On a misty web amid the lush treetops, Aragog's one hundred and eighty-eighth grandson lay hidden as usual, quietly waiting for suitable prey to appear.
Five minutes... half an hour... two hours passed... darkness fell completely, but it was not impatient in the slightest-
After all, it was much smaller than the others of its kind, and lying in wait was the best hunting method for it.
Hmm... a rabbit... not enough to eat... a ferret... too small... Number One Hundred Eighty-Eight's eyes suddenly widened!
...A human? An actual human?
A human other than Hagrid!
Oh heavens, bless the spider god-it had never tasted human flesh, even though it was an Acromantula!
As the figure shrouded in black robes drew closer to its hunting grounds, Number One Hundred Eighty-Eight grew increasingly excited. It could not help waving its pincers, and the venom inside its body began to boil!
Its leader, Aragog-the commander of every Acromantula in the Forbidden Forest-never allowed them to attack Hagrid or his dog, but he had never stopped them from eating humans who wandered right into their midst...
Number One Hundred Eighty-Eight felt it was a lucky Acromantula-very few humans entered the Forbidden Forest, yet it had encountered them twice in succession lately-
It still remembered the two human young it had seen last time-two red-haired boys who looked very much alike. They had hidden beneath a garment that concealed them from sight, but the rustling leaves had given away their position long before...
It should have had a feast!
But Hagrid had suddenly appeared with his dog and scared those two delicious boys away-what a pity, what a shame, what a heartbreaking loss for a spider!
But never mind... the spider god favored it-what it had lost would always come back. Just look at today's delicacy-it could swear those two youngsters together had less meat on them than this man did-enough for two days... no, three!
Number One Hundred Eighty-Eight restrained its surging excitement and quietly waited for the man to enter its attack range-but the man abruptly stopped, damn him, clutching his head and muttering to himself where he stood-how infuriating!
It heard the man say in a trembling voice:
"Master, I do not mean to contradict you, but... Dumbledore is a cunning old madman... the chances of him hiding the Philosopher's Stone in the Forbidden Forest are slim... perhaps I should devote more attention to the Trapdoor guarded by that Three-Headed Dog..."
After finishing his rambling speech, he suddenly switched to a different voice and continued angrily:
"Silence-you incompetent slave! Since when did you get to order me around? Ah... but you were right about one thing. Dumbledore is indeed an old madman... and I do indeed need that stone... but you, you foolish creature, have already ruined everything! Haven't you noticed? Someone suspects you! Idiot-you cannot even handle such a trivial task. Useless!"
Then he began speaking in a faintly amused tone:
"The Philosopher's Stone is beneath that Trapdoor-I know that perfectly well... but thanks to your foolish actions, we have no hope of getting that stone for the time being! I am too weak... therefore... I need the help of a sacred creature... you know what to do..."
Suddenly, he began howling in pain, his cries utterly desolate. Both knees slammed into the ground, and his whole body curled into a ball. Only after a long while did he return to his trembling voice-this time thick with fear:
"Master! Master! Please calm your anger! Please stop punishing me... I am your faithful servant... if I die, who will be left to serve you? I understand exactly what you mean... unicorn blood... but... do you... truly intend to do this? Once you drink unicorn blood... there will be no turning back..."
His body, bowed like a shrimp, abruptly straightened again, and that angry, evil voice returned!
"We passed the point of no return long ago... fool! Obey my orders! Find a Unicorn!"
Number One Hundred Eighty-Eight had never seen such a strange human-in truth, it had only seen humans a handful of times, but the man's almost insane behavior had, for the first time ever, stirred a trace of fear in it!
But how could a predator retreat just because its food had gone mad?
Number One Hundred Eighty-Eight thought furiously-but just then, it suddenly sensed others of its kind. Damn it, two of its kin had been drawn over by the considerable commotion the man had made-they were already lurking behind two large trees!
No, it should have this delicious meal all to itself!
"Go away! This is my territory!" Number One Hundred Eighty-Eight hissed. It invoked Aragog's name, threatening them in a language only spiders understood. "You have to follow the rules our leader laid down!"
"Ha! Everyone who spots it gets a share, and whoever gets there first gets it!" Eighty-Seven said smugly.
"I can't wait!" Eighty-Nine charged first, with Eighty-Seven close behind.
"No!" Number One Hundred Eighty-Eight let out an angry shriek and immediately prepared to follow those two bastards, but what happened next left it profoundly grateful-thank goodness it had not been the first to charge.
It saw the crazed man draw his wand in the blink of an eye and instantly unleash two streaks of green light, striking its two kin as they leaped through the air-without so much as a dying cry, they dropped straight to the ground and lay silent.
"Dead, just like that?!" Number One Hundred Eighty-Eight began trembling all over and hurriedly shrank back-it remembered now. There was a special kind of human that wielded a powerful force called magic!
Before humans like that, the spiders were the prey!
Number One Hundred Eighty-Eight did not dare move a muscle. It abandoned every greedy thought and wanted only to stay alive, but it was already too late. A beam of green light pierced straight through the flimsy tree trunk and struck the silk wrapped around its abdomen.
Am I going to die?
The feeling of death descending was far from pleasant. Number One Hundred Eighty-Eight felt its entire body go numb and fell to the ground with a thud. The man turned and left without even glancing at it-as though he had merely disposed of a piece of rubbish...
I'm not dead yet...?
After an unknown length of time, Number One Hundred Eighty-Eight emerged from its haze and regained consciousness. It had to go back, had to go back and tell its leader what had happened!
Number One Hundred Eighty-Eight had no memory of how it dragged its stiff body back to Aragog's cave. Worse still, it discovered that it could only manage two sentences before it lost the ability to make any sound at all...
Another unknown stretch of time passed before Hagrid appeared with an unfamiliar man. Number One Hundred Eighty-Eight was terrified-the oppressive presence of the stranger Hagrid had brought was every bit as powerful as that of the dreadful man wrapped in robes!
But this new man seemed to bear spiders no ill will. He even said he would heal it...
But how could that be possible?
It could already faintly hear death knocking-the icy scythe had been resting against its neck for quite some time...
Number One Hundred Eighty-Eight watched helplessly as the man approached. There was nothing it could do. Utterly dispirited, it closed its eyes-a pitiful spider, unable even to die in peace...
Fortunately, death had already swung the scythe toward it. Everything was becoming empty, fading away... perhaps death was not so frightening after all...
What did the spider god look like?
As Number One Hundred Eighty-Eight wondered this, it felt that something was wrong-that icy sensation had suddenly... vanished?
In its place, a feeling arose within its body: the unique sense of safety it had known back when it was still inside its egg...
Oh... how warm... how comfortable...
It was as though a great hand had forcibly dragged it out from beneath death's scythe.
Number One Hundred Eighty-Eight's awareness grew clearer and clearer. It began to notice a slight itching over its body, as though something soft was surrounding it-was this what death felt like?
Number One Hundred Eighty-Eight opened its eyes again-its eight eyes saw at least seventy leaves-how strange!
Stranger still-the unfamiliar man was here in the world after death too, and he was even smiling!
Could this person be death?
"Hello, Aragog's one hundred and eighty-eighth grandson. I'm Hagrid's friend, Chet Brian.
"Ahem, I owe you an apology-while I was saving you just now, I accidentally revived all those dead plant seeds on your body... too."
Brian said, looking a little embarrassed,
"I may have to weed you-but in any case, you're now the most environmentally friendly Acromantula in the entire Forbidden Forest."
Before you continue