Chapter 342: The Lost Ring
Listening to Angbor's broken account, Kael's expression grew darker and darker.
He had already used Legilimency. He knew the boy was not lying.
"All right, Mr Angbor, do not be afraid. I believe you," Kael said, softening his tone to calm him. "But to be sure of what happened, I need to examine you with magic. Do not fight it, all right?"
Sobbing, Angbor nodded.
Kael raised his wand and spoke an incantation.
A white light spread out, wrapping Angbor from head to toe, probing for anything amiss within his body.
Very quickly, a thread of black magic surfaced from inside him. Against that holy white radiance, it stood out sharp and vicious.
With it came a breath of seduction, corruption, and decay that made Kael, Gandalf, and Galadriel all change colour.
It was only a trace of dark magic clinging to Angbor, too little to threaten any of them.
But all three, and Kael most of all, knew that taint far too well. It was burned into memory.
Magic of that insidious, corroding kind could belong to no one else but Sauron.
Staring at the wisp of darkness clinging to Angbor, Kael's eyes went ice‑cold with loathing. He had already suspected who lurked in the shadows. Now, with the proof before him, his killing intent towards Sauron sharpened to a blade.
Yet when he looked back at Angbor, shaking with terror, he forced his anger down. He flicked his wand and said clearly, "Expecto Patronum."
A phoenix burst from the tip of his wand, blazing white‑silver, and swept over Angbor, enclosing him and driving out the last remnants of the dark taint.
Ever since Kael had taken a phoenix as his Animagus form, his Patronus had changed with it, from an owl into a phoenix. A Patronus, embodiment of light and hope, was the purest white magic there was, and it was especially deadly to darkness and Dark creatures.
With only a trace of corruption in him, Angbor was quickly cleansed by the phoenix Patronus.
He felt his whole body lighten. The whispering voice in his mind went suddenly quiet.
He did not know exactly what Kael had done, but he could tell it had helped him. Tears still clung to his lashes as he looked up at the headmaster, eyes full of gratitude, fear, and shame.
"Headmaster… please, do not expel me," he choked. "As long as you do not expel me, I… I will accept any punishment. I do not even know why I did something so terrible. I could not control it. It was like there were two people living in my head…"
"Mr Angbor, I believe you. I know you did not mean to. Breathe. You will not be expelled," Kael said gently.
Then his gaze sharpened again.
"But, Mr Angbor, can you tell me whether you have come into contact with anyone or anything unusual lately? Something that made you feel… strongly drawn to it."
At that, the glaze in Angbor's tearful eyes cleared a little. He shook his head on instinct.
Then something seemed to surface in his memory. His face flushed with guilt, and he could not meet Kael's eyes. "A few days ago," he muttered, "I found a gold ring. It looked very expensive. I… I do not know what I was thinking. I just kept it for myself…"
A ring?
Kael, Gandalf, and Galadriel all stiffened with alarm.
None of them took rings lightly anymore.
"Where is that ring now?" Kael asked, forcing his urgency down and keeping his tone as even as he could. "Can you take us to it?"
Angbor shook his head, misery written all over him.
"I lost it before the Quidditch match," he said wretchedly. "The voice in my head disappeared then. I was so scared someone would find out I had broken the brooms that I could not think of anything else. I do not even know when it went missing."
Kael brushed his mind against the boy's thoughts again and found no lie. His heart sank.
He had finally caught a trail, only to have it vanish in his hands. The one hiding in the dark was cautious as well as cruel.
He did not give up. "Mr Angbor, do you remember where you picked up the ring? Did anyone see you with it? A roommate, a classmate, anyone?"
Angbor shook his head blankly. "I found it on the washbasin in the second‑floor lavatory. It was just sitting there. I thought some student or professor had forgotten it.
"Because I… stole it, I did not dare show anyone. No one else knows."
Kael frowned.
The second‑floor lavatory was public. Anyone in the castle could go there. There was no way to trace who had left the ring.
And if he was right, leaving it so openly on the washbasin, waiting for Angbor to find it, had been deliberate.
Whoever lurked behind all this had likely taken it back again as soon as Angbor had served his purpose.
Gandalf and Galadriel clearly followed the same line of thought. Both their brows were knit, their faces grave.
"Kael," Galadriel's voice sounded in his mind, "what do you make of this ring?"
Gandalf heard it as well and looked at him keenly.
Kael's lips did not move. Meeting their eyes, he answered them in silent, mind‑to‑mind speech.
"That ring carried a power of seduction. It must be one of Sauron's Rings of Power.
"Of the Nine given to Men, I have already destroyed two. The remaining seven are bound up with the Nazgûl's existence. Sauron would not lightly throw away a ring and its wraith to send one here.
"Of the Seven given to the Dwarves, three once lay in Sauron's hand. I have already destroyed one of those. Two still remain. The only real possibility is that he gave one of those Dwarven Rings to the infiltrator and had it brought into the castle."
"And this infiltrator's identity?" Gandalf's thought pressed softly into his mind. "Do you think it could be a Nazgûl?"
Kael's eyes were shadowed as he shook his head. "Unlikely. The Nazgûl are wraiths twisted by their rings. No matter how they hid their darkness, the taint on them could never slip past all three of us.
"I suspect our hidden enemy is most likely Saruman. He alone has the skill to evade our search.
"When I destroyed his body, his spirit fled towards Mordor. He may well have received Sauron's aid and recovered much of his strength. Under Sauron's instruction, he could have taken a student's guise and come to Hogwarts."
Gandalf and Galadriel both inclined their heads, accepting the reasoning.
"Then what is Saruman after this time?" Galadriel asked.
Kael and Gandalf shared a look. Their thoughts ran together.
"Sauron's greatest desire has always been the One Ring," Kael said. "He must have guessed that I know where it is, perhaps even suspects that it is in my keeping. So he sends Saruman here in disguise, to hunt for it among the students."
"And do not forget the Philosopher's Stone you carry," Gandalf added. "That stone can remake a body. Neither Sauron nor Saruman would ignore such a prize if it fell within their reach."
"I know," Kael said, nodding. "The Stone is always on my person. I will not give Saruman an opening."
A flicker of worry passed through Galadriel's gaze. "And that Ring of Power must be found quickly as well," she said. "Sauron has filled it with evil. Even we would risk corruption if we bore it too long, and we are not children."