Chapter 375: The Room of Requirement
Kael's power had grown beyond measure over the decades. In an instant, he froze Old Man Willow where it stood.
The branches that had been reaching and swaying hung rigid in mid-air, as though time itself had stopped.
Without the Willow's droning enchantment, Frodo's mind cleared at once.
He saw the gnarled, looming tree before him and the gaping hollow in its trunk, wide enough to swallow him whole. His heart hammered, cold sweat prickling his back, and he scrambled away in a graceless rush.
Then he caught sight of Kael and Gandalf, and relief flooded through him. He ran to them, panting hard.
"Kael! Gandalf! Thank the stars you came! I do not know what happened. One moment I was in the Floo, and the next I was in the middle of the forest with every tree trying to kill me. If not for the brooch you gave me, Kael, I think I would be dead already."
"I am sorry. We did not foresee this," Kael said, resting a hand on Frodo's shoulder. "The Ring caused it. It was trying to separate you from us so that it could take hold of you."
Gandalf added, "The trees attacked you because of the Ring as well. You must prepare yourself, Frodo. That thing will not only whisper in your mind, it will also draw the eyes of dark servants. You are likely to face danger like this again, or worse."
At their words, Frodo felt the weight in his pocket grow heavier still. The true peril of the Ring had never been so clear.
While Gandalf comforted the shaken Hobbit, Kael turned his attention to the half-broken willow by the riverbank.
A faint smirk crossed his face. He walked over to the frozen tree and rapped his knuckles against the bark as though greeting an old friend. "Well, well. Long time no see, Old Man Willow. I must say, you have recovered nicely these past decades."
Old Man Willow could not move, but at the sight of his old enemy, memories surged back in a flood. Hatred and fear radiated from the tree's very core.
It loathed this wizard who had nearly killed it all those years ago, leaving it with only half a trunk and forcing it into a long, painful sleep.
And yet it feared him even more, terrified that this time he might finish what he had started.
Kael did not need Legilimency to sense the Willow's feelings, but he had no real intention of harming it further. The tree was no threat to him now, and for the sake of Tom Bombadil and the Ents of Fangorn, he would let it be.
Still, he reached up and snapped off a few slender willow branches. These he tucked away, meaning to send them to Ollivander for wandmaking.
With his prize in hand, Kael waved his wand and lifted the binding spell. The tree shuddered back to life.
He turned his back on it and walked towards Gandalf and Frodo.
Old Man Willow, though free again, did not dare strike. It could feel the power rolling off the man in waves. If it tried anything, it would be ash before it could blink.
Sensing the tree's cowering stillness behind him, Kael's mouth twitched upwards.
One hard lesson had been enough to teach the old willow caution.
Leaving the riverside behind, Kael rejoined the others. "Come. It is time we returned to Hogwarts."
"How do you mean to go back? Apparition?" Gandalf asked.
Frodo waited for the answer with equal curiosity.
Kael frowned and shook his head. "Taking Frodo by Apparition is too dangerous. If the Ring could disrupt the Floo, it can disrupt Side-Along Apparition as well. If it attacks my concentration mid-journey, we could splinch badly."
Kael himself might come through unharmed, but he could not guarantee the same for a passenger.
So Apparition was ruled out, as were Portkeys.
That did not mean he was out of options, though. In his enchanted pouch, he carried flying brooms.
More importantly, he had his phoenix Animagus form.
And so, as Frodo watched in stunned wonder, Kael transformed.
A brilliant golden-red phoenix rose into the air, wreathed in warmth and sacred light, circling once overhead.
Then it dove, seizing Frodo and Gandalf in its talons, and in a burst of blinding flame, vanished.
The next instant, a flare of fire bloomed inside the Headmaster's office at Hogwarts.
A phoenix appeared, bearing Frodo and Gandalf with it.
It released them gently, wheeled once in the air, and landed, shifting back into Kael's shape.
Gandalf looked around and let out an approving hum. "We are back already? I must say, phoenix travel is far more pleasant than the Floo, Apparition or Portkeys. Only the Vanishing Cabinets compare."
Frodo nodded vigorously in agreement. He had not yet tried Apparition or Portkeys, but the Floo's spinning, stomach-lurching chaos was still fresh in his memory.
Phoenix fire, though unnerving at first, had simply flashed and placed them elsewhere in the blink of an eye, with no discomfort at all.
Far, far better than the Floo.
"Right," Kael said, glancing out of the window at the students playing below. His expression grew serious. "Before we leave for Rivendell, we need to deal with the Ring."
The Ring was a terrible danger, and the castle was home to more than seven hundred students and teachers.
None of them had Frodo's Hobbit resistance, nor Kael and Gandalf's strength of will.
The longer the Ring remained here, the greater the risk. Even sealed in its box and the dragonhide pouch, its influence might seep out and ensnare someone.
The One Ring was unlike the other Rings of Power. Sauron had poured the greater part of his soul and strength into it. Even the Maiar dared not touch it, and prolonged exposure could corrupt anyone.
Kael would not gamble with those stakes. The Ring had to be moved, and its reach had to be contained as much as possible.
"What do you intend to do?" Gandalf asked.
He knew Kael well enough to trust that he already had a plan.
Kael did not answer directly. Instead, he said simply, "Follow me."
He strode out of the office.
Gandalf and Frodo fell into step behind him.
They followed him through the corridor until he stopped before a smooth, blank stretch of wall. Kael tapped it lightly with his wand.
To Frodo's astonishment and Gandalf's understanding nod, a great door appeared in the stone, its outline traced in shining mithril.
Kael pushed it open and gestured for them to enter.
Frodo and Gandalf stepped inside.
The room beyond was bright and filled with soft, even light. The walls, ceiling, and floor were white and featureless, stretching away without clear boundaries, as if the space itself had no end. The air was still and utterly silent, untouched by dust or time, as though the room existed outside the world.