A certain Hogwarts professor of runes

Chapter 227 The New King

Felix hesitated for a moment, then turned to ask Gork, the eight-eyed giant spider, "If you were to manage this colony of eight-eyed giant spiders, could you do it, Gork?"

He felt the large spider beside him tremble, its claws tightening, squeezing the wine glass even flatter.

Felix quickly touched it with his wand, and Gork went limp uncontrollably. The goblet detached from the giant claw and floated to his feet. Felix glanced inside and said uncertainly, "It should be alright..."

Aragok angrily shouted, "Wizard, what do you want to do!"

But no one paid it any attention. Felix waited for Gork's reply, and time seemed to drag on. Finally, Gork answered him, "I think I can do it." It knew it had boarded this wizard's pirate ship.

Felix smiled with satisfaction: "You'll be able to control your people, won't you?"

Gok said emphatically, "Yes!"

Aragog was furious. It swung its large claws and shouted, "Go, kill that wizard, kill that traitor!"

The eight-eyed giant spiders behind it quickly approached, and several of them had already jumped up, but Gork made no move. It knew that the wizard would solve all the problems.

Everything unfolded as if a scene from the past had been reenacted. Felix held a violently spinning spherical vortex, his body surrounded by hundreds of blue magical lines. Under the terrifying suction, the giant spiders were dragged closer without any chance of resistance, shrinking to the size of a fingernail.

Felix stared at the dozens of eight-eyed giant spiders in the vortex and exclaimed in awe, "Every time I see them, I'm amazed by the wonder of magic."

Gok said dejectedly, "Me too."

There were no more eight-eyed giant spiders larger than a pumpkin on the sunken ground. From an observer's perspective, Gork could see more clearly that he had been just as helpless back then.

Felix waved his wand, causing the shrunken spiders in the vortex to float in mid-air, along with the countless others in the goblet, all struggling violently. "Tell me, Gork, what will be your obstacle?"

Gork examined the eight-eyed giant spiders floating in mid-air, hesitated, and pointed to a few. "They've eaten people. They weren't Hogwarts students, but Muggles and wizards who strayed into the Forbidden Forest. There's also a werewolf."

Felix nodded, then flicked out a few pale white flames from his fingertips, burning them to ashes in the blink of an eye.

"Is there anything else?"

Gok said, trembling, "Besides, besides Aragok... there's nothing else."

"Very good," Felix said, as he put Aragog into a glass bottle and flung the rest of the eight-eyed giant spiders to the ground, restoring them to their original state.

His surroundings suddenly became crowded, with the large spiders stacked on top of each other in several layers, like a high circular wall.

"Gork, I won't keep you from conquering the tribe any longer. We'll celebrate your becoming the new king another day." Felix prepared to leave.

"Mr. Hay, Mr. Hayp," Gork asked, "Aragok... what are you going to do with it?"

Felix said calmly, "It's old and sick. I'll take it to Hagrid and let him take care of it. Maybe it can live a few more years."

Felix stuffed the glass bottle, along with the new prisoner inside, into his pocket, took out a flying broom from his ring, and soared into the sky.

……

As evening fell, Harry, Ron, and Hermione knocked on Hagrid's door.

Hagrid glanced at them suspiciously, then looked at the sky outside and muttered, "It's not too late yet, come in." He made way for them.

Harry was covered in mud, still clutching his flying broomstick—he had just finished training and was exhausted. He plopped down on the mat, not wanting to move an inch.

Ron's eyes searched rapidly, and he soon spotted the three-headed dog, Lou Williams, under the small table. He went over, pulled him out, and hugged him. "Professor Hyp has been here? When we last came, Lou Williams was already as big as his teeth."

"Yes," Hagrid said, sounding somewhat downcast.

"Hagrid, what happened?" Hermione asked.

"Is it that obvious?" Hagrid pointed in Ron's direction and said, "It's Aragog..." Only then did Ron see a spider the size of a fist lying on the dirty mat.

Ron screamed and backed away. He was terrified of this thing, especially since it seemed to be an old spider with half-black and half-gray fur and hazy gray eyes, which looked very frightening.

Harry wasn't particularly afraid. He said with a puzzled look, "You seem to have mentioned the name Aragog before..."

Hermione reminded him, "That's the name of an eight-eyed giant spider that Hagrid kept fifty years ago. That's why people mistakenly thought he opened the Chamber of Secrets in Slytherin."

Harry suddenly realized, but then a new question arose: "But the giant spiders in the pictures are all huge... Oh, I know, Professor Hyp made them, just like Fluffy?"

“That’s right,” Hagrid muttered. “Felix came by this morning and told me a few things. I didn’t expect Aragog to be like this… Oh well, it’s old anyway.”

He stopped at a crucial point, which piqued the curiosity of Harry, Hagrid, and the others. But Hagrid wouldn't tell them, and there was nothing they could do.

Hermione couldn't help but say, "Hagrid, I read in a book that the venom of the Octopod is extremely poisonous."

Hagrid waved his hand. "It's too old to produce venom anymore, and it's blind, so it can't hunt in the wild. It's only because the giant spiders in the Forbidden Forest are its offspring that... Well, this is fine. I'll keep it, so I don't have to worry about it being eaten by other spiders."

The three took turns cuddling the three-headed dog, and Louie resigned himself to his fate without struggling. The three heads scrambled for the rock cake in Ron's hand. Ron seemed quite enthusiastic about this activity, tirelessly feeding the rock cake to its three mouths.

"Don't feed it too much!" Hagrid roared. "It'll have indigestion."

……

Harry and his two companions did not stay long; they promised Professor McGonagall that they must return to the castle before dark.

In the common room, Harry and Ron were doing their homework, but they seemed distracted. Harry sighed, pulled a piece of parchment and a notebook from his bag, and kept comparing them to the contents.

Ron leaned over for a glance, then immediately pushed his assignment aside. "Are you working on the paper Professor Hyp assigned you?"

Harry said, "Yeah, it's about the dueling system. I made a big claim."

"Is there anything difficult about it? Your disarming spell is already excellent."

"No, I can't rely on just a Disarming Charm. If Hermione were here... Hermione? Why didn't you go to Professor Hyp's office today?" Harry looked at the little witch opposite him with a puzzled expression.

Hermione looked up in a panic. "What? Oh, I don't have to go today."

Ron mocked her, "You didn't forget, did you? You've been acting really strange lately. Forgetful, and your words don't always flow..."

"Then you're wrong," Hermione said, standing ramrod straight and giving Ron a haughty look. "I'm setting up an ancient runes test for third-year students, if you think that's wrong."

Ron immediately stammered, "Third-year test questions, Hermione, this can't be...?"

"Yes, you'll see it next week," she said sternly.

Next, Harry watched with great interest as Ron continued to praise Hermione, hoping to get a sneak peek at the contents of the test. "Just a little something, Hermione, even a hint would be helpful..."

(End of this chapter)