That evening, Jack asked Fred and George if he can borrow their map.
"I suppose," George said pulling it out. "As long as you give it back."
"Yeah we worked hard trying to work out how to work it when we snatched it from Filch's office"
"How long did it take you?" Jack asked curious.
"About a week" they said together.
Rolling his eyes, Jack took out his wand pressed the tip to the parchment to it: "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
From the tip of his wand, ink splotches appeared, along with the 'Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs' opener, and all the little pairs of shoes with name tags attached to them.
"I wish to sneak out into the forest at night, but the teachers are all patrolling the corridors and I don't have an invisibility cloak," Jack said clearly and calmly to the parchment. "Please can you tell me how I can do this."
The three of them waited and soon a message came back.
...
'Mr Prongs writes: Find someone who has an invisibility cloak and borrow it from them.'
'Mr Padfoot writes: Go down into the dungeons and sneak out though the secret passage in the Potion Master's store room.'
'Mr Wormtail writes: Go to the kitchens and sneak out using the back door the House Elves use when collecting food from the vegetable patches.'
'Mr Moony writes: Why do you want to go out into the forest at night?'
...
"I want to go meet someone I believe is living in there, so I can figure out what's going on inside the castle." Jack said answering Moony while ignoring the Twin's blank stares, it seems they didn't know the Map could do this. "And I do know someone who has an Invisibility Cloak, but I don't want to lose it in the forest."
...
'Mr Moony writes: What has been happening at Hogwarts, maybe we can help?'
...
"Someone has opened the Chamber of Secrets," Jack said not sure why he's letting it all out to a bit of enchanted parchment "No one's been too badly hurt, but Hagrid's been taken because the ministry thinks he opened it last time, and so has Dumbledore."
...
'Mr Padfoot writes: Hagrid would not have had the skills to open the Chamber. Only a Parselmouth or Dragon Whisperer can get in and control the Monster.'
...
This made the boys confused, it was almost as if this person knew this for a fact.
"I'm taking my broom, I'm a fast flyer, I've been into the Forest before, and have a friend in there," Jack said trying to get back to the point. "I just need a way to get from Gryffindor tower, to the forest and back, that doesn't include jumping out of windows on my broom." he said looking at the Twins as he said this knowing they would sate this as the fastest and best way not to be seen.
Just then…
...
'Mr Prongs writes: But that's the fastest and best way to get to the forest and not be seen if you have no cloak.'
...
Groaning Jack set his wand down and rubbed his temples a little as the Twins high-fived behind him.
His eyes scanning the replies, Jack saw the suggestions and took a look on the map to see where they let out.
The back door through the kitchens let out close to the castle pointing in the direction of the vegetable patch.
The one under Snape's store room, would let him out next to the lake and close to the trees.
"Ok, so do I want the safe way, or the idiot's way?" Jack asked himself.
But before anymore could be said a new message came up.
...
'Mr Wormtail writes: You could always just go out the front door. That is hardly ever locked.'
...
At this the boys looked on the map at the front doors and saw that only one person was there guarding it. 'S. Snape'.
"So again" Jack said ignoring this suggestion "The safe way or the idiot's way?"
"This depending on if you can get that far," Fred said "In both ways, you'll need to pass Snape to get to them."
"Of course there is still always the Mutton-Head way…" George said opening the window and bowing Jack out of it.
"I am not jumping in or out of windows George…" Jack said trying stay calm about this.
"But Jackie…" Fred said "It makes sense right? I mean we're so high up the only ones who would see you would have to be in the Astrometry Tower, and no one has a class there tonight. So…"
Looking at the map again and not finding any other way out that meant he wouldn't been seen by someone, Jack groaned and said "Fine…"
o0o
Unable to get the 'offering' for the spiders, or the gift to please Gaia so she'd let him into the Forest like he had planned because he had spent the last few hours trying to choose how to get to the location in the first place, Jack just grabbed his wand, and his broom and made sure Annie had Baby Tooth.
Once everyone went to bed, Jack opened the window in the common room, climbed out, with his broom, and really hoping this would work took to the sky so he was above the clouds and the view of anyone who would be looking outside.
Getting is bearings right, he started heading for the forest, touching down at the edge of it.
Holding onto his broom tightly, he pulled out his wand, lit it and went inside.
He was wondering if he should find Gaia first or follow the spiders on his own, when he saw some running along on the path up ahead.
Slowly Jack started to follow them, but stopped as he saw they were going off the path and into a darker part of the forest.
"Come on Frost, you're doing this for Hagrid…" he told himself, shouldering his broom and was about to continue to follow them, when vines sprang up and blocked his path.
"Gaia, I need to see them." he said knowing who was standing behind him.
"No… You need to get out of here and back up to the school." Gaia, the spirit of all Forests in the World, said her arms crossed and sending a glare at Jack.
"I'm not going until I speak with those spiders," Jack said firmly "Hagrid's been taken and he said to go talk to them to find out what really happened."
After a bit of a stand-off, Gaia gave up asking "Why do you have to be stubborn?"
"I don't know," Jack said shrugging "Probably been hanging around North and Bunny too much."
"Fine," Gaia said snapping her fingers and clearing the way "But I'm coming with you."
"Why?" Jack asked, surprised.
"Because, I will never let my best friend do stupid things alone." Gaia replied before taking the lead.
Seeming like that was a fair deal, Jack shrugged and they carried on going down the trail the spiders were taking, Jack not sure that he liked the fact the surroundings seemed to be getting darker, that the spiders were getting bigger, and that the ground beneath them seemed to be sloping down a little.
They had almost made it to the bottom when something from the shadows grabbed them meaning they were now 10 feet up in the air, Jack's hand still holding tightly to his broom.
Trying not to cry out, or attack the thing in case it made it mad, Jack let the gigantic spider carry him the rest of the way and set him and Gaia down on the forest floor.
Slowly Jack got up and dusted himself off, before helping Gaia up as they heard one of the spiders calling out…
"Aragog! Aragog!"
From the domed centre of this huge web, came a spider about the size of a small elephant. It had greying hairs on its back and all 8 of its eyes were white and cloudy.
'He's blind' thought Jack who smiled, thinking this might work after all then.
"What is it?" the spider said between clicking his pincers.
"The Guardian of the Forest and a man," the one that had carried Jack here replied.
"Is it Hagrid?"
"A stranger" the one who carried Gaia said.
"Kill him!" Aragog said sounding annoyed "I was sleeping."
"I am Jack Frost," Jack called up clearly "The Spirit of Winter. I am here on orders from Black Widow, to find out what happened 50 years ago at the school to get Hagrid's name cleared for opening the Chamber of Secrets."
There was a pause and a mix of hissing and clicking of pincers at this.
"We have never had a visit from the Spirit of Winter before," Aragog said "Why has Black Widow sent you and not come to find the information out herself?"
"She was busy trying to catch a black cat and ladybird in her web," Jack said trying not to sound as if he was making fun of their 'Goddess' as he answered.
"All I will say, Spirit of Winter, is that the Monster is a creature we spiders fear above all others. We do not speak of it. The body of the girl who had died, was found in a bathroom. But I never saw her, I never saw any part of the castle expect the cupboard in which Hagrid kept me in."
Thinking hard, Jack tried thought about what Aragog said and was about to ask more questions when Gaia elbowed him making look around and see the ring of spiders around them was getting smaller, and Aragog was starting to get bored.
"Thank you for your information Aragog," Jack said sounding calm, hand gripping hard on his broom "I will be sure to pass them onto Black Widow. And seeing as you are probably tired, we shall just go."
"Go? I think not, Spirit of Winter," Aragog said "It only takes one person to deliver a message, and while my sons and daughters do not harm Hagrid, on my account, I surely cannot deny them fresh meat when it wanders so willingly into our midst."
The spiders were ganging up on Jack, ignoring Gaia, since she was the Guardian of the Forest in which they had made their home.
"Goodbye, Spirit of Winter…"
Spinning around, Jack looked at all the giant spiders. Quickly mounting his broom, he kicked off, reached for Gaia's hand and shot off into the sky until he was so high the spiders couldn't catch them.
Flying over the trees, Jack came down and landed right outside Hagrid's hut where he let Gaia off.
"Well, I hope you're happy Jack Frost," she said not sounding all that pleased "I hope you almost dying my a hoard of Acromantula's was worth it."
"It was as a matter of fact," Jack said in a slow 'I'm thinking about something' voice "He said the girl from before was found in a bathroom. There's only one girl ghost here that could fit that description, but I need to be sure."
"Just don't get yourself killed you idiot," Gaia said and went back into the Forest.
Rolling his eyes, Jack headed back to Gryffindor Tower returning through the window.
o0o
In the common room, he was surprised to see Fred, George, Ron, Harry, Hermione, Baby Tooth and even Annie were still up waiting for him – in their pajama's but still waiting for him.
"Been watching me have you?" Jack asked seeing the map sticking out of Fred's pocket.
"You could say that" George said "So learn anything."
"You could say that," Jack said grinning as he began to explain what happened, pausing every now at again to let Ron whine and shiver due to his fear.
"So all in all, the most important thing you got out of it was the girl 50 years ago was found in a bathroom?" Hermione asked trying to understand.
"Yes, but just think…" Jack said while gently petting Baby "What if she never left, what if she's still there, what if she's…"
"Moaning Myrtle!" they all said shocked in understanding, their eyes wide.