Merlin's Descendant 2

Aragog

Summer was creeping over the grounds around the castle; sky and lake alike turned periwinkle blue and flowers large as cabbages burst into bloom in the greenhouses. But with no Hagrid visible from the castle windows, striding the grounds with Fang at his heels, the scene didn't look right to (Y/N); no better, in fact, than the inside of the castle, where things were so wrong.

Harry, Ron and (Y/N) had tried to visit Hermione, but visitors were now barred from the hospital wing.

"We're taking no more chances," Madam Pomfrey told them severely through a crack in the infirmary door. "No, I'm sorry, there's every chance the attacker might come back to finish these people off..."

With Dumbledore gone, fear had spread as never before, so that the sun warming the castle walls outside seemed to stop at the mullioned windows. There was barely a face to be seen in the school that didn't look worried and tense, and any laughter that rang through the corridors sounded shrill and unnatural and was quickly stifled.

(Y/N) constantly repeated Dumbledore's final words that Harry told him to himself "I will only truly have left this school when none here are loyal to me... Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it." But what good were these words? Who exactly were they supposed to ask for help, when everyone was just as confused and scared as they were?

Hagrid's hint about the spiders was far easier to understand. The trouble was, there didn't seem to be a single spider left in the castle to follow. (Y/N) looked everywhere he went, helped by Harry, Tracey (who figured this was the least she could do to help her new friend) and (rather reluctantly) Ron. They were hampered, of course, by the fact that they weren't allowed to wander off on their own but had to move around the castle in a pack with the other Gryffindors and Slytherins. Most of their fellow students seemed glad that they were being shepherded from class to class by teachers, but (Y/N) found it very irksome.

One person, however, seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the atmosphere of terror and suspicion. Draco Malfoy was strutting around the school as though he had just been appointed Head Boy.

(Y/N) didn't realize what he was so pleased about until the Potions lesson about two weeks after Dumbledore and Hagrid had left, when, sitting right behind Malfoy, Harry overheard him gloating to Crabbe and Goyle.

"I always thought Father might be the one who got rid of Dumbledore," he said, not troubling to keep his voice down. "I told you he thinks Dumbledore's the worst headmaster the school's ever had. Maybe we'll get a decent headmaster now. Someone who won't want the Chamber of Secrets closed. McGonagall won't last long, she's only filling in..."

Snape swept past (Y/N), making no comment about Hermione's empty seat and cauldron but casting a sad look at his student, not in a mocking way but feeling sympathy for the boy.

"Sir," said Malfoy loudly. "Sir, why don't you apply for the headmaster's job?"

"Now, now, Malfoy," said Snape, though he couldn't suppress a thin-lipped smile. "Professor Dumbledore has only been suspended by the governors. I daresay he'll be back with us soon enough."

"Yeah, right," said Malfoy, smirking. "I expect you'd have Father's vote, sir, if you wanted to apply for the job — I'll tell Father you're the best teacher here, sir —"

Snape smirked as he swept off around the dungeon, fortunately not spotting Seamus Finnigan, who was pretending to vomit into his cauldron.

"I'm quite surprised the Mudbloods haven't all packed their bags by now," Malfoy went on. "Bet you five Galleons the next one dies. Pity, it wasn't Granger —"

The bell rang at that moment, which was lucky; at Malfoy's last words, (Y/N) had leapt off his stool, and in the scramble to collect bags and books, his attempts to reach Malfoy went unnoticed.

"Let me at him," (Y/N) growled as Harry, Ron and Tracey hung onto his arms. "I don't care, I don't need my wand, I'm going to kill him with my bare hands —"

"Hurry up, I've got to take you all to Herbology. Slytherins, feel free to head to your break," barked Snape over the class's heads, and off the Gryffindors marched, with Harry, Ron and Dean bringing up the rear, (Y/N) still trying to get loose. It was only safe to let go of him when Snape had seen the Gryffindors out of the castle and they were making their way across the vegetable patch toward the greenhouses.

(Y/N), finally released from Tracey, made his way to the Great Hall, for that was the only place the students could go for their break. He sat down at the Slytherin table, grabbing his book Ancient Runes Made Easy.

Tracey, trailing after him, sat next to him.

"Look, we don't want you expelled. As much as I want Malfoy sent to the Hospital Wing, we can't attack him."

(Y/N) grumbled in response, turning back to his book.

A second later, Tracey spotted something.

Several large spiders were scuttling over the ground on the other side of the glass, moving in an unnaturally straight line as though taking the shortest route to a prearranged meeting. Tracey hit (Y/N) over the head with his book.

"Ouch! What're you —"

Tracey pointed out the spiders, following their progress with his eyes screwed up against the sun.

"Oh, yeah," said (Y/N), looking pleased. "Let's follow them." He started getting up from his seat but Tracey grabbed his arm.

"Are you insane? Harry has the Cloak, doesn't he? Let's just wait until the day ends and meet up with them." (Y/N) thought this was a good idea because he sat back down, but he didn't continue reading his book.

(Y/N)'s eyes narrowed as he focused on the spiders. If they pursued their fixed course, there could be no doubt about where they would end up.

"Looks like they're heading for the Forbidden Forest..."

***

The Slytherin common room was always very crowded these days because from six o'clock onward the Slytherins had nowhere else to go. They also had plenty to talk about, with the result that the common room often didn't empty until past midnight.

Daphne Greengrass, a friend of Tracey, challenged (Y/N) and Tracey to a few games of Exploding Snap. (Y/N) and Tracey kept losing on purpose, trying to finish the games quickly, but even so, it was well past midnight when Daphne finally went to bed.

(Y/N) and Tracey waited for the distant sounds of the dormitory door closing before running out of the Dungeons, making their way to the Entrance Hall.

It was another difficult journey through the castle, dodging all the teachers. At last, they reached the entrance hall, slid back the lock on the oak front doors, squeezed between them, trying to stop any creaking, and stepped out into the moonlit grounds. Outside, they met Harry and Ron, who were waiting for them.

"' Course," said Ron abruptly as they strode across the black grass, "we might get to the forest and find there's nothing to follow. Those spiders might not've been going there at all. I know it looked like they were moving in that sort of general direction, but..."

His voice trailed away hopefully.

They reached Hagrid's house, sad and sorry-looking with its blank windows. When (Y/N) pushed the door open, Fang went mad with joy at the sight of them. Worried he might wake everyone at the castle with his deep, booming barks, they hastily fed him treacle fudge from a tin on the mantelpiece, which glued his teeth together.

Harry left the Invisibility Cloak on Hagrid's table. There would be no need for it in the pitch-dark forest.