The days at Hogwarts

Dumbledore, dressed in a white robe, was talking to another stranger, who seemed to be the leader of those people.

The man was short, stocky, with a mop of gray hair and an anxious look on his face. His clothes were a strange hodgepodge: a pinstriped suit, a bright red tie, a black cape, and purple pointed boots. Under his arm he held a dark green top hat.

"That's my dad's boss!" Ron's voice was even quieter. "Cornelly Fudge, Minister of Magic!"

Loren looked at the Aurors and the Minister of Magic.

The magic fluctuations of the Aurors were not strong, at least much weaker than those of the professors at Hogwarts. There were the same magic light balls on their wrists and waists, and they seemed to be wearing some standard equipment. The not-so-sophisticated alchemy array revealed the function of the equipment, a crude one-time defense that transmitted simple information within a certain range.

It seemed that the defensive equipment could not withstand his full-strength attack and could only prevent sneak attacks. Loren roughly estimated that he could deal with five Aurors of this level alone.

As for the Minister of Magic, it seems that his magical level is not as high as that of these Aurors.

In order to hear the conversation inside the house, Loren and others tiptoed through the bushes, passed through the fence of Hagrid's pumpkin patch, and hid under the wooden steps in front of the cabin.

In the room, Fang, who had been staying at Hagrid's feet, suddenly raised his head, barked twice toward the door, and then kept circling around Hagrid's trouser legs.

Hagrid, who had been keeping his head down, opened his eyes and looked out the door, but saw nothing. He smiled silly and gently rubbed Fangs with his feet to make it sit quietly.

"I hope you understand, Cornelius, that I have complete trust in Hagrid." Dumbledore's voice.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. We have to do this. There have been two attacks on Muggles, and the school board has made a collective complaint. The Ministry of Magic can't just sit there and do nothing. And, Albus, as you know, Hagrid's criminal record is very unfavorable to him. After communicating with the school board, we have to take some measures."

This was the voice of Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic.

"He should not be imprisoned without solid evidence." Dumbledore's voice sounded very serious.

"Of course, Albus, I assure you, he will not be put in Azkaban."

Fudge paused, his tone full of gloating, "Albus, as your friend, I want to remind you that some people on the board of directors are unwilling to hand over the management of the school. You have to be prepared."

"I will see to it," said Dumbledore.

"Well, let's go!" Fudge played with his top hat and came to the open space in front of the hut, waiting for Hagrid to walk in front of him.

But Hagrid stood still. He took a deep breath and said carefully, "If anyone wants to find something, they just need to follow the spider and they will find themselves in the right direction! That's all I have to say."

After saying that, he walked over to the astonished Fudge.

The Aurors formed a circle, and with a loud bang, they disappeared with Fudge and Hagrid.

Dumbledore waited for a moment, then slowly walked down the steps and said inexplicably, "The centaurs in the forest are very friendly."

"Bang"

After a slight sound, Dumbledore also disappeared.

Chapter 207 Aragog

In less than a few minutes, the cabin that was originally packed with people became empty. The goose-feather snow fell softly from the sky. The biting cold wind made the door of the cabin sway slightly, making a harsh creaking sound.

Yaya came running out of the hut. He could smell something but couldn't see anyone. He ran around the steps, barking anxiously.

Loren and his men showed up with complicated expressions. Harry's mind was blank, and he was still trying to process the fact that Hagrid had been captured.

"Hagrid, Hagrid is clearly innocent! He wasn't in the castle when the attacks took place!" Harry was furious and growled with gritted teeth, "Those Acromantulas were also in the Forbidden Forest. The people from the Ministry of Magic clearly had no evidence, yet they just arrested Hagrid!"

Ron leaned against the wall of the cabin in a daze. "This is not the normal procedure. Hagrid should have received an owl summons first... How could it be that the Minister of Magic is leading the team personally..."

Hermione's brows were tightly furrowed as she thought about what Hagrid had said before he left, and the message left by Dumbledore.

From the moment he saw the note, Loren knew that things were not beyond Dumbledore's control. So he was not worried about Hagrid, but was more concerned about the meaning of those two sentences between Hagrid and Dumbledore.

It bared its teeth and made a "lu-lu-lu" sound from its throat, and its short and powerful tail was shaking rapidly.

"Calm down, now is not the time to worry about procedures."

Loren knelt down and rubbed Fang's head to calm the agitated hound, "Hagrid and Dumbledore must have discovered us, and they are sending us a message. If we can find the true heir to the Chamber of Secrets, or resolve the threat of the basilisk, Hagrid will be fine."

Hermione nodded in agreement. "I think Hagrid means for us to go to the Forbidden Forest to find Aragog. That giant eight-eyed spider may have clues about the basilisk."

Harry's eyes lit up. They had always overlooked the fact that Aragog, like Hagrid, was also an eyewitness to the Chamber of Secrets incident.

"Hagrid and Dumbledore left Fang here so that he could lead us to the lair of the Acromantula." Loren scratched the hound's chin. "Right, Fang?"

Yaya seemed to understand their conversation and immediately jumped out, wandering around the path leading deep into the forbidden forest, making bursts of urging calls.

"Let's go, Hagrid is waiting for us to save him." Loren rushed to follow, followed by Hermione and Harry.

In just a few words, they had already set out to find the nest of the giant spider. Ron stared at their backs in amazement, gritted his teeth, and followed them.

The group followed Fang and quickly walked through the Forbidden Forest. The cold wind and snow blew on their faces, and the cool feeling penetrated into their brains, stimulating Ron to get goose bumps all over his body. "It's winter now, and the Acromantula tribe should be hibernating. Will it be useful for us to find Aragog?"

Loren then remembered that Ron had arachnophobia, and chuckled to comfort him, "Don't worry, the Acromantula is a magical animal. They hibernate only to save energy, and they won't fall asleep like ordinary animals. Don't forget, we saw an awakened Acromantula last year."

That meant they might see a whole nest of Acromantulas, alive and crawling around. Ron looked distressed.

Listening carefully to the sound of branches breaking and leaves rustling, Yaya was running and skipping not far ahead of them, occasionally stopping to dig up the snow on the ground and sniff the roots and leaves to determine the direction.

After running for who knows how long, no one spoke. Harry wanted to say something to break this atmosphere: "Why didn't Dumbledore take the Aurors to find Aragog to prove Hagrid's innocence and get clues about the basilisk? I mean, they are much faster than us, aren't they?"

Since Mr. Weasley worked at the Ministry of Magic, Ron knew something about this: "As a magical animal, the Acromantula's words cannot be used as evidence."

"There are other reasons as well. Do you remember that the Minister of Magic mentioned the school board?"

This level of running was easy for Hermione. She was thinking about the details of what she had just heard the whole time. "The board of directors was very dissatisfied with the reforms initiated by Professor McGonagall. They believed that these actions undermined the board's management of the school, so they united to put pressure on the Ministry of Magic and took Hagrid away. Student safety was just an excuse. They wanted to use Hagrid to drag Dumbledore into the water and regain control of the school."

Hermione said angrily, "I dare say that Dumbledore's every move is under their surveillance. He can't get any useful clues. This is why Dumbledore entrusted us to investigate the Chamber of Secrets. Those people on the board of directors are hoping for more attacks so that they will have a reason to replace Dumbledore!"

Harry and Ron opened their mouths in shock and drank a mouthful of snow.

They thought that a basilisk was a basilisk, a secret room was a secret room, and student safety was the root of all problems.

It was totally unexpected that the incident in the Chamber of Secrets was also mixed with the power struggle between the school board and Dumbledore. In order to fight for power, they even did not hesitate to hold Dumbledore back and hinder the progress of the investigation.

"That Cornelius Fudge is obviously not a good person!" said Harry angrily.

Ron echoed, "Indeed! How abominable! He's in cahoots with Malfoy and the others!"

Loren followed Fang in silence, remembering what Snape had once mentioned about financial independence.

After the Grindelwald incident, Dumbledore feared power like a vicious curse and avoided it. For decades, he did not think about expanding his power, nor did he make any changes to the system of Hogwarts.

The recent changes were proposed by Professor McGonagall. The deans of the colleges, led by Professor McGonagall, are committed to promoting the independence of Hogwarts, not only to get rid of the control of the Board of Directors, but also to get rid of the control of the Ministry of Magic.

Dumbledore's energy is mainly spent on Harry's savior training plan...

Low branches and thorny vines often caught their robes, and the mud on them stuck to the magic robes, and the snow melted and left yellow mud marks. After running for about half an hour, they noticed that the roadside turned into a downhill road, and the ground seemed to be sloping down.

Yaya suddenly let out a loud bark that echoed throughout the woods.

Noticing Yaya's abnormality, the four people behind stopped and began to be alert to the surrounding environment.

"Did Fang find anything?" Ron asked loudly in panic. He grabbed Harry's arm with one hand and couldn't help looking into the woods, afraid that a giant acromantula would suddenly jump out from somewhere.

Shadows floated in Loren's eyes. He looked around and took out his wand with a heavy face: "Friends, we have arrived at our destination."

Hermione, Harry and Ron also took out their wands and looked around vigilantly.

Click click click…

Click click click…

Click click click…

The sound of shells colliding continuously came from all directions. Under the roots of trees, piles of snow suddenly rose and arched, then were shaken off, revealing cocoons made of spider webs underneath, or more appropriately called sleeping bags. In the middle of the many hemispherical spider webs, eight-eyed giant spiders that had just been awakened from their deep sleep slowly emerged.

Each one was as big as a cart horse, black and hairy, with eight eyes, six strangely long, hairy legs, and a pair of large, shiny black claws on the front two.

Ron felt as if his feet were filled with lead, stuck firmly in the snow, unable to move.

It took them some time to wake up, and after noticing that four fresh blood and flesh had arrived in the nest, they let out waves of excited roars:

"Aragog!"

"Aragog!"

A spider as big as a baby elephant groped out from behind a tree. Its body and legs were black mixed with gray, and its eight eyes were covered with a layer of white film on its ugly head. It was blind.

Aragog was a little irritated and was communicating with a giant Acromantula next to him:

"what happened?"

"people."

"Is that Hagrid?"

"It's a stranger."

"Kill them! We should be sleeping!"

He had sweated a lot while running, and now that he was standing here, the wind was blowing and he felt a little cold. But after hearing what Aragog said, Loren felt his blood warm up again, and he slowly moved his wand to point at the old, blind giant spider.

Hermione stood beside him, keeping an eye on the blind spot in his line of sight. She whispered, "Are you sure?"

"Don't worry, you can always run away if you can't win."

The eight-eyed giant spider that was pointed at by the magic wand suddenly felt a biting cold, and the hair on its body stood up, as if it was being stared at by some terrifying beast. It stood there for a moment, stunned and dared not attack.

Loren turned his wand and cast a piercing spell: "【Thunderbolt Piercing】"

Red light shot out from the tip of the wand and hit a thick beech tree, which exploded with a roar and a puff of black smoke. After the smoke dispersed, a huge hole was revealed.

The eight-eyed giant spiders around all retreated a distance.

Loren shouted, "We are Hagrid's friends."

The spider beside Aragog whispered something, swung its pincers in their direction, and said slowly, "Hagrid never sent anyone to our hollow before."

Harry took a deep breath and stood up, the cold air flowing down his trachea and straight into his chest: "Hagrid is in trouble, so we are here."

"trouble?"

"The Chamber of Secrets has been opened again, and the Ministry of Magic has taken Hagrid away. We need clues about the Chamber of Secrets," Harry paused, "and about the Basilisk."

"Basilisk!"

"No wonder there seem to be more spiders escaping into the Forbidden Forest."

Hearing the word "basilisk", many eight-eyed giant spiders shook their claws restlessly, and countless long legs moved rustlingly, making rapid clicking sounds.

"We have found the basilisk..." Aragog was also a little frightened, but soon the fear turned into annoyance: "You shouldn't provoke it! I didn't even tell Hagrid the name of that terrible creature, although he asked me many times. If it enters the Forbidden Forest, it will be a terrible disaster for all creatures!"

It knows news about the basilisk!

Harry showed a look of surprise: "What other clues do you know? Tell us quickly, we need clues to save Hagrid!"

"You shouldn't provoke it. It's a good thing to let it stay in the castle." Aragog said quietly, "Since fresh human flesh is delivered to our door, we will accept it..."

Spiders gathered from all directions and slowly approached them inch by inch.

"【Repel with all your strength】"

Dazzling magical light burst out from the tip of Loren's wand, and several enhanced repelling spells knocked over the several eight-eyed giant spiders closest to them. The magic wrapped around the spiders and they didn't stop until they crashed into the tree trunk behind them. The snow on the branches fell down, burying the spiders under the tree in the snow again.

Loren did not kill Aragog immediately because Aragog was Hagrid's friend. He was also worried about provoking the Acromantula's ferocity. If the two sides fought to the death, several people nearby might get hurt.

But the warning spell not only failed to calm them down, but the spiders became even more ferocious. The eight-eyed giant spider standing next to Aragog shouted, "Form an iron wall! Catch them!"

The spiders moved their limbs together and raised their claws to form a solid, tall wall, hiding their fragile bodies behind it. The spider wall slowly approached them.

Yaya, who was standing in the front, was very smart. He noticed something was wrong and quickly jumped out from the gap in the encirclement without being held back by the others.

Loren tried firing a few more repulsive spells. The spells hit the spider wall and caused some fluctuations, but failed to knock the target away.

Hermione's fire spell burned on the big black claws, but only burned some black hairs to ashes, and failed to ignite anything in the snow and ice.

Harry's Disarming Charm had no effect. Ron held back his fear and gritted his teeth as he cast a few spells, but the power was not as strong as his usual practice.

"What should I do?" Ron panicked.

"Testify for me. If Hagrid investigates, they were the first to attack." Loren turned around and said leisurely.

"[Thunderbolt Piercing]"

Magic power accumulated at the tip of the wand, emitting a blazing red light. The magic beam, which was thicker than a tree trunk, bombarded the wall of spiders like an aurora.

boom!

Hermione and the others felt the entire depression shake and a heat wave hit them.

A small mushroom cloud rose up, and the expansion of the air caused by the explosion formed an air wave visible to the naked eye that swept through the area within a radius of more than ten meters, and all the snow hanging on the treetops was shaken off.

When the smoke cleared, the snow on a patch of ground in the center of the depression melted, but the plants lying underneath did not come back to life and were all burned to ashes.

It looked like a big fight, but the casualties of the Acromantulas were relatively good. Apart from the few Acromantulas that were facing the spell in the middle of the wall and could no longer be put together, most of them were lying on the ground in pieces, with only some limbs missing, and their heads and bodies were still intact.