The Return to Hogwarts

"That's also nothing to worry about, Hagrid, sometimes."

Amostella easily leaped across a small puddle, and as she passed Hagrid, she even gave him a hand.

"I can also have a very bad temper."

As the surrounding trees gradually thinned out and the ground began to slope downwards, and a dark shadow the size of a stone mound vaguely appeared behind the thorny bushes, Amosta knew that their destination was near.

Amosta stood on the edge of a crater-like depression, raising his glowing wand to look down. In the crater, covered with sparse trees, lived hundreds or even thousands of spiders. These spiders were not hairy little things; each one of them was the same size as the eight-eyed spider he had captured earlier.

The moment Amosta appeared, the quiet depression was suddenly filled with a series of clicking and clattering sounds that echoed throughout the silent jungle.

"who is it?"

In the very center of the depression, amidst the misty, hemispherical spiderweb, a spider the size of an African elephant slowly emerged. Its body color was different from other spiders; it was black tinged with gray. Each eye on its ugly head with its large pincers was covered by a layer of white film, as if it could no longer see clearly.

"Who disturbed my slumber? Was it Hagrid?!"

The large spider asked in a sharp voice, like nail clippers scraping a blackboard.

Click-clack-clack-clack!

A large group of spiders around answered the question in this unique language.

"Oh, really? A stranger has come here. Oh, well, I'm sorry then," Aragog's two large claws moved quickly, giving its opinion.

"Children, what are you waiting for?"

Watching the spiders, who were already unable to suppress their instincts, Amosta narrowed his eyes, secretly wondering how much venom he could get if he really made a move later.

"Oh, wait, Aragog, wait a minute!"

Just then, Hagrid, looking as if he had taken a bath in the mud, finally arrived, panting heavily. "It's me, it's Hagrid, Aragog!"

The old spider in the middle of the web heard this familiar voice. Its trembling mandibles paused for a moment, and then the shrill voice sounded a little more friendly.

"Oh, sorry, Hagrid, it's you. I thought a stranger had trespassed on my family's territory."

"So, regarding what I mentioned to you last time, about those centaurs hunting my children, have you spoken to them? If they don't stop, Hagrid will have no choice but to retaliate."

“In fact, Aragok, I heard a completely different story from the centaurs. They think, well, I’ll go ask them again for you. Aragok, I’m here today to ask you something else.”

Hagrid is like the guardian of order in this Forbidden Forest. Every intelligent magical creature, regardless of whether they like the wizard or not, maintains the most basic respect for Hagrid.

Smaller spiders around him slithered around in the pit with their long, thin legs that supported their bodies, making rustling noises that sounded very restless. They were continuing to pass messages to Aragog, who was already blind.

"Hagrid!"

Aragog's voice, which had just softened its hostility, now sounded furious again. It pointed all eight of its white-tinted eyes at Amosta, angrily demanding...

"Did you bring anyone else with you, Hagrid? You promised me you wouldn't do this!"

It seemed that this old spider was indeed not so easy to communicate with, Amosta thought to himself, standing aside and silently observing Hagrid's interaction with it.

"Professor Blaine, who is also the investigator sent by the Hogwarts Board of Governors to investigate the Chamber of Secrets, insists on speaking with you in person, Aragog. I hope you will."

"Secret room!"

Before Hagrid could finish speaking, Aragog became agitated. With an angry clicking sound, many spiders surrounded Amosta and Hagrid from all sides. They stayed a few dozen feet away from him, making even more intense rustling sounds, ready to pounce at the slightest command!

“I’ve told you many times, Hagrid, we are afraid of that monster. We will never mention the name of that ancient creature to outsiders. If too many wizards know about it, they will covet its power and use it to destroy us!”

Wow, that's quite a unique line of logic!

Amosta couldn't help but chuckle, and then he saw Hagrid shrugging helplessly at him.

"See? That's how it turned out, Professor Blaine. You know, if it had been willing to expose that monster back then, maybe I wouldn't have been kicked out of Hogwarts."

"Don't give up so easily, Hagrid—"

Amosta took two steps forward with a relaxed tone.

"Let me try to communicate with it."

Chapter 56 The Hot-Tempered Amosta

“Hello, Aragog, my name is Amostall Blaine. As Hagrid said, I am a professor at Hogwarts, and also hold the position of…”

"Leave my territory, stranger! Leave now, and I won't tell you anything!"

Amosta was abruptly interrupted by Aragog, who brandished his large claws and threatened him in a low voice.

"I'll give you a chance to leave, since you're Hagrid's friend!"

Dozens of feet away, the group of small spiders could hardly contain their bloodlust. They swarmed closer, nervously digging at the soil with their thin limbs. Their bright green compound eyes blinked rapidly, and their ferocious mouthparts, which kept snapping and opening, seemed to be mimicking the chewing of the flesh and blood of the slender human next to Hagrid.

Looking at the restless spiders around him, Amosta's eyelids twitched, and his expression no longer seemed as cheerful as before.

“Go back, Professor Blaine,”

Hagrid blinked, looking uneasy.

"Aragok and its descendants do not like living people. I haven't brought anyone here in decades!"

Amosta didn't move. Having finally gotten a chance to glimpse the truth, how could he give in so easily? To be honest, he regretted letting Hagrid bring him here. If he had been alone, he might have been able to communicate with these eight-eyed spiders more smoothly.

“I respect you, Hagrid—”

Aragok circled in the hemispherical spiderweb in the middle of the crater.

“My children obey my orders and never harm you, but I find it hard to stop them from enjoying fresh human flesh delivered to their doorstep, Hagrid. If your friends don’t leave soon, I’m afraid you’ll have to walk back to the castle alone!”

"Let's go, Professor Blaine, you won't get any useful information out of it!"

"The situation seems to be spiraling out of control," Hagrid said anxiously. However, Amosta remained calm, staring at Aragog below without flinching, showing no intention of leaving.

The little spiders continued to approach, and Hagrid finally couldn't hold back any longer. He quickly walked to Amostella's side and reached out to grab her arm, but just before his fingertips touched the wizard's robe, the vortex in Amostella's eyes began to spin!

The rain falling from the gloomy sky turned into individual raindrops, which seemed to have escaped the omnipresent gravitational pull, halting their momentum and lingering in mid-air.

The fallen leaves, shaken by the tremors, bounced back into the air with a slow but resolute speed the moment they touched the ground. The fine raindrops that were brushed aside clearly recorded the trajectory of the fallen leaves. This incredible and magical scene was reflected in Hagrid's eyes, making him temporarily forget that he was unable to move.

A gentle breeze appears, the sound of rain lingers, time seems to freeze, and space is like amber about to solidify.

All noise ceased, and the spiders continued waving their large claws; only their compound eyes, trembling slightly with extreme fear, proved they were not yet dead.

Amosta slowly brushed away the fallen leaves drifting in the space in front of him, walked around clumps of bushes, passed through the blockade of the small spiders, and walked down step by step until he finally stood in front of the blind old spider at the bottom of the pit.

"So."

Amostella raised her arm and slowly pressed her wand against Aragog's head, her eyes filled with coldness, her light voice carrying a thunderous authority.

"I'll give you a chance to tell the truth since you're Hagrid's friend."

A gentle breeze swept by, and Aragog regained control of its massive body. However, it remained silent. Its sharp teeth, worn down by age, clicked and clattered against each other in its mandibles, like it was shivering.

"cannot."

Aragok said in a trembling voice, "That's fear hidden in our blood, something we can't resist."

"This is really difficult—"

Amostella rubbed his damp hair in frustration.

“If you insist on not saying anything, Aragog, I’ll have to search your own mind. To be honest, I’m reluctant to do that because it might affect your health.”

"no no"

Upon hearing this, Hagrid, standing at the edge of the crater, blinked frantically. He struggled desperately, but the confinement of his magic was similar to the petrification curse suffered by Colin Creevey and Justin Finley, something that couldn't be overcome by sheer willpower. No matter how hard Hagrid tried, he could only watch helplessly as Amostall's wand glowed faintly once more!

"Amosta."

Just when Hagrid thought Aragog was doomed, a deep, familiar voice suddenly rang out behind him. Before he could react, a beam of silver light flashed past his body and appeared above Amosta's head, who was about to make his move.

The silver phoenix gently flapped its wings, scattering specks of fluorescent light across the dark surroundings.

"It's foolish to try to save some lives by destroying others, Amosta. Spare this poor spider; it's already suffered enough."

The magic around them remained frozen, but the silver Patronus, which carried Dumbledore's spirit and will, seemed completely unaffected. It hovered steadily in mid-air, silently gazing at Amostella.

The chilly air was thick with an unspoken pressure; it was a silent battle, and the outcome was obvious.

"I'm sorry, Hagrid. I may have done something rude to your friend in the Forbidden Forest. I hope you can forgive me—"

Standing in front of the cabin, Amosta looked apologetic, his tone revealing his frustration.

"I don't know why, but in the last two years I've developed a bad habit: when others are rude to me, I find it hard to control my temper."

“It’s not your fault, Professor Blaine Aragog does have a very bad temper.”

Hagrid, his face deathly pale, smiled as if he were recovering from a serious illness.

The gloomy sky was still drizzling, making it impossible for Amosta to tell what time it was. But as he passed the Quidditch stadium, he saw the Gryffindor team, soaking wet and shivering as they ate sandwiches under the wooden eaves of the stands, which made him realize that it must be lunchtime.

"Professor Blaine!"

Hermione, who was pulling out her wand and blasting hot air to dry Harry's wet hair, spotted Amostella at a glance. Amostella was walking from the direction of Hagrid's hut on the main road leading to the castle in the middle of the courtyard. She was so excited that the sparks from the tip of her wand almost blew Harry's eyes out.

"Ah, it's Miss Granger."

Feeling a bit annoyed after making a wasted trip and being 'humiliated' by Dumbledore, Amosta headed towards the Quidditch pitch.

"What, you need me for something?"

Hermione braved the rain and happily ran out from under the wooden eaves.