Harry returns from Hogwarts Legacy

Chapter 454 Ron's Happy Spider

It must be said that Vivi's considerations were indeed quite thorough.

If you are bitten by an eight-eyed giant spider, you can indeed use the Phoenix's Tears to quickly dispel the poison.

Hmm... that's definitely more reliable than having Professor Slughorn provide backup.

Professor Slughorn: So love will disappear, right?
“But your preparations are indeed quite thorough,” Dumbledore said, adjusting his glasses. “I heard you invited Horace to be your advisor, is that right?”

“That’s right.” Harry nodded and said, “After all, Professor Slughorn is a Potions Master, and with him there, some emergency rescue measures can be taken.”

Dumbledore nodded, agreeing with what Harry had said.

“Horace is a man who is rather fond of fame,” he said. “It seems you have grasped this trait of his.”

Harry didn't reply, he just smiled.

"Alright," Dumbledore said again, "I won't bother you any longer. I have something to discuss with Sybil."

This was a clear signal to leave, and Harry could tell just by looking.

He stood up, smiled at Professor Trelawney, and turned to leave.

At 8 p.m., Harry and the Gryffindor members left the common room and headed to the door of the Room of Requirement to gather.

"I hope there will be some surprises today too," Ron said, his face alternating between pale and flushed.

He actually wanted to pretend to be sick today, saying he had a cold and didn't want to go, but Hermione grabbed him by the collar and forced him to drink a bottle of potion.

With steam billowing from his head like water boiling in a kettle, he knew he had no choice but to go down.

“Don’t worry, Ron,” Seamus said gloatingly from behind. “You’ll definitely be fine. I mean… you absolutely won’t get bitten by the eight-eyed spider—just imagine, those eight dark eyes staring straight at you, those huge pincers clicking away…”

"Stop talking!" Ron said, his face pale.

"Hahaha..." Ximo laughed loudly, but he didn't notice that the faces of the people around him were not very good.

There's no other reason than that the imagery he described was indeed quite vivid, and coupled with the fact that these people all had good imaginations, it made everyone feel a bit sympathetic.

For people like Ginny and Neville, although they don't have the same level of arachnophobia as Ron, facing a spider the size of a small car is still no easy task.

Who in their right mind would bother to fight a giant eight-eyed spider one-on-one?
“I don’t think it’s a big deal,” Hermione said as she walked. She glanced at Ron and continued, “Perhaps we could develop a product, like… a pair of glasses that would allow you to see spiders as crabs…”

"What if you really can't tell the difference between a spider and a crab, and mistake a Tarantula for a blue crab and try to catch it?" Ron asked suspiciously.

“Oh, then let’s hope he actually has a brain,” Hermione said sarcastically. “He should know that blue crabs live in the sea, not in caves.”

Ron thought about it and realized that it made sense.

Whose swimming crabs are so nimble and fast in the forest?
Just then, they reached the eighth floor.

Students from the other colleges were already waiting there, standing one by one against the wall, looking very nervous.

"Good evening, everyone," Harry greeted them. "Why do you all look so gloomy?"

“That’s because you don’t need to deal with Level 5X magical creatures,” Hannah of Hufflepuff said, rolling her eyes.

Unexpectedly, Harry couldn't help but laugh and said, "Indeed."

“Alright, everyone line up,” he said. “Stand behind me, we’re going to go into the House of Requirement first.”

Harry stood beneath the image of the troll beating Barnabas, silently reminding himself that he needed a spacious area.

As soon as the thought crossed my mind, a heavy door silently appeared on the wall.

The door slowly opened, and Harry went first into the Room of Requirement.

The Room of Requirement was built entirely according to Harry's ideas, and unlike usual rooms, its interior was as grand and spacious as a cathedral.

The towering dome disappeared into the soft shadows, as if starlight were faintly twinkling within it. The ground beneath their feet was paved with huge, smooth stone slabs, exceptionally hard yet possessing a warm, gentle texture, capable of withstanding the impact of the most powerful spells.

What's even more surprising is that the entire venue is long and wide enough for dozens of wizards to swing their staffs at the same time without feeling crowded.

"This is much more spacious than the old training grounds..." Ron exclaimed in surprise, "And it looks pretty good too?"

"You idiot Weasley!" Draco said angrily. "Have you considered that the wider this training ground is, the larger and more dangerous the magical creatures we'll be facing?"

You know what, this is indeed an angle we never imagined.

Upon hearing Draco's words, everyone shuddered and then looked at Harry with a sense of sympathy.

However, Harry gave them a mysterious smile and used the Illumination Charm to light up the stars and moon in the dome.

"Alright." Harry pulled out a small purse. "I won't say much more. It's time for training—so, who wants to go first?"

Everyone's eyes immediately turned to the wallet, and they held their breath, afraid to breathe.

They all knew exactly what was in that wallet.

"You guessed it all?" Harry asked with a chuckle.

Everyone shook their heads and stood still, not moving.

"Are you sure no one wants to volunteer?" Harry asked with a chuckle. "How about this... You split into pairs, and I'll make some wooden sticks. After you're in your pairs, send one representative to draw lots to decide which magical creature you'll be facing. How does that sound?"

"Okay," the people replied sparsely.

It's clear they weren't very enthusiastic.

That makes sense, though, since nobody would be too excited about facing a Level 5X dangerous magical creature, except for Newt Scamander.

The teams were quickly divided. Ron and Hermione naturally formed a group, Neville teamed up with Luna, and the Hufflepuff duo consisted of Justin Finley and Hannah.

Pansy originally wanted to be in a group with Draco, but Draco stubbornly insisted on being in a group with Ginny.

Unfortunately, Pansy had no choice but to team up with Simo, who had a bye.

“Alright, let’s draw lots,” Harry said to them.

Then, he took out several wooden sticks representing various mythical creatures.

"Are you going or should I go?" Hermione asked Ron.

“Go ahead,” Ron said somewhat timidly. “If I draw the Eight-Eyed Giant Spider, I’m doomed—oh God, I don’t want to fight the Eight-Eyed Giant Spider… I hope you draw something good.”

“Among the level 5X magical creatures, the eight-eyed giant spider is already considered the easiest to deal with,” Hermione said in a low voice.

“Well…” Ron swallowed hard. “Let’s just use the Eight-Eyed Giant Spider. I remember Harry taught me a spell specifically for dealing with spiders… One spider should be easy to handle.”

Yo?
There are actually such requirements?
Harry glanced at Ron in surprise, then said, "Fine, I'll grant your wish."

Hermione, Ginny, Neville, Seamus, and Hannah quickly stepped forward and approached Harry. "Let's draw lots," Harry said, placing five wooden sticks in front of them.

They hesitated for a long time, and finally Hermione made up her mind and drew a wooden stick—

"An eight-eyed giant spider." She breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought it would be a monster like a chimera or a fire dragon—"

“Me too,” Ginny said from behind, pulling out a wooden skewer. “It’s a long-horned water snake?”

“I’m a werewolf,” Neville said with a mournful face.

“I am a bird-like man-eating monster,” Hannah said, clutching her chest and panting.

"What about me? Let me see..." Simo looked at his bamboo skewer: "Wow, it's a troll?"

“Not all of them are level 5X magical creatures,” Harry said at the right moment. “There are also some level 4X, and even level 3X and 2X creatures, but unfortunately you didn’t get any.”

A collective sigh of despair rippled through the crowd.

Harry chuckled to himself, "You think I'd let you draw magical creatures that aren't level 4 or 5?"
Let's trust the unseen hand, okay?
Ron rallied his spirits; Hermione's words had given him immense courage.

"So when do we start?" he asked.

“Don’t rush,” Harry said. “Come with me—both of you.”

Ron and Hermione exchanged a glance, then followed Harry one after the other.

Harry pushed open a door, and immediately a fresh, natural scent wafted in.

Before them was not the empty dueling arena of the Room of Requirement, but a natural landscape.

"Wow!" they all exclaimed in surprise. "Is there such a wonderful place in the House of Requirement?"

Good place?
Harry suppressed a laugh, "I'll make you fly in a minute!"

"Oh," he said casually, "This is where Vivi and I used to raise magical creatures. Isn't it amazing?"

“It’s truly amazing.” Hermione looked around. “How can it be so bright without the sun? It’s incredible…”

“I don’t know the specific reason either… Alright, let’s move on. Considering that you have to deal with the eight-eyed giant spider, I plan to create some realistic scenes.”

Having said that, Harry took the lead and walked ahead.

"A realistic scene?" Ron muttered to himself, but his feet kept moving forward with Harry.

Before long, they arrived at the edge of a forest.

This was a complete simulation of the Forbidden Forest environment, with twisted trees and gnarled roots, the ground covered with slippery moss and fallen leaves, and the air filled with humus and a dangerous, sweet-smelling odor.

“I have a bad feeling.” Ron gripped his new wand tightly, his knuckles turning white, but he tried to keep his voice calm.

“I’m just raising the difficulty level a little,” Harry chuckled, patting Ron on the shoulder. “Alright, you two hurry up and go in. I’ve already set up the cameras—don’t worry, this practice will be faithfully recorded and uploaded to video websites.”

After saying that, Harry led the other eight people away from the Forbidden Forest.

He had a tablet and sat down with the other people.

Looking at Hermione and Ron, who were sitting back-to-back on the tablet with cautious expressions, Draco clicked his tongue and said, "It would be great if they brought snacks and drinks..."

Don't say it, really don't say it.

Harry took out some popcorn, along with Muggle snacks and drinks, and placed them on the ground.

“Sit down and watch it together,” he said.

In the Forbidden Forest, Ron was still back to back with Hermione.

However, he felt no romantic feelings whatsoever, only fear of the unknown.

“Merlin’s beard… Hermione, are you sure Harry is just ‘slightly’ increasing the difficulty?” he asked, his face pale, his knuckles white from gripping the wand too tightly.

"Lumos!"

Hermione's wand tip steadily emitted a shimmering glow, illuminating four enormous silhouettes slowly approaching from the shadows ahead.

They are like moving nightmares.

These giant eight-eyed spiders are covered in black carapaces, their compound eyes gleam with a cruel, ferocious light, and their chelicerae rub against each other, making a teeth-grinding "click" sound.

Their eight long, hairy legs rustled and moved rapidly as they quickly approached the two.

“Harry didn’t say there were four eight-eyed giant spiders!” Ron roared at the top of his lungs.

“Don’t get distracted, Ron!” Hermione snapped, but there was a barely perceptible tremor in her voice. “Remember what Professor Scamander said in class: they’re intelligent and will try to flank you—”

Before the words were even finished, two giant spiders suddenly charged at them from the front with astonishing speed, while the other two quickly disappeared into the bushes on the side, trying to get behind them.

"Incendio! (Burning Flames)"

Ron reacted quickly, unleashing a blazing fire spell that created a wall of fire in front of him.

The giant spiders at the front let out a sharp hiss and retreated a few steps in fear, but their encirclement was tightening.

Suddenly, a huge, dark figure lunged at Hermione.

"Arania Exumai (Spiders, begone!)!"

A beam of white light suddenly shot out from Ron's wand, and the spider let out a piercing hiss and screamed as it retreated.

"Stupefy!" (Faints) "Impedimenta!" (Obstacles abound)

Hermione's spells were precise and effective. A Stunning Charm struck a giant spider trying to break through the wall of fire, causing its massive body to sway. Another Barrier Charm successfully slowed down the advance of a spider on the side, buying Ron time.

"right!"

Ron yelled and turned to aim his wand at the third giant spider that pounced out of the shadows.

"Reducto! (To be pulverized into pieces)"

The shattering spell struck the spider's side, and its chitinous carapace shattered into pieces under the spell's effect, spilling out its colorful internal organs, and its body collapsed.

It was clear that he wouldn't survive.

"Well done, Ron!" Hermione shouted in praise without turning her head.

The death of their companion did not deter the other three eight-eyed giant spiders. They roared but did not pounce. Instead, they retreated swiftly and disappeared into the bushes.

(End of this chapter)