Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 245 The Monster in the Spider's Nest

Seeing that his three companions all agreed with his suggestion, Harry's eyes shone even brighter: he suddenly realized his place in this little group.

They're not translators or NPCs giving out quests; they're genuinely useful team members!

"I'm going back to my dorm to get my Nimbus 2000—"

Before Harry could take a step, Daphne stopped him.

"No need, I have a better broom." With that, she took out a small leather bag about the size of her palm and pulled out a flying broom from it.

Harry: ?

If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would never have believed that such a small bag could hold a flying broom. And the broom Daphne was holding was so beautiful!

Harry couldn't take his eyes off the Firebolt the moment he saw it.

He had thought Nimbus 2000 was the pinnacle of flying broomsticks in terms of appearance, but compared to Firebolt, Nimbus 2000 was like a Renault parked next to a Porsche.

"This is……?"

"The prize for the dueling tournament, a beta version of the flying broom given to Professor Flitwick by a friend. It's said to be better than any flying broom on the market." Daphne handed the broom to Harry and removed the performance restrictions from it.

Harry rode on his broomstick and with a gentle push, he soared into the sky.

The Firebolt seemed to be venting its anger by pushing its performance to the limit, almost throwing Harry off at first. But once the Firebolt reached its maximum speed, Harry quickly adapted to it and then completely fell in love with the broom.

For a fleeting moment, Harry even had the urge to trade half his savings for the broom. But reason quickly prevailed—he was going to spend the rest of his life in the wizarding world; he had to be frugal. If he spent all the money his parents had left him, could he really go back to Devonshire and live with the Dursleys?

After trying to calm his excited emotions, Harry rode his broom back to the ground.

"It's a great broom." Harry hovered steadily in front of the three of them, first praising the firebolt Daphne had provided, and then asking if they could begin their operation.

Despite Harry's best efforts to restrain himself, Daphne could still see the love for the broom in his eyes.

For a fleeting moment, Daphne had the idea of ​​gifting the Firebolt to Harry—this superb broom was truly a gem in her hands, and Potter was the one who could truly bring out its full potential.

"Go find the spider's nest first; we still need to make some preparations here." Astoria told Harry the next steps in their battle plan—Daphne's Nightmare had been kept by Hagrid in the school's hunting grounds, and it was time to take it out for a spin. With the Nightmare's assistance, they could advance quickly through the forest, greatly reducing the time it would take to reach the spider's nest.

Harry nodded, indicating that he understood their intentions.

With a gentle flick of his broom, he soared into the night sky, flying like a light bird over the forbidden forest.

"Sister, he's more suited to be the master of this broom than you are." Astoria couldn't help but sigh as she watched Harry skillfully maneuver the fire bolt through the air.

"You talk too much nonsense." Daphne glared at Astoria, then hurried toward the school's hunting grounds.

……

"Salazar, even your apprentice can't ride a flying broomstick?"

"You talk as if your apprentice can ride a horse!"

In a dark corner, a human and a ghost whispered and undermined each other—in fact, of the four of them, only Gryffindor was good at riding brooms; the others weren't very good at it, especially Ravenclaw, who was a vehicle killer as she couldn't even drive a carriage properly.

"Speaking of which, someone has already perfected your clumsy self-driving spell."

"Stop right there! What do you mean by 'clumsy spell'?!"

……

The Hunting Grounds were a clearing on the edge of the Forbidden Forest that the school had set aside to raise livestock and protect the magical creatures needed for the Magical Creatures class. Daphne's Nightmare was kept there.

Upon reaching the fence of the hunting grounds, Daphne gently called out, and a black skeletal horse with blue flames on its hooves galloped out from the depths of the hunting grounds—it recognized Daphne at a glance and responded to her call.

"I need your help." Daphne asked for help after gently patting Nightmare's skeletal head a few times.

Upon seeing the nightmare, Hermione's mouth gaped open, momentarily lost in thought: she had heard the rumor before, knowing that Daphne had been bound to an ancient wizard's artifact. But considering that Daphne had never come forward to confirm these rumors, she had always regarded them as hearsay.

But today, Daphne actually summoned a magical creature that looked truly extraordinary!

"What is this...?" Hermione couldn't help but point at the nightmare and ask.

"It's Nightmare. I got it from a crystal ball last year." Daphne briefly explained the origin of Nightmare to Hermione before taking it out of the hunting grounds.

When they returned to the edge of the Forbidden Forest, Harry was already back where he started. He brought good news: he had found the spider's nest.

Finding the spider's nest wasn't difficult, because from the sky, the giant spider's lair was as conspicuous as a landmark—it was a large patch of deathly gray-white, like a festering sore stuck to the Forbidden Forest, impossible to miss.

Upon learning that Harry had found the spider's nest, Daphne immediately decided to head towards it.

……

After sunset, most creatures in the Forbidden Forest retreat to their nests to rest, with only a few nocturnal animals like owls venturing out to hunt. The giant spiders are no exception; they return to their nests with the prey they caught during the day.

One of the spiders looked rather strange: a huge lump protruded from its back, and the lump throbbed like a heart, drawing nutrients from the spider's body into its shell.

This behavior had been going on for an unknown period of time, but the spider it had possessed was clearly unable to hold on any longer. Its abdomen had shrunk, its movements had become unusually slow, and it walked with a swaying gait, as if it were drunk.

The spider's unusual behavior attracted the attention of many of its kind. They gathered around it, their large pincers clashing together, making a "click-clack" sound.

They are very concerned about the health of their kind, but they don't take care of sick companions; rather, they want to divide up their bodies when they die.

After its final sucking, the spider with the tumor was drained of its last bit of nutrients, and it lay on the ground, no longer moving.

The surrounding spiders crawled to its side, first probing with their limbs to confirm that the parasitized spider was dead. Then, the surrounding spiders had no more scruples and swarmed forward to devour their dead kin.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

First update delivered, second update coming soon~

(End of this chapter)