HP: The Necromancer

After his discussion with Snape, Anthony planned to visit Hagrid.

The sky was as black as ink, with dark purple clouds rolling in. Halfway through the walk, raindrops as big as beans suddenly fell, and the wind was howling. Anthony squinted his eyes, trying to identify the direction, lowered his head and ran towards Hagrid's cabin, unable to tell whether the crackling sound of water in his ears was rain hitting his body or water splashing under his feet.

He ran to the eaves of the cabin in one breath before he had the energy to tidy himself up.

His hair was soaking wet, as were his clothes, and the wind was whistling and making Hagrid's window rattle. He noticed that the windows were dark, so Hagrid was probably not home, but he knocked anyway.

No one answered the door, but perhaps the sound of the knock was muffled by the strong wind and rain, so he knocked harder on the wooden door. "Hagrid, are you there?"

He was answered by an excited barking, but it did not come from inside the house. Anthony circled the house and saw Fang lying happily in the rain, splashing muddy water with his tail.

As soon as he poked his head out, the big dog tried to rush over to greet him, but it just yanked the chain, making a rustling sound. The rain washed down its fur, and under the flickering fluorescent light, brown-black water dripped from the tangled tufts of hair next to its belly.

Anthony took a step back and said, "Hello."

Fang barked loudly and wagged his tail at him, looking very happy. His fur was all wet and stuck to his body, which made him look funny. Anthony walked forward again, wondering if he could use the cleaning spell on a living thing.

"Do you know where Hagrid is?" he asked, squatting down. Fang jerked forward and managed to get his two huge front paws on his knees. Anthony hugged its neck, trying in vain to stop it from spitting saliva and mud on his face.

"Hey!" A thunderous voice sounded, and then a big hand pulled Anthony up, "Why are you back, Henry?"

"Thanks, Hagrid." Anthony wiped his face with his sleeve in embarrassment. "I have an appointment, but I'm done with what I need to take care of today. I thought I could say hello to you - maybe it's not a good idea."

"Why, that's a good idea of ​​course!" said Hagrid enthusiastically, looking like he had completely gotten over the grief of Norbert being sent away.

Only then did Anthony see his attire clearly: he was wearing a cloak, breeches and leather boots, and a felt wide-brimmed hat on his head, which was better than nothing. The rain was still flowing down his big, shaggy head.

"Where have you been?" Anthony asked curiously, eyeing Hagrid's completely wet weather attire.

"Forbidden Forest," Hagrid replied in a muffled voice, nudging Fang with his knee. "I just saw it was going to rain, so I had to reinforce the fence and the awning... Professor Kettleburn wouldn't like those little guys getting wet. A hippogriff was unhappy the other day and kicked five or six wooden boards to pieces..."

He struggled to find the key in his pocket, and did not forget to turn around and tell Anthony about his experience that day: "I let Fang brush his teeth this morning, but if I let him eat rabbit tonight, he might have bad breath again. This problem is getting worse and worse.

"So I thought I'd have some chicken tonight. Professor Sprout grew rosemary next to her vegetable patch, and she allowed me to pick a few sprigs whenever I needed..."

He patted the bag on his waist and finally took out the key.

"Then I go to the broom closet to see if any brooms are wet... I remember one time I forgot, and the next year the students came back, and as soon as the Chaser's butt touched the broom, he immediately screamed, 'Why am I sitting on a mushroom!' Ha, poor guy!" Hagrid laughed and pushed open the door, obviously amused.

He lit the lamp, then lit the fireplace and boiled water for tea.

"Will you have dinner with me, Henry?" he asked expectantly. "I know it's only four o'clock, but I have to go back to the Forbidden Forest later. I want to check on Aragog's lair... you know, they live in the hollow, and every time it rains hard I always worry about his knees and ankles..."

Anthony didn't know if Acromantulas had knees and ankles, so he just said, "Sure, dinner at four sounds good."

…

Hagrid's craftsmanship remained the same as before, but after losing the Salamander, he became a little more hesitant about things like controlling the fire.

Anthony's main course was a few rock cakes, because he politely declined Hagrid's stoat sandwich. He found that the rock cakes tasted good if they were softened in the sauce, and the hot tea at hand was so delicious on a windy and rainy day.

"By the way, Hagrid, I want to ask you something," Anthony said, swallowing another bite of rock cake. "Do you know where I can get unicorn tail hair?"

"I have quite a few, but they were burned by Norbert before." Hagrid scratched his head and said nonchalantly, "If you need them, I'll give them to you next time I find them. Those unicorns run around in the woods and often hook their tails on branches."

He had finished his sandwich and stew and was snacking on rock crackers, which sounded crispy in his mouth, like wafers.

Anthony didn't expect it to be so simple. He thought Snape's conditions would be somewhat embarrassing. "Really? That's great. Thank you."

"Of course you've helped me so much," said Hagrid happily. "They're very good bandages. You can always go to the Forbidden Forest to get some more, Henry."

"I'm afraid the magical creatures in the Forbidden Forest won't like me," said Anthony, finishing the last of his rock pie. "The carrots are great, Hagrid, and so is the chicken."

…

Hagrid insisted that Anthony go to the Forbidden Forest with him: "We can visit Aragog together. He will be very happy to see us." He pushed open the window and looked outside. "It's not raining anymore, Henry. Maybe we can find unicorn tail hair today. We just need to go to the area where they live and take a look."

So Anthony floated into the forbidden forest with a box of chicken and bread. He thought the box looked a bit like the crate that held the dead rats for Norbert.

Hagrid walked in front, holding Fang's hand, holding a lamp in his hand, and skillfully pushed aside the wet branches, not forgetting to remind Anthony to be careful of the muddy pit covered by fallen leaves under his feet.

The dense trees broke the strong wind outside into countless breezes. Water drops slid from the leaves from time to time and fell on the back of Anthony's neck. The chicken became wet and shone pink in the light of the lantern that Hagrid was holding and swinging. He was worried that the bread would get wet, so he used Transfiguration to make a lid.

Just as Hagrid said, the nest of the giant spider had turned into a large muddy ground. The wind was howling again, and many spider silks broke and fell softly in the muddy water. Some of them could no longer see their original white color.

"Aragog! Aragog!" Hagrid shouted. "Come out!"

"I'm here, Hagrid." A large black and gray spider came out of the hemispherical spider web, clacking and saying. Beside it, there were many eight-eyed giant spiders busy, and Anthony watched for a while before realizing that they were spinning silk to repair the spider web.

Hagrid carried the box of chicken to Aragog. "I brought you some food."

"What is it?" Aragog asked, lying prone.

The young Acromantula next to it had already clamped onto the box. It lifted the lid, looked through the eight eyes on its ugly head, and told Aragog, "Chicken."

"Chicken!" said another giant eight-eyed spider dissatisfiedly, fiddling with its big claws, making a clicking sound.

"Okay, chicken," Aragog said. "Thank you, Hagrid."

"And bread. Oh, by the way, I have something else for you." Hagrid reached into the bag at his waist - Anthony took the lantern - and pulled out a ball of something woven from yellow and red wool. "It's too damp and windy, so I knitted you a set of socks."

The young giant spider moved its huge claws rapidly and clicked, as if it wanted to make a comment, but Aragog was already talking to Hagrid.

"You know I like dark and humid environments, Hagrid." Anthony heard a little fatigue in its tone, but it still said patiently, "But thank you anyway."

Hagrid put the ball of wool into its claws and said a little sadly, "You don't have to wear it."

"I will wear it when I get cold," Aragog said.

"That's great. I made it thicker," said Hagrid cheerfully. "It's good to see you. I hope you enjoy the chicken and the bread. I think you've lost some weight since last time."

Aragog raised his voice and waved his claws vigorously: "I am very strong!"

As if to prove its words, it stood up suddenly, and suddenly it was much taller than the other spiders, its white eyes pointed fiercely at the sky, and its huge claws made a sound of wind. Anthony didn't know how Hagrid could tell whether a spider was fat or thin, but he would say that Aragog looked the same size as the last time he saw him, or even bigger.

"Aragog will not become powerful by eating chicken," the young Acromantula clattered, long legs dangling from side to side beside Anthony. "Aragog should eat humans."

Hagrid sounded shocked. "Don't eat people, Aragog!"

"Quiet!" Aragog scolded his offspring. "I won't eat humans, Hagrid. I promised you... Bring some venison next time. Venison is not bad."

"Okay, bring venison next time," said Hagrid. "I'm sorry, I just remembered that you seemed to like chicken. When I raised you on bread crumbs."

"I was Spider-Man then, Hagrid," said Aragog, slowly lowering himself down again. "That was a long time ago." Click-click.

Anthony stood holding the lantern, silently looking at the eight-eyed giant spiders crawling around. He did not find the giant spider with a white ring and two red rings on its legs.

"Aragog, where is your ninety-seventh grandson?" he finally interrupted.

Aragog seemed to know immediately which spider he was asking about. "He's hurt, Hagrid's friend," it said.

Hagrid asked in Anthony's place, "What, why?"

"They wanted to go to the centaur area, but he stopped them," Aragog said simply, and the claws swung around when he said "they", which Anthony guessed meant that it was referring to some young Acromantulas around.

"He shouldn't have stopped us! The centaurs are going too far!" a giant spider said angrily, "They are constantly expanding their hunting range, and one day they will claim that the entire forest belongs to them!"

Aragog said slowly, "No, they can't. These woods belong to Hagrid."

"The Forbidden Forest belongs to Hogwarts and all the creatures that live in it," Hagrid corrected. "No matter what the centaurs say, they will never drive you out of the Forbidden Forest unless Dumbledore allows it. And Dumbledore won't agree to such a thing, I know."

"I want to go see it," Anthony said to Hagrid, worried that the only spider that had shown him any kindness was too badly injured.

So Hagrid asked Aragog to show them the way, and took three chicken legs and two pieces of bread from the box: "Eat some chicken when you are sick so that you can get better quickly! That's what my father said."

…

The ninety-seventh grandson was somewhat surprised to see Aragog and was simply confused when Anthony and Hagrid came up to him with chicken and bread.

"I heard you were injured," Anthony explained, being careful not to touch the dense spider webs around him. Some loose spider silks floated in front of his eyes, and some seemed to have stuck to his robes.

This was his first time entering the nest of the giant spider. The hemispherical nest, which was supported purely by spider silk and branches, had a very large interior space, and the passage was high enough for Hagrid to walk in. The smell of damp soil seeped in from the gaps in the spider silk, and Anthony felt that it was even colder inside than outside.

The ninety-seventh grandson lay on the wet ground, his long black, furry legs curled up under his belly. He carefully took the gift from Hagrid's hand with his big claws and placed it in front of him.

It used its eyes to look at the soft, wet piece of meat in front of it. Anthony then discovered that one of its eyes seemed to be blinded, and black liquid with a faint dark green luster flowed out of it, and some of it condensed on its head.

"It's chicken," it said finally. "I don't like chicken."

"Take a bite," Aragog ordered.

The ninety-seventh grandson ate obediently. The eight legs shrank even tighter, and Anthony guessed that it probably really didn't like eating chicken.

Aragog said, "You are an acromantula that has accepted human food." Then it fiddled with its great claws, clicked its feet for a moment, and slowly walked away.