****
-Cree! — an angry scream filled with pain tore through the night silence of the Forbidden Forest.
With a slurping sound, the dagger left the wound, flashing silver under the rare rays of the full moon, which a second later disappeared again under heavy leaden clouds. It will most likely start to rain soon. You need to finish your hunt before this moment.
Twelfth, there are still three left and we can go back. I hope Luna managed to send the letter, and the guest will arrive exactly at the moment when it is needed. Although, how often does everything go according to plan?..
"Eh," I sighed involuntarily.
Three minutes for cutting, is that a lot or a little? Well, how can I say, it's definitely not enough for a complete cutting, but it's just right for "cutting out" something more or less valuable.
Glands (not only poisonous ones), mandibles, eyes. The allotted time was enough for me to extract these resources.
Carefully putting everything I had caught into my bag and re-entering the invis, I went hunting again. In general, tracking spiders has not only become more difficult, but also more difficult (such a paradox).
Why is it easier? Having worked out the scheme of luring, pursuing and attacking, it became much easier for me, and I began to spend less time.
Why is it more difficult? Spiders have become more careful. Already at the tenth lair, I noticed that the number of acramantulas guards had become much larger. If previously their number varied from five to seven individuals, this time there were more than a dozen.
But these truly smart spiders (smarter than some people...) did not stop there, showing themselves to be even more dangerous than I previously thought (once again I am convinced: do not underestimate your enemies. This can end badly).
When visiting the last nest, I not only came across quite a large number of acramantulas, but also another, not the most pleasant surprise. The trick of "encroaching" on the food of these insects did not work. Acramantulas screamed, ran around, beat with their paws, but never moved away from the nest.
I admit, at first I was completely confused, not knowing what to do. But my prostration did not last even a minute, as another spider flashed next to me.
In order to lure out an adult, I had to purposefully, without stopping, cut out every member of his flock. When the number dropped to three, the "main" acramantula could not stand it and rushed into the depths of the forest. Either in search of an enemy, or simply running away from an unknown danger (the emotions of spiders do not give in to me. My maximum is to track the location of these insects, but something more - alas.). Further actions were worked out - follow, hide, deliver the decisive blow.
Okay, enough idle thoughts. I still have about an hour before the "necessary" guests arrive. During this time it is worth finishing this "quest".
*****
Midnight, the transition between one day and another. Time to strengthen certain branches of magic.
The Forbidden Forest was silent and mysterious. Through the impenetrable darkness it is impossible to see anything other than the trunks of centuries-old trees. There was not a single sound of night life to be heard, which in itself was terrifying.
Dark lead clouds, looking at night like clouds of primordial darkness, slowly but surely thickened in the sky, blocking even the slightest ray of stars. Finally, when the power of "darkness" reached its apogee, it began.
The sounds of rain invaded the pitch darkness of the forest, like the sound of drums.
Originating in the sky, raindrops fell down, breaking into small particles, touching the ground, foliage, and trees.
Suddenly, more sounds were added to the sounds of rain. Many different sounds invaded this part of the forest, bringing chaos with them.
More than a hundred figures resembling spiders were rushing through the dark forest, only their size was much larger. Starting from ten centimeters, up to one and a half meters.
All of them, methodically moving their paws, pursued the lone figure that was trying to escape from them. From time to time, rays of various colors, clots of fire, water cutters, and also pieces of ice flew from the pursued person towards the pursuers. Indeed, many acramantulas were not in the best condition: missing limbs, singed bodies, pieces of earth and ice sticking out from different sides.
The green, slightly viscous blood of these creatures sprinkled the earth, but the rain did not allow it to remain in place for long, literally washing it away into the unknown.
Suddenly, several dog-sized spiders jumped down from the trees in front of the lone figure. However, he, as if knowing about them, did not even slow down, sending several blades from the water at them with a wave of his right hand. Mig and arthropods fall apart into many parts.
Grasping the trunk of a century-old tree with his hand, the pursued man turned sharply on the spot. Freezing for a moment, he stomped on the ground with force. An instant and all the water next to him turned to ice, but he did not stop there. A whole tsunami of ice headed towards the acramantulas.
The spiders that ran first did not have time to react and, frozen in place, turned into ice statues into the world.
- Cree! — with a loud cry, the second row of acrmantulas collided with the ice statues.
*Crunch* The ice sculptures could not stand it, scattering into thousands of pieces. However, they completed their task, stopping the entire piloton.
The remaining part of the spiders, which were lucky enough not to fall into the "trap," rushed after their prey with renewed vigor. The guy himself did not stand still and with redoubled agility began to separate from his pursuers.
The chase through the Forbidden Forest has been going on for about twenty minutes. Angry spiders still don't want to lose their prey.
Slowly but surely, the acramantulas approached the mysterious figure. They had only a few subways left to overcome... but this was not destined to come true.
Having slipped past another dense wall of trees, the guy found himself right on a scorched clearing left by last year's race. Without being confused, he ran out to a more or less open part, having first erected an ice wall behind him.
One moment and the figure is in the air in one giant leap. One more moment, and he disappears from our field of vision.
Only a lone bird flew up. Clots of poison and cobwebs released by acramantulas flew after her. however, in open areas these attempts remained unsuccessful.
After making angry sounds for some time and clicking their mandibles, the spiders returned back to the forest.
The rain continued to wash the ground, simply washing away any traces. Within an hour, no one, not even magicians, will be able to say: what happened here? The forest was very unusual, and rain was expected.
And the bird's trail had long ago disappeared into the darkness of the night, fenced off by a wall of water. She was already halfway to the ancient castle.
*****
Having stopped flapping my wings, I carefully rode the air flow and landed near the Black Lake so that I could not be seen. Having previously looked around the space with an attentive gaze and made sure that there were no witnesses, I again took on human form.
"Phew," I sighed and exhaled deeply, I was finally able to relax.
As I thought, the last part of the hunt was much more intense than the previous one. And if I killed the fourteenth spider without straining too much, then the fifteenth...
Perhaps it's worth starting with the fact that I killed him as usual, simply hunting him down and delivering one decisive blow. I even managed to cut it up and get everything more or less valuable, but then...
As if sensing my position (or maybe they actually knew where I was), just crowds of spiders began to fly at me. And if I could easily fight off the first waves, I couldn't fight off the remaining ones. And they didn't plan to give me time to use the invisa, simply dumping the bodies of weaker, but very numerous relatives. What can I say if I couldn't even take the form of a bird or a mouse. One attempt to transform into a swift almost became my last; I definitely didn't expect such a massive bombardment of cobwebs and poison. Well, at least he managed to dodge at the last moment.
Therefore, I had to organize a small race through the forest, while significantly reducing the number of arthropods (although I highly doubt that I was able to deal any significant blow to their population. There were too many of them, and if you remember about their method of reproduction...)
This whole situation in the dream was very reminiscent of last year, when I was running away from Voldemort. True, last year I could not oppose anything, but this year... Let's just say that in attempts to defend ourselves, the forest suffered quite a lot. It's good that it rained, it helped me quite a lot, reducing the expenditure of energy.
After standing a little longer in the rain, I finally went towards the castle. Let's see what the teacher tells me. Although Poppy could have already cured Neville, and told me, "I didn't doubt you," or something like that.
The path to the castle, as always, passed without incident; after all, the paths have long been known and explored. Since curfew had already come, I had to use Invis again so as not to be noticed by Snape passing by me (that night it was his turn to patrol the corridors of the castle).
The Hospital Wing greeted me with silence and the smell of healing potions and ointments. All the patients, and there were not many of them, had been asleep for a long time. Without stopping to stay in the main "chamber," I headed towards the teacher's office, and then went down to the ritual hall.
-What took you so long? "I'm already bored," the teacher's slightly capricious voice greeted me as soon as I crossed the threshold of the hall (I deactivated the Invis before coming to the Hospital Wing. She shouldn't know about my successes). Having wandered my gaze in search of Poppy, I found the person I was looking for on a soft sofa, holding an open book on my lap. Her reproachful gaze was ready to burn a hole in me.
Ignoring her "indignation," I silently approached her, took out several flasks from my bag in which the glands were placed, and carefully placed them on the table.
"I didn't doubt you," she nodded contentedly after examining the contents of the flasks. "It's true that you were so slow that you managed to cure Neville." Can you imagine I still had several poisonous glands of acramantulas. That's luck, right? — Poppy said, tilting her head slightly to the side, looking at me sarcastically and tracking my reaction.
Calm down Kol, everything is fine. You'll think you were right, what's wrong with that?
We see that without seeing the expected reaction, the teacher puffed out her cheeks in feigned displeasure.
- What and not what reaction? she asked.
"I assumed that you would do something similar to this," I answered indifferently, shrugging my shoulders. — As I understand it, you didn't bother to move Neva to a hospital bed? - a nod towards the altar on which my friend lay.
- What more. This is your patient, you should take care of him.
"Okay," I agreed and turned on the spot and walked towards the altar.
As soon as I approached Nev, the first thing I did was check his condition. As Poppy said, she completely cured him, only a little exhaustion remained, but it should go away within 24 hours. The nerve nodes are in perfect order, as is the brain. Great.
Carefully picking up Nev's body, I headed to the main chamber. There is no reason for him to continue lying on the cold stone. As I walked up the steps, I felt an elf following me. I wonder why this is? Or is she up to something again?
Before I placed Neva in the bed, I had to intensify the sleep of a couple of patients so that they would not wake up at the most inopportune moment. After all, a distinguished guest should arrive here soon.
As soon as I placed Nev on the bed and covered him with a blanket, the door to the hospital wing opened with a noise. A whole delegation burst into the Hospital Wing:
Professor Snape, looking menacingly in all directions. Independent specialist?
Minerva McGonagall pressed her lips together in displeasure. Apparently as a deputy director.
Professor Sprout, who immediately rushed to where Neville lay. "Mother" of badgers, what else can you expect?
Director Dumbledore, radiating positivity and peacefulness (even though I felt his emotions, it was clear to me that I "see" only what he wants. No more and no less.).
And finally, Augusta Lognobot, Neville's grandmother. The one for whom this whole circus gathered. Her gaze of fiery eyes that looked around menacingly (and only by looking at Neville did love arise in them) did not in the least diminish her beauty, rather, on the contrary, it emphasized it. An athletic figure, dark brown hair falling over her shoulders, a tight robe that excites the imagination, plump, bright scarlet lips, a neat nose. So you can't say that she is the same age as the director.
Well, time for the second step.
Let's start the game.