Harry Potter and the Serpent's Eye by Marauder9744
Chapter Notes: Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed thus far! I can’t tell you how glad I am that so many of you are enjoying my story! I’d like to thank my beta, Priya, who is doing an awesome job with this story “ I couldn’t do it without her! I’d also like to say that you will not have Deathly Hallows spoiled by reading my story… that’s a promise! I you can leave a review I would greatly appreciate it and I hope everyone likes this next chapter!
Chapter 22 - Harry, Ron and Hermione go into the Forbidden Forest in an attempt to find Acromantula Venom; a few old (and new) faces are return to the story.
Harry, Ron and Hermione threw the Invisibility Cloak back over themselves and hurried out of the Room of Requirement.
They ran down the corridor, turned left, and rammed right into the back of Luna Lovegood.
“Oh, hello, Harry,” she said, turning on the spot.
“L“Luna, how did you know we were here?” Harry whispered, keeping the Cloak held firmly over himself, Ron and Hermione.
“Oh, well, Neville and Ginny thought you might show up here, so I thought I’d keep watch,” Luna answered matter-of-factly, before sitting down on the floor, crossing her legs and staring expectantly up at where she knew Harry, Ron and Hermione to be standing.
“Why did Neville and Ginny think we might show up at the Room of Requirement?” Hermione whispered.
“Well, you see, we found the elf, Kreacher, in the Room of Requirement two days ago,” Luna answered. “Ginny needed a place to hide a Skiving Snackbox, so she threw it into the Room of Requirement and then found Kreacher.”
“What did my baby sister need a Skiving Snackbox for?” Ron asked angrily.
“Shut up, Ron!” Hermione hissed. “So, Kreacher wouldn’t tell Ginny why he was there?”
Luna shook her head.
“No, he really didn’t say anything at all actually. So Ginny thought that he must be waiting for Harry. She’s been trying to reach you all on the picture she made, but it doesn’t seem to be working.”
“Does she know why?” Harry asked, feeling slightly alarmed that one of his only modes of safe communication with Ginny may have been severed.
“No, she doesn’t,” Luna answered. “But we think it might be one of the Ministry’s new security measures. We overheard Professor McGonagall telling Professor Flitwick that the Ministry was afraid that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named would attack Hogwarts… after what happened with Zacharias Smith and all.”
“And you think one of the new security measures was a way to jam all kinds of communication?” Harry asked.
“Oh, yes, I do,” Luna answered simply.
“Er, alright, thanks, Luna,” Harry said. “But we kind of have to get going.”
“Oh, okay, Harry,” she said, standing back up. “Should I let Ginny know that you were here?”
“Please do… tell her that we’re alright and that I’ll find a way to talk to her soon.”
“That’s if we make it out of the Forbidden Forest alive,” Ron muttered acidly.
Harry threw him a very dirty look from under the Cloak.
“Okay, Harry, I’ll tell her,” Luna said before she turned around and skipped off in the other direction.
“You know,” Ron began to say as they made there way back down the marble staircase towards the Entrance Hall, “it’s no wonder people call her ‘Loony Lovegood’. I mean, she was sitting on the floor, talking to three people who no one else could see in the middle of the night.”
Harry chose not to respond to this. He instead led Ron and Hermione into the Entrance Hall and towards the oak front doors.
They reached the doors, opened them slowly in case there was someone nearby and, when they saw that there wasn’t, hurried out onto the cool, moon-lit lawn.
“It’s a bit creepy what Luna said, isn’t it?” Ron said once they were halfway across the grounds. “You know, about the Ministry thinking Hogwarts is going to be attacked.”
Harry looked into the darkness, down the road towards Hogsmeade where he knew possibly hundreds of Ministry officials stood guard over Hogwarts.
“They’re not doing a very good job though,” Hermione answered, sounding nervous. “We got onto the grounds.”
“And Snape knew about the tunnel from the Shrieking Shack,” Harry said. “He saw Lupin transformed down there, remember?”
“Yes, but doesn’t Lupin know about the tunnel as well?” Hermione asked. “I’m sure he would have told the Order that Snape knows about it too.”
But, Harry thought as they made their way towards Hagrid’s Hut and the Forbidden Forest, nothing had prevented them from entering the grounds through the tunnel “ which probably meant that Snape would have no trouble entering the grounds either.
They marched on, in silence, each left to their own thoughts as they passed by the dimly lit windows of Hagrid’s Hut.
Harry desperately want to knock on his door and see him, even if it meant having to endure a meal prepared by Hagrid “ but he knew he could not.
Harry pressed on, past the warmth and comfort he knew at Hagrid’s, past the pumpkin patch where Buckbeak once lay tethered and awaiting execution, and into the Forbidden Forest.
They followed the same path they took to the Thestrals almost two years before, walking along the wooded path framed by the giant oak, beech, yew and sycamore trees of the forest.
Their path was illuminated only by the moonlight, though Harry, Ron and Hermione did have their wands out for protection. For a long time, no one spoke.
Harry’s thoughts drifted from how exactly they were to procure Acromantula Venom from one of the spiders in the forest, to Ron and Hermione, who were once again following him into dangerous territory, and at last to Ginny, lying asleep back in the Castle.
They soon passed a clearing where Harry saw two Thestrals staring back at him. Just as soon as they had appeared, however, they turned and scampered off into the heavy brush.
Deeper and deeper the three walked, without a word. Harry could hear Ron’s breathing pick up which he knew was because they were nearing Aragog’s hollow.
The surrounding trees became, if possible, even thicker, the moon and stars that were once high above them had seemingly vanished, and their progress was slowed by the many tree roots and stumps that were barely visible through the darkness.
“Lumos!” whispered Harry, lighting his wand tip, though it did little good. They could now only see a few feet in front of them; the rest of the surrounding forest was pitch-black.
They walked on for what seemed like at least a half an hour, the low-slung branches and brambles catching their robes every once in a while.
“Harry,” Ron began, his voice shaking slightly, “weren’t… weren’t their loads of spiders on the ground last time we came through here?”
Harry aimed his wand light to the forest floor and Ron and Hermione light their wands and did the same.
“Yeah, but they were running from the basilisk last time, remember?” Harry answered.
“Oh “ yeah,” Ron said, doing his best to sound confident.
They continued on, and soon they felt the ground sloping downward, though it was hard to see through the heavy thicket of trees.
Only a few moments later, Harry, Ron and Hermione emerged in a very familiar spot.
“Harry!” Ron called excitedly, but Harry did not need Ron’s cry of comprehension to realize where he was standing.
The three of them were now in the exact spot where, nearly five years previous, Harry and Ron had been carried off by a horde or spiders.
“I know, Ron, I know,” Harry placated, aiming his wand in all different directions to get his bearings. “Do remember which way the spiders took us?”
Ron was silent for a moment while he thought.
“I can’t remember, mate,” he answered. “It could be this way,” Ron added, pointing to his left.
“Yeah “ yeah, I think that’s right,” Harry said, nodding at Ron through the darkness.
Harry continued forward, leading Ron and Hermione further into the heart of the forest.
They walked on in the same direction for what seemed like ages. Harry wasn’t sure what time it was and exhaustion was beginning to set in.
“Are you sure we’re going the right way, Harry?” Hermione asked, hurrying forward so she could walk next to him.
Harry knew this question had been coming for some time now; it would have been very unlike Hermione not to question his leadership skills at least once a day.
“He’s sure,” Ron answered for Harry, hurrying to catch up with Harry too, although Ron did not try to hide the fear in his voice. “I remember this…” his voice trailed off and he fell back in step behind Harry and Hermione.
Hermione looked sideways at Harry worriedly.
“How was he last time in here?” she whispered so Ron couldn’t hear.
Harry looked back at Ron, who was pointing his wand towards every swish of a cloak or snap of a twig.
“Not bad. He only almost fainted twice,” Harry answered with a bit of much needed humor.
Hermione let out a small smile and they pressed on.
After walking for what seemed like another half an hour, Harry, Ron and Hermione soon came to their destination.
The utter darkness around them had lifted, and they were now standing on the leaf-strewn edge of a vast hollow that had been cleared of trees so that the moon and stars were visible once more.
The memories from Harry’s second year were flooding back to him: countless spiders the size of carthorses surging over the leaves below, Aragog emerging from the misty, domed web at the very center of the hollow.
But then, just as suddenly, the reality of the situation returned and Harry, Ron and Hermione were standing on the edge of the hollow, looking down at nothing “ no spiders, no domed web, nothing.
“But, Harry, I don’t get it,” Ron said, moving to stand on the edge of the ridge now that he saw that hundreds of spiders were not waiting to devour him. “This is it… this is where we were.”
Harry did not understand, either. As he set off down the hill towards where the giant web used to be, he could almost hear Hermione’s questioning remark in the back of his head.
He quickly reached the bottom of the hill and set off at a run towards the center of the hollow, Ron and Hermione hurrying in his wake.
At the center of the hollow, where Aragog’s giant web once sat, lay a gaping hole in the forest floor, presumably where Aragog lived.
The smell of rotting flesh and blood from down in the hole was almost unbearable.
Harry stood on the edge of the hole, silently debating whether or not to jump into the spider’s layer, when Ron grabbed him from behind.
“Don’t, mate,” Ron said, breathing heavily and clutching a stitch at his side.
“Why?” Harry replied angrily. “There could be Acromantula’s down there!”
“Exactly,” Ron answered, still holding on to Harry’s shoulder.
“Harry, be reasonable, if there were any spiders down there they would have smelt us by now,” Hermione said, hurrying to Harry’s side as well.
That piece of information seemed to hit Harry hardest of all. He had not planned on the Acromantula’s being gone.
How long would it take to find them?
“Harry, do you…?” Hermione began, but Harry cut her off.
“Look, I know there are no spiders here, but I really don’t need a lecture right now, okay?”
He looked up at her and saw her eyes begin to water.
“I wasn’t going to lecture,” she said, trying her best to keep her voice steady. “All I wanted to know was where you wanted to set up the tent “ it’s getting late.”
* * *
The next three weeks were probably the worst in Harry’s recent memory.
He, Ron and Hermione spent most of everyday hiking through the now freshly snow-covered forest in search of the Acromantula colony, to usually no avail.
Every few days they might find something that points them on the right track “ a discarded bone, or a spider web, perhaps “ but not once in three weeks did they see a single spider.
Meanwhile, Harry was beginning to grow more and more frustrated at the lack of progress that they were making. When he retrieved Hufflepuff’s Cup from the orphanage more than a month previous, there was a feeling of such excitement and anticipation. Now, the chief feeling shared by Harry, Ron and Hermione was cold.
What made matters worse, was that, after spending so much time wandering through the Forbidden Forest, they had lost all sense of where exactly they were and how to get back.
Getting back, however, was, like the Lupin debate, not in the forefront of his mind.
On the evening of the twenty-seventh of November, Harry, Ron and Hermione sat around the kitchen table in their tent, each shivering slightly as snow fell heavily outside.
“Ron, I really have a hard time believing that Lupin is the spy,” Hermione said, her eyes closed and her teeth chattering.
“I’d rather not believe it either, but think about it,” he answered, as he and Hermione renewed the same argument that had been ongoing for the past week. “We know he didn’t tell the Order about the tunnel from the Shrieking Shack to the Whomping Willow. We also know that he was the only one who knew we were going to Godric’s Hollow and to Regulus’ House,” Ron said.
Hermione sighed.
“Harry, what do you think?” she asked.
Harry, who had listened to all of their Lupin related arguments intently, had always tried to remain neutral, simply because he did not like the thought that one of his father’s best friends could betray him again.
“I don’t like what it adds up to,” Harry answered shortly.
“But it does add up?” Ron asked.
Harry could do nothing but nod in agreement.
“Either way, we do know that someone is giving information to the Death Eaters, whether it’s Lupin or not,” Ron said.
“I trust Remus,” Hermione answered angrily in response. “And honestly, Harry, you should too. He’s done a lot to make sure that you’ve been safe this year.”
“Has he?” Harry answered angrily, more so he could argue with Hermione than because he believed what he was saying. “What if he was the one who let it slip to the Death Eaters that I was at the Burrow? What if Greyback’s found him out and he’s switched sides?”
“Harry! Listen to yourself!” Hermione said, her eyes flying open. “Remus cares for you, he would never….”
“I don’t want to here anymore about Lupin,” Harry answered hotly, pushing his chair away from the table and stalking off out of the tent.
Once he was outside, however, he deeply regretted leaving the relative warmth of the tent. There was a thick layer of freshly fallen snow on the forest floor and a crisp wind was blowing through the trees.
As much as hated to admit it, Ron was closer to the truth than Hermione. Everything made so much sense, but Harry didn’t want it to be true.
If Lupin was the spy, then there would come a time when Harry would be forced to confront him, though he could not worry about that now.
There was no concrete proof, yet, and either way there was also a more pressing issue at hand “ finding Acromantula Venom.
Just when Harry decided it was time to go back inside, he heard a twig snap from somewhere ahead of him in the darkness.
Harry had his wand drawn in an instant and trained on the spot where he heard the noise.
Then, emerging from the pitch-black forest in front of him, hooves sloshing unceremoniously through the snow, Harry saw three familiar faces.
“Bane… Magorian… Firenze?” Harry called, lowering his wand.
“Hello, Harry Potter,” Firenze, the centaur with white-blond hair, blue eyes, closest to Harry.
“But, I thought you weren’t allowed back in the forest,” Harry said, watching both Bane and Magorian out of the corner of his eye.
“The others,” Firenze began, glancing sideways at his two companions, “have put that in the past, Harry Potter. There are far greater issues to deal with at the present time.”
Firenze was smiling at Harry, Magorian was staring up into the night sky, and Bane was eyeing all three suspiciously.
“Remind me again why we are here,” Bane asked Magorian silkily.
“Because Harry Potter and his friends need our help,” Firenze answered, while Magorian did not stir.
“D-do you know where the Acromantula’s moved to?” Harry asked, not even trying to hide the excitement in his voice.
“Mars is bright tonight,” Magorian said, as if in response to Harry’s question. “A great battle looms over us all.”
“Magorian!” Bane exclaimed angrily, glaring irately at the other Centaur.
Magorian, ignoring Bane, turned to look at Harry and walked slowly towards him.
“When the time comes, the Centaurs will be come to your aid, Harry Potter,” Magorian finished, gazing coolly into Harry’s bright green eyes.
Harry wasn’t exactly sure what to say to this and all he could think of was,
“Er, thanks.”
Firenze and Magorian seemed to take this as a sufficient expression of gratitude, but Bane did not.
“What did I tell you, Magorian? The human wouldn’t…”
“The Acromantula colony has moved a day’s walk to the west, on the bank of a creek,” Magorian said, completely ignoring Bane. “You would do well to hurry, Harry Potter. You are running out of time.”
Harry stared back at Magorian, a feeling of elation flooding over him. After three weeks of endless wandering, they now had a destination.
“Thank you, thanks so much,” Harry said with a smile.
Magorian and Firenze nodded with small smiles.
“I hope that there will be a time in the near future when we offer you the same thanks,” Magorian said. “Farewell.”
He and Bane turned to leave.
“Goodbye, Harry Potter,” Firenze said, as he followed Magorian and Bane. “Until we meet again.”
Harry watched as the three Centaurs disappeared into the blackness before he turned and hurried back into the tent, where he could still hear Ron and Hermione arguing.
“Honestly, Ron, I don’t care,” Hermione said. “I trust Remus…”
“Will you both shut up,” Harry said, throwing open the tent flap and rushing to where Ron and Hermione sat.
“What is it, mate?” Ron asked, sitting up straighter.
Harry smiled at him.
“C’mon, pack your things. I know where the Acromantulas are.”
* * *
“Magorian said that the spiders were a day’s walk to the west, near a creek,” said Harry, as he, Ron and Hermione hiked through the forest.
Evening was quickly approaching and they had been walking since dawn, only stopping for a few moments around midday.
The flurry from the previous night had blanketed the forest floor in a thick layer of snow that made it much harder to walk through.
“We should be getting close then,” Hermione said, glancing over her shoulder and drawing her wand. “Lumos!”
Her wand tip ignited making it easier for her, Harry and Ron in the darkening forest.
Harry and Ron did the same and they continued to walk on in silence.
Soon the ground began to slope forward, giving Harry the distinct impression that they were nearing some sort of body of water, hopefully the creek that Magorian spoke of.
“Let’s get under here,” Harry said, extracting his Invisibility Cloak from beneath his robes.
He threw it over the three of them and they continued on down the precipitous slope. Soon, Harry could hear running water and he gripped his wand tighter.
“If there are Acromantulas down here, Harry, we need to stay up wind,” Hermione whispered.
Harry nodded then lifted the Cloak off of himself so he could get a better feel of where the wind was coming from.
It was hard to tell, but it seemed that if they continued on in their current direction they would be traveling up wind.
Almost immediately after lifting the Cloak, Harry caught a foul but familiar stench emanating from somewhere ahead of them. It was the same scent he smelt at Aragog’s hollow many weeks before.
Harry got back underneath the Cloak and then pointed to a sloped tree in front of them.
Ron and Hermione nodded and they slowly climbed the tree, taking extra care to keep the Cloak covering them fully.
Once they were all safely on the tree, they clambered out onto one of its largest branches.
They reached the edge of the branch and Ron let out a sharp gasp.
Below them, on the muddy bank of a small creek, lay hundreds of hairy, eight-legged Acromantula’s, each different in size.
Sitting on top of a large, grey boulder, at the water’s edge, was a huge, black spider, roughly the same size as Harry remembered Aragog to be.
Standing in front of the boulder were three hooded figures whose faces Harry could not see, although he did have a shrewd idea who they were.
Harry held his forefinger to his lips in an effort to keep Ron and Hermione quiet while he tried to hear what the hooded figures were saying to the giant Acromantula.
“… the Dark Lord will be most happy with this arrangement, Anangog,” said the first hooded figure, but Harry could not hear well enough to make out who it was.
“And I have your assurances that my colony will be given free reign of these grounds once your task is finished?” the Acromantula called Anangog asked in a high, loud voice.
“Are you implying, Mistress Anangog, that the Dark Lord will not keep his word?” said the familiar voice of Bellatrix Lestrange.
Harry clutched his wand, if possible, even tighter as he felt Hermione put a calming hand on his shoulder.
Anangog clicked her massive pincers threateningly.
“I am merely thinking of the safety of my colony,” she said, continuing to click her pincers.
The other spiders around the rock began to do the same.
“You want our assurances?” Bellatrix said menacingly, and Harry saw her hand reach surreptitiously into her pocket.
Anangog continued clicking her pincers.
Bellatrix flicked her wand swiftly towards a smaller spider to her right.
With a bright flash, the spider was lifted off its legs and thrown into the creek behind Anangog.
“It seems we have no choice,” Anangog said silkily, although she did not look upset at the loss of one of her young.
“Good,” said Bellatrix, stowing her wand back in her robes. “Come,” she added to the other two hooded figures at her side.
As the three Death Eaters turned to walk away, Harry saw his chance.
“We need to get to the spider in the creek,” Harry whispered to Ron and Hermione.
Before, Harry could think of what to do, however, Ron acted.
Ron jumped from the tree branch and into the Acromantula colony, his wand out and his expression hardened.
Bellatrix and the other two Death Eaters turned on the spot at the sound of Ron hitting the ground.
“It’s Weasley!” Bellatrix shrieked, drawing her wand. “Kill him!”
One of the hooded figures fired a Killing Curse at Ron who dodged it.
Harry aimed his wand at one of the Death Eaters who was closing in on Ron.
“Stupefy!” he yelled.
A jet of red light erupted from Harry’s wand and struck the Death Eater in the chest.
Ron fired two Stunners at two spiders who were charging at him and Hermione Stunned two more.
“Protect Ron!” Harry told Hermione. “I’m going after the spider in the water.”
Harry jumped down from the tree unnoticed by the spiders or the Death Eaters due to the commotion that Ron was causing.
Harry saw Hermione fire two more Stunning Spells from her spot in the tree as he dove into the creek.
The water was much deeper and colder than Harry expected and he could see large chunks of ice floating along next to him.
Harry swam hard towards the spider that Bellatrix had killed earlier. It was floating a few yards in front of him, just below the surface.
As Harry neared the dead spider, Anangog appeared on the bank to his left, her mouth agape and her pincers ready for attack.
“Accio Spider!” Harry cried, aiming his wand at the dead spider.
The young Acromantula flew towards his outstretched hand as Anangog charged into the ice-filled creek.
It was now that Harry knew he had made a mistake. He could hardly keep himself afloat while holding onto the dead spider and Anangog was closing in on him.
“STUPEFY!” cried both Ron and Hermione from somewhere to Harry’s left.
Harry turned to see them standing on top of the boulder as two jets of red light erupted from their wands, striking the giant Acromantula, Anangog, in the midsection.
The giant spider turned her attention to Ron and Hermione as another smaller spider climbed up behind Ron and grabbed him.
Harry swam faster than he ever had in his life, reaching the bank and dragging the dead spider out of the water with him.
He left the dead spider on the bank while he rushed towards the boulder where Hermione stood, firing countless hexes at Anangog who approached from the creek. Ron was nowhere to be seen.
The Death Eaters were nowhere in sight and neither were most of the other younger spiders.
Harry climbed the boulder just in time to fire another Stunner at Anangog, at the same time as Hermione cast Stinging Hex.
The Stinging Hex hit Anangog in the eyes and the Stunner struck her in the midsection again, causing her to lose her footing and fall into the creek.
Harry knew that the giant Acromantula was not dead, but they had slowed it down enough to maybe make a quick getaway.
Now all they had to do was find Ron.
No sooner than Harry thought this than he saw Ron, battling with four smaller spiders a little ways further down the creek.
Harry and Hermione jumped from the boulder and ran towards Ron, who was doing his best to hold off the attacking Acromantulas.
“Impedimenta!” cried Harry.
“Incendio!” cried Hermione.
The two separate spells struck two of the spiders while Ron Stunned the other two.
“Ron, are you okay!” Hermione cried, hurrying over to him.
“Yeah “ fine,” he answered shortly, wiping the sweat from his forehead even though snow had begun to fall once more. “Did you get the venom?”
“Oh, yeah,” Harry answered, turning back to see the dead Acromantula he left by the bank. “Come on, we better get out of here before the spiders come back.”
He, Ron and Hermione hurried over to where the dead spider lay and Harry was about to retrieve Hufflepuff’s Cup from his robes when he heard a blood curdling sound: the clicking of hundreds of pincers.
The spiders had returned and were now charging down the slope towards Harry, Ron and Hermione.
“Quick, we need to Apparate!” Harry told Ron and Hermione urgently. “To Aragog’s hollow!”
Harry, holding tightly to the dead spider, concentrated on his destination and just as he began to feel the familiar sensations that preceded Apparation, the feelings ceased and he was still standing in the same spot, watching as hundreds of spiders descended upon him.
He looked to his right and saw that Ron and Hermione had not been able to Apparate either.
“Quick, get to the other side of the creek!” Harry yelled, dragging the limp spider into the water.
Just then, Anangog rose up from the creek, only a few feet away, and charged towards them menacingly.
They were trapped: The Acromantula colony bearing down on them from the front and Anangog attacking from the sides.
Before Harry could think of a single spell that might stop the spiders, Ron let out a yell of surprise.
From the other side of the creek, flying fast, came Arthur Weasley’s old, turquoise, Ford Anglia, its headlamps lit and its engine roaring.
Harry, dragging the spider, Ron and Hermione climbed to the top of the boulder as the flying car came to a halt next to them.
Harry, done with carrying the dead spider around, plunged his hand into his robes, extracted Hufflepuff’s Cup and stabbed the engraved badger on its side with one of the Acromantula’s pincers.
A scream, unlike anything Harry had ever heard, reverberated across through the forest. The Cup grew hot in Harry’s hand and the badger that had been engraved into its front broke open.
Anangog and her spiders were only a few yards away when Harry, Ron and Hermione climbed into the enchanted Ford Anglia and flew off into the night.