The forest was easy to navigate through at first.
The spiders stayed right on the path, the tree's were thin and they could rely on the tiny amount of moonlight and starlight that made it through the cover of the leaves.
Slowly the two spiders gained in numbers, and soon they were following a group instead.
Unfortunately, as the number of spiders increased, the number of trees did as well.
The stars were covered by the trees, the only light coming from the ends of Amisty and Harry's wands. The trio walked along in silence, their eyes luminous in the dim lighting as they listened for anything.
Anything other than the leaves and twigs snapping and crackling beneath their footsteps.
And then the spiders started to leave the worn path they had been following for so long.
Harry stopped in his tracks, prompting Amisty and Ron to do the same. Fang brushed against Amisty's leg, and she covered her mouth with her hand to keep from screaming.
They couldn't see anything through the darkness of the forest, only what was just in front of them with the help of their wands.
Harry leaped backward suddenly, landing right on Ron's foot.
Fang was the reason why.
"What d'you reckon?" Harry asked, the lenses of his glasses reflecting the light of his wand.
"We've come this far," Ron replied, his face steely.
He was, after all, facing one of his biggest fears.
"No point in turning back now," Amisty nodded, squinting off into the shadows of the trees.
She knew it was no use, her eyes had adjusted as best they could to the little light they had.
They had to move with caution now, stepping over tree roots and stumps to keep up with the steady pace of the spiders.
Every now and again they would stop, searching for the spiders to make sure they were on the right track.
Getting lost this deep in the forest this late at night, especially when even without the new rules it was forbidden, wouldn't bode well.
Amisty nearly fell flat on her face when a particularly thorny bush caught hold of her robes, only kept from falling when Harry and Ron grabbed her arms and pulled her back to her feet.
They continued on, the ground slowly sloping down.
The stifling silence that the forest held gave way as Fang let out a roaring bark. The three of them all jumped, eyes wide and hearts beating a mile a minute.
"What?" Ron asked, not even bothering to keep his voice down as his gaze darted along the forest.
"There's something moving over there. Listen... sounds like something big..." Harry replied, his own voice barely more than a whisper.
Amisty didn't even need to strain her ears to hear it. Branches snapped threateningly, followed by the sounds of large foot falls.
"Oh, no. Oh, no, oh, no, oh -- " Ron ranted, backing up into a tree and shaking his head.
"Shut up. It'll hear you," Harry hissed, unable to tear his gaze away from where the sounds were coming from.
"Hear me? It's already heard Fang!" Ron's voice rose a few octaves in pitch with his panic.
Amisty couldn't blame him. Every inch of her body was pleading for her to run. To run as far and as fast as she could.
But she couldn't leave her friends behind.
There was a loud rumble and then silence followed.
"What d'you think it's doing?" Harry asked softly.
"Probably getting ready to pounce," Ron replied.
His words were followed by silence yet again, but this silence was far from comfortable.
It was threatening, filled with an unseen enemy.
"D'you think it's gone?" Harry murdered.
"Dunno -- " Ron started to reply, only to be cut off as a flash of light cut through the darkness.
Amisty winced, shielding her eyes with her hands from the sudden brightness. Fang ran right into a tangle of thorns, yelping as he struggled to get free.
"Harry! Harry, it's our car!" Ron exclaimed, his voice cracking slightly with relief that it wasn't some monster.
Amisty felt confusion flood through her.
"What?" Harry asked, sounding just as utterly confused as Amisty felt.
"Come on!" Ron urged, racing toward the source of the blinding light.
Harry followed after with Amisty only a few steps behind. Once again the roots of the trees got the better of her and she stumbled to the ground.
Luckily, she stumbled right into the clearing where the boys were waiting.
There waiting was a bright turquoise... car.
"It's been here all the time! Look at it. The forest's turned it wild..." Ron exclaimed, circling the now animated car with bright eyes.
His words were true. The sides were streaked with mud and scratched, revealing the steel beneath the layers of paint.
Fang squeezed in between Harry and Amisty, eyeing the car and shaking slightly.
"And we thought it was going to attack us! I wondered where it had gone!" Ron continued his excitement at the find, patting the hood.
Harry didn't seem to share his enthusiasm.
Click click.
"We've lost the trail. C'mon, let's go find them," Harry urged, scanning the ground for spiders.
Amisty was just about to follow his actions when she felt a hairy arm grab her and lift her up in the ground.
She couldn't even scream as she writhed around, trying to escape.
Click click.
Harry got lifted up.
Click click.
So did Ron.
Click click.
Fang howled.
And now they were being taken away to the trees.
When Amisty looked over to see what had grabbed her, she nearly fainted. It was a massive spider, two of its arms holding her just above a pair of gleaming pincers and the rest scurrying along on the forest floor.
The trees flashed by, growing darker than Amisty knew was possible. Until they ended up in a hollow, the trees cleared away so that starlight shone down.
She wished there hadn't been any starlight, however, as it lit up something she'd rather not have seen.
Thousands of spiders were grouped in the dip in the ground, all clicking. She felt the spider carrying her dip down and when she looked to where they were headed, her heart dropped to her feet.
It was a massive spider web, ghostly white, with even bigger spiders than the ones on the outskirts sitting outside it.
The spider dropped her, and she fell to the ground in a heap of limbs. Three thumps followed her. She crawled toward them weakly, unable to get to her feet. Fang was quivering, Ron was so pale he looked like a ghost, his jaw dropped and eyes bulging. Harry's only sign of fear was the glint in his eyes.
He placed an arm around her shoulder as if it would protect her from the creatures. Ron scooted closer, Fang flanking him.
She jumped at the sound of a voice, the clicking she had been hearing was actually the spiders talking.
"Aragog! Aragog!" The spider who had been carrying Harry, judging by where it was standing, called.
From the middle of the web emerged a massive, grey-streaked spider, his eyes all white and unseeing. He moved slowly, he was old.
"What is it?" He asked sharply, pincers clicking together with every word of his gravely voice.
"Men," The spider replied.
"Is it Hagrid?" Aragog asked, creeping closer. His eyes seemed to see right through her, and she shivered unintentionally.
"Strangers," The spider who had been carrying Ron answered.
"Kill them. I was sleeping..." The spider sighed, as if bored, and started back into the web. Spiders crept closer at his words.
Amisty closed her eyes.
"We're friends of Hagrid's," Harry shouted suddenly, stopping all the movement in the hollow.
Amisty's eyes flew open, pupils dilated.
"Hagrid has never sent men into our hollow before," Aragog paused in his movements, his voice slow.
"Hagrid's in trouble. That's why we've come," Harry's breath was coming out in short gasps as he explained.
"In trouble? But why has he sent you?" The spider asked, a trace of concern in his voice beneath the pincers.
"They think, up at the school, that Hagrid's been setting a -- a -- something on the students. They've taken him to Azkaban," Harry explained, only a slight quaver in his voice.
Aragog's pincers clicked angrily, a sound soon echoed by the rest of the spiders surrounding them. It was horrifying.
"But that was years ago. 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," Aragog argued.
"And you... you didn't come from the Chamber of Secrets?" Harry asked nervously, tightening his hold on Amisty's shoulders.
"I! I was not born in the castle. I come from a distant land. A traveler ave 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 scraps from the table," He was absolutely furious. "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..."
"So you never -- never attacked anyone?" Harry asked softly, his confidence wavering.
"Never. 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. I never saw any part of the castle but the cupboard in which I grew up. Our kind like the dark and the quiet..." Aragog replied.
"But then... Do you know what did kill that girl? Because whatever it is, it's back and attacking people again -- " Harry started, his voice suddenly overpowered by all of the movements and clicking off the surrounding spiders.
"The thing that lives in the castle is an ancient creature we spiders fear above all others. Well do I remember how I pleaded with Hagrid to let me go, when I sensed the beast moving about the school," The spider sounded bitter.
"What is it?" Harry asked quickly, his urgency evident in his tone and he even leaned closer slightly.
But as he moved closer, the spiders around them inched closer as well.
Amisty glanced around at them, her heart beating so loudly she was sure they could hear it.
Her fingers itched for her wand.
"We do not speak of it! We do not name it! I never even told Hagrid the name of that dread creature, though he asked me, many times," Aragog snarled, slowly moving back into his web.
The spiders moved closer still, all clicking their shiny black pincers excitedly.
"We'll just go, then," Harry's voice was flooded with pleading.
Ron, Fang, and Amisty pressed closer, almost back to back.
"Go? I think not..." Aragog replied, his voice trailing off almost teasingly.
"But -- but -- " Harry stumbled over his words, unable to find what to say to get them out of there.
"M 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," And with that, he vanished once more into the white depths of his web.
Amisty watched, terrified, as the spiders drew even closer, black eyes gleaming with hunger.
Harry reached for his wand, but it would be useless. There were too many to fight off.
He slowly got to his feet, wand drawn, when a loud horn echoed through the trees, accompanied by a sudden wave of light. It was the car, blazing through the spiders and racing toward them.
It opened its doors the second it reached the three.
"Get Fang!" Harry shouted, leaping into the front seat and dragging Amisty along with him.
She jumped over the seats and into the back, catching Fang as Ron threw him in.
Ron took the passenger and they were off. The car seemed to move without them even having to touch the pedals. It didn't take long for them to stop hitting the bodies of spiders, and now it was only trees that were scratching up the front window.
Amisty relaxed slightly, but she knew she wouldn't be completely calm until they were out of the dreaded forest.
"Are you okay?" Harry asked Ron, who was sitting quite still in the front seat, having yet to close his mouth.
He didn't reply.
Amisty hurriedly tried to calm Fang, who was howling and barking and yelping up a storm beside her.
Her attempts weren't very effective, but he did seem to calm down a tiny bit as soon as he realized it was only her petting his back.
The crashing of the car through the undergrowth and low-hanging branches was thunderous, and she was far more than relieved when the trees started to thin.
But when the car did stop, she flew right into the back of Harry's seat with a muffled thud.
"Ow," She grumbled softly, rubbing her head and getting up to open the side doors.
Fang was throwing himself at them, trying to get out. At once he hurtled out of the car and into Hagrid's house, tail tucked and ears flat.
Amisty crawled out of the car, curling her arms around her and trying to calm her overexcited heart. It took Ron a while to get out, still pale and stiff.
The sky was still a dark, inky black, speckled with stars. It was calm, peaceful, nothing like the nightmarish incident they had just endured.
She sat down quickly in the grass, her legs were still shaking, and took in deep breaths.
This was definitely a night she wouldn't be able to forget in a hurry.