Chapter 312: Sequence of events

The curved capital letter S, the characteristic emblem of the Slytherin family. In the history of the magical world for thousands of years, this ancient family of pure-blooded wizards had a profound influence on the process and development of magic, among which Salazar Slytherin was the most famous.

He was undoubtedly a great wizard, but also the craziest.

"Damn, I should have thought of that. Only crazy old Salazar Slytherin would leave something so dangerous near Hogwarts." Ivan suddenly thought of his past experience with Salazar Slytherin....

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 creature in the Forbidden Forest.

Although Ivan believed that Salazar himself held no malice towards Hogwarts, his dark character, his obsession with dark magic and his research, however, were extremely dangerous in themselves.

"Ten more years passed and we finally destroyed the statues in the cave! Click, click, click!" after describing the statues in detail, Aragog said slowly, "I still remember that the night after the last statue was destroyed, a great earthquake occurred in the Lair. It was like the end of the world. Everything shook, the rock walls began to crack, sand and springs gushed out of the ground, and finally the deep well formed in front of you..."

Ivan put 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 things worse. Those statues were apparently 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 foundations of that sealing magic in the most primitive and crude way....

If Salazar knew that his proud magic had been deciphered in this way by a group of inferior non-human magical creatures, he would be very angry and come to settle accounts with them.

"Since then, as I fell asleep here, I could hear a voice whispering to me. It told me that he was the God in charge of death and eternal life. Only by believing in him and dedicating one's soul can one be redeemed. Click, click, click" Aragog's voice echoed in the dark cave. "I didn't believe it. Unlike you humans, Acromantulas don't need redemption. But I was very old at the time. An Acromantula could die at any time at that age. I began to fall asleep more and more often. In my dream, 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?" asked Ivan.

"I needed sacrifices, many sacrifices, and I needed the souls of other creatures to restore your strength." Aragog said, "I commanded my sons to bring the living prey back to this deep pit. They died alone in the darkness of despair, and their souls were devoured by 'it'. In return, it infused me with power in my dream, the dark power that Acromantulas like, to help me keep living. I don't want to die. It helped me to fulfill my wish. I never told anyone about this matter, not even Hagrid, who thought I lived so long under his care..."

Aragog looked tired, and was silent for a long time.

Ivan didn't hurry either. He could imagine such a scene.

Year after year, day after day, to extend Aragog's life, the Acromantulas dragged animals captured in the Forbidden Forest deep underground.

The prey thought they could escape the fate of being killed and devoured, but the reality was even more appalling.

They were trapped in this place, gradually falling into despair in the endless darkness. There was no food, no light, no hope.

As soon as they fell asleep, the deep whispers echoed in their ears, pushing them into madness.

They woke up, panicked and wanted to escape, but they had nowhere to run.

They resisted going to sleep, but their minds became more depressed and distorted.

Like the murals painted on the rocks behind them, they trembled with fear in the dark, and their souls were silently tormented.

Before they knew it, they would begin to believe the voice that whispered in their ears, to believe its words, and they would slowly let their guard down and fall asleep.

In their sleep, their souls would be devoured by the monster bit by bit....

No matter what, this was something extremely evil and terrible.

"As I just said, I didn't believe it. I could feel his malice. Click, click, click" Aragog began to speak again, slowly as if out of breath, "I told you once that I refused the request of the dark wizard named Voldemort and refused to join his camp in the human war, even though he offered a very, very generous reward. Likewise, I do not need the power promised by the voice in my dream, because it is of no use to me. I do what Hagrid taught me to do, to control my instincts, to not hurt humans, and to control my children. For the past two decades, I have controlled the number of prey and offered him the fewest possible sacrifices in exchange for my survival..."

The Acromantula is a dark, evil, bloody, cruel and difficult creature to tame, but Aragog was truly different.

Admittedly, Hagrid played a big part in this. If it were not for Aragog's gratitude to Hagrid, who delayed the awakening of this ancient creature, what would have happened in the Forbidden Forest would be truly unknown.

Of course, the Acromantulas also prevented their own death to some extent.

Ivan could be sure that, if Dumbledore's attention was drawn, he certainly would not stand idly by, and these Acromantulas might have become extinct long ago.

"According to what you said, that monster must be very weak, and can only talk to you when you enter your dream." Ivan wondered, "But what I just saw and what I experienced is very different from what you said."

"A few months ago, everything changed, the night your fire burned my children. Click, click, click" Aragog sped up the dance of his large pincers. There was a slight resentment in his voice. "They were burned to death for you, but their souls were devoured by that monster. His power grew stronger, and things got out of hand, and I no longer needed to make sacrifices for him. Even if I didn't fall asleep, I could hear his voice, it's starting to affect my children, to confuse them..."