It seemed even darker near the Forbidden Forest than inside the Castle. A vast black cloth covered the whole sky, hiding the stars and moon. There was not a glimmer of light.
Cyrus drew his wand and murmured, "Lumos!" A thin beam of light shone from its tip. He could have made it brighter-even lighting up the entire forest would have been no problem-but that would have drawn too much attention. This was just enough for them to watch for spiders on the path.
Harry followed his example.
"Good idea," Ron said enviously. "I'd like to light up my wand too, but you know, it might explode if anything goes wrong..."
"Don't worry. I'm sure Mr. Weasley and Mrs. Weasley will buy you a new one over the summer. You can tell them you broke it while searching for the Heir," Cyrus said reassuringly.
"Good idea, Mr. Riddle!" Ron's eyes lit up. He still hadn't told his family about his broken wand.
Just then, Harry tapped their shoulders and pointed at the grass. Two lone spiders were scurrying away from the wandlight, disappearing into the shadows beneath the trees.
"So the spiders really are going into the Forbidden Forest."
"All right," Ron sighed, as though he had no choice but to face the worst. "I'm ready. Let's go."
They entered the Forbidden Forest, with Fang bounding around them, sniffing tree roots and leaves along the way.
By the light of Cyrus's and Harry's wands, they followed the steady stream of spiders crawling along the path.
They walked for about twenty minutes without speaking, listening for anything beyond the snapping of twigs and rustling of leaves. Then the trees grew denser, hiding the stars overhead. Their two wands glimmered faintly in the boundless darkness like a pair of feeble fireflies.
"They're