Regulus of Hogwarts: Lord of the Stars

The magical structure of Seeking Mind leans towards coldness and penetration, while the flickering of light is relatively neutral and diffuse.

The result of forced fusion is either structural collapse or the generation of meaningless magical debris.

Then he thought of the guardian deity.

The guardian's silver light is a pure and positive emotion that can dispel the despair of Dementors and, to some extent, also has a direct influence on and coverage of the emotional realm.

This suggests that its magical properties have a natural ability to intervene in emotions and consciousness. Could this kind of thing be used as an adhesive?

Regulus did not summon the guardian deity directly; instead, he recalled the silvery texture of the Starry Sky Kite when it appeared in his mind.

It is warm but not scorching, firm but not rigid, possessing a unique penetrating and resonant quality.

He tried to extract a trace of that quality's inherent tendency, using it as a buffer between Legilimency and Fluorescence.

When the new structure was simulated in consciousness, the sluggishness and conflict were significantly reduced. Although it was still far from smooth, at least a feasible direction was seen.

A few hours later, an extremely crude and inefficient initial framework took shape in his mind.

Enormous, cumbersome, incredibly energy-consuming, and extremely unstable.

If you really want to cast it, you'll need to prepare for several seconds. The light it produces will be extremely bright and will have to stay on the target's face for several seconds before it takes effect. The effect may only last for a moment and be negligible.

But it does work.

The next step is to repeatedly adjust, optimize, and simplify this framework until it can be truly used in practice.

There is also information encoding, transmission of complex instructions, and long-term impact; each step is more difficult than the last.

But at this moment, all he wanted to know was whether the road was passable, so he needed to verify it.

The question is, where do we verify this?

Finding a junior wizard is not suitable; the initial version is too crude, and the risks are uncontrollable.

As for the ordinary animals in the Forbidden Forest, such as rabbits, foxes, and owls, their consciousness is not complex enough to clearly reflect emotional changes, so the experiment would be pointless.

He considered werewolves, but then gave up. Werewolves, once transformed, have no rationality whatsoever and are no better than rabbits.

Therefore, the goal must meet several conditions.

Consciousness is complex enough to clearly reflect emotional changes.

It possesses a certain degree of magic resistance and can be used to test the penetrating power of magic.

It would be best to communicate with them so that I can directly ask about their feelings.

At the same time, one cannot be a minor wizard, lest one cause trouble.

A name popped up.

Aragog, the eight-eyed giant spider.

The one Hagrid raised could speak human language, was intelligent, possessed considerable magical power, was resistant to conventional magic, and was the leader of the tribe, capable of controlling its subordinates.

Most importantly, it is located deep in the Forbidden Forest, far from the castle, so even if the experiment encounters some minor problems, it is easy to control.

Regulus's lips twitched slightly.

It is it.

According to the Ministry of Magic's classification, the eight-eyed giant spider is a Class XXXXX, extremely dangerous, and cannot be kept as a pet.

But Hagrid not only kept him as a pet, but also worried that Aragog would be lonely, so he specially found a female spider outside to keep him company, named Mossag.

As a result, a group of eight-eyed giant spiders appeared deep in the Forbidden Forest, multiplying generation after generation and becoming one of the most dangerous species in the Forbidden Forest.

Does this count as an invasive species?

Hagrid probably hadn't thought about any of that; he just felt that Aragog was too pitiful for a spider and needed a companion.

Then came Mossage, then came the little spider, and then came the little spider's little spider.

Now, deep in that forbidden forest, the spider webs are so dense that even birds might not be able to fly in.

Without the centaurs, in a few decades, that place probably wouldn't be called the Forbidden Forest anymore; it would be called the Spider Forest.

But who cares?

Nobody cares.

......

The first Tuesday of November, early morning.

The wind at the top of the astronomical tower was much colder than the last time I came, carrying the chill of early winter.

Regulus stood at the edge of the ramparts, gazing at the silhouette of the dark forest across the Black Lake.

In the darkness, the Forbidden Forest resembles a crouching behemoth, silent and profound, concealing the secrets of countless magical creatures.

The moon was just a thin crescent, and the light it shone through was so faint it was almost nonexistent.

The magic we're testing tonight is still very rough.

The effect is theoretically clear: use a special beam of light to convey an emotional tendency of arrogance and contempt to Aragog, and observe its reaction.

But theory is just theory; it hasn't been tested in practice.

No one knows whether Aragog will suddenly feel invincible when that beam of light shines on him, or merely feel a strange sense of irritation, or simply feel nothing at all.

He needs observation, feedback, and a test subject who is intelligent enough to withstand and handle unexpected events.

Regulus stepped out of the crenellation.

As his body plummeted downwards, the wind rushed into his robe, causing the hem to flip up.

After falling a few meters, the flight spell was activated, and the downward momentum turned into forward gliding.

Like a night bird, he silently swept over the castle rooftops, skimmed across the Black Lake, and descended towards Hagrid's cottage.

As he approached the ground, he lightly tapped his chest with his wand, and the Disillusionment Charm enveloped his entire body.

The light distorted on the body's surface, and the heat and magical fluctuations were also covered up.

He landed on the edge of the pumpkin patch next to Hagrid's hut, his steps as light as if he were walking on cotton.

The windows of the cabin were dark, and muffled snoring could be heard from inside. Regulus walked around the cabin and headed straight for the entrance to the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

The moment you step into the forbidden forest, it's as if most of the light is sucked away.

The air was humid, the smell of humus was cloyingly strong, and the cries of nocturnal animals could be heard in the distance, short and sharp.

Regulus determined the direction and headed deeper into the Forbidden Forest.

The path to the Aragog nest is less a path and more a passage carved out by the spider's legs.

As you go further in, you start to see some regular patterns on the ground: shallow grooves made by fallen leaves after being repeatedly crawled over by multi-legged creatures, and dried mud spots and tiny scratch marks at the base of the tree trunks.

Regulus followed these faint traces, and the trees gradually grew taller and their canopies became denser, almost completely blocking out the sky.

As the light grew dimmer, he had to conjure a faint glimmer of light at his fingertips, just enough to see his feet.

Fog began to rise around us, and it grew thicker as we went further, like layers of milky white gauze, reducing visibility to less than ten meters.

The ground beneath our feet became soft and damp, and sometimes we would sink slightly when we stepped on it.

Spider webs began to appear, a few scattered among the trees, and the density and size of the webs increased the further in you went.

The clicking sound of chelicerae rubbing together began to reach my ears, seemingly from afar, a few here and there, gradually becoming more frequent, coming from all directions.

He knew he had entered the spider colony's active area, or rather, its warning zone.

The terrain begins to slope downwards, and the fog here is so thick that it almost becomes a solid substance.

After passing through the last unusually dense, twisted grove of trees covered in thick spiderwebs, a huge depression suddenly appeared right beneath your feet.

The depression looks like it was created by a meteorite impact, with a diameter of over 100 meters and steep edges.

The trees inside had been thoroughly cleaned, and the ground was covered with a thick, pale layer of something that had accumulated over the years from cobwebs and rotting leaves.

In the center of the depression was a huge hemispherical nest woven from countless thick spider silks, lying there like a giant egg.

The nest's surface was covered with holes, and small to medium-sized spiders covered in black hairs kept going in and out.

The entire depression is perpetually shrouded in thick fog rising from its bottom, mixed with the smell of spider silk secretions, making everything appear indistinct and shadowy.

This is the kingdom of Aragog.

Regulus stood on a protruding rock at the edge of the depression, looking down as he spread out his magical perception.

Within the central lair, a powerful, dark, predatory magical force, like a torch in the darkness, emanated from Aragog.

Nearby was a slightly weaker magical force, but equally conspicuous, carrying a chilling and nurturing quality—that was Mossag, Aragog's companion.

He didn't linger; his body slid down the steep slope and into the depression.

The ground was covered in a sticky layer of spider silk, which sank slightly when stepped on.

He walked through the fog, past spiders patrolling or mending their webs, some as large as hunting dogs, others as small as house cats. Their compound eyes reflected the empty fog, oblivious to him.

Regulus headed straight for the central lair.

The interior of the nest appears more spacious and complex than the exterior, resembling a labyrinth woven from grayish-white spider silk.

He lifted the illusion spell and revealed his true form.

A series of clicking sounds suddenly erupted from all directions, rapid and frequent, carrying a sense of alertness and threat. The compound eyes behind the shadows and the netting all turned towards him.

In the relatively open area in the center of the nest, the ground was covered with a thick layer of compacted velvet-like material.

Aragog's massive body lay there, supported by eight legs as thick as tree trunks and covered with stiff, black bristles.

Its two foremost legs are slightly raised, and its huge chelipeds are half-open, revealing the inner walls covered with barbs, which are dark red in color.

Eight single eyes reflected a pale white light in the dim light, arranged in two rows, with the largest pair at the top staring at him without blinking.

In the shadows a little further behind Aragog, another female spider, slightly smaller and with a more bloated abdomen, slowly raised its forebody.

Its eight legs moved restlessly, making a rustling sound, and its eyes were also fixed on Regulus, with a more obvious vigilance and hostility.

"Wizard." Aragog's voice was deep and husky, like rough boulders rubbing against each other, each syllable carrying a certain resonance.

"You shouldn't be here. Has no one taught you any manners? The forbidden forest at night belongs to its inhabitants."

Regulus stood still, not in a hurry to make a move.

His gaze swept over Aragog, over Mosage, and over the adult giant spiders that gradually emerged from the webs and shadows, partially surrounding him.

Each of them is the size of a small pony, with its chelipeds opening and closing, making a menacing clicking sound.

"I've come tonight to ask for your help with an experiment." His tone was calm, yet remarkably clear in the empty nest.

They said "please" but their words were hardly polite. However, since Aragog was willing to communicate, they decided to do so first.

Besides, he was somewhat curious about Aragog.

"Experiment?" Aragog lowered its top pair of eyes, its chelicerae suddenly opened, fully exposing the dark red inner walls, with barbs standing upright on them.

Its forelegs slammed heavily onto the velvet floor, causing several spiderwebs around it to tremble: "Using my people? For experiments?"