Chapter 280 The Action Begins
Through the misty vaulted cobweb, Evan gazed into Aragog's Lair.
Descending slowly into the cave, it was dark and deep, with a warm wind blowing from below.
There seemed to be something beneath, and Evan hesitated to go down.
In the slow wind, he could hear a low voice calling him, whispering his name...
Before he could make a decision, the temperature of the wind blowing from the cave suddenly dropped sharply, turning colder with each moment.
Evan shuddered, feeling the cold breeze on his neck.
A moment later, he woke up abruptly and sat up. Evan saw Peeves, the Poltergeist, had been floating beside him, blowing loudly in his ear.
"Why did you do that?" he asked angrily.
"Evan, you naughty little imp!" Peeves puffed up his cheeks and blew even harder.
Then, before Evan could raise his wand, Peeves sped out of the room, laughing.
Evan glanced at his alarm clock. It was four-thirty, and dark outside.
Now that he was awake, sleep eluded him. He sat on the bed for a while, pondering the dream and the contents of Aragog's Lair.
Considering that Aragog was much larger than common Acromantulas, his unusual lair should not be as simple as it seemed on the surface. There must be something...
Evan contemplated entering and taking a look, but he was unsure if it was dangerous. And if he truly wanted to do so, he needed to figure out how to lure Aragog out.
Being a pure dark creature, the Acromantula's lair must be the darkest and most evil place in the Forbidden Forest. Even if there was some treasure in it, it must be related to dark magic. Evan could be certain he would never be pleased to see such things.
One's life was too much to risk for an object of Dark Magic that was likely destined not to be used or even to exist...
Moreover, the whispering voice of the unknown creature in the wind also gave him a sense of uncertainty.
He tossed and turned in bed, and finally decided to dismiss the idea of exploring the inside of the lair.
Now he needed to focus his energy on Gryffindor's Secret Treasure Key, guarded by the Centaurs, rather than spending extra time in contact with other objects of dark magic.
He turned over and tried to go back to sleep.
But now that he was awake, slumber was hard to come by. He thrashed around for more than ten minutes before finally getting out of bed.
Evan tapped his bedpost with his wand, and a wooden board silently slid open, revealing a dark wardrobe.
He pulled out a book of dark magic from inside and read it in the dim light of his wand.
A faint glow emanated from the curtain. In the dark room, there was only a boy lying in bed engrossed in reading...
Due to the revelry of the previous night, Gryffindor Tower was quiet the next morning until around noon, when everyone emerged from their dormitories.
Following Colin down the hallway, walking towards the Great Hall, he suddenly saw a small group gathered around the notice board outside the hallway door, reading a freshly pinned parchment, most of them were Hufflepuff students.
Justin Finch-Fletchley was very excited. He approached Evan with a smile.
Since the Basilisk incident from last year, he was no longer afraid of Harry and Evan as he used to be.
"Great, Evan!" Justin said happily. "I'm in. I've thought it through. Fighting those monsters is dangerous, but there shouldn't be a problem if there's a professor. Besides, gaining some combat experience will probably be useful in the future..."
"What are you talking about? How come I don't understand?" said Colin, confused.
Taking a deep breath, he looked puzzled.
"Professor Black is gathering people to fight the Acromantulas in the Forbidden Forest," Justin pointed to the notice board, "Evan, Harry, Ron, and Hermione are also listed as supporters."
"Are you ready to face those monsters in the Forbidden Forest? Why didn't you inform me earlier?" exclaimed Colin excitedly, reading the notice with great interest.
Evan approached and examined the notice written by Sirius.
It began with a detailed description of the dark creatures, the Acromantulas, and their current status in the Forbidden Forest. It then called for volunteers to surround and annihilate them to enhance the combat experience and fighting skills of young wizards.
At the end of the notice, it specified that individuals could collect the Acromantulas' eyes and hand them over to Evan in exchange for a certain amount of Golden Galleons as a reward.
The news spread quickly throughout the school, and it wasn't long before almost all young wizards were informed. Unsurprisingly, they were all thrilled.
For a while, Acromantulas became a hot topic.
No one talked about the Quidditch match that had just ended or the upcoming Quidditch final; instead, everyone discussed the Acromantula matter. All books about them in the library had been borrowed. Students signed up for all hunting sessions until the end of the year. Wherever you went, you could hear people discussing the Acromantulas.
As for the Gryffindor students, they directly surrounded Evan, Harry, Ron, and Hermione to interrogate them.
Seeing their excitement, Evan wondered if the boys knew exactly what an Acromantula was. They seemed to completely underestimate the dangers of this dark creature, as if it were a simple spider.
The fever persisted, and eventually, the number of applicants far exceeded expectations. Even Slytherin House students, who had always opposed Sirius, signed up.
In the end, even Dumbledore was alarmed. Faced with the unprecedented enthusiasm of the young wizards, Dumbledore did not halt this but devised a safer protection system based on Sirius's original plan.
Now, not only Sirius but almost all the teachers would be involved in the entire process of surrounding the Acromantulas to ensure the safety of the students.
The action hour was set at noon every day, the most vulnerable time for the Acromantulas, and the scope was strictly delimited so that no one was allowed to venture deeper into the Forbidden Forest.
Due to the number of people, the Acromantula hunt would be divided according to the four Houses and under the protection of the teachers to fight these monsters.
Malfoy was indignant at this decision.
He seemed to be planning to take advantage of this opportunity to seek revenge on Evan and Harry for embarrassing him.
In fact, Harry was also displeased. He remembered Malfoy trying to scare him by pretending to be a Dementor. He had planned to seize this opportunity for revenge.
However, neither of them had that chance.