Hogwarts Summoning Guide.

With a sharp pain in his abdomen, Aragog wanted to turn around, but Bai Lin simply ran around Aragog. Finding an opportunity, Bai Lin gritted his teeth, leaped up, and jumped onto Aragog's back.

Bai Lin had once heard an old man say that if a person goes blind, their hearing becomes extra sensitive. He wondered if spiders were the same. While trying to steady himself on Aragog's back, he first tried to "plug his ears."

Spiders hear through the gaps in their eight legs; they don't have ears. So Bai Lin simply climbed onto Aragog's back, pointed at its four legs, and shouted, "Summon Screaming Mandela!"

This was the first time Bai Lin had used a summoning skill. In a flash of light, more than a dozen strangely shaped, ugly, and black mandrake roots were thrown at the base of Aragog's legs. Immediately afterwards, a terrifying scream echoed throughout the entire forest.

As a level 1 low-level creature, the mandrake is almost powerless when planted in the ground, just like an ordinary radish. However, if it is pulled out alive, it will emit a scream that is enough to shatter eardrums or even endanger a person's life.

The scream lasted for about three seconds. Not only Aragog, who was in the center of the scream, but also the other spiders around him were so frightened that they scattered and fled. If it weren't for the ear-closing spell cast beforehand, Bai Lin would probably be in the tragic situation of bleeding from all seven orifices. But even with the ear-closing spell cast, Bai Lin still felt that the scream made him see stars.

Aragog staggered, then was knocked unconscious by the screams and collapsed to the ground. Bai Lin released the ear-blocking spell from himself, and the mandrakes disappeared automatically after they finished screaming; it was a short-lived skill-type summoning.

"Seal!" Bai Lin aimed at Aragog's large head and activated the encyclopedia's sealing function.

A burst of light flowed, and Aragog, about the size of a small house, was absorbed into the Summoning Encyclopedia. This single creature illuminated the encyclopedia entry for the Eight-Eyed Giant Spider. Bai Lin glanced at the thick back of the encyclopedia; it had already changed to:

[Total score for completing the encyclopedia: 368, encyclopedia magic bonus: 7, magical creature affinity: +3; Summoned creatures: Screaming Mandrake (Level 1, CD 9:45), White Werewolf (Level 3)], Magic power increased by 3 points, reaching 15 (+7). It's a bit of a pity that I didn't gain the skill to summon the Eight-Eyed Spider, but I did get a clay pot containing a full 3 pints of Eight-Eyed Giant Spider venom.

Bai Lin felt sore all over, so he quickly cast a spell on himself, "Quickly Recover!" This was a spell he had learned from Old George. Sure enough, a cool energy spread throughout his body, and he felt much better.

Just as Bai Lin was feeling a bit better, he saw another enormous creature emerge from the burrow. It was probably Aragog's mate, Mosag. Although it wasn't as big as Aragog, Bai Lin's magic power hadn't fully recovered yet, and the Screaming Mandela still had nearly ten minutes of cooldown. A level 3 white werewolf was clearly no match for it. The sealing mission was already complete, and now was not the time to be reckless. Before the surrounding spiders could regroup and scatter, it was best to retreat quickly.

Mosag roared after losing its mate, and many smaller spiders chased after it, but Mosag did not leave the territory of the giant spider, perhaps because its instinct to protect the spider eggs outweighed its hatred and impulse.

Even without Mossag's pursuit, the swarms of spiders still left Bai Lin in a very sorry state. He couldn't tell whether the swarms of rats he had seen in the forest when he was a child were more disgusting than the spider tide he encountered today. In any case, he never wanted to return to the spider nest again.

Just as the spiders were about to catch up with Bai Lin, dozens of sharp arrows suddenly shot out from the woods ahead. Bai Lin quickly lay down on the ground and dodged the arrows.

The arrows knocked more than a dozen spiders to the ground. Although they didn't die, the spiders stopped their pursuit and slowly retreated.

Bai Lin looked up and saw the morning sun shining on him. Dozens of tall figures emerged from behind the woods. They had fur and hair of various colors, from brownish-red to grayish-white. Their upper bodies were those of adult men, but their lower bodies were those of horses. They were the horsemen from the Forbidden Forest.

The lead centaur, with his thick black hair and bushy beard, looked wild and proud. Bai Lin recognized him at a glance; this was Bane, the centaur leader. Beside him, with platinum blonde hair, azure eyes, the body of a silver-maned horse, and handsome even by human standards, was probably Ferrenze. In Harry Potter 5, Ferrenze had been invited by Dumbledore to teach Divination at Hogwarts.

Bain looked down at Bai Lin coldly. Seeing that they didn't intend to shoot him directly, Bai Lin quickly got up, elegantly wiped the longsword, which was stained with Aragog's bodily fluids, on a nearby tree trunk, and sheathed it.

Seeing Bai Lin sheathe his sword, the centaurs also released their bowstrings. The centaurs were quite proud and disdained to launch a sneak attack when no one was looking.

Bai Lin wiped the dirt off his face with the corner of his robe and stepped forward, saying, "Thank you for your kind help, esteemed centaur!"

As the saying goes, flattery will get you everywhere. Bai Lin actually quite liked the centaurs in the novel. Although they were a bit rough and sensitive, they were ultimately a kind-hearted species.

Although the centaurs weren't hostile towards Bai Lin due to his +3 magical affinity with creatures, Bain still snorted and said, "Weak human wizard, you've trespassed into the centaurs' territory! You should be punished!" In fact, the centaurs considered the entire Forbidden Forest their territory, though humans, giants, werewolves, and even the eight-eyed giant spiders didn't acknowledge it.

Bai Lin bowed his head in apology and said, "I am deeply sorry for this. I am a new teacher at Hogwarts. I came here to study the magical creatures in the Forbidden Forest. Yesterday, I encountered a pack of wolves in the forest, which caused me to lose my way and thus I mistakenly entered the territory of the noble centaurs."

Seeing that Bai Lin's sword and body were covered in blue-green spider fluid, Ferenze couldn't help but ask, "You encountered Aragog? Oh, you mean that eight-eyed giant spider that's the size of a small mountain?"

Bai Lin sighed and said, "Unfortunately, I killed some spiders during the attack by the eight-eyed giant spider. That huge eight-eyed giant spider seemed very angry and wanted to swallow me. I had no choice but to use the scream of the mandrake to stun it and then kill it."

The centaurs were deeply moved. Aragog was a major threat to the centaurs, and the ever-expanding spider nest directly threatened the safety of their territory.

Despite some skepticism about how Bai Lin, a mere individual, could penetrate deep into the spider's lair and kill the enormous Aragog, the blue-green spider fluid covering their bodies spoke volumes. The centaurs breathed a sigh of relief, their eyes meeting with a hint of joy.

Bain paused for a moment, and Ferenz nodded to him. Bain stepped forward, sheathed his bow and arrows, and said, "Human wizard, you have earned the respect of the centaurs! My name is Bain, and I am the leader of the centaurs!"

Bai Lin bowed slightly and said, "My name is Karin White, but I prefer you to call me by my hometown name in the East—Bai Lin."

Ferenze's eyes lit up and he said, "Ah, the magical East! Hello, Bai Lin, my name is Ferenze!" The other centaur leaders also introduced themselves.

Ferrenze had a good impression of Bai Lin—he was one of the centaurs who was particularly friendly to humans. He would later be ostracized by his own kind for helping humans, but that's another story. At this moment, Ferrenze wanted to invite Bai Lin to the centaur village, but Bai Lin looked at the sky and said that he had to return to Hogwarts as soon as possible, as his good friend Hagrid was probably worried about him.

Upon learning that Bai Lin was Hagrid's friend, Bane's attitude softened considerably (Hagrid maintained excellent relationships with the intelligent beings in the Forbidden Forest, a level far superior to his human interactions), and he offered to escort Bai Lin for over ten miles to the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

Bai Lin took out some trinkets (mostly carvings of animal teeth and horns) that Kelling White had collected in his briefcase and gave them to Bain, saying, "I apologize again to the esteemed centaurs. I truly had no intention of trespassing on your territory. Please accept these items as a token of my apology!"

Bain curiously took a beast tooth pendant, held it up to the sunlight, and saw that it was very exquisite. He immediately smiled, which was rare for him, and accepted Bai Lin's "apology".

Ferenze said, "You helped us get rid of the King of the Eight-Eyed Giant Spiders, and the centaurs should express their gratitude to you. I wonder what Bai Lin is hoping to gain?"

Bai Lin smiled brightly and said, "The friendship of centaurs is invaluable!" He extended his hand and shook hands with Bane and Ferrenze in turn. He knew that he had gained his first ally at Hogwarts.