Taking Over Me

Chapter 13 - Year 5 - 1943

"Hey who're you?" Hagrid caught sight of me.

Riddle whirled around but I was already sprinting in the opposite direction by the time I heard him shout "Petrificus Totalus."

I ran and ran until I couldn't hear Riddle or Hagrid any more. I bent down, resting my hands on my knees as I caught my breath.

Something slithered in the darkness and I froze. I wasn't afraid of spiders, but honestly, what person wouldn't be terrified looking at a spider that was as big as the top of my nightstand? I slowly pulled out my wand, praying to every deity I could think of for this noise to not be the spider. I pushed myself closer to the wall and the slithering noise grew louder. I froze, how could the noise be louder if I'd moved away from it? I faced the wall I was leaning against and pressed my ear against the stones.

The noise seemed to be coming from inside the walls of the school. That spider must have been faster than I'd thought to have hidden in the walls so quickly. I relaxed until I turned to go back towards the main corridor.

The spider stood in the center of the hall, blocking my escape. It clicked pincers the size of an entire lobster as it scuttled closer. I shrieked and backed up into a wall. I'd run into the only corridor on this level with a dead end. Bloody hell I had shoddy luck. No wonder I wasn't supposed to make it to the end of my sixth year.

The spider crawled closer.

I pointed my shaking wand at it. "Stay away from me."

The spider stopped. Its eight eyes stared at me and I tried not to get a headache as it blinked. Its eyes did a kaleidoscopic effect as each opened and closed. I shook my head. I couldn't afford to get distracted. This monster had already killed one person and I might be next.

It inched closer and I blasted the ground in front of it. "I said don't move."
If it was possible, the spider seemed to glare at me.

I gulped, trying not to lose my nerves. "Let me pass."

"Why should I?" squeaked a raspy voice.

I nearly dropped my wand. "You talk?"

"Of course little witch."
"But, but how? Why?"

"I open my mouth and words come out, words that Hagrid taught me. He learned that I could speak and taught me your language."

"That's great and all, but you need to go back into the crate you were in. You killed someone. I can't just allow you to wander the school free to murder at your leisure."

"I did not." The spider's voice reminded me of the the dangerous quality Riddle's took on.

"What didn't you do?"
"I did not kill that girl."

"Right like I'm going to believe a giant monstrous spider." I scoffed.

"I did not kill her, but I know what did."

"What so now you're telling me that there are two murderous beasts running amok in the school? Somehow I find that unlikely." I hefted my wand. If a spider could talk, why couldn't it lie?

"I was not running amok in the school. Before today, Hagrid kept me in that crate. This is the first time I have been free."

"Alright let's say for a second that I believed you didn't murder my friend. Tell me what did then."

"It is an ancient evil, that lives beneath the school. My ancestors have learned to live in fear of such a beast."

"You still haven't told me what it is. It's got to be pretty bad to make something at terrifying as you afraid. So come on, don't keep me in suspense. What is this ancient evil?"

"We do not speak its name. I will tell you that it is the killer you seek and that it moves around your school through the walls. You heard it before I found you."

I froze. "That thing in the walls, that wasn't you?"

Aragog shook his fuzzy head. "It is a great serpent. That is all I will say."

"Right thanks, now I'll just be going now." I inched towards escape as the spider circled me.

"Two things child."

I hadn't turned my back on the giant spider, but I had focused my attentions on escaping alive. I now looked at the creepy beast. "Yes?"

"First, since I helped you, you must return the favor. You will tell me the way out of this castle."

"Why so you can go kill some poor innocent human?"

"I've lived my life in a dark cage. I wish to see the sun for the first time and not have to be kept hidden. I've waited long enough. Tell me where to go."

Considering that I don't like to argue with giant possibly poisonous spiders, I gave him the best directions I could to a secret passage that would lead him to the Forbidden Forest.

He thanked me and started to scurry off.

"Wait, you said there were two things you needed. What was the second one?" I asked.

"Since you seem so interested in the serpent slithering around your school, you should ask the boy who tried to take me from Hagrid."

I paled. "What does Riddle have to do with this?"

"You humans really do have terrible senses. If you must know, Riddle smelled like the creature. If you want to know more about it, ask him. But be wary, not many who tangle with the beast or its master come out in one piece." Aragog scrambled away.

I couldn't move as I thought about what the spider had said. There was a chance he was lying to me, but he'd had no reason to. It seemed likely that Riddle was somehow involved with the monster in the walls. Why did that not surprise me?