Splitting into Two Groups, the Raven Patronus

Gandalf's parting advice was: whatever happens, stay on the road.

However, not long after entering the Mirkwood, the expedition team took a wrong turn and wandered aimlessly along the narrow paths.

"Air, I need air," Oin said weakly. "What happened?"

"Keep going," Thorin said.

"We can't go any further." Nori pointed blankly at the cliff in front of him. "The road has disappeared."

"The air in the woods is so thick it's almost intoxicating," Aaron said speechlessly. "It's obvious we're lost. I shouldn't have let you lead the way in the first place."

"You didn't mention this request!" Bilbo said weakly.

That's because I'm not familiar with this place at all.

The Mirkwood isn't far from Lonely Mountain. Logically, being neighbors of the elves, and with the dwarves leading the way, things should be much easier for us. But it turns out I overestimated them.

"We've hardly ever been to this forest," Balin explained. "Before Erebor was conquered by the dragon, the elves led the way, and that was many years ago."

"Hurry up and find it, all of you, hurry up and find the way," Thorin said impatiently.

"Wait a moment." Aaron waved his hand. "My personal suggestion is that everyone stay put. It would be terrible if one or two of us got lost."

"Find your way, but don't stray too far."

The dwarves scattered and searched the surroundings, but in Aaron's sight they were simply going around in circles.

"The influence of the Mirkwood on people is a bit too great!" Aaron thought to himself. "In the end, we still have to rely on my clear-headedness, otherwise they would be exhausted and still not be able to find their way in their current state."

Suddenly, he heard a strange sound. He turned his head and almost popped his eyes out.

Bilbo was seen brushing away a clump of spider web, which was nothing unusual in itself, but behind the web lay a Giant Spider.

He immediately stepped forward to stop Bilbo's reckless behavior, saying, "Don't move!"

"What's wrong?"

Aaron didn't answer, but instead told him to get closer to the spider web and take a closer look. When he saw a black spider leg, he was so frightened that he took a few steps back, and his listless spirits instantly lifted.

"This must be what Gandalf was talking about," Aaron mused.

"Did I wake it up?"

"Not yet, but we need to speed things up. I don't think there's only one spider in this dense forest."

Bilbo swallowed hard and nodded emphatically.

They could no longer walk, and as time went on, their condition worsened, and they began to stagger.

Worse still, there are more and more spider webs on the road, which is not a good omen.

"Look, a pipe." Oin picked up a pipe from the ground. "There are other dwarves in this forest."

"And they're dwarves from the Blue Mountains," Bofur exclaimed in surprise. "This pipe is exactly the same as mine."

"That's yours." Aaron rolled his eyes. "We have to stop. Getting lost isn't scary; what's scary is not knowing you're lost and getting deeper and deeper into it."

"We're not lost; we've been heading east," Dwalin said.

"Really?" Aaron pointed to the sky, where sunlight was blocked by leaves, with only a small amount of light able to penetrate. "Could you please tell me how you determined which way is east?"

"I..." Dwalin opened his mouth, "Oin the most sympathetic, I followed him."

"Great, he's swaying around on the road even more than you are." Aaron sighed helplessly, preparing to take out his Compass to find his way.

But before he could act, Bilbo jumped in front of him. "The Sun, I have an idea. We can climb up to the canopy."

"I've thought of something, but..." Aaron looked at the dense spiderwebs on the tree, "I don't think it's a bad idea."

"But there's no other way," Bilbo said. "We have to climb the tree."

"Go on!" Aaron shrugged. "Thorin, you and the other dwarves stay put. Bilbo and I will go scout ahead."

No sooner had they left than Thorin heard a soft rustling sound, and his expression changed drastically. "Be careful, everyone! Pick up your weapons! We're being watched!"

The dwarves were startled by his shout, but their mental state was extremely poor at the moment. Before they could react, more than ten Giant Spider surrounded the area.

White spider webs covered everything, and within seconds they were wrapped into cocoons.

Bilbo climbed to the top of the tree, a gentle breeze blew in, and as he breathed in the fresh air, his spirits instantly returned.

"Are you awake now?" Aaron stood on a tree branch, looking at him meaningfully. "I bet even Gandalf didn't expect that climbing a tree could eliminate the negative effects of Mirkwood."

"He certainly doesn't know," Bilbo said somewhat sheepishly, "But you seem unaffected by the murky air in the woods."

"This... is not important," Aaron chuckled. His body had been soaked in various medicinal baths, so he was practically immune to all poisons. The air in this forest couldn't penetrate his consciousness at all.

"I can see a lake, a river, and Lonely Mountain," Bilbo exclaimed excitedly. "We're almost there!"

Did you hear me? I know which way to go.

There was no response from below, but instead, a creaking sound came from afar, as if some huge creature was rampaging through the forest and moving toward them.

"Spiders," Aaron said gravely. "I'm afraid it's not just one, but a whole group."

"So that means Thorin and the others might be?"

"Don't be complacent; they've probably been arrested."

Most web-weaving spiders will wrap up their prey; we need to find them as soon as possible.

Bilbo nodded and began to climb down.

But as soon as he moved, he tripped over a clump of spider webs and fell off the tree.

After hitting several thick tree branches, Bilbo was hung in a white spider web.

A rustling sound came from the other side. Bilbo subconsciously looked over and saw a black spider head appear before him, then it opened its mouth, revealing several rings of sharp teeth.

"Ah!"

Bilbo was startled and his body plummeted again, this time ending up hanging from the spider web, unable to move.

Upon seeing this, the giant spider immediately gave chase, using all eight of its legs to wrap Bilbo in its web and turn him into a mummy.

"Spider Strike."

A flash of white light, and the giant spider screamed as it was sent flying backward.

"Aaron, you..." Bilbo looked at Aaron, who was standing on the spider web holding a black Wand, his face filled with astonishment. "You really do know magic. Gandalf was right."

Aaron shrugged. "Our ancestors said..."

"Don't even mention your ancestors, not even a dog would believe that excuse."

"Our ancestors once said not to reveal your magic carelessly," Aaron said seriously. "So you must remember to keep it a secret, after all, I'm doing this to save you!"

"Okay, okay," Bilbo said helplessly. "It's really frustrating that you let me out first."

"I can release you, but I have an even more outrageous idea," Aaron said with a meaningful smile.

Bilbo paused for a moment, his expression changing slightly. "Wait, I don't think this is a bad idea."

"I think so, that's fine."

Don't worry, I will protect you.

After saying that, Aaron tapped his shoulder with his Wand and disappeared from the ground.

Bilbo:...

"You can become invisible too?"

Don't worry about the details.

"I..."

Bilbo was about to speak when the giant spider came running back.

Six black eyes scanned the area, confirming that the person who had attacked it earlier was not there, before dragging Bilbo away.

The giant spider led him to its lair, where, in addition to a bunch of spiders, there were thirteen mummies hanging upside down in mid-air. The entire dwarf army was wiped out, with none surviving.

Bilbo took a deep breath, drew his short sword, and stabbed the giant spider in the neck, knocking it down from the tree.

Having dealt with the enemy before him, he immediately tore through the spider webs on his body with his sword and carefully hid behind a tree trunk.

"They're all here." Aaron breathed a sigh of relief. "The good news is they're still alive and kicking. The negative effects of the Mirkwood on them seem to have disappeared."

The bad news is that the spider is eager for dinner, and we don't have much time.

"Can you use magic to save them?"

"Saving one or two soldiers is no problem, but so many is a real problem. It's not a big deal if friendly fire is accidentally injured, but we could easily get ourselves killed."

"How about I lead them away for you?"

"You?"

"I have this." Bilbo took Golden Ring from his pocket. "There will be no danger."

"Let's switch!" Aaron said thoughtfully. "I'll distract them, and you can save the people."

Bilbo didn't mince words and simply put on the ring to become invisible.

Aaron raised an eyebrow, stepped out from behind the tree trunk, and then tapped on the trunk to make some noise. "You guys, come here!"

Just as they were about to enjoy their 'delicious food,' the spiders heard the sound and turned to look at him, then all pounced on him.

"Grass!"

Aaron turned and ran, secretly cursing himself for being so hasty this time.

He only intended to attract a few giant spiders surrounding the dwarves, but he didn't expect his charm to be so great, drawing away at least several times more spiders.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Bilbo quickly ran to the thirteen 'mummies' to prepare to rescue them.

But then a spider crawled down and stopped in front of a dwarf. "Plump and juicy, have a bite."

Bilbo swallowed hard and swung his short sword at the giant spider's tail.

The intense pain forced it to turn around, but it couldn't see Bilbo in his stealth state at all, and he slashed at it several times in succession.

"Damn it, where is it? Where is it?" the giant spider cursed in a panic.

"Here it is." Bilbo removed his Golden Ring and plunged his sword into the giant spider's head.

"Ouch, ouch, I got bitten and it hurts."

Bilbo drew his short sword, and the giant spider fell from the tree.

"Sting, that's a good name." Bilbo decided to name the short sword after it. Although it was far less famous than the Orcrist and the Foe-hammer, at least it had a trace of its existence.

He glanced at the thirteen cocoons that were wrapped up, swung his Sting, cut the spider web, and placed them one by one on the ground.

Meanwhile, Aaron was being chased by more than a dozen giant spiders as he ran wildly through the woods.

"Human children taste much better than dwarves."

"He is my son."

"Stop."

"Stop him, don't let him escape."

Aaron felt like a million alpacas were stampeding through his mind. If he had known that humans were so popular, he should have given the task of luring the enemy to the Hobbit.

Suddenly, a spider appeared upside down in front of Aaron.

It opened its mouth, but before it could make a sound, a flash of cold light severed its head.

"I'm busy running away, don't block my way." Aaron flicked the knife in his hand and stepped over the trembling corpse.

But after running only a few steps, several giant spiders blocked his path, and the pursuers behind him caught up. Even above Aaron's head, several giant spiders were rapidly descending.

"I didn't expect to be exposed so quickly." Aaron smiled bitterly. "Now I'm truly not in control of my own destiny."

"I'll have a taste first." A giant spider let out a hoarse laugh and rushed towards Aaron.

"Spider Strike."

"Ah!"

A flash of white light, and the first spider to rush over was sent flying backward, crashing into a tree.

"Warlock?"

"I've never heard of human children among Warlock."

"Or we could capture it and hand it over to the master for decision."

"Let's just kill it. We haven't eaten any living Warlock yet!"

The spiders whispered amongst themselves, and Aaron's expression darkened as he listened to their words.

He was actually being discussed and decided by a bunch of beasts; they really treated him like a dish.

"Flying sand and stones".

Blue flames appeared on the Wand, and another spider was knocked away, its three legs shattered.

Seeing this, the spiders stopped talking and launched an attack on Aaron without prior arrangement.

One spell after another was cast, and the spider was constantly repelled, but it showed great perseverance, continuously closing the distance between itself and Aaron.

The spiders above were even more unscrupulous, launching long-range attacks. Their silk and webs slowed down Aaron's spellcasting speed and the direction in which the spell was launched.

Aaron gradually fell into a disadvantageous position. After all, two fists can't fight four hands, and there were at least a dozen hands here.

Just as a spider's fangs were about to pierce Aaron's body, he raised his Wand high and loudly recited the Patronus Charm.

"Expecto Patronum."

A pure white vortex of light was summoned and expanded at an extremely exaggerated speed.

The white shockwave was released layer by layer from Aaron as the center, covering an area of several meters.

The giant spiders retreated continuously under the pressure of this protective force, their bodies covered in hideous wounds, and even their blood was rapidly evaporating.

"Run!"

A spider roared loudly.

The Patronus in its physical form will not give them a chance to escape. The raven-form Patronus emits a loud and deep voice, then flaps its wings and begins to pursue the spiders.

It is less than a meter long, extremely fast, and very strong, capable of easily crushing spider heads and pecking out their eyes.

The white energy was divided into more than ten parts, each of which accurately hit a spider.

The spiders screamed in agony as a black aura emanated from them, only to be quickly dissipated by the white aura. Their lives came to an end as the black aura dissipated.

At the same time, a group of fully armed elves in the dense forest also discovered this energy.

The leading, handsome male elf reached out and touched the white ripples that had spread in front of him. He closed his eyes and sensed them for a moment, a look of surprise appearing on his face.

"Any discoveries, Legolas?"

"This is a high-level spell that originates from lust, not from an evil person, and we're not even sure if he's a friend," Legolas said. "Everyone, grab your weapons and come with me to see what's going on."

Aaron put away his Wand, his breathing slightly rapid, but the corners of his mouth unconsciously turned up.

The Patronus Charm truly lives up to its reputation as the most powerful and ancient magic spell; its power is even stronger than he imagined.

However, compared to simple defense, controlling the Patronus's attack consumes much more of his Magical Energy. This ultimate move consumed at least one-eighth of his Magic Power, making him feel his own weakness once again.