Chapter Fourteen: Arachnid Etiquette

"Penelope!" Hermione shouted. The Ravenclaw prefect slowly turned to face her.

"Can I help you?" She asked politely.

"I know what the monster is!"

Clearwater laughed. "I bet you do, little second year. Is it a two-headed troll?"

Hermione frowned impatiently. "It's a basilisk. Look!" She thrust a paper under her nose.

Clearwater's amused smile turned to a look of shock. "Are you absolutely sure?"

Hermione nodded, swiftly crumpling the paper into her hand. "Definitely. You know how Harry Potter can talk to snakes?"

Clearwater shifted uncomfortably."Yes?"

"Harry and Go…well…he's the only one that has ever heard it speaking through the walls."

Penelope nodded urgently. "We need to tell a teacher." She turned to leave.

"Wait!" Hermione said. "Do you have a…mirror? If you look it in the eyes, it will kill you."

"Oh…that's a good idea! Thanks, Granger." But Hermione's eyes widened with shock. She closed her eyes immediately.

"It's coming. Don't look at it; just lead me into the library and shut the-Penelope?"

Thud. Hermione opened her eyes and saw the beast. She sensed the beam heading for her, but it was coming much too fast. She saw a gold decorated flash before her eyes as the beam struck. Suddenly paralyzed, she heard a loud metallic bending, screeching sound as she felt herself falling, falling deep within. As she fell away, she heard a hissing voice rasp angrily,"Impossible…That's impossible!"

Fear had returned as the summer days crawled by; Gohan searched the school like never before. His grades began to slip a bit because he became so distracted with finding the Chamber of Secrets. His flagrant non adherence to the new teacher escort rule had earned him twelve different detentions. He also earned two detentions for being out after hours. He snorted as he polished the display glass. He'd been out every night that week and only got caught once, just because he was following a suspicious ki, so focused he was that he forgot to check for others in the vicinity.

Gohan had found Ginny. But she looked so dreadful that he didn't feel right about confronting her about stealing the diary. Gohan felt torn in so many ways: he wanted to kill the monster, but he wanted to catch the Heir; he wanted to confront Ginny, but he wanted to help her; he wanted to study harder to bring up his slipping grades, but he wanted to save the school, too. It was so frustrating. Gohan felt like he was missing something…something so close that he could almost taste it. It became maddening. But the more he thought about it, the more it seemed to elude him. He growled in frustration. The glass cracked and shattered.

Filch was livid. "What have you done, boy?"

Gohan blinked. "Gosh, Mr. Filch. I didn't mean to do that…I guess I was lost in thought. May I repair it, sir?"

Filch blinked stupidly. No student had ever been so polite to him or asked his permission for anything. He nodded stiffly.

Gohan lifted his wand. "Reparo." The glass rose and repaired itself instantly. Filch glanced at the wand resentfully. Gohan noticed. "You don't look too happy. Did I do something wrong, sir?"

"No!" Filch snapped. Then, he winced. "No, boy. I just hate being so useless."

Gohan stared at him in confusion. "You're not useless, Mr. Filch. You do a lot of stuff around here."

Filch scoffed bitterly. "Hmph! I don't do anything that magic can't do better…and faster."

"Can you draw?"

Filch spluttered. "What…what does…that have to do with anything?"

"Well, can you?"

Filch sighed. "I haven't drawn anything in years."

Gohan's eyes lit up happily. "I know! Wait here! I'll be right back!"

"Hey, boy! You're not finished! Get back here!" Filch scowled angrily. Probably a trick…he'll never come back.

But less than a minute had passed when Gohan arrived and handed him a box. "I got two set for Christmas. I figured I only needed one," Gohan explained as he picked up his polishing rag.

Filch stared from the enchanted pencils to the back of the humming child in awe. He suspiciously shook the package. Nothing bad happened. Slowly he opened it and withdrew a pencil. Filch bit his lip as he stared at the end of the blue tip.

"You're finished, boy," he said quietly.

Gohan blinked confusedly. "Huh? But sir, I've got three more cabinets to finish-"

"Get out of my sight! Hurry up!" Filch snapped, turning away and blinking rapidly.

"Sir, I'd be happy to-"

"I said get lost!"

"Oh, okay. Have a good night, Mr. Filch," Gohan said in a confused tone.

Filch slammed the door shut behind him and briskly headed toward his office, suppressing a sob.

Gohan stared absently at the floating substances on the nearby walls. "Class dismissed," Snape said lazily. "Son, I want a word. Everyone, hurry up! I don't have the time to babysit."

As they crossed the grass toward herbology, Snape said."All right, Son. That's six zero marks in a row. Please be so kind as to inform me why your potions class is no longer worthy of your attention."

"I'm sorry, sir," Gohan said dejectedly.

"Well? Do I get an answer?"

Gohan sighed. "I can't."

Snape raised his eyebrows. "Another detention, I think."

Gohan looked at him pleadingly. "Please, that'll just take more time away from…never mind. "

"More time away from looking for the Chamber of Secrets?" Snape finished for him.

Gohan blinked.

"I am not stupid, Son, and to presume that I am…is the highest impudence." He sighed. "If the school remains open, you will perform a week's worth of detentions at the beginning of next year."

"Really? Thanks."

Snape snarled. "I'm not rewarding you, boy! Get to class before I take twenty points from Gryffindor!"

Gohan moved to his seat. Wow. Guess I'm not the only one in a bad mood.

"Hey, Gohan…Ron," Harry whispered quietly. "Look at the spiders…I think they're headed toward the forbidden forest."

"Yeah, but we can't follow then now," Ron mumbled anxiously.

"Shh! Don't talk so loud. We'll do it tonight…under the cloak. We'll take Fang."

"And Gohan," Gohan added quietly. Ron chuckled and Harry rolled his eyes, grinning.

Hermione stared at the rattling box in annoyance with her arms folded over her chest. I hope I'm still alive. I'd hate to spend an eternity with that horrid thing!

Gohan ground his teeth loudly as Professor Lockhart continued to insult Hagrid and reassure the students that the threat was over. Harry wrote a note and passed it to them. It read:

Let's do it tonight.

Gohan nodded his assent with a serious look. Ron gulped nervously. He looked at Hermione's empty chair before agreeing.

Leaving the classroom, Harry growled, "I don't know what's harder to put up with…the monster or that brainless git!"

Piccolo was standing at the foot of the girl's bed, frowning thoughtfully. He had first sensed it when he had passed the knowledge of ki sense to her. It was strange, almost like an entire section of the child was separated and concealed in an energy-encased prison somewhere within her. It eerily reminded him of his evil self being sealed in the electric jar. But that wasn't possible, was it?

"If you keep spending time staring at that silly girl, Piccolo, people are going to start talking. You don't have a crush on her, do you?"

Piccolo smirked. "You spend as much time in here as I do, Vegeta. You feel it, don't you? Admit it."

Vegeta gently landed next to him. "Hmph. Okay, I admit it…you're completely in love with her, aren't you?" He cackled as Piccolo fell over.

Piccolo stood quickly, blushing. "You're such a hopeless idiot, Vegeta. I'm a Namek. I have absolutely no reason to pursue a relationship with a female human whatsoever, ESPECIALLY NOT A CHILD!"

"Calm down, Namek. I was only toying with you. Although, you're not that much older than she is. Four years older?"

"Five," he spat irritably.

"That was a quick answer, Piccolo. Sure you're not considering a relationship?"

Piccolo bristled. "IF YOU DON'T SHUT UP, VEGETA-"

"You'll what? Actually, I'm rather curious what the babies would look like-"

"Bite me, moron!"

Vegeta snickered. "No thanks. I just had dinner. Besides, I hear Namek meat tastes disgusting. Later." Vegeta walked toward the door.

Piccolo growled angrily. Then, his eyes widened and snapped toward the motionless body. Vegeta quickly flash sped next to him.

"You can't say you didn't feel that one, Vegeta. That spark was significant. I wonder what's going on in there."

Vegeta harrumphed. "Can't you use your telepathy?"

"Not unless I tried to puncture the barrier that is encasing her ki. If I did that, I could potentially kill her."

They had intended to leave immediately after dinner, but things didn't work out that way. The common room was crowded. But even as the crowd trickled away, Fred and George insisted on playing Exploding Snap with Ron and Harry until after midnight.

Finally, they were on their way: Harry and Ron snuck out with the Invisibility Cloak, and Gohan just jumped out the common room window.

"Maybe it just looked like they were going into the forest…" Ron trailed off hopefully.

They opened Hagrid's cabin door; a massive boarhound happily bounded at Gohan, barking loudly. After the dog had settled down and been 'glued up' by Hagrid's treacle fudge, they began a search for the trail of spiders.

After Harry had located a small cluster of fleeing spiders, the boys and dog set out to follow them by wand light.

Harry suddenly jumped, then sighed in relief. He asked Gohan and Ron if they wished to continue. Nodding, they trailed through trees and brambles for at least half an hour. The ground began to slope underneath the never-ending trees.

The dog barked loudly.

"What?" Ron snapped at him.

Harry began to breathe heavily."I heard something moving. It sounds big."

"Oh, no, oh, no, oh, no," Ron chanted fearfully.

Harry glared. "Shush, Ron. It'll hear you."

"Hear me? It's already heard the dog."

Harry saw Gohan staring at something. "Do you see something, Gohan?"

"Yes," Gohan said truthfully. A short silence ensued.

"Well, what is it?" Harry demanded quietly.

"It's not a big deal…just a few giant spiders."

"What?"

They became surrounded by menacing, clicking sounds.

"Uh, Gohan?" Harry asked in a trembling voice. "How many is a few?"

"Hmmm…let's see: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven…there are eight of them."

"That's more than a few, Gohan!" Ron shouted hysterically.

Gohan wasn't listening. He hadn't eaten in five whole hours. Hmmm, I wonder what roasted spider tastes like…

All of a sudden, the entire area became flooded with bright light. Harry and Ron shielded their eyes. They heard Gohan scream in horror.

"Ahhhhh! It's a car…and there isn't a driver, nyuhhhhh…" Filled with relief, Harry and Ron burst out laughing.

"Tee he he," Ron laughed, patting the car. "Hopeless, Gohan. Pathetic. Really! You calmly stare down eight monstrous spiders and squeal at a driverless car?" Gohan scratched his head and chuckled bashfully as his friends continued in their riotous mirth.

"Come on," Harry said with tears in his eyes. "We've got to pick up the trail."

But Ron's grin had vanished. Eyes popping in terror, he was staring at something ten feet above Harry's head. Harry was seized around the waist by the gigantic beast. Seconds later, Gohan, Ron, and the dog were also grabbed. The huge spiders took off with their prey.

"G-Gohan," Harry pleaded. "D-Do something!"

"I donno, Harry, maybe we want this." Gohan said thoughtfully.

"Are…you…mental?" Ron said in an unusually high and shaky voice.

Gohan laughed. "Oh, come on. It's not like we are in any real danger. These creatures are not all that strong. Besides, maybe they'll help us get to the bottom of this."

They hustled along for five minutes, until they had arrived at an enormous crater. Harry shuddered audibly when he saw them, but Gohan smiled in anticipation.

"Wow. Now that's a lot of spiders," he observed in complete unconcern. The ones carrying them went down into the center of the crater, dropping their catches in the dirt.

"Aragog," the one who dropped Harry cried. "Aragog!"

An extremely old spider with milky-white eyes emerged from a hollowed out cavern within the crater. "What is it?"

"Men," replied the first speaker.

"Hagrid?"

"Strangers."

"Kill them…I was sleeping…"

"We're friends of Hagrid," Harry interjected.

"Hagrid has never sent men here before," the spider noted skeptically.

"Hagrid's in trouble. That's why we've come. They think he's set…a something on the students. They've taken him to Azkaban."

Aragog clicked his pincers bitterly. "But that was years ago! They made him leave the school, because they thought I was the monster living inside the Chamber of Secrets! I wasn't even born in the school! I hail from a distant land. Hagrid received me from the pocket of a traveler when I was just an egg. Hagrid was just a child, but he cared for me, fed me scraps, and hid me in a cupboard. He even got me a wife. Out of my respect for him, I go against my natural instincts of slaying humans. I have never harmed one! "

"Do you know what killed the girl? Because it's back and attacking people."

"It is a creature that spiders fear above all others. When I felt it moving within the castle, I begged Hagrid to let me go. As for the girl, she was found lying in a bathroom."

"What is it? What is the monster?" Harry pressed. The spiders began closing in on them. Gohan chose a stance.

"We don't speak of it!" Aragog cried angrily. "We don't name it! I even refused to tell Hagrid, no matter how many times he asked!"

Aragog began retreating to his webbed enclave, as the spiders enclosed on them.

"Thanks…we'll…just…go…then." Harry stammered.

"Go? I think not…my children don't harm Hagrid at my command, but I cannot deny them fresh-"

Gohan yawned loudly. "Aren't you done talking yet? I'm starved."

The spider started from Gohan's comment. "You aren't going to eat. You are going to be eaten."

Gohan chuckled amusedly. "You know, I was wondering what roasted spider tastes like. Lucky I get the chance to find out, isn't it?"

The spiders clicked angrily. Aragog said," Kill that one first."

Gohan whispered to Harry and Ron. "When I say go, follow the light, okay?" Gohan charged up a ki blast and fired it. "GO!"

Harry and Ron chased after the ki blast as Gohan stuffed the dog beneath his arm. He followed the boys from behind and shot spiders away as they attempted to charge them. Suddenly, the top of the crater lit up.

"It's the car!" Ron shouted. "Hurry!"

As they reached the car, they were surrounded by the creatures. Gohan shot into the air and blasted them away, giving Harry and Ron time to get in. Gohan stuffed the dog in before climbing in himself.

"Floor it!" Harry bellowed as Gohan shut the door. The car didn't need to be told twice; the accelerator slammed to the floorboard and the car sped backwards, expertly avoiding trees and hitting giant spiders in its path. In a small clearing the car spun around wildly and began driving forward instead. After ten minutes of bumpy ride, the car slowed a hundred yards from the cottage. After letting out a terrified dog, the trio left the car, which retreated to the woods after a grateful pat from Harry.

Gohan grinned. "See? What did I tell you? That car was way scarier than the spiders." Ron punched Gohan on the arm as Harry laughed until his sides hurt.

"Well, you know…what this means," Harry said between guffaws.

"Yeah. I didn't get my midnight snack after all. How about a kitchen raid?"

Harry shook his head, grinning. Then he became serious. "It means that Hagrid didn't open the Chamber of Secrets. He was innocent."

Gohan pouted. "I already said that."

...

Safe in their dormitory, they quietly changed into their pajamas and slipped into bed. Gohan lay in bed wide awake in frustration. He hadn't found the Heir of Slytherin. He hadn't found Slytherin's pawn. He hadn't found the Chamber of Secrets…

"Ron," Harry hissed. "Ron!"

Ron yelped fearfully.

"That girl who died…she was found in a bathroom. What if she never left?"

Ron sat up. "You mean…Moaning Myrtle?"

Two impressively tall figures stood facing each other in the moonlight: the slightly taller of the two wore a turban and had pointed ears, and the shorter one had a long white beard and hair and wore half-moon spectacles.

"They know about the spiders," the taller one said in a clear, low, stoic voice.

"And the girl?" the shorter one asked serenely.

"Her energy sparks constantly now. It's pressing the barrier. If the encasing neutralizer isn't finished soon, she'll break free from the restraints on her own. She's angry enough. I imagine its difficult being trapped inside your own body with another half you never knew existed."

The old man's eyes widened. "What did you say?"

The green one met his eyes. "The child has a container inside her. I saw it when I was teaching her how to read energy. The container behaves much like the one my evil half was sealed in for a time."

"Does she know?" The old man asked wearily.

"She knows of its existence. I am not sure if she understands its purpose, yet. But she will. Her intellect is rather impressive for a human. I sometimes wonder about that."

The older man stared off into the distance. Frowning thoughtfully, he murmured softly, "Pandora infinite."