Hogwarts: The Witch Education Handbook

Chapter 204 Lockhart's Choice

Chapter 204 (Bonus Chapter) Lockhart's Choice

Lockhart was terrified when he saw Harry and Ron being carried away by spiders the size of people.

For a fleeting moment, he thought he had entered the world of his own novel.

Should we follow them?

Or... go back to the castle?

Two completely different options appeared in his mind, leaving him hesitant.

Lockhart's heart pounded in his chest, sweat dripped down his forehead, and his gaze lingered on Harry and Ron's receding figures and the road they were taking back.

The former means stepping into the unknown and danger, possibly facing a real adventure he has never experienced before; the latter only requires him to quietly walk back and then pretend that nothing happened...maybe he can even have a sweet dream.

Lockhart is now facing a choice he must make.

Harry suddenly realized that the spider that had thrown him away was talking.

Its voice is not easy to hear because it makes a clicking sound with its large claws every time it utters a word.

"Aragok!" it called urgently, "Aragok!"

From the depths of that misty, egg-shaped spiderweb, a spider the size of a small elephant slowly crawled out.

Its body and long legs were covered in gray-black color, its ugly head was covered with large claws, and each eye was covered with a blurry white layer; clearly, it was blind.

"What happened?" it asked with a clicking sound, its two large claws moving rapidly.

"It's a human," the spider that had just captured Harry replied.

"Is that Hagrid?" Aragog asked as he moved closer, his eight milky-white eyes looking around blankly.

"It's a stranger," the other spider carrying Ron said, clicking away.

"Kill them," Aragog commanded irritably, the clicking of his fingers becoming more rapid. "I'm resting. We're Hagrid's friends!" Harry shouted, his heart pounding as if it would leap out of his chest and escape through his throat.

Click-clack, click-clack, the sound of the spider's large claws dancing echoed throughout the entire depression.

Aragok hesitated.

"Hagrid has never sent anyone to our camp before," it said slowly.

"Hagrid's in trouble," Harry said, panting, "that's why we're here."

"Trouble?" the old spider asked. Harry sensed a hint of concern in the clicking of its pincers. "But why did he send you?"

Harry tried to stand up, but ultimately decided to stay on the ground; he felt his legs could no longer support his weight. He lay there, trying to keep his voice calm.

"The people at the school believe that Hagrid recently released something—something—to harm the students. They took him to Azkaban."

Crackling sounds echoed as Aragog angrily swung his large claws, a sound that was met with a chorus of spiders in the hollow; it was like applause, except that normal applause wouldn't have evoked such fear and nausea in Harry.

"But that was many, many years ago," Aragok said irritably. "Many, many years ago. I remember it very clearly."

That's why they kicked him out of school. They believed I was the monster living in what they called the secret chamber. They thought Hagrid had opened the chamber and released me.

"So you didn't come out of the Chamber of Secrets?" Harry asked, feeling a cold sweat break out on his forehead.

"Me!" Aragog said angrily, cracking his large claws. "I wasn't born in a castle. I come from a faraway land. Before I hatched from my egg, a traveler gave me to Hagrid."

"Hagrid was just a child then, but he took care of me, hiding me in a cupboard in the castle and feeding me breadcrumbs that were scattered on the table."

"Hagrid is my good friend, he's a good man."

"When people found me and demanded I take responsibility for a girl's death, he protected me. I've lived in this forest ever since, and Hagrid often comes to visit me."

"He even found me a wife—Mossag. You can see how prosperous our family has become; it's all thanks to Haig."

Harry mustered the last bit of courage he had left.

"So you've never—never—attacked anyone?"

"No," the old spider said resentfully, "I do have that instinct, but out of respect for Hagrid, I've never harmed a single person. The victim's body was found in a washroom. And apart from the cupboard where I grew up, I've never seen anywhere else in the castle. We spiders like darkness and silence—"

"But did you know what killed that girl back then?" Harry said. "Because whatever it was, it's back and attacking people now—"

Suddenly, a series of clicking sounds filled the air as countless long legs moved across the ground; a massive black shadow swayed around him.

“That creature that lives in the castle,” Aragok said, “is an ancient creature that we spiders fear most. I remember clearly begging Hagrid to let me go when I sensed that beast roaming around the school.”

"What is it?" Harry asked eagerly.

The clicking sounds grew louder, and the hissing sounds became more frequent, as if the spiders were closing in.

"We won't say!" Aragog said emotionally. "We won't reveal its name! I haven't even told Hagrid the name of that horrible creature, even though he's asked me many times."

Harry didn't want to pursue the topic any further, especially with the spiders gathering from all directions.

Aragok seemed unwilling to speak.

It slowly retreated back into its hemispherical web, but its spider companions continued to move slowly, inch by inch, toward Harry and Ron.

"Then let's go!" Harry shouted to Aragog without hesitation, as he heard the leaves rustling behind him.

"Leave?" Aragok said slowly. "I don't think so—".

"But—but—"

"My children obeyed my orders and did not harm Hagrid. But fresh human flesh was delivered to their door, and I could not stop them from enjoying it. Farewell, Hagrid's friend—"

Harry turned around and saw, a few steps away, high above him, a solid, towering wall of spiders.

The large claws clicked and clattered, and many eyes gleamed on those ugly black heads. Harry pulled out his wand, but he knew it was no use.

There were too many spiders; his heart was filled with despair.

But just as he struggled to his feet, ready to fight to the death, someone he never dreamed of emerged from the bushes ahead.