Yeah I agree, and I don't think it needs to be complicated beyond that point. Him and the other stuff that happens very close to that point (Old Man Willow and the barrow-wight) are just showing that this is a naturally magical world without being tied to just elves and wizards and rings. Unfortunately the movies did away with almost all of that part of the books, making it more like a Harry Potter style of magic: simply that there are indeed magic beings and wizards but generally the world itself is un-magical.
