Luke didn't know much about Floo Powder, only remembering that it was a common means of transport for Wizards in the magic world.
Typically, if a Wizard needed to travel, he would grab a handful of Floo Powder, stand in a fireplace, throw it at his feet, and loudly shout his destination. The Wizard would then be engulfed by green flames and transported to a fireplace at his destination.
Thinking this, Luke's eyes lit up. If Floo Powder could transport people, then why would they bother risking a long, arduous journey? Couldn't they just use Floo Powder to transport themselves directly to the Lonely Mountain?
However, after thoroughly reading the description of Floo Powder in his mind, he abandoned this idea.
This was because for Floo Powder to transport people, a Floo Network also needed to be set up. Only with a Floo Network could Wizards accurately reach their destinations.
Otherwise, Floo Powder alone could not pinpoint a location, and the distance would be random, leading to arbitrary teleportation into other fireplaces, making it impossible to guarantee safety and accuracy.
Furthermore, setting up a Floo Network required first reaching the destination and using magic to connect and locate the destination's fireplace with the departure fireplace before Floo Powder could be used for transport.
Therefore, his plan to use Floo Powder to transport everyone to the Lonely Mountain was simply not feasible.
However, even if it wasn't possible for the current journey, Luke still planned to set up a Floo Network and make Floo Powder during the expedition, which would make his future travels much more convenient.
Inside The Prancing Pony,
While the Dwarves were still drinking, Luke went to the counter and asked the innkeeper, "Innkeeper, do you know if there's any Moonstone for sale nearby?"
The innkeeper was well-traveled and knowledgeable. Seeing Luke in his Wizard's robe, he immediately became respectful and polite, "Wizard Sir, if you wish to buy Moonstone, there's a jewelry store in town. They should have Moonstone for sale there."
Luke shook his head, "I need ordinary Moonstone, not the kind used for jewelry, and I need a large quantity."
He needed Moonstone to make Floo Powder and wouldn't be so extravagant as to use expensive Moonstone jewelry as a material.
Hearing Luke's words, the innkeeper shook his head, indicating he couldn't help, as no one would collect ordinary Moonstone except for making jewelry.
However, he glanced at the Dwarves who had come with Luke and suggested, "Wizard Sir, why don't you ask the Dwarves? They are naturally skilled at mining; perhaps they would know about Moonstone."
Luke realized, almost forgetting about the Dwarves.
"I understand, thank you for your suggestion," Luke thanked him, then asked, "By the way, could I borrow your fireplace for a moment?"
"Borrow the fireplace?" The innkeeper was full of doubt; what for? But no matter how he thought about it, he wouldn't refuse a guest's request, especially a Wizard's. He said, "Please, feel free."
After thanking the innkeeper again, he went directly to the fireplace, took out his magic wand, and continuously cast spells and incantations at the fireplace.
Gandalf noticed Luke's movements and came to his side, curiously watching Luke cast spells, "Luke, what are you doing?"
"I'm preparing to set up a Floo magic Network in Middle-earth, choosing this place as a node, so in the future, I can directly use magic to teleport here," Luke explained, and told him the concept of the Floo Network.
The more Gandalf listened, the brighter his eyes became, and his expression grew excited, his gaze fixed on Luke, "This is truly a brilliant idea! Luke, you've surprised me greatly!"
"Once your Floo Network is established, the distances across Middle-earth will be shortened, and the connections between the people of Middle-earth will become much closer. Moreover, if any place is invaded by dark forces, other areas can quickly receive news and respond swiftly with support. This is a great invention capable of changing the entire situation in Middle-earth!"
Uh, could he say that he just wanted to make traveling more convenient and hadn't thought about any of that?
Facing Gandalf's praise, Luke felt quite unworthy.
Bree, as an important thoroughfare in the Eriador region, was a relatively prosperous town with a bustling market and shops.
Under the guidance of a hobbit attendant arranged by the innkeeper, Luke arrived at a jewelry store.
The jewelry store owner was very enthusiastic when he saw Luke enter. "What kind of jewelry are you looking for, honored guest? Whether it's rubies, sapphires, diamonds, or anything else, we have it all. And not only do we have jewelry crafted by Human artisans and hobbit artisans, but even the craftsmanship of Dwarf artisans and Elf artisans!"
"Oh, there's even jewelry crafted by Elf artisans?" Luke was indeed attracted by the jewelry store owner's words.
Seeing Luke's interest, the owner immediately took out an Elf-crafted jewelry accessory: a silver brooch inlaid with white diamonds, exuding an elegant aura. It truly seemed to fit the Elven aesthetic.
However, Luke was a little disappointed after seeing it. Although it was Elf-crafted jewelry, it was merely an ordinary piece of craftsmanship and had no magic properties.
So, after a glance, he no longer looked at it, but directly asked, "Do you have full moonstone here?"
The jewelry store owner was somewhat disappointed to see Luke uninterested in the Elf-crafted accessory, but upon hearing the next question, his spirits lifted, and he quickly replied, "We also have full moonstone here!"
As he spoke, he took out another box. When he opened it, inside were indeed pieces of jewelry made from full moonstone.
"Besides this type of jewelry, do you have any raw full moonstone here?" Luke asked again.
The owner looked at him strangely, but still nodded, "We do, but we generally don't sell raw stones..."
Luke interrupted him, "I'll take all the raw stones you have, price is not an issue!" As he spoke, he pulled out a ring inlaid with a large ruby and threw it to him. "Is this enough?"
Although full moonstone can be used to make jewelry, its value is far from that of precious gems like rubies.
The owner quickly caught the ring, looking at the high-grade ruby set in the gold ring. He examined it carefully, and his eyes immediately lit up, a wide smile spreading across his face. He quickly nodded: "Enough, more than enough! Honored guest, please wait a moment, I will bring you all the raw stones from our inventory!"
With that, he tucked the ring into a pocket in his chest lining, then quickly jogged into the back room. After a while, he emerged, panting, carrying a burlap sack on his back.
He carefully placed the burlap sack in front of Luke and opened it for Luke to see: "Honored guest, are you satisfied? There are 30 raw stones in total, all of the best quality full moonstone!"
Luke looked into the bag. The full moonstones inside varied in size, some as large as a fist, others as small as a pigeon's egg. Because they were intended for jewelry making, their quality was superior, shimmering with iridescent light.
Luke nodded, "Not bad." To be honest, using them to make Floo Powder was a bit of a waste, but he currently had no other source of full moonstone, so he could only indulge himself for now.
"By the way, owner, where did you acquire all these raw full moonstones? Could you tell me?"
The jewelry store owner had no intention of keeping it a secret. "I acquired these from traveling merchants who passed through. I heard they also exchanged them from the Elves near the Misty Mountains. The Elves there are elusive, but they regularly come to the Brandywine Bridge and exchange goods with traveling merchants."
Having obtained another source of full moonstone, Luke left the jewelry store with a bag of full moonstone and returned to The Prancing Pony Inn to reunite with everyone.
However, upon his return, Luke found that they had already become the center of attention.
Everyone in the entire inn knew that Luke and his companions had defeated the wight and swept through the Barrow-downs, and this news spread throughout the town at the fastest possible speed.
And the reason for all this was that the talkative Dwarves had revealed it after getting drunk.
The terror of the Barrow-downs was known to everyone in the entire Eriador region, especially to the residents of Bree, which was adjacent to the Barrow-downs. The fear of the wights had been passed down through generations, deeply ingrained in their bones and blood.
Now, hearing the Dwarves say that the wight of the Barrow-downs had been dealt with, and that no more wight would appear for several decades, the residents of Bree were in an uproar.
And as the main force in defeating the wight, Luke and Gandalf received the most attention.
But Gandalf clearly did not intend to accept this glory. While Luke was not in the tavern, he directly pushed most of the credit for killing the wight onto Luke.
Thus, as soon as Luke entered the inn, he received star-like treatment.
"Let us welcome back the wight's bane - Mr. Luke! It was he who dealt with those terrifying devils from the Barrow-downs for us! Let us toast him!" The innkeeper shouted loudly, looking very honored.
"To the wight's bane - Luke!" Everyone present raised their glasses and shouted, and even Gandalf smiled and echoed the crowd.
Seeing the guests all ordering drinks, the innkeeper's smile deepened.
"Gandalf, you really pushed all the trouble onto me!" Luke finally managed to escape the enthusiastic residents of Bree, sat across from Gandalf, took a deep breath, and gave a helpless, wry smile.
"We both dealt with the wight, and you contributed more than I did, so why push all the credit onto me?"
Gandalf smiled, looking at him, somewhat disheveled, and chuckled, "Young people should enjoy glory. I, an old man, have passed the age of enjoying glory, so I won't get involved in all this excitement."
"Moreover, you shouldn't belittle yourself. If you hadn't severely wounded the Witch-king of Angmar with a curse, we wouldn't have achieved such a great victory. This glory is well-deserved for you!"
It's unclear which brave warrior actually went to investigate, but within half a day, news had spread back to Bree, confirming that what the Dwarves said was true.
Thus, the residents of Bree became even more fervent. The Mayor of Bree even personally visited Luke and his companions, and presented a golden medal engraved with "wight's Bane."
In this way, Luke's title as the wight's Bane was thoroughly established.
Due to this delay, everyone decided to stay at The Prancing Pony Inn for a night and depart early the next morning.
That night, Gandalf proactively introduced a stranger to Luke: "Luke, this is a Ranger friend of mine. He just came from the Barrow-downs and specifically wanted to visit you."
A Ranger? Luke sized up the other person.
This was a tall, handsome man in his thirties with black hair and grey eyes, wearing a black cloak and long leather boots. He carried a bow on his back and a longsword at his waist.
The man's voice was deep and resonant, and his grey eyes held a hint of weariness: "I have long heard of your great name, Treeslayer, wight's Bane, Black Wizard Luke. I am Alphaor, it is an honor to meet you!"
After setting the fireplace of The Prancing Pony as a node for the Floo Network, Luke only needed to continue setting up fireplaces in other places as nodes during the rest of the journey, and he would gradually build a Floo Network covering Middle-earth.
This way, as long as one had Floo Powder, they could freely teleport through the Floo Network to various fireplaces across Middle-earth.
Gandalf was very interested in the concept of the Floo Network and expressed his willingness to help him lay the Floo Network to the best of his ability. His only request was that after the Floo Network was set up, Luke would allow others to use the Floo Network for transport.
Luke readily agreed to this.
Not to mention that the method for making Floo Powder was in his hands; anyone wanting to teleport through the Floo Network would first need his permission.
He could even use this as a source of profit. By monopolizing Floo Powder and the Floo Network, he could earn far more wealth than the Lonely Mountain's Dwarven treasure.
The raw material for Floo Powder is Moonstone, also known as Adularia. It is a translucent, milky-white mineral with a moonlight effect, typically used for making jewelry, and in the magic world, it is an ingredient in various Potions, such as tranquilizers and love Potions.
Since its invention, Floo Powder has been strictly controlled by the Ministry of Magic. Only one company, Floo Powders, has obtained a production license. Its headquarters are in Diagon Alley, but the location of its door has always been unknown, and it's also unknown who makes it, with the materials kept secret.
Moreover, the price of Floo Powder has remained unchanged for a hundred years: two Sickles per scoop, which can be said to be very cheap.
But after Luke obtained the manufacturing method for Floo Powder, he realized why this monopolized business had never raised its price.
It was simply because the production cost of Floo Powder was extremely low. Two Sickles per scoop was already an exorbitant profit, and it wasn't because Floo Powders company had a conscience that they set such an affordable price.
"You want to find a Moonstone mine?" Thorin looked up at Luke in surprise, and the other Dwarves also looked over curiously.
Luke nodded, "Yes, I need a large quantity of Moonstone to make a magic material, but I don't know where to find it. And your Dwarf race is skilled at excavating mines, so I wanted to ask if you know any information about Moonstone mines?"
Thorin pondered for a moment and replied, "Moonstone mines are not common, but I do know the locations of some mines. One is in the Blue Mountains; there are ancient Dwarven excavated mines there, but most of the ore inside has already been extracted.
Another place is our destination for this journey—the Lonely Mountain. There is an unmined Moonstone vein there. Once we reclaim the Lonely Mountain, I can promise to give you the mine."
Bifur, a descendant of the Khazad-dûm Dwarves, immediately added, "The Misty Mountains are rich in mineral resources; there should also be Moonstone mines there. However, that area is currently occupied by Orcs, so obtaining Moonstone would likely be very difficult."
"I understand, thank you all for the information," Luke nodded, expressing his gratitude to the Dwarves.
The locations of the Moonstone mines provided by the Dwarves were all quite distant and not something Luke could access for now, so he decided to go to the jewelry store the innkeeper mentioned first.
Luke looked him up and down, thoughtfully.
"You are a Dúnedain?"
Surprise flashed in the man's eyes, and he nodded slightly, "I didn't expect anyone to still know about us."
"I also heard it from others, that there's a ranger team in the Eriador wilderness that secretly maintains the peace of the region."
Luke naturally knew about the Dúnedain; they were descendants of the ancient Númenórean, possessing strength and longevity far beyond ordinary people.
However, this Dúnedain ranger was looking for him. Could it be because he led people to raid his ancestors' tombs, and now he was here to cause trouble?
He remembered that these Northern Dúnedain were the survivors of the former Arnor Kingdom, and the Barrow-downs was where their ancestors were buried.
"What do you want with me?"
Luke didn't believe this Dúnedain was simply paying him a visit.
Alphaor didn't beat around the bush, "I heard that Wizard Luke, you have some ancient swords obtained from the undead. Could you show them to me?"
As long as it wasn't about tomb raiding, Luke readily agreed. After dealing with the undead, besides gold, silver, and jewels, Luke had the most undead ancient swords.
Taking a undead ancient sword, Alphaor carefully examined the long sword before reluctantly returning it to Luke.
"This sword was forged using the lost Númenórean forging technique. Even after thousands of years, its sharpness has not diminished in the slightest. Moreover, there's an Arnor noble's emblem on the sword. I think it should be the personal sword of a former noble of the Arnor Kingdom."
Alphaor made a request: "The Númenórean forging technique has been lost. We have been trying to trace back this skill. Wizard Luke, would you be willing to trade some ancient swords with us? You can make demands, and we will try our best to fulfill them!"
Luke had been troubled these past few days about how to deal with these undead ancient swords. Now, Alphaor's request was exactly what he wanted.
He thought for a moment, then immediately nodded and said, "I have dozens of ancient swords, and I can give them all to you."
Alphaor was overjoyed at the news. He had originally been content with trading for just a few ancient swords from Luke, but he didn't expect Luke to be willing to give them all, which made him ecstatic.
He quickly said, "Wizard Luke, whatever requests you have, as long as we can do it, we will fulfill them!"
"You Dúnedain travel everywhere, so you must be well-informed. I'd like to ask you to help me collect various herbs from Middle-earth, especially those containing Magic. It would be best if they are alive."
Hearing Luke's request, Alphaor was a bit surprised and hesitated, saying:
"Wizard Luke, don't worry, we will do our best to help you collect herbs, but these things might take time…"
Luke waved his hand, "It's fine, I'm not in a hurry. Just help me collect as many herbs as possible."
Alphaor breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this and immediately agreed.
Thus, a trade was concluded in the inn.
Both parties were delighted. Alphaor obtained enough undead ancient swords, gaining the opportunity to trace the lost Númenórean forging technique from the ancient swords and restore the former glory of the Dúnedain;
And Luke, on the other hand, could leverage the power of the Dúnedain to obtain more Middle-earth herbs.
Herbs are the basis for making Potions, but many Magic herbs from the Harry Potter world do not exist in Middle-earth.
Luke planned to first collect Middle-earth herbs, and then, once his knowledge of Potions and herbology was sufficient, he would find substitute herbs to replicate all sorts of miraculous Potions one by one.
After completing the trade, Alphaor left the town overnight with the dozens of newly acquired undead ancient swords.
Luke and the others stayed at The Prancing Pony Inn for a night, then resumed their journey early the next morning.
But what left Luke speechless was that in the supplies replenished by the Dwarves, almost half of it was taken up by alcohol.
————
It was another moonlit night.
Everyone camped in the wilderness, and Luke once again used Transfiguration to conjure tents and sleeping bags.
When most people had fallen asleep, Luke went outside the tent and poured out a bag of full moonstone, arranging them under the moonlight.
Then he drew his wand and, as if counting, tapped each full moonstone with his wand.
As the wand continuously tapped, Magic was constantly injected into the full moonstone through the wand.
Full moonstone is a good medium for Magic storage. After being infused with Magic, the full moonstone emitted a faint blue glow and slowly began to absorb the moonlight.
In the following days, Luke would take out the full moonstone every night and place them under the moon to sunbathe.
This process would need to continue until the next full moon night before it could stop.
The companions naturally noticed Luke's behavior, but since Luke didn't explain, they found it awkward to ask proactively.
The group traveled without incident and soon arrived at Weathertop.
Expedition so far -
Weathertop is the highest and southernmost hill in the Weather Hills, adjacent to the Great East Road. In Sindarin, it is called Amon Sûl, meaning "Hill of Wind."
Weathertop was once an important frontline fortress of the Northern Kingdom of Arnor. The Númenórean built a huge watchtower on Weathertop to house the largest and most powerful Palantír—the Amon Sûl Palantír—to monitor the entire Eriador region and communicate with other Palantíri.
However, as the Arnor Kingdom divided and declined, in the year 1409 of the Third Age, the Witch-king of Angmar led an army to besiege Weathertop. The Tower of Amon Sûl was destroyed and razed to the ground, and the Palantír stored within it was unfortunately lost during the transfer amidst the war and sank to the bottom of the sea.
For over a thousand years thereafter, the Tower of Amon Sûl was never rebuilt, leaving only a circular stone wall, recounting its former glory.
Luke wanted to go to Weathertop to try to sign in, so he suggested staying there for a night.
Everyone had no objection to Luke's suggestion.
Arriving at the ruins of the Amon Sûl Tower, Gandalf looked at the crumbling walls before him, his eyes filled with memories, and sighed, "The majestic presence of the Amon Sûl Tower is still vivid in my mind, but time flies, and now the former scene can no longer be seen!"
Hearing Gandalf's reminiscence, Bilbo curiously asked, "Gandalf, have you seen the Tower of Amon Sûl?"
Gandalf nodded and recalled, "The Tower of Amon Sûl was incredibly majestic and tall, reaching 1000 feet, soaring into the clouds. It was the tallest tower in the entire Eriador region, and the Palantír placed within it, even at the edge of the wilderness a thousand miles away, its light could be seen."
1000 feet? Luke was astonished; that was equivalent to over 300 meters in height, which meant it was as tall as a hundred-story building in his previous life!
The Dwarves were also very surprised; a building of such height was a massive undertaking even for them, who were skilled in construction.
However, Luke quickly lost the inclination to sigh, because the system finally responded.
[Hogwarts Sign-in System: Location Weathertop, do you wish to sign in?]
"Sign in," Luke murmured in his mind.