CHAPTER NINE
THE FORESHADOWED FUTURE
It was a scene that nobody had ever expected. The only way it could be described was a scene from hell. Standing, rather writhing, before them was a gigantic black mass of skittering spider flesh. The bodies were so close and entwined that what they were crawling over could not be seen.
"ARANEA EXIME!" Harry shouted in rage and terror. Red and blue sparks fanned out from his wand tip and pierced the black veil revealing the color of bloody flesh and bone underneath. The mound shuddered violently as a deep guttural sob emanated from the spider pile-up.
"That's too big to be Hagrid!" Professor Durkell shouted as he sent spiders into oblivion on the right side of the clearing.
The group of witches and wizards continued their systematic eradication of the army of fist-sized spiders and soon the clearing was empty, revealing the prone form of Grawp lying in the center of the makeshift corral that Hagrid had built for his giant brother. He was curled in a fetal position and seemed to be cradling something in his arms.
Grawp took a labored breath and the search party felt the weakened breeze as it exited his lungs. Hermione and Harry, the only two of the group who had visited their giant friend, walked to face his enormous head.
"Grawp, are you ok?" Hermione asked tentatively as she placed her small hand on his arm.
The giant opened his one good eye, the other had swollen shut and his face was chewed and welted. "H ... H ... Hermy?" He asked weakly as he looked over the faces of everyone present. "R ... R ... Run ... It bad ..." He seemed to be losing consciousness.
"It's ok, now, Grawp" Hermione said with a shaky voice, the tears starting to stream down her face as she saw how weak Hagrid's brother had become. Harry remembered just how strong this unlikely ally had been. When they first met him he was playing some game that only he knew the rules to and it was he who had toppled the trees in the clearing.
"H ... H ... Hagger ..." Grawp whispered. "H ... Hagger ... ok."
Everyone was staring at the giant as he lifted his damaged arm to reveal an unconscious Hagrid. He had several bites on his arms and his face was swollen dangerously. Harry walked slowly to his friend, trying not to startle the crippled giant and checked for a pulse and breathing.
"He's breathing and his pulse is weak." He said with a shaky voice. "He's still alive but I don't know for how long."
The assembled troupe of mages looked in horror as Grawp's face screwed up in a terrible mask of rage, the terror could be plainly seen in his eye. He swung his huge arm with a speed nobody had anticipated and Hermione fell to the ground in surprise.
"HERMIONE!" Everyone shouted at once and as they went to her side they realized that Grawp's target wasn't the young girl but a spider that had dropped from the trees above. He had caught the pony-sized creature in mid-air launching it across the clearing. It slammed against a nearby tree with a sickening crack before it thudded to the ground in a broken heap. Everyone looked at Grawp in a state of awe.
"H ... H ... Hermy ... ok?" He wheezed with a look of worry on his broken face.
"Yes, Grawp. Thank you." Hermione said tenderly as she placed her hand back on his shoulder. After a slight smile, he looked at something above his head as a last wheezing breath escaped his now still form and his arm slumped to the ground with a thud.
"Grawp?! Grawp, wake up!" Hermione tried to shake their large friend but it was futile; she would have had more luck pushing boulders up a hill. She let the tears flow free as Harry pulled her back from the still form of their giant friend.
"He saved Hagrid, Hermione. He saved you. There isn't anything we can do for him now." Harry was fighting back the tears but failed miserably as he held his shaking friend.
"Come, everyone, let us not take his sacrifice for granted." Dumbledore said tenderly. "We have to get Hagrid back to the castle." His eyes betrayed the sadness he felt and had started to mist over. He leveled his wand at the groundskeeper and muttered the mobilicorpus charm. "Quickly now, we must clear the forest to the safety of the grounds. I'm sure there are more enemies about and we might not be so lucky with a renewed attack with the adults."
"What?" Hermione stuttered, "There are bigger ones than this? Other than Aragog, I mean?" She had no access to the stores of information she had researched after that night during second year when Ron and Harry had been chased from Aragog's lair.
Harry looked tenderly at his friend. "Acromantulas can reach a leg span of fifteen feet or more, Hermione. We have to get out of here."
Everyone started for the path that would lead them to safety. The adults had surrounded Hagrid's floating form and helped to maneuver him as Dumbledore pulled him along. They were followed by Harry and Hermione as the young friends searched the deep shadows around them for any sign of attack. Ron was being pushed by his sister, the overload of his arachnophobia had caused him to lose his facilities and all he could do was mumble incoherent gibberish. The advance party stopped to wait for them, prepared to counter attack anything that came within range of their spells.
"Do hurry, Mr. Weasley!" McGonagall pleaded, "We don't have much time!"
"He's gone into shock, Professor." Ginny replied exasperatedly. "I'm having a hard time getting him to move."
"Honestly! I told him he could stay behind!" Hermione complained as she pointed her wand at her boyfriend. "PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!" Ron and Ginny both stiffened and fell to the ground with a thud as the paralyzation charm took effect.
"That's strange." Hermione said puzzled. "The PETRIFICUS TOTALUS only works on one target."
Harry's eyes went wide in sudden realization and ran to his fallen girlfriend screaming the spider killing curse along the way. Two small forms flew away from Ginny's crumpled form and burst into flames before wasting away in a puff of smoke.
Harry came to a skidding halt along her prone form, her eyes rolled into the back of her head as spider venom leaked from two welts on the back of her neck and leg. Tears began to stream down his cheeks as he checked for a pulse which was barely detectable and her breathing was coming in short-wheezing gasps.
Minerva crossed to Harry quickly and guided him to his feet before using the mobilicorpus charm on both Ron and Ginny to rush them both back to the hospital wing. "Come along, Harry, we can't do anything here." She said compassionately as she laid her hand on his shoulder. "We have to get them back to Madame Pomfrey so she can administer the anti-toxin."
Harry nodded slowly and started forward. He looked at his transfiguration professor and jumped back as a massive, hairy leg knocked her to the ground. The others looked in shock as the largest spider they had ever seen dropped between them and Harry. He brought his wand to the spider's face and began the spell that would destroy the beast but was cut short when another of its legs caught him in the chest and flung him into the darkness of the forest. He landed hard and saw stars as his head came to a sudden stop on a moss covered log. He fought to get to his feet, to get to his friends, to get to Ginny but his strength failed and he fell into darkness.
Harry opened his eyes after what had felt like a few short minutes. He found himself at the edge of the forest; his wand was still in his hand. He scrambled to his feet dizzily and saw that his friends were still in the forest fighting off the colossal spider. He ran back to the clearing feeling his anger build within him with each step. He made his way to a point where he could see what was happening.
Dumbledore had managed to mobilicorpus Hagrid, Ginny and Ron as he slowly made his way back towards the castle. He was followed by Professor Sprout with his head of house leaning on her shoulder. The other professors were letting all manner of offensive spells fly at Mosag, Aragog's mate. The female abomination seemed to be unaffected by the spells themselves, but was being held at bay by the sheer force of the attacks. He caught a glimpse of Hermione searching through the underbrush on his side of the clearing where she was obviously looking for her fallen friend.
"HARRY?! HARRY?! WHERE ARE YOU!?" She was calling out in a trembling voice, the light from her LUMOS spell scanning the ground. She was concentrating too hard on her search and not on her surroundings and didn't see the form of another rather large spider sliding down a strand of silk thread towards her.
"HERMIONE! ABOVE YOU!" He shouted at a run.
She looked up but was too late to bring her wand to bear on the rapidly descending monster and could only cover her eyes and scream in horror.
"ARANEA EXIME!" Harry shouted with such primal force that the spider just ceased to exist. He ran over to his cowering friend and wrapped his arms around her. Without thinking, Hermione began punching and kicking her savior in a panic to escape thinking that the spider was attempting to drag her off to devour her.
"Shh, it's ok, Hermione, it's me" Harry cooed gently into her ear. She immediately stopped her frightened attack and broke down in his arms, tears streaming freely over her cheeks.
"Harry! Oh, Harry! I thought I was dead! I thought you were dead! I couldn't find you ... I couldn't ..." her sobs began anew as Harry held her to him and looked around to find a safe path towards their headmaster.
"I'm ok. I'll explain later, we need to get back to the wards." He said as he comforted her. "Can you walk?" She nodded and they got to their feet. "Run to Dumbledore and help him with the others, I'm going to let the others know that I'm ok and help them get out of there."
"Harry! It's too dangerous! I'm coming with you, you'll need my help!" She pleaded.
He shook his head at her. "Please, do as I say, Dumbledore can't get back fast enough without any help. The others will need to know I'm ok. Now RUN!" He pushed her in the direction of Dumbledore as he ran back to the clearing with determination and confidence in his stride.
Hermione stared in shock then turned and did as she was told.
Harry got to the clearing faster than he had thought possible but didn't have the time to ponder that particular curiosity. He raised his wand and shouted "I'M OK! LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!"
Everyone shot their heads towards the youth and started a guarded retreat to the path to the castle.
"ARANEA EXIME!" He shouted in a primal rage. Everyone stopped in their tracks as they marveled at the spectacle before them. Harry had used the same spell that everyone else had, but a strange thing happened, a shrill, courage boosting birdsong filled the air. They looked for the creature this signature sound came from and found nothing.
Professor Durkell gasped as the realization slapped him across the face. The song was not coming from a phoenix! The sound was coming from Harry! In addition to the red and blue sparks that emanated from the young wizard's wand a gold coil of lightning spun around the signature effects of the ARANEA EXIME hex, its path lancing towards the gargantuan spider!
The wife of Aragog let out a violent shudder and a terrifying squeal as the amplified spell barreled into her bulbous body and cut a perfect circular tunnel out the other side. Eight eyes blinked at the boy-who-lived before the rest of her monstrous form curled in upon itself and shriveled into a small blackened ball that burst into flame and blew away in the wind as a puff of smoke.
All attention turned back to Harry as he looked with confusion at his warm wand. It fell from his hand as he fell to his knees gripping his now blood soaked hand in agony. He looked up at his friends as he swayed forward and fell into the grass atop his dropped wand. For the second time that night, he fell into unconsciousness.