When the light dropped them off in the Great Hall again, many of the people began asking him several different questions about the tools he used in the museum.

"Muggle science stuff, you wouldn't understand." said Harry to everyone who came up to him.

"Try me." said Dr. Clark with a smirk, when Harry absent mindedly told him the same thing.

Harry sighed, "What bit?"

"We'll start with that powder you dropped." said Sirius.

"Just regular powder with miniature crystals inside, they keep the lasers from disappearing for five minutes. After a while, they get absorbed into the floor, by the moisture lingering in the air." said Harry.

"And that ribbon, cloth thing." asked Remus.

"Just gossamer, normal fabric would completely stop the light from coming through if it accidentally hits one." said Harry. "Gossamer at least lets laser go through, if even a little bit."

"What about that gel stuff that made the glass shatter like that?" asked Ron.

"Just a compound my old chemistry teacher and I found. He couldn't really see a use, but I sure did." said Harry with a smile. "Anything else?"

"Yeah, that little black box, and that other powder stuff." asked Sirius.

"The box is an invention of mine," he said plainly and didn't extend on that. "the powder, was just soot with some chemicals in it, they build the fire back up again." said Harry.

Harry stood up and stretched his legs arms. "Well, it's too late to go and make something I think." he looked up at the sky and located the moon.

"Yeah, the house-elves are almost done. No point now." said Ron.

Suddenly, the doors flung open and two men came running in and shouting at the top of their heads.

"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED? WHERE'S JAMES? WHERE'S LILY? WHERE'S HARRY?"

One of the men, who had very long salt and pepper hair, which came all the way down to his calves in a long braid came up to Dumbledore, picked him up by the collar and brought him close to his own face.

"What…happened…to their house?" growled the man holding tightly to Dumbledore's collar.

"Rudolph, if you would let go of his throat, he'll tell you." said Bathilda shortly.

"Batty….what in blazes are you doing here, and what is going on? Why are the tables missing, and…" said the man with short blonde hair, looking around quickly.

"Rudolph, Leroy…" said Remus, he tried to speak, but couldn't find the words.

"Lily and James are gone." said Dumbledore sadly. "Voldemort killed them."

Rudolph and Leroy stared at Dumbledore in shock, and then they both fell to their knees and screamed out in pain.

Harry stared at the two men who were trying to pull out their hair, clench their fists and curse the sky. Sirius rushed over and pulled both men to their feet. He motioned Harry over to him.

"C'mere. Listen you two, Lily and James are gone, but someone is still here." He threw an arm around Harry's shoulders.

The blonde haired man blinked and placed a thin hand on Harry's cheek.

"I know that face. Can it be…" he whispered. "Rudy…look…"

Rudolph stopped weeping bitterly and looked over to where his partner was. He saw Harry.

"It can't be…is that you? It is...it's our little Harry." He said, his eyes brimming with tears.

Immediately, the two men enshrouded Harry with a hug and kissed the top of his head repeatedly.

"You're all grown up…" said Uncle Rudolph smiling and laughing. "I can't bounce you on me knee anymore. Oh my god, look at you." He ran his fingers through his great-nephew's hair. "How come you have white hair?"

"I've been sick." said Harry with a smile.

"With what? Rudy where is our bag?" said Leroy stammering.

"The illness already past." said Dr. Nicodemus. "Now we are merely waiting for his cores to come back online."

"What do you mean?" asked Ron.

"What he means is, I can't do magic, I'm extremely vulnerable."

The school went silent.

"How long will that take, for your magic to come back." asked McGonagall in a fearful whisper.

"Could be a day, a week, a month, or a whole year, we don't know." said Harry shrugging.

"It was another reason to bring more guards; I've got my entire company stationed outside these walls. I thought another two in here would do nicely." said Lionus seriously.

Some of the students looked around out the windows into the night sky. Harry looked up into the windows that lined the top part of the wall, and saw a fleeting glimpse of someone swooping past.

"Don't worry, you all are safe." He said with a smile.

A little past midnight, all the adults, including Lionus and Doctor Nicodemus stood in Dumbledore's office.

"So Harry has no magic, what's going to happen when we continue with these readings?" asked Sirius.

"The book has it's own magical stock, it won't feed on his." said Speckerton.

"So what can we do?" asked Tonks

"We can do nothing, but I can assure you, Harry won't be in any danger." said Speckerton.

"Every time we turn around, it seems that Harry's getting the stuffing taken out of him in some sort of way." said Sirius.

Do I really want to know?" asked Rudolph worriedly.

"We'd best tell them what is going on, or they'll never understand." said Flitwick.

It took the better part of two hours to tell them what has happened to their Great-Nephew.

Hearing the horrible tales of their little Harry, they held onto each other for support.

"Our little Harry was forced through all that?" said Leroy in a frightened voice, tears streaming down his face.

"I'll kill those bastards if I ever get the chance." growled Rudolph.

"You don't need to fret about that," said Madam Bones. "They are already in Auror custody."

"They're safer there." snarled Rudolph. "I've got some venomous plants in my bags that I would love to introduce them to."

The next morning, the adults somewhat staggered downstairs, they had spent almost the entire night discussing what the books were revealing with the two men and trying to calm them down.

When they entered the Great Hall, the saw all the students waiting for them and Harry passing around several small bowls of what looked like little bits of cereal and pretzels.

"You guys all slept in, it's nine twenty-four." said Harry looking up at the sun.

Rudolph and Leroy rushed over and hugged Harry once more.

"This again?" said Harry with a smile. "You guys brought them up to speed then, I take it."

"We did, I hope you don't mind." said Remus carefully.

"It's fine." said Harry. "Should we get started then?" said Harry.

"Who wants to read, now?" asked Dumbledore settling into his armchair. Rudolph and Leroy took the opportunity to conjure up a large, blue sofa and stretched themselves out on it. They made sure they were within arm's reach of the bowl chair.

"I think I'll read this time." said Nightstrike. "If I may sir." he added looking over to Lionus.

"By all means." he said.

Aragog

"This won't go well." said Ron shaking his head.

"I don't think you guys really told me what happened." said Hermione.

"You really didn't want to know." said Harry.

"Who, or what is an Aragog?" asked Sirius.

Ron and Harry remained silent. "Just lovely." groaned Sirius.

Summer was creeping over the grounds around the castle; sky and lake alike turned periwinkle blue and flowers large as cabbages burst into bloom in the greenhouses.

"I always loved those flowers." said Mrs. Weasley.

But with no Hagrid visible from the castle windows, striding the grounds with Fang at his heels, the scene didn't look right to Harry;

"It's not Hogwarts without you." said Harry up to the half-giant, who blushed behind his bushy beard.

no better, in fact, than the inside of the castle, where things were so horribly wrong.

"Oh boy." groaned Remus. "I don't think I want to know."

Harry and Ron had tried to visit Hermione, but visitors were now barred from the hospital wing.

"Security reasons." said Madam Pomfrey plainly.

"They were already attacked, what more could happen?" asked Sirius.

"I didn't want to risk it." said Madam Pomfrey stiffly.

"We're taking no more chances," Madam Pomfrey told them severely through a crack in the infirmary door.

"It was nice of you two to want to see me though." said Hermione with a blush.

"We kept coming back, we were sort of hoping you would just wake up." said Ron turning a bit red as well.

"No, I'm sorry, there's every chance the attacker might come back to finish these people off…"

"We never did blame you, I wouldn't let anyone in either." said Harry.

With Dumbledore gone, fear had spread as never before,

"The first day, I swear, I heard so many people screaming spontaneously I had to wear earplugs." said Harry.

so that the sun warming the castle walls outside seemed to stop at the mullioned windows.

"It was like someone turned off the heat in this place, and the only time you could get warm was if you stepped outside." said Harry.

There was barely a face to be seen in the school that didn't look worried and tense, and any laughter that rang through the corridors sounded shrill and unnatural and was quickly stifled.

"I cannot imagine that." said Rudolph quietly. "This place is always full of laughter and cheer."

"Except for that one year, the one you told me about." said Leroy.

"I don't like talking about that year." said Rudolph quickly.

"How old are you?" asked Ron.

Rudolph stared fixedly at Ron.

"It's impolite to ask that, kid." said Leroy with a smile. "Let's just say, he's perfectly aged." he gave his partner's hand a squeeze.

"I must remember that." said Tonks with a smirk.

Harry constantly repeated Dumbledore's final words to himself, "I will only truly have left this school when none here are loyal to me… Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it." But what good were these words?

"That is my big downfall, I never consider the obvious." said Harry with a smirk.

Who exactly were they supposed to ask for help, when everyone was just as confused and scared as they were?

"Even the teachers?" said Remus with an incredulous look.

"They were a bit jumpy, yeah." said Ron.

Hagrid's hint about the spiders was far easier to understand.

"Well, yeah, it wasn't encrypted or anything." said Fred.

The trouble was, there didn't seem to be a single spider left in the castle to follow.

"That's the famous Harry Potter luck for you." said Dean.

"I take it that you aren't all that lucky." said Leroy with a small smile.

"Not on a bit." said Harry with a smile.

Harry looked everywhere he went, helped (rather reluctantly) by Ron.

"Don't like spiders." said Ron shortly.

They were hampered, of course, by the fact that they weren't allowed to wander off on their own

"Sorry to inconvenience you with safety precautions." sneered Snape.

but had to move around the castle in a pack with the other Gryffindors.

"Who the hell came up with that idea?" said Sirius. "Now it's easier to pick off the students."

"The Governors actually." said McGonagall. "It seemed like a good idea at the time."

"Hate to say it, but that means that Lucius had a hand in that idea." said Remus.

Most of their fellow students seemed glad that they were being shepherded from class to class by teachers, but Harry found it very irksome.

"As did I." muttered Snape. "Classes weren't as prepared as they were before the last attack happened."

One person, however, seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the atmosphere of terror and suspicion.

"My money's on Lucius's son." said Sirius.

"Yeah, I can see that." said Leroy. "My cousin Lucius never was the most sympathetic man."

The room turned and stared, even Draco stared.

"Wait a minute…you're a…" said Ron.

"On my mother's side." said Leroy with a smile. "She was actually really happy that I didn't marry into the Black family. Bellatrix was my betrothed, then I found this twit," he nodded his head over to Rudolph. "And my mother told me to run away with him. Screw my dad." said Leroy with a smile. "My dad however found out, and came to Rudolph's house. It didn't go well."

"What happened?" asked Hermione eagerly.

"I'll tell that story at another time. There's a few kids in here, and…well…the beginning's a bit graphic." said Rudolph with a smirk. "And you're a bit young still."

Draco Malfoy was strutting around the school as though he had just been appointed Head Boy.

"If you would just get your grades up you could be a candidate for that." said Snape in a whisper.

"But I'm a prefect." Draco whispered back.

"You were the only choice. Nott and Zabini were also eligible, but due to your father, I had no choice but to nominate you." muttered Snape. "Though, I might have chosen you anyway." he gave his godson the rarest of smiles.

Harry didn't realize what he was so pleased about until the Potions lesson about two weeks after Dumbledore and Hagrid had left,

"I could smack myself for not knowing right away." muttered Harry massaging his temples.

when, sitting right behind Malfoy, Harry heard him gloating to Crabbe and Goyle.

"I always thought Father might be the one who got rid of Dumbledore," he said, not troubling to keep his voice down.

"I wanted to smack the daylights out of him." said Dean.

"I told you he thinks Dumbledore's the worst headmaster the school's ever had. Maybe we'll get a decent headmaster now. Someone who won't want the Chamber of Secrets closed.

Lionus stared at the youth, Draco cringed under his gaze.

McGonagall won't last long, she's only filling in…"

"How dare…" said Bathilda irritably.

"I'd let it go, he's changing for the better." said Lionus.

Snape swept past Harry, making no comment about Hermione's empty seat and cauldron.

"Thank you Severus." said McGonagall.

"I'm not heartless." said Snape.

"Sir," said Malfoy loudly. "Sir, why don't you apply for the headmaster's job?"

"Can you imagine Snape being Headmaster?" asked Fred in a whisper.

"It would be all dark and gloomy here." said George.

"Now, now, Malfoy," said Snape, though he couldn't suppress a thin-lipped smile.

"I cannot explain that action." said Snape rubbing his eyelids.

"Professor Dumbledore has only been suspended by the governors. I daresay he'll be back with us soon enough."

"Thank you Severus." said Dumbledore with a smile.

"Yeah, right," said Malfoy, smirking. "I expect you'd have Father's vote, sir, if you wanted to apply for the job— I'll tell Father you're the best teacher here, sir —"

"You mean that you don't do it all the time?" asked George.

"He just wanted to say that in front of everyone." said Dean.

Snape smirked as he swept off around the dungeon, fortunately not spotting Seamus Finnigan, who was pretending to vomit into his cauldron.

Seamus made sure to look elsewhere, besides the chair where the Potions Master was sitting.

"I'm quite surprised the Mudbloods haven't all packed their bags by now," Malfoy went on.

"And you allowed that?" said McGonagall with a snarl.

"I had left the room, by that time." said Snape, sending a stern look to the young man sitting beside him.

"Bet you five Galleons the next one dies. Pity it wasn't Granger —"

"You are lucky that we cannot take points away, Mr. Malfoy." said Dumbledore sternly, his eyes missing their shimmering light. "You owe Miss Granger a very sincere apology."

"I'm sorry." said Draco quietly, but sincerely.

The bell rang at that moment, which was lucky; at Malfoy's last words, Ron had leapt off his stool, and in the scramble to collect bags and books, his attempts to reach Malfoy went unnoticed.

"Can you really be that oblivious?" asked Moody with a stunned look, Malfoy looked down.

"He could use some of your teachings." said Tonks with a scowl.

"Let me at him," Ron growled as Harry and Dean hung onto his arms. "I don't care, I don't need my wand, I'm going to kill him with my bare hands —"

"I don't think I can scold you for that." said Mrs. Weasley quietly.

"Hurry up, I've got to take you all to Herbology," barked Snape over the class's heads, and off they marched, with Harry, Ron, and Dean bringing up the rear,

"Why were you guys in the back?" asked Fred.

Ron still trying to get loose.

"Ah, that will do it." said George.

It was only safe to let go of him when Snape had seen them out of the castle and they were making their way across the vegetable patch toward the greenhouses.

"Yeah, couldn't really come up with a plausible excuse to go back inside the castle." said Ron bitterly.

The Herbology class was very subdued; there were now two missing from their number, Justin and Hermione.

"Both Houses were missing someone." said Harry.

Professor Sprout set them all to work pruning the Abyssinian Shrivelfigs.

"I hated that chore, out of all of the classes, that particular one I hated the most." said Sirius with a frown.

"What's so wrong with them." asked Neville curiously.

"My mother had a bunch of them, and she always had me doing that." said Sirius with a scowl.

Harry went to tip an armful of withered stalks onto the compost heap and found himself face-to-face with Ernie Macmillan.

Sirius, Remus and Dr. Clark sent a scowl over to Ernie, the staff however didn't go to that extreme, they only glared.

"It wasn't bad." said Harry with a groan.

"I haven't exactly forgiven him for beating the snot out of you." growled Sirius.

Ernie took a deep breath and said, very formally, "I just want to say, Harry, that I'm sorry I ever suspected you.

"Have you even apologize to him?" asked Remus angrily.

"Not then, no." said Harry rubbing the back of his white-haired head. "This is where he apologizes."

I know you'd never attack Hermione Granger, and I apologize for all the stuff I said.

"And did." said Ernie in a whisper.

We're all in the same boat now, and, well —"

He held out a pudgy hand,

Several people snorted. "I guess this sort of counts as payback, huh?" said Harry with a chuckle.

and Harry shook it.

"I wouldn't." said Bill with disgust.

"Only thing I can say is that at least you apologized." said Tonks in disgust.

Ernie and his friend Hannah came to work at the same Shrivelfig as Harry and Ron.

"Who invited you?" asked Fred.

"Hannah's fine, Ernie can shunt off." said George.

"That Draco Malfoy character," said Ernie, breaking off dead twigs, "he seems very pleased about all this, doesn't he? D'you know, I think he might be Slytherin's heir."

"Oh, my bloody god." said Charlie clapping an hand to his forehead.

"It took you that many months to figure that out?" said Bill incredulously.

"And you made him a prefect?" said Sirius in shock. Professor Sprout cringed slightly.

"That's clever of you," said Ron, who didn't seem to have forgiven Ernie as readily as Harry.

"Well you saw what he looked like after Ernie and his mates got ahold of him, I don't think any one of you lot would jump at forgiving him." said Ron stubbornly.

"Do you think it's Malfoy, Harry?" Ernie asked.

"Now you're trying to be all "buddy-buddy" now, huh?" said Charlie.

"No," said Harry, so firmly that Ernie and Hannah stared.

"So...is that..." said Draco quietly.

"That's why no one came to rearrange your face, yeah." said Lee. "Harry stood up for you."

A second later, Harry spotted something.

Dr. Clark's knuckles paled on the textbook in his hands.

Several large spiders were scuttling over the ground on the other side of the glass,

Dr. Clark released a sigh of relief; it wasn't what he thought it was.

moving in an unnaturally straight line as though taking the shortest route to a prearranged meeting. Harry hit Ron over the hand with his pruning shears.

"Ooh! That hurts." said Fred.

"Don't do that." said George.

"Ouch! What're you —"

Harry pointed out the spiders, following their progress with his eyes screwed up against the sun.

"Oh, yeah," said Ron, trying, and failing, to look pleased. "But we can't follow them now —"

"Can't hide anything from you, can I." said Ron pouting.

"That's not exactly true, you and everyone else seems to completely rip me off on Poker Night." said Harry smirking.

Ernie and Hannah were listening curiously.

"As nosey as us, but not quite." said Harry with a smile.

"We couldn't even figure out what you were talking about." said Hannah.

Harry's eyes narrowed as he focused on the spiders. If they pursued their fixed course, there could be no doubt about where they would end up.

"Looks like they're heading for the Forbidden Forest…"

"Don't go in there." said Remus, almost pleading. "If you do, I'm going to take you over my knee and smack the daylights out of you."

"I'm as big as you now. That would look really...awkward." said Harry leaning away from him with a wary.

"Don't even try and twist it like that." said Remus getting more and tenser by the minute.

"Listen, I'm right here, nothing truly bad happens. I'm all right." said Harry soothingly.

And Ron looked even unhappier about that.

"Go figure, due to someone," said Charlie looking over at the twins. "him and spiders don't get along."

At the end of the lesson Professor Sprout escorted the class to their Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson. Harry and Ron lagged behind the others so they could talk out of earshot.

"You kids shouldn't be keeping back like that, especially with something dangerous walking about." said Professor Sprout scolding slightly.

"We'll have to use the Invisibility Cloak again," Harry told Ron. "We can take Fang with us. He's used to going into the forest with Hagrid, he might be some help."

"Except tha' he's a ruddy coward." said Hagrid. "But no one in the forest will 'urt him, or you if yer with him."

"Right," said Ron, who was twirling his wand nervously in his fingers. "Er — aren't there — aren't there supposed to be werewolves in the forest?" he added as they took their usual places at the back of Lockhart's classroom.

"Not really." said Remus tiredly.

Preferring not to answer that question,

"He was already nervous, didn't want to add to it." said Harry.

Harry said, "There are good things in there, too. The centaurs are all right, and the unicorns…"

"Don't just focus on the good things, notice the evil too." growled Moody.

Ron had never been into the Forbidden Forest before. Harry had entered it only once and had hoped never to do so again.

"See? It's not like I wanted to go back in there." said Harry defensively.

Lockhart bounded into the room and the class stared at him.

"Never saw a man leap like that." said Ron.

Every other teacher in the place was looking grimmer than usual, but Lockhart appeared nothing short of buoyant.

"Jackass." muttered Sirius.

"Come now," he cried, beaming around him. "Why all these long faces?"

"Seriously?" said Dr. Clark. "Oh, my bloody God."

People swapped exasperated looks, but nobody answered.

"We thought he had lost his blinking mind." said Neville.

"Don't you people realize," said Lockhart, speaking slowly, as though they were all a bit dim,

"The only dim one is him." said Remus with a growl. "And Harry's got more intelligence in his little finger than he's got in his wildest dreams."

"the danger has passed! The culprit has been taken away —"

"Says who?" said Dean Thomas loudly.

"Atta boy, Dean!" said Fred clapping loudly.

"My dear young man, the Minister of Magic wouldn't have taken Hagrid if he hadn't been one hundred percent sure that he was guilty," said Lockhart, in the tone of someone explaining that one and one made two.

"Took Dazzle Gums three years to figure out that a wand can't cure split ends." said Remus.

"Oh, yes he would," said Ron, even more loudly than Dean.

"Careful, you aren't supposed to know about it." said Kingsley.

"I flatter myself I know a touch more about Hagrid's arrest than you do, Mr. Weasley," said Lockhart in a self-satisfied tone.

"Bull, he makes it sound like he was the one who arrested Hagrid single-handedly." said Bill.

"He never really liked Hagrid." said Sirius. "Hagrid wouldn't let him take one of the hippogriffs out for his date with a Slytherin girl. Also, not reading any of his books didn't help matters either." he grinned cheekily up to Hagrid.

Ron started to say that he didn't think so, somehow, but stopped in midsentence when Harry kicked him hard under the desk.

"Wow, Harry looks so gentle." said Fred.

"And yet, he keeps smacking Ron about." said George.

"We weren't there, remember?" Harry muttered.

"At least someone's watching what you both say." said Moody.

But Lockhart's disgusting cheeriness,

"Accurate way of putting it." said McGonagall with hint of a growl in her voice.

his hints that he had always thought Hagrid was no good,

"I could have killed him." said Harry rubbing his scarred temple with two fingers.

his confidence that the whole business was now at an end, irritated Harry so much that he yearned to throw Gadding with Ghouls right in Lockhart's stupid face.

"Oh, come on! We would have been so proud of you!" said Siruis and Remus together.

"Didn't need to add onto McGonagall's troubles." said Harry.

"I would have given you seventy points to Gryffindor for that." said McGonagall with smirk.

"As would we." said Snape and the rest of the staff.

"Dang, wish I had done that then." said Harry with a smile.

Instead he contented himself with scrawling a note to Ron: Let's do ittonight.

"Quit giving me gray hair." said Remus groaning and throwing an arm around Harry's shoulders.

"But it's so much fun." whined Harry playfully.

"I'm betting your dad would have hair like yours right now, by the time you would turn seven." said Sirius fondly.

Ron read the message, swallowed hard, and looked sideways at the empty seat usually filled by Hermione. The sight seemed to stiffen his resolve, and he nodded.

"You're so brave!" cooed Lavender.

"Oh...thanks..." said Ron uncertainly.

The Gryffindor common room was always very crowded these days, because fromsix o'clock onward the Gryffindors had nowhere else to go.

"We couldn't go anywhere." said Ron.

They also had plenty to talk about, with the result that the common room often didn't empty until past midnight.

"No one was sleeping much." said Ron.

Harry went to get the Invisibility Cloak out of his trunk right after dinner, and spent the evening sitting on it,

"Nice thing to do with the family heirloom." said Sirius snickering.

waiting for the room to clear. Fred and George challenged Harry and Ron to a few games of Exploding Snap,

"Cripes, sorry about that. Didn't know you were out to save the school." said Fred with a shrug.

and Ginny sat watching them, very subdued in Hermione's usual chair.

"Wasn't too sure if it was right for me to sit there." said Ginny.

"She didn't have her name on the chair." said Harry shrugging.

Harry and Ron kept losing on purpose, trying to finish the games quickly,

"Knew we couldn't beat Ron that easily." said George pouting slightly.

but even so, it was well past midnight when Fred, George, and Ginny finally went to bed.

"So, you two went out, to the forest, with nobody knowing where you are heading?" asked Sirius in a stunned voice.

"Uh...yeah...not our best move by a long shot." said Harry.

Harry and Ron waited for the distant sounds of two dormitory doors closing before seizing the cloak, throwing it over themselves, and climbing through the portrait hole.

It was another difficult journey through the castle, dodging all the teachers.

"Well, at least they were keeping watch." said Remus tiredly.

At last they reached the entrance hall, slid back the lock on the oak front doors, squeezed between them,

"Harry didn't have to do much squeezing." said Ron.

trying to stop any creaking, and stepped out into the moonlit grounds.

"'Course," said Ron abruptly as they strode across the black grass, "we might get to the forest and find there's nothing to follow.

"That's right, keep a happy thought." said Charlie with a smirk.

Those spiders might not've been going there at all. I know it looked like they were moving in that sort of general direction, but…" His voice trailed away hopefully.

"Not likely." said Harry with a smile.

They reached Hagrid's house, sad and sorry-looking with its blank windows.

"Dead depressing that was." said Ron.

When Harry pushed the door open, Fang went mad with joy at the sight of them.

"He must've thought Hagrid was coming back with you." said Tonks

"Actually, we've been taking him for walks, and with classes, we haven't been able to do that much, the Care of Magical Creatures teacher is supposed to take care of him during the normal class week." said Harry. "But apparently, with the escorting, he wasn't able to."

Worried he might wake everyone at the castle with his deep, booming barks, they hastily fed him treacle fudge from a tin on the mantelpiece, which glued his teeth together.

"No offense, Hagrid, but knowing your cooking, that's cruelty to animals." said Charlie with a smile.

Harry left the Invisibility Cloak on Hagrid's table. There would be no need for it in the pitch-dark forest.

"Bad move, dear boy. Very bad move." said Dumbledore.

"C'mon, Fang, we're going for a walk," said Harry, patting his leg,

"Not bad for someone who is somewhat afraid of dogs." said Harry with a laugh.

"You're what?" said Sirius in shock.

"Since Aunt Marge and Ripper, I've been sort of afraid of handling dogs without their owners being around." said Harry.

"Wow, I didnt' really know that." said Ron.

and Fang bounded happily out of the house behind them,

"Oh, so cute!" said Emmeline Vance.

dashed to the edge of the forest, and lifted his leg against a large sycamore tree.

"Cute part gone." said Sirius snorting loudly.

"Did you have to notice that, Harry?" asked Seamus laughing loudly.

Harry took out his wand, murmured, "Lumos!" and a tiny light appeared at the end of it, just enough to let them watch the path for signs of spiders.

"Good thinking," said Ron. "I'd light mine, too, but you know — it'd probably blow up or something…"

"Good idea for a weapon, though." said Moody with an appreciative smirk.

Harry tapped Ron on the shoulder, pointing at the grass. Two solitary spiders were hurrying away from the wandlight into the shade of the trees.

"You are going to follow two tiny little spiders in a deep dark forest? You both are mad." said Rudolph.

"Okay," Ron sighed as though resigned to the worst, "I'm ready. Let's go."

"You are one of the bravest men in the world." said Hermione giving Ron's hand a squeeze.

So, with Fang scampering around them, sniffing tree roots and leaves, they entered the forest.

"Hope he doesn't try and go to the bathroom again." said Remus with a snicker.

By the glow of Harry's wand, they followed the steady trickle of spiders moving along the path. They walked behind them for about twenty minutes, not speaking, listening hard for noises other than breaking twigs and rustling leaves.

"Good lads." said Dr. Nicodemus with smile.

Then, when the trees had become thicker than ever, so that the stars overhead were no longer visible, and Harry's wand shone alone in the sea of dark, they saw their spider guides leaving the path.

"You have an uncanny way of making things sound just as scary as if we were there beside you." said Cho shaking slightly.

Harry paused, trying to see where the spiders were going, but everything outside his little sphere of light was pitch-black. He had never been this deep into the forest before.

"I don't think I could even begin to reassure you three." said Harry guiltily.

"Good idea." said Remus darkly.

He could vividly remember Hagrid advising him not to leave the forest path last time he'd been in here.

"Good idea." said Charlie.

"Bad idea," said Moody. "others travel the pathways too."

"Let's just focus on them not getting lost, how about that." said Kingsley.

But Hagrid was miles away now, probably sitting in a cell in Azkaban,

"Which should never have happened." said Lionus with a snarl.

and he had also said to follow the spiders.

Something wet touched Harry's hand and he jumped backward,

"Oh crap!" said Sirius worriedly.

crushing Ron's foot,

"Light as you are, wasn't much crushing, I'll warrant." said Madam Pomfrey.

but it was only Fang's nose.

"Cripes all mighty, don't do that." said Sirius shortly over to Nightstrike.

"Take it out on the book, not me." said Nightstrike defensively.

"What d'you reckon?" Harry said to Ron, whose eyes he could just make out, reflecting the light from his wand.

"You looked creepy." said Harry and Ron to each other.

"We've come this far," said Ron.

So they followed the darting shadows of the spiders into the trees. They couldn't move very quickly now; there were tree roots and stumps in their way, barely visible in the near blackness. Harry could feel Fang's hot breath on his hand. More than once, they had to stop, so that Harry could crouch down and find the spiders in the wandlight.

"Jeez, just get out of there." said Tonks worriedly.

They walked for what seemed like at least half an hour, their robes snagging on low-slung branches and brambles. After a while, they noticed that the ground seemed to be sloping downward, though the trees were as thick as ever.

Then Fang suddenly let loose a great, echoing bark, making both Harry and Ron jump out of their skins.

"Didn't have any more treacle fudge." said Harry shrugging.

"What?" said Ron loudly, looking around into the pitch-dark, and gripping Harry's elbow very hard.

"There's something moving over there," Harry breathed. "Listen… sounds like something big…"

"Dammit Harry! Do something else at school besides get into dangerous stuff, do something like collect butterflies or something!" said Siruis covering his ears.

"Too exciting, my poor nerves wouldn't be able to take it." said Harry teasingly.

They listened. Some distance to their right, the something big was snapping branches as it carved a path through the trees.

"Oh, no," said Ron. "Oh, no, oh, no, oh —"

"Shut up," said Harry frantically. "It'll hear you."

"Hear me?" said Ron in an unnaturally high voice. "It's already heard Fang!"

"It's like a horror story." squeaked a little first year girl.

The darkness seemed to be pressing on their eyeballs as they stood, terrified, waiting. There was a strange rumbling noise and then silence.

"What d'you think it's doing?" said Harry.

"Probably getting ready to pounce," said Ron.

"Right little ray of sunshine, aint you?" said Fred as he and George walked over to where Ron was sitting.

They waited, shivering, hardly daring to move.

"D'you think it's gone?" Harry whispered.

"Dunno —"

Then, to their right, came a sudden blaze of light, so bright in the darkness that both of them flung up their hands to shield their eyes.

"Okay, I've got nothing." said Sirius worriedly. "What the bloody hell is it?"

"If you hadn't stopped me, I would have told you." said Nightstrike with a smirk. "And it's not all that bad."

Fang yelped and tried to run, but got lodged in a tangle of thorns and yelped even louder.

"Judging by Fang, it sounds bad." said Remus.

"It's not." said Lionus with a smirk.

"How do you know? You aren't reading the book!" said Parvati.

"If my lieutenant says it's not dangerous, it's not." said Lionus.

"Harry!" Ron shouted, his voice breaking with relief "Harry, it's our car!"

"What?" said the congregation of the school.

"What?"

"Come on!"

Harry blundered after Ron toward the light, stumbling and tripping, and a moment later they had emerged into a clearing.

"I can't really tell if that's a good thing or not." said Lionus thoughtfully.

Mr. Weasley's car was standing, empty, in the middle of a circle of thick trees under a roof of dense branches, its headlights ablaze.

"Did it just say...empty?" said Rudolph.

"Yeah, the car is somewhat possessed." said Ron with a smile.

"It's a...car...though..." said Leroy.

As Ron walked, open-mouthed, toward it, it moved slowly toward him, exactly like a large, turquoise dog greeting its owner.

"Interestin' thought." said Hagrid with a thoughtful look.

"It's been here all the time!" said Ron delightedly, walking around the car. "Look at it. The forest's turned it wild…"

The sides of the car were scratched and smeared with mud. Apparently it had taken to trundling around the forest on its own. Fang didn't seem at all keen on it; he kept close to Harry, who could feel him quivering.

"Poor Fang, he's always been a ruddy coward." said Hagrid with a sympathetic smile.

His breathing slowing down again, Harry stuffed his wand back into his robes.

All eyes turned to face Harry, who took this opportunity to hide under the pheonix blanket.

"Oh no you don't." said Sirius tugging the blanket off him.

"What were you thinking?" asked McGonagall, almost screeching.

"You could have been attacked! At any moment!" said Mrs. Weasley fearfully.

"I can't even...explain what made me do that." said Harry.

"Try." said Moody sternly.

"Stupidity." said Harry simply.

"You did a good job explaining it, if you ask me." said Snape with a raised brow.

"And we thought it was going to attack us!" said Ron, leaning against the car and patting it. "I wondered where it had gone!"

Harry squinted around on the floodlit ground for signs of more spiders, but they had all scuttled away from the glare of the headlights.

"Good, if the car can be driven, get the hell out of there." said Charlie.

"We've lost the trail," he said. "C'mon, let's go and find them."

"Two words." said Remus. "Learn them: Get...out..."

Ron didn't speak. He didn't move. His eyes were fixed on a point some ten feet above the forest floor, right behind Harry. His face was livid with terror.

"Ron, if you..." said Harry.

"I'm fine." said Ron.

Harry didn't even have time to turn around. There was a loud clicking noise and suddenly he felt something long and hairy seize him around the middle and lift him off the ground, so that he was hanging facedown.

Nightstrike looked at the book in horror. It couldn't be acromantulas, could it? He looked up and saw his Captain staring at Nightstrike in shock and noticed the men in and beside the bowl reach and try and grab any piece of Harry they could.

"You aren't to move from this spot, understand." said Leroy in a whisper to Harry, his hand tight on the boy's sleeve.

"Got it sir." said Harry with a small smile.

"Good lad." said Dumbledore, clutching Harry's collar as he stood behind the young man.

Struggling, terrified,

"Well, then, Ron's as good as doomed." said Fred.

"If Harry is scared." said George. Both of them were standing behind Ron and keeping an eye on him, just in case he disappeared right in front of them.

he heard more clicking, and saw Ron's legs leave the ground, too, heard Fang whimpering and howling — next moment, he was being swept away into the dark trees.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Remus, Sirius, Dr. Clark, Rudolph, Leroy and Dumbledore all gave the boys a quick squeeze, (on whatever they were holding at the time) to make sure they were still there.

Head hanging, Harry saw that what had hold of him was marching on six immensely long, hairy legs, the front two clutching him tightly below a pair of shining black pincers.

"They're spiders!" shrieked Tonks loudly.

"What...?" said Dr. Clark quickly.

"Acromantulas." said Dr. Nicodemus. "Large spiders, very rare, very deadly."

"Now here..." said Hagrid quickly.

"I think, Hagrid, that we will see just how these two second years handle them, and we shall see if they are dangerous." said Lionus quickly.

Behind him, he could hear another of the creatures, no doubt carrying Ron. They were moving into the very heart of the forest.

"That doesn't make it sound any better." said Charlie worriedly.

Harry could hear Fang fighting to free himself from a third monster, whining loudly, but Harry couldn't have yelled even if he had wanted to; he seemed to have left his voice back with the car in the clearing.

Sirius threw both arms around Harry and enclosed him tightly.

He never knew how long he was in the creature's clutches;

Harry could feel the hands holding onto him trembling.

he only knew that the darkness suddenly lifted enough for him to see that the leaf-strewn ground was now swarming with spiders. Craning his neck sideways, he realized that they had reached the ridge of a vast hollow, a hollow that had been cleared of trees, so that the stars shone brightly onto the worst scene he had ever laid eyes on.

Girls in the Great Hall began to whimper and cry. A few teachers had to step over to them and console a few of the hysterical ones.

Spiders. Not tiny spiders like those surging over the leaves below. Spiders the size of carthorses, eight-eyed, eight-legged, black, hairy, gigantic.

Both Ron and Tonks began to shiver uncontrollably.

The massive specimen that was carrying Harry made its way down the steep slope toward a misty, domed web in the very center of the hollow, while its fellows closed in all around it, clicking their pincers excitedly at the sight of its load.

"Makes me sound like five pounds of beef from the butchers." said Harry with a laugh, but then he stopped abruptly when he saw the looks on people's faces. "Nevermind."

"Thank you." said Remus, his face pale.

Harry fell to the ground on all fours as the spider released him. Ron and Fang thudded down next to him.

"Get the hell out of there!" shouted most of the adults and the staff.

Fang wasn't howling anymore, but cowering silently on the spot. Ron looked exactly like Harry felt. His mouth was stretched wide in a kind of silent scream and his eyes were popping.

"What did Harry look like?" asked Zacharias with a smirk.

"I wasn't exactly looking at him at the time." said Ron with a growl.

Harry suddenly realized that the spider that had dropped him was saying something. It had been hard to tell, because he clicked his pincers with every word he spoke.

"You mean that you can speak spider as well?" asked Dr. Clark in a stunned voice.

"No, it was speaking English." said Harry and Ron together.

"Best send a letter to Scamander then, huh?" said Charlie with a half-hearted laugh.

"Aragog!" it called. "Aragog!"

Sirius gave a slight whimper, like a whipped puppy and held onto Harry even tighter.

And from the middle of the misty, domed web, a spider the size of a small elephant emerged, very slowly.

Tonks began to shake almost violently, until Dumbledore threw an arm around his graduated student and offered her some comfort. Remus was otherwise busy whispering feverishly a prayer that Harry and Ron get out of there unharmed.

There was gray in the black of his body and legs, and each of the eyes on his ugly, pincered head was milky white. He was blind.

"I'm impressed boy, despite the danger and being frightened, you can still take in your surroundings and deduce." said Moody.

"Start using that energy for running away." said Dr. Clark fearfully.

"What is it?" he said, clicking his pincers rapidly.

"Men," clicked the spider who had caught Harry.

"Children." said Sirius almost drowning in worry. "Tiny, defenseless babies."

Harry and Ron looked at each other, letting it slide. Now was not the time or the place to defend themselves.

"Is it Hagrid?" said Aragog, moving closer, his eight milky eyes wandering vaguely.

"Strangers," clicked the spider who had brought Ron.

"Kill them," clicked Aragog fretfully. "I was sleeping…"

The school went as quiet as a tomb. Hagrid was as white as a sheet, and kept muttering "No." over and over again.

"We're friends of Hagrid's," Harry shouted. His heart seemed to have left his chest to pound in his throat.

"Hope that works and keeps you safe." said Bill, standing behind the loveseat where Ron and Hermione both sat, enshrouded in people who wanted to make sure that Ron and Hermione were still there by hanging onto them.

Ron and Harry exchanged nervous looks.

Click, click, click went the pincers of the spiders all around the hollow.

Aragog paused.

"Hagrid has never sent men into our hollow before," he said slowly.

"Hagrid's in trouble," said Harry, breathing very fast. "That's why we've come."

"Still couldn't believe that you were able to talk, the most I could do is whine." said Ron with a nervous smile.

"In trouble?" said the aged spider, and Harry thought he heard concern beneath the clicking pincers.

"Well, then it sounds like he won't hurt you then, if he wants to help you save Hagrid." said Charlie.

"But why has he sent you?"

Harry thought of getting to his feet but decided against it; he didn't think his legs would support him. So he spoke from the ground, as calmly as he could.

"I guess that Aragog could interpet that as a form of respect, kneeling in front of him." said Dr. Nicodemus hopefully.

"They think, up at the school, that Hagrid's been setting a — a —

"Didn't want to say monster, not there." said Harry.

"Smart move." said Michael Corner.

something on students. They've taken him to Azkaban."

"Where he should never have gone." said Lionus with a growl.

Aragog clicked his pincers furiously, and all around the hollow the sound was echoed by the crowd of spiders; it was like applause,

"Why would they applaud that?" asked Ginny weakly.

"That's what it sounded like, they weren't exactly clapping." said Harry. "I guess that's their way of being angry."

except applause didn't usually make Harry feel sick with fear.

"Tell me that this is almost the end of this chapter." pleaded Tonks.

"Just about." said Nightstrike.

"But that was years ago," said Aragog fretfully.

"Can a spider sound fretful?" asked Colin wonderingly.

"Years and years ago. I remember it well. That's why they made him leave the school. They believed that I was the monster that dwells in what they call the Chamber of Secrets. They thought that Hagrid had opened the Chamber and set me free."

"And you… you didn't come from the Chamber of Secrets?" said Harry, who could feel cold sweat on his forehead.

"What made you so nervous?" asked Fred.

"I was starting to think we weren't going to get out of there." said Harry. "I could see more and more spiders coming to join the party. Trying to plan a means of escape, while talking to a giant spider, and keeping Ron from fainting wasn't a very easy task."

"I!" said Aragog, clicking angrily. "I was not born in the castle. I come from a distant land.

"Where the hell do you get spiders that grow that size?" asked Dr. Clark worriedly.

"They mostly live in the Middle East." said Hagrid.

A traveler gave me to Hagrid when I was an egg. Hagrid was only a boy, but he cared for me, hidden in a cupboard in the castle, feeding me on scraps from the table.

"So you had an adult give you something so dangerous?" said Mrs. Weasley angrily. "You were only a child!"

"I was tall for me age, he thought I was older." said Hagrid with a shrug, he told himself that Aragog wouldn't hurt the two boys.

Hagrid is my good friend, and a good man. When I was discovered, and blamed for the death of a girl, he protected me.

"He most surely did. This is the first time that I learned that this was the creature that Hagrid had. He wouldn't even tell me about it." said Dumbledore with a kind smile up to the half giant.

I have lived here in the forest ever since, where Hagrid still visits me. He even found me a wife, Mosag, and you see how our family has grown, all through Hagrid's goodness…"

"Wow, that was kind of you, Hagrid." said Charlie. "Though, I would be regretting the whole mate thing right now."

"They wouldn' do nuthin' to the boys." said Hagrid, though in his voice, he was starting to show some doubt.

Harry summoned what remained of his courage.

"Which wasn't much, anymore." said Harry with a small smile.

"So you never — never attacked anyone?"

"Not yet." said Remus, voice full of worry.

"Never," croaked the old spider. "It would have been my instinct, but out of respect for Hagrid, I never harmed a human. The body of the girl who was killed was discovered in a bathroom.

"That would be horrible to die in a bathroom. If given a choice, I'd like to die of old age and in my sleep. Thank you very much." said Fred crossing his arms.

I never saw any part of the castle but the cupboard in which I grew up. Our kind like the dark and the quiet…"

"But then… Do you know what did kill that girl?" said Harry. "Because whatever it is, it's back and attacking people again —"

"I'm not too sure why I asked him that, he just said that he never left the cupboard. Then again, it's a really good idea that I did ask." said Harry with a smile.

His words were drowned by a loud outbreak of clicking and the rustling of many long legs shifting angrily; large black shapes shifted all around him.

"Dont' piss them off!" cried Lee.

"The thing that lives in the castle," said Aragog, "is an ancient creature we spiders fear above all others.

Dr. Clark whimpered slightly, still clutching the textbook.

Well do I remember how I pleaded with Hagrid to let me go, when I sensed the beast moving about the school."

"What is it?" said Harry urgently.

"I sort of don't want to know." said Remus looking over at Dr. Clark's pale face.

More loud clicking, more rustling; the spiders seemed to be closing in.

"We do not speak of it!" said Aragog fiercely. "We do not name it! I never even told Hagrid the name of that dread creature, though he asked me, many times."

"See? I was tryin' to figure out what was goin' on. Only I never did." said Hagrid rubbing the back of his head.

Harry didn't want to press the subject, not with the spiders pressing closer on all sides.

Ron began to start shaking even more so than before.

Aragog seemed to be tired of talking. He was backing slowly into his domed web, but his fellow spiders continued to inch slowly toward Harry and Ron.

Mrs. Weasley as well as the rest of her family gave a small whimper. Harry's extended family remained silent, but Harry could hear their breathing becoming faster.

"We'll just go, then," Harry called desperately to Aragog, hearing leaves rustling behind him.

"Go?" said Aragog slowly. "I think not…"

"What?" said Hagrid in shock.

"But — but —"

"My sons and daughters do not harm Hagrid, on my command. But I cannot deny them fresh meat, when it wanders so willingly into our midst. Good-bye, friend of Hagrid."

"HAGRID!" screamed most of the people in the Hall.

"I DIDN' KNOW HE WOULD HURT 'EM! ARAGOG NEVER..." said Hagrid loudly, but he couldn't finish it, due to the glare that Dumbledore sent his way.

"Hagrid, I will create a barrier so that no one walks into that part of the forest. But you tell Aragog that if he or any of his children attempt to cause harm to any students here, I personally will see to them myself." said Dumbledore darkly.

Harry spun around. Feet away, towering above him, was a solid wall of spiders, clicking, their many eyes gleaming in their ugly black heads.

"You okay, kid?" asked Nightstrike looking over to Ron, who was deathly pale and trembling.

"F-F-Fine, n-n-never bet-better." said Ron who was being held tighter in his mother's arms.

"Here lad." said Dr. Nicodemus walking over to Ron and handing him a small capsule. "It's a Ranger tranquilizer, a bit stronger than a calming draught and lasts almost the rest of your life."

"Hold up." said Bill, as Ron reached for the small pill. "You mean to say that, that thing will keep him calm his whole life?"

"Yes, and no." said Dr. Nicodemus. "This little pill will keep him nice and calm for an hour or two, but for the rest of his life, when he meets up with another acromantula, he will stay nice and calm and keep his wits about him." he finished with a smile.

"How can you pinpoint it to acromantulas?" said Fred.

"I just programmed it for that." said Dr. Nicodemus waving a thin black wand.

"And the side effects, downsides?" asked Charlie with scrutiny.

"Well...there is one." said Dr. Nicodemus.

"And that would be?" said Bill.

"Since he is a child now, on the night he turns seventeen..." said Dr. Nicodemus.

"What would happen?" said Mr. Weasley quickly.

"Let's just say, his brothers should come and fetch him. He's going to desire a long night of drinking, of an alcoholic nature." said Dr. Nicodemus with a smirk.

"That's it?" said Fred.

"That's it." said Dr. Nicodemus with a smile. "To steady past nerves."

"Hell...we could take him out tonight." whispered Charlie. Bill shoved his shoulder hard.

"He's too young." he snarled.

"Like that stopped you." said Charlie with a sneer.

Even as he reached for his wand, Harry knew it was no good, there were too many of them,

Every eye turned towards the two boys, every eye bursting with horror and fear.

but as he tried to stand, ready to die fighting,

Harry turned to look upwards into the sky, not desiring to meet any of his uncle's eyes.

a loud, long note sounded, and a blaze of light flamed through the hollow.

Mr. Weasley's car was thundering down the slope,

"Thank God, hop in and get the bloody hell out of there!" shouted Dr. Clark.

headlights glaring, its horn screeching, knocking spiders aside; several were thrown onto their backs, their endless legs waving in the air.

"Where's a giant flyswatter when you need it?" asked Fred.

"Or at least some bug spray." said George.

The car screeched to a halt in front of Harry and Ron and the doors flew open.

"Get Fang!" Harry yelled, diving into the front seat; Ron seized the boarhound around the middle and threw him, yelping, into the back of the car —

"Found out he gets car sick." said Ron with a laugh, the capsule was doing it's job beautifully.

the doors slammed shut — Ron didn't touch the accelerator but the car didn't need him;

"Oh, that's nice." said Fred.

the engine roared and they were off, hitting more spiders.

The school began to cheer, yet Hagrid was still sitting dumbfounded. He almost got Harry and Ron killed, he never thought that Aragog would let them get hurt, perhaps it was time for Hagrid to draw the line in the sand. Didn't matter if he was ill, Aragog had no right to do that.

They sped up the slope, out of the hollow, and they were soon crashing through the forest, branches whipping the windows as the car wound its way cleverly through the widest gaps, following a path it obviously knew.

"You'd think that it would run out of gas." said Dr. Clark calming down at last.

"I...um...upped it's gas mileage." said Mr. Weasley with a blush. "It won't need refilling for a real long time."

"That's...amazing..." said Dr. Clark with awed look.

Harry looked sideways at Ron. His mouth was still open in the silent scream, but his eyes weren't popping anymore.

"At least he won't suffer a heart-attack then." said George.

"Can't say the same thing for us though." said Fred wiping the sweat off his brow.

"Are you okay?"

"Oh yeah, just fine, just got down having a nice sit down tea with Aragog and his family." said Ron with a smirk.

"Nice to know you're feeling better." said Harry with a laugh.

Ron stared straight ahead, unable to speak.

They smashed their way through the undergrowth, Fang howling loudly in the back seat, and Harry saw the side mirror snap off as they squeezed past a large oak. After ten noisy, rocky minutes, the trees thinned, and Harry could again see patches of sky.

"You're safe, you get out ok." said Sirius sighing with relief.

The car stopped so suddenly that they were nearly thrown into the windshield.

"Well that shoots the safe part down." said Sirius with a nervous chuckle.

They had reached the edge of the forest. Fang flung himself at the window in his anxiety to get out, and when Harry opened the door, he shot off through the trees to Hagrid's house, tail between his legs.

"Poor thing." said Hagrid sadly.

"Yeah, it took a lot of Harry's homemade biscuits to get back on his good side." said Ron with a smile.

"Dog biscuits?" asked Sirius.

"Buttermilk." said Harry.

Harry got out too, and after a minute or so, Ron seemed to regain the feeling in his limbs and followed, still stiff-necked and staring. Harry gave the car a grateful pat as it reversed back into the forest and disappeared from view.

"Arthur, I think the school and Hagrid owes you a great debt of gratitude, for enchanting that car." said Dumbledore tidying up the empty phials of Calming Draught.

"The school, sir?" asked Mr. Weasley confused.

"Well, it saved two students, and helped them come back with the truth." said Dumbledore.

Harry went back into Hagrid's cabin to get the Invisibility Cloak. Fang was trembling under a blanket in his basket. When Harry got outside again, he found Ron being violent sick in the pumpkin patch.

"You alright now, Ron?" asked Luna dreamily.

"I've fine, thanks Luna." said Ron with a smile.

"Follow the spiders," said Ron weakly, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. "I'll never forgive Hagrid. We're lucky to be alive."

"I forgave you Hagrid, I was still scared out of my mind." said Ron quickly.

"I bet he thought Aragog wouldn't hurt friends of his," said Harry.

"That I did, I'm really sorry." said Hagrid sadly.

"It wasn't your fault, really. You should really trust people you call friends." said Harry.

"Not always boy." said Moody disapprovingly.

"That's exactly Hagrid's problem!" said Ron, thumping the wall of the cabin. "He always thinks monsters aren't as bad as they're made out, and look where it's got him! A cell in Azkaban!" He was shivering uncontrollably now.

Ron looked apologetically up to Hagrid and tried to offer an apology, but no words came past his throat.

"What was the point of sending us in there? What have we found out, I'd like to know?"

"You found out that Hagrid was not the one behind the Chamber of Secrets the last time." said Dumbledore with a smile.

"That Hagrid never opened the Chamber of Secrets," said Harry, throwing the cloak over Ron and prodding him in the arm to make him walk. "He was innocent."

"Still can't believe you managed to bounce back that fast." said Ron.

"I'm not arachnophobic," said Harry. "Though, if you put in me in a glade full of dementors, I think I would be in way worse shape than you."

Ron gave a loud snort. Evidently, hatching Aragog in a cupboard wasn't his idea of being innocent.

As the castle loomed nearer Harry twitched the cloak to make sure their feet were hidden, then pushed the creaking front doors ajar.

"So...who left the door unlocked?" asked Charlie.

"Filch wasn't exactly all that focused that year." said Fred.

They walked carefully back across the entrance hall and up the marble staircase, holding their breath as they passed corridors where watchful sentries were walking. At last they reached the safety of the Gryffindor common room, where the fire had burned itself into glowing ash. They took off the cloak and climbed the winding stair to their dormitory.

"You alright, Remus?" asked Sirius and Dr. Clark, noticing how tense the man look.

"This was a bad chapter to read so early in the morning." said Remus running a cold hand over his sweaty face.

"Better to read it in the morning, as opposed to last night." said Harry.

"You got a point." said Remus with a sigh.

Ron fell onto his bed without bothering to get undressed. Harry, however, didn't feel very sleepy. He sat on the edge of his four poster, thinking hard about everything Aragog had said.

"Harry, you need rest too." said Mrs. Weasley.

"After that night, I don't think sleeping would have been all that restful." said Harry.

The creature that was lurking somewhere in the castle, he thought, sounded like a sort of monster Voldemort — even other monsters didn't want to name it.

"That's a scary thought." said a first year.

But he and Ron were no closer to finding out what it was, or how it petrified its victims. Even Hagrid had never known what was in the Chamber of Secrets.

Harry swung his legs up onto his bed and leaned back against his pillows, watching the moon glinting at him through the tower window. He couldn't see what else they could do. They had hit dead ends everywhere. Riddle had caught the wrong person, the Heir of Slytherin had got off, and no one could tell whether it was the same person, or a different one, who had opened the Chamber this time. There was nobody else to ask. Harry lay down, still thinking about what Aragog had said.

"Just leave it for tomorrow." said Ernie, "We were still safe for a little while."

"You've got a really bad memory." said Fred.

He was becoming drowsy when what seemed like their very last hope occurred to him, and he suddenly sat bolt upright.

"You and your inspiring thoughts are going to drive me nuts. I still don't figure how you managed to remember everything that Aragog said. I still can't remember a tenth of it." said Ron shaking his head.

"Ron," he hissed through the dark, "Ron —"

Ron woke with a yelp like Fang's, stared wildly around, and saw Harry.

"I thought a spider had snuck in." said Ron sheepishly.

"Ron — that girl who died. Aragog said "she was found in a bathroom," said Harry, ignoring Neville's snuffling snores from the corner. "What if she never left the bathroom? What if she's still there?"

Ron rubbed his eyes, frowning through the moonlight. And then he understood, too.

"You don't think — not Moaning Myrtle?"

"Oh crap!" said George.

"Is that what you meant by; you didn't have the heart to remove her?" asked Dr. Clark.

"That it is." said Dumbledore with a sad look.