disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, just Arabella and her story. Hope you all like it!
Aragog
Summer was slowly creeping up over Hogwarts with the sky turning a beautiful blue and flowers blooming in the greenhouse. But it felt wrong that Hagrid was not there on the grounds with Fang right behind him. In fact, everything seemed to be going completely wrong. They tried to visit Hermione, but visitor were barred from the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey did not want to take any chances with the possibility of the attacker coming back to finish them off.
With Dumbledore gone, fear was evident in everyone more so than before. Everyone was worried and tense, and any laughter sounded shrill and unnatural and was quickly stifled. Hagrid's hint about the spiders stuck to Harry as he looked everywhere he went, helped by a rather reluctant Ron and Arabella. But it was difficult to do so when they were not allowed to wander off on their own without the other Gryffindors.
There was only one person who seemed delighted at the tense atmosphere at Hogwarts. Malfoy was strutting around the school with a big smirk on his face, as though his father had been appointed Minister of Magic. Two weeks later, during Potions, he was gloating to Crabbe and Goyle.
"I always thought Father might be the one who got rid of Dumbledore," he said, not even bothered 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…."
Arabella clutched her wooden spoon tightly.
"Sir," he said loudly towards Snape. "Sir, why don't you apply for the headmaster's job?"
"Now, now, Malfoy," said Snape, with a small smile on his face. "Professor Dumbledore has only been suspended by the governors. I daresay he'll be back with us soon enough."
"Yeah, right," said Malfoy, smirking. "I expect you'd have Father's vote, sir, if you wanted to apply for the job – I'll tell Father you're the best teacher here, sir –"
Snape smirked as he swept off around the dungeon as Arabella rolled her eyes so hard she thought it might fall back into her skull. It was the most disgusting form of brownnosing she's ever seen from Malfoy so far.
"I'm quite surprised that Mudbloods haven't all packed their bags by now," Malfoy went on. "Bet you five Galleons the next one dies. Pity it wasn't Granger –"
The bell rang at that moment, which was lucky for him. At his last words, Ron and Arabella leapt off their stools and made their way towards Malfoy, though he did not notice.
"Let me at him," growled Ron as Harry and Dean hung onto his arms. "I don't care, I don't need my wand, I'm going to kill him with my bare hands –"
Seamus and Neville were holding Arabella back as she struggled against them. "Let – me – go. How dare he talk about Hermione like that, that snivelling prick, I'll break his pathetic face –"
"Hurry up, I've got to take you all to Herbology," barked Snape over the class's heads, and off they marched. Harry and Dean were still holding on to Ron, as Seamus and Neville were also holding on to Arabella. It was only safe to let go of them when Snape had seen them out of the castle and they were making their way across the vegetable patch toward the greenhouses.
The Herbology class was very quiet with two people clearly missing. Professor Sprout set them all to work pruning the Abyssinian Shrivelfigs. Arabella worked silently beside Harry and Ron, but it was not the same without having Hermione beside her, occasionally looking over to make sure Arabella was doing it right. A moment later, Ernie came over to them.
He took a deep breath and said, very formally, "I just want to say, Harry, that I'm sorry I ever suspected you. I know you'd never attack Hermione Granger, and I apologize for all the stuff I said. We're all in the same boat now, and well –"
He held out his hand and Harry took it, shaking and forming a truce. Ernie and his friend, Hannah, came over to work at their table. Arabella, Harry and Ron made room for them in good faith.
"That Draco Malfoy character," said Ernie, "he seems very pleased about all this, doesn't he? D'you know, I think he might be Slytherin's heir."
"That's clever of you," said Ron. He didn't seem to be very forgiving as Arabella and Harry.
"Do you think it's Malfoy, Harry?" Ernie asked.
"No," said Harry firmly, making Ernie and Hannah stare at him.
"Malfoy's all talk and no action," said Arabella. "He's as much of a threat to Hogwarts as dirt on the wall. I doubt he's brave enough to even face the monster, much less command it."
"Ouch!" cried Ron. "What're you –"
Arabella looked over at Harry, wondering why he would hit Ron over the head, but he was pointing out the several large spiders scuttling over the ground on the other side of the glass. They were moving in an unnaturally straight line. Ernie and Hannah followed the direction of their eyes and was confused as to why they were fascinated by spiders.
"Oh, yeah," said Ron, failing to look pleased at the sight. "But we can't follow them now –"
"Looks like they're heading for the Forbidden Forest," whispered Arabella.
Ron looked even unhappier about that.
At the end of the lesson, Professor Sprout escorted the class to their Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson with the three of them lagging behind the others so that they could talk out of earshot.
"We'll have to use the Invisibility Cloak again," Harry told them. "We can take Fang with us. He's used to going into the forest with Hagrid, he might be some help."
"Right," said Ron, who was twirling his wand nervously in his fingers. "Er – aren't there – aren't there supposed to be werewolves in the forest?" he added as they took their usual place at the back of Lockhart's classroom.
Arabella pursed her lips and said nothing while Harry said, "There are good things in there, too. The centaurs are all right, and the unicorns."
Werewolves aren't that bad either thought Arabella as Lockhart bounded into the room. The whole class stared at him. Every other teacher at Hogwarts were grim, but Lockhart was more flamboyant than usual.
"Come now," he cried, beaming around him. "Why all these long face?"
People swapped exasperated looks, but nobody answered.
"Don't you people realize," said Lockhart slowly, "the danger has passed! The culprit has been taken away –"
"Says who?" said Dean loudly.
"My dear young man, the Minister of Magic wouldn't have taken Hagrid if he hadn't been one hundred percent sure that he was guilty!"
"Oh, yes he would," said Ron, even more loudly than Dean.
"I flatter myself I know a touch more about Hagrid's arrest than you do, Mr. Weasley," said Lockhart in a self-satisfied tone.
Arabella flared her nose and said, "Then, sir, would you be so kind to please tell us more about your brilliant wisdom and how you would know anything about Hagrid's situation and why he was arrested. Please, do tell us." Sarcasm was dripping from her voice dangerously. "Oh, and please, do tell us about the wonderful Ministry and how they never, ever make any mistakes and prevented so many bad things from happening. Go on, professor."
Dean and Seamus seemed to have a hard time containing their laughter as Lockhart stood there, dumbfounded by her request. However, he seemed to take her statement to heart and went on and on about how he always thought Hagrid was no good, his confidence that the whole business was now at an end. Arabella grabbed one of her Lockhart's book and was about to fling it at his face with Ron managed to yank it out of her hand.
Harry, who was also irritated, passed a note towards them that simply read: Let's do it tonight.
Arabella read the message and nodded. Ron looked sideways at the empty seat that was supposed to be Hermione's. The sight seemed to stiffen his resolve, and he nodded.
From six o'clock onwards, the Gryffindor common room was crowded nowadays. They had plenty to talk about and it often did not empty until well past midnight. Harry went to get the Cloak out of his trunk after dinner and spent the evening sitting on it, waiting for the room to clear. Fred and George challenged them and Ginny to a game of Exploding Snaps. They lost on purpose many times and Ginny didn't seem very interested in playing the game at all. In fact, she didn't seem very interested in much nowadays. The game went well past midnight and finally Fred, George and Ginny went to bed.
They waited for the soft noise of two dormitory doors closing before seizing the cloak, throwing it over themselves, and climbing through the portrait hole. It was a difficult journey to navigate through the castle once again. They dodged all the teachers, prefects, and ghosts to finally reach the Entrance Hall. They slid back the lock on the front doors, squeezed between them, and stepped out into the grounds.
Ron was mumbling something about spiders as they made their way over to Hagrid's house. He was certainly trying to be brave, but the thought of spiders wasn't really helping. It seemed as though he was hoping for there to be no spiders at all to follow.
They reached Hagrid's house, and pushed the door open. Fang went mad with joy at the sight of them. They hastily fed him some treacle toffee from a tin on the mantelpiece, which glued his teeth together, making sure that he would not wake up the castle with his loud barks.
Harry placed his Cloak on Hagrid's table as Arabella patted the top of Fang's head. "Come on, Fang, we're going for a little walk."
Arabella and Harry took out their wands and murmured, "Lumos!" A tiny light appeared at the end of it, just enough to let them watch the path for signs of spiders.
"Good thinking," said Ron. "I'd light mine, too, but you know – it'd probably blow up or something…."
"Look," whispered Harry, pointing at the grass.
Two solitary spiders were hurrying away from the wand-light into the shade of the trees.
"Okay," Ron sighed, resigned to the worst, "I'm ready. Let's go."
With Fang scampering around them, sniffing tree roots and leaves, they entered the forest. With the glow of their wands, they followed the steady movements of the spiders along the path. They walked behind them for about twenty minutes, not speaking, listening hard for noises other than the breaking twigs and rustling leaves. When the trees had become thicker than ever and the stars were no longer visible, they saw the spiders leave the path.
They paused, trying to see where the spiders were going, but everything was pitch-black and their lit wands were near useless. Arabella had not been this deep into the forest and there was a shiver that ran up her spine, wondering what sort of creatures lived here. There could be trolls or vampires somewhere.
"What d'you reckon?" asked Harry.
"We've come this far," said Ron.
So they followed the small shadows of the spiders into the trees. They couldn't move quickly now with tree roots and stumps in their way. More than once, they had to stop, crouch down and find the spiders in the wand-light. They walked for what seemed like an hour. After a while, they noticed that the ground seemed to be sloping downward, through the trees as thick as ever.
Then Fang let out a loose great, echoing bark, making them jump out of their skins.
"What?" said Ron loudly, looking around in the dark and gripping their elbows very hard.
"There's something moving over there," breathed Harry. "Listen… sounds like something big…"
They listened. In the distance to their right, something was snapping branches as it carved a path through the trees.
"Oh, no," said Ron. "Oh, no, oh, no, oh –"
"Shut up," hissed Arabella. "It'll hear you."
"Hear me?" said Ron in an unnaturally high voice. "It's already heard Fang!"
They stood, terrified, waiting. There was a strange rumbling noise and then silence.
"What d'you think it's doing?" said Harry.
"Probably getting ready to pounce," said Ron.
They waited, shivering, hardly daring to move.
"Do you think it's gone?" whispered Arabella.
"Dunno –"
Then, to their right, came a sudden blaze of light. Arabella held up her arm to shield herself from the light. Fang yelped and tried to run, but got lodged in a tangle of thorns and yelped even louder.
"It's the car!" shouted Ron, his voice breaking with relief. "Harry! Arabella! It's the car!"
"What?"
"Come on!"
Ron blundered towards the light and Arabella and Harry followed after him. They stumbled and tripped over the ground, and a moment later, they emerged into a clearing. Mr. Weasley's car was standing in the middle of a circle of trees under a roof of dense branches, its headlights ablaze. Ron walked towards it with an open mouth.
"It's been here all the time!" said Ron delightedly, walking around the car. "Look at it. The forest's turned it wild!"
The sides of the car were scratched and smeared with mud. It must have gone around the forest on its own. Arabella squinted around them, trying to find the spiders. But they must have scattered away from the headlights.
"We've lost the spiders," said Arabella. "Come on, we've got to find them."
Ron didn't speak. He didn't move. He was staring on a fixed point above and beyond them. His face was livid in horror.
Suddenly Arabella was lifted off the ground. She let out a scream as she hung upside down. She was terrified when she realized it was hairy and it made loud clicking noise. There was more clicking and Harry and Ron were lifted off the ground as well with her. Next moment – they were being swept away into the dark trees.
She covered her mouth with her hands tightly when she saw six long, hairy legs and two clutching her below a pair of black pincers. She could hear the sound of the other creatures carrying Harry, Ron and Fang, who was whining loudly.
She had no idea how long they had been moving until she craned her neck to see something completely and utterly ghastly. Spiders – not the tiny ones they've been seeing around the castle – but spiders the size of horses with eight eyes, eight legs, black, hairy, gigantic. The thing carrying Arabella made its way down a steep slope toward a misty, domed web in the center of the hollow. Many spiders surrounding them clicked their pincers excitedly at the sight of humans.
Arabella fell to the ground as the spider released her. Harry, Ron and Fang fell beside her. Fang was no longer howling anymore, but cowering on the spot. Ron was looking exactly like what she felt – mouth stretched wide open in a silent scream and eyes popping. Harry was trembling in fright. Arabella tried standing up, but her legs shook so badly she was brought back down to her knees.
Suddenly, the spiders were saying something. It was hard to tell through the pincers with each word, though.
"Aragog! Aragog!"
From the middle of the misty, domed web, a spider the size of a small element emerged, very slowly. Her stomach was queasy and she doubled over on all fours, heaving, but she did not throw up, not yet. Its eyes were ugly and milky white. It was blind.
"What is it?" the thing said. His pincers were clicking rapidly.
"Men."
"Is it Hagrid?" said the thing named Aragog, moving closer. Its eyes were wandering vaguely.
"Strangers," said another spider.
"Kill them," said Aragog. "I was sleeping…."
"We're friends of Hagrid's," shouted Harry.
The clicking of the pincers continued as Aragog paused. "Hagrid has never sent men into our hollow before."
"Hagrid's in trouble," said Harry, breathing very fast. "That's why we've come."
"In trouble?" said Aragog. He seemed concerned. "But why has he sent you?"
"They think up at the school, that Hagrid's been setting a – a – something on students. They've taken him to Azkaban."
Aragog clicked his pincers furiously, and all around the hollow the sound was echoed by the crowd of spiders. It was like applause, but it only made Arabella feel more sick.
"But that was years ago," said Aragog fretfully. "Years and years ago. I remember it well. That's why they made him leave the school. They believed that I was the monster that dwells in what they call the Chamber of Secrets. They thought that Hagrid had opened the Chamber and set me free."
"And you… you didn't come from the Chamber of Secrets?" said Harry.
"I!" said Aragog angrily. "I was not born in the castle. I come from a distant land. A traveler gave me to Hagrid when I was an egg. Hagrid was only a boy, but he cared for me, hidden in a cupboard in the castle, feeding me on scraps from the table. Hagrid is my good friend, and a good man. When I was discovered, and blamed for the death of a girl, he protected me. I have lived here in the forest ever since, where Hagrid still visits me. He even found me a wife, Mosag, and you see how out family has grown, all though Hagrid's goodness…"
"So you never – never attacked anyone?" said Harry.
"Never," croaked Aragog. "It would have been my instinct, but out of respect to Hagrid, I never harmed a human. They body of the girl who was killed was discovered in a bathroom. I never saw any part of the castle but the cupboard in which I grew up. Our kind like the dark and the quiet…"
"But then…. Do you know what did kill that girl?" said Harry. "Because whatever it is, it's back and attacking the people again –"
His words were drowned by a loud outbreak of clicking and the rustling of many long legs shifting angrily. They large spiders were shifting all around them.
"The thing that lives in the castle," said Aragog, "is an ancient creature we spiders fear above all others. Well do I remember how I pleaded with Hagrid to let me go, when I sensed the beast moving about the school."
"What is it?" said Harry urgently.
More loud clicking and more rustling. The spiders seemed to be closing in.
"We do not speak of it!" said Aragog fiercely. "We do not name it! I never even told Hagrid the name of that dread creature, though he asked me, many times."
Harry didn't want to press the subject, not with the spiders pressing closer on all sides. Aragog seemed to be tired of talking. He was backing slowly into his web, but the other sides seemed to be inching closer and closer towards Arabella, Harry and Ron.
"We'll just go then," Harry called desperately to Aragog, hearing leaves rustling behind him.
"Go?" said Aragog slowly. "I think not…"
"But – but –"
"My sons and daughters do not harm Hagrid, on my command. But I cannot deny them fresh meat, when it wanders so willingly into our midst. Good-bye, friends of Hagrid."
Arabella spun her head around fast. Towering above them was a solid wall of spiders, clicking with their eyes gleaming in their ugly black heads. Arabella pulled her wand out, but there was no point, honestly. Surrounded by spiders was not how she wanted to die –
Then there was a loud, long note sounded, and a blaze of light flamed through the hollow. Mr. Weasley's car was thundering down the slope, headlights glaring, it's horn screeching, knocking spiders. Several were thrown on their backs, their legs waving in the air. The car screeched to a halt in front of them and the doors flew open.
Arabella grabbed Fang and dove into the back seat while Harry and Ron clambered into the front in a rush. The doors slammed shut, the engine roared and they were off, hitting more spiders on their way. They sped up the slope, out of the hollow, and they were now crashing through the forest, branches hitting the windows as the car raced past the trees.
Arabella stared at the roof of the car with Fang at her heels.
"Are you okay?" Harry asked her.
She didn't say anything. She had no idea what to say. Her heart was beating wildly against her chest.
"Are you okay, Ron?" asked Harry.
Ron was staring straight ahead, unable to speak. His mouth was still open in the silent scream.
The car smashed its way through the forest with Fang howling. After about ten minutes, the trees thinned and she could see patches of the sky.
The car stopped suddenly and she was thrusted forward against the front seats. They had reached the edge of the forest. Fang was clawing against the door, wanting to desperately get out. When Arabella opened the door, he shot off through the trees to Hagrid's house. Arabella tried to stand up, but somehow ended up crawling out of the car and onto the grass. Harry got out slowly and helped Arabella to her feet, but she ended up just crawling on the grass towards Hagrid's hut.
Ron was stiff-necked and staring, but managed to regain the feeling in his limbs. The car reversed back into the forest and disappeared from view. Harry went back into Hagrid's hut to get the Invisibility Cloak and returned to see Ron throwing up violently in the pumpkin patch. Arabella was still on the ground a few feet away in the fetal position.
"Follow the spiders," said Ron weakly, wiping his mouth on his sleeve as Harry helped Arabella to her feet again. "I'll never forgive Hagrid. We're lucky to be alive."
"I bet he thought Aragog wouldn't hurt friends of his," said Harry.
"That's exactly Hagrid's problem!" said Ron, thumping the wall of the cabin. "He always thinks monsters aren't as bad as they're made out, and look where it's got him! A cell in Azkaban!" He was shivering uncontrollably now. "What was the point of sending us in there? What have we found out, I'd like to know?"
"Hagrid never opened the Chamber of Secrets," Arabella said quietly. Harry threw the cloak over them. "He was innocent the whole time."
Ron gave a loud snort as the castle loomed nearer. Harry pushed the door ajar and they walked carefully back across the Entrance Hall and up the marble staircase. At last, they reached the safety of the Gryffindor common room, where the fire was still roaring. They took off the clock and sat on the couch, unable to say anything else.
Arabella curled herself up like a cat while Harry and Ron stared into the fire. Ron seemed to be dozing off while Harry was thinking very hard.
Arabella sighed. She should be going to bed, but she really couldn't do it without Hermione in their dormitory as well. Harry got up and walked to the window, watching the moon. Ron and Arabella looked at him and then at each other. Ron then shrugged and got comfortable, his eyes drooping ever so slightly before he fell asleep, his head resting on the arm of the couch. Arabella wrapped her arms around her front and closed her eyes, hoping that this would all turn out to be some sort of dream in the morning.
The image of Aragog and the other spiders would not get out of her mind. The feel of the hairy legs made her shiver and the sight of the milky eyes made her jump multiple times.
Ron then yelped loudly, waking Arabella up as well. Harry was standing in front of them and he looked frantic and scared.
"The girl who died," said Harry, "the girl – Aragog said she was found in a bathroom. What – what if she never left the bathroom? What if she's still there?"
Ron rubbed his eyes as the realization dawned upon her. She felt her stomach hollow in as Ron said, "You don't think – not Moaning Myrtle?"
Arabella shook her head and looked over her shoulder. It felt as though someone was watching her in the shadows. She slept in Harry and Ron's dormitory that night on the floor, ignoring their red faces. She couldn't go back to her dorm, not after figuring out it Myrtle who died due to Slytherin's creature. The thought terrified her.
Thank you so much for reading! Hope you all liked it!