The curved capital letter S, the characteristic emblem of the Slytherin family. In the history of magic for thousands of years, this ancient family of pure blood wizards had a profound influence on the process and development of magic circles, among which Salazar Slytherin was the most famous.
Undoubtedly, he was a great wizard, but he was also the craziest.
"Damn, I should have thought of it. Only that old madman Salazar Slytherin would leave such a dangerous thing near Hogwarts."
Evan suddenly thought about Salazar Slytherin's past experience…
Since he could leave a basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets of the castle, it was not impossible for him to hide any other strange Dark creatures in the Forbidden Forest.
Although Evan believed that Salazar himself had no malice towards Hogwarts, his dark character, his obsession with black magic and his research, however, were extremely dangerous in themselves.
"Ten more years passed, we finally destroyed the statues in the cave!" Click, click, after describing the statues in detail, Aragog said slowly, "I still remember, the night after the last statue was destroyed, a big earthquake occurred in the Lair. It was like the end of the world. Everything was shaking, the rock walls began to crack, the ground sand and springs gushed out of the ground, and finally formed the deep pit in front of you…"
Evan placed his head in his hands with an exasperated sigh. Salazar Slytherin and the unknown Dark creature were enough to cause him a headache, and these Acromantulas could only make it worse. Those statues were apparently the magic arranged by Salazar, and their function was probably to seal the unknown evil creature deep underground and hide it from outsiders.
And these Acromantulas, in ten years, destroyed the foundation of that sealing magic in the most primitive and crude way…
If Salazar knew that his proud magic had been cracked in this way by a group of lower non-human magical creatures, he would be so angry and come to settle accounts with them.
"Since then, as long as I fell asleep here, I could hear a voice whispering to me. It told me that it was the God in charge of death and eternal life. Only by believing in it and dedicating one's soul can one be redeemed." Click, click, Aragog's weird voice echoed in the dark cave. "I didn't believe it. Unlike you humans, the Acromantulas don't need redemption. But I was very old at that time. An Acromantula could die at any time when that age. I began to fall asleep more and more frequently. In my sleep, that voice promised to make me stronger and even escape death. This was a deal…"
"Since it was a deal, what did it need you to do?" Evan asked.
"It needed sacrifices, a lot of sacrifices, and it needed the soul of other creatures to restore its strength." Aragog said, "I ordered my children to bring the lively prey back into this deep pit. They died alone in the darkness of despair, and their souls were devoured by it. In return, it instilled power into me in my sleep, the dark power that the Acromantula likes, to help me continue living. I don't want to die. It helped me realize my wish. I never told anyone about this matter, not even Hagrid, who thought that I lived for so long under his care…"
Aragog seemed to be tired, and he kept silent for a long time.
Evan did not rush either. He could imagine such a scene.
Year after year, day after day, in order to extend Aragog's life, the Acromantulas dragged animals captured from the Forbidden Forest to the depths of the underground.
Prey thought they could escape the fate of being killed and eaten, but the reality was even more atrocious.
They were trapped in this place, gradually falling into despair in the endless darkness.
There was no food there, no light, no hope.
As soon as they fell asleep, the deep whispers would echo in their ears, pushing them to madness.
They woke up, panicked and wanted to escape, but there was nowhere to escape.
They resisted going to sleep, but their spirits became more depressed and distorted.
Like the murals painted on the rocks behind, they trembled in the dark with fear, and their souls were tormented silently.
Before they knew, they would begin to believe the voice whispering in their ears, believe its words, and slowly put down their guard and fell asleep.
In their sleep, their souls would be swallowed up by the monster little by little until they were destroyed…
No matter what, this was an extremely evil and terrible thing.
"As I just said, I didn't believe it. I could feel its malice." Click, click, Aragog started talking again, slowly as if he was out of breath, "I told you once that I rejected the request of the black wizard called Voldemort and refused to join his camp in the human war, even though he offered a very, very generous reward. Likewise, I don't need the power promised by the voice in my sleep, because it's of no use to me. I do what Hagrid taught me to do, to restrain my instincts, not to hurt humans, and to restrain my children. Over the past two decades, I controlled the number of prey and offered it the least sacrifices possible in exchange for my survival…"
The Acromantula is a dark creature, evil, bloody, cruel, and difficult to tame, but Aragog was really different.
It has to be admitted that Hagrid played a big role in this. If it weren't for Aragog's gratitude to Hagrid, that delayed the awakening of this ancient creature, what would have happened in the Forbidden Forest would really be unknown.
Of course, the Acromantulas also avoided their own death to some extent.
Evan could be sure that if Dumbledore's attention were to be drawn, he will certainly not sit idly by, and these Acromantulas might have gone extinct long ago.
"According to what you said, that monster should be very weak, and can only talk to you when you enter your sleep." Evan wondered, "But what I just saw and what I've experienced is quite different from what you said."
"Just a few months ago, everything changed, the night your fire burned my children." Click, click, Aragog speeded up the dancing of his big pincers. There was a slight resentment in his voice. "They were burned to death by you, but their souls were swallowed up by that monster. Its power was strengthened, and things went out of my hand, and I no longer needed to provide sacrifices to it. Even if I didn't fall asleep, I could hear its voice, it's beginning to affect my children, and confuse them…"