With the successful creation of the Crown of Wisdom—Middle-earth's version of the Ravenclaw Diadem—Luke plunged into a period of intense study and practice. Spells, Transfiguration, Potions, Alchemy, as well as Middle-earth witchcraft, incantations, and Elven magic, all soared in learning speed and efficiency under the Crown's blessing.
What surprised Luke even more was the significant gain from meditating while wearing the Crown of Wisdom; his meditation efficiency was almost several times higher than usual.
The only drawback was that such high brain activity consumed physical energy at an astonishing rate. Luke now ate several times more than before, needing constant energy replenishment.
For this reason, Arwen specially prepared lembas for him, ensuring he wouldn't need to eat constantly just to keep up. Furthermore, the Crown of Wisdom couldn't be worn continuously, as prolonged rapid brain activity was incredibly exhausting. Therefore, Luke limited his use of the Crown to half a day, removing it when he felt mentally fatigued.
However, even with the Crown of Wisdom's aid, Luke understood the importance of focus. He dedicated his primary energy to mastering alchemy, crucial for preventing errors when he eventually crafted the Philosopher's Stone.
After all, merely knowing how to make the Philosopher's Stone didn't guarantee success; otherwise, Nicolas Flamel wouldn't be the sole possessor of such a stone in the wizarding world's known history.
Luke remained at Weathertop for several months. Although he considered starting on the Hufflepuff Gold Cup, its production, in addition to material requirements, demanded specific magical rituals and astrological conditions.
Specifically, the magical rituals needed to be performed on the day when Saturn was in opposition to the Sun. In Middle-earth, Saturn was known as Lumbar. Approximately every 378 days, Lumbar reached opposition with the Sun, becoming incredibly dazzling, its light even outshining Eärendil. Since Saturn's opposition was still more than half a year away, and Luke needed to continue his search for the remaining Philosopher's Stone materials, he couldn't afford to wait.
Despite the wait, Luke began some preliminary preparations. Much to Smaug's chagrin, Luke extracted nearly a ton of gold from the dragon's treasury and melted it down in his mithril furnace. After continuous calcination, only a fist-sized piece of pure, impurity-free gold essence remained.
Unlike the Ravenclaw Diadem, the Hufflepuff Cup was crafted using ancient Celtic natural magic. This required drawing ancient runes symbolizing abundance onto the gold essence embryo, then burying it in fertile ground simultaneously with the planting of crops. It couldn't be unearthed until the crops were ripe for harvest.
Luke also drew healing and protective runes onto the gold essence, then found an oak tree covered with mistletoe. He chiseled a hole in the oak tree, hid the gold essence inside, and sealed it. The gold essence could only be retrieved from the oak tree when the tree bore fruit and the mistletoe bloomed. Luke, of course, couldn't wait that long.
Taking the gold nugget inscribed with the harvest rune, he apparated down the mountain. Finding the most fertile wheat field, he cast an invisibility spell while farmers were planting wheat, then buried the gold nugget deep in the field, ensuring it wouldn't be discovered. Leaving a magical mark, he quietly returned to Weathertop.
After a brief stay at the castle, Luke once again bid farewell to Arwen and set out for the White Mountains in the south to search for Soul Sulfur. This time, Luke didn't take Thorondor directly. Instead, he first traveled to Lothlórien via the Floo Network, and then used Apparition to reach Fangorn Forest. However, Luke didn't find Gandalf in Fangorn Forest this time. According to Treebeard, Gandalf had left Fangorn several months prior and gone to the Kingdom of Rohan.
Luke had to abandon his plan to seek Gandalf's help. He traded a few bottles of his plant growth potion with Treebeard for some Ent-draught, then mounted his flying broom, exited the forest, and flew south.
Along the way, Luke spotted Orthanc Tower, Saruman's dwelling, in the distance. However, Luke had no intention of engaging with the White Wizard just yet, so he simply bypassed the area and continued his flight south. While it was a missed opportunity, finding the Soul Sulfur was more important than a chance encounter.
Meanwhile, as Luke flew south, unaware, Saruman sat in a secret chamber within Orthanc Tower in Isengard. He stared at Luke's flying figure in a crystal ball, his gaze unfathomable. Suddenly, Luke's image vanished, replaced by a fiery eye emitting a dark aura.
"Sauron, what do you want from me?" Saruman asked, frowning. Although he had been seduced by Sauron and chosen to betray the side of justice, Saruman retained his pride, viewing himself as Sauron's partner, not his subordinate.
Sauron did not directly answer. Instead, he probed, "Are you concerned about the black-robed wizard just now?"
Saruman frowned, dismissively replying, "He's just an insignificant person!"
"Insignificant?" Sauron retorted with a mocking tone. "If he were truly insignificant, how could he have compelled a white-robed wizard such as yourself to use the Palantír to spy on him? And his reputation now far eclipses yours. Tsk tsk, he's the slayer of Orcs, lord of the dragon Smaug, and he slew the Balrog of Moria alongside the Grey Wizard. Even east of Mordor, his legend is whispered!"
Hearing Sauron's sarcastic remarks, anger flashed in Saruman's eyes, and his face darkened. "What are you truly occupied with? I am very busy. Unlike you, who lacks even a physical form and can only hide idly in Mordor."
"Busy forging the Ring of Power?" Sauron's eyes gleamed with sarcasm. "You wished to forge a ring capable of rivaling my One Ring, but it seems you have not succeeded. It is not even as good as the ring of one of my Nazgûl!"
He then shifted his tone, full of deception and corruption: "Saruman, I know your ambition and your discontent. I can personally teach you how to forge a supreme magic ring, so that you may possess the most potent power! As long as you are willing to submit to me and become my servant..."
"Impossible!" Saruman, a Maia of the same order, remained arrogant even under the influence of Sauron's power. "No one can make me submit—not the Valar, and certainly not you, Sauron!"
In his view, he and Sauron were merely temporary collaborators, his sole purpose being to extract the method of forging the Ring of Power from Sauron. Submitting to another Maia was utterly unacceptable to the haughty Saruman.
Sauron, perceiving Saruman's thoughts, sneered: "But what are your conditions for cooperating with me? The Orcs of Moria, with whom you wished to ally, were all dealt with by the two wizards and the Dwarves. As for the Dunlendings, as far as I know, the Grey Wizard is in Rohan and has persuaded the King of Rohan to grant the Dunlendings a piece of their ancestral land. It seems your words of discord are no longer effective."
"Mithrandir!" Saruman's face grew even fouler, and he gritted his teeth in fury. The two assets he had cultivated had been neutralized by Gandalf, derailing his plans. This fueled his deep hatred for Gandalf.
But Sauron's next words shocked him. "Don't you find it too coincidental? Why was it that just as you were about to ally with the Orcs of Moria, they were destroyed? Just as you were attempting to sway the Dunlending people against the Rohirim, that Grey Wizard sought to broker peace between Rohan and the Dunlendings, and your plan was quietly ruined!"
Saruman was incredulous, his heart filled with anxiety. "What do you mean?"
"I think you've been exposed! Especially by that Grey Wizard; he's targeting you!" Sauron said with a hint of gloating.
"That's impossible!" Saruman stood up excitedly. "What I did was highly secretive; no one knew! How could Gandalf know about this? It must be a coincidence!" Saruman was deeply uneasy, yet his conceit and arrogance made him unwilling to accept that his plans had been discovered.
He had never imagined that his collusion with Sauron would be exposed. Such a revelation would cost him his current standing among the forces of good and his position as the leader of the White Council.
Moreover, with his current plans incomplete, exposure would leave him with nowhere to go among the righteous. Even Orthanc Tower would no longer be safe. To survive, he would be forced to flee to Mordor, seek Sauron's protection, and be compelled to become Sauron's servant. Could Saruman accept this?
But Sauron gave him no chance for self-deception. With a mocking look, he directly pointed out: "You already have the answer in your heart, don't you? If you consider carefully what has gone wrong these past days, you will figure it out, won't you?"
Saruman's memory of Gandalf's sudden visit, and the subsequent events he had overlooked, intensified his unease. "I kept this a secret; no one should have known! And with the Stone of True Knowledge in my possession, the entire region of Isengard couldn't possibly have escaped my notice! How did Gandalf discover this?"
Saruman paced restlessly, a storm of thoughts raging in his mind, his memories tracing clues. He glanced out the window, spotting the tall trees standing outside. A sudden realization struck him, and his face instantly contorted into a grimace. He gritted his teeth, enunciating slowly: "Great! I actually forgot there were a bunch of thieves with their ears sticking into my house! I should have cut down all the trees here, leaving not a single one behind!"
Sauron watched Saruman's panic, his gloating evident. "You have been discovered. There is no place for you on the side of light. If you submit to me, I will send the army of Mordor to aid you. I will even help you forge a Ring of Power. How about it?"
Saruman calmed instantly upon hearing this and sneered, "Sauron, do you think I would simply give in? I am a disciple of Aulë, the god of craftsmen. I may not be as talented as you in forging, but I excel in engineering and creation! I've figured out how to breed stronger Orcs, making them fearless of sunlight and even more formidable. We can definitely form a powerful army. And this is just the beginning. If given enough time, I can even breed even more powerful monsters!"
Sauron's fiery eye in the crystal ball pulsed, and his conditions shifted. "How about we formally form an alliance? I will send you a dark army, completely under your control, enough for you to defend Isengard. You only need to cultivate a powerful enough war machine, and then we can attack from both sides with the army of Mordor and annex Rohan and Gondor."
Saruman was somewhat tempted, but still shook his head. "There's no rush for now. I need to first confirm whether Gandalf has any evidence. If it's merely suspicion, I can continue to hide and secretly accumulate strength."
Saruman didn't want to openly betray the forces of good and align with Sauron unless absolutely necessary. Beyond not wanting to abandon his current status, he also considered the reaction of the Valar.
Hearing this, Sauron suggested, "If you want to confirm this, you can capture that black-robed wizard. He has close ties with the Grey Wizard. They were the two who killed the Balrog of Moria. He must know the information you seek."
At the mention of the black-robed wizard, Saruman's eyes turned cold. He was equally furious at Luke, who had also disrupted his plans. He nodded in agreement.
"This boy is highly regarded by Gandalf, so he must know a lot. He's also very strange, and there's something about him I can't see through. If I catch him, I can discover what secrets he hides!"
What Saruman didn't say was that when he first saw the boy, he had perceived a very strange and obscure look in Luke's eyes. Although Luke had deliberately concealed it, Saruman had keenly noticed it.
He hadn't understood that look at first, but after his collusion with Sauron, he finally comprehended. That was the look one gives a traitor. It was as if Luke had already foreseen today's outcome. And that last look left Saruman even more unsettled.