Kael remained blissfully unaware of Sauron and Saruman's sinister machinations brewing in the volcanic depths of Mordor.
Over the following weeks, he made several more perilous journeys into the Unseen Realm, each expedition bringing him closer to his goal. The gray twilight world had become almost familiar, though no less dangerous, as he methodically harvested wisps of death essence from the spectral ruins of Dol Guldur.
Finally, after collecting enough of the precious ethereal substance to fill his obsidian bottle completely, he decided to cease his supernatural expeditions.
The materials for crafting the legendary Resurrection Stone were now complete, but the actual creation required precise timing. The ritual could only be performed at the midnight crossover between year's end and new year, when the star Sirius, known in Elvish as Helluin, reached its zenith directly overhead. The timing would have to wait until after he completed Hufflepuff's Cup.
Kael temporarily set this momentous project aside and arranged a meeting with Galadriel, Elrond, and Celeborn to discuss the pressing matter of the captured Nazgûl's ring.
The Nine Rings for Men had been corrupted for millennia, infused with Sauron's malevolent essence until they pulsed with dark power that could corrupt even the strongest will. Though they represented artifacts of immense magical potency, Kael dared not risk direct contact with such tainted treasures.
Galadriel and the other lords of the White Council agreed unanimously with Kael's assessment. The ring must be destroyed completely.
Fortunately, the Nine Rings for Men weren't as impossibly resilient as the One Ring, which could only be unmade in the fires of Mount Doom, where it was forged. Historical precedent existed for their destruction. Four of the Seven Dwarven Rings had been consumed by ancient dragon flames during the great wars of the past.
Elrond suggested enlisting Smaug's aid, reasoning that dragon fire might prove effective against one of the Nine Rings for Men.
The assembled council agreed to this proposal without hesitation.
Kael summoned Smaug from his treasure-filled lair beneath Weathertop, and the great golden dragon descended with a sound like thunder, his massive form casting shadows across the courtyard where they had gathered.
"You wish me to destroy this trinket?" Smaug rumbled, his ancient eyes gleaming with interest as he examined the cursed ring. "Very well. Such corrupted baubles offend my refined sensibilities."
The dragon's flames did indeed affect the ring, heating the gold to cherry-red incandescence, but since Smaug wasn't the most powerful fire dragon in existence, his dragonfire alone would require several continuous days of sustained burning to completely melt the accursed band.
Observing the slow progress, Kael decided to accelerate the process. He retrieved a crystal bowl filled with basilisk venom from Herpo's stores and carefully immersed the glowing ring into the corrosive liquid.
The venom immediately began boiling violently, sending up noxious steam as it ate at the ring's surface like the most potent acid imaginable. The sound was horrific, a continuous sizzling and hissing that made everyone present cover their ears.
Though the effect remained gradual, the basilisk venom clearly impacted the ring's integrity. The once-pristine surface became pitted and corroded, losing its sinister luster as holes appeared in the gold.
The combination of dragon fire and basilisk venom cut the ring's destruction time directly in half.
But Kael felt the process still wasn't progressing quickly enough. When Smaug resumed scorching the ring with concentrated dragon fire, Kael added his own contribution, summoning Fiendfyre to burn alongside the natural flames.
Under the triple assault of continuous scorching, corrosion, and cursed fire, the ring's destruction accelerated dramatically. The gold began to actually flow and drip, while the white gem embedded in its center developed hairline fractures that spread like a spiderweb.
The Nine Rings for Men served as more than mere jewelry for the Nazgûl. They functioned as the wraiths' true bodies, similar to Horcruxes, acting as containers for the Nazgûl's tortured souls and anchoring them to the mortal realm.
When Khamûl's ring began its final destruction, the fallen Nazgûl immediately sensed his approaching doom across vast distances.
In the dark halls of Barad-dûr, Khamûl let out painful, terrified screams that echoed through the iron corridors. As the ring was corroded and pitted by basilisk venom, his spectral form also became tattered and ragged, as if sulfuric acid was eating away at his very essence, making him appear even more hideous and nightmarish than before.
When dragon flames and Fiendfyre scorched the ring with increasing intensity, Nazgûl Khamûl's spirit also burst into ethereal flames, his form becoming progressively weaker and more translucent with each passing moment.
Such violent upheaval made the other eight Nazgûl anxious and deeply uneasy, their hollow forms shifting restlessly as they felt their brother's agony through their shared bonds.
Sauron, master and creator of the Nazgûl, also sensed Khamûl's deteriorating condition and was immediately filled with shock and towering fury.
"The Black-robed Wizard is destroying one of the Nine Rings!" he raged, his great Eye blazing with flames that could be seen from leagues away.
He had originally harbored hope that after Kael obtained Khamûl's ring, the young wizard might be tempted to claim it as his own, just as the human kings of old had been seduced by the promise of power and immortality.
Even wearing it briefly would allow Sauron to begin corrupting Kael's mind, slowly transforming him into another Nazgûl servant bound to the Dark Lord's will.
But the current situation had utterly shattered those carefully laid plans.
"Not only was Kael completely immune to the ring's tempting influence, but he was also actively working to destroy it, eliminating one of Sauron's most valuable assets."
As for the Nazgûl Khamûl, now surrounded by consuming flames and growing weaker and more insubstantial by the hour, Sauron found himself completely helpless to intervene.
The ring served as the Nazgûl's true body and soul anchor. Once it was destroyed, the spirit dwelling within would naturally cease to exist, scattered to whatever realm awaited the twice-dead.
Even Sauron's immense power couldn't revive a Nazgûl whose ring had been utterly destroyed.
Naturally unwilling to witness the ring's destruction without attempting intervention, Sauron remotely activated the Ring of Power's seductive influence, pouring his will across the vast distance to prevent Kael from continuing his work.
But Kael had prepared extensively for this psychological assault. He kept Eärendil's Light close at hand and maintained a steady Patronus charm, the silver owl circling overhead with wings spread wide.
No matter how much corrupting power the ring released, its whispered promises of dominion and eternal life, it couldn't penetrate Kael's mental defenses. He continued directing Fiendfyre alongside Smaug's natural flames, steadily consuming the cursed artifact.
As for why Sauron didn't dispatch other Nazgûl to physically seize the ring, one need only observe the formidable assembly surrounding Kael. Elrond, Galadriel, and the other members of the White Council would annihilate any Nazgûl foolish enough to approach, merely resulting in the destruction of additional rings.
Therefore, Sauron could only watch helplessly from his tower as Nazgûl Khamûl gradually dissipated amid continuous wails of agony that seemed to tear the very fabric of reality.
Finally, after a full day under the relentless triple destruction of dragon fire, basilisk venom, and Fiendfyre, the ring was completely melted into a puddle of corrupted gold. The white gem embedded within it shattered with a sound like breaking crystal, releasing its trapped essence.
A mass of thick black mist radiating pure malevolent aura poured from the destroyed gem, swirling upward to form Khamûl's hideous face one final time. After letting out a painful, unwilling scream of defeat that chilled the blood of all who heard it, the apparition exploded and dissipated into nothingness.
Simultaneously, atop the Tower of Barad-dûr in distant Mordor, Nazgûl Khamûl's soul was instantly scattered across dimensions, completely vanishing from existence.
Even his master Sauron, with all his dark power and necromantic knowledge, couldn't revive him again.
Thus, the Nine Nazgûl were permanently reduced to eight.
The remaining Ringwraiths, witnessing their companion's complete annihilation through their mystical bonds, trembled with terror and anxiety. They looked fearfully at their brooding master, not daring to make the slightest sound lest they attract his wrath.
Sauron's great Eye, like the deceptive calm before a devastating flood, remained silent for several long minutes. Then it erupted with towering fury that shook the very foundations of Barad-dûr.
His powerful aura shot straight into the clouds, making Mordor's perpetually dark sky change color from black to deep crimson. Mount Doom responded to his rage, continuously spewing forth rivers of lava and rolling black smoke that blotted out what little light reached the cursed land, as if the end of the world itself had arrived.
All dark creatures throughout the realm became anxious and deeply unsettled, prostrating themselves on the ground and continuously praying for their Dark Lord's mercy, knowing that his displeasure could obliterate them without thought.
Having successfully destroyed one of the Nine Rings for Men, Kael breathed a deep sigh of relief and satisfaction.
Eliminating one Ring of Power and permanently severing one of Sauron's most potent Nazgûl servants felt like a significant victory in their ongoing war. He imagined Sauron must be absolutely beside himself with fury at this moment.
And if his greatest enemy was consumed with impotent rage, then Kael was more than happy.
Having dealt with one major supernatural threat, Kael finally turned his attention to other pressing matters that demanded his expertise.
Time flowed onward like a great river, and Eriador welcomed the arrival of the autumn and winter seasons once again. The leaves turned brilliant shades of gold and crimson before falling to carpet the earth, and frost began appearing on windows during the coldest mornings.
When the ancient oak's acorns had ripened to perfect maturity and the mistletoe parasitizing high in its branches finally bloomed with pale, waxy flowers, Kael knew the time had come.
On the sixth day after the full moon, when the celestial conditions aligned perfectly for his purposes, Kael used Apparition to travel to the thousand-year-old oak tree standing in a secluded valley among the Weathertop Hills.
He gazed up at the mistletoe clusters covered with pale yellow flowers that seemed to glow with their own inner light, then carefully climbed the massive trunk. Using a golden sickle blessed with ancient enchantments, he cut down the sacred mistletoe, catching each sprig with a pristine white cloth to prevent any part from touching the ground and losing its potency.
Then he selected seven perfectly formed acorns from the shaded northern side of the oak, each one plump and heavy with stored life force.
Only after completing these ritual preparations did he point his wand at the trunk. The bark automatically split open with a sound like sighing wind, revealing the hollow where his precious gold essence had been maturing for months.
The fist-sized piece of gold essence had been transformed by its time within the living tree. Celtic symbols meaning "life, healing, and protection" were carved on one side, while fertility runes adorned the other. The engravings seemed to pulse with their own rhythm, like a slow heartbeat.
At this moment, the gold essence radiated not only the heavy, nurturing aura of fertile earth but was also saturated with rich life force that made the very air around it feel more vibrant. Rather than appearing as cold, lifeless metal, it seemed like living gold that breathed with the rhythm of nature itself.
Taking this transformed gold essence along with the collected acorns and mistletoe, Kael returned to the safety and magical resources of Weathertop.
Following the ancient Druidic traditions passed down through Helga Hufflepuff's lineage, he exposed the gold essence to direct sunlight for nine consecutive days, allowing it to absorb solar energy. Then he bathed it in moonlight for another nine days, balancing the solar influence with lunar power.
Next came the most challenging phase. He cast the gold essence into his magical furnace, maintaining the fires for thirteen full days while continuously infusing his own magical power into the molten metal. Each day required hours of concentrated effort, pouring his will and energy into the forging process until the gold essence was completely saturated with magical power that hummed with potential.
The forging and shaping process demanded even greater skill and patience. Using tools blessed by ancient magic, Kael carefully hammered and molded the gold essence into an exquisite two-handled cup of perfect proportions.
He inscribed intricate runes around the rim and base, each symbol carved with precision and imbued with layers of protective enchantments. The process took over a month of daily work, with each enchantment building upon the previous ones to create a harmony of magical forces.
The finished cup was small but perfectly formed, displaying the pure golden color of sunlight captured in metal. Its surface gleamed with an inner radiance that seemed to pulse with life itself. The exterior felt substantial and heavy in the hand, while the cup's body was adorned with mysterious runes and beautiful patterns that seemed to shift and flow when viewed from different angles.
The central design featured a badger worked in relief, its form so lifelike it seemed ready to move. The entire cup radiated the feeling of deep earth and the breath of growing things, as if it contained the very essence of fertility and abundance.
But completing the physical cup didn't mean Hufflepuff's Cup was ready. The most crucial step still awaited.
He needed to wait for Saturn's opposition to perform the final magical ritual that would awaken the cup's true power.
Middle-earth's Saturn was called Lumbar by the Eldar, and Saturn opposition occurred approximately every 378 days. During this celestial event, Saturn would become extraordinarily bright, its pale light even surpassing the brilliance of Eärendil's star, the beacon of hope.
This rare astronomical alignment was approaching rapidly.
But before that pivotal night arrived, Kael still needed to create one final component: a mystical potion that would serve as the catalyst for the cup's awakening.
He carefully prepared the previously collected acorns and mistletoe, then made a special journey to visit the Brown Wizard Radagast in his forest dwelling within Mirkwood. The eccentric wizard was delighted to help, trading various rare potion ingredients native to Middle-earth for some of Kael's more exotic magical supplies.
Over the course of another full month, from one full moon to the next, Kael used the sacred acorns and blessed mistletoe to brew a mysterious potion following recipes lost to most of the wizarding world.
As the lunar cycle completed itself, the time for Saturn's opposition finally arrived.
When Saturn, known as Lumbar to the Elves, rose majestically from the eastern horizon just as the sun set in the west, the pale yellow celestial body radiated dazzling light that outshone every other star in the heavens.
Even Venus, bearing Eärendil's star upon her brow, couldn't match Lumbar's brilliant luminance on this night of nights.
On Weathertop's broad lawn, under the open sky where starlight could fall unobstructed, a massive stone circle had been erected within a cleared area.
The ancient stones were arranged in precise order, their positions corresponding to star patterns visible in the night sky above. Each standing stone bore mysterious runes carved deep into its surface, the symbols forming an interconnected network of power that created a primitive yet profoundly effective magical formation.
This was a Druid magic circle, knowledge lost to the modern wizarding world but preserved in the most ancient traditions. Helga Hufflepuff, founder of Hufflepuff House at Hogwarts, had been a traditional Druid witch who understood these primal mysteries.
When Lumbar gradually climbed high into the star-filled sky, reaching its position of maximum power, Kael placed the golden cup on the stone platform at the very center of the circle. With reverent care, he filled the vessel with the mysterious potion crafted from mistletoe and acorns, the liquid seeming to glow with inner light.
Then Kael took his position within the circle and began chanting ancient incantations in the Old Tongue, his voice carrying the weight of centuries-old wisdom.
The words echoed and reverberated within the stone circle, seeming to gain power with each repetition. The ground beneath his feet trembled slightly, responding to forces awakening deep within the earth. The formation gradually came alive, emitting waves of magical power that grew stronger and more focused, establishing a mystical connection with Saturn high above.
When Lumbar reached its highest point in the celestial sphere, the stone circle responded with a deep, resonant rumble that seemed to come from the heart of the world itself.
Then Saturn released brilliant, dazzling pale yellow light that descended like a pillar of pure energy, projecting down from the starry heavens directly into the waiting stone circle.
Forces across the continent felt the disturbance and looked toward that column of stellar radiance with expressions ranging from wonder to concern.
Especially in distant Mordor, far to the east, the great Eye atop Barad-dûr Tower turned its malevolent gaze westward, staring fixedly at the pillar of light as if plotting some evil countermeasure.
Meanwhile, at Weathertop, enormous stellar power gathered within the stone circle like water filling a basin, all of it flowing inexorably into the precious liquid contained within the golden cup.
The potion underwent a miraculous transformation. The water-like liquid gradually shifted color, becoming golden yellow that seemed to contain captured sunlight. It radiated its own gentle illumination and pulsed with vibrant life force that made the very air around it seem more breathable.
A rich, intoxicating fragrance filled the stone circle, carrying the scent of rain-washed earth mixed with flower and grass essences that seemed to embody the very concept of growth and renewal.
Just inhaling this heavenly aroma made Kael feel renewed and energized. His somewhat aching body from the long ritual quickly recovered, becoming full of vitality as if he had consumed the most potent healing draught imaginable.
Simply smelling the transformed potion produced such remarkable effects that Kael couldn't help wondering what drinking the precious liquid directly might accomplish.
But the formation's ancient magic didn't provide him that opportunity. The golden liquid in the cup visibly decreased as he watched, the potion being absorbed directly into the cup itself until every drop had merged with the gold.
The ritual continued until Saturn began its descent toward the western horizon, marking the end of the celestial alignment. Only then did this momentous magical ceremony finally conclude.
The stellar power gradually withdrew like a receding tide, and the stone circle returned to quiet dormancy, leaving only a golden two-handled cup standing serenely on the stone platform at the formation's heart.
Kael approached with reverent steps and lifted the completed artifact.
"Aguamenti!" he commanded, and cool spring water flowed smoothly into the cup, filling it to the brim.
He gently tapped the cup's rim with his wand, focusing his will on the transformation he desired.
"Turn into wine."
The clear water immediately changed color and consistency, becoming rich red wine that filled the air with an enticing bouquet of perfectly aged grapes.
Kael raised the cup to his lips and took a careful sip. Instantly, gentle, nourishing energy flowed through his body like warm honey, spreading from his core to his fingertips and toes.
This mystical energy didn't merely replenish Kael's consumed magical power but actively healed various magical ailments that had accumulated in his body from his dangerous adventures. He felt completely relaxed and renewed, his entire being seeming lighter and more alive than it had in months.
Hufflepuff's Cup was complete at last.