Chapter Fourteen

Aragog

Eventhough summer was now creeping its way up the school, inside, things could not be worse. Everyone was in a new state of panic – no face in the whole school did not hold worry or fear, and laughter was rare in the corridors nowadays. With Dumbledore gone, the whole school was in fear that attacks were going to start more often, and that by the end of it, no Muggle-born would be left. This worried Amara, for she knew a lot of Muggle-borns and was one herself, and she did not want to be petrified like Hermione.

They also tried to visit Hermione, but visitors were banned from the Hospital wing, for fear that the attacker would come back to finish the Petrified people off.

They knew all about what Hagrid had told them – follow the spiders. But now they were looking, they could not find a solitary spider anywhere. It did not help that they had to go around in packs, supervised by a teacher, which Amara felt was reassuring yet irritating at the same time. It gave them no chance to properly look for spiders, or talk very much on what had transpired down in Hagrid's hut.

There was one person who was finding all the fear that was sweeping the school and blocking out any happy thoughts or the summer from entering, rather enjoyable. Now that his father had managed to get his way and get Dumbledore away, Draco Malfoy was strutting about like he owned the place. He gloated evilly with Crabbe and Goyle, not caring if anyone over heard.

"I always thought that Father might be the one who got rid of Dumbledore," he said, two weeks after Dumbledore had gone. "I told you he thinks Dumbledore's the worst Headmaster the school's ever had. Maybe we'll get a decent Headmaster now. Someone who won't want the Chamber of Secrets closed. McGonagall won't last long, she's only filling in …"

"Sir," he said loudly as Snape swept passed them. "Sir, why don't you apply, for the Headmaster's job?"

"Now, now, Malfoy," said Snape, "Professor Dumbledore has only been suspended by the governors. I dare say he'll be back with us soon enough."

"Yeah, right," smirked Malfoy. "I expect you'd have father's vote, sir, if you wanted to apply for the job. I'll tell Father you're the best teacher here, sir."

"Sucked-up, arrogant, little git," Amara hissed as Snape went away, Seamus pretending to vomit into his cauldron.

"I'm quite surprised the Mudbloods haven't all packed their bags by now," said Malfoy with an eye on Amara. "Bet you five Galleons the next one dies. Hope its Matthews …"

The bell went just then, so the people who were trying to get to Malfoy to punch him (Ron, Dean and Seamus) all got lost in the scramble to shove stuff in their bags.

"Evil git!" Seamus hissed as they stood away, Amara, Harry and Neville trying to keep them away from attacking him.

"I'll kill him with my bare hands …" Ron growled.

"Hurry up! I've got to take you all to Herbology!" Snape snapped. They all went off, with Amara, Harry, Ron, Dean and Seamus walking at the back, glowering at the back of Malfoy's head. They let them go when Snape went away after seeing them out of the castle.

Herbology was silent now that two of them were missing. Professor Sprout made them prune Abyssinian Shrivelfigs. Harry went off the dispose of the dried twigs and came back with Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbott. He had apologised, and he apologised the Amara too, for thinking Harry would attack her. "I'm very sorry for excusing Harry of such things," he said, holding out his hand. "I know that he would never attack Hermione Granger or you, for that matter, I hope you can forgive me." Amara accepted and they helped them with their Shrivelfig.

"That Draco Malfoy character," said Ernie as he cut off dried twigs and put them on the ever-growing pile. "He seems very pleased about all this, doesn't he? D'you know, I think he might be Slytherin's heir."

"That's very clever of you," Ron said, which earned him a whack with the pruning shears from Amara, because he hadn't forgiven Ernie as easily as they had. Ron glared at her before turning back.

"Do you think it's Malfoy, Harry?" asked Ernie.

"No," said Harry firmly and they stared.

A second later, he accidently elbowed Amara in the side and hit Ron with his own pruning shears.

"Ouch, Harry!" Amara said.

"Ouch! What're you –"

Several large spiders were scurrying across the earth a few feet away.

"Oh, yeah," said Ron, trying to look excited. "But we can't follow them now …"

Amara watched Ernie and Hannah listen in carefully.

"Looks like they're heading for the Forbidden Forest," said Harry.

This did not make the situation any better, because Amara did not want to go into the forest again, especially not when following large, hairy spiders in the dark.

As Professor Sprout escorted them to Defence Against the Dark Arts, Amara, Harry and Ron lagged behind to chat without anyone over hearing.

"We'll have to use the Invisibility Cloak again," Harry told them. "We can take Fang with us. He's used to going into the Forest with Hagrid, he might be some help."

"Right," said Ron. "Er – aren't there – aren't there supposed to be werewolves in the Forest?" he added as they entered the Defence classroom and took their usual seats at the back of class, with an empty space next to Amara, where Hermione would usually sit.

Amara shivered slightly. She remembered the one time she had gone into the forest last year, and it had not been a very pleasant experience. Especially when there was a half-living Voldemort and a dead unicorn in there. And centaurs that did not like humans interacting with them and would surely kill them if they ventured alone. Luckily, Voldemort was not there anymore, and hopefully, they wouldn't run into any centaurs or other things that could kill a unicorn, because they hadn't got Hagrid or his crossbow with them. Fang might help a little bit, but from what Amara remembered, he was a coward when it came to things that frightened him, which made his name sound very silly.

Lockhart bounced into the room with more than enough energy and happiness than anyone had in their life time.

"Come now," he cried when he saw everyone sat grimly in their seats. "Why all these long faces?"

Amara rolled her eyes and scoffed, not caring if she was overheard.

"Don't you people realise," said Lockhart. "The danger has passed! The culprit has been taken away."

"Says who?" Dean said loudly.

"My dear young man, the Minister of Magic wouldn't have taken Hagrid if he hadn't been one hundred per cent sure that he was guilty," said Lockhart, saying it as though they were all stupid.

"Oh yes he would," said Ron even louder.

"I flatter myself I know a touch more about Hagrid's arrest than you do, Mr Weasley," said Lockhart.

"Yeah, but they also took Dumbledore away, how weird is that?" Amara said, even more loudly than Ron. Lots of people nodded in agreement, but Lockhart pretended he hadn't heard.

All through the lesson he was dropping hints that he knew it was Hagrid who had been behind all the attacks and he was no good to be in the school. He also was confident that everything had ended and that the danger was there no more, and how he thought it was silly everyone was still so uptight with security measures. Amara got increasingly annoyed and frustrated by this, and by the end tuned him out of her mind, instead, reading the note Ron had passed along.

'Let's do it tonight.'

-OOOOO-

Amara never liked the common room much these days, for everyone was packed into one place, what with nobody going out after six o'clock. It was always very noisy, very packed and you could hardly hear yourself or concentrate. As everyone had nowhere to go, and because of the happenings of the school, everyone chatted until passed midnight every day.

Amara, Harry and Ron were waiting for the common room to clear, but Fred and George challenged the boys to Exploding Snap whilst Ginny watched, looking troubled in Hermione's usual spot. Amara watched her slyly the whole time, because she wanted to know what was troubling her, but knew it wouldn't make anything better if she asked outright.

Harry and Ron played the games quickly, trying to loose and make them go to bed. Even so, Fred, George and Ginny did not leave to go to bed until passed midnight. Amara was slightly sleepy, and wished she could stay there instead of hunting for spiders in the dark, but she had to do what she had to do.

The castle was alive again when they crept through the halls and corridors. The teachers and ghosts were still patrolling every corridor (except probably Lockhart) to look out for the monster. They reached the oak doors quicker than they had the time before and squeezed through them. They made their way across the moonlit grounds to Hagrid's hut, where the windows were dark.

"Course," said Ron when they were walking. "we might get to the forest and find there's nothing to follow. Those spiders might not've been going anywhere at all. I know it looked like they were moving in that sort of general direction, but …"

He trailed off.

When they opened the door to Hagrid's house, Fang met them, barking madly. Amara tried to shush him as Harry fed him some treacle fudge. This stopped the noise and they were able to leave the hut, leaving the Cloak on Hagrid's table, because it would just be annoying in the forest.

"Let's go, Fang," Amara said, beckoning him as they reached the door. Fang bounced out of the hut and ran over to the Forest to relieve himself against a sycamore tree.

Harry lit up his wand, and Amara followed suit, thinking it would be better to have two wands than only having one.

"Good thinking," said Ron. "I'd light mine too, but you know – it'd probably blow up or something …"

Amara spotted two spiders running out of her little sphere of light and into the dark trees. She gulped as the two boys began to enter the forest, following the trickle of spiders that were hurrying away.

Fang scampered ahead as they walked into the thick trees, the night like a blanket of darkness around them. They were silent as they walked in and tried to listen out for any other noised apart from their footsteps. Their robes snagged on bushes as they crept through the silent forest. Amara was trembling already; she hated not knowing what was in the dark, but did not want to find out. She also did not like the silence they were making, but was terrified of breaking it. They walked for a while, following the scurrying spiders on the undergrowth. Amara noticed that they could no longer see the stars or the sky because the trees had come too close together. The spiders were now going off the Forest path they were on, which made them pause. Hagrid had said not to leave the path, but also to follow the spiders. Amara looked behind them and found that they were deep in the forest with no means of getting out.

"What d'you reckon?" Harry's voice broke the tense silence.

"We've come this far," said Ron.

They left the forest path and followed the spiders even deeper into the forest. Because there was no path, they had to walk slower to dodge the tree-roots and stumps in their way. Amara kept tripping over and having to clutch Ron for support. They also had to keep checking where the spiders were, because they could no longer see them. They kept walking though, for more than half an hour, their robes getting even more ripped and torn.

Slowly, they realised that the path they were taking (or weren't taking) was sloping downwards and the trees were getting even thicker.

Suddenly, Fang gave out loud bark, which made Amara squeak and jump into the air.

"What?" said Ron as Amara gripped his and Harry's hands very tightly.

"There's something moving over there," whispered Harry which made Amara cling to their hands even tighter. "Listen … sounds like something big."

They heard something alright. Something was moving towards them, snapping twigs as it went.

"Oh no," said Ron. "Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no."

"Shut up!" said Harry. "It'll hear you."

"Hear me?" said Ron, his voice very high. "It's already heard Fang!"

They waited, breathing erratically, Amara still in the middle of them, squeezing their hands and screwing her eyes shut, which did not make a difference, because the Forest was pitch black anyway.

"What's going on?" she whispered.

"It's probably getting ready to pounce," said Ron.

They waited again, shivering.

"D'you think it's gone?" asked Harry.

"Dunno –"

Suddenly from their right came a flash of bright light, making them squint and shield their eyes for their eyes had become accustomed to the darkness. Fang yelped and got stuck in some thorns.

"Harry! Amara!" Ron shouted. "Harry, Amara, it's our car!"

"What?" Amara and Harry echoed.

"Come on!"

Amara hurried after Ron and Harry to a clearing. An old blue Ford Angela was parked there, the headlights blinding them.

"It's been here all this time!" said Ron in delight. "Look at it. The Forest's turned it wild …"

The car was certainly scratched and had a fair few leaves producing from under the bonnet and inside the car.

"And we thought it was going to attack us!" said Ron, hugging the car. "I wondered where it had gone."

Amara started to laugh but her breath caught as she gazed over to a spot over Harry's head. She stared, her heart jumping to her throat as she tried to make a noise of fright. When no sound came out she continued to stare so much her eyes were popping.

Above Harry's head were four very large, very hairy and very scary spiders. These were not the ones Amara had been afraid of before, but now, the puny ones she hated were long gone – one look at the fangs the spider had (which were bigger than her face) and she wanted to faint.

The spiders suddenly made a clicking noise and lifted Harry into the air. Amara screamed when she felt one picking her up too. She saw that Ron and Fang had been picked up too. The scream was lost as they began scuttling away, Amara face down in the air, and her voice was nowhere to be found.

Moonlight suddenly drowned the ground, which made the mass of spiders light up and make Amara tremble even more. She gazed around her and found they were in the spider's hollow, where no trees were. But there were a lot of spiders. All of them were gigantic, hairy and had large black pincers that could snap her in half. She whimpered slightly as the spider holding her released her.

She fell onto the ground and saw that Harry, Ron and Fang had had the same fate. Ron was looking utterly petrified and he looked as though he was internally screaming. Fang was cowering on the spot and Harry was looking terrified too.

The spider was clicking its pincers and talking.

"Aragog!" it said. "Aragog!"

A huge spider emerged from the hollow somewhat sleepily, its pincers clicking and its eyes white – it was blind.

"What is it?"

"Men."

"Is it Hagrid?" inquired Aragog, moving closer.

"Strangers," said the spider that had carried Amara.

"Kill them," said Aragog and Amara's stomach lurched. Killed by spiders? "I was sleeping …"

"We're friends of Hagrid's!" Harry shouted desperately.

Aragog stilled slightly as he was going down his web.

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

"Hagrid's in trouble," said Harry rather bravely, Amara thought, because she was ready for the spiders to eat her. "That's why we've come."

"In trouble?" asked the spider. "But why has he sent you?"

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

Aragog seemed to become angry, for his pincers clicked ten times faster than they had been.

"But that was years ago," said Aragog helplessly. "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 … you didn't come from the Chamber of Secrets?" asked Harry.

"I!" said Aragog angrily, "I was not born in the castle. I came from a distant land, A traveller 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 scraps from the table. Hagrid is my good friend, and a good man. When I was discovered, and blamed for the death of the girl, he protected me. I have lived here in the Forest ever since, where Hagrid still visits me. He even found me a wife, Mosag, and you see how our family has grown, all through Hagrid's goodness …"

"So you never – never attacked anyone?" asked Harry and Amara was shocked at how he could still speak.

"Never," said the old spider. "It would have been my instinct, but from respect of 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 quite …"

"But then … Do you know what did kill the girl?" said Harry. "Because whatever it is, it's back and attacking people again –"

The spiders shifted angrily and pincers started clicking furiously.

"The thing that lives in the castle," said Aragog. "Is an ancient creature we spiders fear above all others. Well do I remember how I pleaded with Hagrid to let me go, when I sensed the beast moving about the school."

"What is it?" asked Harry desperately.

Clicking erupted around them again. Amara shivered and looked around her. The black masses of spiders were closing in.

"We do not speak of it!" hissed Aragog. "We do not name it! I never even told Hagrid the name of that dread creature, though he asked me, many times."

Aragog seemed to be retreating, and Harry made no further comments. Amara squeaked as she saw the spiders crowding around them.

"We'll just go, then," Harry called out.

"Go?" questioned Aragog. "I think not …"

"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. Goodbye, friend of Hagrid."

Aragog slowly disappeared back into the domed web and Amara felt another wash of panic spread over her. The spiders were looking at them hungrily, clicking their pincers. Amara clutched her wand but knew it was hopeless - she couldn't even speak.

But then there was a blaze of light that lit up the hollow, and Mr Weasley's car came thundering down the slope. It's horn was screeching and it was whacking spiders away with such force they fell over backwards, their legs flailing in the air.

The car stopped in front of Amara, Harry and Ron with its doors open.

"Get Fang!" yelled Harry and he dived for the front seat. Amara leapt into the back as Ron threw Fang in beside her. She clutched the dog for support as Ron got it too and the car started moving by its own accord.

They thundered through the undergrowth, knocking various spiders out of their way as they tried to attack. The car was bashed and whipped as they trundled through a well worn path. Fang was howling so Amara tried to shush him in the back seat by hugging him. The images of the giant spiders were alive in her brain making her shudder.

For several long minutes they went thought the Forest, until the trees thinned out and Amara could make out the sky above them.

The car jerked to stop so suddenly Amara and Fang fell off the seat. When it became clear that they were at the edge of the Forest, Fang struggled out and started hammering his body at the window. Amara opened the door on her side and got shakily out, Fang sprinting past her and straight into Hagrid's cabin. Ron was still looking terrified and Harry was beginning to have the colour return to his face.

Harry went inside the cabin and Ron went shakily over to the pumpkin patch and was sick.

Amara went over to see if he was alright, as Harry came out of the hut, carrying his Invisibility Cloak.

"Follow the spiders," said Ron, wiping his mouth. "I'll never forgive Hagrid. We're lucky to be alive."

"I doubt Hagrid thought Aragog would hurt us," Amara croaked, speaking for the first time in ages.

"That's exactly Hagrid's problem!" Ron said. "He always thinks monsters aren't as bad as they're made out, and look where it got him! A cell in Azkaban! What was the point in sending us in there? What have we found out, I'd like to know?"

"That Hagrid never opened the Chamber of Secrets," said Harry, covering them in the cloak and shoving Ron forward to make him move. "He was innocent."

Ron snorted at that, not believing that keeping a massive spider at school was acceptable.

They hurried up the lawns and to the castle's front doors, which they had left ajar. As they rushed up the stairs and corridors, they dodged watching guards who were scouring the castle. Finally they made it back to the confines of the Gryffindor common room, which was empty and the fire was now burning to ashes.

Amara bade the boys a little good night before heading up the stairs to her dormitory. As everyone was sleeping, she only managed to get undressed before collapsing quietly onto her bed.

Amara thought about what they had accomplished that night and found, with a heavy heart, that they had hit another dead end.

Not wanting to think about it, Amara drifted off to an uneasy and spider-filled sleep.