A Broken Slytherin : Serpent Secrets (Book 2)

The Acromantula's Hollow

"C'mon Fang!" Harry called to the mutt as he, Ron and y/n stepped out into the foggy night. Harry was only just managing to keep a very jumpy Fang from slobbering all over his jeans. "Well, where do spiders normally hang about?"

"Apparently around Hagrid's place," y/n pointed out as she spotted a line of hundreds of small spiders crawling down the side of the hut before scuttling off into the Forbidden Forest, "We best be going,"

"What?" Ron winced, his arachnophobia taking full form.

"You heard what Hagrid said: follow the spiders!" y/n recalled.

"But they're heading to the Forbidden Forest!" Ron exclaimed, obviously regretting leaving his dorm that night.

Harry and y/n exchanged looks. They nodded a nervous sign of understanding and began to head into the trees. Ron winced again.

"Follow the Spiders! Why couldn't it be "follow the butterflies?!" "

Before all of the light from the castle was consumed by the unnatural darkness of the forest, y/n took out her wand and murmured "Lumos," to illuminate the tip and guide the way. Harry was soon to follow her actions, Ron didn't even bother taking his wand out. He still hadn't gotten it fixed or replaced.

And so, with Fang scampering alongside them, sniffing at tree roots and bushes, they entered the forest, trailing after the spiders. Despite two of three wands emitting light, the forest seemed to swallow it up, making sure that y/n would trip over tree stumps and even Fang at one point.

They walked for about half an hour, keeping deadly quiet to catch any noise aside from their footsteps and Fang's heavy breathing. They had travelled so far into the woods that trees were so dense that they blacked out the sky, making the stars and bright moon disappear. The spiders were travelling still along a seemingly planned path in a single file. y/n had never seen spiders act so strange.

She would have felt much safer if Hagrid were with them. Crossbow tucked under his arm and a giant lantern to light the way. Hagrid had told them to never stray from the path in the forest, but the path had disappeared long ago and Hagrid wasn't with them. He was probably sat in a cell in Azkaban by now. The thought of her friend being surrounded by crazy murderers and dementors made her sick to the stomach.

Suddenly, Harry jumped and cursed. He fell back onto Ron who swore loudly when Harry's foot crushed his own. y/n whipped around, raising her wand to defend herself and her friends. When she saw no attacker before her, she helped the boys up.

"What is it? What happened?" She asked quickly, still wary of anyone, or anything lurking in the trees.

"I thought something touched my hand," Harry said, looking down awkwardly, "But it was just Fang's nose,"

y/n couldn't help but chuckle as she looked at the dog who wasn't fazed at all.

"Bloody hell, Harry, I thought you were being eaten alive by one of the spiders!" Ron said, exasperated.

y/n rolled her eyes, "Ron, the spiders are no bigger than a galleon, they're not going to eat anyone,"

"Yeah but still..." Ron trailed off, crossing arms to shield himself from any more judgment.

The forest floor soon became littered with stunted tree roots and low hanging branches which clung to their clothing. It was harder to move quickly now, they were all stumbling and unlatching themselves from trees. More than once, Harry had to bend down and search for the spider trail to ensure they were on the right track.

They must have been walking for at least half an hour when they noticed the ground seemed to slope downwards. There was no shortage of trees though. Harry stopped in his tracks and held his wand out further. The spiders they had been following were heading into a large den-like hole at the base of an enormous tree.