||Rain's Storm||The Chamber of Secrets||Year 2||

Chapter Twelve: Spiders

Rain could barely see Ron, Harry, or Fang in the darkness. But, she didn't dare to light her wand or to join them. She couldn't explain to them why she had been going out to Hagrid's(really the Forbidden Forest where they found themselves now) without telling them the truth. The truth wasn't something she was ready to share, yet.

After some time, Rain gave up trying to keep sight of them. Instead, she made sure she was close enough only to hear them clomping through the forest. She marveled at how loud they were in the otherwise silent forest. She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

The ground began to slope downwards, but the trees remained thick. Ahead of her, Rain could hear Ron and Harry arguing about something, but she couldn't make out their words. She couldn't detect Fang at all. Then she heard the clicking.

Sensing something was about to go wrong, Rain ran to the nearest tree. Wrapping her arms around the trunk, she began climbing upwards. Getting to the lowest branches, she pulled herself onto a sturdy one before pulling out her wand. "Lumos!"

Rain's heart stopped beating. Three large, black, hairy spiders had Ron, Harry, and Fang in their grasp. They were taking them somewhere. If there was more, and she was sure there was, she could not see them. "Why does this always happen to me?" she grumbled.She stood, sighing heavily. She hated doing this. Taking a running leap, she jumped into the next tree. She did this over and over again, following the spiders below.

Rain wasn't sure how long or how far they traveled. Once the spiders reached the ridge of a vast hollow, she could go no further. Getting as close to the misty web at the certain of the hollow as she could, she crouched down to wait. The branch, despite its many leaves, left her feeling exposed. She nearly fainted when a spider emerged from the web. This one was the size of a small elephant. Its black body had gray patches, and his eyes were milky white. He was blind.

"What is it?" the spider asked. 

"Men, Aragog," another spider answered. Rain had never heard of speaking spiders.

"Hagrid?" Aragog asked, moving forward some more.

"We're friends of Hagrid's," Harry shouted. Rain could barely spot his tiny figure.

"Hagrid has never sent men into our hollow before," Aragog said.

"Hagrid's in trouble. That's why we've come."

"In trouble?" The beast paused, seeming concerned. "But why has he sent you?"

"They think, up at the school, that Hagrid's been setting something on the students. They've taken him to Azkaban."

"But that was years ago. Years and years ago. I remember it well. That's why they made him leave the school. They believed that I was the monster that dwells in what they call the Chamber of Secrets. They thought that Hagrid had opened the Chamber and set me free."

"And you didn't come from the Chamber of Secrets?"

"I was not born in the castle. I come from a distant land. A traveler 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 a girl, he protected me. I have lived here in the forest ever since, where Hagrid still visits me."

"So you never---never attacked anyone?"

"Never. It would have been my instinct, but out of respect for Hagrid, I never harmed a human. The body of the girl who was killed was discovered in a bathroom. I never saw any part of the castle but the cupboard in which I grew up. Our kind like the dark and the quiet..."

"Then, do you know what did kill that girl?"

Rain was surprised when the spiders hissed angrily. They shuffled around, and Rain grew uneasy. She dared to lean a little further over the branch, watching and waiting.

"The thing that lives in the castle," Aragog said, "is an ancient creature we spiders fear above all others."

"What is it though?"

"We do not speak of it!" Aragog snapped fiercely. "We do not name it!"

"We'll just be going, then." Harry began backing up, pulling Ron with him. Fang slowly eased back beside them.

"Go? I think not..." Aragog drawled slowly. Rain sat up, sensing trouble.

"But--but---"

"My sons and daughters do not harm Hagrid on my command. But I cannot deny them fresh meat, when it wanders so willingly into our midst. Good-bye, friends of Hagrid."

The spiders began to swarm around Ron, Harry, and Fang. Harry quickly withdrew his wand, but Rain knew it would do little good. Pulling out her wand, Rain pointed it at a nearby tree branch. She shouted a spell, and it crashed to the ground. "Run!" she yelled, jumping to the ground beside the boys.

"Let's go!" she ordered, grasping Ron's arm. She took off running in the gape left by the tree branch. Harry overtook her, taking the led. However, the spiders had them surrounded again within a minute. Rain stumbled to a halt, and barely remained standing when Ron hit her from behind.

"W-we-we'r-we're tr-tra-trapped!" Ron whimpered. Rain pulled him between herself and Harry. 

"Get out your wand Ron Weasley! If we're going down, we're going down with a fight!"

But, it never came to them fighting. An enraged growling filled the air, and the spiders backed away with hisses. There was a flash of white, and a large, white wolf began circling the three children, its fangs bared at the spiders. Rain and Harry gasped; Ron yelped.

Then Mr. Weasley's car came speeding towards them, horn screeching. It stopped in front of them, and its doors flew open. Rain glanced at Harry, and then they shoved Fang and Ron into the backseat. Rain clambered into the passenger seat as Harry got into the driver's. The moment they slammed the doors closed, the car sped off again. Rain turned around.

The white wolf was still keeping some of the spiders at bay. They seemed unwilling to harm her, which brought relief to Rain. Within moments, the car had sped them out of sight. The wolf, and the spiders, were gone.

After ten minutes, they reached the edge of the forest. Rain got out first, and her legs could barely support her as she stumbled away from the car. She spotted Fang, his tail between his legs, running towards Hagrid's hut. Ron and Harry got out, and the car reversed back into the trees. Rain hoped, wherever it was, the wolf was alright.

"Let's get back to the castle," Harry said nervously, eyeing Ron who looked like he was going to be sick. He slung an arm around Ron, and they began walking back towards the castle. Rain followed after them, deep in thought.

Rain suddenly stopped. Harry looked back at her after realizing she was no longer following them. "Are you alright, Rain?" he asked.

"The girl, Aragog said she was found in the bathroom. What if she never left? What if..." Rain took a deep breath. "What if it is Moaning Myrtle?"