Chapter 161 The Reward Of The Acromantulas
Descending the steep slope for about twenty minutes, Evan reached the crest of an extensive hollow, a hollow that had been cleared of trees. Looking up, he could see the vast starry sky.
The open space in the center of the hollow was covered with thick leaves. Stepping on them, Evan felt like walking on a carpet. He saw Peter Pettigrew and the spider that had brought him in the middle of the open space. In front of them, there was a huge misty, domed cobweb.
"Evan, Evan, you came to save me! I knew you would come!"
Pettigrew cried softly, looking extremely miserable. He shivered on the ground without dignity. He crawled like a worm, trembling, and said, "Please, don't leave me here alone, please..."
"Shut up!" Evan said angrily.
Peter kept crying and was disturbed. His appearance made Evan feel sick and despise him.
He was pitiful, weak, extremely foolish... Why does such a person even exist?
Evan did not look at Pettigrew; he gazed at the spider beside him.
It slid on the thick leaves, its eight legs swaying gently, four of its eyes on one side looking at him and Pettigrew, and the other four eyes watching the huge cobweb not far away.
Click, click, click...
It moved its pincers quickly, emitting a rapid and sharp click.
Suddenly, Evan realized that the spider was saying something. It was hard to distinguish because it clicked its pincers with each word it spoke.
"Aragog," it called, "Aragog!"
And from the center of the misty, domed cobweb, a spider the size of a small elephant emerged, very slowly. There was gray in the black of its body and legs, and each of the eyes on its ugly head with pincers was milky white. It was blind.
Seeing Aragog, Evan involuntarily tightened his wand in his hand.
This monster must be Hagrid's pet, the ancestor of all Acromantulas in the forest.
The sight before him was too terrifying, despite being mentally prepared, when this giant spider appeared, Evan found he had underestimated the monster.
It had eight legs, each thicker than Evan's own body!
Peter Pettigrew, who had been cowering on the ground, suddenly stopped trembling; his mouth opened wide, seeming to emit a silent scream, his eyes bulging out.
This was simply a nightmare. No, this was a thousand times worse than that!
With Aragog's arrival, countless Acromantulas emerged out of nowhere.
Each was larger than the three that attacked Evan and Peter Pettigrew. They clustered together. Seeing the people in the center of the clearing, they grew excited and moved their large pincers, emitting terrible and repugnant clicks.
Pettigrew's skin crawled, and he vowed that if he could choose his way of dying, he would prefer to be shredded by Sirius Black or have his soul sucked out by Dementors, rather than being food for these spiders.
"What's happening?" he clicked nervously with his pincers, sounding somewhat majestic, "Why am I called?"
"Men," clicked the spider that had ensnared Peter Pettigrew.
"Is it Hagrid?" Aragog said, approaching them, his eight milky eyes wandering vaguely.
"No, strangers."
"Kill them," clicked Aragog nervously. "I was sleeping..."
Upon hearing Aragog, all the other spiders grew excited.
They clustered around the center of the clearing, waiting for Aragog to return to his domed cobweb, so Evan and Peter could be their prey.
"No, no, think of a way out!" Peter cowered on the ground, clutching tightly to Evan's robe, looking around in panic at the Acromantulas surrounding them.
Evan kicked him aside and took a step forward; he could clearly distinguish Aragog's fur.
He swallowed hard, feeling as if his heart had leaped out of his chest to throb in his throat.
"Wait, Aragog!" Evan shouted. "I am a friend of Hagrid's!"
"A friend of Hagrid's?" the old spider crooned, paused, and said slowly, "Hagrid has never sent men to our lair before."
"My name is Evan Mason, I am from the castle, I am close to Hagrid..."
"I have heard of you!" Aragog clicked his large pincers. "Hagrid told me that a few months ago, you killed that creature in the castle."
"Yes!" Evan replied excitedly. "Harry and I killed the Basilisk!"
Upon hearing the name Basilisk, all the furious clicking suddenly ceased, and the entire place fell eerily silent like never before.
Apart from his heavy breathing and Peter's sobs, Evan could hear nothing else.
He even thought all the Acromantulas had left. He turned his head and saw they were still clustered there, but all were quiet and even seemed to retreat.
They had faces of ugly but very human spiders, showing fear.
"How dare you mention that name?!" Aragog snapped his pincers frantically and emitted an unprecedented click. With intense emotions, he exclaimed, "That thing is our nemesis!"
Aragog angrily clicked his pincers, and around the hollow, the sound was echoed by the multitude of spiders; it was like applause. Evan once again sensed the rustling of many long legs moving angrily; large black shapes shifted around him.
"Hurry, say something else, don't mention that thing!" Pettigrew reminded Evan, his voice almost stifled.
It was evident that Aragog felt the same. He changed the subject and asked Evan, "Hagrid's friend, why have you come to our hollow?"
"I followed this guy and accidentally ended up here. He is an evil dark wizard. He planned a despicable plot in the castle!" Evan hesitated and continued. "This guy works for Voldemort..."
Upon hearing the name, Pettigrew convulsed.
"Voldemort?" repeated Aragog slowly, seemingly without any particular reaction. He said, "I have heard this name. Fifteen years ago, this wizard sent someone to contact me. Back then, you humans were at war. He asked us to join his side, but I refused. I was not interested in the wizard's war, though my children were very eager to follow him. Voldemort promised them a very generous reward."
Upon hearing "Voldemort," the spiders around them became significantly more excited. All of them seemed to recall Voldemort's promise in those years, a promise they simply could not refuse: as long as they were loyal to him, they could obtain fresh human flesh as food.