"Aragog? Ara..." Hagrid had been shouting as he ran over. Since Snape was down in the hollow examining the spiders' severed limbs and webs, Hagrid had not seen him at first.
Then he came closer, saw him, and his voice caught in his throat.
"Aragog?" Hagrid's booming voice could be heard clearly even from eight hundred meters away. Snape had excellent hearing, so naturally, he had heard it.
He immediately shot out of the hollow and stood before Hagrid.
Snape was only a little over half Hagrid's height, but his icy expression and piercing gaze left even Hagrid too timid to speak.
Snape: (￣皿￣)
Hagrid: o((⊙﹏⊙))o
"What were you calling just now? What do you know?" Snape asked coldly.
"Well... um... it's just..." Hagrid's eyes darted about, too frightened to speak.
"Hagrid, let me tell you something. There is a monster over by the Castle right now, summoned through an evil ritual. Anyone who summons a monster like that is certain to be locked in Azkaban. Forever!
"If you don't talk, then you are the prime suspect. This time, not even Dumbledore can save you!" Snape threatened coldly.
"It wasn't me, I didn't, don't make things up." Hagrid waved his hands repeatedly, rattling off three denials. "I didn't perform any evil ritual. I didn't."
But looking into Snape's eyes, which showed not the slightest flicker of emotion, Hagrid immediately understood that unless he said something useful, Snape would never let the matter rest.
Gritting his teeth, Hagrid finally said helplessly, "This place... was originally where a friend of mine... Aragog, and his colony were staying temporarily. Their previous nest was destroyed by the Wolf Demon..."
"What is he, this Aragog?" Snape cut straight through Hagrid's useless rambling and looked around as he spoke.
"A spider? What species of spider? Judging