Forbidden Forest and Halloween

The brothers kept an eye on the Gryffindors for the next month, but they showed no suspicious activity, and the twins relaxed. The princes were sure that the children would undoubtedly decide to check the hatch if they saw it, so after not noticing anything suspicious, the twins busied themselves with more pressing matters. All this time, they had been putting off their Muggle textbooks "for later," and now they had to do double duty. Slightly bored with so much theory, Sasuke decided to carry out what he had long planned, namely infiltrating the Forbidden Forest. And after Itachi announced the end of the stakeout, the younger Prince suggested his nii-san execute the plan.

- No.

- Well, nii-san..." Sasuke stretched out.

- No, Otto. Dad won't be thrilled when he finds out we've put ourselves in danger.

- But, if he's like the Forest of Death, we're not in much danger.

- No one knows precisely what's out there.

- Well, we're about to find out. We'll pick up a lot of good ingredients, too.

Itachi's confidence wavered. Noticing this, Sasuke looked at his brother pitifully. "Puppy eyes" did the trick.

- Alright. But if we encounter anything serious, we'll be right back.

****

After waiting for bedtime, the twins cast illusions on the beds and headed down the path the Weasleys had shown them. As they entered the forest, the Princes activated the Sharingan, and the enchanted boots Sasuke had invented began to move forward. The enchantments gave their shoes leaping ability, allowing them to move like shinobi. The only drawback was that the Princes had not yet figured out a way to switch from "jumping" to "sticking" mode, and they had to use glue spells when they needed to stay on an uncomfortable surface for a long time.

- Is anything interesting going on here? I've heard from my seniors that there are acromantulas in the Forbidden Forest. I'd love to see them! Snakes are my preference..." said Sasuke as they moved.

- You wouldn't say no to a tame basilisk; it's a shame they haven't been seen in Britannia for over four hundred years," Itachi quipped.

- Don't ruin my dreams! Maybe one day I'll meet one... It would be nice to have one. I'd make a home for it in the back of the garden..." the younger twin said dreamily.

Itachi snorted.

- Pfft, yeah. A cone for a fifteen-meter snake was built. Dad would be jumping for joy.

- Sure," Sasuke replied confidently, ignoring his brother's sarcastic tone, "It's a treasure trove of rare ingredients!

Itachi didn't argue with that.

The twins moved from tree to tree. The forest was no longer dark; the farther they went, the more fairy lights became. They seemed to be surrounded by a swarm of lights. Gradually, however, their numbers dwindled.

- Be prepared, Ototo," Itachi whispered, "Judging by the decreasing number of fairies, we should encounter a predator soon.

Sasuke nodded. Fifteen minutes passed when the twins saw a vast web.

- Are you thinking what I'm thinking? - The younger Prince asked.

- Hn. It's acromantulas.

- I wonder how they got here... Acromantulas live in Borneo, don't they?

- Someone must have brought their eggs here... Never mind. Let's gather some cobwebs. I think Papa and Grandpa could do with an acromantula silk robe. And the Malfoys would love a gift like that. Maybe we can find some more wool..." Itachi said thoughtfully, "Ototo, watch the perimeter.

He pulled out a kunai, cut the cobwebs with quick movements and put them into the bag with the spells of the Invisible Expansion on it. Like the ingredient bags, the kunai had been given to them by their father for their last birthday.

- Nii-san, spiders are coming towards us," Sasuke said tensely, holding his wand in one hand and his kunai in the other.

- Hmm. Let's see.

Itachi finished his study and stood beside his brother. Soon five acromantulas appeared in front of them.

- Looks like luck is on our side today. The prey comes to you by itself? - said the largest of them.

- How do you do? We want to talk to the head of your colony, Itachi said politely.

- What do you want from him?

- We will only tell it to him personally.

- What cheeky brats! Shall we eat them? - One of the spiders asked the older one.

- No. We can always do that, but I'm curious why they want Aragog.

Surrounded by spiders, the children went deeper into the forest. Soon the procession reached a clearing full of acromantulas. In the centre sat an enormous spider. The spiders noticed the approach of their brethren and began descending through webs from the trees.

- Aragog, these children want to talk to you.

- What is it you want from me?

- Hello. My name is Itachi, and this is Sasuke. We want to offer you a deal.

Aragog made noises that sounded like laughter.

- So what can you give me?

- We offer you a supply of Dromarog meat in exchange for spider webs, wool, and some venom.

Though the brothers did not fully understand the spider's facial expressions, they noted his hesitation. They knew that Dromarog was a delicacy for acromantulas. A few languid seconds passed.

- How long? - Aragog finally asked.

- Itachi answered for every ten kilos of meat, five spiders, one kilo of wool and five ounces of poison.

- 'Fifteen kilos.

- Eleven.

- Fourteen.

- Twelve.

- Good. Twelve," Aragog agreed.

- We'll deliver the meat to you tomorrow. We'll be there around that time.

- I'll send someone to meet you so you don't get lost.

- Thank you for the offer, but we know the way very well. No need to worry.

After saying goodbye, the children returned to the castle, having decided that that was enough of an adventure for today.

- I wish we had met a basilisk," Sasuke lamented as they prepared for bed.

- Othoto, your fondness for large poisonous creatures is really bothering me. Are you sure you haven't been bitten by Orochimaru-san in this life? Do I need to examine you for the cursed seal? - Itachi raised an ironic eyebrow.

- Pfft. Very funny, nii-san," Sasuke muttered, "I just like snakes. You especially," the younger Prince said, glaring at Manda, "No one else has such a great snake.

Itachi smiled at the corners of his lips, looking at his younger brother cooing with the snake.

- Go to sleep, Otto. It's late, and we still have training with Draco tomorrow.

The twins said goodnight to each other and went to sleep.

****

Slowly the month passed, and Halloween crept up. The twins looked around the Great Hall wistfully, remembering how they had helped their great-grandfather decorate Prince Manor. Noticing their condition, their father signalled that he was waiting for them in their rooms after dinner. The intrigued Princes eagerly awaited the end of the banquet. They guessed that this time the presents would be given to them by their father, as Arnold had done before, and went over the options in their minds as to what their father and great-grandfather had prepared for them.

Noting Hermione's absence, they asked the Weasley twins entering the hall if they knew what had happened to her.

- We don't know exactly, but...

- ...we heard that in class...

- ...by Professor Flitwick...

- ...rubbed our little brother's nose in it...

- ...with a flawless spell, and Ron...

- ...said that because of her character...

- ...no one could stand her, and Hermione, hearing that...

- ...got upset and ran off...

- ...to cry in the bathroom on the first floor.

After thanking the redheaded twins, the princes looked at each other and went off to find her. As they approached the men's room, they spotted Quirrell rushing into the Great Hall and, not wanting to face him and avoid questioning why they weren't at the feast, decided to take another route. However, apparently justifying the assertion that the brothers had had a bad day this morning, they heard Filch and had to make a long detour. When they finally reached the bathroom, they listened to the sound of smashing furniture and children screaming. At a glance, the twins rushed to help. Running into the bathroom, the brothers quickly assessed the situation and saw Harry sitting on the shoulders of a troll, smashing everything around him. Itachi, realizing that if he immobilized the troll, it might fall on the children, put an illusion on his eyes, "activated" the Sharingan and submerged the creature in the illusion, forcing it to move away from Ron and Hermione at a safe distance, using Petrificus Totalus to avert his eyes. The troll fell like a stone's throw. Before the Gryffindors could recover and question the Princes, the teachers, including their father, rushed into the bathroom.

When he saw the troll, he looked so devastatingly at the twins that if they hadn't been shinobi in a past life, they would have been preparing to flee the country by now. No one else noticed because Severus quickly pulled himself together, but the twins weren't fooled. This stunt would not go unnoticed. He hoped he would soon withdraw and not take them away from Hogwarts. Before the Princes could explain their presence, Hermione took the blame. After Professor McGonagall told Hermione off and took five points off Gryffindor and gave everyone five points each for defeating the troll, the children were sent to bed. Obeying their father's tentative signal, the twins went to his rooms and waited for him to arrive.

- Did you notice Dad limping on one leg? - Sasuke asked.

- Yeah, I think he decided to check out the third floor, and the dog bit him," Itachi replied, "It must have been Quirrell who let the troll out. Wanted to provide a distraction.

The twins frowned.

- Do you think Dad's going to be very angry?

- Pfft. Imagine he caught his eleven-year-old kids next to a mountain troll. Even by the standards of our past world, we're still students at the Academy.

- Hmm. Someone finished it at seven," Sasuke 'innocently' glanced at him.

- Hn. The exception proves the rule. In my father's opinion, we're still too young for that.

Sasuke sighed. An hour later, Severus appeared, and by his look, the kids knew they were 'caught' and were embarrassed.

- Well," the older Prince raised an eyebrow, "I'm waiting for an explanation.

- We just heard that Miss Granger was upset and crying in the bathroom. We'd been in contact with her for a long time, so we went looking for her. We didn't know anything about the troll, really. And when we heard the rumbling and screaming, we couldn't help but come to the rescue," Itachi said.

- 'Don't take us out of the school, please,' Sasuke asked, looking at Severus with 'puppy dog' eyes.

Clearly very tired, the man sighed and nodded.

- You are welcome to stay. I'll forgive your antics this time, but you must promise me to be more careful. It worked out fine this time, but you could have all been killed there," he looked intently at the children.

Severus remembered those experiments with electricity and fire that they had conducted.

- We promise! - The brothers shouted simultaneously and rushed to hug their father.

- That's it, that's it," Severus grumbled after five minutes, "I'll walk you to the living room.

The children hurried after him, happy that everything had worked out so well.