Chapter 226: Aragog
Chapter 226: Aragog
Felix rarely used a Broomstick, but this was the most appropriate method. He had no interest in spending hours exploring the location of the Acromantula nest.
He took a glass bottle from his pocket and asked the Acromantula inside, "Can you determine the direction?"
"You want to go to the spider nest?" the Acromantula asked, surprised.
"Sure, just to see what it's like", Felix replied dismissively.
The Acromantula had long understood this Wizard's temperament. If there was no benefit, he would simply toss it to the side of the forest and leave. The current attitude suggested that he planned to do something to the Acromantula colony.
Although the nest contained over three hundred Acromantulas, it still felt uneasy and chose to remain silent. Felix placed it back in his pocket and flew in the direction the Centaur had pointed for about half an hour before jumping off the Broom.
"Next", Felix waved his wand, "I remember I marked three Acromantulas a while back. Let's see where you are."
A few weeks ago, Felix had ventured deep into the Forbidden Forest to practice the Size-Altering Charm. He had accidentally entered the Acromantula's hunting grounds and was attacked by a group of giant spiders. As expected, he took them down, and he secretly cast a tracking spell on a few of them.
Felix quickly sensed the direction of the magical marks and followed a twisted path. The ground was littered with more and more pebbles, and the tree roots were tangled. Occasionally, he could see some spider webs.
"Acromantula silk is non-toxic", Felix said, picking up a strand with his fingertips. The sticky residue had dried, and it felt like a flexible rope.
"Perhaps it can be added to the binding vine. I wonder what effect it would have", Felix muttered, collecting some of the white spider webs.
Soon, he heard a whistling sound, and the "click-click" noises merged into a continuous hum. Felix turned around to see three or forty Acromantulas, each the size of a small carriage, surrounding him.
A minute later.
Felix took a goblet from his ring and stuffed over thirty shrunken Acromantulas into it.
After a moment's thought, he pulled out the glass bottle and released the initial Acromantula 'prisoner.' A burst of intense blue light later, it was back to its original size.
"Here, your companions. Hold them steady, don't crush them", Felix placed the goblet in the gap between the Acromantula's left large pincers. The Acromantula's eight pitch-black eyes fixed on the small spiders huddled inside the goblet.
"You, you've...", the Acromantula's excitement caused it to dent the goblet, and the small spiders inside panicked, scurrying around. However, the goblet's rim was sealed with a translucent film, preventing any escape.
"Explaining one by one is too much trouble. Better to save time", Felix twirled his Ebony Wand. "By the way, I haven't asked your name. Do you have one?"
The Acromantula hesitated for a few seconds before gruffly saying, "Gok, my name is Gok."
Felix said, "Gok? I remember Hagrid's first pet in the cupboard was named Aragog... Are you related?"
The Acromantula Gok reluctantly said, "I am his child."
It seemed even magical creatures had family issues. Felix didn't ask questions like, "Which child are you?" or "What's your relationship with Aragog?"
As they ventured deeper into the Forbidden Forest, even in the daytime, the light was dim. The towering beech trees, reaching dozens of meters high, formed a dense canopy that blocked out the sunlight.
Felix waved his wand, and a circle of pale blue fire began to swirl around him, providing ample light. The ground, covered in leaves, started to reveal spiders of various sizes, crawling densely from exposed tree roots and leaf piles.
"I remember a rather obscure spell, the Spider Banishing Charm?" Most of his consciousness entered the Mind Chamber, and a moment later, he waved his hand, sending out a beam of red light. The small spiders lost control and scurried away, even Acromantula Gok's feet moved swiftly, quickly retreating.
Felix scratched his head, "I almost forgot about you, okay." He canceled the spell and cast a Levitation Charm on himself, floating lightly on Acromantula Gok's back.
"Let's go."
He plucked a hair from Acromantula's back, transforming it into a soft cushion, and sat down.
Acromantula Gok was clearly unhappy, but it knew complaining would be futile. It grunted a couple of times, and its free large claw made a "clicking" sound, as if venting its anger.
They continued on their journey, and the leaves on the ground grew scarce while white spider webs became more frequent. Along the way, several Acromantulas discovered them but were shrunk by Felix's Size-Altering Charm and stuffed into the goblet.
They reached the edge of a broad, sunken clearing. Under the light of the blue fire, Felix saw hundreds of massive creatures. The distant ones were vaguely visible, each as large as a small carriage. He jumped off Gok.
In the center of the clearing was a misty, hemispherical spider web. Several Acromantulas approached, and one with white hair on its head said, "Gok, you brought a wizard here. Have you betrayed Aragog?"
More "clicking" sounds echoed in the darkness, making the unseen forest seem even more ominous.
The Acromantula called Gok shouted angrily, "I have not betrayed Aragog, never!" It raised a large claw and shouted toward the misty, hemispherical web in the center of the clearing: "Aragog, Aragog!"
From the misty, hemispherical web, a spider the size of an African elephant slowly emerged. Its body and legs were grayish-black, and each of its ugly eyes was covered with a white film. It was blind.
"What's going on?" it said, its two large claws moving rapidly.
"It's Gok, back with a person", the white-haired spider said.
"Is it Hagrid?" Aragog moved closer, its eight milky-white eyes gazing aimlessly.
"No, it's a stranger wizard."
"Kill him, I'm trying to sleep..." Aragog said irritably.
"Oh, I don't think that's a good idea. I have hostages", Felix said lightly.
"Hostages..." Aragog was confused, its grayish-black claws moving as it looked in Felix's direction, "Gok, what have you done?"
Acromantula Gok said roughly, "Old man, have you lost your mind? This wizard says he has hostages!" It growled, "In the goblet, shrunk... all our kin, over a hundred of them!"
Aragog fell silent for a long time. Just as Felix began to wonder if it had fallen asleep, it finally spoke, its tone much more cautious: "Which powerful wizard has come to my domain? I, Aragog, the founder of the Forbidden Forest Acromantula colony, have a non-aggression pact with Hogwarts."
Felix chuckled, "Interesting, I've always wondered where Gok's disregard for human life comes from. I think I may have found the answer."
"You've come to the wrong place, wizard. We have never harmed any young wizards", Aragog said, its grayish-black claws tapping the ground. More large spiders appeared, standing behind it.
(End of Chapter)
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