Chapter 84: Aragog

In the Forbidden Forest, the night was dark, and the wind was high. Harry and Ron walked all the way through it, except for the wind; no other sound could be heard.

When that voice sounded, not only Harry and Ron were startled, but Fang whimpered and turned around. But after seeing the person following them, Harry suddenly shouted in surprise.

“Professor Forrest?”

Sherlock looked at the two with a gloomy face, “How did you sneak out of the castle? Why are you even going into the Forbidden Forest?”

Harry suddenly remembered that, given the current situation, it was not a good thing for them to meet Sherlock here.

“We are… we are here for…”

Just when he was debating whether to tell the truth to Sherlock, the sound of a branch being broken suddenly came from all directions around them, and it was obvious that something huge was coming towards them. Fang barked wildly beside him. Harry and Ron looked at each other nervously, and Sherlock pulled out his wand.

“Stay behind me. I’ll deal with both of you when we return to the castle.” Sherlock’s spell on his wand was much brighter than Harry’s, and soon, they saw the creature that surrounded them.

It’s three huge spiders. Each of them is bigger than a human. After seeing Sherlock and the others, their movements began to slow down. They can only become more careful and show vigilance.

“Humans…” One of the spider’s two big claws moved quickly and even spoke a human language.

Sherlock was calm. He said with narrowed eyes, “Take me to see Aragog.”

After hearing him say that name, the movements of the giant spiders stopped immediately. The three spiders seemed to look at each other, and the spider who spoke just now spoke again.

“Follow us…”

The spiders still surrounded Sherlock and the others, and together, they moved deeper into the Forbidden Forest. Ron and Harry followed Sherlock’s side; they gulped nervously, and Ron asked.

“Professor, where are we going with the spider?”

“Go to their leader or Hagrid’s friend.” Sherlock said lightly, “You guys brave enough to sneak into the Forbidden Forest. Why are you scared now?”

Both of them bowed their heads in shame, not daring to look him in the eyes. Sherlock did not intend to reprimand them in the forbidden forest and comforted them.

“As long as you follow behind me, you will be safe.”

As soon as he said these words, Harry and Ron suddenly tensed. They even froze in place, and when the claws of the giant spider following them collided with them, they regained their senses and continued to follow Sherlock with a sad face.

“Harry, I don’t want to die yet…” Ron said in a crying voice.

Harry’s face was pale; his body couldn’t help trembling, but he still calmed down and comforted.

“It’s fine, we’ve tested it. It’s just a possibility, not 100%. Think about it in a good way; you have to be thankful that the professor didn’t say that we would be able to walk out alive this time.”

Sherlock didn’t hear what the two of them whispered because, at this time, they had been taken to a wide area by spiders. The area covered with dense leaves was full of spiders, and white spider webs were all over the place. Harry and Ron, who were already very nervous, were shaking.

The spider continued to lead them to the center. The countless spiders around saw that they were all excitedly moving their claws, making a clicking sound. At this time, an eight-eyed giant spider, which was much larger than all the spiders around, crawled out.

“What did you bring?”

Compared with other spiders, Aragog’s speech is much more understandable.

“Humans…Someone other than Hagrid…they are looking for you…” The spider said.

Sherlock also introduced himself at this time, “My name is Sherlock Forrest, Hagrid’s friend. Professor Dumbledore asked me to say hello to you on his behalf.”

“Dumbledore…” Aragog repeated the name as if recalling something.

“I remember him. It was because of his help that Hagrid brought me to this forest.”

“Now Hagrid is in trouble.” Sherlock said loudly, “There was another attack at Hogwarts this year. The Chamber of Secrets was opened, four students were attacked, and the Ministry of Magic couldn’t catch the culprit. They took Hagrid again.”

Harry and Ron temporarily forgot their nervousness. They looked at each other and listened seriously to the conversation between Sherlock and Aragog.

“Fifty years ago,” Aragog’s voice sharpened. “Fifty years ago, they said Hagrid and I were guilty of it. But we didn’t kill anyone at all, and the attack didn’t have anything to do with us.”

“But in order to protect you, Hagrid didn’t tell the truth. His wand was destroyed, and he was expelled from Hogwarts. He couldn’t use a spell in his life.” Sherlock stared at Aragog’s eyes.

“Now that the Ministry of Magic has taken him again, if we can’t find the real culprit, they may convict Hagrid fully. This time is different from before. Hagrid is an adult; if he is convicted, he will spend half of his life in Azkaban.”

Aragog was silent, and after a while, he spoke again, “What do you want now?”

Sherlock stated the purpose of his trip, “You know what the monster that attacked the students in the castle was?”

Aragog’s moved and said, “It’s our mortal enemy. I didn’t even tell Hagrid the name of that terrifying creature, despite him asking me many times.”

“Are you that afraid that you didn’t even dare to tell him the name?” Sherlock’s tone was full of contempt.

“I don’t need to know the name of the monster. I just want to know something from you. Do you know where the monster is hiding in the castle?”