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Matters only seemed to be getting worse, despite the fact that students were restricted immensely with curfew and being escorted everywhere in the castle, the school governors didn't believe Dumbledore was doing enough. It was well-known around the castle the day after it happened that Dumbledore had left the schools at the request of the school governors, especially with Draco Malfoy's father seeing that it was done. The school was in a bit of a panic, students were being attacked, Dumbledore was gone, and there was no telling what would happen next. Milo had been bringing Hermione fresh flowers in the Hospital Wing, unsure of what the girl could hear or experience, he thought he could do something nice.
But one afternoon, as he went to visit the Hospital Wing with Ron and Harry, Madam Pomfrey informed them that they were barred from any more visits. They couldn't take any risks and they were fearful that the attacker would come to finish the victims off at any time. With Dumbledore gone, a lot of the professors and faculty seemed restless, Milo's mother seemed one of them. As Deputy Headmistress, it was her duty to step up and make sure that the staff and students were tended to. However, it also meant more often than not that she had to deal with Lockhart alone.
Many of the students were quite upset and worried over the Headmaster's absence with the exception of a handful, one of them especially being Draco Malfoy, who seemed all too pleased. He spoke loudly so that other students could hear that it was his father that had Dumbledore removed and if it wasn't bad enough, he was so far up Professor Snape's arsehole that he had developed a shit-stache, whenever he told the man that he could become the new headmaster.
However, it seems Milo's speech in the Hufflepuff common room had finally knocked some common sense into his fellow Hufflepuffs as no one suspected that Harry was the Heir of Slytherin, but perhaps Draco was. After all, he was the only one who appeared genuinely cheerful in the corridors. But he wasn't the only cheerful blonde-haired turd that looked all too happy. Lockhart seemed to be in the best of moods whenever Milo saw him. Milo wanted nothing more to push the man down a never-ending hole so that he could disappear forever.
With Dumbledore and Hagrid off the grounds, the professors just didn't seem happy except for Lockhart prancing about. But with the professors escorting them everywhere and no student allowing to be out of the sight of an adult unless they were in the safety of the common room or dorms, Milo was finding it difficult to get any work of the animagus process done. He couldn't just let anyone see him spending a great deal of time working on one subject, it would raise too much suspicion, especially with his mother.
So Milo had to work on everything in the dorms and when he saw the twins and Lee in the corridor, he had made sure to pass the word and work along. It seemed like a lot of extra work that he was putting on himself, but it worked for Milo, he needed something to do to keep his mind off the Chamber of Secrets drama. At least, now that he didn't have to worry about Cedric as much.
Things were somewhat back to normal between the two boys, at least, they were able to talk to one another without it being awkward. The problem was the curfew couldn't have come at a worse time because there was no chance of them sneaking around or having any moments of privacy. But with their feelings confirmed and being able to be around each other seemed to help.
There were moments where Cedric would steal a glance and tuck Milo's messy hair back when it fell into the boy's face. Paden seemed to rejoice in the reunion of the two as he spent most of his time climbing back and forth between the boys. Milo was thankful to have Cedric back in his life regularly and not having to be stuck in a state of confusion that had been driving him mental. But things were going to get complicated that evening when Harry approached Milo briefly in the boy's lavatory.
"Can you meet Ron and I near the Entrance Hall without getting caught?" Harry whispered to him.
Milo glanced over at him with a wary look. " Harry, we really shouldn't-"
"I think I know what's been behind the attacks, it might be in the forest. If anyone knows how to navigate the forest, I know it's you."
Milo wasn't stupid, he knew Harry was using words of flattery to get him to go along with the plan but Milo thought of putting an end to the attacks, restoring the school back to order and he couldn't pass up the chance to enter the forest. His mind wandered to the Marauders Map and then gave a nod of his head.
"Yeah, I'll be there but I hope you're right, 'Arry. If my mum finds out, we better hope the creature gets to us first before she deals with us."
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Milo waited in the dorms until it was time for him to leave with the Marauders Map opened to see where the professors were stationed in the castle when he finally made his way out. He noted that all the prefects weren't in a position to stop him from leaving as long as he moved fast. His dorm mates were either in the shower or in the other dorms giving him the perfect opportunity.
However, as soon as he stood up with Paden resting in his hair, Cedric showed up.
Cedric noted that Milo was fully dressed, raising a questioning brow.
"Going somewhere?"
Milo rubbed his hands together nervously unable to meet Cedric's gaze.
"Looks like you're about to go out somewhere-"
"My brother needs me, Cedric," Milo told him quietly.
"He needs you to what? Risk getting attacked by whatever it is that's roaming this castle. Milo, you can't go out-"
"But I have to."
Cedric frowned, not liking the idea of Milo venturing out of the dorms after curfew, especially since it would probably get him into trouble. With whatever it was attacking students, Cedric didn't want Milo to become the next one just because Harry was being foolish and sneaking about when he wasn't supposed to.
But before Cedric could say anything else, Milo had his wand drawn and pointed in his face.
"Sorry, Cedric, " Milo whispered, "Petrificus Totalus!"
A white light emitted from Milo's wand and hitting Cedric right in the chest. As the boy's limbs became stiff rigid, he came completely still and nearly fell over but Milo caught him and slowly lowered him into his bed. He proceeded to cover him with blankets while apologizing profusely to Cedric. Paden entered a state of panic as he chirped profusely at Milo.
"I know, I know," Milo bit the inside of his cheek. "Paden, why don't you just stay here with him and make sure he's okay. I'll be back, I promise."
He turned and hurried out of the dorms with the map in hand to make sure the path to the Entrance Hall was still clear.
"Where exactly are we going?" Milo whispered to Harry as he arrived and he was allowed under the Invisibility Cloak. He was trying to hide the immense guilt he was feeling for basically temporarily paralyzing Cedric back in the dorms, but he really didn't have any other choice if he was going to with his brother.
Harry explained that they were going to Hagrid's hut first to collect Fang, to bring them on their expedition into the Forbidden Forest and already, Milo had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. But if Harry had a suspicion of what could bring the nonsense of the Chamber of Secrets to an end, Milo was more than willing to help.
When they arrived to Hagrid's hut, all was quiet and it was sad not to feel the warmth of a large fire or smell Hagrid's odd cooking at night.
"C'mon, Fang, we're going for a walk," Harry called to the dog as the large hound made his way off the sofa and towards the boys. Milo knelt down and greeted the dog, wondering what Harry thought the dog was going to do. After all, the first time they had ventured into the forest with Fang, the dog had been more frightened than them.
Harry led the way under the cloak, to reveal that they were following a path of small spiders, much to the dislike of Ron, who obviously had a massive fear of the spiders that crawled along.
"Lumos!" Harry lit the tip of his wand first, leaving Milo to grab his but he nearly stumbled as Fang was practically pressed into his leg, not liking the idea of reentering the forest obviously. Especially without Hagrid.
"Good thinking," Ron commented to Harry, "I'd light mine, too, but you know—it'd probably blow up or something..."
"It's alright, I have mine too," Milo reassured him, finally getting his wand up and lit. At the brightness of the two wands, the spiders scurried faster and the boys had to keep up to follow them.
"Okay," Ron sighed as though resigned to the worst, "I'm ready. Let's go."
They were walking along with Fang sniffing about but he never ventured far from the boys as they watched the spiders divert off the path. However, at one point, they suddenly became blinded by a blaze of light that appeared off path. Ron staggered off the path first, unable to really see where he was going, but as they made their way over behind him, all the boys came to a stop for a moment.
Arthur Weasley's car had apparently remained in the forest after the crash and seemed to be making well for itself as it was still mainly intact and working.
"It's been here all the time! Look at it. The forest's turned it wild..."
Milo walked around the car with a puzzled look, wondering what Arthur had enchanted the car within order to get such a result. He had to admit he was impressed and wondered if Newt Scamander would have liked to come out to observe a wild car in the habitat of the Forbidden Forest.
"And we thought it was going to attack us!I wondered where it had gone!"
Ron seemed all too delighted to see the car again, the possible hope of returning the car to his father and gather some forgiveness. But Harry seemed focus on the idea that they no longer could see the spiders.
"We've lost the trail," Harry sighed, "C'mon, let's go and find them."
But before they could venture any further, Fang let out a massive bark that echoed through the forest and within seconds, all of them were tackled to the ground, pinned by something with multiple legs, was quite hairy, and massive. Massive spiders knocked them down only to lift them up and carry them to a clearing. Once they reached the clearing, they were all dropped to the ground, where the only thing they could hear was the sound of pincers clicking.
The pitiful whimper that escaped from Ron with the horror-stricken face represented what everyone was currently feeling, except for Milo. Who seemed all too thrilled at the idea of being in the presence of such beasties.
"Aragog!" One spider called. "Aragog!"
As if the spiders around them were not big enough, the one that emerged was the size of a small elephant causing the boys and Fang to fall silent. As it emerged they could see the milky white colour of all of its eyes causing Milo to tilt his head.
"It's blind, " Milo whispered to Ron, hoping it would make the boy feel better but it did no such thing as the massive spider began talking.
"What is it?" They assumed the biggest spider was the one called Aragog as the others seemed so much smaller in comparison.
"Men."
The disdain tone in the other spider's voice, made Milo believe that they were not welcome to the group just as they were among the other creatures in the forest.
"Is it Hagrid?" Aragog questioned with more of a hopeful tone. Leave it to Hagrid to be known by a massive spider.
"Strangers."
"Kill them," Aragog ordered,"I was sleeping..."
Milo could relate, he hated when people interrupted his naps, but killing them seemed a bit unfair as a punishment.
"We're friends of Hagrid's," Harry called out.
"Hagrid has never sent men into our hollow before."
Aragog seemed to hold concern for Hagrid as Harry spoke of the man's troubles. They suspected that Hagrid was behind the attacks because he had been accused of opening the Chamber the first time where a student had died. It was the reason he had been expelled in the first place as he and Aragog were blamed.
It was all news to Milo as he remained in the ground, looking over the acromantula, trying to rack his brain for the information he had once read about them.
"I was not born in the castle. I come from a distant land. 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. Hagrid is my good friend, and a good man. When I was discovered, and blamed for the death of a girl, he protected me. 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..."
The acromantulas were XXXXX classified beasts, capable of human speech and had a taste for human flesh, making them the same classification as dragons as they were beasts that would attack without reason. They were a wizard-bred creatures had been made to attack, mainly used as guards to protect hidden treasures and such. They normally roamed in Borneo and Southeast Asia, but there had been wizards that had gotten a hold of eggs.
How Hagrid had managed to get his hands on them as a teen and manage to get Aragog a wife so they could reproduce in the forest was beyond the boy in that moment. But he had bigger things to worry about because while Aragog was a friend of Hagrid, he wasn't exactly best friend material to the boys.
"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."
The boys turned to see that they were easily outnumbered by the amount of spiders making their way around them to surround them. Harry reached for his wand, as did Milo while Ron and Fang were paralysed with fear.
"Incendio Trio!" Milo didn't hesitate as he spun around to create a ring of fire around them. Bluebell flames erupted causing the spiders to jump back but the others in the trees were capable of an aerial attack.
Harry turned to his brother, fully prepared to go down fighting by Milo's side, but there was no need to do so as the clearing erupted with light and noise again.
The enchanted Ford Anglia came barreling through the hoards of spiders taking them out in a line. Ron looked like a proud father as he rejoiced looking at the car. Milo had never been so happy to see the Ford as the car came to a screeching halt in front of them. The doors opened allowing them to jump in and escape the spiders.