Chapter 21

School of Monsters

"I don't think anything that happens to us is pointless. Merely we do not always have the wisdom or experience to understand the significance of the events as they happen."

General (ret.) Jigme Dorji Wengshuk

"I am not following any spiders…"

It was lunchtime the day after Dumbledore's suspension and Hagrid's arrest. Harriet and Ronnie were sitting in the Great Hall with the others, explaining all that had happened in Hagrid's hut. Harriet didn't like talking with so many potential eavesdroppers around, but the strict new security measures made it impossible for Harriet, Ronnie, and Kieran to talk to Scott and Dora any other way.

"Why would we follow spiders anyway?" Kieran asked scratching his chin in thought.

There was an awkward pause, and everyone looked at Scott. Scott, however, did not notice. Instead, he was staring blankly at the ceiling, which was cloudy and grey, matching the sky.

"Uh, Scott?" Harriet asked.

Scott jumped and looked at them all as though he'd forgotten the others were there. "Oh, sorry, just… stuff on my mind…"

Scott didn't need to say anymore. Harriet sighed and looked around the hall. While the school had been conflicted in its response to Kenley's petrification, there was no doubt about how the students felt about the double-attack on Hermione and Penelope Clearwater. There wasn't curiosity or gossip or even anxiety. There was only fear.

The only thing she could hear was soft muttering and the clinking of silverware on plates. Everyone she could see was either staring at their plates as they ate, or muttering quietly to their friends as they glanced around the Great Hall suspiciously. Harriet didn't blame them.

"Wait…" Dora said suddenly turning to Harriet. "Harriet… do you remember that day last fall, just after the attack on Mrs Norris…?"

"What about it?" Harriet asked. She'd been so distracted she had forgotten what they were talking about.

"We were looking around for clues where Mrs Norris and… later Kenley were attacked…?" Dora went on awkwardly.

Harriet thought, and suddenly the light turned on in her brain. "You're right!"

"Right about what?" Ronnie asked.

"That little horde of spiders I found trying to fit through a crack in the window," Harriet explained.

"Oh yeaahhhh!" Ronnie exclaimed. "Blimey, I've never been excited to think of spiders before…"

In spite of herself, Harriet gave a little laugh. It felt good, even if it was over quickly. Students all around shot her odd looks. This time, it wasn't accusation in their faces, more of pity and guilt. One thing had become apparent to Harriet during the morning, with the attack on Hermione all blame on Harriet had completely fallen away.

Ernie Macmillan had wasted no time in apologising as formally and pompously as possible in Herbology that morning for having ever suspected her. As he did, Harriet managed to catch Jeremy's eye. In spite of everything that had happened and his gruff nature after the Christmas holidays, he gave her the tiniest of smiles before he went back to work.

"Well, I know one thing… I'd be hard-pressed to follow a horde of spiders like that too," Marcus muttered. "Especially if they led to one of those… things…"

Dora laughed. "Don't tell me you're afraid of spiders too?"

Marcus rolled his eyes, and Ronnie glowered. "I'm not afraid of them… they're just… dangerous… and based on Harriet's description, if that spider Hagrid had is that big…" he swallowed.

"Do you think it's still alive after all this time though?" Ronnie asked. She sounded more hopeful than thoughtful.

"I don't know…" Scott muttered. "I… I used to know about acromantula but…" he sighed. "I just can't think of how long they usually live…"

Harriet bit her lip. Scott looked utterly lost. Somehow, this made Harriet feel even more lost herself. Scott and Hermione had always been the brains of their little group. But with Hermione petrified, and Scott still so obviously upset by it…

"Why don't we ask Erica?" Kieran offered.

Harriet blinked. "Yeah, that… that would work… she knew right away that the spider was an acromantula, didn't she?"

Harriet suddenly regretted this enthusiasm at the look on Scott's face. He looked even more miserable now that he hadn't been the one to think of that. Harriet grimaced, and Dora patted Scott's shoulder.

Harriet looked down the table to where Erica sat with Angelina, Katie, and Alicia. She swallowed, got to her feet, and headed off towards the older girls. As she got nearer, Harriet couldn't help but notice how miserable Erica looked. Again, Harriet felt her jealousy lessen and instead it was replaced with a kinship with Erica over her friendship with Hagrid.

"Hey, Erica?" Harriet asked.

Erica looked up at Harriet and managed a half-smile. "Oh, hey Harriet, what's up?"

"Well, I just had a question, it's random, but how long would you say an acromantula usually lives?"

Erica's eyes narrowed. "Oh, I'd say… forty to fifty years…? Maybe longer? No one knows. Acromantula are known to eat their dead…" Erica paused. "Why do you ask?"

Harriet chewed the inside of her lip. Harriet knew Erica knew precisely why she was asking.

"Oh, just, thought it might be useful," Harriet replied.

Angelina, Alicia and Katie were looking back and forth between Harriet and Erica in confusion. Harriet ignored their looks and merely bid them a good day before returning to the others.

"Okay, Erica said they're known to live forty or fifty years," she said significantly.

Kieran and Dora both narrowed their eyes thinking.

"So, it's not out of the question Hagrid may want us to talk to the spider itself…" Scott spoke up. He was finally looking more alert and engaged.

Ronnie, however, did not look thrilled about this. "Okay, if that's the case, I am one-hundred percent not following the spiders… I mean… I wanna help Hermione and Hagrid and everyone and all but—"

"Ronnie, it's fine," Marcus said. "I'm… well… yeah… I don't think I could either."

Ronnie blushed and smiled in appreciation.

"We don't know what we have to do… other than follow the spiders," Kieran said reasonably.

Ronnie and Marcus both looked apprehensive. Dora rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine, you two don't have to look for spiders."

Scott smiled weakly and sighed. "Well, the only problem with that now is… how do we find the time to find them?"

Scott had a point. With the strict new security measures, it was going to be challenging to find the time to do snooping of any kind. This was proven throughout the following week. Even though Harriet had her eyes peeled for any sign of a spider, there were none to be had. There weren't even cobwebs to be seen. And Scott was right, with the teacher escorts from class to class and the mandatory curfew at six in the evening, their time to look for spiders was insufficient.

The worst part about the aftermath of the double-attack and Professor Dumbledore's suspension was revealed the following Friday. They were being led down a hallway by Professor McGonagall and happened to wind up behind a line of Gryffindor first-years being led to class by Professor Sinistra. As Harriet watched, one of Katy's first-year friends, Alexis Richardson, stepped a little out of line to check something in her bag. As she did, a fourth year Slytherin boy stepped out of his line going the other direction and bumped into her forcibly, knocking her over.

"Outta the way, 'fugee," he said just loud enough to be heard as he swept past.

"Hey!" Harriet shouted angrily. There were other shouts as well, but the loudest she heard was easily recognisable as Cedric Diggory. Harriet watched in amazement as Cedric grabbed the boy by the back of his robe and pulled him back to Alexis. Harriet, Ronnie, Marcus and Kieran all hurried up to Alexis as well as the line stopped and Professors McGonagall and Sinistra hustled back.

"Are you alright?" Professor Sinistra asked helping the younger girl to her feet.

Alexis winced and held her wrist. "Not really," she managed to whimper.

"We should get her to the hospital wing," Kieran said. "Probably a sprain. Madame Pomfrey can have you ready to go in a second."

Alexis blushed but gave a rare smile.

"Good idea, O'Brien," Professor McGonagall said.

"Is she alright?" Cedric asked after giving the offender a week's worth of detention. He still had not let go of the boy's robes, clearly holding him there in case either of the two professors wished to give extra punishment.

"It hurts a lot," Alexis said wincing.

"We were just going to take her to the hospital wing," Marcus said.

Cedric nodded. "Sounds good, I'll escort them there, Professors," he said.

"Wonderful, I will escort my students to their next class then, thank you all very much," Professor Sinistra said.

Professor McGonagall turned on the student who had knocked Alexis down. "And you… you will come with me…" she said in a dangerous voice.

The Slytherin boy swallowed and followed as Professor McGonagall started to lead the line of Gryffindor second-years down the hall once more.

"We'll see you tonight, Alex," Sarah Hollins said in a comforting tone to Alexis as Professor Sinistra started to lead her first-years away as well.

"Alright dear, let's get you better," Cedric said in a soft voice.

Alexis flushed as red as Ronnie's hair, and they helped her along to the hospital wing. However, while Harriet had hoped for the chance to see Hermione again, she was soundly disappointed. Madame Pomfrey allowed Alexis in but gruffly told the others they were not permitted inside as per the new security protocols and shut the door in their faces.

"Well… that was abrupt," Cedric muttered, his eyebrows raised.

"Aye," Kieran agreed. "Well… we should get to our next class then."

"Right, where are you heading? I'll lead you there. No sense you lot getting in trouble after being so helpful," Cedric said.

"Potions," Marcus said, sounding put out.

While Harriet had not expected it to, Potions most certainly did not improve her mood. Draco Malfoy was bragging openly about how his father had finally got rid of Dumbledore.

"The headmaster has only been suspended, Malfoy," Professor Snape corrected, overhearing. "I daresay he shall be back before long."

Malfoy scoffed. "Right… and I'm a flubberworm… you know, you should apply for the job, sir, you'd be a wonderful headmaster. I could probably pull strings with father?"

Professor Snape did not respond, but fortunately, his back was turned as Dean and Seamus were pretending to wretch into their cauldron, while Marcus was miming hanging himself, drawing widespread sniggers from the Gryffindors. Dora and Sae also laughed, and Harriet was pleased to see the lone Slytherin second-year refugee, Courtney Thomas, join in as well.

"You know," Malfoy said glaring at Marcus across the room. "I'm surprised the Mudbloods haven't all cleared off yet… bet anyone five galleons that the next one snuffs it…" he fixed Marcus with a cold smirk. "Hope it's you…"

The bell rang at that very moment. It was fortunate, as in the clamour of leaving students Professor Snape didn't notice Dean and Seamus holding back Marcus, and Harriet and AJ holding back Ronnie. Both were trying to draw their wands and get at Malfoy. They were forced to keep a hold on the two until they were out of the castle and on their way down to Herbology.

"Alright, that's enough you two," Kieran muttered as Dean and Seamus finally let go of Marcus.

Marcus simply scowled and stormed off towards Herbology, as did Ronnie. Harriet simply shrugged at the others and followed. She knew perfectly well why they were that upset. Harriet felt her anger burning, but she had a long list of other things on her mind: finding the spiders, stopping the heir, freeing Hagrid, bringing back Professor Dumbledore, and wiping that smug grin off Malfoy's face forever.

As the weekend went on, Harriet sincerely hoped the animosity towards the refugees at least would die down. Confined to the Gryffindor common room, the houses were forced to mingle at least with the refugees in their ranks. In spite of what had previously happened with the misunderstandings over Kenley and Hermione, Harriet found herself getting even closer to Katy and her friends. To the extent that Harriet decided it would be good to enlist Katy's help as well in searching for spiders.

"Spiders…?" Katy asked. "You know… someone just the other day mentioned spiders acting strangely… who was it, Annie?"

"It was some Ravenclaw girl, named… Chang was it?"

"Yeah, the older one, Cho," Sarah chimed in, not looking up from her colour by wand book.

"Thanks," Annie said. "Yeah, she saw them by the greenhouses," Annie answered.

Marcus raised an eyebrow. "You lot are on speaking terms with Cho Chang?"

"Nah," Katy said. "Ashley Roth overheard Cho talking about it, and Ashley told Toni about it who told Megan about it who then told us."

Harriet shook her head in disbelief. "You lot are unbelievable," she muttered, though she smiled.

Katy smirked. "So… you want us to keep an eye out for spiders, huh?"

Harriet nodded. "That would be great, the faster we solve this mystery, the faster we can help your sister and keep anyone else from being petrified or worse," she said earnestly.

At these words, Katy's whole demeanour changed and she nodded gravely. "Okay, we'll do our best," she said.

Sarah finally looked up from her book. Annie and Alex both gave curt nods in agreement. Harriet smiled feeling reassured that something might eventually go her way.

Unfortunately, Monday morning proved that Harriet had been wrong about the weekend helping students get over their mistrust against the refugees. The students were greeted by a large, crudely painted banner that had been stretched across the entrance to the Great Hall at breakfast:

FUGEES GET OUT

Filch promptly took the banner down, but most of the damage was already done. While the refugees did enter the Great Hall to eat, it was clear they were unwelcome. Pieces of food kept flying across the Great Hall towards them at random during the meal, in the closest thing to a food fight Harriet had ever been in. Except this was not the usual free-for-all food-fight that Harriet had seen on television, this was apparently targeted and meant to be carried out discretely.

Harriet felt her blood boil and finally spill over when a bowl of hot porridge plopped onto the back of Rachel's head. Harriet had enough. She saw who had sent the bowl flying. Harriet didn't care if people targeted her, and she was sure the older refugees could take it and stand up for themselves, but she drew the line at Rachel.

Having heard everything Rachel had gone through, everything she'd lost, her screams of uncontrollable panic in the middle of the night for fifteen minutes at a time, Harriet had reached her breaking point. Seeing Rachel's gasp of shock and cringing in pain as she tried to brush off the still steaming porridge, Harriet could take no more. She reached across the table, grabbed an orange, and threw it hard at Zacharias Smith, bouncing it off his forehead and toppling him backwards onto the floor.

The result was chaos. All the frustrations that had been brimming in everyone seemed to explode at once. Prefects and teachers were shouting as the food began to fly everywhere. With a single orange, what was once only close to a food-fight became a full-on brawl.

Food, silverware, plates and serving trays went everywhere. Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws were caught in the middle as the Slytherins, and the Gryffindors tipped their tables over as barriers, throwing whatever food they could get their hands on across the hall. There were shouts and curses of anger everywhere. The fight finally came to a close when there was an ear-splitting bang and a gust of air that snuffed out all the candles, darkening the hall.

"Silence, everyone! Now!" Professor McGonagall cried out, her eyes blazing with rage.

Silence fell over the crowd like a pair of Professor Sprout's earmuffs as Professor McGonagall got down from the teacher's table and made her way to Rachel who was still wincing from the burns on her neck. The candles floating above re-ignited and Harriet was finally able to take in the carnage. Tables overturned, chair smashed; food coated all of the walls and the floor. In spite of her anger at Zacharias, and how good it had felt letting out all that frustration, Harriet was rapidly starting to feel ashamed.

Professor McGonagall reached Rachel and waved her wand. The porridge on Rachel's neck vanished, leaving behind bright red burn marks. The sight of them blunted Harriet's shame a little.

Professor McGonagall turned around slowly, glaring at every single face in the room. While Professor Dumbledore often made Harriet feel transparent when he looked at her, Professor McGonagall seemed able to make her feel very, very small.

"I don't know who started this… but if I ever find out, that person will be very sorry, indeed…" Professor McGonagall growled in a way Harriet found akin to a lioness.

Harriet finally felt her anger ebbing away. Smith was glaring at her angrily, still rubbing his forehead. He knew she had thrown the orange, but if he admitted it, he would have to admit he had thrown the porridge at Rachel. Harriet glared and knew one thing for sure. Even if he was a Hufflepuff, Harriet had made a genuine enemy that day. And given his attitude, Harriet was glad to call him one.

The bell rang for classes. Malfoy scurried with Crabbe and Goyle for the door. "You wait right there," Professor McGonagall said pointing at them.

Malfoy froze. "What? I didn't start it," he said indignantly.

"No, but you did take part in it…" Professor McGonagall replied.

Harriet heard the danger building in her voice. Apparently, Malfoy did as well because he swallowed. "You can't give us all detention…" he retorted in a feeble attempt at bravado.

Professor McGonagall did not reply right away. Instead, she strode towards Malfoy very slowly, until she towered over him and then bent down, so she was almost nose to nose with him.

"Oh… can't I…?"

True to her word, it was the only instance in Hogwarts history of the entire school being given a detention at the same time. Professor McGonagall had Filch bring in buckets and mops and sponges, and every student was set to work cleaning almost every inch of the Great Hall without magic. Filch looked as though he had been given an early Christmas present. The only exceptions were the petrified students in the hospital wing and Rachel who had been escorted the hospital wing by Madame Pomfrey.

As they cleaned, Harriet noticed an odd trend. The regular students filled most of the great hall, cleaning, with the refugees pulled back into a sort of defensive circle in a corner. At the front was AJ's brother, Ben Jackson, who was moping and glaring around defensively, as if daring someone to try something. Given his size, there were no takers.

Meanwhile, Harriet kept overhearing students gloating about what they had done during the fight. Ronnie was eagerly telling anyone within earshot how she managed to get a bowl of scrambled eggs dumped over Pixie Fanfarró's head. Fred was proudly showing off his black eye he got from an apple thrown by Marcus Flint while pointing out the giant red welt that Flint had on his forehead when Fred paid him back in kind. Nearby, Harriet saw first year Gryffindor Ryan Yukisaki and his first year Ravenclaw friend Ben Archer muttering and grinning at a pair of Slytherin third years who were rubbing their shoulders as they glared back at the pair. Angelina was smiling too as she mopped her way towards Harriet.

"You should keep an eye on that Yukisaki… he's a fighter, saw him and his little buddy there take down both of that third-year Slytherins using some Muggle-duelling… he might make a good beater after Fred and George are gone," Angelina said grinning.

Harriet blinked. "That's far-off, isn't it? That'll be after you're gone too."

Angelina laughed. "I know; that's why I'm telling you to keep an eye on him."

Harriet gaped, and Angelina winked and kept mopping, moving away towards Katie and Alicia once more. Harriet shook her head trying to come to her senses over what Angelina had just said. Had Angelina meant what Harriet thought she meant?

After classes that night the last thing Harriet expected was a party. At six-o-clock, Harriet climbed through the portrait hole and was greeted with a roar of cheers. Fred and George lifted her up onto their shoulders, carrying her around as though she had just won the Quidditch House Cup.

Lee Jordan laughed, reaching up to shake her hand. "First food-fight since your father! Way to go, Potter!"

Harriet flushed brightly. It was just then that she noticed something odd. Removed from the cheering, standing in the doorway to the girl's dormitory staircase, Harriet spied AJ, Tori and Rachel standing together and talking in a way that said to Harriet they were up to something. As she watched, Katy and her friends walked nervously up to the three older girls. They talked briefly before they all turned and started to head up the stairway to the girls' dormitories.

Before they got out of sight, Rachel and Katy both paused, turned, and looked back at Harriet. They both gave her the same sad, apologetic look before they turned and disappeared up the stairs. Harriet bit her lip but was distracted as Fred and George turned her away and finally lowered her down, and she lost sight of them.

Friday of that week could not come fast enough. Despite her pleasure at getting away with hitting Zacharias Smith in the forehead with an orange and Angelina's hint at Harriet's future on the Quidditch team, the morale in the school had reached an all-time low. There was no more laughter in the halls, just lines of dismal looking students following teachers around from class to class until six-o-clock every evening when they were confined to their common rooms.

Meanwhile, Harriet did solve the mystery of what the refugee girls were up to. The problem was it created another mystery. Where had they gone? Sometime during that night, all of the refugees just vanished. They weren't in the dormitories that following morning. They weren't at breakfast, lunch, or dinner. They weren't in classes either and did not reappear in the common rooms that night. It wasn't just the Gryffindors; they had vanished from all the other houses too.

At first, Harriet thought perhaps Professor McGonagall had relocated them somewhere, they'd be safer, but this was proven wrong when Professor McGonagall rose in the Great Hall during breakfast the following day to ask if anyone had seen where they had gone. Harriet saw very real concern on her face. Most of the students, however, did not share her concern. No one volunteered any information, and those that did show any interest seemed to be glad they were gone rather than worried.

Harriet, however, couldn't help but be worried. She also felt a little ashamed, as though she should have tried harder and earlier to stand up for them. However, her shame did not solve the mystery of their disappearance. Unfortunately, the security measures meant Harriet had just as difficult a time solving this mystery as she did finding spiders.

However, when Friday finally arrived, Harriet received evidence that the refugees were not truly gone. Harriet was serving herself some eggs when the owl post arrived. To Harriet's surprise, Hedwig came swooping in with the other owls. Harriet furrowed her brow as Hedwig came down and landed in front of her, hooting importantly.

"What have you got?" Harriet asked. She took the note tied to Hedwig's leg and read it.

Harriet,

Spiders spotted passing greenhouses. We're all safe. Don't worry about us. We're safe. Please solve this.

KMT

Harriet blinked. KMT? Who was KMT? Her eyes suddenly went wide.

"Who's it from?" Ronnie asked reading over her shoulder.

"I… I think it's from Katy!" Harriet gasped.

"What?" Dora asked leaning over across the table.

"Passing greenhouses…" Kieran read. "We have Herbology this morning… we have to try and look for them while we're there."

"Definitely," Harriet said, nervously rolling up the note and stuffing it into her bag. She took out a piece of parchment of her own and looked at Hedwig very seriously.

"Hedwig… was that from Katy?"

Hedwig gave a single, dignified hoot. Harriet nodded.

"Good, take this back to her then if you can…"

Harriet quickly scribbled down a note.

KMT,

Thanks for the heads up.

She paused, thinking hard and went on:

Not as sorry as I am… I'm glad you're safe… Tell Rachel, AJ, and Tori that we miss them… and please come back soon…

HLP

Harriet sighed and tied the note to Hedwig's leg. She gave Hedwig a very gentle hug and watched as Hedwig flew off through the opening in the ceiling. Harriet bit her lip, hoping as hard as she could that Hedwig would be able to deliver it.

An hour later, Harriet was standing in greenhouse two. She had looked for spiders on the way, but apparently, it was a different greenhouse where they had been spotted. Katy's note had not specified which one it was.

Harriet, Ronnie, Marcus and Kieran were working on a shrivelfig when finally, Harriet saw them. A line of spiders, each about the size of her outstretched palm, were scuttling past the greenhouse only feet away from where she stood. She nudged Ronnie who was nearest and pointed them out. Ronnie's first reaction was to take a step away, which called Marcus and Kieran's attention to the sight.

"They're heading towards the forest," Kieran observed.

Ronnie groaned at that thought. Marcus didn't look thrilled about it either. Kieran, however, set his jaw resolutely.

"Okay… well… we know what way they're heading, that's a start," he said.

Their next class was Defence Against the Dark Arts. Since the food-fight, Harriet had spent almost every day of Lockhart's poor excuse for a Defence Against the Dark Arts class wishing she had an orange (or maybe something harder, like an apple) to throw at his smug face. Today was no exception.

"Oh come now," Lockhart said looking around at them all. "Why so glum, chums? It's been two weeks since the last attack; the danger has passed! The Minister of Magic took the culprit away weeks—"

"Hagrid was innocent!" Marcus shouted, standing up and glaring at Lockhart.

Lockhart's grin faltered. "Were you there, Van De Lakk? I don't think so."

"Neither were you," Ronnie said though Harriet stamped on her foot to shut her up.

"Now come on, sure you can't all be defending someone like Hagrid…" Professor Lockhart said. There was something in Lockhart's insinuation that Harriet didn't like, and neither did the rest of the class apparently. Most of all, Marcus.

"And why should we believe you? You've lied about everything else!" Marcus shouted, still on his feet.

The class went deathly still at this declaration. Lockhart's face went white, and his jaw clenched. "What are you—?"

"Does the name Badouagan Eskandrian ring a bell?" Marcus said, smirking openly.

Lockhart's face went, if possible, even whiter.

"They remember that name pretty well in Wagga Wagga… he's an Armenian warlock who was pretty famous there, after he faced a werewolf in a phone booth, slammed it to the floor and performed a Homorphous Charm on it, turning it back into a human," Marcus went on. "Then, funnily enough, a few years after that Badouagan disappeared… and for some reason, Wanderings with Werewolves isn't available in Australia… I wonder why…?"

The class looked from Marcus to Lockhart. Lockhart's eye was twitching. He flinched, and Harriet knew in a moment what he was about to do. She stood and as fast as she could drew her wand. There was a flurry around her and Harriet realised almost the entire class had risen and drawn their wands as well. Lockhart had his wand pointed at Marcus, who was also pointing his wand at Lockhart.

"Yeah, should be careful who you brag around," Marcus said. "Bound to come across someone who can dig up dirt, aren't you?"

Lockhart's eyes narrowed and looked around at all the drawn wands before slowly put his away. "Class dismissed for today," Lockhart said, trying to control his breathing. He walked stiffly to the door, wrenching it open. "I will lead you back to your common room. And Van De Lakk… mark my words… I never want to see you in my classroom again…"

The clock chimed one in the morning. Harriet, Kieran, Ronnie, Marcus, Fred, George, and Ginny were all still in the common room. They were playing rounds of Exploding Snap, passing the time until Fred, George, and Ginny went to bed. As the clock chimed, George finally yawned and stretched.

"That time I think," he said.

Fred nodded in agreement, and the twins rose. Harriet and the others got up too. They were only going to pretend to go to bed. Harriet planned to grab her invisibility cloak and sneak back down where they would decide who would go into the forest. Harriet was relieved to see only Marcus and Kieran down in the common room when she and Ronnie snuck back down after fetching Harriet's invisibility cloak.

"Okay… well… here we are…" Harriet said, looking around importantly. "So… I'm going… who else?"

"Me," Kieran said before Harriet had even finished speaking.

Harriet looked at him, and even if she hadn't been going to argue, she felt herself pull back a little from the determined look Kieran gave her.

"I am not missing out on another adventure this time…" Kieran declared.

Marcus smiled and put a hand on Kieran's shoulder. "None of us are going to tell you not to, mate…" he said warmly.

Kieran blushed. "Sorry… just…"

"We understand, you big lug," Ronnie said, punching his shoulder.

Kieran grunted but finally smiled.

Half an hour later, Harriet and Kieran finally made it undetected to the front door. Harriet was feeling winded having gone the whole way with Kieran leaning on her for support to keep his shillelagh from clunking on the floor as they snuck down. Harriet pushed the door open barely enough for them to fit through, to keep the door from creaking and giving them away. They squeezed through, and Kieran groaned finally able to put his weight on his shillelagh.

"Okay… let's go…" he said, and they snuck off towards Hagrid's cabin.

They planned to get Fang, as even if he wasn't very brave, he was familiar with the forest, and might be helpful in finding spiders at least. Harriet regretted this decision the moment Fang began barking frantically at their arrival.

"Fang, shut up," Harriet hissed.

Kieran thought fast and made his way to Hagrid's mantle, picking up a tin that Hagrid kept treacle toffee in and quickly giving one to Fang. Fang's barks were silenced instantly as he lapped up the sticky candy, sealing his teeth together.

"Good thinking," Harriet said and hugged Fang around the neck. "Okay, Fang wanna go for a wa—"

Harriet didn't get to finish before Fang bolted out the door. Harriet shook her head but smiled, and the two made their way out after him. Fang was relieving himself against a tree before he walked back over to them. Harriet and Kieran stood, staring at the wall of trees that marked the beginning of the Forbidden Forest.

"Well… now or never," Kieran said and drew his wand. "Lumos…"

Kieran's wand lit, marking the path. Harriet lit hers as well. "Should we head to the greenhouses?" she asked, but Kieran shook his head and pointed at the path. As Harriet watched, two spiders scuttled across it and into the darkness.

"Well… that's helpful," Harriet said.

"Ready?" Kieran asked.

"Ready," Harriet replied, and they set off down the path.

Fang scampered about excitedly as they went. Harriet wished he wouldn't and was starting to regret bringing him. The noise he was making was possibly covering the sound of anything more sinister that might be approaching. Fortunately, it seemed the spiders were mostly following the path. Harriet remembered Hagrid telling her last year to never go off the path. And that same night, she had almost been attacked by Lord Voldemort sharing Professor Quirrell's body.

"Crap," Kieran muttered stopping.

Harriet stopped too and groaned. The spiders were clearly leaving the path now. Harriet scanned with her lit wand. She had to duck low to see where they were going.

"Well… we've come this far," Kieran said in a bolstering tone.

Harriet gritted her teeth and nodded. They slowly made their way through the underbrush, trying to follow the spiders without stepping on them or disrupting their path. Harriet grumbled before shrieking with fright as Fang let out a booming bark.

"What, what is it?" Kieran asked, pointing his wand around, shining the beam of light everywhere.

Harriet quickly swatted his hand down. "Shhhhhhh!" she hissed, her eyes darting around, tilting her head to listen. Finally, she heard the sound of something rumbling, almost like a low purring. She'd heard rumours of werewolves living in the forest, but it wasn't the full moon, and it sounded more like a cat than a dog. She could also hear snapping branches, and a crunching, gravelly noise, almost like the sound Uncle Vernon's car made when he pulled in and out of the driveway. But how could that be? There weren't any cars in the Forbidden Forest, or were there?

Harriet jumped once more and closed her eyes tight as bright light flooded the area. Fang attempted to run but became tangled up in brambles, yelping frantically.

"Oh, Kieran… it's… it's Ronnie's dad's car!" Harriet exclaimed, and sure enough, from out of the bushes rumbled Mr Weasley's scratched, bashed, but still running Ford Anglia.

The car slowly rolled towards Harriet, its rear end shaking on its suspension much the same way a dog did when wagging its tail. In fact, it rolled right up to Harriet, almost as if sniffing her in greeting. She put her hand on its hot hood, and the car gave a little shudder as if in pleasure.

"Ronnie's dad's car…?" Kieran asked. "Suddenly the way you got to school this year makes a lot more sense…"

Harriet blushed. "Okay… so… yeah… secret's out on that… yeah… Kieran… meet the Weasley car…"

Kieran laughed patting its roof. Harriet smiled at him when something in the trees caught her eye. Harriet looked up and felt her body lock up. Before she could even react, there was a loud series of thuds behind her, and something strong and hairy grabbed her tight around the waist, hoisting her into the air.

Kieran shouted in shock. Harriet heard Fang whimpering loudly in fright. There was loud clicking, and with incredible speed, Harriet felt the beast begin carrying her off through the trees. Hanging face down, Harriet was able to see six slender legs scurrying as she was carried along. She could also make out a second beast, with Kieran suspended beneath it. Kieran's face was stricken with terror as he looked back at her. They had been caught by giant spiders, and these were even larger than the one Hagrid had hidden in the cupboard fifty years ago.

Finally, they entered a hollow where the trees broke and allowed star and moonlight to come down. Harriet felt her terror increase as she realised the ground beneath them was utterly swarming with smaller spiders. Harriet was able to turn her head enough to see that the entire hollow was surrounded by other giant, horse-sized spiders. In the centre was a giant dome-shaped web. The spider carrying Harriet made its way to the web, and the other spiders all converged on them, their clawed feet thudding the ground and their fangs clicking excitedly.

Harriet grunted as she was dropped to the ground, trying to catch her breath as the wind was knocked out of her. She trembled and winced as she got to her hands and knees. It was then that Harriet heard the most chilling voice she had ever heard.

"Aragog!" the voice cried. It was the spider who had carried her.

As it spoke, Harriet could hear the horrible clicking of its fangs, which were hovering only feet above her neck. Harriet chanced a glance sideways and saw Kieran looking back at her. He was propping himself up on his elbows, unable to get on his knees because of his leg.

Harriet felt the ground tremble beneath her. Her eyes widened even more as a spider the size of an elephant emerged from beneath the web-dome. Its hair had turned entirely grey, and the eyes that Harriet could see were a milky-white. The monster spider was blind.

"What is it, why do you disturb me? Have you brought food?" the giant creature asked, clicking his enormous fangs.

"We have brought humans, Aragog! They were with the light-bringing beast from which we cannot feed!" the spider that had carried Kieran declared.

"Eat them then, feed yourselves on your catch, leave me in peace—"

"We're friends of Hagrid!" Harriet shouted.

She didn't know what made her call out, but it had an immediate effect on the spiders. They all clicked and stamped and shifted around interested. Aragog had been turned halfway into his dome already, but he paused and slowly turned back.

"Friends of Hagrid? But Hagrid has never sent humans this deep into our part of the forest before, why are you here? I doubt you are here by accident?" Aragog asked.

Harriet shivered. Somehow talking to a reasoning, clearly intelligent spider was just as unnerving as seeing one the size of an elephant.

"Hagrid's in trouble, he's been arrested," Harriet answered.

"In trouble?" Aragog asked. Harriet was even more surprised to hear a definite note of concern in Aragog's voice. "What has happened?"

"Something is attacking people at the school. They think Hagrid is behind it, so they sent him to Azkaban," Kieran spoke up, finding his voice.

Aragog bristled and clicked his fangs in anger.

"But that was ages ago!" Aragog declared. "How well do I remember those dark days, when they believe I was the one who had done the attacks and dwelled in the Chamber of Secrets…"

"So, you're not from the Chamber of Secrets then?" Harriet asked.

"I was born in the castle, but not in the Chamber. I was born in a cupboard, where I lived until I was finally discovered and made my escape," Aragog explained. "We owe all we have to Hagrid. He made good my escape and has kept our existence a secret from the humans at the castle who would surely attack us if they knew of our presence. Later, he found me my wife, Mosag. Our family stands all around you, friends of Hagrid, alive through the goodness of Rubeus Hagrid."

Harriet took a breath. "So, you never attacked anyone?"

"Not a single one," Aragog said. "It was my instinct, of course, but we acromantula, as you humans call us, are reasoning beings. Hagrid implored me not to eat humans, and in respect to him, I never did. The girl who died was found in a bathroom, whereas I never left the cupboard where Hagrid kept me until I was forced to flee."

"So… what did kill the girl?" Kieran asked. "Because the attacks are happening again, that's why Hagrid was taken away."

The spiders once more began clicking and shuffling about angrily. It was almost like the most macabre dance Harriet had ever seen as the spiders moved about with an odd, jittering grace.

"The… thing… that lives in the castle is an ancient evil… a dread creature that we spiders fear and hate above all. I pleaded and begged Hagrid to let me leave when I felt the creature pass my cupboard."

"What is it?" Kieran asked sounding eager now they were so close to the truth.

"WE DO NOT NAME IT!" Aragog shouted. His voice shook the hollow in his rage. "I never even told Hagrid what that foul beast was. He asked me over and over again but never would I sully my mandibles with the name of that monstrosity!"

Harriet looked at Kieran who looked back at her, nodding.

"Okay, thank you Aragog, we'll go now," Harriet said, trying to keep the hopefulness out of her voice.

"Go? I don't think so," Aragog said.

"But…" Kieran muttered.

"My children do not harm Hagrid on my command, and I do not eat human. But I would be a horrible father if I denied my children food that wandered so readily into their home. Goodbye, friends of Hagrid."

"What does that make you then!?" Kieran shouted as loudly as he could.

Harriet looked at him in shock. Kieran was trembling, but whether out of fear or out of rage she couldn't tell in the dim light. However, he still made Aragog pause once more.

"What do you mean?" Aragog asked. The spiders circling them were clicking more in agitation, clearly hungry and anxious to eat. Harriet felt herself getting woozy with fear, being this close to certain death.

"You talk about the creature that's petrifying the students as some beast, and you talk about how much you care for Hagrid, yet you're going to kill the only two people in the world who can save him? Doesn't make you seem much better than the monster in the school if you ask me!" Kieran went on, still shouting. He was gripping his shillelagh again tightly. Apparently, the spider had grabbed it along with Kieran.

Aragog did not respond, and Kieran went on. "You said Hagrid has been protecting you and keeping you secret. Other people know we've come out here. If we don't return, they'll come looking for us. And what do you think will happen when they find this place and realise it means you killed some humans, huh?"

Kieran paused and took a deep breath. "But if you let us go, we'll tell people that you did not attack anyone and that Hagrid is innocent. You will save Hagrid and your colony in one go. But if you kill us, no one will know Hagrid was innocent, and he'll rot in Azkaban, and people will come destroy you and your whole family… your choice!"

Harriet stared. She had never seen Kieran like this. He was still trembling and was breathing rapidly.

Aragog did not respond for some time. Harriet didn't know if it was several minutes or several seconds, but finally, the aged monstrosity spoke up. "And how can I be sure you will not simply tell everyone at the school about us and have us destroyed anyway?"

It was Kieran's turn to pause and think. Finally, he spoke only two words. "You can't."

Harriet closed her eyes. She could practically feel the fangs sinking into her as Kieran doomed them all, letting Aragog call his bluff. But to her surprise, Aragog gave off what could only be a laugh. The most horrible, terrifying laugh she had ever heard in her life.

"You are an honest one, unlike the rest of your kind. What is your name, friend of Hagrid?" the giant spider asked.

"K-K-Kieran O'Brien," Kieran replied.

"And yours, girl?"

Harriet swallowed. "H-Harriet Potter."

At the sound of her name, the spiders reacted in a way Harriet would have never expected. Instead of advancing, they all backed away a few strides, shivering and clicking and stamping their many feet.

"The Harriet Potter… vanquisher of the Dark Lord?" Aragog asked.

"Um… yes…?" Harriet replied, her voice barely a whimper. She couldn't think of anything else to say.

Aragog clicked in agitation. "Leave here… never return… you are allowed passage from our hollow this one time, and this one time alone."

Without another word, Aragog finally turned back into the dome and climbed inside out of sight. Harriet looked at Kieran who grunted trying to get to his feet. Harriet rose on shaky knees and helped him up. Fang was curled up in a tight, black ball on the ground, trembling. Harriet took hold of his collar, and the spiders parted, clicking and shuffling around, showing the way out.

Harriet glanced around at them all suspiciously. Even if she could not make out their expressions, Harriet could not help but feel they were not happy about this turn of events and wished Aragog had gone with his original plan of letting them be eaten. She, Kieran, and Fang all made their way out of the hollow on trembling legs.

The spiders closed in behind them but did not rush or make any motion for attack. Harriet shivered, still able to feel their many eyes watching her and hear their agitated clicks and scuttling sounds. They kept moving, feeling their way through the trees until they finally could no longer hear the sounds from the hollow.

"I… I think we can light our wands now…" Kieran said, drawing his.

Harriet nodded and drew hers. They both ignited their wands. The moment they did, Harriet wished they hadn't. They were greeted at once by two more spiders climbing down out of a tree.

"Aragog gave us passage," Kieran said quickly, pointing his wand at them.

Both of the spiders clicked and gave eerie laughs like Aragog's. "What Aragog does not know, won't hurt him," one said.

Harriet recognised the voice. It was the same spider that had carried her into the hollow.

"We hunted hard until we found you," the other spider said. "We're not about to let a meal walk away, no matter what Aragog says. Aragog owes Hagrid his allegiance, not us."

Harriet raised her wand as well when they were hit by another blaze of light and a loud roar. Both spiders cringed and tried to cover their eyes with their hairy forelegs, but it was too late. Mr Weasley's car slammed into the one who had grabbed Harriet, knocking it into the other, toppling both spiders over.

The spiders flailed, knocked over on their backs, attempting to flip themselves back over. The car's engine roared, and it charged forward again, slamming into the spiders once more, crushing some of the legs on one. It cried out in pain.

The car backed up right in front of Kieran, Harriet and Fang and the doors popped open. Harriet didn't think twice. Neither did Kieran. They both grabbed Fang and flung him into the back seat. Harriet dived into the front seat, and Kieran slid in behind her. The doors slammed shut behind them, and the car threw itself into reverse just as the uninjured spider finally righted itself and charged after them.

Harriet gripped the steering wheel hard trying to hold herself up off of it as the car sped off in reverse. Kieran was trying to push himself off the dash as the car raced backwards, darting between the trees with surprising ease. The spider gave chase for a few yards but finally fell back.

"We're… we're alive… I can't believe it…" Kieran finally said.

Harriet couldn't speak. She was still too terrified. The car rumbled and bumped, and Fang whimpered in the back seat.

Finally, the car trundled out into the safety of the Hogwarts grounds. No spiders came after them from the trees. They were alive, and they were finally safe. The doors opened on their own and Harriet tried to step out, but instead, she merely fell to the ground as her legs gave out under her. She heard a thump from Kieran falling too, followed by the unpleasant retching sound of him being sick on the grass. Apparently, it was fear that had him trembling back in the hollow after all.

Harriet got to her feet. She just managed to catch sight of Fang running as fast as he could towards Hagrid's cabin, his tail between his legs. She turned to see Kieran grunting to his feet, using the car and his shillelagh to push himself up. She rushed over to him helping him the rest of the war.

"You were brilliant, both of you…" she said, hugging Kieran tight around the chest and patting the car's bonnet.

The car trembled and rubbed up and down against her side before its engine revved again and it moved on, trundling back into the woods from which it came.

"That… was the strangest, most horrifying thing I have ever done…" Kieran said, swaying a little.

Harriet put his arm around her shoulders. They made their way to Hagrid's cabin where Harriet retrieved her invisibility cloak. Fang was cowering under Hagrid's bed, and Harriet figured it was best to leave him there. She threw the cloak over herself and Kieran and the two finally made their way slowly back up to the school.

"Okay… so in one week, we got the entire school detention after a giant food-fight, the refugees disappeared, and you all met a spider the size of an elephant…" Dora recapped in amazement.

Harriet shivered. She still hadn't gotten over the terror of the previous night. She was exhausted as well. She hadn't slept at all either. Every time she got close, she would feel a little tickle somewhere on her skin that would snap her awake, imagining it to be a spider. After tonight, Harriet had to admit she had gone a long way to being just as arachnophobic as Ronnie was.

"Well… we know Hagrid's innocent now…" Marcus said, trying to find a positive. "That's a step in the right direction, right?"

"Yeah," Ronnie agreed. "Better than nothing."

Kieran rolled his eyes. "Easy for you lot to say…"

Harriet smiled a little in spite of herself and hugged his arm. "You were amazing though," she said for what felt like the hundredth time.

Scott managed a rare smile. "Yeah, that's Kieran…" he said in a very forced tone.

Everyone looked at him. Scott hung his head.

"Sorry… I just… I don't know… I've felt so lost… I just… Harriet?" he asked looking at her.

Harriet furrowed her brow. "What is it?" She asked concerned.

"Do… do you think I could maybe borrow your invisibility cloak tonight…?" he asked, leaning over to whisper as quietly as he could and still be heard.

"What? You alone…?" Harriet asked.

"Yeah… I just… I… I want to see Hermione… I can't during the day… I just… I think easier when she's around… I know it's weird…"

Everyone was looking at Scott with confusion except Harriet. Instead, she patted his arm across the table.

"Of course… I'll bring it to your common room tonight…" she said. "You can go after everyone's asleep… sound good?"

Scott positively beamed and reached across the table to hug her. Harriet smiled. Part of her wanted to go too, and yet, she had to admit there was a small part of her that was afraid to. After everything that had happened the night before, Harriet didn't think she could take the sight of Hermione's petrified face locked in a look of terror.

And so, at just after midnight, Harriet once more snuck out of the common room alone. She moved even more carefully now that she was alone. Even if it was easier to sneak past the teachers, she found her fear of running into Slytherin's monster was increased dramatically.

Fortunately, it was faster to get to Ravenclaw tower than it was to get to the front doors of the school. Scott looked both relieved and pleased to see her when she got there.

"Thanks, Harriet, really," Scott said taking the invisibility cloak with surprising eagerness.

"You want to see her don't you?" Harriet asked.

Scott blushed. "I just… like I said… I need to think… she thought of what the monster is and I couldn't… and because of that, she got petrified, and I didn't…" Scott admitted, hanging his head.

Harriet hugged him tightly. "You're a good friend Scott, and you're brilliant. I'll wait here… you go think, and you solve this," she said smiling.

Scott nodded and threw the cloak over himself, disappearing. Harriet watched the door open on its own and slowly shut. She sighed looking around. There was still the Wizard's Chess set on the table. It had been used since, but Harriet couldn't help but remember the fun moments watching Ronnie and Kelly going toe to toe. Shame came over her again that she had not properly helped the refugees fit in, not done more of her part to get them accepted. Of course, she was only one girl, what could she have done?

Harriet now took in the statue of Rowena Ravenclaw. She was very pretty, and Harriet sighed looking up at her tiara, or 'diadem' as Scott had called it. It supposedly gave its wearer increased wisdom and wit.

"Heh… Scott probably wishes he had something like your diadem, huh?" Harriet asked the statue.

Predictably, it did not reply. Harriet turned and made her way over to the soft arm-chairs by the fireplace. She sat in one and stretched. After all that had happened, she was exhausted. She started to doze off, but as the night before she kept snapping back awake, expecting a spider to attack her. Slowly her eyes finally closed.

Harriet grunted. She couldn't move. For a moment, she thought she was being held by a spider once again, but she realised she was sitting in a straight back chair. Her hands and shoulders were pulled back, her wrists bound together with tight ropes. More rope was around her waist, holding her down to the chair and her ankles had been tied together as well. There was something tied over her mouth, but there was more, something soft was also stuffed in her mouth, holding down her tongue, reducing her attempts to talk into grunts. She couldn't see and realised not only was she not wearing her glasses, but a cloth had been tied over her eyes.

"Don't be afraid, Harriet."

Harriet jumped and grunted, looking around despite her blindness. She could hear the sound of feet walking around her.

"You're safe with me," the voice said again. "I had to steal you away, just like you've always wanted."

Harriet grunted and tugged on the ropes.

"And at last… I can finally see you in your dress… you do look wonderful, Harriet."

Suddenly, Harriet knew who the voice belonged to. At the same time, she realised she was wearing her party outfit from the previous summer.

"Tomm? Tmom Rmiddle?!" Harriet grunted into her gag.

Riddle laughed. "Yes, it's me… and you're safe… I won't let anything hurt you…" he said.

Harriet jumped as she felt a soft hand caress her cheek along the small strip of her skin that was exposed between her gag and blindfold.

"I have to leave you again, Harriet… but I'll be with you soon… very soon… to take you away… to keep you safe… I'll make you stronger too… so much stronger… no one will ever be able to take the things you desire from you again…" Riddle said.

Harriet groaned and struggled. Despite his words, something seemed off. Something wasn't right; this wasn't right. She didn't want Tom to have her here like this. She didn't want to see his face when he took off the blindfold. She didn't want him in this dream. She had had this dream before, and Riddle did not belong in it. For some reason, she wanted it to be Kieran who took off the blindfold.

The chair legs clopped loudly on the stone floor as she struggled. As she did, Riddle laughed. She felt Riddle's hands on either side of her head, lifting off her blindfold. She blinked as it came off and she found herself nose to nose with Riddle. His face was so close and so handsome, but she trembled at the desire in his eyes. Her grunts turned into a scream as his eyes slowly turned red and the scene faded into a flash of bright green light.

Harriet heard more clopping. But she wasn't struggling anymore, what could the sound be? She blinked and realised she was still in the Ravenclaw common room. She had fallen asleep; it had all been a—well what was it? Was it a dream, or a nightmare? Harriet decided on the latter.

Harriet heard another clopping and a voice speaking behind her. It was then that Harriet realised it was the door. Scott was trying to get back in and apparently, couldn't think of the answer to the door's riddle. Harriet got up and crossed to the door, pulling it open.

The moment it got halfway open, Scott fell inside the room. Harriet saw his feet sticking out from under the invisibility cloak. He was trembling head to foot and panting heavily.

"Scott?!" Harriet exclaimed and crouched beside him.

Scott whipped off the invisibility cloak and grabbed Harriet hard by her upper arms. His face was bleach white and his eyes the size of dinner plates in his terror.

"H-H-Harriet… I… I know what it is… I heard it… I saw it… I followed it!"

"What?!" Harriet asked, helping Scott up, shutting the door and leading him to the chair she had fallen asleep in.

Scott was still shaking so hard his teeth were chattering. He finally looked at her and managed to speak. "M-M-Monster… Slytherin's… monster… Moaning Myrtle's… it must have gone in… Chamber must be there… basilisk!"