The Legacy of Merlin Chapter Twenty-Eight

Harry, Hermione, and Ron peaked out of the bushes, watching as the study group searched for them with growing worry. They weren't searching randomly anymore. They were systematic, going section by section.

Harry glanced behind them, looking deeper into the forest. "We have to go," he whispered. "They're going to find us if we stay here much longer."

"You mean further into the forest?" Hermione asked in fright. She heard the stories from the older students about what lived in the forest. Werewolves. giant spiders, and trolls.

"Yes," Harry nodded. "We can't let them find us."

"What do they want? What are they doing this?" Hermione demanded.

"I don't know Hermione," Harry said truthfully. "Whatever it is… it's not good."

"We have to do something soon," Ron said, glancing back at Harry and Hermione. "They're coming this way."

"Follow me," Harry said as he darted out of the bush, staying low to the ground. He ran past a fallen log and hid behind a large oak tree.

He peaked his head out to see Ron and Hermione following after him, as they ducked down behind the tree with him.

They were lucky. The study group moved to the bush they had been hiding in a moment later, searching it.

"Now what?" Ron whispered as he watched the study group wearily. "It's only a matter of time before they search here as well."

Harry pulled out his wand, transfiguring their clothes into a dark hooded robes. "That should at least make it harder for them to see us," he said as he pulled up his hood.

Hermione shivered, wrapping her cloak tightly around herself. She nodded to Potter, grateful to have another layer of protection against the biting wind.

"After what we saw, they're not going to give up easily," Harry pointed out. "We could be stuck out here all night."

"All night?" Hermione asked, looking around, now fully regretting her decision to follow after Potter and Ron. She should have just stayed in the common room and ignored them.

"We have to put some distance between us and them," Harry said. "If we're lucky, we can circle around them and head back to the castle."

"Neville and Sally are going to meet us by the lake to do our morning exercises. We can meet up with them there and pretend we came out with them."

Ron and Hermione nodded their heads in agreement, not having any better ideas.

Harry peaked his head out from behind the tree to make sure the study group wasn't looking in their direction. "Let's go," he said, leading them further into the forest.

Hermione followed after the boys, looking at each shadow wearily, wondering what to do. It was only a matter of time before they came across one of the creatures living in the forest. Then they would really be in trouble.

"Stop," Harry hissed, pulling Hermione and Ron into the shadow of a fallen tree, just in time to see a pair of acromantula the size of quaffles scurry past.

Hermione covered her mouth to stop from screaming while Ron pressed himself against the fallen log, trying to make himself as small as possible. These spiders were a lot bigger than the ones at the burrow.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief after they were gone, thankful that Merlin had taught him how to detect magic. "Let's go."

Hermione and Ron followed Harry, considerably more careful as they ventured deeper into the forest.

Hermione looked over her shoulder. She could still see the feint glow of the study group's wands as they continued to search for them.

The trio stayed close together as they ventured further into the forest, keeping their eyes peeled. Every now and then, they could hear the rustle of leaves and screeches of the various creatures around them.

They had a few more close calls with acromantula. It seemed the further they went into the forest, the larger and more numerous they became.

"Down," Harry whispered as they ducked into a bush, just in time to see an acromantula the size of a large dog scuttle past them.

"Can we circle back to the school yet?" Hermione whispered.

"Not yet," Harry replied. He could still see the faint glow of their wands. Moving through the forest at night with only the moonlight to show them where they were going slowed them down considerably. It would be a while yet before they could safely go around them.

A few minutes after they stepped out of the bushes, Harry's eyes widened. An acromantula was moving towards them. It was fast, and it was big. His eyes darted around the clearing, looking for some place to hide, but there was nothing close enough.

"Run," Harry said as he took off into the forest, Hermione and Ron hot on his heels as they gave up all pretense of staying quiet.

"What is it?" Ron demanded. "What's going on!?"

"A spider, a big one," Harry replied.

"We can hide," Hermione said from behind him. "There's another bush over there," she said, pointing into the distance.

"We won't make it," Harry replied. "It'll see us long before we get there."

Just as Hermione was about to ask how he knew, the Acromantula burst from the trees with a screech. It towered over them, nearly six feet tall.

Ron let out a scream as he saw it, immediately drawing its attention to them. It turned its head towards them, clicking its pincers together as it focused all eight of its shiny black eyes on them.

Hermione's eyes widened as she stared up at the giant spider. She could see the venom dripping from its fangs as it stared down at them.

"RUN!" Harry shouted, pulling out his wand. Hiding from Andre wouldn't matter if the acromantula got to them. "FUMOS! FUMOS! FUMOS!" he shouted, creating a thick shroud of smoke around, hoping it would at least slow down the spider.

They took off running as fast as they could, trying to put as much distance as they could between them and it, but it was a futile effort.

The spider ran through the smoke, its long legs dug into the ground as it chased after the first years, quickly catching up to them again.

Harry raised his wand, ready to cast an incendio, when they heard another screech from their right. They watched in shock as another acromantula crashed into the first one, sending them both crashing to the ground. The new one wasn't as large, but still over five feet tall.

Harry watched for a moment as they fought. They were a tangle of limbs and claws, screeching as they bit and gouged each other.

"Keep going!" Harry shouted, knowing it was only a matter of time before the larger spider won, or they drew the attention of even more of them.

Ron didn't have to be told twice as the trio took off into the forest. If they survived the night, this would fuel his nightmares for years to come.

Hermione's lungs burned as she tried to keep up with the boys. She didn't know how much longer she could run.

Harry looked back at Hermione. Her face was red, and she was slowing down. He had to think of something, and soon. More spiders were emerging from the forest, drawn to them by all the noise they were making.

With little choice left, he drew his wand and came to a stop. "Diffindo!" He said, aiming for one of the smaller spiders. His aim was true, and he managed to slice it in two.

Some of the other spiders noticed this and descended on their fallen brethren, tearing and devouring it. But even more crawled over it, intent on catching them.

Following Harry's lead, Hermione did the same, "Diffindo." The spider she hit was a little smaller than Potter's, but it didn't go down immediately. It stumbled around, bleeding heavily, but it was enough to draw the attention of the other spiders.

Just like the one Harry killed, the remaining spiders pounced on it, tearing it limb from limb.

Ron was next, having similar results to Harry. The trio nodded to each grimly as they formed a circle, looking at the remaining spiders wearily.

The acromantula stopped, staring at their prey, as they clicked their mandibles and screeched. They knew something had changed. This wasn't the weak prey they had thought they were, but they were prey none the less.

The spiders circled around the students, much more cautious now as the tense standoff continued.

Harry, Hermione, and Ron breathed heavily as they stared back at the spiders. There were more and more appearing every second. They would have to do something soon.

Harry raised his wand, hoping to take a few of the larger ones down at once before he heard an almost deafening screech. The first spider they encountered appeared again from the trees. It was wounded, blood pouring from its face and limbs, but it didn't even seem to notice as it stalked forward.

The other spiders moved to the side as it stalked towards them. There was obviously a hierarchy amongst the spiders, as the smaller ones were the quickest to move out of the way, even in its injured state.

"Get ready," Harry whispered. "I'm gonna try to take down the big one with a charged Diffindo. Use Flipendo to clear out a path behind us."

"It's too big," Hermione whispered back. "You're only going to make it mad."

"If I hit it right I can at least wound it. With a little luck, the others will turn on it," Harry whispered. "Either way, we don't have much choice."

Harry kept his wand low to the ground as he charged his spell, cupping his hand over the tip to hide the light from his spell, and hoping the spiders wouldn't see what he was doing. "Diffindo."

He knew he had to make this spell count, or they were done for. He could feel his arm shake as he strained to keep control of the spell He knew he couldn't release it yet. It needed to be stronger, much stronger.

He looked into the shiny black eyes of the acromantula as it drew closer. It was less than ten feet away now.

He could just barely make out the sound of Andre and the study group fighting in the distance, likely having caught the attention of the acromantula as well.

"Harry," Ron said fearfully as the spider moved closer, easily towering over them.

"Not yet," Harry said as he visibly strained to hold the spell, a bead of sweat rolling off his forehead. 'Just a little closer,' he thought.

"Potter!" Hermione shouted as the spider was now less than six feet away from them.

The Acromantula could sense their fear. It stalked forward slowly, savoring the moment. It had earned its meal tonight.

Harry raised his wand, using his arm to brace his forearm as he pointed his wand at the acromantula. The normal silvery-white light of the spell, now a blazing white. It strained against his wand, struggling to get free.

The spider cocked his head to the side, noticing the light emanating from the human for the first time, wondering what it was.

Harry released the spell, watching as it rapidly expanded to the size of a bludger and hammer into the midsection of the spider.

The spider, unprepared for the attack, screeched as the spell pushed it back. It dug its legs into the ground, creating deep furrows in the dirt as it strained against the power of the spell.

The acromantula's carapace was naturally resistant to magic, more so as it aged and grew larger. But with the power Harry put behind his spell, it could only hold out for so long.

With a sharp crack, the carapace burst, and Harry's spell tore into the soft tissue of the acromantula and continued up into the night sky.

The acromantula stood there on its feet, swaying from side to side for a moment, trying to understand what happened before it crashed heavily to the ground. It let out a pained screech as the blood flowed from the giant holes in its body.

Harry nearly dropped his wand as he felt a sharp pain running up and down his arm. It felt like it was on fire.

Ron and Hermione quickly turned around, doing what they could to clear a path through the remaining acromantula. The spiders had gone eerily silent in the aftermath of Harry's spell.

"Flipendo! Flipendo! Flipendo!" Ron said, casting as fast as he could, blasting the spiders out of the way.

"Flipendo! Flipendo!" Hermione followed Ron's lead, but her spells had noticeably less power than his, only shoving them to the side.

"GO!" Harry shouted as soon as they had enough room to run.

Hermione and Ron didn't have to be told twice as they put as much distance as they could between themselves and the acromantula.

Ron glanced over his shoulder as he ran, watching as the acromantula piled on top of the one Harry took down. He shivered as they bit and tore into the flesh of the still breathing spider. 'Definitely going to have nightmares about this,' Ron thought.

While most of the spiders stayed behind, a few of the larger ones still trailed behind them, but didn't follow nearly as close as before.

Ron and Hermione continued to fire diffindo's as they ran, and as much as Harry wanted to help, he couldn't. After the last spell, something was seriously wrong with his wand arm.

They eventually cleared the trees, running into a clearing, but when they looked back, the spiders had stopped, standing just at the edge of the clearing.

The trio came to a stop, looking around in confusion, wondering why the spiders suddenly stopped, but there was nothing but trees around them.

When it became clear they weren't going to follow, Harry dropped to his knees, clutching his wand arm, groaning in pain.

"Harry!" Ron said in alarm as he dropped down beside him. "What is it?"

"My arm…" Harry said through clenched teeth. "I think I overdid it with the last spell. I'll be ok… I just need a few minutes."

Hermione dropped to the ground beside them, covered in sweat, her face red as she struggled to catch her breath. She was exhausted, sweaty and afraid.

Harry looked around the clearing carefully. 'What is it about this place that scares the spiders he thought?'

"Something they are even afraid of," Merlin replied.

'Where have you been?' Harry thought angrily. 'I could have used your help back there.'

"I was watching," Merlin said. "Anything I said would have just distracted you. You did as well as can be expected under the circumstances."

Harry swallowed his angry retort, knowing now wasn't the time for it.

'I can't sense anything,' Harry thought.

"The acromantula know something we don't," Merlin surmised. "But for the moment, it's probably the safest place for you."

"We should stay here until morning," Harry suggested, choosing not to dwell on Merlin's use of the word, probably.

Hermione and Ron nodded, relieved for the respite, and not wanting to go any further into the forest.

Harry rubbed his arm, trying to massage away the pain he was feeling.

"That isn't going to work," Merlin pointed out. "You damaged your main magical pathway with that last spell. It was the right move. You wouldn't have taken down the acromantula otherwise, but it will still take some time to heal."

'I don't like our chances if I can't use my wand,' Harry thought.

"You'll have to use one of the other magical pathways in your arm. Your spells won't be as strong as normal, but it will have to do," Merlin explained.

'Any ideas on how to deal with the pain?' Harry thought. He could barely think straight as it was.

"There is," Merlin replied. "It's something I haven't taught you how to do yet, but you can temporarily turn off your pain receptors."

Harry let out a sigh of relief as the fiery pain he felt in his arm suddenly cut off, leaving his arm feeling numb.

"I just did it for you, but this doesn't fix the problem. You'll have a lot of work to do to repair the damage."

Harry strained his ears, listening for Andre and the rest of the study group, but he couldn't hear them over the sounds of the forest. He could only hope they had as much trouble with the acromantula as they did.

"Why don't you guys try to get some rest?" Harry asked. "We can take shifts sleeping."

Hermione nodded quietly, lying down. She doubted she would get any sleep tonight, and most likely not for the next few nights, either. She had thought she was doing so well learning magic, but tonight had been an eye opener on how much she still had to learn.

She knew she was slowing down Harry and Ron. She couldn't keep up with them physically, and regardless of her ranking, even Ron's spells were stronger than hers tonight.

Ron wrapped his cloak tightly around himself and stared up into the night sky. He refused to look into the forest, where there were no doubt more spiders waiting for them. His brothers had made fun of him for being afraid of spiders when he was younger, but if they were here now, he doubted they would still be laughing.

How had everything gone so crazy? They were only supposed to look for some weird magical object, instead they witnessed some kind of dark ritual, were hunted by their classmates, and nearly killed multiple times by giant spiders.

***

Andre stood back to back with Lucian as they battled the acromantula's surrounding them. They had come out of nowhere, descending on them like locust.

It was obviously the fault of the spies. He could only hope at this point the acromantula dealt with them. Finding them now would be next to impossible.

Around them were the corpses of the fallen spiders. He shivered as some spiders broke off their attacks to eat their fallen brethren.

"We should go back to the castle," Lucian said with gritted teeth. One of the spiders got the jump on him at the beginning of the fight, and bit his leg, injecting him with its venom. He could already feel his leg swelling up as it became harder to move it.

"No," Andre shook his head. "There's too much at stake. We can't let the escape."

"We don't know who or even where they are," Lucian pointed out before he sent a Reducto at a spider trying to sneak up on Beatrice and Talbott, blowing it to pieces.

"It could be Potter, and maybe the Weasley twins," Ismelda pointed out. "They're the only ones that know about us."

Just as Andre was about to reply, a streak of silvery-white light lit up the night sky. It brought a momentary pause to the battle as both sides looked up in shock and surprise.

He noticed something immediately change in the demeanor of the spiders. If he didn't know any better, he would say they were scared. Not of them, but whoever it was that cast that spell.

Most of the smaller spiders scattered back into the forest, leaving only a few of the larger ones for them to take care of. It was a much easier task when they weren't surrounded, and they easily killed off the remaining spiders.

"Drink this," Ismelda said, handing a vial to Lucian. "It will counteract the spider venom."

Lucian took it gratefully, taking a sip and grimacing at the taste before downing the rest.

"I doubt it was a student," Andre said. "A spell that powerful would have taken a fully grown wizard, at least."

The others couldn't help but agree. It was certainly more than they were capable of, even after the ritual.

"It doesn't mean they weren't involved," Lucian pointed out. "The Weasley's have older brothers that already graduated. One is a curse breaker, the other is a dragon tamer. Either of them would be strong enough to pull off that spell."

"Alright," Andre said. "We'll take a rest, then we'll start looking for them again. At the very least, they'll be injured," he said, knowing the deeper they went into the forest, the more dangerous it was, especially at night.

The others breathed a sigh of relief at the respite and saw to their injuries. It was going to be a long night.

***

Hermione looked up at the sunrise. She had never been so grateful to see it in her life. Her Defense book said that acromantula were nocturnal, and would go back into their burrows at first light.

"Wake up," Hermione said, shaking Harry and Ron's shoulders.

Both boys woke up with a start, looking around frantically, neither one able to fall into a deep sleep after what they had been through.

"It's alright," Hermione replied. "The sun's coming up. We can go back to the castle now."

"Bloody hell, Hermione," Ron replied. "You nearly scared the life out of me."

"Sorry," Hermione said apologetically.

"It's ok," Harry said. "We have to get going, anyway. We can't let Andre find us out here."

He could feel his arm was still numb, meaning it was probably still in bad shape. He didn't know how much good he would be in a fight if they ran into them again.

"Point me," Harry said, holding his wand in the palm of his hand. "Hogwarts."

He noticed immediately the spell was weaker than it should have been. The power he could put into it was less than half of what he was normally capable of.

"Alright, we'll circle left," Harry said. "If we're lucky, we'll be able to sneak right past them, but keep your eyes open."

Hermione and Ron nodded, following Harry's lead.

As they trudged through the forest, carefully looking for any other surprises, Ron couldn't help but ask. "How did you do that, Harry? That last spell was incredible."

Hermione didn't say anything, but she listened in, quite curious herself about how Harry pulled off the spell.

"I'm not sure. I charged up a Diffindo like normal. It could have been some accidental magic mixed in," Harry replied. "Whatever it was, it did some damage. My spells are weaker, and my arm still hurts."

"You did more than charge up the spell," Merlin said. "You subconsciously drew on the magic around you to power up the spell even more."

Hermione and Ron nodded. Neither one of them wanted to push Harry, but they both knew the result was far greater than a charged spell should have been capable of, accidental magic or not.

"We can have Madam Pomfrey look at it," Hermione suggested. "I'm sure she'll be able to help."

"No," Harry shook his head. "We don't know if she's working with Andre."

Hermione's eyes widened, her train of thought coming to an abrupt stop. "You're right… There has to be someone else working with them… an adult. How else could we have fought our way through the castle with no one noticing?"

"I doubt it's her. She took a healer's oath not to do harm, but all she has to do is mention it in passing, and they would figure it out," Ron pointed out.

He carefully scanning the tree line, hoping Hermione was right about the spiders being nocturnal.

"If it's not her, then who?" Harry asked, curious about their thoughts on the matter.

"What about Snape?" Ron suggested. "I heard he fought for the other side during the war, at least until he turned spy."

"Professor Dumbledore vouched for him though," Hermione pointed out.

Harry didn't say anything, deciding that telling them about his run-ins with the man would likely put them in even more danger.

"So? He's a spy. It's his job to get people to trust him," Ron pointed out.

"It's something worth looking into," Harry agreed. The way Andre behaved, it only made sense that there was someone else helping him.

The trio finally arrived at the tree line, looking carefully for anyone else from the study group waiting for them.

"Over there," Harry said, pointing to someone standing close to where they entered the forest last night.

"It's Elspeth," Hermione realized, the third year Ravenclaw.

"I guess that means the others are still looking for us," Ron guessed.

Harry led them along the edge of the forest, staying out of her view as they made their way to the lake.

"Here," Harry said, transfiguring their cloaks into running clothes. "You can use a finite later to undo it."

"Thanks mate, thanks Harry," they replied.

Harry nodded. "I see Neville and Sally out there already. We can pretend we came from the castle," he said as they walked up.

"Harry, Ron, I didn't think you were going to come," Neville said when he saw them. "You were still sleeping when I got up."

"Sorry about that," Harry smiled apologetically. "We stayed up a little late playing chess."

"Oh, ok," Neville replied. He hadn't really known Harry to get up late before, but he guessed there was a first time for everything.

"Are you going to be joining us, Hermione?" Sally asked.

"Harry and I are trying to settle our disagreements," Hermione said, thinking quickly. "He invited me to join you for exercises so that I can see for myself how much it helps with spell casting."

"That's great!" Sally smiled, glad to have another girl out here with them. "It's tough in the beginning, but it gets easier after the first few weeks."

Hermione's face fell as she realized the sort of commitment she had just made, and after getting only a couple of hours of sleep, outside in the freezing cold.

***

Hermione trudged into her dorm room feeling completely exhausted. All she wanted to do was go to sleep, but she knew she couldn't, not without risking the study group noticing. She took a shower, and changed into a fresh set of clothes, then went downstairs to join Harry and Ron in the common room.

She looked into the tired faces of Ron and Harry, feeling a little bad for them. Since it was her first day of exercise, she claimed fatigue after the first lap around the lake, and sat out a good amount of the exercises, but that wasn't the case for them.

They had to do all of it, just as well as they normally did, especially when Elspeth wandered by. She even stood there, watching them exercise a few times.

They made their way down to the great hall with the other students, and sat down for breakfast, trying their best to not show how tired they all were.

Draco looked at the Gryffindor table in confusion as he watched Granger sit down beside Potter and Weasley. What was going on? She had never done that before. Why was she suddenly so friendly with Potter?

His suspicions only grew as they went to Potion's class. Granger sat in the back, talking quietly with Potter and Weasley when Snape wasn't looking. She didn't even try to earn any house points.

Something had changed last night, and he needed to know what. Tearing off a piece of parchment, he wrote out a quick note telling Granger to meet him after class.

He pretended to go to the storeroom to get more ingredients and dropped it on her desk.

Hermione read the note and quickly put it away, nodding in agreement to Draco.

At the end of class, Harry, Hermione, and Ron went to the unused classroom across the hall and sat down to wait for Draco

Harry and Ron had been reluctant to speak to Draco, not sure if they should trust him, but Hermione had been adamant about telling him the truth.

They didn't have to wait long as Draco swept into the room, closing the door behind him. "Granger, what are they doing here?" Draco demanded.

"I asked them to come," Hermione said. "There's something important we have to tell you."

"Don't tell me you believe them now, Granger," Draco said, shaking his head. He didn't think she was that gullible. "And why do you look so tired?"

"We were up all night. Harry was looking for some-," Hermione began.

"So now it's Harry?" Draco interrupted with a raised eyebrow.

"Will you just stop and hear her out, Malfoy?" Ron demanded. "This is important."

"No! I don't have to listen to any of this," Draco said, turning on his heel to leave. He should have known better than to trust Granger.

"Sit down," Harry said, an edge in his voice. He was tired, and after last night, had no patience left for this.

Draco paused at Potter's tone, realizing that if he wanted to leave, it would likely end in a fight with Potter. "Fine… but make it quick," he said in a huff.

"Go ahead Hermione," Harry said.

"We were out after curfew," Hermione continued, "and we saw the study group. They did some kind of ritual where they killed an acromantula, and when they saw us, they tried to kill us too. They chased us out of the castle, and we had to spend the night hiding from them in the forest."

"We don't know what they're up to, but whatever they're planning, it's not good," Harry added.

Draco looked between Potter, Granger, and Weasley, trying to figure out if this was some elaborate trick they were all in on. But as he looked into each of their faces, an uneasy feeling developed in the pit of his stomach.

All three of them were exhausted. There was no faking that, and he doubted Granger would lie about something like this, or have a reason to.

"We need to quit the study group too," Hermione said firmly.

"You can't," Harry said, shaking his head.

"What? Why not?" Hermione demanded.

"They're looking for us," Ron explained. "If either of you suddenly quit for no reason, it's as good as telling them it was us."

Hermione visibly deflated at that realization. After what happened last night, the last thing she wanted was to see them again.

"What about Professor Dumbledore?" Hermione asked. "He could help us."

Harry was about to answer, but Draco that spoke first. "And how do you know he isn't in it with them?"

"He wouldn't…." Hermione tried to deny. "He defeated Grindelwald."

"He's also exactly the type of person they would recruit," Harry pointed out.

"Well, what are we supposed to do, then?" Hermione asked.

"For now, you have to stay in the study group, both of you," Harry replied. "At least until we can figure out a way to get you out without them suspecting anything."

"We also have to act normally," Ron said. "If we're all suddenly talking to each other in public, they might start asking questions."

Draco looked at the three Gryffindors, wondering what he had got himself mixed up in, and who he could trust.

***

Andre sat at a table in the library with the rest of the members of the study group. All of them were tired, and still recovering from the previous night.

"I don't get it," Lucian said, shaking his head. "How did they even know where to find us?"

"I don't know," Andre admitted, rubbing his face tiredly. "The aversion spells should have directed them away."

"Aversion spells only work on people that don't know what they're looking for," Ismelda said. "Whoever those three were, they were looking for us."

"Did Madam Pomfrey have any visitors?" Andre asked. After spending a night in the forest he refused to believe they walked away it with no injuries.

"No," Talbott answered. "Its possible they're avoiding her so they don't draw any attention to themselves."

"What about you, Elspeth?" Ismelda asked. "You were on lookout. Did you see anyone leave the forest?"

"No," Elspeth replied. "The only ones outside were Potter and his friends, although Hermione was with them today."

"Potter is out there every day," Andre dismissed. "But have a talk with Hermione, Elspeth. Find out what she was doing out there, just to be on the safe side."

"We also have to consider the fact they weren't students at all," Lucian pointed out. "That spell at the end, not many seventh years are capable of that."

"We'll need to be more careful from now on," Andre decided. "No unnecessary risks. We can't afford to draw any attention to ourselves, not when we're so close."