I apologize for not updating last month. I was working on it but then I went of vacation so I got a little sidetracked. Like always, I tried making this retelling my own while staying true to the source material (I DO NOT OWN THE SOURCE MATERIAL! HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO SAY IT?!).

Enjoy!

Chapter 23

Spiders

Hagrid's hut never looked so empty and lonely before. Since he was gone, Shura took care of Fang who started following her around the school to the point that he sat outside her classroom door. He didn't return to Hagrid's hut until after dark. It was the smallest comfort Shura had in this whole fiasco. It was clear to the students and faculty that both dog and exorcist missed Hagrid dearly.

Now that Dumbledore was gone, fear spread through the school like wildfire. Everyone was afraid and on edge.

Harry constantly repeated Dumbledore's last words over and over again in his head. Who could they turn to when the one person who was capable of helping them was gone?

Rin was just as disappointed that Dumbledore was gone, if not more. He felt he was finally getting a grip on his control over his flames. It had taken him weeks to get that spell for Shiemi's Valentine just right. And he hadn't had any flare ups all year. Now that Dumbledore was gone, Rin didn't know how long his control would last until he lost his grip on it again.

Draco Malfoy was the only one who was acting like Christmas had come back. The boys automatically suspected why he was so happy. Those suspicions were confirmed in Potions.

"I always thought Father might be the one who got rid of Dumbledore," Malfoy said, not bothering to keep his voice down. "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. I wonder if Father can get Professor Shura sacked as well…"

Rin was gripping his quill so tightly it broke in two. Harry and Ron, seeing the warning signs that Rin was on the verge of snapping, grabbed both of his arms.

Shima, who was sitting behind the three Gryffindors, also saw the situation and tried defusing it before it got out of hand. "Hey… Malfoy… it's only a suspension. I'm sure Dumbledore will be back soon," he said nervously.

Malfoy turned to him. "Trying to defend Dumbledore, Shima? Didn't think you supported him."

"I'm just saying that it's not… appropriate to talk about him in front of everyone else," Shima defended.

Malfoy let out a chuckle. "I'm quite surprised that the Mudbloods haven't packed up and left," he went on to Crabbe and Goyle. He didn't see Shima flinch at those words. "Bet you five Galleons the next one dies. Pity it wasn't Granger -"

Big mistake. "THAT DOES IT!" Rin roared. He climbed over the desk and pounced on Malfoy. "TAKE THAT BACK! TAKE! THAT! BACK!" He pounded and punched his face. It took the combined effort of Harry, Ron, Crabbe, and Goyle to pull Rin off Malfoy.

"Calm down, Rin!" Harry pleaded while tugging on Rin's robes with all his might.

"Snape's gonna come in any minute! You need to knock it off!" Ron exclaimed.

Snape chose that moment to enter the classroom. "Okumura!" he barked.

Rin stopped what he was doing and looked at Snape who was taken aback a little at the demonic scowl on the boy's face. He quickly composed himself before any of the students noticed.

"Detention, Okumura! And ten points from Gryffindor for your violent behavior," he said. "Mr. Crabbe, Mr. Goyle, I shall help you escort Mr. Malfoy to the Hospital Wing. The rest of you shall attempt to brew the Fire Protection Potion."

As soon as they left the classroom, Harry glared at Rin.

"I don't want to sound like Hermione, but you can't beat up Malfoy every time he opens his mouth," he scolded.

"No matter how tempting it is," Ron added.

~0~0~0~

"So judging by Malfoy's broken nose and black eye in Herbology, I'm guessing that your brother is not handling the latest attack well?" Anthony asked Yukio.

The Ravenclaws were being escorted to the Great Hall for dinner that evening. Professor Flitwick, who also happened to be head of Ravenclaw House, had to help the other Ravenclaw prefects since they were down one.

"If I know Malfoy - and I do better than you guys - I'm guessing he said something he shouldn't have within Rin's earshot and you can guess what happened next," Yukio replied.

Terry chuckled. "At this rate, he'll be known as the Nosebreaker."

"If he isn't already," Michael added.

The Ravenclaws entered the Great Hall and made their way to their table. By habit, Yukio looked towards the Gryffindor table and saw his brother and his friends looking in his direction. The bespeckled boy sighed and excused himself to see what the three wanted.

"I know those looks," he told them. "What's going on?"

"We're going to the Forbidden Forest tonight," said Harry.

Yukio raised an eyebrow. "And you guys want to know if I'm willing to join you," he assumed.

"That's the idea," Rin confirmed.

"Why?"

Ron shuddered. "We saw spiders heading towards the Forbidden Forest."

Yukio tilted his head. "Didn't you guys say that Hagrid said something about following the spiders?" he asked. Since the latest attack, the trio weren't able to talk to Yukio as often as they wanted.

"Hagrid said that if we wanted to learn more about 'stuff,' all we had to do was to follow the spiders," said Harry.

"And what we need to know is in the Forbidden Forest," Yukio concluded.

"Pretty much," Rin confirmed as he bit into a drumstick.

"So are you in?" asked Harry.

Yukio sighed. "Alright. I'll try and break away. I heard that patrols have increased since Hermione and Penelope were attacked so don't be surprised if I don't show up at the usual tapestry. When are we doing it?"

"Tonight."

"Tonight it is."

Everyone ignored Ron's whimper.

~0~0~0~

Amaimon continued to run through the foliage of the Forbidden Forest. Whenever he wasn't exploring Japan or lounging around his area of Gehenna, he was running around Hogwarts' Forbidden Forest looking for that self-driving Ford Anglia. Several times he'd come close to catching it but remarkably it always flew away. It was the only thing he could do since he wasn't allowed to "play" with the Son of Satan.

Another spider scurried past him. He had been seeing them more often and they had gotten bigger and bigger. The biggest one he'd seen recently was as big as a St. Bernard.

Three balls of light were suddenly approaching him out of the corner of his eye. Amaimon turned and saw that Rin and Yukio Okumura, Harry Potter, and Ron Weasley were walking in his direction. Hagrid's dog Fang was also with them. As far as Amaimon knew, he still had to follow Mephisto's orders of protecting the boys.

Amaimon jumped in front of them, startling them.

"Hello there," he said in his dull tone of voice. "It's rather late to be wandering around the woods. Where's your giant friend?"

"Amaimon," Harry breathed and reinforcing the grip on his glowing wand, "it's only you."

Yukio looked at him. "You know him?!" he asked incredulously.

"Rin and I met him last year in detention," Harry explained.

"It was the night we had to find that dead unicorn," Rin added.

"The unicorns are fine now," Amaimon piped up. "The guy who was killing them is gone." He tilted his head. "Are you following the big spiders?"

"Yeah," Harry answered. "Hagrid was sent to Azkaban for something that's been happening at the school. The Ministry thinks he's responsible."

"Y-Y-You wouldn't know where those s-s-sp-spiders are going, would you?" Ron stammered.

Amaimon blinked. "I've never followed them so I don't know." A noise got Amaimon's attention and he dashed ahead of them, ignoring their cries for him to wait for them. He made a large jump and landed hard on the hood of the self-driving car. "Finally. I've been chasing after this thing for months."

The boys finally caught up and their eyes widened in recognition.

"Harry!" Ron exclaimed in relief. "It's our car!"

Rin's jaw dropped. "What the hell happened to it?"

Yukio noticed that the car was caked in mud and covered in scratches. "Looks like the forest drove it wild if that's possible," he noted. He didn't quite understand how an inanimate object brought to life by magic could have a mind of its own.

"It's been here all along!" Ron said delightedly. "I've been wondering what happened to it."

The car popped the hood in an effort to get Amaimon off it. He only moved to its roof.

"I'm not letting this go. I've spent several months looking for it. Now I want to drive it," he said dully.

Harry looked around and saw that there were no longer any spiders. "We've lost the trail," he said. "C'mon, let's go and find them."

Ron didn't move. He wasn't even looking at the others. His eyes were fixed on a spot about ten feet above their heads; the look of terror evident on his face. They didn't have time to look up when they were suddenly grabbed by something long and hairy. Despite their struggles, whatever took them refused to let them go.

Only Amaimon managed to fight them off. When the monsters ran away from him, he saw that he, Fang, and the car were the only ones left.

~0~0~0~

Harry landed on the ground with a plop. Yukio and Ron followed soon after. They looked around and saw Rin was fighting for his life in the grip of a large spider the size of a bumper car.

"Lemme go! Lemme go! Let. Me. GOOOOO!" Rin cried as blue flames engulfed his entire body. The spider holding him was also set ablaze. It let out a shrill shriek and dropped Rin on his butt. The spider ran and scuttled all over the vast hollow they found themselves in. It eventually curled in on itself and was still.

Yukio hesitated before helping his brother to his feet. "You okay?" he asked.

Rin, now flame-free, got up and rubbed his butt. "I think so. You guys?"

"I'm okay." Yukio answered.

Harry nodded and turned to Ron who was looking around them. To everyone's horror, spiders the size of ponies surrounded them. They were all looking at the boys, specifically Rin, and clicking their pincers together in agitation.

One of the spiders that abducted them suddenly spoke. "Aragog!" it cried. "Aragog!"

Rin dropped his jaw. "It can talk?!"

From the middle of a misty, domed web a spider the size of an elephant slowly emerged. There were gray hairs mixed in with the black ones, and each of his many eyes were milky white. He was blind.

"What is it?" he asked, his pincers clicking rapidly.

"Men," said the spider that carried Harry ("We've hardly hit puberty," Rin muttered to Yukio).

"Is it Hagrid?" said Aragog, moving closer, his eight milky eyes wandering vaguely.

"Strangers," said the spider that carried Ron.

"One of them killed one of our brethren," added the spider that carried Yukio.

"It was an accident!" Rin defended. Yukio elbowed him in the ribs before he said something stupid.

"Kill them!" Aragog clicked frantically. "I was sleeping. Make sure the one who killed our brethren suffers."

Ron and Rin held each other whimpering; Ron out of fear of spiders, Rin out of fear of dying.

"We're friends of Hagrid's!" Harry shouted. Yukio warily eyed the clicking pincers of the spiders surrounding them.

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

"H-Hagrid's in trouble," Yukio said shakily. "That's why we've come."

"In trouble?" said the old spider, and Harry thought he heard concern in his clicking pincers. "But why has he sent you?"

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

Aragog clicked his pincers furiously, as if what Rin just said infuriated him.

"But that was years ago," Aragog said fretfully. "I remember it well. That's why they made him leave the school. They thought that I was the monster that dwelled in the Chamber of Secrets. They thought Hagrid had opened the Chamber and set me free."

"Are you saying that… you didn't come from the Chamber of Secrets?" asked Yukio. All four boys could feel cold sweat forming on their foreheads.

Aragog clicked his pincers angrily. "I was not born in the castle. I came from a distant land. A traveler gave me to Hagrid when I was an egg. He was only a boy, but he cared for me, hidden in a cupboard in the castle, feeding me scraps from the table. Hagrid is a good man, and a good friend. When I was discovered and blamed for the death of a girl, Hagrid defended 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 kindness," he explained.

Rin audibly gulped, feeling more guilty that he essentially killed one of Aragog's children. "Hagrid must be very proud," he croaked.

Harry summoned his remaining courage.

"So you never - never attacked anyone?"

"Never," the old spider croaked. "It would have been my instinct, but out of respect for Hagrid, I never harmed a human. The girl who was killed was discovered in a bathroom. I never saw any part of the castle but the cupboard I grew up in."

Yukio gulped and spoke up. "Do you know what killed that girl? Because whatever it is, it's back and attacking people again -"

His words were drowned out by the sounds of clicking pincers and long legs shuffling around them.

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

"What is it?" Harry asked urgently.

The clicking and shuffling got louder… and closer.

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

"You couldn't give him a hint?" asked Rin. Yukio elbowed him again.

Harry could tell what Yukio meant. They shouldn't press the issue any further. Aragog didn't seem to want to talk about it anymore either. He started backing back into his nest. His children started closing in on the boys even closer, a little too close for comfort. Ron's whimpering started getting louder and more frequent.

It was clearly time to leave.

"Uh… thank you, Mr. Aragog," Yukio said as politely as he could. "We'll just be going then."

"Go? I think not," Aragog said slowly.

Harry tried to reason with the giant arachnid. "But… but…"

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

Ron looked at his friends pleadingly. "Can we panic now?" he whimpered.

The four of them stood back-to-back, wands ready. The spiders began to close in on them, pincers clicking rapidly.

"Know any spells?" asked Yukio.

"Only one," Harry answered, "but it's not enough to take care of all of them."

"Where's Hermione when you need her?" Ron cried.

Harry turned his head in Rin's direction. "Think you can use your flames on this many spiders like you did earlier?"

Rin shook his head no. "Not unless you want a forest fire," he answered.

"I choose burning to death over being eaten by spiders any day," said Ron.

A spider jumped towards the boys, but Rin was ready. "Incendio!" he cried. A ball of blue flames shot out of his wand and hit the spider. It cried as it landed on its back as it twitched.

A car honking got everyone's attention. Amaimon came into the hollow behind the wheel of the Ford Anglia. Fang was sitting in the passenger's seat. He got out and looked at all the spiders.

He put a sucker into his mouth. "So this is where all the spiders have been going. I don't understand how coming here will protect them from whatever's at the castle."

The boys took that opportunity to climb into the car. Ron quickly took the wheel.

"Amaimon! Come on!" Harry called as he got in.

Amaimon waved his hand dismissively, not even looking towards them and keeping his eyes on all the spiders. "Go on ahead. If I can't play with the blue flames your friend has, then I'm not interested," he said nonchalantly.

Rin shivered. 'That still sounds nasty for some reason.'

Yukio grabbed the front of Harry's shirt and pulled him into the car. Ron didn't even step on the accelerator. The car was already roaring out of the hollow and going as far away from the spiders and Amaimon as possible. It broke through the foliage of the forest for roughly ten minutes before Harry saw patches of sky through the trees.

The car stopped so suddenly, the boys nearly hit their heads on the dashboard and backs of the seats. They had reached the edge of the forest. Hagrid's hut was within sight. Harry opened the car door and Fang launched himself out of the car and ran towards the hut with his tail between his legs. Harry and the others shakily climbed out of the car. As soon as everyone was out, the door closed and the car drove itself back into the forest.

The boys stiffly walked to Hagrid's hut. Harry went inside to get his Invisibility Cloak while Ron went to the pumpkin patch to throw up. Rin and Yukio leaned their backs against each other and sank to the ground.

"That… was the single most terrifying thing we've ever done this year," said Rin with a faraway look in his eyes.

"You'd think Hagrid would have taught Aragog not to harm students," said Yukio.

Harry came outside with his Cloak when Ron came back to the others.

"Follow the spiders! Follow the spiders! If Hagrid ever gets out of Azkaban, I'll kill him!" Ron exclaimed angrily as he wiped the puke from his mouth. "What was the point of going in there anyway? Did we even learn anything?"

"We learned that Hagrid never opened the Chamber of Secrets," said Harry. "He was innocent."

"Which means that Hagrid was framed," Rin said grimly.

Yukio suddenly made an "ah-ha!" noise and put his fist in his palm. "I just thought of something!" His brother and his friends looked at him inquisitively. "The girl that died in the bathroom. What if she never left the bathroom?"

Harry started to catch on to Yukio's thinking. "What if she's still there?"

Ron looked between the two. "You don't think… not Moaning Myrtle?"

It's been getting harder and harder to get creative with this story. My brain playing tug-o-war with how the climax of the story should pan out. I've read other versions of the Chamber of Secrets and I don't want to be a copycat.

Keep reviewing, folks!