Regulus of Hogwarts: Lord of the Stars

Chapter 337 Walking the Spider

When Agnes brought food yesterday, all the branches of this willow tree were drooping, and the bark was cracked; it looked almost as if it were dead.

Now, although the branches are still drooping, at least they are no longer lifeless, and a few are swaying slightly.

The color of the tree trunk surface has darkened, and the edges of the scars have become damp. Tender green buds have sprouted from the ends of several side branches, glistening in the sunlight.

She took a breath and then looked at Regulus.

He stood beside the willow tree that was known for its beating effect, his palms pressed against the trunk, his eyes closed, and a spider the size of a palm lay on his shoulder, its eight legs stretched out, motionless.

The man who hit Liu did not attack him.

Agnes thought for a moment, then raised her wand and cast an armor spell on herself before cautiously stepping inside.

"Mr. Black."

Regulus opened his eyes and looked over: "Ms. Agnes."

She placed the food box on the ground, the teapot floated to the side and landed, and said with a smile, "Happy New Year."

He smiled slightly and nodded, saying, "Happy New Year."

"I brought you Yorkshire pudding and roast beef," she said, crouching down and opening the food box. "There's also the last piece of Christmas pudding left, with brandy butter sauce."

Steam rose from the food container, carrying the aroma of Yorkshire pudding batter mixed with the fat of roast beef, which was especially distinct in the cool air.

"This is for the little spider."

She took a paper package out of her apron pocket, opened it, and inside was a palm-sized piece of raw venison, still bloody, and neatly cut.

Baruch lifted his head from Regulus's shoulder, his eight eyes fixed on the piece of venison, his claws opening and closing slightly.

Then he turned back to look at Regulus, his chelicerae clicking softly, and Regulus nodded slightly.

Baruch sprang off his shoulder, landing on his eight legs in front of the stone basin. Instead of eating, he looked up at Agnes, his pincers opening and closing with a short click.

"...Baruch..."

Agnes bent down and looked at the palm-sized spider.

She probably recognized its species long ago; it's not surprising that a witch who had spent her whole life dealing with nature would recognize the giant eight-eyed spider.

But she had never asked many questions before, and now she simply gave a gentle smile, her wrinkles deepening at the corners of her eyes: "Mr. Baruch, Happy New Year."

Baruch's chelicerae opened and closed even faster, clicking and clapping.

It probably didn't know what "sir" meant, but it had heard her name be Regulus, which was preceded by "sir," and that pleased it.

Its chelipeds opened and closed rapidly three or four times, making a series of rapid clicking sounds. Then it lowered its head and began to eat the venison, its two front legs resting on the edge of the stone basin, while its six hind legs were tucked in, eating quite elegantly.

Regulus glanced at it, and the corner of his mouth twitched.

"This willow tree," Agnes's gaze fell on the trunk beside her, her brow furrowing slightly, "I saw it yesterday..."

"Natural magic," Regulus said casually, "let's see if we can revive him."

Agnes's brow relaxed as she glanced at the scars on the tree trunk that had deepened again, and then at the tender buds sprouting from the ends.

"It's grown." Her tone was soft, but you could tell she was very happy.

People who have worked with plants for a long time are like this: they like to see them alive.

"The cycle has been rebuilt," Regulus said, adding, "It's a bit weak, but wait a little longer, and it'll be almost there."

Agnes nodded, then remained silent for a moment, looking at Regulus with some hesitation, as if she wanted to say something but couldn't.

Regulus didn't ask any further questions or make any guesses; he simply watched her and waited there.

Agnes was about to leave when she took two steps, stopped, turned around, and finally spoke: "Mr. Black."

She glanced at the coastline first, then looked at Regulus: "Snell Rock, that little island to the west... it's been stuck here for who knows how many years."

Regulus coughed lightly, feeling a little uneasy.

Snell Rock, that island has a name.

Once something has a name, someone will call it by name, and once they've called it by name, they'll remember it.

He felt a rare pang of guilt, so he tried to keep his tone calm and subtle: "Sorry, I accidentally made it heavy."

""

In the future, when looking for test targets, we need to go further afield. Even if the ones nearby are unclaimed, having names on them isn't ideal.

Agnes looked at him and remained silent for a while.

That island is so big, even if you're determined to sabotage it, you can't sink it. How could you possibly sabotage it by accident?

Then she waved her hand, her apron sleeves fluttering in the wind, and her tone was perfectly normal: "It's fine, it's just blocking the waterway anyway."

She looked at his face again: "The salamanders you requested are ready, four adults and two juveniles."

Upon hearing the word "salamander," Baruch lifted his head from the venison, his claws still streaked with blood, and quickly opened and closed them twice, making a clicking sound, appearing somewhat excited.

"Shall I deliver the cottage to you?" Agnes asked.

"Thank you for your help, Ms. Agnes," Regulus nodded in thanks. "Thank you."

Agnes smiled again: "Of course, Mr. Black."

She didn't say anything more, turned around and walked back, stepped over the rope, removed the armor spell, and walked away.

Baruch finished eating the venison, climbed back onto his shoulder, and opened and closed his claws.

"...island?"

Regulus lowered his hand, withdrew his natural magic, and began to eat.

The Yorkshire pudding was piping hot. I scooped up a big chunk and put it in my mouth. The brandy butter sauce had a rich aroma, and the roast beef was tender and juicy.

He replied while eating, "Island, about yesterday, I didn't take you."

Baruch lifted his front leg slightly and gestured in the air: "...Big?"

"It was quite large," Regulus nodded, "but it's gone now."

Baruch's chelicerae clicked twice, probably interpreting the absence of the larger creature as unimportant. It retracted its front legs and perched on his shoulder to begin digesting.

After finishing his meal, Regulus drank a few sips of tea and continued to place his hands on the tree trunk, infusing it with natural magic.

The afternoon sun was warmer than the morning sun.

With his eyes closed, the natural magic flowed from his palms into the tree trunk, and the circulation within the Willow Tree gradually strengthened.

This process reminded him of something.

He is rebuilding the cycle of a plant whose magic has been depleted, introducing magic from the outside to help its circulation start running again and restore its ability to absorb magic from the environment.

Baruch's transformation was another matter, grafting a foreign magical property onto a living being, causing it to grow new branches of magic.

The underlying logic of the two things is very similar: to integrate external magic into an existing system, allow the system and the new magic to integrate, and eventually operate stably.

The magic of nature can act as a glue in both of these things.

He didn't think much of it, but this idea would come in handy when he did more complex cross-species modifications on Baruch later.

As the sun slowly moved westward, he continued the irrigation until evening.

As the sun dipped below the horizon, he pulled his hand back from the tree trunk.

Once the natural magic was broken, the state of the Man-Beating Willow began to decline.

The dampness on the tree trunk surface was fading, the tender green buds stopped growing, and the branches that had been swaying slightly just moments before slowed down.

A few minutes later, it was much worse than at its best in the afternoon, but still much better than in the morning.

The buds are still there, they haven't withered away, and although the branches are moving slowly, they are still moving.

He pressed his hand against the tree trunk to sense it. The magic circulation had stabilized, and the root system was also absorbing environmental magic, but at a very slow pace. It was probably only enough to keep it alive, not enough for it to recover.

Far from healthy, but not dead.

It's unlikely to recover on its own; it will require professional help.

He could do it, but he didn't have time. He only had a few days left of his vacation, and he still had to modify Baruch.

Professor Sprout is the most authoritative witch in the field of magical plants in all of Britain. If anyone can bring back this Whomping Willow, it will be hers.

After school starts, I'll ask the professor if he'd be willing to grow another "Hitting Willow".

He walked out from under the tree. Baruch, who had been clinging to the trunk at some point, saw him move, spun out a strand of spider silk, swung himself over, and landed on his shoulder.

Regulus glanced at it sideways and said casually, "Let's take a walk."

He didn't add the Transfiguration Charm to Baruch.

Now that Agnes has already met him, there's no need to hide anymore; a talking spider can't be an ordinary spider.

Next, we'll modify it. It definitely needs to be restored to its normal size. It hasn't been back to its original size in a long time, so it'll be a good opportunity to move around.

A person and a spider walked towards the cliff.

The sea breeze blows from the west, and the withered grass on the ground bends to the east.

The sunlight slanted down from above the sea, casting long shadows on the ground. His shadow was long and thin, while Baruch's shadow was round and followed beside his head.

After walking for about twenty minutes, Regulus shrugged his shoulders, Baruch jumped down, and then his body began to change shape.

The transformation spell doesn't fade instantly; it's like a balloon being slowly inflated.

First, the torso expands, the area of ​​the carapace increases, and the bristles change from fine down to coarse bristles. Then the eight legs slowly lengthen, and the joints make a clicking sound.

Baruch looked down at his front legs, which were getting longer and longer, and paused for a moment.

It tried to walk forward, but found that its stride suddenly didn't match its leg length. Each step it took was much longer than expected, and it almost tripped over itself after taking two steps.

It quickly adjusted; the giant spider's nervous system reacts quickly, and its gait returned to normal within seconds, only the rhythm was different from before.

He took big strides, his footsteps thumping on the ground.

A dozen minutes later, the Transfiguration spell completely wore off, and an adult eight-eyed giant spider stood on the cliffs of Cornwall.

It is nearly two meters long, and its eight legs have an even wider span. Its carapace gleams with a deep brown sheen in the setting sun. Its bristles are thick and long, and its eight eyes are arranged in two rows, gleaming with a bright white light.

It's a whole size bigger than the last time we saw it in the Forbidden Forest.

After following Regulus, we had no worries about food or lodging, and we even got to eat dragon meat. The Forbidden Forest never had such conditions.

Perhaps also because he had broken away from the group and was no longer oppressed by it, he had grown a little taller without anyone noticing.

Baruch was visibly pleased after regaining his full size.

It first turned around in place, stomping its eight legs back and forth on the ground to make sure it could exert force.

Then suddenly he took off running, fast, with all eight legs landing alternately, kicking up clouds of dust and grass clippings.

It ran around Regulus in a big circle, one circle after another, faster and faster, its eight legs thumping on the ground, unable to stop.

After running two laps, it ran far away and disappeared behind the bushes on the edge of the cliff, but returned on its own in less than half a minute.

It stopped abruptly in front of Regulus, its eight legs plunging into the ground to halt, but the momentum caused it to slide forward half a meter, its bristles standing up and then falling back down.

Then it lowered its body, tucked its front legs together, braced its hind legs on the ground, flattened its carapace, and stared intently at him with all eight eyes.

A deep, rough clicking sound came from between its claws, deeper than when it was smaller: "...Regrus...get on..."

Regulus's lips curled up slightly, and with a gentle lift of his flight spell, he floated up and landed on Baruch's back armor, where he sat down cross-legged.

The carapace felt more stable than I expected; the curvature of the shell was just right for me to sit on, very stable.

Baruch stood up, turned and ran, faster than before, the wind pressure he created pressing a long furrow into the grass.

It ran along the edge of the cliff, with withered grass on the left and the sea on the right. The sea breeze blew from the side, lifting Regulus's robe to one side.

He sat on the spider's back, the setting sun shining from the right, the sea was orange-red, and the waves below the cliff crashed against the rock face with a series of muffled sounds.

Baruch ran for a while, then turned back, ran for a while, and then turned back again.

Each turnaround was a little further than the last, as if measuring my leg strength and endurance.

It is very happy.

The eight-eyed giant spider in the Forbidden Forest couldn't possibly dislike large size.

Size equals status, power, and the Forbidden Forest principle: I'm bigger than you, so I eat you.

Baruch had gotten used to living in a tiny size because he was following Regulus, and now that he was back to his original size, he was overjoyed.

Having run enough, Baruch stopped at the edge of the cliff, his round belly rising and falling slightly.

Regulus patted its carapace: "Let's go, go back, and become stronger."

Baruch's large claws clicked excitedly: "...Amazing...amazing..."

Then it carried Regulus to the hut, its eight long legs moving incredibly fast.

Upon reaching the door, Baruch rushed forward.

its stuck.

The two-meter-long, eight-eyed giant spider was so large that even its head couldn't fit through the door frame of the stone hut, which was about 1.2 meters wide.

Baruch stepped back, his eight eyes looked at the door frame, then at himself, and he raised his front leg slightly, probably for comparison.

After the competition, I realized I really couldn't get in.

It lay on the ground, its chelipeds clicking, looking rather unhappy.

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