Spiders

After the last time Aya and Xiaohua had attacked the old headmaster out of the blue, Hermione had given Aya a thorough scolding.

Forgive her. Really, she had to be forgiven this time.

She had been born less than half an hour before her sect was wiped out. Her sect leader and her senior brothers and sisters had never had the chance to teach her to respect her elders. The only manners she had learned were things she had heard players mention in conversation.

She had only learned to use respectful forms of address after someone reminded her here, so it took the bluntest possible words to make her understand that she couldn't attack the headmaster. After all, back where she came from, even the highest leader was fair game for a fight as long as a health bar appeared.

After that, Hermione kept a close eye on her for days. Even Xiaohua's movements were restricted: Hermione stuffed her into her own schoolbag all day and carried the bag, which weighed over twenty jin, around every day.

It wasn't until December arrived that Aya was finally freed. On her first day of freedom, she took advantage of the fact that Potions Class was tomorrow and began planning a secret trip to the Forbidden Forest. This time, she didn't need to hide it from a professor, but from Hermione.

In the end, she was someone who couldn't be seen in the light.

Aya put on the Invisibility Cloak she had borrowed from Harry, stuffed her pillow under her blanket, and put a hat on the head of the stuffed toy she had recently taken to sleeping with to serve as her own. Then she scooped up Xiaohua and crept out of the dormitory. Even the creak of the dormitory door opening made her break out in a cold sweat.

This is so exciting. It feels just like sneaking into the Crimson Fang pirates' base all alone back then.

It couldn't be helped. No one understood what it felt like for someone who got dizzy at the sight of words to have her eyes held open and forced to read. It was all Hermione's fault for being so clever and finishing her homework so early every day, leaving her time to pester Aya.

Once she was out of the dormitory, everything became much easier. The Fat Lady couldn't see someone wearing the Invisibility Cloak. After turning the corner in the corridor outside the common room, Aya enlarged Xiaohua and rode her, leaping down the stairwell. A few jumps later, they reached the first floor, jumped out of a corridor window, and raced toward the Forbidden Forest.

It was at times like this that Aya really missed her qinggong.

Whether it was because her body was different or for some other reason, after coming here, Aya could only feel that her body was light. Less than a tenth of her original qinggong ability remained. It had taken her a long time to get used to a body that was far less agile than before. If she had her qinggong, she could have jumped straight out of the dormitory window and glided to the Forbidden Forest. There would have been no need to sneak around like this!

December's weather was already very cold. Aya wore her thick pajamas underneath and, after putting away the Invisibility Cloak, had a black windproof cloak on the outside. She also wore a knitted hat that covered most of her face, making her look short and round. When she jumped off Xiaohua at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, she was a little unsteady on her feet.

"All right, Xiaohua, today we're fighting for our Potions Class grades again." Aya solemnly pulled out her wand. "We need to gather some materials—if you know any, that is."

Xiaohua flicked her tail, stretched, and led the way into the Forbidden Forest.

Aya had only ever seen the Forbidden Forest on her way to Hagrid's house. Although she had always said she wanted to visit, she had never done so. Mainly, she had seen too many forests before, and the Forbidden Forest's colors and atmosphere happened to be the kind she disliked most.

There were few shrubs, and the ground was covered in fallen leaves and humus. The trees blocked out the sky and sun, leaving the forest dim, and the plants were dark and dull, without a trace of vitality.

The outskirts were better, with some moonlight filtering through gaps in the canopy, but it grew darker the farther in they went. In the end, Aya raised her wand and used Lumos for light.

"No wonder students aren't allowed in," Aya muttered as she walked. The ground was full of little holes for no apparent reason. The light was already poor, and fallen leaves covered the holes, making them hard to see. Aya stepped in two holes for nearly every three steps she took. "Anyone with slightly bad eyesight would come out limping."

After they had walked for quite a while longer, Xiaohua hid behind a tree. Aya put out her light and stood behind the tree as well.

What was up ahead? Aya squinted for quite a while before realizing that the faint movement between the tree trunks seemed to be coming from some giant spiders.

Acromantulas? Hagrid's pets?

Aya wasn't particularly afraid of spiders. She had seen spider bosses taller than buildings before, and they had even had to go after the spider eggs. Still, this was her first time seeing spiders that big here.

"Are we here to fight spiders?" Aya asked Xiaohua quietly. Xiaohua's tail lightly patted her back. Understanding, Aya tightened her grip on her wand. Today's wand had a feathery design, a look Aya liked, though it didn't quite suit her current round appearance.

"I'll climb a tree. Don't let them get up there, and I'll keep you going!" Aya quickly settled on a plan. Xiaohua enlarged herself to her maximum size and swaggered toward the spiders alone.

Aya found a fairly sturdy tree and wriggled her way up. There was no helping it; she was dressed too thickly to climb up lightly, so she had to use this undignified method.

The spiders soon noticed the intruder. As far as they were concerned, any animal they could defeat was food, so the swarm quickly rushed in, fighting over this huge piece of meat.

Xiaohua was no pushover, of course. Although she couldn't catch Dumbledore, catching spiders wasn't hard. They were all the size of cars, and none feared the others.

Up in the tree, Aya first used Morning Glory to keep Xiaohua's health at a safe level, then watched the fight and made adjustments as needed.

Summoners were well-rounded fighters, after all, and had a much easier time than other classes when they wanted to prolong a battle. Besides, Acromantulas weren't magical creatures on the same level as a Basilisk. Soon, some of them were defeated and lying belly-up.

Aya had eaten things like crabs before. She had first tried them at a Muggle restaurant, and later, after picking up enough loot and getting some money, she had Duoduo make them for her. Whether they were little crabs or sea crabs bigger than her face, she liked them all.

The battle below the tree was fierce. Mainly, Xiaohua's cat punches were flying so fast they left afterimages, and the spiders' venom couldn't do anything to her; whenever Xiaohua was poisoned, Aya dispelled it. Meanwhile, Aya compared the spiders' appearance to crabs in her mind.

They had eight legs, shells, and little spikes on their bodies. The animals looked so alike, so could Acromantulas be eaten?

Aya still remembered the delicious crab meat. Looking at such a huge Acromantula, with every spider leg so thick, she hardly dared imagine how much meat was inside. But... she would have to ask a professional first whether the meat was poisonous.

Aya sat in the tree for a full hour and a half. It was already one in the morning by the time the spiders below were all cleared out. When she climbed down to collect the bodies, she picked up more than thirty Acromantulas.

And that was just the number in this one nest!

Tomorrow, she would ask Professor Snape for an appraisal and see whether the spiders were worth much. If they were, she wouldn't have to worry about her Potions Class grades anymore~

The next day brought another Potions Class that left Gryffindor half-dead.

Aya stirred the cauldron and made a perfect potion together with Hermione, handing it in as their class assignment. Once the students had all left, she stood before Snape again.

Thanks to their Basilisk deal, Aya and Snape were on much better terms. After the "diary robbery" incident, she even felt that Snape was fairly upright, since he had at least offered to make a deal-though Harry's expression had been very strange when he heard Aya say that. So today, she cheerfully got straight to the point.

"Acromantulas? The ones in the Forbidden Forest?" Snape held a potion bottle in one hand while grading the class assignments with the other. "You caught them yourself?"

"Xiaohua helped. I cheered her on," Aya said, taking out a spider corpse.

A spider the size of a small car was still quite intimidating. Snape put down his quill and the rubbish in his hands, hurriedly pulled a glass bottle from a drawer, and went over to the corpse to collect its venom. Acromantula venom wasn't cheap in the Wizarding World, and because it was difficult to obtain, its price was occasionally driven even higher.

"The quality is excellent, as though it had only just died." Snape examined the black venom in the glass bottle. "Are you selling this?"

"Professor, I wanted to ask if this is edible." Aya pointed at one of the fierce-looking spider legs. "It looks so meaty."

"...Sometimes I really think you should go join those Hufflepuff gluttons. That stomach of yours is never full; you'd fit right into that house that knows nothing but eating." Snape was in a fairly good mood after obtaining the venom. "Although Acromantula venom is highly toxic, it is contained only in the venom sacs. The rest is non-toxic, but no normal person would choose to eat such an ugly thing."

Aya heard only one thing: it was edible.

Normal person or not, I've got a pair of cat ears, so I'm not a normal person here anyway. Doesn't that make it perfectly normal for me to want to eat this?

Aya put away the Acromantula corpse after its venom sacs had been drained and the empty sacs removed, then said goodbye to Snape and went to the school kitchen.

A spider that humans thought was large looked even larger to House-elves. Their magic was no weaker than wizards', but most House-elves weren't very brave. When Aya took the Acromantula corpse out in a corner of the kitchen, Duoduo spent a long time working up her nerve before stepping forward to butcher the spider.

The spider's body was too ugly, and its plump abdomen was full of thick mucus. Duoduo collected it in a vegetable-washing basin, and Aya put it in her backpack, where she discovered it was a blue-grade material. The spider legs were cut off whole and placed section by section on a charcoal grill. The flames singed away the fine hairs on the shells, leaving only hard shells that grew blacker and blacker. Before long, steam began rising from the cut ends of the legs.

A strange aroma wafted over. Aya thought it was a little like the smell of insects burning when she lit fires in the wild.

The white steam grew thicker, and bubbles began to form.

Aya paced around impatiently.

"There's so much juice? Did this spider like living somewhere damp?" Duoduo guessed in her high-pitched voice, turning several sections of leg over with a large pair of tongs.

"I don't know. I found it in the Forbidden Forest. Since the sunlight can't get in, it should be pretty damp, right?" Aya wiped the corner of her mouth with her hand. "I've got lots more of them. I really hope they taste good!"

"They smell good already!" Duoduo said. She picked up a large pair of scissors from a nearby table and cut along the spider shell, which had roasted dry and crisp, revealing the white meat inside.

"Wow-" Aya's eyes shone. "Is it done? Is it done?"

Duoduo carefully prodded it with a fork. The spider meat came apart in strands, somewhat like crab. After making sure it was thoroughly cooked, she put the meat on a plate and handed it to Aya. "There are a few sauces over here too. If Aya wants to try them, you can choose for yourself."

Aya hurriedly pulled out a sheet of homework and fanned the plate. The kitchen was warm, so it took quite a while for the meat to cool.

"Delicious!" Aya's eyes lit up. It didn't have the seafood taste of crab, but it was savory and sweet. She could hardly believe that the meat of such a strange thing was actually sweet!

A spider had eight legs, each one thick and sturdy. Aya couldn't finish all the legs from one spider, so she wanted to put the rest away as snacks, but Duoduo suggested that she share them with her friends.

"It's an unusual food, after all. Aya's friends must not have tried it either." Duoduo carefully peeled out a whole strip of meat, intending to try preparing it another way.

"What does it matter to me if they haven't eaten it?" Aya grumbled.

"Then have them trade snacks with you?" Duoduo suggested. She felt that Aya didn't dislike giving away her food; she just didn't like giving it away for nothing.

"...All right, I guess." Aya remembered Harry's Invisibility Cloak in her backpack and reluctantly agreed.

"Then I'll cut these into smaller portions. Should I leave the shells on?" Duoduo asked.

"Leave them on! They look nice! And if there aren't any plates later, I can use the shells as plates," Aya replied.

Duoduo couldn't see what was nice about the pitch-black shells, but she nevertheless cut the spider legs into twenty-centimeter sections and handed them to Aya.

When Aya returned to the common room, everyone happened to be there. She had Xiaohua grow larger and stood on her back, drawing everyone's attention.

"Ahem!" Aya put her hands on her hips and coughed loudly twice. The few Gryffindor students who weren't already looking at her turned their heads too. "Now, a great opportunity lies before you: a brand-new experience like never before! Anyone who wants to try it has to give me snacks!"

"Has she expanded into scamming now?" Ron turned to ask Harry. "Who would just give her snacks for no reason?"

Harry's mouth twitched, and he gave Ron a push. "Look for yourself."

Ron turned and saw that Aya had barely finished speaking before several older girls had already gathered around her, smiling. They had Chocolate Frogs, sweets from Honeydukes, biscuits, jerky, and even some drinks in their hands, and kept stuffing them into Aya's arms. They even helped her down from the cat's back.

"What's this about?" Ron stared. "Why have I never been given snacks out of nowhere?"

"Don't you know why?" Hermione rolled her eyes and felt around in her pocket, finding a slab of hawthorn candy she had bought earlier. "I'm going too."

"She's not getting snacks out of nowhere," Harry said, pulling a few sweets from his pocket as well. "Aya's trading them for that black thing—no idea what it is. I'm going to trade for one and see."

"Hey! What about me?"

Ron felt around his person in vain, then finally went over with a small packet of biscuits from the fruit bowl on the coffee table.