Even though he had already caught a glimpse of a part of the Watcher in the Water's appearance, when it was fully exposed to everyone, its sheer size still shocked them all. The Watcher was 50 meters long, and its tentacles were several times longer than its body. If the length of its tentacles was included, it was even longer than the dragon Smaug, reaching about 150 meters! Additionally, the Watcher in the Water was covered in hard, scale-like bones. The Dwarves fired their sharp arrows at it, but they couldn't leave a single mark on its impenetrable hide.
Without the cover of the lake, the Watcher in the Water appeared very uneasy, waving its tentacles and making threatening gestures in an attempt to scare everyone away. But at this moment, it was like a tiger without teeth; its immediate threat to everyone was greatly reduced. Luke waved his wand and began to slice off its tentacles one by one.
The Watcher in the Water showed clear signs of fear on its face and immediately tried to flee upstream. It was an evil water creature created by Morgoth, originally dwelling in the underground waters of the Misty Mountains. When the Dwarves of Khazad-dûm endlessly dug for mithril mines, they awakened not only the Balrog, but also the Watcher in the Water. It had ascended to the surface along the underground rivers the Dwarves had dug and built a barrier lake there to survive. Now, it simply wanted to escape back to the underground waters of the Misty Mountains and bide its time.
But Luke wouldn't give it a chance to escape. "Smaug, burn it!" Luke shouted at the dragon. Smaug received the order and flew directly in front of the Watcher in the Water, spraying scorching dragon flames. The dragon fire quickly engulfed the Watcher, causing it to shriek in pain and frantically wave its tentacles to swat away the flames on its body, until it spurted out a stream of ink, extinguishing the fire. But its body, especially its tentacles, were burned red by the flames, emitting the unmistakable smell of cooked meat. One of the Dwarves, upon smelling the meaty aroma, even had his stomach growl, drawing strange looks from his companions. The Dwarf chuckled sheepishly, "Isn't it time for dinner yet? I'm a bit hungry."
Seeing its path forward blocked by the dragon, the Watcher in the Water immediately turned around and rushed downstream. Just when it thought it had escaped, the Basilisk Herpo, who had been lurking in the water downstream, delivered a wave of his deadly gaze. The Watcher's two large eyes were caught off guard and met the Basilisk's pair of yellow eyes. The next second, the Watcher in the Water's body froze, and its enormous form quickly stiffened and turned into gray stone. It looked like a gigantic octopus stone sculpture that had sprung to life!
"Huh?" Luke frowned and immediately flew over, looking at the petrified Watcher in the Water in confusion. Shouldn't staring directly into the eyes of a Basilisk kill it instantly? Why did it only turn to stone? It wasn't until he flew to the Watcher in the Water's giant eye that he discovered it was covered with a protective membrane. Luke suddenly realized that it was through this membrane that the Watcher was indirectly looking at the Basilisk, which was why it wasn't dead but merely petrified.
Gandalf also flew over on his broom and struck the petrified Watcher in the Water with his staff. It felt like hitting solid stone. The Dwarf Balin also ran over, looked at the statue-like behemoth, and asked in confusion, "Is it dead?"
"I think not," Gandalf said. "It's more like a very profound curse of petrification, isn't it, Luke?"
Luke nodded. "Gandalf is right. This water monster was very lucky. If it had looked directly into the Basilisk's eyes, it would have been killed instantly. However, there was a transparent membrane protecting its eyes, which prevented it from directly seeing the Basilisk's eyes. That's why it was petrified." He continued, "But this kind of petrification is not much different from death. The Basilisk's petrification is very difficult to break. If there's no corresponding method, it will remain no different from stone." As far as he knew, even Dumbledore was helpless against the Basilisk's petrification; only a powerful potion made from Mandrake could break it.
Luke looked at the massive Watcher in the Water and suddenly had an idea. He hadn't considered anything else before; he just wanted to get rid of the octopus monster as soon as possible. But now that he had petrified it, he no longer had any intention of killing it. In another world's Hogwarts, there was a giant octopus in the Black Lake. And his current Black Lake under Weathertop Mountain still lacked a guard to prevent anyone from sneaking into the castle by water. And the giant octopus in front of him, the Watcher in the Water, was just right. Luke admitted that he had a collecting addiction.
If he could subdue the Watcher in the Water, he would have another form of underwater helper. In this way, he would have collected powerful creatures from the sea, land, and air. So he expanded the suitcase containing the Basilisk with the Traceless Extension Charm again, and then put the petrified giant octopus in it, allowing the Basilisk and her to squeeze in for a while.
Gandalf was not surprised to see this. After all, Luke already had dragons, Giant Eagles, and Basilisks, so adding a giant octopus wasn't surprising. Balin looked at Luke with a look of relief and said: "We haven't even entered Durin's Gate yet, and we've already encountered such a horrible monster. If it weren't for you, Luke, and Gandalf, I can't imagine what would have happened if we were alone."
Upon hearing this, Luke just wanted to tell him the truth. He remembered that in his original destiny, Balin also led 500 Dwarves on an expedition to Moria. Everything went smoothly at first. They successfully drove the orcs out of some areas and settled there. Balin even proclaimed himself the Lord of Moria and found treasures such as the Axe of Durin. But not long after, Balin was shot dead by orcs in Mirror Lake. Then a large number of orcs poured into the east gate along the Silverlode River and attacked Moria. The Dwarf stronghold was broken, and almost the entire army was wiped out.
The remaining Dwarves attempted to escape through the West Gate, but were stopped by the Watcher in the Water in the lake. Óin was even swept into the lake and died. The other Dwarves retreated to Moria, but faced with the overwhelming number of orcs, the Dwarves were unable to resist. As they retreated and fought, their numbers dwindled, and eventually, all the surviving Dwarves, including Óin, died in the Chamber of Mazarbul. During the entire process, they didn't even see the big boss, the Balrog, before they were completely wiped out. Their remains were not discovered until the Fellowship of the Ring arrived in Moria.
But now, with the appearance of Luke, everything had changed. Thorin Oakenshield, who was supposed to die in the Battle of Five Armies, did not die, but became the King Under the Mountain of Lonely Mountain. This time, he even fully funded Balin to recapture Moria. Balin's expedition to Moria was also decades earlier, and the Watcher in the Water blocking the west gate was also dealt with by Luke in advance. So if nothing unexpected happened, Balin and his men would not have died in Moria, and they might even have actually recaptured Moria.
After dealing with the Watcher in the Water, everyone finally arrived at Durin's Gate with peace of mind. Durin's Gate was integrated into the stone wall, making it difficult to discern its true location. But this did not pose a problem for Gandalf. He had been here before Khazad-dûm fell to the Balrog, and he had even come here to look for the missing Thráin II, father of Thorin Oakenshield.
He came to a smooth stone wall between two tall holly trees, tapped the stone wall with his staff, and said in recollection: "I remember it was here. Durin's Gate was located between the two holly trees." Then he introduced the gate to Luke and the Dwarves: "The Gate of Durin, also known as the Elf Gate, was created by Celebrimbor, the Elf craftsman of Eregion, and Narvi, the Dwarf craftsman of Durin's Folk. The gate is inscribed with patterns and words in mithril, called Ithildin. The gate is only visible under moonlight or starlight."
"So we can only wait until night falls and the moon or stars come out to find the gate and enter?" Balin asked.
"I think so," Gandalf nodded.
Luke walked forward, tried to place his staff against the door, and whispered, "Alohomora."
"How is it? Can you solve it?" Gandalf asked.
Luke shook his head. "The gate is under a powerful spell. No magic can force it open except with the correct password."
"Well, it seems we really have to wait until evening."
"Not necessarily." Luke shook his head.
Gandalf looked at him in surprise, "Do you have any other ideas?"
Luke nodded. "Didn't you say that the text and patterns on Durin's Gate would appear under moonlight and starlight? Then does the Light of Eärendil count as starlight?" He smiled and took out a crystal bottle emitting starlight from his space pocket.
When Gandalf saw the crystal bottle, his eyes lit up and he smiled. "Ha, I almost forgot you had this! There's no purer starlight than this!"
Luke raised the crystal bottle and shone it on the gate. In the Light of Eärendil, the stone wall showed the outline of a gate and a delicate pattern outlined in silver and white lines. In the center of the gate was a many-pointed star and two trees with crescent moons. Above the gate was the coat of arms of Durin: an anvil, hammer, crown, and seven stars. And at the very top, there was a vault written in Sindarin.
Luke looked carefully at the words on the arch and slowly interpreted them: "The Doors of Durin, Lord of Moria, speak, friend, and enter..."
"Oh, Luke, I didn't know you knew Sindarin?" Gandalf said in surprise.
Luke smiled and explained, "I learned it from Arwen. After all, many of the books in Rivendell are written in Elvish script, so I have to understand them to know their contents."
Gandalf nodded in appreciation: "Yes, it never hurts to read more." Then he focused his attention on the gate and frowned: "The Doors of Durin, Lord of Moria, speak, friend, and enter? What does that mean?" Balin asked puzzledly.
"The meaning is clear. If you are a friend, say the password and the gate will open." Gandalf explained.
"What's the password?" Balin asked again.
Gandalf shrugged helplessly: "If I knew, I wouldn't be standing here, Master Balin!"
"Mellon (Friend in Sindarin)," Luke said.
"What?" Gandalf and Balin looked at Luke in confusion. Then the next second, they were surprised to see the door open automatically. Balin was very surprised and confused.
Gandalf, however, quickly realized, "I see. I was overthinking it. The clue is obvious. The Elven text is of course spoken in the Elven language."
Looking at the opened Durin's Gate, Balin and the Dwarves were very excited and expectant. But Luke and Gandalf were more cautious. They all knew there was a great enemy to face inside.