19: Night Stalker and Giant Spider
If he had to deal with a dragon, ordinary weapons would be insufficient.
"Maybe I can forge one myself," John thought, his eyes burning with excitement. Having his own weapon would be ideal.
He borrowed Goblin Forging and began studying the book tirelessly. It was a translated work, originally owned by an Egyptian wizard.
John found it a bit difficult to read, but it doesn't matter, he still has time to polish it.
In the next few days, he borrowed another book "Basic Magic Rune Guide" from the library.
While enriching his knowledge, John was gradually able to master the contents of "Goblin Forging".
At night, he put the book away and prepared to go to the Forbidden Forest.
His punishment wasn't over yet, and he had to patrol the forest with Hagrid every night.
After arriving at Hagrid's hut, Fang ran over enthusiastically and sniffed John with his nose.
Hagrid laughed and said, "Fang likes you very much."
Likes me?
John looked at Fang sniffing his pocket of sandwiches.
"Are you sure Fang's not just hungry?" John rolled his eyes.
....
A few days had passed since the unicorn's death.
During this period, Hagrid had spoken with the magical creatures in the Forbidden Forest and learned from the centaurs that an evil presence was lurking on the forest's outskirts.
So tonight, the two of them were patrolling the outskirts.
John had gradually become able to keep up with Hagrid's pace, while Fang ran ahead.
Despite its large size, Fang was a very timid dog.
It was even less brave than Tom.
During their patrol, a spider with a head the size of a human appeared in front of John.
Startled, he gripped his wand tightly, ready to use the Blasting Curse.
"What a big spider."
"Wait, that's Aragog's offspring," Hagrid shouted, stopping John.
Under John's slightly terrified gaze, Hagrid seemed to be communicating with the spider.
"Aragog wants to see me."
Aragog was a friend of Hagrid's, adopted by him when he was young. After Hagrid got into trouble, Aragog escaped into the Forbidden Forest and became an old spider.
John nodded numbly. Hagrid's boldness was astonishing; if Ron encountered this spider, he might have died on the spot.
Following the spider, they headed toward a cave.
Before entering the cave, John had already seen many spiders. Once inside, he couldn't stop the goosebumps from forming all over his body.
Spiders were everywhere as far as the eye could see, making the human-head-sized spiders seem small in comparison.
There were dozens of spiders the height of a person.
"Gulp, Hagrid, are you sure they're friendly?" John swallowed nervously, moving closer to Hagrid.
Hagrid's large frame usually provided a sense of security, but that was outside, not in the nest of spiders.
"Don't worry, these spiders are Aragog's children; they won't harm you."
Hagrid's confidence was not reassuring to John.
Those spiders were practically drooling, and you're telling me they won't harm me?
John's left hand gripped his wand tightly. If any spider dared to get too close, he swore he would cast the Blasting Curse.
At the end of the cave was a gray spider the size of a car. This was an Acromantula, and its eyes, clouded with cataracts, rendered it nearly blind.
"Hagrid, you came."
Aragog was pleased with the visit from his friend and suppressed his restless offspring as he began to talk to Hagrid about the Forbidden Forest.
"Something has entered, something very evil, and it's hunting unicorns."
Hagrid had asked Aragog to investigate the unicorn incidents, and Aragog had sent his offspring throughout the forest.
"He is powerful. Many of my children have been killed. He moves like a wraith, appearing and disappearing at will."
The Acromantula clan feeds on humans. Although Aragog restrained his offspring for Hagrid's sake, Acromantulas are not easy to deal with.
The intruder who entered the Forbidden Forest managed to kill several Acromantulas alone, demonstrating strength on par with Aurors.
Despite encountering this person, Aragog was unable to keep him at bay.
Hagrid's mood grew heavy after hearing this. Just as John had said, the evil figure had not given up on the unicorns.
Unicorn blood contains a curse but can also prevent someone on the brink of death from dying.
"I understand, Aragog."
Hagrid said goodbye to Aragog and prepared to leave, but at that moment, the surrounding Acromantulas began to close in.
"Aragog?" Hagrid looked at his friend in confusion.
Aragog apologized, "I'm sorry, Hagrid. I've told my offspring not to harm you, but they have no such restraint towards others."
"Damn!"
With Aragog's reminder, Hagrid realized he had made a mistake bringing John along.
"John, we need to go."
Picking John up, Hagrid's massive frame moved like a human-sized truck. "They are good children John just a bit hungry—"
"Really Hagrid! At this time?"
"Oops, sorry!"
"Apology accepted, now run faster!"
Any spiders blocking their path were knocked aside by Hagrid.
The spiders, unwilling to miss out on a rare meal, pursued relentlessly.
Naturally, John would not hold back. He drew his wand and cast a spell at an approaching Acromantula.
"Reducto!"
The white light struck the spider, causing it to bleed and retreat but not killing it.
"Nice spell," Hagrid complimented not being a hypocrite. Although he is a goofball when it comes to magical animals he isn't stupid and clearly knows that the acromantulas were going for John's life.
Despite his large size, Hagrid was surprisingly agile.
With Hagrid carrying him, John didn't need to worry about dodging, allowing him to focus solely on casting spells.
"Incendio!" His wand emitted flames that set a spider ablaze.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" A fallen log was levitated and smashed into the pursuing spiders.
As John continued to bombard the spiders, his magic power began to wane.
He quickly grabbed a stone and hurled it at the nearest spider.
[Ding! Magic Level Up. Current Magic Level: 3]
John felt a warm surge within him as his magic power was restored.
A spider the size of a small car appeared ahead. John aimed his wand at it and cast another spell.
"Reducto!"
This time, the white light was larger, previously the size of an orange, now it was even bigger.
Upon contact with the Acromantula, its body was covered in cracks before shattering completely.
The spell's power had more than doubled. John turned and fired spells at the spiders chasing them.
With the cooperation of Hagrid, John successfully escaped from the spider's nest.
After coming out, Hagrid said self-reproachfully: "I'm sorry, John, I thought Aragog could control them."
Aragog used to control them, but now he was too old and might not live much longer.
The younger spiders no longer obeyed him as they once did.
"It's alright, Hagrid, but it's best not to let anyone else go there next time," John said.
John had been lucky this time; without Hagrid's help, anyone else might have ended up as dinner.
Hagrid was also shaken.
The two continued their patrol in the Forbidden Forest for a while longer before ending for the night.
Back at Hagrid's hut, John poured a big bowl of dog food for Fang.
The big dog had run the fastest in the spider cave and was probably exhausted.
After saying goodbye to Hagrid, John returned to Hogwarts.
He opened the Marauder's Map and saw that Professor Quirrell was not in his office.
[Ding, gaining blessing: Night Stalker]
[Night Stalker: live in darkness, increase concealment and visibility, and enhanced stealth kill damage]
Having achieved one hundred hours of night patrols, John extinguished his wand light, blinking a couple of times to adjust to the dark.
The originally dark corridor gradually became clear in John's eyes. Although it wasn't as clear as during the day, he could now read in complete darkness.
"This makes things much more convenient."
With the Nightshade perk, John could walk down the corridors without using a Disillusionment Charm and still be hard to spot. Using the charm, he could achieve the effect of an Invisibility Cloak.
...
In the days that followed, John frequently had 'coincidental' encounters with Quirrell. Normally indifferent to teaching, Quirrell became incredibly attentive to John in private.
He constantly hinted that John could come to him with any questions and subtly suggested his extensive knowledge of Dark Arts.
John always pretended to be oblivious, acting like a bookworm, although he did have some interest in Dark Magic.
After all, spells like Fiendfyre were incredibly powerful, something ordinary magic couldn't match.
Eventually, John expressed a desire to learn Fiendfyre. Quirrell happily obliged. Although Quirrell wasn't particularly skilled in the spell, he had the backing of the Dark Lord.
With Quirrell's surface-level teaching and Voldemort's guidance, John finally mastered Fiendfyre. However, he knew better than to use it lightly. Fiendfyre was one of the most uncontrollable spells; once ignited, it couldn't be extinguished.
Quirrell also dropped all pretense. No longer just hinting, he openly discussed matters related to the Dark Lord.
John understood Quirrell's intentions and managed to dodge the topic, occasionally showing some agreement with the Dark Lord's ideology.
As the nuisance of Quirrell's advances continued, December quietly arrived.
During a Potions class, enduring Snape's gloomy gaze for the duration, everyone eagerly discussed their Christmas plans afterward. Ron decided not to go home, as the Weasleys had made a last-minute decision to visit Charlie Weasley in Romania, where he worked with dragons.
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