[Note: Read up to Chapter - 125 on P patron at: p-atreon.com/Knockturn_Alley]
.
.
.
.
Castle exit.
Aris carefully cast the Disillusionment Charm and slipped out while Filch—who was meant to be guarding the gate—was dozing in his chair, snoring like an old kettle.
"Wind!"
Once outside, he quickly murmured a wind spell. A faint blue light shimmered over his body—and in the blink of an eye, his speed doubled. Without wasting another second, he darted towards the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
Even though the little red dragon was powerful beyond belief, Aris couldn't help but worry. He'd seen the spider's nest before, and the memory was far from pleasant.
The place wasn't just crawling with massive spiders—known as Acromantula—each one large enough to make anyone with even mild Arachnophobia scream and leg it—but deep within the nest lurked an old Acromantula that had lived for decades and developed sentience.
If you got caught by that lot, escaping would be anything but easy.
And with Iris currently under strict orders not to use high-powered, large-scale dragon language spells, the whole thing became even dodgier.
Aris thought he'd snuck out cleanly, not leaving a trace behind.
But just a short while after he vanished into the night, a figure appeared silently outside the castle walls.
"Off to the Forbidden Forest at this hour, are we?" the old man murmured, gazing into the trees with a thoughtful frown. "Now what could you be up to, young one?"
Ever since suspecting there might be a hidden master within Hogwarts, Dumbledore had quietly stepped up surveillance—especially when it came to Aris.
He'd long suspected the troll incident had something to do with the boy.
In truth, Aris had barely stepped past the front hall before one of the portraits had tipped off Dumbledore.
The old headmaster had seen everything.
But rather than stopping him, Dumbledore had chosen to wait and watch.
There were still too many unanswered questions swirling around that boy—and tonight, perhaps, he'd finally get some answers.
"This should be it."
Soon enough, the scattered trees marking the edge of the Forbidden Forest came into view.
"But the Acromantula's nest'll be deeper in, no doubt."
In this off-limits area of Hogwarts, the further you ventured in, the thicker the trees grew—and naturally, the more dangerous it got. Around the outer edge, Hagrid often patrolled and kept a close eye out for anything dodgy. Truth be told, unless some daft first-year fancied charging in to top themselves, there wasn't much real danger on the outskirts.
But now, Aris had no choice. He had to press deeper into the forest.
The Acromantula nest definitely wouldn't be found near the fringe. An Acromantula—clever as any human—would know better. It'd tuck its young far from prying eyes, hidden well within the woods where no one would dare wander.
"Lumos."
The inside of the Forbidden Forest was pitch black. With a flick of his wand, Aris summoned a faint silvery light. It barely lit more than a small circle around him, making the surrounding woods feel even more eerie and grim.
Still, Aris wasn't the panicking sort. Skilled and level-headed, he moved cautiously forward, eyes darting about.
What he needed now was a small creature—any woodland critter would do.
Because the quickest way to find the Acromantula's nest was to ask the locals. Aris knew Natural Language magic, which let him chat with magical beasts and animals without fuss.
Soon, he crouched in the underbrush, spotting a tiny lizard hiding in the weeds.
"Oi, mate," he whispered, "you wouldn't happen to know where the big spider's nest is, would you?"
But before the lizard could even blink, it turned tail and scuttled off the moment the wand light touched it.
"Rude," Aris muttered.
Aris shook his head with a sigh, then stood up and carried on deeper into the forest…
Roughly fifty yards behind him, Dumbledore followed suit, having cast his own Disillusionment Charm—though in his hands, the spell was clearly a cut above the standard. The silver-haired old wizard blended seamlessly into the surroundings, his presence almost ghost-like. Even his breath had become nearly undetectable.
Unless you were practically nose-to-nose with him, you'd never know he was there. Not even a sharp-nosed creature would have much luck spotting him—let alone a schoolboy like Aris.
'This boy... is he speaking with the animals?' Dumbledore mused silently as his eyes narrowed in intrigue.
He didn't make a move to reveal himself. Instead, he kept at a safe distance, quietly trailing Aris at a steady pace.
Up ahead, Aris soon stumbled across another creature.
It was a striking sight—a tall, jet-black beast, part dragon, part horse, with leathery wings folded neatly against its sides. Aris recognised it straight away.
A Thestral.
The stories said only those who had witnessed death could see them. Aris hadn't encountered death directly since arriving in this world—but having died once before crossing over, well... it sort of counted.
So, it wasn't too surprising that he could see it clearly.
His eyes lit up at the sight. He knew Hogwarts kept a few Thestrals—used to pull the carriages for older students between the train station and the castle. But he hadn't expected to meet one face-to-face so soon.
Even more remarkable—his wand was made with a Thestral feather core.
"Alright there," Aris said softly, taking a cautious step closer. "D'you know where the Acromantula's nest is?"
The Thestral, nestled on a bed of straw, lifted its head at the sound of his voice. At first, it recoiled slightly at the light from his wand. But then it looked Aris dead in the eye—calm, curious, and eerily intelligent.
Of course, the Thestral couldn't speak, but at the sound of Aris's voice, it tilted its head slightly—as if it understood what he was saying.
Thestrals were highly intelligent magical creatures—otherwise, they wouldn't be trusted to guide young witches and wizards to Hogwarts. Their sense of direction was nothing short of brilliant; once told where to go, they could find the place without fail.
So Aris's question wasn't exactly a stretch.
The Thestral regarded him curiously for a moment… then turned its head, gazing silently toward the deeper, darker part of the Forbidden Forest.
"Over there, is it?" Aris muttered, following the creature's line of sight.
"Just head in the direction the spider went, and I'll find its lair…"
He squinted through the gloom, then nodded thoughtfully. A faint smile tugged at his lips. Drawing his wand, he gave it a quick flick, and several chunks of raw meat appeared out of thin air.
It was technically a Transfiguration spell, though it functioned more like a summoning charm—drawing meat straight from the Hogwarts kitchen. A bit like the Summoning Charm, but more refined and far sneakier.
"Cheers," he said warmly, tossing the meat toward the Thestral, who snapped it up gratefully.
No point lingering—he had a dragon to rescue.
A soft flicker of wind magic swirled around his feet, and with a gentle whoosh, Aris disappeared into the shadows of the forest.
Seconds later, Dumbledore stepped out of hiding and approached the Thestral.
He watched it chew contentedly for a moment, his expression unreadable.
Then he murmured, almost to himself, "So… he really can communicate with magical beasts. That's no common talent."
His eyes followed the direction Aris had taken. There was a glint of something unreadable in them.
"And that azure magic of his… quite the curious thing indeed..."
"Just how many secrets is that child hiding...?"
Dumbledore stood there for a moment, genuinely surprised by what he'd seen.
Meanwhile, over at Hagrid's hut—
Fang's sudden barking startled the half-giant, who was inside finishing up a late supper. With a grunt, Hagrid stepped outside.
"What's the matter with you, you great daft mutt?"
He reached for his custom-made weapon—a massive crossbow almost the size of a broomstick. It was tailor-made to match his own enormous frame, far too large for any ordinary wizard to handle properly.
This was Hagrid's go-to when patrolling the Forbidden Forest.
Normally, he wouldn't rely on weapons—after all, he'd once had a wand. But the Ministry had snapped that decades ago... Not that it had stopped him. He'd stashed the pieces in a pink umbrella and still used it when no one was watching.
"Oi… did one of the students wander off into the forest again?"
He squinted toward the shadowy treeline behind his hut, trying to make something out in the darkness. But the night had already fallen thick and heavy, and he could see nowt.
"I'm warnin' you, Fang, if this is another false alarm, you'll be sleepin' outside—and I'll be skippin' supper!"
But Fang kept barking, tail rigid, clearly on edge.
Hagrid sighed, slung the crossbow over his shoulder, and trudged into the forest with heavy steps.
Fang barked once more and then bounded after him, eager to lead the way. Clearly, the dog had picked up on something unusual.
…
"Here, spidey-spidey… where d'you think you're off to then?"
Aris muttered to himself as he made his way deeper into the Forbidden Forest.
The wand light danced ahead of him, casting long, eerie shadows through the undergrowth. Every now and then, the glow startled a few magical creatures from their slumber. Luckily, this stretch of the forest was still within Hagrid's patrol zone, so nothing too dangerous lurked nearby.
A few creatures bared their teeth or growled in warning as he passed, clearly not thrilled to see a human wandering about after dark—but Aris dealt with them swiftly.
Minor threats like these didn't bother him anymore. His magical prowess was already on par with—if not beyond—that of a seasoned adult wizard.
As he pressed on, the surroundings grew steadily darker.
The moonlight above barely pierced through the thick canopy, and the forest floor was becoming harder to navigate. Aris adjusted his wand, cranking up the brightness to make sure he'd have enough visibility if anything nasty decided to jump out.
"Little spiderlings, eh? There you are!"
Just beyond a thicket, he spotted a cluster of small spiders crawling through the leaves. With a smirk, he followed them, letting them lead the way.
All around, the trees had grown taller and thicker, their gnarled roots twisting across the path like nature's own traps. The deeper he went, the older and more foreboding the forest felt.
…
There'd been plenty of critter sounds earlier—birds chirpin', small animals rustlin' in the brush—but now? Nothing. Not a peep.
Silence had fallen like a heavy curtain.
It was clear something nasty was lurking nearby, something that had scared off every other creature in the area.
"Bloody hell, this Acromantula's nest is a right fortress…" Aris muttered, grumbling under his breath.
A faint, sickly mist began to creep through the trees, coiling along the ground like a snake. He knew exactly what it meant—they were close. The miasma came from rotting leaves and animal carcasses left near the nest. Linger here too long, and you'd be breathing in poison before you knew it.
With a flick of his wand, Aris cast a Bubble-Head Charm over himself—clear as glass and just as quiet. It kept the foul air out and his head clear.
The mist thickened, shrouding everything in a murky fog. With only the dim moonlight filtering through the trees, Aris squinted into the distance. And then he saw it.
Tangled between the gnarled roots of massive trees was a cave—wide, dark, and gaping like the maw of some ancient beast, waiting patiently for the next poor sod to stumble in.
If you didn't look close, you'd mistake it for just another hollow at the base of a tree. But Aris wasn't fooled.
He picked up the pace, though his every sense was now on high alert. The air had grown heavy—almost charged—and a wave of malicious intent seemed to wash over him from every direction.
Unseen in the shadows, spiders the size of dogs were creeping out from their hiding spots, skittering through the undergrowth. One by one, they gathered, legs clicking against bark and stone.
They didn't see a wizard.
They saw supper.
"The sooner I'm outta here, the better," Aris muttered, narrowing his eyes. "This place ain't fit for humans…"
Naturally, Aris had already clocked that the spiders were closing in. It wouldn't be long before he was completely surrounded by the swarm.
But retreat wasn't an option now.
Even if he turned tail this instant, he'd still be ambushed before he got five steps back.
"Iris!"
At this point, Aris figured he might as well be bold about it.
They were deep enough in the Forbidden Forest that, so long as he didn't set the whole place ablaze, it probably wouldn't alert anyone back at the castle.
He needed to find Iris—and fast—then break out of the spiders' encirclement before things got messy.
"Oii~, Master! You really did come!"
Iris's voice chimed in through their link, cheerful as anything.
Only... she didn't sound distressed anymore.
In fact, she sounded like she was having a laugh.
"Iris, hang tight—I'm nearly there!"
Aris quickly replied, sensing her position more clearly now. She was somewhere right at the heart of the spider's bloody nest!
"Don't worry about me, Master," her voice came again. "I'm alright, promise. But you should be careful—those little ones outside are proper nasty!"
Aris didn't get the chance to respond.
Because the swarm had arrived.
From every direction, giant spiders—each over a metre tall—were charging at him, legs clicking and fangs gleaming. There were thousands of them, by the look of it, all making straight for him like a black, writhing tide.
"Oi, can we maybe chat about this?" Aris called out, wand raised but tone oddly casual. "Take me to your boss or whatever—yeah?"
But the spiders weren't listening.
All he could sense pouring off them was pure, savage bloodlust.
They didn't want a chat.
They wanted dinner.
"Looks like we'll have to start knocking a few heads in, then!"
Aris's eyes sharpened, and the wand in his hand began to glow with an ominous light. Magic surged through him—thick, heavy, and crackling with power.
Not too far off, Dumbledore—still hidden under the Disillusionment Charm—watched the scene unfold. He very nearly stepped in.
But then he paused.
The magical fluctuations pulsing from Aris were... impressive. Far beyond what he'd expected from a student. Powerful enough, Dumbledore reckoned, to hold his own against the swarm. So, he held back, curiosity outweighing concern.
He wanted to see exactly what this lad was capable of.
Suddenly, the air around Aris surged.
A powerful burst of magic exploded outward, and a brilliant blue light flared around him.
"Enhanced Wind Whirl!"
Wind elements gathered with violent force, forming a swirling tempest that howled around him. The hurricane tore through the nearest spiders like paper, ripping them apart before they could even strike.
The rest of the swarm hesitated.
They could feel it—the deadly wind, the promise of death within that storm. They backed off, scuttling in uneasy circles around Aris and the howling vortex, not daring to get too close.
At the centre of it all stood Aris—calm, focused, and completely untouched.
The storm whipped around him like a protective barrier, his robe billowing in the gale, silver wand casting cold light through the darkness.
In that moment, he looked like some ancient storm god bathed in moonlight—untouchable, and just a little terrifying.
.
.
.
.
Drop power Powerstonessssssssss!
[Note: Read up to Chapter - 125 on P patron at: p-atreon.com/Knockturn_Alley]