"What are you talking about, Aragog! You know perfectly well I could never abandon you! If I were in danger, you'd come straight to my rescue too, wouldn't you?"
Hagrid recklessly rushed forward and threw his arms around the Acromantula's enormous pincers.
"Whatever happened, I'm just glad you're all right!"
"...Hagrid, I hope you understand that I'm no longer that wretched creature hiding away in a storeroom, afraid to be seen."
Hagrid's impact sent Aragog staggering backward, but he still carefully kept his venomous pincers away from Hagrid before saying helplessly,
"Go. Leave the Forbidden Forest. I may be blind, but my descendants are my eyes. The Forbidden Forest belongs to me at night. I'm safe here, but you and your friend may not be. I'll send a group of my children to escort you out."
"No, I'm not leaving. I can tell-you're frightened right now! I can't abandon you. I have to stay with you!" Hagrid said stubbornly. "I did before, and I will now!"
"...Hagrid's friend, please help me talk some sense into him."
Although Aragog could not see, he had still located Brian by sound.
"My one hundred eighty-eighth grandson just told me that a powerful wizard killed my eighty-seventh granddaughter and eighty-ninth grandson with only two spells. He was struck by a vicious curse himself and barely managed to escape back here."
Brian studied the little Acromantula lying on the ground, clinging to life. Its identity was now clear-Aragog's one hundred eighty-eighth grandson. Although it, too, bore no wounds, its listless condition clearly indicated a serious injury.
He could also understand the spiders' blunt, straightforward practice of naming their offspring with numbers-they had little choice. Each batch of spider eggs hatched into hundreds or thousands of new lives. Giving them individual names would probably take days and nights.
Honestly, Brian was rather curious about how Aragog could tell all those descendants apart-
But this was no time for idle after-dinner conversation. He had more pressing things to do.
Brian stepped forward and took out a tissue containing two miniature Acromantulas, then said earnestly:
"Hello, Aragog. Before we leave, there are a few things I need to explain. On our way here, we happened upon your eighty-seventh granddaughter and eighty-ninth grandson. I'm very sorry about what happened to them.
"But to find the killer, I had to shrink their bodies with magic and preserve them. Don't worry. Once I've found some leads, I'll bring them back to you intact."
With his limited experience, he could not identify the precise spell that had killed the two spiders, but the professors at Hogwarts might be able to. Hopefully, Aragog was a reasonable Acromantula and would allow him to do this.
"There's no need, Hagrid's friend. You can take their venom and burn their bodies afterward. Do whatever you like with them."
Aragog said calmly,
"We have a steady supply of food. We don't need that little bit."
"...All right. I understand."
Only then did Brian remember that Acromantulas ate the bodies of their own kind. In practical terms, those dead grandchildren were simply two insignificant pieces of meat to Aragog.
After all, Acromantulas were still spiders. Large they might be, but there was precious little meat on them.
"Aragog, did your one hundred eighty-eighth grandson tell you anything else?"
Brian glanced at the one hundred eighty-eighth grandson from a distance. The rise and fall of its body was growing fainter.
"This isn't good. It looks to be in terrible shape..."
Brian also noticed that some of the Acromantulas hidden behind tree trunks and among the undergrowth had begun quietly shifting position. The looks they had been giving him-the looks they gave food-had turned toward the little Acromantula on the verge of death.
"No. After One Hundred Eighty-Eight returned, he only managed two sentences before he could no longer speak. As for now...he'll be dead within five minutes."
Aragog said coldly,
"If you don't want to witness something gruesome, take Hagrid and leave immediately."
Hagrid suddenly realized something. Reluctantly releasing Aragog, he came over to Brian, fumbling in his agitation. "I think we'd better leave...unless you want nightmares..."
"Wait, Hagrid..."
Brian certainly had no interest in watching cannibalism, but perhaps there was still a chance to turn things around-
If he could get Aragog's one hundred eighty-eighth grandson to speak again, he might learn more about the killer. With a little luck, he might even discover exactly who the killer was.
And he happened to know a powerful ancient Healing Magic spell-even if he had never used it, was uncertain of its effectiveness, and did not know whether it could heal mental injuries. Book had only used the spell to heal physical wounds back then.
But one thing was certain: Aragog's one hundred eighty-eighth grandson could hardly be in a worse condition.
Whatever happened, things could not get any worse than they already were. Brian also realized that he would probably struggle to find another suitable subject on which to test the ancient Healing Magic.
Time ticked away, second by second, and Brian made his decision.
"Listen to me. It's the only spider that saw the killer."
Brian said calmly,
"Perhaps I can save it. Aragog, will you let me try?"
Aragog was growing somewhat impatient by now, but he still agreed:
"Of course, Hagrid's friend. Hagrid trusts you, so I'm willing to trust you too. But you'd better not have any improper designs on my one hundred eighty-eighth grandson's venom. He's still alive, which means he's still my grandson."
"Hey, Aragog, don't say that. Brian isn't greedy!"
Hagrid gave Aragog's long, hairy leg a displeased pat, then asked Brian,
"But how are you going to heal it? Essence of dittany only works on physical wounds..."
"With magic, of course." Brian took a deep breath and slowly approached the Acromantula, which already had one foot in the grave. "Relax. I mean you no harm. Please let me help you."
Aragog's one hundred eighty-eighth descendant initially fixed all eight dull eyes on Brian, then closed them in resignation a few seconds later. It had only one breath left. Even if it wanted to resist, it had no strength to do anything.
"Whew...thank you." Brian stopped, raised his wand, and cleared every stray thought from his mind.
At that moment, only one thought remained in Brian's body and mind: I want to heal it.
The firefly-like light flickering on his wand gradually grew brighter, yet the magic that should have surged restlessly became gentler instead. A rapidly expanding ball of magical light gathered at his wand's tip-
Suddenly, a verdant hint of spring sprouted within it. Then the entire ball of light turned green!
"One Hundred Eighty-Eight!" Brian shouted.
The ancient Healing Magic had no specific name. He could shout anything he liked; what mattered was his intent-
And so, quite naturally, he named the Healing Magic after Aragog's one hundred eighty-eighth grandson.
In contrast to Brian's loud incantation, the Healing Magic's ball of light moved very slowly-almost drifting. Even so, it struck the Acromantula squarely-
Then everyone watching Brian, human and spider alike, saw it-except Aragog, who was blind. Countless plant leaves suddenly burst out from between One Hundred Eighty-Eight's hairs!
Before you continue