Rustle. Rustle. Rustle.
Click, click, click—
At a glance, the courtyard, nearly half the size of Hogwarts' campus, was packed with hundreds of Acromantulas!
Unlike outside the gates, the courtyard of Avalon Prison was nothing but barren, smooth sand, without a single tree.
So, the Acromantulas—some as small as Hagrid, others as large as African elephants—were displayed plainly before the young wizards.
Combined with the faint smell of blood in the air, even Harry, who had dealt with them before, felt the roots of his hair tremble.
Several hundred Acromantulas—even in the brutal Battle of Diagon Alley, they would have been a formidable force capable of deciding the outcome of the final battle!
As for most of the young wizards, facing thousands of constantly blinking emerald compound eyes in broad daylight left them unable to breathe properly!
"They generally don't eat people?"
Cho Chang's friend, Marietta, stared blankly at Professor Breen, seeking a reasonable explanation for that strange statement.
"Of course the Ministry of Magic wouldn't feed prisoners to Acromantulas. Just like Azkaban, the Ministry regularly purchases ordinary animals and sends them here as food for the Acromantulas—"
Amosta smiled.
"But if the prisoners here attempt to escape, or repeatedly defy the guards' orders, then the Acromantulas have the right to execute them."
Execute meant—
Hermione pressed her lips together and took a deep breath.
That seemed somewhat inhumane?
But when she considered the identities of the people imprisoned here, and then thought of Azkaban Prison in the past, Hermione could no longer raise any objections.
Clang—
After a heavy metallic collision rang out, the silvery-white gates before the young wizards opened. A young man dressed in a style similar to those who had received them at the shore appeared behind the entrance doors of the pentagonal building.
"Hello, Mr.