"Welcome, my good guest!"
The woman rose from her chair, stepping lightly over the pottery basins at her feet, and ran towards him with a charming smile.
"I am Goldberry, daughter of the river. Old Tom said a young Wizard had come to the forest. We haven't had guests here in a long time, and you must be starving. Come quickly and eat something!"
"It's an honor to serve you, Goldberry. I am Wizard Luke," Luke said, bowing slightly with a solemn expression.
Tom Bombadil's identity was unknown.
And the lady before him, who looked like an Elf, also had a sufficiently mysterious identity.
In Buckland's song, Goldberry was the daughter of the Willow River's river-woman, a water nymph. One day, when Tom passed by the river, she mischievously tugged his beard and dragged him into the water.
From then on, Tom fell in love with Goldberry, and not long after, they held a wedding and lived in a small cottage by the Willow River.
Although the veracity of Buckland's song could not be confirmed, Goldberry was indeed inextricably linked to the Willow River.
Seeing Luke's solemn demeanor, Goldberry paused, then a bright smile bloomed on her face.
"What a gentlemanly young man. Please don't be restrained. This is Tom Bombadil's dwelling, and all friendly guests are welcome to come."
As Luke was invited to sit at the dining table, Tom also walked in, happily and proudly introducing him to Luke:
"Ah, it seems you two have already met, but I still want to formally introduce you. This is my beautiful wife, Goldberry. She is the companion of my soul, the source of joy! I truly cannot imagine how lifeless it would be without her by my side!"
Goldberry , sitting beside Tom, smiled very gently, her eyes full of love as she looked at her husband, holding his hand and saying, "Oh, Tom, I love you very much too. I cannot imagine life without you; how dark it would be!"
Watching the two of them express their affection to each other as if no one else was around, Luke silently put down the grilled sausage in his hand.
He felt a bit too full.
And somewhat superfluous.
However, the couple finally remembered that Luke, their guest, was still there. While showering Luke with affection that felt like "dog food," they enthusiastically treated him to various delicacies until Luke truly couldn't eat anymore, only then reluctantly stopping their attempts to add more food.
After dinner was chat time. Tom was like a cheerful child, oblivious to sorrow, eloquently narrating in a poetic tone about every tree, every flower, every leaf he had seen. In his descriptions, everything seemed to gain color, becoming vivid and lively.
And Goldberry was a perfect listener. She always watched her husband with gentle and focused eyes, listening attentively to those interesting stories.
In this atmosphere, Luke also unconsciously became immersed. As Tom narrated, vivid scenes continuously emerged in his mind. He seemed to have witnessed the growth of a tree, the blooming of a flower, the wilting of a leaf with his own eyes, and he also seemed to merge into it, becoming a wisp of wind, a stone, a tree…
In this realization, Luke's soul seemed to break through its shackles, becoming purer and stronger. His spiritual power surged, and the magic in his body grew at an astonishing speed.
Influenced by his magic, green grass grew on the floor of the house, the wood of tables, chairs, and benches re-rooted and sprouted, countless splendid flowers bloomed on the walls, and the water lilies planted in the pottery basins also flowered.
Moreover, this change also spread outside the house; the lawn and garden were rapidly growing.
When Luke emerged from this wondrous state, he saw such a scene: he seemed to be in a garden of green, surrounded by countless plants.
Did he do this?
Luke watched Tom and Goldberry curiously examining the plants and flowers growing on the table, feeling a bit flustered, and quickly apologized, "I'm very sorry, Tom, Goldberry, I didn't mean to. I don't know what happened…"
Tom interrupted Luke's apology, looking very happy, and said cheerfully, "No need to apologize, Luke, I like it this way! Look, we are staying among flowers and green plants, this is truly wonderful!"
Saying that, he picked a golden marigold and tucked it behind his wife's ear, "My dear, this beautiful flower suits you best!"
"Oh, thank you, my dear," Goldberry's smile grew even gentler. She turned to soothe Luke, her eyes full of amusement, "Please don't be uneasy, Luke. In fact, I should thank you. My water lilies have all bloomed, which is truly good news!"
Seeing that they had no intention of blaming him, Luke finally relaxed.
Feeling the abundant spirit and surging magic, and recalling that wonderful state just now, Luke was both excited and amazed.
He remembered that he had fallen into that realm after listening to Tom's story. This feeling was like an epiphany in cultivation stories, very magical. Just a moment of insight had caused earth-shattering changes in his spirit and magic.
He knew this miraculous encounter was brought to him by Tom. He stood up and bowed solemnly to Tom, thanking him: "Tom, I don't know how to express my gratitude. Luke is willing to serve you!"
Tom waved his hand, looking completely unconcerned, "I've told stories to many guests who came here, but they didn't have your situation, so there's no need to thank me."
"Besides, I've already received your thanks, haven't I?" Tom pointed to the surrounding profusion of flowers, his blue eyes sparkling with delight, "This is the best gift!"
Hearing this, Luke stopped expressing his thanks but kept his gratitude in his heart. Although he knew that with Tom's power, he didn't need any repayment, if there was an opportunity to repay him in some small way, he would do his best.
It was late at night. After bidding farewell to Tom and Goldberry, Luke was arranged to stay in the guest room.
The soft bed made Luke drowsy. His hazy gaze fell on the tree heart by the bed, thinking that he would ask Tom about it tomorrow, and then he gradually fell asleep.
The next day, Luke awoke from his dream to the sound of beautiful singing.
After breakfast, Luke finally found an opportunity to take out the Old Willow Tree's tree heart and ask Tom about the method for carving this iron-hard tree heart.
Tom took the tree heart, flicked it with his finger, and hearing the crisp metallic sound, nodded, "This is the Old Willow Tree's heart, isn't it? It's indeed good material for making a magic wand."
Then he answered Luke's question, saying, "I can indeed carve this tree heart into any shape and size you want, but I think you'd prefer to do it yourself?"
Luke nodded. He indeed wanted to make his own magic wand with his own hands.
"Then Tom, do you have any sharp enough knives here that can cut the tree heart?"
Tom casually picked up a butter knife, easily cut off a section of the tree heart as if cutting tofu, and then handed him the butter knife and the cut section of the tree heart.
"Whether any knife is sharp or not makes no difference to me here, so I don't have any divine weapons or sharp tools you might be looking for."
Luke took the butter knife in surprise, disbelievingly tried to cut the tree heart with it, and found that the butter knife really was just an ordinary butter knife, unable to leave even a single mark on the tree heart.
Well, he couldn't learn this skill.
Luke was a bit disappointed. Did he still have to search for a divine weapon to make a magic wand from the tree heart?
"However, if you want to find a knife that can cut through the tree heart, I do know a place that has one," Tom continued.
Luke immediately felt hopeful and quickly asked, "Where is it?"
Tom pointed to the mountains behind the house, "That is the Barrow-downs, where many Númenóreans are buried. I once saw the weapons they forged; they could cut iron like mud. For humans, they are indeed considered divine weapons and should be able to help you."
"The only problem is that the Barrow-downs are infested with dark forces, and Barrow-wights are rampant, making it very dangerous. I do not recommend you go."
Hearing Tom's words, Luke was somewhat moved.
He knew the Barrow-downs, which had once been the holy land of the Dúnedain in the North, and later the capital of Cardolan after the Kingdom of Arnor split into three kingdoms.
However, with the invasion of the Witch-king of Angmar, the chief of the Nine Nazgûl under the Dark Lord Sauron, and the rampant Great Plague, the Kingdom of Cardolan disintegrated, and most of its residents died from illness, turning the Barrow-downs into a no-man's-land and falling into the hands of the Witch-king.
Furthermore, under the contamination of the Witch-king of Angmar's dark power, the Dúnedain buried in the tombs were transformed into terrifying barrow-wights, and the Barrow-downs have since become a place of terror, with no one daring to approach.
The Dúnedain, on the other hand, were descendants of the Númenórean, a formidable race that could defeat the Dark Lord Sauron and his dark army, even capturing Sauron and bringing him back to the island of Númenor.
If not for the Númenórean later being incited by Sauron, daringly leading their fleet to Valinor and declaring this sacred land as their own, thus offending the Valar and Iluvatar, leading the gods to punish the Númenórean and causing the island of Númenor to sink.
This Dark Lord Sauron would have merely been a prisoner of the Númenórean, posing no threat whatsoever.
Returning to the topic, as the holy land of the Dúnedain, the tombs in the Barrow-downs primarily buried the kings, princes, and nobles of the Dúnedain, and according to their traditional customs, the deceased would be buried with their jewelry, accessories, and weapons that they possessed in life.
So, if Luke truly wanted to find a sharp knife capable of cutting tree hearts, the Barrow-downs was indeed a good option.
The only thing to worry about was those barrow-wights.
The barrow-wights were powerful Dúnedain in life, and after death, they were transformed into undead dark creatures by dark power, making them even more difficult to deal with.
Therefore, if Luke wanted to go to the Barrow-downs, he would have to make ample preparations.
Since Tom knew the situation of the Barrow-downs and lived so close to it, he must have some understanding of the barrow-wights. So, he asked Tom about the barrow-wights.
Tom did not hide anything, "Barrow-wights' bodies are as hard as iron, their strength is immense, and their speed is as fast as lightning. Ordinary people cannot even see their figures before being attacked. Moreover, when they appear, they are accompanied by thick fog, making it impossible for people to discover their traces. If attacked, one will be cursed, becoming weak and dying, eventually turning into a barrow-wight! More importantly, ordinary weapons are ineffective against barrow-wights, and even if attacked, their bodies can quickly recover."
The more Luke listened, the more solemn his expression became. These barrow-wights sounded even more difficult to deal with than the Ents in the Old Forest.
"Do the barrow-wights have any weaknesses?"
"Yes, they do. barrow-wights are afraid of sunlight; they will dissipate as soon as they are touched by sunlight."
But before Luke could rejoice, Tom added, "But barrow-wights can create mist and hide in the thick fog, so even during the day, the Barrow-downs are not safe."
"So, if you insist on going to the Barrow-downs, you must not let the barrow-wights get close, especially when encountering thick fog, as the barrow-wights are very likely hidden within the fog."
"I understand, thank you for your advice, Tom."
Luke temporarily abandoned the idea of going to the Barrow-downs right now. He planned to first improve his own strength, so he would have more confidence to go to the Barrow-downs and get what he wanted.
So, he turned his attention to the first willow wood magic wand he had successfully made.
This magic wand was originally just a practice piece for him, and he kept it for its commemorative significance.
But now that the Tree Heart magic Wand could not be made for the time being, he simply decided to complete this semi-finished magic wand first and use it to replace the magic wand he most needed.
A magic wand consists of two parts: the wand body and the wand core. Now that the wand body was complete, only the wand core remained to be found.
In the magic world, the core of a magic wand usually comes from a part of a magical creature. For example, Ollivander preferred Dragon Heartstring, Unicorn hair, and Phoenix feathers from these three magical creatures.
However, in Middle-earth, there are no such creatures as Unicorns and Phoenixes.
As for Dragons, there is one in the Lonely Mountain. Leaving aside the fact that distant water cannot quench immediate thirst, even if a Dragon were right in front of him, he currently did not have the strength to defeat it and obtain its Dragon Heartstring.
Just as Luke was troubled about where to find a wand core, he saw Goldberry sitting among the water lily pots, combing her long hair, and his eyes immediately lit up.
Goldberry, being the River-daughter, undoubtedly possessed extraordinary magic. If her hair were used to make the wand core, it should be effective.
"Beautiful Goldberry, may I have a strand of your hair?" Luke requested from Goldberry.
"Hey, kid, Goldberry is mine!" Tom jumped up, glaring at Luke with an unfriendly and wary look.
Goldberry smiled brightly, gently pulling Tom's hand to soothe him. Her eyes were tender and full of wisdom as she looked at Luke and asked, "Can you tell me what you want my hair for?"
Luke quickly explained, "It's like this, Goldberry, my magic wand is missing a core, so I wanted to use Goldberry's hair to make the magic wand, but if I have offended you, please forgive my rudeness!"
"It's a small matter." Goldberry did not mind at all, casually plucking a golden strand of hair and handing it to him, and then asked, "Is one enough? I can pull a few more if you need them."
"Enough! Enough!" Luke quickly said. If she pulled any more, he felt like he would be glared to death by Tom.
Upon receiving Goldberry's hair, Luke immediately felt the magic it contained, as well as the aura of the water.
Luke was very happy; this was absolutely suitable for making a magic wand, and its effect would be far better than the magical creature hairs from the magic world.
"Hey, kid, Goldberry gave you a strand of hair, so I'll give you a beard hair too." Tom was displeased that Luke had received a strand of his wife's hair, so he immediately pulled off a beard hair, vowing to be a pair with his wife.
Luke had not expected such a pleasant surprise and felt a continuous string of delights. He did not dislike Tom's beard hair; although Tom's identity was mysterious, he was undoubtedly very powerful and ancient, so his beard hair naturally contained extraordinary power.
But before he could rejoice, he watched in astonishment as the beard hair quickly intertwined with Goldberry's strand of hair, completely merging into a single, thicker golden-brown intertwined hair.
"This…" Luke was a little dumbfounded, then felt a mix of amusement and helplessness.
He hadn't expected old Tom to be so jealous, even over a single strand of hair.
He held the intertwined hair and beard, examining it carefully, and his eyes immediately lit up.
He had originally worried that the intertwining of the two hairs would create conflicting properties, making them unsuitable for a wand core.
But unexpectedly, the two hairs fused remarkably well, and their magical properties increased severalfold.
Now with a wand core, Luke began preparing to make the magic wand.
However, since the tree heart could not be carved, he could only first make a magic wand using willow wood and the hair from Tom and Goldberry.
As for the core of the Tree Heart magic Wand, he would see later if he could replace the willow wood core, or if he could find another suitable core.
Although he now had the wand body and core, making a magic wand was not as simple as merely inserting the core into the body to successfully cast spells; it also required a series of complex steps and rituals.
Luke first collected dewdrops that had not yet been touched by the sun in the morning, gathering a whole small basin. Then, he soaked the willow wand body and the hair used as the core in the dew, and placed them under moonlight for seven days to ensure the wand body and core performed at their best.
Subsequently, Luke went into the Old Forest to search for magical trees that produced resin, eventually finding a giant pine tree and a lacquer tree.
Using Petrificus Totalus to immobilize these two restless and hostile trees, Luke, before the sun rose in the morning, used a knife to cut the bark of the pine and lacquer trees, collecting pine resin and lacquer resin.
After all this was done, the wand-making process officially began.
Luke used a special drill to bore a small hole from the tail end of the willow wood, deep enough to accommodate the length of the hair.
He then carved magical runes on the inner wall of the hole to serve as magic conversion nodes.
Next, he carefully picked up the hair with long tweezers and inserted it into the hole, ensuring the hair was evenly placed within the cavity. Then, he carefully poured the melted pine resin into the hole, while being careful not to create any air bubbles.
Once the pine resin completely filled the hole and naturally dried and cooled, the hair and the magic wand were completely integrated under the adhesion of the resin.
Having completed these steps, Luke meticulously polished the magic wand with sandpaper until it was smooth, then applied tree lacquer.
Thus, a complete finished magic wand appeared.
At this stage, the magic wand still could not cast spells; it required one final and most crucial ritual.
On another full moon night, Luke held the magic wand under the moonlight, waving it according to specific movements, continuously injecting magic into the wand, and chanting incessantly: "Runix-Inscri-Berry, Spiritus-Olari-Resonantia…"
As the lengthy incantation continued, the moonlight gathered to form a silvery gas, which was then absorbed by the magic wand.
In a trance, Luke heard a faint heartbeat from within the magic wand.
The magic wand in his hand seemed to come alive, becoming extraordinary.
"Lumos!"
A bright ball of light appeared at the tip of the magic wand, illuminating Luke's smile.
It was only when the complete wand was in Luke's hand that he felt something different.
If the magic power within his body was like water in a reservoir, then the wand was the valve controlling the water's outflow from the reservoir, and his previous wandless casting was like digging a hole in the reservoir.
Although water could still flow out, the outflow was uncontrolled, and even a slight mistake could lead to a dam burst and a flood, causing serious magic accidents and endangering his life.
More importantly, for magic of the same power, the magic power consumed with a wand was only one-tenth of that used in wandless casting, the magic output was stable and continuous, and the difficulty of casting was greatly reduced.
Luke held the wand tightly with joy; with this wand, his strength could be further enhanced.
Luke was never a stubborn person who believed wandless casting was superior to wand casting. After all, the reason humans are more advanced than other animals is because they can think and are good at using tools.
Just as the wand is to the Wizard, it is because Wizards can use wands that they are able to overpower various magic creatures and become the masters of the magic world.
Otherwise, if it were solely about wandless casting, many magic creatures in the Harry Potter world are born with magical abilities, such as Goblins and House-elves, who can perform wandless casting and can ignore Anti-Apparition jinxes to appear in places like Hogwarts.
But one became a bank manager for Wizards, and the other became a servant for Wizards, both existing dependent on Wizards.
Of course, Luke would not give up practicing wandless casting just yet, as there's always a 'what if' scenario; without a wand, he wouldn't become a Squib who couldn't cast any magic.
With the wand, Luke excitedly tried all the magic he had learned, and basically, all of them succeeded on the first try, and their power was stronger than before.
Tom and Goldberry also witnessed Luke's wand-making process firsthand. Seeing Luke cast various magic effects with the wand, Tom immediately became interested and wanted Luke to let him play with the wand.
Luke handed the wand to Tom and taught him a few spells. He was also quite curious if Tom could use the wand.
Tom waved Luke's wand, and golden notes flew out from the wand's tip, emitting joyous music filled with magic. The music grew louder as the golden notes spread, gradually echoing throughout the entire forest.
Under the influence of the music, the resentful trees had their grievances appeased and became peaceful.
Luke, who was closest, felt it most deeply; under the influence of the music, he became incredibly joyful, and this joy was not like the effect of having taken a cheering charm, but rather a joy that originated from his heart.
It was as if, surrounded by this music, he became fearless, and no sadness or negative emotions could affect him anymore.
What surprised Luke was that Tom could use the wand, even playing very beautiful magic music with it, but he couldn't cast Luke's spells.
According to Tom, while he could produce magic with similar effects, the essence of this magic differed in principle from Luke's spells.
Luke was not surprised by this, but he was now more curious about Tom's musical magic.
This musical magic seemed to have no destructive power, but Luke saw its potential and utility; it could remove negative emotions from people, filling them with joyous and positive emotions. Such magic could completely resist the negative effects brought by the Dark Arts.
Although Luke had not yet learned the Dark Arts, he knew that while the Dark Arts were powerful, they would inevitably have negative effects on the caster, potentially leading to the distortion of appearance, soul, and even mind.
That's why the magic world has repeatedly and strictly forbidden the Dark Arts; if one uses unforgivable Dark Arts like the Killing Curse, they will be imprisoned in Azkaban.
Luke had a premonition that as he signed in at more places in the future, he would definitely acquire Dark Arts spells. If he wanted to become stronger, he couldn't abandon the study and use of the Dark Arts.
Therefore, when he encountered this musical magic that could generate positive and joyful emotions, Luke was moved.
He shamelessly asked Tom if he could learn this magic.
And Tom readily agreed.
But what Luke hadn't expected was that Tom's first lesson in musical magic was to have him learn to sing along with him.
According to Tom, this musical magic has no specific spell; instead, it is music that comes from the heart. Therefore, to successfully cast it, one needs to sing loudly, and with emotion; the stronger the emotion, the more powerful the magic effect.
Luke didn't have a terrible voice, but it wasn't particularly good either. So, with a sense of shame, his face flushed, he followed Tom word for word, learning to sing, and was constantly reminded by Tom to sing with emotion.
Under the guidance of Tom, his music teacher, Luke sang haltingly.
And Goldberry sat among the water lilies, weaving cloth while smilingly watching the lively scene between the two.
Finally, Luke learned this musical magic. As he waved his wand, nimble golden notes darted from the wand's tip, hopping and skipping, emitting cheerful music.
However, unlike Tom's music, which could spread throughout the Old Forest, his golden notes could only produce music at close range.
But Luke was already very satisfied.
Moreover, besides using the wand, Luke could also achieve the same magic effect by singing.
The difference between the two was more like singing in one's heart versus singing with one's mouth.
However, compared to the socially embarrassing method of singing aloud, he preferred to express it with a wand.
After staying with Tom for a long time, Luke now had his first wand and had learned musical magic. With ample preparation, Luke officially bid farewell to Tom and Goldberry, preparing to go to the Barrow-downs.
His purpose in going to the Barrow-downs this time was not only to find the sharpest tools for carving the iron-hard tree hearts. Another part of the reason was that he also wanted to see if he could sign in at the Barrow-downs.
Perhaps because they had lived long enough and experienced too many partings, the couple did not try to hold Luke back too much when he said goodbye.
At the time of departure, Tom gave Luke a map of the Barrow-downs that he had drawn, and also marked the location of the sharp tools he wanted to find. The clear and precise location made it feel as if Tom had really been there.
Goldberry, on the other hand, prepared a perfectly fitting black Wizard's cloak and robe with silver trim for him. The material was woven from black swan feathers and silver thread, and the style was inspired by other Wizards in Middle-earth.
Moreover, Goldberry had blessed it; the robe had the effects of being durable and clean, and the cloak also had the ability to conceal, making him easily overlooked and less likely to be targeted when he wore it.
Receiving such a precious farewell gift, Luke was overwhelmed.
"Goldberry, this... this is too valuable!" Luke was surprised and moved. He hadn't done anything for the two of them, yet he had received such kindness.
"Take it," Goldberry said with a gentle smile, pressing the robe and cloak into his arms. "This is from Tom and me. Your future is destined to be a journey of constant movement. We hope this gift brings you a little warmth."
Tom, standing nearby, also said, "Take it, Luke. Don't disappoint Goldberry's kindness; she spent several days weaving it."
Luke finally accepted the gift, and at their persuasion, he immediately changed into the robe and cloak.
Luke's previous clothes were the ones he had worn when he transmigrated, and they had only remained intact thanks to repeated mending charms.
Now, dressed in new attire, his entire demeanor changed. Enveloped by the black cloak and robe, he looked incredibly mysterious.
He truly looked like a genuine Wizard.