"Just as Gandalf said, if Sauron cannot be completely eliminated, then when he grows stronger and darkness rules all of Middle-earth, the Shire will not be able to remain safe. I don't want the Shire and my relatives and friends to suffer the ravages of war.
Moreover, the One Ring was found by my uncle, and as his nephew and heir, I have an obligation to continue his unfinished mission, to completely destroy the One Ring, and restore peace and tranquility to the world!"
Feeling Frodo's firm will and thoughts, Luke's eyes flashed with appreciation, and he secretly nodded.
He truly lives up to being the protagonist; his ideological awareness is so high.
He withdrew his gaze, turned to Gandalf, and praised him with a smile, "He is a very good young man."
Gandalf looked pleased and happy, "My judgment has always been excellent!"
"But what about those three?" Luke asked Gandalf.
In the original timeline, Sam accidentally overheard information about the One Ring, which led to Gandalf catching him and having him leave the Shire with Frodo.
Pippin and Merry bumped into Frodo on his way out and then joined the party.
But why are they now following Frodo and Gandalf?
Gandalf explained with some helplessness, "Sam wanted to follow Frodo. As for those two lads, Merry and Pippin, they tried to secretly use the fireplace and I caught them, and then they pestered me about wanting to come to Hogwarts.
Then, he turned to Luke and communicated telepathically, "And I have a premonition that the Fellowship of the Ring will need them; they will play an important role. Furthermore, during the journey, Frodo will need companions. Sincere friendship can turn into the strongest shield, helping him resist the erosion of darkness."
Luke nodded, not surprised by Gandalf's premonition.
Since Gandalf had a plan, Luke said no more, turning instead to welcome Frodo and the other three, and arranged for them to stay at Hogwarts.
The matter of the One Ring was very important, requiring a series of preparations and arrangements, and communication with Rivendell, Lothlórien, and others. There was no rush to transfer the One Ring yet.
So, after discussing with Gandalf, Luke first let Frodo and the others spend a few leisurely and comfortable days at Hogwarts.
After all, their joyful days would soon be gone forever, as they would have to bear a heavy responsibility and overcome countless difficulties to complete an adventure that would determine the fate of Middle-earth.
Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin were welcomed by the castle's mistress, Arwen.
Facing the gentle and beautiful Lady Undómiel, even the most mischievous Merry and Pippin became reserved and shy, not daring to be impolite.
Arwen had a good impression of the four hobbits. Being understanding, she arranged comfortable guest rooms for them and had Elses and Elros take them on a tour of the castle.
Upon seeing the familiar faces of Elses and Elros, Frodo and the others finally relaxed completely. Led by the two, they toured various parts of the castle, met many Professors and students, and even saw Bill, the caretaker.
The various wonders of the castle left Frodo and the other three continuously awestruck. They saw moving portraits and staircases in the castle, floating candles and a transparent ceiling in the Great Hall, walking suits of armor — and the tall, shining Two Trees of Gold and Silver, as well as gardens full of ever-blooming flowers, students flying around the castle on broomsticks, cheering, and so on.
Everything they saw dazzled them, making them afraid of missing any magical sight.
They attended the evening banquet in the school's Great Hall, enjoyed food with the students, and watched the selection trials for the Triwizard Tournament.
Watching the selection trials, two senior students from Phoenix House stood at opposite ends of the competition platform, intensely dueling with their wands.
"Avis!" The student skilled in spells cast first, a flock of birds erupting from his wand tip, attempting to disrupt the opponent's vision and then ambush him.
The opposing student, skilled in Transfiguration, reacted swiftly, casting Transfiguration to transform the flock of birds into a massive shield, blocking the incoming spell.
With another wave, the shield transformed into a lion, letting out a thunderous roar as it pounced towards the opponent.
The student waved his wand to freeze the lion, then waved again to make it vanish, before releasing raging flames that formed a giant fiery python, scorching towards the opponent.
The opposing student summoned a spring of water and used Transfiguration to turn it into a giant octopus. The water-formed octopus tightly coiled its tentacles around the fiery python, and the clash of water and fire produced sizzling sounds, with mist rising and spreading.
The surrounding students all craned their necks, trying to see the mist-shrouded competition platform, eager to know who had won.
Until a gust of wind swept through, carrying away the mist and revealing the scene on the competition platform.
The fiery python and the water-formed octopus had destroyed each other, while the student skilled in Transfiguration was pointing his wand at the opposing student, who was tightly bound by a chain formed from water, unable to resist.
It turned out that the student skilled in Transfiguration had secretly moved a puddle of water on the ground to his opponent's feet while the fiery python and octopus were battling, then cast Transfiguration to instantly restrain his opponent.
Seeing this, the Professor acting as judge immediately announced the result.
The watching students immediately cheered, applauding the two for their brilliant performance.
Frodo and the other three, also among the students, were awestruck by the magical duel they had just witnessed. Influenced by the surrounding atmosphere, they couldn't help but applaud the two contestants on stage.
Frodo and the other three spent two carefree weeks at Hogwarts, getting to know many students and Professors. Merry and Pippin even became friends with Peeves.
It wasn't until a letter from Rivendell that Frodo and the other three's happy times came to an end.
"Lord Elrond is preparing to convene a meeting, inviting various factions to discuss the handling of the One Ring and the establishment of the Fellowship of the Ring," Gandalf said to Luke after reading the letter.
Luke took the letter and read it, then frowned, "Since it has been decided that Frodo will be the Ring-bearer, why convene a meeting of all parties? Aren't you afraid of the news leaking and Sauron sensing our intentions?"
Gandalf shook his head, "The destruction of the One Ring cannot be accomplished by us alone. It requires uniting the various forces of Middle-earth. Only by having all factions participate and form an alliance to jointly confront Sauron's forces is victory possible."
"Only by letting all the forces of Middle-earth see that the One Ring is in our hands can we inspire them, make them understand that only by destroying the One Ring can Sauron and his forces be eliminated, and true peace be achieved. Only then will they set aside their prejudices and selfish desires and spare no effort to help destroy the One Ring."
Then he winked at Luke and said with a smile, "And didn't we plan to lure Sauron out? We can use this meeting to spread the news of the One Ring and attract Sauron's attention.
We can even release false information, saying that the One Ring will be sent to the Blessed Realm in the West. Sauron certainly won't be able to sit still then."
"And once Sauron is lured out of Mordor, Frodo can secretly infiltrate Mordor with the One Ring and destroy it!"
On the outskirts of the tranquil Old Forest, the Withywindle River flowed slowly out of the Barrow-downs ravine, passing by a house covered in blooming flowers.
Surrounding the house were wide, neatly trimmed lawns and gardens, and the tall trees on the outermost edge looked as if they had been deliberately pruned, forming a neat wall of trees.
This is where the ever-joyful Tom Bombadil and his wife Goldberry lived.
With the Huorn blocking the way in the Old Forest, few people were able to disturb Tom's little cottage.
However, on this day, Tom's cottage became lively.
As the green flame in the fireplace ignited, Luke, Gandalf, and Frodo emerged from it in succession.
As for Sam, Merry, and Pippin, who had originally wanted to follow, they were left behind at Hogwarts Castle.
Tom expressed a warm welcome to the three arrivals and gave them big hugs.
The gentle and beautiful Lady Goldberry also brought out various fruits and nut cakes to entertain them.
These fruits and nuts grew on the Huorn themselves; they were far more delicious than ordinary fruits and nuts, and eating them made one feel energized.
The three enjoyed the delicacies while discussing the customs and environments of various regions in Middle-earth.
Tom was uninterested in the various conflicts and situations in Middle-earth, only curious about natural life, listening to Luke and Gandalf describe the flora, fauna, mountains, and rivers they had seen.
As for Frodo, being unfamiliar with the topics, he sat quietly, slowly eating the nut cakes made by Lady Goldberry, acting as a silent listener.
Finally, Gandalf stated the purpose of their visit.
Tom Bombadil was instantly overjoyed, looking relieved of a great burden, and happily jumped up, waving his arms and legs.
"This is wonderful! You are finally going to take this troublesome thing away!"
Saying this, he impatiently ran into another room filled with clutter and unearthed a dusty large wooden box from beneath a pile of miscellaneous items.
Luke and the others followed him in curiously, watching his series of actions.
Tom opened the large wooden box, revealing a slightly smaller wooden box inside.
Opening that, there was an even smaller silver box, like a set of nesting dolls.
Tom took out the silver box, returned to the living room, and placed the box on the table with a look of distaste, complaining, "That ring keeps saying all sorts of nonsensical things, giving me a headache. Especially in recent years, the noise has gotten louder, making my horses and cattle restless.
And it keeps trying to slip away from me. It previously tempted a mouse to try and steal it, but after I discovered that, I locked it in this box, and only then did it quiet down a bit."
As he spoke, he gently tapped the silver box with his finger, and the box opened automatically.
"Honestly, if you hadn't come, I would have thought about throwing this thing away. Because of its presence, the small animals in the forest don't want to come here to play, and my horses and cattle have lost a lot of weight!"
As the box opened, the one ring inside revealed its true appearance.
At the same time, a powerful, seductive spirit emanated from the Ring.
Instantly, Luke felt the Ring was overwhelmingly tempting him. A voice in his heart seemed to say that if he obtained the Ring, he would gain power like Sauron, and might even shatter the Shackles of the Soul, evolve into a Secondary God of the Maia level, and achieve true immortality!
Luke's reason and the temptation constantly tore at him, urging him to touch the ring in the box, seize it, and possess it alone.
But just as he was about to be tempted into reaching out to touch it, a sharp pain shot through his mind.
A trace of clarity flashed in Luke's eyes, allowing reason to briefly gain the upper hand. Luke's expression changed drastically; instinctively backing away, he simultaneously activated Occlumency.
A Mental Fortress was erected in his mind, forming a solid defense that resisted the external mental assault, allowing him to completely break free from the Ring's temptation.
After decades of effort, Luke's Occlumency was far more advanced than before. Not only had he established an extremely solid Mental castle in his brain, similar to the real Hogwarts Castle, but its internal structure was also highly complex, like a labyrinth.
Furthermore, it contained various Psychological Traps, False Memories, and Memory Black Holes, making it impossible for anyone to find his true memories and soul, preventing him from being completely corrupted and turned into a puppet.
As Occlumency operated, the Mental castle in his mind instantly transformed into an unyielding fortress, ensuring Luke was no longer affected by the Ring.
He had not relaxed his practice of Occlumency over the past decades, even researching it to a higher level, specifically to counter Sauron's mental attacks.
After all, Sauron's most powerful ability was his Mental Corruption Ability, capable of corrupting and causing even the strongest people to fall, turning them into his puppets, controlled by him.
While Luke used Occlumency to escape the Ring's temptation, Gandalf also resisted the Ring's seduction using his extraordinarily strong Soul Will.
However, Gandalf's body remained tense, staring intently at the Ring as if facing a formidable enemy.
The Ring's power of temptation was many times stronger than before; even without touching it, they were still affected.
Although he had been mentally prepared beforehand, seeing and experiencing it firsthand made Gandalf's mood solemn.
He reacted quickly, looking towards Frodo and Luke beside him, worried that they too had been tempted.
He was surprised to see Luke's eyes clear, frowning at the Ring, seemingly unaffected.
"Luke, are you alright?" Gandalf asked with concern.
Luke shook his head: "Don't worry, Gandalf, my Occlumency is quite effective. As long as I don't touch it with my hand, there will be no effect."
Hearing this, Gandalf felt relieved.
He trusted Luke deeply. He had personally witnessed Luke's rapid increase in magical power over the decades; Luke had reached a very high level, and his strength was not much weaker than that of the most elite powerful beings like themselves.
His spirit and soul had also grown stronger through decades of meditation. As long as his Mind was Harmonious and his Soul Complete, he could shatter the Shackles of the Soul and evolve into a Maia-level existence.
Of course, this step was not easy. So far, only a few individuals like Eärendil and Glorfindel had successfully completed the Soul Transformation.
Eärendil, having endured many hardships and made immense contributions during the War against Morgoth in the First Age, was only able to ascend to the sky with a Silmaril, transforming into the Star of Hope—the Star of Eärendil.
Glorfindel, moreover, perished together with a Balrog, receiving the grace of the Valar, which allowed him to be reborn with power and abilities equivalent to a Maia.
And someone like Galadriel, despite her immense power and her possession of Nenya, the Elven Ring, still had not reached the level of a Maia.
This shows how difficult it is to advance to the Maia level.
After all, the Maia are Secondary Gods; although they cannot compare to the Valar, they are still divine beings.
To become a god is tantamount to ascending to heaven.
Getting back to the point, after Gandalf saw that Luke was unaffected by the Ring, he looked towards Frodo.
Frodo was also somewhat tempted by the Ring, but as a hobbit, his resistance to the Ring was far greater than that of other races. Thus, after a brief moment of distraction, he quickly broke free from the temptation, backing away cautiously, wanting to distance himself from the Ring.
Seeing Frodo in this state, Gandalf displayed a look of satisfaction.
The hobbits truly are a peculiar race—small, ordinary, and unassuming, yet capable of resisting the power of the Ring, which even the Maia struggle against.