Its scales glimmered dully beneath the moonlight, its slit pupils like two oil lamps lit in the darkness.
It gently touched Madara's ankle with its head, which was as large as a water tank, then slid out through the castle's pipes, past the base of the walls, through the vegetable patches, through the Greenhouse, across the open slope covered in dead grass and bathed in moonlight, and into the Forbidden Forest.
The trees in the Forbidden Forest were so tall their tops could not be seen. Their canopies connected overhead, blocking out the moonlight. Only scattered silver-white patches of light filtered through the gaps between leaves onto the ground, like a shattered mirror. It slithered through the darkness, the sound of its scales scraping against the ground swallowed by the thick fallen leaves, making no noticeable noise.
It did not need to search deliberately. The scent of those Acromantulas was far too strong—so strong it was like someone had smashed an entire bottle of ammonia in a sealed room, making its nostrils sting.
It followed the scent, passing through clump after clump of shrubs, winding around tree after tree, and sliding past low tree hollows choked dead by spiderwebs. The webs clung to its scales, then snapped beneath its weight like silver-white strings pulled taut and broken, still trembling. It found one of their outer nests.
It was a burrow covered by a massive fallen hollow trunk. The entrance was large enough for five adult Acromantulas to crawl in side by side. Thick grayish-white webs, beaded with dew, covered the edges of the opening. Several drained carcasses hung from them, reduced to nothing but skin and bones, impossible to identify as any particular animal.
The Basilisk did not enter through the opening. Instead, it burrowed in from the other side,