The Bard of Hogwarts

Chapter 139 Practicing in the Forbidden Forest, Mastering the Eight-Eyed Giant Spider (Fourth Update)

The Hogwarts Christmas holiday is a standard two weeks.

从12月21号到1月5号，如果收假第一天遇到周末，那15天假期顺延成17天。

In her room on the second floor, Ino glanced at the brand-new 1993 calendar on the table and realized, in a daze, that it was already time to return to school.

Unlike the requirement to take the train to start the school year each year, Hogwarts doesn't have strict rules about returning to school during holidays. This leads many pure-blood wizards to travel to Hogsmeade via their home fireplaces and then walk back to the castle.

After watering the magic beans on the windowsill again, Ino packed her belongings and prepared to return to the castle.

Although the holiday felt like it was on fast-forward, he had no complaints. The gains from this short 15-day Christmas holiday were truly equivalent to the past year.

Not only is he proficient in using Apparition, but he can also successfully cast several other spells, including the Ironclad Charm.

Of course, this is just the release; both the quality and the skill level need improvement. Especially with the Seamless Extension Spell, the most successful experiment only expanded the volume of a coffee cup by two times.

But that's how magic works; once you can successfully cast it, all that's missing is time and practice.

……

January 5th, near noon at Hogwarts.

Perhaps because the train arrived in the evening, the castle seemed rather deserted at this moment.

On the lawn outside the castle.

Ino looked around to make sure no one was there, then drew her wand and pointed it at herself.

"Phantom Trail!"

A cool sensation rose from above my head, as if someone was standing on a stool pouring a bucket of thick coolant over me.

Even with the blood of the White Witch, which makes him unafraid of any cold, the current sensation still made him shiver involuntarily.

A moment later, as the cool sensation spread, he also saw his body gradually become transparent.

Transparent rather than disappearing—that's the effect of the Disillusionment Spell.

It can be roughly considered a form of optical cloaking; as long as the distance is far enough or the surrounding environment is dark, it is difficult to be detected.

The outer perimeter of the forbidden forest.

He carefully placed the suitcase on a tree branch and waved his wand again.

"Armor for protection!"

An invisible barrier rises, serving as the ceiling for single-target defense. The Ironclad Curse can not only effectively defend against all physical damage, but also deflect magical spells to a certain extent.

It is very practical, which is why this magic is a basic requirement for the Ministry of Magic to recruit Aurors.

But one thing is certain: the limit of magic always depends on the limit of the wizard's skill. A simple example is that even Mad-Eye Moody's Ironclad Charm couldn't stop Voldemort's casual strike.

Therefore, he also planned to come to the Forbidden Forest to test his skills, not only to test the Ironclad Spell, but also to verify his conjecture about the sanctuary.

Holding a sharp one-handed sword in his right hand and a magic wand in his left, he slowly walked into the depths of the Forbidden Forest.

……

The forbidden forest is somewhat desolate in winter.

Instead of its usual vitality, it exuded a somber and desolate atmosphere.

Ino frowned as she surveyed her surroundings; it was a cave filled with spider silk.

This is not surprising, as many spiders choose to find nests to hibernate and lay eggs, and the caves are usually lined with thick spider silk.

The problem is, he found the right place, but he didn't find the real deal—the 5X Eight-Eyed Giant Spider.

The enormous cave, spanning several tens of square meters, was completely devoid of even a spider. Of course, there was also a bottomless tunnel inside the cave, where everything in sight was covered in spider silk.

However, he declined the offer to use the tunnel; he was here to practice, not to seek thrills.

However, just as he was about to leave the cave and search for his target again, he felt a faint sense of danger behind him.

"Um?"

Before he could react, he felt as if he had been hit by a speeding motorcycle, and he tumbled forward in a state of weightlessness.

Immediately following was a series of piercing screams.

Taking advantage of this moment, he also got a clear look at the creature behind him.

A spider the size of an adult horse, covered in thick black hair, with eight pebble-sized eyes that gleamed with a fierce and cruel light.

This is a young spider. After seeing its size, Ino instantly understood.

Because a real adult eight-eyed giant spider can stretch its body to a width of 15 feet, which is equivalent to a large bus.

Although the giant spider in front of him looked extremely terrifying, he was not afraid at all. The previous attack had already proven that this eight-eyed giant spider could not break through the Iron Armor Curse.

Now that he had no more worries, he picked up the fallen one-handed sword and pounced on the eight-eyed giant spider.

……

Inside a cave several tens of meters deep.

Ino gripped his one-handed sword, helplessly watching the eight-eyed giant spider roaming around.

Despite its enormous size, this thing is exceptionally agile, especially in caves filled with spider webs, where scaling walls and leaping across rooftops are basic operations.

After fighting for seven or eight minutes, he was tackled three times but failed to injure the giant spider in the slightest. Apart from one lucky attempt where he managed to perform minor surgery on the spider's forelimbs, he accomplished nothing else.

Seeing the still energetic eight-eyed giant spider, he slowly lowered the longsword in his hand.

"The Divine Blade is Without a Shadow!"

Without any dazzling lights or shadows, the eight-eyed giant spider froze in place, and then its massive body, along with the spider silk on the wall behind it, split completely in two.

Even though the giant eight-eyed spider is dead, its pebble-sized eyes are still filled with doubt and confusion.

"Hey! Don't blame me. I wanted to play a little longer, but who told you to be so agile..." As she spoke, Ino squatted down and took out a glass bottle she had prepared in advance from her pocket.

Having handled medicinal herbs with Snape on numerous occasions, he had come to know some basic market prices. For example, the venom of the eight-eyed giant spider, while expensive, was primarily due to its scarcity.

At this moment, the giant spider, which is the size of a horse, has only received a small half bottle of venom, at most a few tens of milliliters.

After finishing his business, he cleaned up the scene and also planned to verify the second thing.

A thorough search lasting over ten minutes.

Finally, in a hidden corner of the cave, Ino found the materials she needed.

A silk cocoon the size of a washbasin contained a dozen spider eggs the size of quail eggs and several translucent small spiderlings.

He gently picked up the silk cocoon, and then, with a thought, he disappeared into the cave.

……

shelter.

A four-foot-wide, icy path, with silk cocoons the size of washbasins placed in the middle of it.

Ino squatted down next to the silk cocoon, seemingly lost in thought.

The items were brought in, but all the transparent spiderlings died on the spot, but that's not the point.

The key point is that at this moment, he seems to have some faint connections in his mind, and all of these connections originate from the silk cocoon in front of him.

The spiderlings all died, but the spider eggs miraculously survived and even established a connection with each other.

Surrender, obedience, trust... the messages coming through his mind gave him a different feeling, as if his own miracle had once again played a magical role.

"This is getting more and more interesting. Adult, embryo, birth..." Ino murmured, looking at the dozens of spider eggs in the silk cocoon. It was a feeling of absolute control.

Xiao Di kept her promise and was completely drained for the entire day, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Today, our sharing session is on hold. We'll continue sharing new magical creatures tomorrow. Little Di really doesn't want to move right now.

(End of this chapter)