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Chapter 298: To Save or Not to Save…
🕑 Added 2018-11-17 06:10:48 +0000 UTC
Evan quickly got the knack of riding a Hippogriff. He could hold Buckbeak's flanks firmly with his heels.
The huge wings waved beside him, and he tried to loosen his arms around Buckbeak’s neck.
There was no other discomfort except the occasional slight sense of nausea.
Instead, he felt he was getting more and more adapted.
Compared with the broomsticks which were difficult to master, he was feeling more confident flying at high altitudes on the Hippogriff.
They followed the airstream and entered the Forbidden Forest from the air.
Passing through the clouds under his feet, Evan saw large trees.
He had seen this scene countless times before from the top of the castle. But because of his new different angle, the sensation was completely different. Watching the Forbidden Forest from the top down, the trees that were continuous, the trees that were not visible, and the old trees that towered into the clouds were more shocking, immersed in the greatness of nature.
But before Evan could appreciate it, the trees in front of him began to become sparse, as if they had been dug out.
The color of the trunks gradually presented an unhealthy grey. Here was the territory of the Acromantulas.
In the corner, several Acromantulas slowly crawled out of the hidden shadows. They watched the visitors coming from the sky with vigilance.
Evan hurriedly stooped down and squatted on Buckbeak.
Click, click...
After discovering that the intruder was just a Hippogriff, the Acromantulas, who were in charge of alerting their brethrens, slowly retreated back and re-hid in the darkness.
As a relatively common species in the Forbidden Forest, although there were a few Hippogriffs breaking into the territory of the Acromantulas, it was not absolute.
They did not see Evan sitting on Buckbeak’s back, nor did they inform Aragog and the other Acromantulas to defend themselves.
Relying on Buckbeak, Evan was not discovered, smoothly sneaking in, and his plan was successful.
He and Buckbeak flew toward the center of the Acromantulas’ territory. Evan poked out his head and took advantage of the gap between Buckbeak's wings to observe Aragog's Lair carefully.
Since the big fire a few months ago, he had never been here again.
With the constant deepening, the scenery in front of him was more and more shocking.
Unlike the last time he came here, it was very difficult to see trees on the ground in the core of the Acromantulas’ Territory, as if swept by a tornado and corroded by something. Even the soil turned dark grey, intermittently revealing a few reds.
White spider webs, animals' cheekbones, and the traces of the destruction could be seen everywhere. Looking down from high altitude, the slope of Aragog's Lair was deeply sunken in the earth, filled with irregular folds and ravines, which looked very strange.
Thick leaves were no longer visible on the ground, and the scorched black, glossy sand seemed to have covered the surface with a thin film.
Even at altitude of a few hundred feet, there was the smell of burnt leaves in the air, dirt and raw meat, as well as the smell of blood…
The striking thing was the entrance to the Lair, like a huge doomed spider web.
It seemed to be huge like it used to be, and it was densely packed with all kinds of animal corpses.
Among them, Evan even saw the body of a Centaur!
He was placed in the most prominent position and seemed to be like a demonstration to the intruders.
Inside the Lair, a pale, milky-white mist emerged from it from time to time, like a volcanic crater, dimly dispersing the bloody smell to the entire slope.
The scene in front of him was too horrible, and the fire that Evan had set a few months ago seemed to have opened the gates of hell.
Now that Aragog has degenerated, he was not restraining his descendants, but submitting to instinct and becoming a Dark creature who only knew how to kill.
Even worse, its brutality had damaged the balance that Hogwarts and the Forbidden Forest should have.
The revenge of the Acromantulas almost made the Lair a purgatory.
The current situation was even worse than the news obtained by the Centaurs’ investigation. It was necessary to stop the Acromantulas from continuing to rage as soon as possible, and Aragog had also to be eliminated.
On top of the ubiquitous corpses, what made Evan worry was that he felt a hint of Dark magic in the fog floating from Aragog’s Lair.
Black magic, could it be Voldemort?!
Evan shook his head. With his understanding of Voldemort, the latter would not use evil black magic to control, influence and transform the Acromantulas. By the time he would use such magic, he would rather use a Killing Curse to eliminate the enemy directly.
In Dumbledore's words, Voldemort despised life and was more afraid of death, which was his greatest weakness.
In his opinion, he believed that death was the greatest fear for all.
Avada Kedavra was Voldemort's favorite Curse, not any other complex, evil black magic.
It couldn’t be Voldemort who left this Dark magic. What's more, he couldn’t even be near Hogwarts now.
If it wasn’t Voldemort, who would it be?!
Evan thought of the unknown existence that might have been hiding in Aragog’s Lair. This was only his guess. He didn’t know why, he felt that he should already know some important information about the matter, but he couldn’t think of it...
Just like the bodies covered by the mist in front of him, the dreams that he had forgotten seemed to be related to this existence.
Evan couldn't remember those dreams, but in any case, the sight in front of him was enough to inform Dumbledore and make him come out to deal with these Acromantulas.
Buckbeak took Evan and flew around Aragog’s Lair a few more times. After Evan remembered the hiding places of most of the Acromantulas, they began to return to the castle.
Just then, Evan saw a group of Acromantulas leaving the center.
Because there were no trees, he could see very clearly that the group consisted of twelve or thirteen Giant Spiders. The one in the lead was obviously much larger than its companions. Behind it, spiders dragged three wizards in Hogwarts robes, Malfoy, Goyle and Crabbe.
“Damn, what are these three doing?" Evan was shocked and almost slipped off of Buckbeak's back.
Malfoy and the two others were supposed to be in the castle. How could they be caught by the Acromantulas?
What should he do now?
Go and save Malfoy?! This was just a joke. Besides the missing, Evan found that the number of Acromantulas hidden nearby was definitely not less than one hundred. Once he fought and alarmed them, the consequences would be absolutely unimaginable.
What's more, no matter from which point of view he could think of, Evan had no reason to risk his life for Malfoy's rescue.
Thinking about it, if his life was in danger, Malfoy would not have any conscience, and he would not save him.
If he let it go no matter what would happen, or left and went back to inform others, then from what he was seeing, in a few minutes, Malfoy and his companions would become the newest trophy on the huge spider web.
Evan was sure that he would certainly not feel sad if he heard that Malfoy was dead.
But witnessing Malfoy’s death in front of him was a totally another thing.
