"Aragog—are you sure you're not joking?" Dudley said coldly, his voice laced with anger.
Originally, Dudley hadn't wanted to force this Acromantula into anything—after all, it was raised by Hagrid and could be considered Hagrid's friend. Even though it was extremely dangerous, it hadn't harmed humans for so many years—which was still acceptable.
But it had just openly encouraged its offspring to eat Dudley and the others. This was no longer an ordinary threat—it really intended to do this.
"We are Hogwarts students. If you dare harm us, Professor Dumbledore won't let you go," Harry threatened, though his voice wavered slightly.
All their faces were somewhat pale with fear.
There were too many spiders here. If they really swarmed over, even though they knew Dudley's strength was formidable, it would be difficult to handle such an overwhelming situation.
The Solar Halo's effect of boosting confidence and courage showed great value at this moment—preventing them from being scared into collapse and allowing them to think normally.
Aragog seemed to hesitate for a moment, but the clicking sounds echoing around made him finally make his decision.
"Hogwarts students aren't supposed to enter the depths of the Forbidden Forest. Since you came here, you must have violated school rules," Aragog said with cold logic.
"No one will know you were here—and no one will find your bodies."
"Goodbye, friends of Hagrid."
Aragog bid farewell again with chilling finality.
The surrounding spiders could no longer restrain themselves. Despite the scorching aura of the Solar Halo, they wanted to charge over and devour this fresh human meat.
After all, they weren't ghosts or wraith-like beings that were truly restrained by the Solar Halo—but merely dark creatures. Although the Solar Halo made them feel uncomfortable and hot, that was all—it couldn't cause them substantial harm.
"Do you know what the consequences will be if you try to eat us?" Dudley said coldly.
This time, his body emanated a terrible aura of authority—suppressing all around.
Those spiders that had gotten too close were immediately intimidated by Dudley's overwhelming presence and quickly retreated—not daring to continue their attack.
Aragog seemed surprised that Dudley would actually resist so powerfully.
"Your threats change nothing—you were already going to die," Aragog said with cold finality.
"Then you just die," Dudley's patience was completely exhausted.
"Ron, aren't you afraid of spiders? Today, we'll kill until you're no longer afraid!"
Dudley raised his wand high and swept it forcefully in a wide arc.
"Incendio!" he roared.
Boom!
Crimson flames erupted from Dudley's wand, swirling toward the surrounding clearing. In just the blink of an eye—a massive wall of fire formed around them.
"Such powerful fire magic—incredible!" Hermione exclaimed in genuine admiration.
Although Dudley had only used the simple Fire-Making Charm that they all knew how to cast—the flames he produced had far exceeded their understanding.
Whether in terms of the quantity of flames or the intense temperature released, it had far surpassed ordinary spells.
Moreover, while casting the spell, Dudley had expertly controlled the shape of the flames—forming a protective wall of fire that could block the surrounding spiders and force them back.
This was something ordinary wizards could never accomplish—pure magical mastery in action.
"What are you standing around for? Kill them!" Dudley roared angrily.
"Diffindo!" Hermione was the first to react, raising her hand to release a spell aimed at a giant spider charging straight at them.
Splurt!
The spider, over a metre tall, split directly into several writhing pieces while running—spilling disgusting fluids everywhere.
"Bloody hell!" Ron finally snapped out of it and roared to give himself courage.
"Reducto!" Ron shot out a spell that hit a spider's body, directly blowing apart the giant spider comparable to a horse, scattering flesh and blood everywhere as the air filled with a bloody, fishy stench.
"Incendio!" Harry added a flame spell, covering areas that Dudley's spell hadn't reached.
But his flames were obviously a level below those Dudley had cast. Although still excellent for a second-year, they weren't nearly as effective.
"You... you... dare to slaughter my offspring!" Aragog was furious beyond measure.
It hadn't expected that Dudley's group would dare to resist—and their magical power was so great that its offspring couldn't get close enough to attack in such a short time.
"You dare let them eat us, so we dare kill them all!" Dudley shouted back fiercely.
"And you too, Aragog—today is your death day!"
From the moment this giant spider decided to let its offspring eat Dudley and the others, Dudley had already prepared to kill Aragog.
Even if this was Hagrid's pet, he would still kill it.
He wouldn't easily let go of anything that threatened their lives.
"Incendio!" Dudley added another flame spell—immediately causing the surrounding crimson flames to surge violently in the wind, continuously sweeping outward.
Spiders were naturally afraid of fire, and Dudley's flames were so powerful and intense that they couldn't get close at all.
At the same time, Harry, Hermione, and Ron weren't idle either. Their spells were released one after another in rapid succession—almost without pause.
Especially Hermione, who had even stopped using her wand and switched to silent casting in Hermes—greatly increasing her spellcasting frequency. Those spiders brave enough to cross the flames to attack them were almost all blown apart on the spot by Hermione's magical attacks—none surviving.
Harry and Ron were also killing with growing enthusiasm. Under the courage boost provided by the Solar Halo, they no longer knew what fear was.
Killing—only killing remained.
There were too many spiders. If they couldn't eliminate them in a short time and let them charge to their side, the consequences would be absolutely catastrophic.
"I'll kill you all!" Aragog was thoroughly enraged.
It quickly crawled out from its web—its elephant-sized body moving with surprising speed as it charged straight at Dudley.
Facing the crimson flames, it wasn't afraid at all. Although these flames were powerful, they couldn't burn it to death in a short time—at most they could singe its thick fur.
"I was waiting for you to come over!" Seeing Aragog forcibly break through the wall of fire and charge over—a cold, cruel smile appeared at the corner of Dudley's mouth.
"Mental Piercing!" The spiritual power he had been gathering was released in concentrated focus at this moment—striking directly at Aragog's soul.
"Ahhhhhh!" A piercing, inhuman scream came at that moment as Aragog's soul was directly penetrated by the condensed transparent spear—letting out a terrifying wail of agony.
Then Dudley directly raised his right hand wearing the Solar Ring and brought it down forcefully.
"Holy Light Summon!" he commanded.
Boom!
A brilliant golden holy light was summoned from the ring—descending from the sky to strike directly at Aragog's massive body with devastating power.