0294 Denizens of the Crater

Words : 1460 Updated : Oct 3rd, 2025

0294 Denizens of the Crater Finally, they reached the top of the long hillside. Now, before them lay a vast crater-like depression. 'Ron is really lucky!' Upon seeing what was in the pit, a nonsensical thought popped into Harry's head. Spiders—not the small ones the size of fingernails found in cupboards, but massive ones as big as carriage horses, with eight legs, eight green eyes, and bodies covered in black, bristly hair. In the crater, there were at least hundreds of such spiders, constantly moving their eight legs, making a click-clack noise. The ground was littered with animal carcasses and white cocoons, some of which were still violently shaking, indicating that the creatures inside had not yet died. Gulp— Harry swallowed hard, and within a few breaths, his forehead was beaded with sweat, and he felt Hermione's hand in his palm suddenly become damp. Click-clack-click-clack! The two young wizards instinctively took a step back, and at that moment, the giant spiders in the pit seemed to receive some signal and viciously snapped their pincers together. Harry no longer hoped to find even a finger of Peter; now, his priority was how to keep Hermione and himself alive. But as they turned to flee, their bodies stiffened, and goosebumps covered their skin. Five or six giant spiders had somehow sneaked up behind them, blocking their retreat. Dozens of green compound eyes looked down on Harry and Hermione from above. The giant spiders waved their pincers in the air, making a high-frequency click-clack sound. Hermione suddenly realized that this noise seemed to be a special language —a language of darkness spoken only by the forest's most fearsome denizens. "Do you think Dumbledore's magic might work again, Harry?" Harry's face was ashen. He drew his wand and held it in front of him, but he couldn't figure out how to use the stick in his hand against these behemoths. "Oh, little wizards from the castle?" Suddenly, from the bottom of the pit, behind a veil of web-like mist, came a tired, old voice, accompanied by a heavy, metallic click-clack sound. "Besides them, no other wizards have followed, right?" The old voice asked warily, and the giant spiders in front of Harry and Hermione moved their pincers, answering the question. "Bring them here!" The voice from the pit said suddenly, filled with anger. Harry was about to resist, but in a moment of distraction, his and Hermione's view spun, and they were pinched up by a spider's two large pincers. The spider moved very fast, blocking their mouths, preventing them from even screaming. The path ahead cleared, the lurking spiders parting to allow passage to their captives. In mere seconds, Harry and Hermione were presented before the arachnid overlord, a behemoth perched upon a throne of webs, its girth rivaling that of an elephant. The spider's body and eight legs were dark gray, and it seemed to be blind, as each of its eyes was covered with a white film. "Look there, Harry—" As Harry stared dumbfounded at the spider, Hermione pointed out in despair. It was Peter! He was hanging upside down not far to the left of the hemispherical web, with a slightly smaller spider crawling around him, rapidly weaving a web. Peter's mouth was gagged with a web, unable to make a sound, and his lower body was trapped in a white cocoon that was about to form. His arms seemed to be bleeding, and the bright red blood had stained a large area of the white cocoon. Seeing Harry and Hermione so close, Peter's small green eyes were filled with pleading and fear, and his eyes kept falling to the ground with a clattering sound. 'You brought this upon yourself!' Harry expressed his inner satisfaction with his eyes. In the shadowy depths of the Forbidden Forest, a scene of quiet horror unfolded. The eight-eyed spider, a master of its craft, worked with a precision that belied its monstrous size. Its pincers, delicate as a weaver's tools yet formidable in their strength, danced in the dim light, spinning a cocoon of white threads. These threads, finer than the finest silk yet stronger than steel, cascaded downwards in a relentless tide, enveloping Peter in a shroud of white. The cocoon spread with a speed that was mesmerizing, yet terrifying, as it crept over his mouth, sealing his fate with each passing second. "I remember now!" Hermione clutched her chest and spoke rapidly, "These creatures are Acromantulas. Professor Watson used them last year for a practical lesson with Fred and George's class. The professor told them that Acromantulas have low resistance to magic, even a first-year wizard's spell can defeat them if it hits!" "That makes things much easier!" Harry exclaimed excitedly. The mention of "Professor Watson" seemed to strike a chord with Aragog, whose formidable body tensed, his grotesque head bowing as if weighed down by the name. "Could it be Bryan Watson?" the spider murmured, its voice a soft, dangerous whisper that belied the chaos of its thoughts. 'Uh. Could it be that Professor Watson was the one who nearly killed Aragog last year..... He wouldn't want to capture Aragog for class, would he?' Harry and Hermione exchanged a glance, a silent communication passing between them. The same question hung in the air, unspoken yet understood. "You are that wizard's students—" Aragog's voice rose again, sharp and filled with venomous hatred. His movements were slow, deliberate, as he crawled along the intricate webbing of his domain. "I'm sorry, human children, I can't let you two die so easily—" "Do it, Hermione!" Harry's patience had worn thin. Since there was no point in talking to this old spider, Seizing the moment while it rambled, Harry shouted decisively. In the face of danger, Hermione's reliability shone like a beacon. Her wand became an extension of her will, casting spells with a fluid grace that belied the urgency of the situation. The silk that held Peter aloft was severed with surgical precision, and the giant eight-eyed spider next to Peter hasn't had time to react before the Petrification spell(Petrificus-Totalus) froze it in place! "You dare!" Aragog's roar was a piercing shriek that echoed through the forest, a call to arms for his offspring. But before he could muster his forces, a chill ran down his spine, halting his command. A sharp branch, quivering with potential, rested against Aragog's head—a silent threat that spoke louder than words. Hermione rushed over, dragging the white cocoon that enveloped Peter, but the task was too strenuous for a young witch, and Peter, unable to see the commotion outside, struggled violently. "Come and help me, Harry!" Sweat soaked through the gauze wrapped around her forehead wound, and Hermione stamped her feet in frustration. Sometimes Hermione was frighteningly clever, but occasionally, she could be as slow and clueless as Neville. "Why don't you use magic, Hermione?" Harry didn't dare to take his eyes off Aragog, but hearing the commotion, he knew Hermione was confused. "Oh!" With a start, Hermione smacked her forehead in annoyance realizing her oversight. A quick spell later, the cocoon floated effortlessly to Harry's side, guided by her deft magical touch. "But how do we leave this place, Harry?" Hermione's question was tinged with fear. But their predicament was far from over. Behind them, a legion of eight-eyed spiders, inhabitants of the vast meteorite crater, had encircled the young wizards. Their collective clicking was a menacing chorus that filled the night, a reminder of the peril that surrounded them. "Order them to back off!" Harry demanded, his voice steady despite the danger. He knew that Aragog, the leader of this arachnid tribe, held sway over his kin. With a subtle movement of his wand, Harry applied pressure, the sharp point rotating against Aragog's head with a silent promise of violence. "Impossible—" Aragog's response was bitter, his words a declaration of defiance. "You won't be able to leave this place tonight; you will become the nourishment for hatching my descendants." Harry's frown deepened at the spider's stubbornness. He had not expected such resistance, even in the face of death. "Don't kill it, Harry!" Hermione's urgent plea broke through his thoughts. "Have you forgotten? This spider knows Hagrid, it's Hagrid's friend." "Yes, I haven't forgotten!" Harry's temples throbbed, feeling the situation was tricky. He had only intended to scare Aragog, never actually planning to kill it, but Hagrid's formidable friend was determined to keep him and Hermione there, putting them in a difficult predicament! ******************************* For More Chapters; /FicFrenzy

0294 Denizens of the Crater

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