A/N: Wow, this is the longest chapter I've written yet! Three pages as a Word document! XD They'll be returning to the forest again to do some hunting, so if anyone has a suggestion of what kinds of magical creatures they could meet, please let me know! :)

Disclaimer: I don't own, so please don't sue, 'cause I won't have money to give to you.

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The rest of the morning was quiet. The biggest creature they had come across was a very fat squirrel that had quickly scurried away with an acorn when they had approached it, in a rather Scrat-like fashion. The group eventually came to a sun-filled clearing, with thick logs in a large circle. Arthur and the knights ensured all the weapons were in order, while Merlin gathered wood for the fire, and Hermione was quick to offer to set it up and get it started while he sorted out the food.

She made a teepee with the larger branches, leaning the smaller ones against them. Stuffing twigs and dry leaves inside the little construction, she wondered how to get the fire started without a lighter. Looking around quietly, she made sure everyone was intent on their task. Pulling out her wand, she whispered, "Incendio." Flames shot out of her wand, catching fire right in the middle of the teepee. She smoothly stuffed away her wand, just as she heard steps coming her way.

"Wow, you're really good with that! How did you get the flames to catch so quick?" Merlin exclaimed as he came closer, cold meat and some cheese under one arm, and a large loaf of bread under the other.

"Ah, well, it's a gift," Hermione said grinning. If only he knew.

"And just in time to heat up some food! Do we still have some of those longer sticks?"

"Right here," she said, handing him the bundle of large twigs.

Arthur and the knights came over, noting the food spread out. Merlin cut the meat into strips, spearing them on the sticks much like muggles would do with a hot dog over a campfire. Everyone heated their meat and began to eat the bread and cheese while the meat warmed up. Hermione however put her bit of meat on two slices of bread, adding a chunk of cheese. The others stared at her sandwich as if it had suddenly started talking.

"What are you doing?" Merlin asked.

"It's a sandwich. I'm guessing you've never seen one of these before?"

"Er, no," Arthur replied, giving the sandwich a funny look. "Hermione… earlier today, with the unicorn…"

"Yes?"

"I just wanted to thank you. Had I known it was a unicorn I would never have thought of killing it."

Hermione smiled. It was obvious it had taken him a lot of courage to say that, especially in front of his men. "You're welcome."

"Have you seen many magical creatures?" One of the knights curiously asked.

"Oh, yeah. A lot. Fought quite a few too."

"What kinds?" Another knight piped up, looking impressed.

"Lets see… I've encountered a mountain troll, grindylows, a werewolf, cornish pixies, nifflers, a basilisk, centaurs, kappas, unicorns, a baby dragon, gnomes... flobberworms… hipogryphs, thestrals, and the griffin we came across."

"Wow. You've seen more creatures than I even knew existed," Merlin said, a stunned look on his face.

"Oh, well now, that's not too hard to accomplish." Arthur replied with a mischievous grin, causing Merlin to throw a bit of bread at him.

"Well, some of them I just saw because there was a creature brought for us to see. Like the grindylows were kept in a tank, except when they were put in a pond for us to learn how to defend ourselves…" Hermione started babbling embarrassedly. It felt awkward enough for them to be so impressed by something which to her was so normal without the awed looks she was getting.

"Why do you learn so much about magical creatures?" Merlin asked curiously.

"It's best to know about the world around you instead of being caught unawares and getting oneself in a big mess. Can you imagine what could have happened had I not known about unicorn foals?"

Merlin and Arthur shivered.

"Good point."

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After they had all eaten and put away their things, they returned to hunting. No other magical creature crossed their path. They had already turned back when Hermione caught sight of a filmy substance caught on the chain mail of the knight in front of her. Pulling it loose, she noticed it was very silky. Like web thread. From a very large web, by the looks of it.

"Arthur!" She stage whispered. If it was what she thought it was, the less noise they made the better. Arthur stopped, looking at her expectantly. She motioned for him to come closer.

"We have to get out of here. Now. Or at least get to an open space."

"Why?"

Hermione held up the bit of web.

"Because if I'm right, we wandered into acromantula territory. And they'll know we're here."

Arthur and the others looked confused.

"Don't we want to find a magical creature?" Merlin said, voicing the other's thoughts.

"Not acromantulas. Acromantulas are giant incredibly poisonous spiders, which are rarely found alone. Even magic users avoid them."

No sooner had she said that, when she heard a click in the distance, to their left. Her fears confirmed, she instructed them to do the only sensible thing they could.

"Run."

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The group immediately followed her lead, no longer questioning her authority when it came to these matters. If they could get to a clearing before the acromantula overtook them, as it surely would, they would have a better chance of all making it out alive. It would be harder to corner them and easier to move around. If necessary she could use her magic to repel or kill it, but that could only be the last resort…

Hermione ran as fast as she could, not slowing down and ignoring her muscle's complaints. Thankfully, the adrenaline seemed to have given everyone an extra boost as they tore through the forest. They were almost at a large clearing they had passed earlier when she heard loud repetitive clicking from just ahead of them. Immediately stopping and attempting to move away, Hermione tripped on a root and fell down, skinning her hand. As she scrambled to her feet, a large spider appeared in their path.

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It was huge, taller than a full grown male human, with serrated pincers that could easily crush a small tree. It had shiny black fur tinged with grey, brown stripes on its back, and eight beady black eyes as large as a fist. It made a series of loud excited clicks, and raised itself on three of its sets of legs, bending the front legs in a striking position.

"What have we here?" it hissed, "Humans? In this part of the forest? Now, why would you have strayed so far, I wonder? Are you lost little humans?"

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A/N: I know Hermione didn't mention all the magical creatures she's met. But those she didn't mention were the ones that would be hard to explain about without giving away the fact she's magical (like Grawp, Hagrid's "little" brother, boggarts, or Dementors). Either that or I forgot them. Lol. Thank you so much everyone for the reviews! You have no idea what an encouragement it is to keep writing! (I feel so popular! ;-D)

A/N 2: I know I ended on a cliffie, but I just found out I'm having a surgery on Sunday, so I thought it best to give you guys something in case I'm not able to update before then as I'm not sure how long it will take for me to feel well enough to write – hopefully not long! :-)