I'm the King of Curry at Hogwarts

Chapter 160 The reason why top students are top students

Hermione had lost count of how many times she'd felt this terrified since arriving at Hogwarts, but thanks to her excellent training in the Mirror of Lewis's world, she still possessed the instinct to fight back. Unlike the two useless men who only knew how to huddle together in fear, Hermione's first reaction was to draw her wand and unleash a devastating explosion.

"Explosions are art," an artist named Patrick Star once said.

An artist of both high moral character and artistic talent.

The spider, in pain, hissed and retreated rapidly along the silk it had been lowered down.

"Don't just stand there!" Hermione shouted, "It looks like you two have some on your heads too, but I can't see them very clearly..."

Ron finally came to his senses, but it was too late. He felt as if he was being hugged by something long, furry, and a little prickly, with a clicking sound behind his ears.

"Ron!" Hermione called out anxiously, and casually shot out a blue-white beam of light.

A dull thud rang out, and Ron felt as if something had exploded behind him, with wet, splattered substance flying onto his face and body. The stench was so strong it almost made him faint.

The feeling was so unpleasant that Ron immediately and decisively vomited, looking as if he was going to throw up everything he had eaten yesterday.

"Harry..." Ron, still vomiting, didn't forget his good friend Harry. He looked up at Harry and found that Harry had dodged the spider's death by rolling around like a lazy donkey and even managed to return the spider's attack with a weapon.

The large black claw, which had been disarmed and knocked away, spun out and struck Ron on the head.

It hurts quite a bit.

Hermione gave him a thorough cleaning, removing the grime from his body, which finally stopped his nausea.

To be honest, the spider was indeed disgusting and scary, but under the threat to his life, Ron couldn't care less and began to draw his wand to fight back.

There didn't seem to be many spiders, and soon no new spiders joined the battle. Looking at the chaotic battlefield, the three of them exchanged glances and breathed a sigh of relief.

They didn't know whether to thank Louis or curse him—without him sending the three of them to the Forbidden Forest, they wouldn't have been in danger—but without Louis's dedicated instruction, they would never have been able to handle the situation they had just been in.

"Should we... go back?" Ron suggested, clearly tired of fighting spiders.

To be fair, if it weren't for the spider, Ron would never have backed down, but what can he do? He has arachnophobia.

Arachnophobia is one of the world's seven major phobias. People with animal phobia are afraid of certain animals, such as snakes, insects, and sharp-beaked animals. Contact with these animals can cause them to experience a strong sense of aversion. In severe cases, it can lead to cold sweats, rapid heartbeat, and even suffocation.

This is not Ron's fault; after all, it was a traumatic experience caused by his two bastard brothers when he was a child.

"We've come this far, are we really going to give up?" Hermione asked, unwilling to accept the situation.

Harry, too, organized his thoughts, trying to avoid hurting Ron with his words: "Ron, we've come this far, are you really going to give up?"

Ron shook his head hesitantly.

"I believe the best way to eliminate fear is to face it," Harry said earnestly. "Besides, lives are at stake; we have Tifa's life on our shoulders..."

"Ron, you wouldn't want such a cute and beautiful teacher to be eaten by spiders, would you?"

The last sentence was undoubtedly the most important bargaining chip, and Ron was immediately persuaded. In any case, his kindness would not allow him to disregard Tifa's life.

"Let's go, um, sorry," Ron apologized to the two of them, "Let's keep looking..."

Ya Ya barked reluctantly; being a coward, it really didn't want to continue walking with these three reckless kids.

But there was nothing it could do; it didn't want to go back alone... just a dog.

After walking downhill for a long time, the darkness in front of me was finally gone. Looking up, the lush tree canopy disappeared, replaced by a clear night sky. Moonlight poured down, and I could clearly see the road ahead.

This was a wide valley, with spider webs scattered everywhere. Under the moonlight, they saw the most terrifying scene they could ever imagine in their lives.

Spiders, spiders everywhere, densely covering the entire valley, each one as big as a small car, black and hairy, circling a misty, hemispherical spider web in the center, doing something, perhaps a religious ritual for the spiders.

The spiders were oblivious to what was happening; they were completely absorbed in their ritual, utterly focused.

Yaya, who used to be able to bark a couple of times, was now completely diarrhea-stricken and curled up into a small ball, looking as cowardly as could be.

Hermione stared wide-eyed at the spectacle before her, and after a long while, she finally uttered a swear word to express her feelings at that moment.

"What the hell is this?!" Hermione practically screamed, and Ron responded with his classic line, "Blood Mother Hell."

Oh, sharp-eyed Harry spotted it! In the middle of the spiders, there was something completely wrapped in spider silk, about half the length of a spider—and that thing was writhing incessantly.

Harry, struck by a sudden inspiration, quickly nudged Hermione and whispered, "Did you see that thing wrapped in webs in the center of the spider?"

"Where?" Hermione couldn't see clearly; she was actually a little nearsighted because she loved reading so much.

"That one...see it?"

Hermione squinted and searched for a long time, even casting Eagle Eye on herself, before she could finally see the spider web writhing and struggling over there.

"I saw it," Hermione nodded. "But something feels a little strange?"

"That's a person! Hermione!" Harry whispered. "That shape, Hermione, only a person could explain it..."

"Could it be Tifa, the assistant coach?" Ron interjected.

"Even if it wasn't Assistant Tifa, we can't just sit idly by!" Harry's sense of justice surged into his mind.

“Your idea is good, Harry, and I really want to save people too,” Hermione said, pointing to the endless swarm of spiders. “But have you thought about how we’re going to deal with this sea of ​​spiders…?”

"Ah, this..." Hermione's words dampened the enthusiasm of both of them considerably.

"But we can't just do nothing, can we?"

Compared to Great Britain, which is utterly lacking in morality, its people are not like their country at all. At least ordinary people would not stand by and do nothing while others are in trouble, but would offer them all support except for help.

"But we can't be reckless," Harry said, recalling the note, "These spiders must be Hagrid's friends..."

"Hagrid? He has these weird friends?" Ron's voice changed. "If you ask me, it's all his bad idea, following the spider..."

At this moment, the eight-eyed giant spiders finally discovered them. One team of spiders surrounded them from behind, while another team confronted them from the front.

"They must be intelligent beings. Since they're Hagrid's friends... I'll try to negotiate with them."

Harry gripped Hermione's wand, hesitantly stepped forward, and asked, "Do you know Aragog?"

The spider that was moving forward stopped abruptly, as did the spiders that were flanking it from behind.

Soon, the spiders whispered among themselves for a while and then chose a representative.

Harry listened intently for a long time before realizing they were talking. It was difficult to understand what they were saying because they would fiddle with their large claws for a while after each word.

"How do you know Aragog?" The spider struggled to raise its eight compound eyes, warily scrutinizing the human cub before it.

"He's a friend of a friend," Harry said. "Hagrid, you should know him. He seems to be in trouble and sent us to Aragog."

The spider turned around, touched its large pincers with the other spiders, and then said, "Come with me."

"Uh...we're not in danger, are we?" Harry asked cautiously.

Do you think you have a choice?

As soon as the spider finished speaking, all the spiders in the valley began to flick their large pincers in unison, the sound echoing throughout the entire valley.

The terror was indescribable; imagine it as being surrounded by a pack of wolves sharpening their teeth in front of you.

Moreover, given the size of the eight-eyed giant spider and the scale of its colony, even a pack of wolves wouldn't be enough to satisfy its hunger.

The three had no choice but to take Ya Ya and walk towards the middle.

The three of them stood next to the still-twisting object, and could hear it making a "whooshing" sound, like the sound a person makes when their mouth is gagged and they can't speak.

"Tifa, the teaching assistant?" Harry asked tentatively.

The object moved even more violently.

"Don't struggle yet. If you're Tifa's assistant instructor, struggle three times. Otherwise, do whatever you want," Hermione said.

The object indeed only struggled three times, and then lay down and didn't move after it finished struggling.

"Please wait a moment, we'll negotiate with the spider and rescue you right away," Hermione reassured Tifa.

Tifa was very well-behaved, lying down quietly without moving.

"Aragog, Aragog," the spider that first spoke to Harry called out to the circular web.

Then all the spiders joined him in chanting Aragog's name in unison.

After a while, I emerged from the hemispherical spider web from a giant spider that was several sizes larger than any other spider, about the size of a small truck.

Its body was black with gray undertones, giving it the appearance of an old person. Each of the eight eyes on its head, which had large claws, was covered by a white film, most likely indicating that it was an old blind man.

"What's going on?" he asked, his voice old and displeased. Harry could tell that Aragog was like Ron who had been disturbed from his sleep. If he were to say something like "blood mother hell," he would be a spider version of Ron.

"Human..." the spider replied.

"Is that Hagrid? How many times have I told you not to show hostility towards Hagrid? He's a benefactor of our family..." Aragog said, moving closer to Harry. His eight milky-white eyes looked around blankly and expectantly, as if he really missed Hagrid.

"No, no," the spider quickly explained, "It's a stranger."

Aragok's mood instantly turned to impatience: "You need to bother me with this little thing? I'm sleeping, just kill me... Oh, remember to leave me a leg."

Aragog's voice was so loud that not only Harry, but also Ron and Hermione heard it clearly. The three of them immediately felt as if they had fallen into an ice cave, and their hearts were pounding as if they were about to jump out of their throats.

Harry realized something was wrong and quickly protested, "We're Hagrid's friends, don't kill us..."

Click-clack, click-clack, just like Morse code, the giant eight-eyed spiders seemed to be communicating by rubbing their large claws, and the sound of the spiders rubbing their claws could be heard all over the depression.

Aragok hesitated, then asked skeptically, "Hagrid has never sent anyone to the Depression."

"Hagrid's in trouble," Harry said rapidly, his breath coming in short gasps. "That's why we've come to you for help."

"Trouble?" Aragog asked. Harry thought it couldn't be a hallucination; he could hear the concern in the spider's tone, especially since its large pincers were clicking rapidly.

"But why did he send you?"

Harry's mind raced. In that instant, his male instincts kicked in, and he quickly concocted a lie. He weighed his new story for a moment, then, suppressing his fear as much as possible, said calmly, "At school, someone recently released a monster. Several students have been petrified by it, and one student was even captured. So Hagrid decided to hunt the monster in the Chamber of Secrets, but he feels he's no match for it, so he sent us to the Forbidden Forest to seek your... um, the help of your people."

With such eloquence, it's a shame she's not on Zhihu (a Chinese Q&A website).

Share your improvised story. Thanks for the invitation. I'm in a spider cave, just got off the plane...

"Nonsense! That was years ago, fifty years ago!" Aragog angrily brandished his large claws. "You're lying to me, human cub! I remember it clearly. It was because of that incident that they made me leave the school. They believed I was the monster in that so-called secret chamber, that Hagrid opened the chamber and released me. But Hagrid is innocent!"

"Yes, yes, Hagrid told us about it," the quick-witted Hermione chimed in, feigning sudden realization. "No wonder Hagrid kept talking about vindicating Aragog; it turns out..."

Aragog suddenly stopped waving his large claw and asked hesitantly, "Hagrid... did Hagrid really say that?"

"Yes! I remember it very clearly!" Hermione said firmly.

Aragog was silent for a long time, then said somewhat dejectedly, "When I met Hagrid, he was just a little kid. He took me in, fed me breadcrumbs from the table—I should say he was my best friend, and a good man. But someone found me, a bad boy named Tom Riddle, who framed me and made me responsible for a girl's death—bullshit! I told Hagrid, 'Hagrid, you know me. If I did it, you'd see a little clump of cobwebs and a melting corpse…'"

"But only Hagrid believed me. He hid me, and I've been in this forest ever since. Hagrid comes to see me often, and he even found me a wife—look how prosperous our family is now, all thanks to Hagrid."

At this point, all the spiders excitedly waved their large pincers, making clicking sounds, seemingly echoing Aragog's words that "the family is thriving," which was truly chilling.

"But I have never hurt anyone! I respect Hagrid and do not wish to harm his own kind... I think that's why he was willing to clear my name..."

"Hagrid is in danger right now, aren't you going to help him?" Harry asked, his voice choked with emotion.

Now things got really complicated. A series of clicking sounds filled the air, and countless long legs moved rustlingly as a huge black shadow swayed around.

"The monster in that secret chamber is an ancient creature that we spiders fear most! It's our natural enemy!" Aragok's voice carried a hint of fear. "You can't force me to help Hagrid. When that beast was roaming the castle, I begged Hagrid to let me go... No, even if Hagrid has been kind to me, due to the suppression of our bloodline, we can't help him."

Aragok's voice became very agitated as he spoke.

"What exactly is that monster, and why does it scare you so much?" Harry asked curiously.

These words only fueled the spiders' commotion. Aragog exclaimed vehemently, "We won't tell it its name! I haven't even told Hagrid its name, even though he's asked me more than once. I dare not tell him!"

Harry didn't want to continue the conversation; he felt it was time to say goodbye.

"Alright, since you're not going to help your benefactor, then we'll just have to go back to the Chamber of Secrets and fight alongside him." Harry put on a righteous and awe-inspiring air, but his guilty conscience was visibly obvious.

Meanwhile, the leaves around them were rustling, and the rustling sound became even stronger.

"Leave? I don't think that's a good idea..." Aragok said slowly.

"Why?" Harry exclaimed, "Why don't you tell me about Wood, you old man?"

"My children obey my orders not to harm Hagrid, but when other fresh human flesh is delivered to my door, I can't stop them from enjoying it, so... Adios, Hagrid's friend..."

Aragok even said a Spanish phrase in a very fashionable way.

Almost instantly, the spiders swarmed in from all directions, forming a solid wall of steel. Their pincers clicked, and countless eyes gleamed with a dark light, twinkling like stars in the sky, yet they were ugly and repulsive.

Harry was desperate. The eight-eyed spiders in front of him seemed unwilling to let them go, and he was helpless.

Just when all hope seemed lost, Hermione let out a sharp scream.

Aragog—

Aragog heard the unfamiliar shouts and froze on the spot. He instinctively turned around to face the direction from which the sound came—even though he was blind.

In Harry's eyes, Hermione practically became a blur as she lunged at Aragog.

(End of this chapter)