The Girl Who Lived

Chapter 28

Raven stayed crouched outside Hagrid's hut, watching everyone but the boys leave. Hagrid was leaving... Dumbledore was removed as Headmaster. Then the boys scrambled out with Fang. "What now, Harry?" she asked, fading back into view. "We follow the spiders."

"I'm sorry. I thought you just said we follow the spiders. The creepy crawlies with eight legs that even crawl in orderly lines. Those spiders?" she spoke, skin crawling at the thought. Ron's face seemed to mimic her disgust. She looked on the side of the house, watching as the line of spiders crawled away and shook her head quickly. "They're heading into the Dark Forest, Harry! You know what happened the last time we went in there." She frowned. But like always, her brother charged head first into the danger. At least she had Fang to hold on to again.

The further they walked into the forest, the more spiders seemed to surround them. Ron was practically hyperventilating when they reached an old clump of tree roots bigger than the three of them combined. "Harry, I don't like this." Ron whimpered. "I second that." Raven whined, legs shaking as she tiptoed around the tiny spiders that swarmed towards the dark crevice. Harry just shushed them, Raven reaching to grab Ron's hand for comfort. Harry was holding a lantern and Fang was too far ahead. She had to hold onto something. Although, with the way Ron had her hand in a death grip, she was sure he needed to comfort more than her.

"Can we go back now?" The ginger asked, receiving an answer of "Come on." as Harry jumped into the tunnel. Raven went next, tugging to poor boy along. They had to crouch as they walked, Raven shaking in fear and feeling the sweat protrude from her forehead the further they went. But soon the tunnel let out into a hidden glen of sorts. Glen wasn't the right word for the place - the roots surrounding the area were covered in webs, the ground packed with dirt with little to no vegetation in the area. The air somehow felt heavier, weighing down on Raven's shoulders with a feeling a dread rising up her spine. "Great. We came, we saw and we conquered. Let's leave." Raven spoke, choking as Harry grabbed onto the back of her shirt and dragging her with him which in turn dragged Ron as she refused to let go.

A crash was heard in front of them, Raven whirling around to get a look at... nothing. "Who is it?" a deep voice echoed throughout the area. Another crash sounded, sounding like heavy footfalls. "Hagrid? Is that you?"

"We're friends of Hagrid's." Harry answered. Raven ducked behind her brother, shivering in her spot. And the Sorting Hat called her brave... More steps were heard until a giant spider, bigger than a car, appeared. For an entire minute, Raven couldn't remember how to breathe. Her heart stopped, and she felt the blood drain from her face. Her hands felt  clammy, and she bit her lip to keep herself from crying. "Hagrid has never sent people into our Hollow before." The spider spoke. "He's in trouble. Up at the school, there have been attacks. They think it's Hagrid, they think he opened the Chamber of Secrets, like before." her brother spoke, his sentences short and quick. 

"That's a lie. Hagrid never opened the Chamber of Secrets." it replied. "Then you're not the monster."

It was a good thing someone out of the three of them could speak. Raven was sure Ron was internally screaming. "No, the monster was born in the castle. I came to Hagrid from a distant land, in the pocket of a traveler."

"H-Harry." Ron tugged on his robe sleeve, only to be brushed off and shushed. Then Ron did the same to Raven, who leaned close while Ron pointed to their surroundings. There were bigger spiders now. Not as big as the one they were speaking to, but... the smallest of the lot they were looking at could easily eat a chihuahua without chewing. "But if you're not the monster, then what did kill that girl fifty years ago?"

"We do not speak of it. It is an ancient creature of which we spiders fear above all others."

"But have you seen it?" Harry pressed. Raven gulped, inching closer to Fang and grabbing his collar for reassurance. "I never saw any part of the castle, but the box in which Hagrid kept me. The girl was discovered in a bathroom. When I was accused, Hagrid brought me here."

"H-Harry." Ron tugged the brother's sleeve again. "What?" Harry was agitated. Ron pointed towards the sky with a whimper. That was when Raven realized something: her fear of heights wasn't as bad as her newfound fear of spiders. Spiders bigger than her torso dropped down above their heads near them, legs twitching in anticipation as their fangs clattered in clicking sounds. "Well, thank you." Harry spoke, Raven's head turning to look at her brother incredulously. How could that idiot be so calm, she was surprised Ron hadn't passed out. "We'll be going now."

"Go? I think not. My sons and daughters do not harm Hagrid by my command, but I cannot deny them fresh meat when it wanders so willingly into our midst." the giant spider spoke and Raven's breathing picked up a faster pace. The spiders started closing in. "Goodbye, Friend of Hagrid."

Raven slipped into another plane, ensuring her safety, and turned to look at the boys hopelessly. She could bring objects into another space, but she hadn't been able to take a person with her before. Let alone two boys and a dog. One landed on the ground, mere inches from where Raven stood, making the girl shriek in panic. "Know any spells?" Ron asked, the boys pressing their backs to Raven's, wands at the ready. "Just one... Raven?"

"Nothing that won't accidentally kill us, if you want to take the risk." she replied, mouth dry. Fang whimpered beside her. "Where's Hermione when you need her." Ron whined, when a bright light emerged from the darkness of the forest. The machine opened its doors, and the teens hopped in. Harry and Ron in the front, while Fang hopped in the back followed by the girl slipping back onto their own plane. Ron's feral car closed it's doors, backing up and running over some spiders along the way as they attempted to escape. They made it out of the hollow without too much trouble, which Raven found disturbing. "We aren't that far from it... wouldn't they have chased us this far, at least?" she whispered... but that was when they saw it: the spiders emerged from the fog in a line, as if marching on to battle. "Get us in the air!" Raven shouted, Harry and Ron using both their hands to pull on the jammed gear while Raven leaned over the seats to steer.

She couldn't count how many spiders she ran over until they slowly but surely flew away, but that was when she realized her error: flying. Quickly, she opened a window and leaned her head out, throwing up that night's dinner as her face turned from a ghostly white to a sickly green. Thankfully, the ride didn't last long, the car having touched down in front of Hagrid's house. Violently. Raven flopped out of the car, laying on the ground and heaving as nothing else could be produced from her stomach. "Follow the spiders... oh, let's follow the spiders!" Ron spoke, climbing out of the car. "If Hagrid ever gets out of Azkaban, I'll kill him." Ron growled, Harry walking around the car to stand in front of his friend.

"What was the point in that? What have we learned?" Ron whined. "We know one thing... Hagrid never opened the Chamber of Secrets." Harry breathed.

"Yeah, just -" Raven gagged before speaking again. "Just ignore me... It's not like I'm dying or anything." she gagged again, wiping her mouth on the sleeve of her robe. She had to wash it anyways.