Chương 121: Acromantula’s Exchange Meeting
Anthony had always found it difficult to explain his condition to others. Among the few who knew about his identity as a necromancer, aside from the Ministry of Magic, Professor McGonagall always seemed to avoid the topic intentionally or unintentionally, and Snape's interactions with him were far from friendly. Even Dumbledore, despite his wisdom, could only offer theoretical advice and couldn't truly grasp the problems Anthony faced.
Yet, Anthony was still grateful to Dumbledore. The wise old wizard always listened carefully to his questions, was willing to discuss various arcane magical theories, and never showed any rejection of necromancy. The more Anthony learned about the magical world, the more he realized how rare this open-mindedness was.
Once, Anthony had accidentally brought his wraith rat in his pocket to Dumbledore's office. Fawkes had eyed the rat with disapproval, but Dumbledore had been kind to the creature, even providing it with a very tiny teacup from which it could drink tea.
Another practitioner of necromancy, the Bloody Baron, had been far less supportive than Dumbledore. After an early morning conversation, the haggard ghost seemed to be deliberately avoiding Anthony. It had been a long time since Anthony had seen the Baron. Nearly Headless Nick mentioned that the Baron had been in a low mood recently, even a bit erratic, wandering the corridors of the Slytherin dungeons all day, unsettling the students every time they left their dormitory.
"Weasley, a first-year, said," Nearly Headless Nick had added, "that the Malfoy boy looked like he had just eaten slugs every time he ate. His brothers told him that it was because the Bloody Baron has been gloomily haunting the Slytherin corridors, asking strange questions and scaring the students out of their appetites."
Anthony had observed this for a while and noticed that Slytherin students indeed ate much less than those from other houses. They weren't even that interested in chocolate ice cream, let alone boiled broccoli.
However, among the few Slytherin students Anthony knew, Miss Davis had an unexpectedly good appetite. He watched as she politely asked other students and then gracefully transferred their chicken legs to her plate, eating them with poise.
Anthony sometimes passed by the abandoned bathroom. Aside from the cheerful greeting from the toilet seat wearing a colorful wig, there was no trace of magic there. Either Tracey had carefully changed the location where she brewed her potions, or she no longer needed the help of the demulcent. Anthony hoped, though not optimistically, that it was the latter.
…
"The unicorns agree that you may stay," Bane translated, still glaring at Anthony, "but that's only because they are unwilling to provoke conflict on such an occasion, even with the slightest chance..." He added, with a mixture of arrogance and respect, as he nodded toward the unicorn's body, "But mark my words, human—don't venture into our woods lightly. You are not welcome here."
He tightened the straps on his bow and quiver and slowly retreated back to the group.
Aragog settled down beside Anthony without a word, and his descendants began to gather around him. A few Acromantulas were still eyeing Anthony hungrily, and one of them muttered to Aragog about being hungry.
"You can't kill people in unicorn territory," Aragog said sleepily. "Besides, Hagrid asked me to look after his friends."
The spider fiddled with its large claws, echoing the centaur's logic: just because they respected Hagrid and didn't harm him didn't mean they owed the same courtesy to Hagrid's friends.
"The centaurs say Aragog likes humans too much," it muttered.
The old spider grew angry.
Aragog rose heavily and slowly, his gray-white, hairy legs supporting his enormous body. "I think I'm too old for this, don't you? I don't like humans at all, and I won't stop you from enjoying food that comes to you... but if I say you can't leave the woods, you can't leave the woods; if I say you can't eat Hagrid's friends today, you can't eat Hagrid's friends today."
He swung his massive claws at a small tree nearby. The tree groaned under the force, its branches and leaves sweeping over the nearby Acromantulas before it collapsed to the ground with a resounding crash.
"Did I make myself clear?" Aragog asked, his voice resonating with authority.
"Yes, Aragog," the Acromantula replied, rustling back among its brothers and sisters.
Aragog stood there for a moment, his claws still raised, before slowly sitting back down. He said to Anthony, "It's been a long time since my sons and daughters have tasted human flesh."
Anthony asked, "When was the last time?"
"I can't remember," Aragog said slowly.
Beside them, an Acromantula muttered resentfully, "I've never had it."
Another Acromantula asked suspiciously, "You haven't either?"
Anthony's question seemed to have sparked a round of memories among the Acromantulas. They began to chatter about their hunting experiences, though for many years, Hagrid had been successful in guarding the Forbidden Forest, ensuring no human entered the Acromantula's hunting grounds. The spiders had always suspected that their hunting range was the issue, as they could often smell human scent in the territories of other creatures.
From the directions they described, Anthony guessed they were talking about Professor Sprout and Snape, who occasionally ventured into the Forbidden Forest to gather herbs. In this light, he realized that the range division might actually protect the Acromantulas to some extent. With Anthony's limited knowledge of potions, he understood that, like the basilisk, Acromantulas likely had valuable potion ingredients on their bodies.
Anthony briefly imagined Snape battling the Acromantulas with a grim smile, but the thought of a teary-eyed Hagrid quickly halted that line of thinking.
One Acromantula recounted how it had come tantalizingly close to success.
"Except for that one time, when I deviated slightly from the route... the two human cubs were so close... but Hagrid drove them away... just a little more..." Its voice trailed off as it reminisced about their sweet aroma.
The other spiders waved their claws in agreement, all recalling the incident from only a few years ago.
Anthony pressed the story carefully in his mind and decided to keep a closer eye on the Weasley brothers in the future. But that was a tale from their first year. After they vaguely realized there was indeed something dangerous deep in the Forbidden Forest, they never ventured even half a step closer to the Acromantula area—at least, that's what the spiders claimed. They never saw those two fresh human flesh again.
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