"Ah, welcome! Long time no see, Kael!"
On the western hillsides overlooking the inland Sea of Rhûn, Kael teleported directly to the modest cabin of Blue Wizard Rómestámo.
Sensing the magical disturbance, Rómestámo enthusiastically emerged to greet him, his weathered face lighting up with genuine pleasure.
Accompanying him was the other Blue Wizard, Pallando, who also greeted Kael with a warm smile and evident goodwill.
Kael nodded respectfully to both Blue Wizards. "Good day, Rómestámo and Pallando. Apologies for this presumptuous visit—I hope I'm not intruding."
Rómestámo shook his head cheerfully, waving away the concern. "No need for such formalities, Kael. Besides the occasional animal visitors, we rarely have guests out here. Your arrival is most welcome!"
"Indeed," Pallando agreed with a kind smile. "Moreover, Kael, you're our savior. You're always welcome in our home."
Kael was warmly invited into the small cabin by both wizards, who seemed genuinely delighted by the unexpected company.
Rómestámo served Kael a steaming bowl of fresh milk—rich Araw cattle milk, still warm.
After drinking it, even with Kael's considerably enhanced physical constitution, he could feel his strength increase slightly, a warm vitality spreading through his limbs.
No wonder the Easterlings so coveted and desired Araw cattle, hoping to become strongmen through their consumption.
Some Easterling tribes even used Araw cattle as sacred tribal totems, honoring them in ceremonies and songs.
After all, Araw cattle were living treasures in every sense.
As descendants of the Vala Oromë's own cattle, Araw cattle were massive, majestic creatures that roamed the eastern plains of Rhûn.
But under relentless Easterling hunting over the centuries, Araw cattle had nearly gone extinct, with only scattered herds remaining.
When Gondor's kingdom was at its strongest, its territory had even extended eastward to Rhûn. The Gondorian Steward Vorondil had once hunted a legendary Araw bull, crafting its horn into a great horn of summoning.
This horn became the Steward family's most precious heirloom, passed down through eldest sons for generations. But during the War of the Ring, the last Steward's son Boromir had unfortunately sacrificed himself in battle, the horn split in half by savage orcs.
That this became Gondor's Steward family heirloom demonstrated how extraordinarily precious Araw cattle horns truly were.
Due to long-term hunting and steadily shrinking habitats, only a few hundred Araw cattle exist in all of Middle-earth now.
This survival was largely the result of Blue Wizard Rómestámo's dedicated protection—otherwise they would likely be extinct entirely.
This was precisely why Kael had first visited the Blue Wizard when seeking Araw cattle materials.
Because Blue Wizard Rómestámo was essentially these Araw cattle's guardian and protector.
To obtain Araw cattle horns ethically, he needed to first consult with their guardian.
Kael chatted with both Blue Wizards at length, exchanging recent news and discussing events across Middle-earth before finally stating his visit's true purpose.
Hearing Kael needed Araw cattle horns for his potion-making, Rómestámo naturally did not refuse the request.
"Araw cattle horns? Of course, no problem at all!" Rómestámo readily agreed without hesitation.
He rose and walked toward another storage room in the back. After rummaging through various items for a moment, he directly retrieved a nearly one-meter-long white horn that gleamed like polished ivory.
He handed it to Kael with an easy smile. "This is a horn section my bull Nolimār accidentally broke while fighting other bulls over territory. I've kept it stored since then. See if this is sufficient for your needs."
Nolimār was Rómestámo's personal mount—an Araw bull with an unusually strong atavistic bloodline. The magnificent creature's entire body was covered in pure white fur, and its two horns were white as jade, radiating a soft fluorescence. It was very majestic and spirited to behold.
Kael had strong memories of that impressive Araw bull from his previous visit. Obtaining a piece of its horn now naturally delighted him.
Besides this valuable horn, Rómestámo also generously gifted Kael an entire small herd of Araw cattle.
The herd numbered thirty in total—centered around breeding cows and including several calves, plus a few adult bulls for protection.
The herd lived peacefully in a protected valley near Rómestámo's cabin. Kael carefully packed them into an expanded space box, already planning to raise them at Weathertop's foot, where they could thrive safely.
To thank Rómestámo for his extraordinary generosity, Kael wanted to gift him a precious vial of Elixir of Life in return.
But Rómestámo gently refused the offer.
Rómestámo firmly believed the Araw cattle did not belong to him personally—he was merely their guardian. Therefore, no repayment was necessary or appropriate.
Seeing Rómestámo's sincere refusal and unwavering stance, Kael could only store away the elixir with reluctant acceptance.
After not staying long at Rómestámo's remote cabin, Kael formally bid farewell to both Blue Wizards and prepared to return west.
Using his Portkey, he transported back to Weathertop once again.
Kael first came to the shore of the Black Lake at the mountain's base.
This area faced Hogsmeade village across the dark water—a relatively open, flat grassland perfect for grazing. Kael released the cattle herd from his enchanted space box, planning to establish pasture for them here.
With the Black Lake's protective magical barrier, there was no worry about Araw cattle escaping or being harmed by opportunistic hunters or predators.
Initially quite unsettled in this strange new place, the herd gradually calmed after seeing the lush grassland and pleasant environment surrounding them.
Adult Araw cattle were impressively massive and powerfully built, with a dignified, almost noble bearing. Their pale fur reflected the afternoon sunlight brilliantly, creating an almost ethereal glow.
Their huge horns, white as polished jade, faintly radiated soft fluorescence even in daylight, giving an impression of both solemnity and power.
Young Araw cattle had soft golden-colored fur and adorable pink noses, appearing very endearing as they stayed close to their mothers.
Kael greatly valued these precious Araw cattle—not only were they beautiful in appearance, but they were treasures in every practical sense.
Their milk increased physical strength naturally. Their horns could substitute for unicorn horns in making Felix Felicis and other advanced potions.
Unicorn horns were indispensable materials in many of the magical world's most advanced potions.
Since Araw cattle horns could substitute effectively, they could potentially replace unicorn horns in numerous other potions as well.
Thus, many previously impossible potions could now be realized and created.
So Kael had the lake-dwelling giant kraken oversee and protect the Araw herd, ensuring they could reproduce here safely for generations.
After settling the valuable herd comfortably, Kael returned to Hogwarts Castle.
Having successfully collected the most difficult unicorn horn and blood substitutes, Kael could now begin gathering the remaining potion ingredients.
He came to the castle tower's common room, where the fireplace burned year-round with constant magical flames.
Approaching the warm fireplace, Kael looked into the dancing fire.
Several salamanders lived there comfortably, bathing contentedly in the flames and feeding directly on fire itself.
These fire salamanders had been created by Kael using Balrog blood and heart fragments to magically transform ordinary lizards into magical creatures.
They could never leave flames for long—once departing fire, they would quickly weaken and die. Besides feeding them spicy peppers for slight延, no possibility of survival existed outside flames.
So Kael did not worry much about managing these salamanders or concern himself with them wandering and accidentally igniting the castle.
Using long fire tongs, Kael carefully rummaged through the ash, which annoyed the salamanders. They spat small sparks at him in protest.
"Hey, quite the temper!" Kael chuckled lightly, completely unconcerned by the salamanders' harmless actions.
Finally he found three small salamander eggs buried in the warm ash.
Salamander eggs were very small—difficult to spot without careful, methodical searching.
He removed three eggs from the fireplace ash, immediately freezing them with a precise Glacius charm to prevent them from becoming inviable dead eggs.
Felix Felicis required six salamander eggs in total. Kael systematically searched other fireplaces throughout the castle.
Salamanders bred quickly—wherever flames existed, they could reproduce successfully. So many of the castle's numerous fireplaces now showed salamander presence.
Soon Kael had collected all the needed salamander eggs.
Then he came to a specially sealed room in the castle's depths.
Many fireplaces burned inside, flames blazing continuously day and night, making the entire sealed room extremely hot and dry.
Living in these protected fireplaces were the Ashwinders—serpentine fire creatures.
Ashwinders had also been created using Balrog blood and heart fragments—but they were considerably more magically powerful than the simpler salamanders.
Also dependent on living in fires, Ashwinders could leave flames briefly to seek dark corners where they laid their dangerous eggs.
Ashwinder eggs were extremely dangerous—emitting intense scorching heat and being highly flammable to everything nearby.
Without timely freezing, they would ignite everything combustible around them in spectacular fires.
So Kael kept Ashwinders confined in this separate sealed room, preventing them from wandering the castle and accidentally igniting his home.
Kael did not head straight to the fireplace flames but instead searched the dark room's shadowed corners methodically.
Indeed, he found over a dozen glowing Ashwinder eggs hidden there.
These eggs glowed a dazzling, dangerous red, radiating scorching light like heated iron spheres ready to explode.
Seeing several already glowing cherry-red with dangerous heat, Kael quickly froze them before disaster struck.
Fortunately, he had arrived in time—otherwise these volatile Ashwinder eggs would have hatched and combusted simultaneously, likely causing significant damage.
Carefully picking up these newly frozen Ashwinder eggs, Kael left the sealed room.
These salamanders and Ashwinders required very little attention or maintenance—just maintaining unextinguished magical flames. They did not even require special feeding, yet they continuously provided valuable potion materials.
Then Kael visited the giant spider chamber, collecting fresh spider venom from those industrious weaving spiders.
These giant spiders were ruthlessly exploited by Smaug, ceaselessly weaving spider silk into valuable cloth for sale.
Even though Kael possessed the Philosopher's Stone capable of endless gold transmutation,
Smaug absolutely refused to abandon exploiting the spiders' labor.
In Smaug's characteristically greedy words, "Gold from the Stone is one thing; having spiders weave cloth for profit is quite another."
A dragon can never have too much gold.
So the Stone's transmutation could not stop, but the spiders' weaving also could not cease under any circumstances.
Even before entering his deep hibernation, Smaug had reminded Kael repeatedly not to let the spiders slack in their work—showing a thoroughly ruthless capitalist face.
Of course, Kael, playing the role of evil capitalist master, indulged Smaug's willfulness completely. He did not regard the spiders as truly sentient beings, even utilizing their corpses as food for basilisk Herpo after they died from exhaustion.
Later, Kael successively collected the remaining ingredients: 2 pints of carefully extracted Mandrake essence, 1 pint of fresh lemon juice, and exactly 23 fresh amaranth petals picked at dawn.
Once all materials were finally gathered and properly stored, he began preparing to create the complex Felix Felicis potion that would take six months to brew.