Aragog’s End

Adam’s first stop was not the centaurs, but the Acromantulas’ nest.

The Acromantulas floating in the air, still struggling to pounce and feed, gradually quieted Hagrid down.

Adam set them down and lifted the Silencing Charm on them.

"Hagrid, you know where the Acromantulas’ leader is, don’t you?"

"His name is Aragog… ahem, I mean, yes."

Hagrid nodded.

He had finally realized that Adam really did seem to be Hogwarts’ new headmaster.

"Then take me to him."

Along the way, Hagrid hesitated. For someone so enormous, the way he moved forward somehow resembled tiny, shuffling steps.

"Adam, uh, Headmaster…"

"Professor Reed is fine."

Although Adam had never taught a single class, becoming headmaster entitled him to be called a professor. He was not the first person to enter Hogwarts and become headmaster directly.

Ms. Devant had once been an attending physician at St. Mungo’s, and after coming to Hogwarts, she had immediately taken up the position of headmistress.

"Professor Reed, what do you want with Aragog?"

Meeting Hagrid’s uneasy gaze, Adam smiled faintly.

"You know perfectly well, don’t you? Otherwise, you wouldn’t be asking that question."

The saying that whatever one feared most would come to pass was really a reversal of cause and effect—not that bad things happened because one feared them, but that they were likely to happen in the first place, which was why one feared them.

Just like now, Hagrid knew very well that the Acromantulas’ presence in the Forbidden Forest was dangerous and against the rules, which was why he worried.

Hagrid lowered his head, his lips moving soundlessly.

"Don’t think about leading me down the wrong path, Hagrid. The Forbidden Forest is large, but it is only so large. I can find him without you; it would merely take a day earlier or later."

Adam’s words quietly brought Hagrid’s steps back onto the right course.

When they arrived at Aragog’s nest, the giant spider was already waiting for them. Its descendants had alerted it in advance that someone was approaching.

"It has been a long time, Hagrid, and a centaur…?"

When it turned toward Adam, Aragog fell silent.

Its lifespan, excessively long for an Acromantula, had long since left it blind. It relied more on other means to sense the outside world, such as detecting scents through its hairs, like a wolf spider.

Its descendants had never encountered it and therefore did not know, but it could clearly sense the familiar aura on this target—the aura of that basilisk.

Because of their peculiar eye structure, which gave them three-hundred-and-sixty-degree vision and prevented them from closing their eyes, Acromantulas were completely countered by basilisks. Getting close meant death.

Aragog felt its eight legs tremble slightly.

"Hello, Aragog. My name is Adam Reed, Hogwarts’ new headmaster."

Adam greeted it first.

"Then, Professor Reed, what brings you here?"

"My predecessors as headmasters made far too little use of this forest, leaving this land belonging to Hogwarts in a state of long-term neglect. Starting next term, that will change."

As Adam spoke, he glanced at Firenze.

"Therefore, I need to deal with the unstable factors in the Forbidden Forest beforehand. Given the Acromantulas’ habits, I can offer you three options."

"Please, go on."

Though it could not suppress its fear, Aragog’s voice remained relatively calm.

After all, Adam had safely reached it, and he carried the basilisk’s aura. They were destined to have no right to say no to him.

"First, I will designate an area for the Acromantulas to inhabit. They will not be allowed to leave that area, and their population must be kept below ten."

At that, Hagrid could not help crying out.

"But there are thousands upon thousands of Acromantulas in the Forbidden Forest now! Are you going to kill them all?"

"That is precisely why I need to limit their numbers! Do I need to remind you that about fifty years ago, there were only two Acromantulas in the Forbidden Forest?"

Adam glared at Hagrid, successfully shutting him up.

Hagrid should count himself fortunate that not a single student had died at the hands of an Acromantula all these years.

"Then what is the second option?"

Aragog asked.

"For the second option, I will likewise designate an area. The Acromantulas may only breed and live within it. I will not restrict their numbers, but they will not be allowed to leave the boundaries I set."

"Aragog, choose the second one!"

Hagrid’s shout did not prompt a response from Aragog. It continued waiting for Adam to speak, knowing who truly held the authority here.

Adam nodded inwardly. He still preferred talking to creatures with brains.

"In return, there will be other creatures in that area as well. I will not interfere with the hunting and predation between you unless it leads to the extinction of one species."

Aragog understood.

"Then if we choose the second option, what creatures will be our neighbors?"

"Both those already in the Forbidden Forest and those I add later—I will place creatures rated XXXXX in danger level by the Ministry of Magic there."

Adam gave examples.

"Including all kinds of Fire Dragons, Crups, Manticore-like beasts, basilisks…"

"We choose the first option."

Aragog said decisively.

As for what the third option was, Aragog did not need to ask. That also spared Adam the trouble of explaining it.

"Very well. Choose the ten Acromantulas that will remain."

Adam nodded.

Aragog began communicating with the spiders around it.

"Oh, Merlin… these little ones lay more than ten eggs at a time. How can they keep their population under ten…"

Hagrid’s eyes reddened as he could not help wiping at their corners.

"Artificial intervention will do. Eat all the excess ones."

Adam’s words choked Hagrid up, and he began crying even harder.

"Those ones. These ten are relatively clever children."

Sorrow entered Aragog’s voice.

"I cannot order my children to give up their lives, so the other children…"

"I will deal with them."

With a wave of Adam’s hand, ten Acromantulas shrank and floated into the air. Adam placed them into glass bottles, then looked at Aragog.

"Won’t you consider taking one of the spots?"

"No. I am already too old. There is no need to waste a spot on me."

"Then…"

Adam nodded to Aragog.

"Goodbye."

The basilisk on Adam’s wrist briefly opened its eyes. In an instant, the Acromantulas within a dozen feet lost their lives, including Aragog before them.

At the same time, trees throughout the Forbidden Forest stirred, extending branches to strangle nearby Acromantulas and drag them underground. Their corpses would serve as nourishment, allowing the forest’s trees to grow even more luxuriantly.

Having finished this, Adam looked at Hagrid, who was clutching Aragog’s corpse and weeping bitterly.

"Acromantulas are an exceptionally harmful invasive species in the Forbidden Forest to begin with. Keeping some of them is already more than merciful… You can stay here, but I am going to find that half-brother of yours next. Are you sure you do not want to come along?"