The Unfilial Spider

"You scared me, Will." Hagrid nearly jumped up.

"Sorry, Hagrid," Will, turning to the three of them again, "You were a little slow."

"If I could Apparition too, I wouldn't be so slow," Ron sighed.

"Then you'd better study hard," Hermione said, walking to the edge of the pit. "Why is it empty?"

Hagrid explained, "Of course it's empty. Aragog is in the Acromantula's nest; we have to go get him."

"You mean we're going to the Spider's Nest?!" Ron nearly jumped up. "I'm not going! I absolutely won't go!"

He was terrified of spiders. Even though he had overcome his fear because of Boggart, it was only an overcoming of that fear. To actually crawl into a spider's nest, especially a giant one...

Ron shook his head vigorously, like a rattle-drum.

"Alright, Ron, you don't need to go in. You wait for us outside," Hagrid said.

"Could I move away a bit? Everyone, you all know I don't not want to be with you... I..."

"No problem, bro, you can wear this outside while we wait." Harry knew Ron's predicament and handed Ron the Invisibility Cloak.

The group then ventured deep into the Forbidden Forest...

The trees in the Forbidden Forest were packed tightly together, their branches and leaves cutting the sky into pieces, and you could walk on rotten leaves and moss.

Ron's face remained pale. "I said, Hagrid said those children might be nearby?"

"They'll be in the nest," Hagrid said without turning his head. "Aragog is their father, their king."

"Hopefully," Ron muttered, "I don't want to see that stuff outside..."

Hermione gripped her Wand tightly; though she didn't say anything, she was very nervous.

Will, on the other hand, remained calm—he was contemplating how to deal with these things.

Finally, they arrived.

It was a depression where the trees had been cleared, leaving a carpet of leaves underneath, and the remaining trees around it were covered with thick, grayish-white netting.

The depression was teeming with black, hairy spiders, each as big as a horse pulling a cart, with eight eyes and eight legs.

Ron stopped moving from a distance in the depression and watched from afar.

Will, Hagrid, Grawp, Harry, Hermione walked to the edge of the net.

Then I saw a huge, curled-up black shadow lying in the very center of the net.

It was Aragog, lying on its side with its eight legs tucked under its body, covered with a thin layer of spider silk, probably put on by its children last night.

Hagrid stopped.

He stood there, motionless, his shoulders beginning to tremble.

"Oh, Aragog," he whispered, "You old buddy."

Grawp leaned forward curiously. "Stinky."

"Grawp!"

"I'm sorry." The Giant shrank back.

"Click-clack-clack-clack..." A strange noise rang out from the hollow.

On the gray-white web, dark shadows are crawling out from all directions.

Hundreds of enormous spiders appeared before the crowd, their chelicerae opening and closing with a sickening clicking sound.

"What is this...?" Hermione's voice trembled slightly.

Hagrid stood at the front of the group, showing no sign of panic or fear.

"It's alright," he said, his voice loud, as if trying to convince himself. "It's alright, children. You know me. I'm Hagrid. We've come to see Aragog off on his final journey."

A very large spider slid down the tree trunk directly in front of them and landed three steps away.

It raised its front half, and a hoarse sound, as if squeezed out of its trachea, rang out.

"No."

Hagrid looked puzzled. "What?"

The spider made another sound, this time clearer. "Meat, Aragog is meat, we still need to eat it."

Harry gasped. "What did it say?"

"You can't do this!" Hagrid raised his voice, almost shouting, "Aragog is my friend! He is your father, your king, you cannot—"

Aragog is dead.

Another spider crawled in from the side, interrupting Hagrid; its voice was sharper and more urgent.

Then came the third, the fourth... swarms of giant spiders approached, their sounds growing louder and louder.

"You're flesh too..."

The sound came over like a tide.

"Hagrid!" Hermione screamed.

Hagrid seemed to have no idea what was happening when a spider pounced on him.

"Protego!" Harry shouted.

A transparent barrier unfolded before everyone; the spider crashed into it, bounced back, and fell onto its web.

But even more spiders swarmed up, from the trees, on the ground, and from all directions...

"Run!" Hagrid roared, seemingly finally realizing that these Acromantula were not Aragog.

Hagrid pulled out the pink umbrella and swung it fiercely.

"Bang!"

The spider at the very front was thrown back by a tremendous force, crashing through a tree branch and breaking off.

"Hagrid, well done! Let's go!" Harry drew his Wand. "Stupefy!"

The red light shone into the swarm of spiders, striking the abdomen of one of them. The creature twitched, paused, and then charged forward again.

The spell was too ineffective against the Acromantula, partly because their carapaces were too thick and their numbers too great, and partly because of their inherent magic resistance.

"Will! Harry! Hermione!" Hagrid, waving his umbrella as he backed away, his voice betraying panic for the first time. "Run! Run!"

"Alright, this farce should end now." Will's tone was a little impatient.

Everyone looked at Will.

Will's expression was calm, but Harry and Hermione felt that there was something terrifying about Will.

"So," Will said coldly, "This is your choice."

The largest spider turned to him, its pincers clicking. "We want meat. We obeyed Aragog's orders and didn't harm Hagrid. Now, so much fresh human flesh is being delivered to our doorstep..."

"Hagrid," Will snapped, "Take Harry and the others away."

Hagrid hurriedly said, "Will, no, there are too many of them—you're no match for them."

"I already said," Will interrupted him, his tone flat, "Take them away."

He raised his Wand, his Silver-Gray Eyes flashing in the darkness.

"Will, I can't do that."

"Okay," Will shrugged, "Then you're going to see some bad scenes."

He raised his Wand...