched by other magic.

And now he has also learned music magic from Tom. Music magic has a positive and cheerful appeal and can offset the side effects of black magic.

So he had no worries about being influenced by black magic.

Thinking of this, he was very grateful to Tom. This musical magic seemed to have no lethality, but it was of great help to him.

After completing the voodoo doll, Dui carefully wrapped it in cloth and placed it in a small wooden box. This thing cannot be kept in contact for a long time, otherwise it will easily bring bad luck to people, so he had to keep it carefully.

After dealing with all the remaining things, Dui left the cellar.

He has spent more than half a month making the voodoo doll.

During this period, Gandalf never came to Hobbiton and no one knew what he was busy with.

However, according to Dui's prediction, Gandalf and the dwarves will arrive here in a few days, thus officially starting the expedition.

So in the following days, Dui spent his time reading the magic dictionary and waiting.

That evening, just as Dewi and Bilbo sat down to enjoy their dinner, there was a knock on the door.

Bilbo looked puzzled and looked at Dewy in surprise. "Who could be knocking at the door so late at night?"

Dewi had some guesses, maybe it was Gandalf or the dwarves who had arrived.

However, he did not express his guess, but said: "Go and see and you will know."

Bilbo agreed, rising from his chair and going to open the door.

When the door opened, a bald dwarf stood at the door.

"I am Dwalin, at your service," he introduced himself.

Before Bilbo could react, Dwalin walked straight into the house and started to scrape his muddy feet against the wooden box at the door.

"That's... my mother's dowry chest~" Bilbo didn't even have time to stop himself.

However, before Dwalin's foot could touch the box, it was moved away by an invisible force, causing him to kick empty air and almost stumble and fall.

Dwalin stared at the empty box with wide eyes, then noticed Dui sitting at the dining table in the living room. Suddenly, he realized, "Amazing magic! You must be the black-robed wizard Dui'ir that Thorin mentioned. Nice to meet you!"

But he was immediately attracted by the food on the table. He walked to the table and sat down in Bilbo's seat.

"I've been walking for so long, I'm starving!"

As he spoke, he reached out and grabbed the food on the table, stuffing it into his mouth. His movements were rough and quick, and his thick beard was covered with food crumbs, as if he had been hungry for days.

Chapter 40 The Expedition Team Gathers

Dui frowned slightly when he saw this, his appetite suddenly disappeared, and he put down the knife and fork in his hand.

Bilbo was stunned, but before he could ask any questions, there was another knock on the door.

This time it was a white-bearded dwarf named Balin.

He walked in with equal politeness and greeted Dwalin familiarly.

"Who are you? Why did you come to my house?"

Bilbo tried to stop them, but they acted as if they hadn't heard him and continued to search his warehouse.

Immediately afterwards, the door was knocked one after another.

A group of dwarves came one after another: Kili and Fili, Dori, Nori, Ori... Each of them walked into the house carelessly and squeezed onto the small dining table.

The room suddenly became crowded and noisy.

Bilbo stood aside, looking at these uninvited guests, his face full of helplessness and shock.

His home seemed to have become a gathering place for dwarves, and he had become an outsider.

He looked at the dwarves with tears in his eyes as they raided his warehouse for food and wine. He could only look at Dui pitifully for help: "Dui'er~"

Seeing Bilbo's angry and speechless look, Dewi patted his shoulder with amusement and sympathy, and decided to let him vent his anger and teach these rude dwarves a lesson.

"Everything is petrified! Everything is petrified! Everything is petrified..."

The living room suddenly became quiet. The twelve dwarfs were frozen in place in different postures, only their eyes were rolling around with a look of fear in their eyes.

Bilbo breathed a sigh of relief and said gratefully, "Thank goodness for you, Doile!"

But before he could breathe a sigh of relief, the door was knocked again.

Bilbo was still a little frightened and did not dare to open the door.

Dui had no choice but to walk over and open the door.

And standing outside the door was Thorin Oakenshield.

"Thorin."

"Duyle."

The two nodded to each other in greeting.

"Is Gandalf here?" Thorin asked as he walked through the door.

Dui shook his head. "He hasn't come yet. He must have been delayed by something."

Thorin frowned when he heard this.

When he walked into the living room and saw the petrified dwarves, his pupils shrank and his expression became serious. He asked Xiang Dui in a deep voice, "What's going on? What did you do?"

Dui's expression was calm. "They were a little rude. I just wanted to quiet them down for a while."

Thorin's expression turned grim, thinking that Duy was trying to intimidate him. He gritted his teeth and said coldly, "Please ask Wizard Duyle to remove the magic from them. I'll wait for them to apologize to you!"

Dui shook his head. "They shouldn't be apologizing to me, but to the owner of this place..."

"Sorry, I'm late!" Gandalf's voice suddenly came from the gate, interrupting the depressing atmosphere inside. Gandalf walked in with his back bent, looked at everyone with a smile, and asked, "Did I miss anything?"

"Gandalf, you're here!" Bilbo went forward to greet him excitedly, as if he had seen a savior. The depressing atmosphere just now almost made him breathless.

"Hello, Bilbo!" Gandalf greeted with a smile. Then, seeing the group of petrified dwarves standing stiffly at the table, his eyes flickered. "It seems you all already know each other. There's no need for me to introduce you again."

Seeing Gandalf come out to ease the atmosphere, Dui did not intend to completely become enemies with the dwarves, so he waved his hand and lifted the dwarves' petrification spell.

The dwarves, whose bodies had been stiff for a long time, suddenly fell together powerlessly, rubbing their aching limbs and groaning.

At the same time, he looked at Dui with some awe.

After some twists and turns, everyone calmed down again. Although Bilbo was not very welcoming to the dwarves, he still took out all the food and wine from the warehouse to entertain everyone.

At the table, Due and Gandalf sat together, while the dwarves sat together with Thorin at their head.

Only Bilbo was busy going back and forth between the kitchen and the dining table.

While eating dinner, everyone discussed the expedition.

"We don't need to face the dragon Smaug directly. We only need a key figure - someone who is flexible enough and not easy to be discovered, and then sneak into the hall of the lonely mountain and steal the Arkenstone." Gandalf said.

"So that with the Arkenstone, you, Thorin, the heir of Durin's line, can gather the dwarf army and take the Lonely Mountain back from the dragon."

Hearing Gandalf's words, Thorin was a little moved. He looked at Gandalf and asked, "Do you have a choice?"