Amelia Potter and the Chamber of Secrets PART 1

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opened the Chamber and set me free.'

And you ... you didn't come from the Chamber of Secrets?' said Harry, who could feel cold sweat on his forehead.

'Of course not, don't be stupid, Harry,' said Amelia now that she had finely calmed down to talk.

'I!' said Aragog, clicking angrily. 'I was not born in the castle. I come from a distant land. A traveller gave me to Hagrid when I was an egg. Hagrid was only a boy, but he cared for me, hidden in a cupboard in the castle, feeding me on scraps from the table. Hagrid is my good friend, and a good man. When I was discovered, and blamed for the death of two students, he protected me. I have lived here in the Forest ever since, where Hagrid still visits me. He even found me a wife, Mosag, and you see how our family has grown, all through Hagrid's goodness ...'

'A lovely family they are,' smiled Amelia. 

Harry summoned what remained of his courage.

'So you never – never attacked anyone?'

'Never,' croaked the old spider. 'It would have been my instinct, but from respect of Hagrid, I never harmed a human. The body of the girl who was killed was discovered in a bathroom. A boy was found dead a few halls down. I never saw any part of the castle but the cupboard in which I grew up. Our kind like the dark and the quiet ...'

'But then ... Do you know what did kill them?' said Harry. 'Because whatever it is, it's back and attacking people again –'

His words were drowned by a loud outbreak of clicking and the rustling of many long legs shifting angrily; large black shapes shifted all around him.

'The thing that lives in the castle,' said Aragog, 'is an ancient creature we spiders fear above all others. Well do I remember how I pleaded with Hagrid to let me go, when I sensed the beast moving about the school.'

'What is it?' said Harry urgently.

'They don't talk about it Harry,' hissed Amelia.

More loud clicking, more rustling; the spiders seemed to be closing in.

'We do not speak of it!' said Aragog fiercely. 'We do not name it! I never even told Hagrid the name of that dread creature, though he asked me, many times.'

Harry didn't want to press the subject, not with the spiders pressing closer on all sides. Aragog seemed to be tired of talking. He was backing slowly into his domed web, but his fellow spiders continued to inch slowly towards them.

'We'll just go, then,' Harry called desperately to Aragog, hearing leaves rustling behind him.