Chapter 423: The Wizarding World's Independence
The pair of phoenixes Kael had created were given to his children as pets.
The male went to Elthir; the female to Elríen.
Both were delighted. Phoenixes, in all their splendour, suited the children's tastes far better than house-elves ever could. And as Kael's offspring, they had inherited a trace of phoenix nature in their blood—enough to call and command phoenixes instinctively, and to speak with them as naturally as they might with any person.
Combined with the Parseltongue inherited from their father, they could communicate with birds and serpents alike, putting them not far short of a true beast-speaker in range.
Having seen to the children, Kael turned his attention to Arwen.
He extracted genetic material from Arwen's winged horse, then used biological alchemy to weave in traits from the Mearas and from the Elves, and added a measure of the light of Eärendil. From all of this, he shaped Middle-earth's first unicorn.
It was white from hoof to mane, pure as new snow. A long spiralling horn rose from its brow, and its hooves were gold — in darkness, it gave off a soft, sacred light. Its magical power was considerable, and the horn could release that power directly when needed.
Unlike the unicorns of the Harry Potter world, this one had wings — great white wings that folded against its sides when it stood at rest.
Arwen loved it immediately. It was beautiful and formidable in equal measure, and it could read the hearts of those who approached it — drawing close to the pure-hearted and gentle, turning its horn against the cruel or wicked. Its horn also carried a healing power of remarkable depth: it could lift the most potent poisons, dissolve dark enchantments, and its blood — given willingly — could restore life to one on the very edge of death.
The willing part was the catch. Persuading a unicorn to offer its blood freely was nearly impossible. Only Kael, its creator, and Arwen, its mistress, could manage it. For everyone else, the answer would simply be no.
Blood taken by force was another matter entirely. It would not heal — it would curse. A single drop on the lips, and death followed instantly, without remedy. The soul, too, would be marked, and find no peace thereafter.
At Arwen's request, Kael made a second unicorn — one male, one female, so they would have each other.
Arwen released them into the forest of Lothlórien to live and roam as they pleased.
The Silvan Elves of Lothlórien took to them at once. They gathered berries, climbed to the high boughs of the mallorn trees to bring down mallorn fruit, and groomed the unicorns' coats with soft brushes. The unicorns, shy by nature, permitted it — and showed a particular fondness for the Elven maidens, who would sit beside them in the golden light of the forest, singing old songs while the unicorns stood with their eyes half-closed, listening.
Sometimes the two of them could be seen moving through the Golden Wood alongside the Elves — gold hooves pressing into the deep carpet of fallen mallorn leaves, moving as though they had always belonged there.
Under the care of the Silvan Elves, the unicorns thrived. Over the long years, their offspring spread through every part of the forest. They became creatures uniquely of Lothlórien — and their existence, carried outward first in the songs of the Elves and then in the stories of Men, became legend in the wider world, and eventually found its way into the fairy tales and myths of peoples who had never seen one.
——
Time moved on. Magic began to withdraw from the world.
More and more Elves chose to leave Middle-earth, making their way to the Grey Havens to take ship for Valinor.
Dorwinion, in the far east, had long been a place of mixed habitation — Elves and Men living side by side, the Elves the dominant presence, their vast vineyards producing the finest wine in Middle-earth. But as the Elven population drained away, Dorwinion became, gradually and then entirely, a human land. Some Elves withdrew into the ancient forests along the shores of the Sea of Rhûn and were not seen again. Others began the long journey westward, moving with relative safety now that Sauron and the forces of Mordor had been destroyed, and in time they arrived near the Misty Mountains.
The Elves of Dorwinion passed through Lothlórien and rested there briefly. Arwen received them warmly and made them welcome.
Some, finding that they could not quite bring themselves to leave Middle-earth after all, chose to stay — settling in Lothlórien as part of Arwen's realm, the last true refuge of the Elves. Others, more resolved, rested only a short while before continuing westward to the Grey Havens and taking the ship. For those who wished to sail, Arwen made the journey easier, offering passage through the Floo Network directly to the Grey Havens, sparing them the long road on foot.
In the Great Greenwood — the forest formerly known as Mirkwood — the same slow emptying was taking place. The Elves there departed one by one, each setting out for the West in their own time. Legolas remained, holding to the forest he had been crowned to protect. But the Great Greenwood had no Cemya to sustain it, and without Elven hands to tend it, the enchantment faded. It became, in the end, an ordinary forest.
Radagast the Brown remained as well. He had chosen not to return to Valinor, content to stay among his animals and the living things of the woodland. He had no desire to leave.
The two Blue Wizards, Morinehtar and Rómestámo, were still in the distant east. Their task was not yet finished — the lingering influence of Morgoth and Sauron among the eastern peoples had to be carefully and patiently undone, and that work could not be rushed.
——
At Hogwarts, change was also underway.
Within the territory, wizards and ordinary people had, over time, drifted naturally apart. They shared the same land, but had become two separate societies, moving in parallel with little meaningful intersection.
Kael's gift of prophecy—which he had largely forgotten he possessed—showed him glimpses of what would eventually come: conflict between wizards and ordinary folk, in a future long after he had left Middle-earth. It was distant, but it was coming.
He decided to prepare for it early.
Under his direction, the Wizarding World and the world of ordinary people formally and completely separated. Wizards, like the Elves before them, withdrew from plain sight—stepping back from the affairs of ordinary humanity and choosing to be less visible rather than more.
The Ministry of Magic, Diagon Alley, and the wizarding settlements—all of it was hidden behind magical concealment, removed from the ordinary world and existing within its own separate sphere.
Within Hogwarts' territory, two parallel systems of governance now operated side by side. The Ministry of Magic administered the Wizarding World, maintained its laws, regulated the conduct of wizards, and enforced a strict prohibition against the use of magic on ordinary people. Ordinary people had their own government, responsible for managing their own affairs.
The Minister of Magic and the Mayor of the ordinary government were both elected by their respective populations. Each served a term of no more than ten years, with no possibility of re-election.
Throughout all of this, Kael remained almost entirely in the background. He cast the enchantments that hid Hogwarts Castle itself — making it inaccessible to anyone who was not a professor or student of the school — and otherwise kept himself out of it.
Wizards were, in the end, a small population. Despite active encouragement of larger families over the years, the number of wizards levelled off at around fifty thousand and stayed there, as though the community had reached some natural ceiling that no amount of effort could push through.