enchanted • draco malfoy

Year 2: Following the Spiders and Skeletons in Chambers

Felicity's POV

We followed the spiders hesitantly, each step taking us further into the menacing woods. Ron was breathing heavily behind me, and we could hear the sound of the hundreds upon hundreds of arachnids scuttle and crawl on the forest floor.

"Guys... I don't like this," Ron admitted, his voice cracking and wavering. We ignored him, before he said again, "Guys, I don't like this at all." I rolled my eyes and impatiently snapped, "Shut up." Ron followed, his footsteps even more reluctant as more spiders began leading us into the heart of the Forbidden Forest.

"Can we go back now?" Ron asked after a couple minutes, sounding bloody terrified. "Come on," Harry said, paying no attention to Ron's horror. Finally, we wound up in a clearing in the forest surrounded by massive, gnarly tree roots and long, wispy branches.

There was a loud crunching sound before a deep, raspy voice called out. "Who.. is... it?" it questioned slowly, as if speaking after years of disuse. Fang growed lowly and barked at the voice. "Don't panic," Harry whispered to us. "Hagrid?" the gruff voice continued, "is that you?" I stepped forward slightly, patting Fang's head. "We're friends of Hagrid," I spoke, trying to keep my voice from shaking.

Suddenly, with another loud cracking sound, two huge, spindly spider legs emerged from a hole at the end of the clearing. Slowly, the biggest spider I've ever seen in my life emerged. It's legs were double my height and at least my arm's length across; it's head was easily the size of my own magnified by three, with black, beady eyes the size of two fists next to each other; it's abdomen was probably my height across, and 2 or 3 feet wide. And it's pincers were the size poor Fang, who looked paralyzed with dread.

"And you... you're Aragog, aren't you?" Harry asked, his voice trembling slightly. Whether from fear, shock, or awe, I didn't know. Probably all of the above. "Yes," Aragog agreed in the same old, guttural voice, "Hagrid has never sent humans into our hollow before." I nodded and launched into our story. " He's in trouble. Up at the school," I began, "there have been attacks. And people think it's Hagrid. They think he opened the Chamber of Secrets." "Like before," Harry added.

"That's a lie!" Aragog spat, his voice growing louder, "Hagrid never opened the Chamber of Secrets!" The three of us all took a startled step back. Ron gulped audibly behind me. "Then you're not the monster," Harry realized. "No," the giant spider snarled, "The monster was born in the castle. I came to Hagrid from a distant land in the pocket of a traveler."

"Harry... F-Felicity..." Ron whispered, tugging on Harry's sleeve. "Ron, shut up," I muttered in response. "But if you're not the monster," I said, my brow furrowing in confusion, "then what did kill the girl fifty years ago?" Thousands of spiders of varying sizes now surrounded Aragog as he replied harshly, "We do not speak of it!" His voice sounded dangerous, like metal scraping against stone. "It is an ancient creature that we spiders fear above all others."

"But have you seen it?" Harry persisted, growing frustrated. Aragog let loose a throaty growl. "I've never seen any part of the castle but the box in which Hagrid kept me," he hissed, "The girl was discovered in a bathroom, and when I was accused, Hagrid brought me here."

Ron whimpered again. "Harry..." he said fearfully, tugging on my shirt sleeve to get my attention like he'd been doing to Harry. "What?" Harry and I snapped in unison. Ron pointed upwards, looking as petrified as Hermione did back in the Hospital Wing. I huffed in annoyance and looked up. Harry gasped next to me, looking afraid and horror-stricken, and I'm sure my expression mirrored his own. Above us, each dangling from their own iridescent strings of silk, were at least a hundred spiders, each almost the same size as Aragog.