//------------------------------// // In Which an Outing to Hogsmeade Turns Into a Horrible, Spider-Filled Misadventure // Story: Hogwarts: Sunset's Legacy // by witegrlninja //------------------------------// The weekend passed by peacefully. Feeling that we were making good progress on figuring out how the relic worked, Sebastian elected to take a break from it and go over his past work to study for the OWLs. It was fine with me, as it allowed me to further my own experimentation with modifying spells, augmenting some of them with ancient magic, as well as putting together a special little project. Monday's classes came and went, and in the afternoon he popped into my Room as usual, ready to get our homework out of the way so we could spend as much time as possible continuing our research. Before he could even announce his arrival he stopped in his tracks as I swung around, my wand alit with a red glow. "Hold still," I said as I swept his body with a broad-spectrum diagnostic charm. Hmm... no active or latent injuries, illnesses or infections... his biology seems compatible with Equestrian magic... yea, alright, I didn't waste my time with this after all. Good. "Er... what are you doing?" he asked nervously. "Juuust making sure what I'm about to teach you won't wind up turning you inside-out or something," I replied nonchalantly, to which he made a face. "Oh, don't give me that look. Don't you want to learn to Apparate... the Equestrian way?" "The Equestrian way?" he parroted back, now intrigued. "And here I thought you were never going to teach me." "Of course I was... just had to make sure I translated everything correctly." With that I handed him a small stack of parchment, covered in as many diagrams and equations as there were paragraphs. Translating Unicorn magic into something a human wizard could not only understand, but also actually use - required quite a bit of explanation and a clear comprehension of both this world's and Equestrian Magic Theory. "First, though, you do need to know how it works in the abstract. You can read while we head outside, yea?" Sebastian nodded, already intently studying the notes... I could see the gears in his head spinning rapidly. He made only vague humming and chirping noises while we walked through the halls and exited the castle - while hardly anyone was outside, I figured the abandoned dock by the Black Lake would be a secluded enough spot to practice. "So, you think you got it down?" "I think so... Merlin, your people are magical geniuses! I never even imagined the aether could be harnessed in such a fashion!" "Ain't we?" I grinned smugly. "So, any questions before we start?" "Ah, well, I've been wondering... with Apparating, there is the risk of Splinching one's self if done improperly. Is there a similar risk involved with Equestrian Apparating?" "Not really," I shook my head. "The spell was invented centuries ago, and it's been refined over the years until it became practically foolproof... although, if you do happen to get interrupted during the exact nanosecond your soul shifts through the aether, you do run the risk of being sent to... the void." "The... void?" he repeated, raising an eyebrow. "Terrifying place," I shivered. "A pocket dimension from which there is no escape, where every copy of you ever created by teleportation is discarded and left to die and rot in a dark, empty room." Sebastian stared at me wide-eyed. "...Wh-What?" "Oh, but that's really just a theory, it's never actually been proven... only a zero-point-fifty-zeroes-before-a-one-appears-percent chance of ever happening," I waved a hand. "...I... suppose that's as good as a zero-percent chance." He stared at the ground, looking as though he was seriously contemplating his life choices up until now. "Yea, don't worry about it... People have even actually tried to find it, and have yet to succeed. Any other questions?" A couple beats of silence passed before he pushed the thought from his mind and looked up at me. "No... I'm ready to try it out." "Alright," I chirped as I conjured up a red-painted wooden hoop a few feet down the shore. "Just imagine yourself popping up in that circle over there. Think about your visual perspective from that spot, what your new surroundings will look like. The spell will do the rest." "Okay..." Sebastian took a deep breath and closed his eyes in focus. Just a few seconds later, he poofed out of existence with a flash of light, and reappeared right in the middle of the circle only a fraction of a second later. ...! No way... he got it down quick! "Heh... Perfect!" I praised as he opened his eyes and beamed gleefully. "See?" "I... I don't believe it! That was incredibly easy!" he breathlessly laughed as he looked down at himself. He closed his eyes again, and mere seconds later he'd teleported himself a hundred feet down the bank, then to the opposite shores of the lake beneath the castle, then about fifty feet over and above the lake's surface, then as he began to fall he flailed a bit before teleporting right back to my side. While chuckling to himself he seemed to have a revelation, and stared at his wand. "Heh... I think this truly is better than conventional Apparition... it's so simple to perform! In fact, I'd wager I don't even need to have my wand out!" he gaped as he switched his gaze to his offhand. After a moment he slid his wand into its sheath and snapped his fingers, again vanishing in a flash of light and reappearing on top of one of the sturdier posts of the ruined dock. Another few snaps of his fingers, and he kept disappearing and reappearing in various different spots on the shore. "Ah, you figured it out already," I smirked in approval. "Most people back home can't Apparate like that, and even fewer than that can do it in rapid succession like you're doing." "Why not? This is almost trivial to perform once you get the hang of it!" he yelled from off in the distance. I hesitated as I considered the true reason. Well... because it's actually a really hard spell to master, and only Unicorns can teleport. Earth ponies and Pegasi need single-use scrolls in order to do so, or a hell of a lot of magical training... "...You'd be surprised how many people can't grasp it." He spent another minute or two teleporting himself all over the place, sometimes disappearing from sight entirely. When he finally reappeared in front of me and stayed that way, he was... soaking wet and holding a random fish for some reason. Must've teleported himself into the lake. "This is m-marvelous... I mean, I a-always knew you were c-capable of some incredible m-magic, but this...! T-Thank you so much for t-teaching me this, S-Sunset!" His teeth chattered loudly as he tossed the fish back into the water, then cast a Drying and a Warming Charm on himself. Throughout it all, he was still smiling with elated excitement. "No problem," I nodded, grinning. "Guess I'll have to see if there's any more spells I can translate for you... It's the least I can do after what you've taught me." Naturally, his eyes sparkled at the thought of learning more Equestrian magic. "Is that so? Perhaps I should see if there's anything else I can teach you," he replied. "To think that all this time, you've been holding out on me." "Well, I did tell you... all in good time, remember?" I smirked. "Can't exactly tell you all my secrets right off the bat, now can I?" He laughed as he nodded in fond agreement. ~ On Wednesday morning, I finally received an owl from Fig during breakfast. There was good news and bad news: the good news was that my next trial was ready to begin. The bad news, however... was that it was located in the Headmaster's Office, and Headmaster Black didn't let anyone in there for any reason. But he had a cunning plan. Reading the letter alongside me, Sebastian insisted he come along, in case his input might've been useful... he knew everything, anyway, so there wasn't any point in going on my own and telling him about it later. I met up with him after Flying class, and we waited until lunchtime began to make the trip to the Magical Theory classroom. "Hey, Fig. So, what's the plan?" I asked casually as we walked into his office. He glanced up from his desk, the warm smile temporarily receding once he saw Sebastian, but then letting out a small sigh of resignation. "Ah... Mr. Sallow," he mumbled. "Professor," he nodded once, grinning smugly. "And am I to assume he knows everything we do?" Fig's eyes slid over to me. "He does," I confirmed. "He's been nothing but a huge help to me since we met, and I trust him completely. We're basically best friends, now." While Fig contemplated my glowing review, I could sense immense pride and endearment welling up inside Sebastian - glancing over to him I could see he was blushing madly, a big, dopey grin on his face as he stared at the floor. "...Very well," conceded Fig. "I've been conversing with the Keepers and informing them of your findings... including Ranrok's knowledge of the repositories and the fact that he's been building massive drills in secret. It is clear that he knows even more than we suspected. Thankfully it was enough to spur Headmistress Fitzgerald into action, and she has thus readied your next trial." "...Except it's in Black's office, and he doesn't accept visitors," I nodded. "Correct. You will need the password to get past the stone gargoyle in front of the staircase to the Headmaster's Office, as he's changed it recently and refuses to inform myself or any of the other professors on what it is. His House-elf Scrope should know it." Ah... that little bugger. "Something tells me he won't give me the password, though... not without breaking several school rules, and perhaps some minor laws." "No, which is why I suggest you'll need a disguise," Fig nodded sagely. "A Polyjuice Potion will do the trick. You'll look and sound exactly like Professor Black." "A Polyjuice Potion?" Sebastian chuckled in delighted surprise as he turned to me. "You better begin soon, they take weeks to brew." "I don't remember seeing that recipe in any of the Potions textbooks," I hummed, thinking about what I knew. It was a potion that let you transform into any person you managed to collect some hair or nail clippings or whatever from, much like a Changeling's natural abilities. However, it was also notorious for being difficult and time-consuming to make. "I do recall that there is a Potions book in the Restricted Section of the library that contains the recipe," said Fig, his eyes narrowing as Sebastian and I shared an excited glance. "However, as I am already being watched closely by not only Black, but also Professor Weasley... I am afraid I cannot give you permission to access it. But, since you did retrieve the Map Chamber book on your own, I suspect the two of you will not have any trouble finding a way in yourselves," he winked. "Oh, not at all," I smirked. "Finally, my talents are being appreciated," preened Sebastian, raising his head with a haughty expression. "I also cannot provide you with any of the more rare ingredients... though what you cannot buy in Hogsmeade, I suspect Professor Sharp may have a supply he won't miss if taken carefully," Fig continued, somehow keeping a straight face as he suggested all these ideas that were very clearly against the rules. What a dear old man... and a far better mentor than Celestia ever was. "As for the bit of Professor Black that you'll need... I can handle that. I'll also ensure that he's out of the castle when the time comes for you to take the potion." "Alright... sounds like a plan to me," I nodded. "I'll get started on that potion as soon as I can." "I have full confidence that you'll be able to brew it," Fig smiled. Sebastian and I shared another glance as we turned to leave the office. "Oh, erm, Sunset!" "Yea?" I whipped around. The smile had already fallen from his face, in favor of a more pensive expression. He hesitated for a moment or two before speaking. "...Should you happen to meet with Lodgok again, I would very much like to meet him. After learning that he met Miriam, and he was the one to let her leave with the Portkey container despite Ranrok's orders... well, I would like to thank him personally. She really could win over anyone..." he trailed off, staring wistfully at nothing in particular. I felt his pangs of tender grief and fond remembrance, and felt myself moved. He really did love her. Somewhere, in the very back of my mind, I thought I felt a similar emotion of my own whispering for my former mentor. It was so distant, though, that it was easily pushed aside. "...Sure. I'll pass it on." ~ It was difficult to wait until a suitable hour of the night to sneak into the Restricted Section under Disillusionment. Sebastian took to the modification I'd created for the charm very quickly - it allowed us to see each other as white outlines while under its effects, but still rendered us nearly invisible to everyone else. It took a few minutes of searching, but eventually we managed to find the book Fig had mentioned. Once I'd found the right page I quickly read through the steps necessary to brew it, snorting derisively. It wasn't that the potion itself was difficult to brew, per se... it just required some uncommon reagents and a full month of brewing time. I already had the knotgrass and leeches, and I knew for sure Professor Sharp always had a good supply of the stewed lacewing flies, a stasis spell cast upon the jar to keep them fresh. If he didn't have any of the other reagents for some reason, then one of the two stores in Hogsmeade would surely have the powdered bicorn horn, shredded boomslang skin and fluxweed picked under a full moon. "Pfft, this is simple... I can knock this out within the next couple of days. The hard part will be waiting for it to finish brewing," I mumbled smugly. "With your skills and knowledge? Undoubtedly," Sebastian agreed. A book on a lower shelf slowly rose into the air and vanished as he slid it into his pocket dimension. "At this point I'm starting to think there isn't anything you can't do." "Oh, Sebby... now you're just being a sycophant," I grinned down at him. "...I've always wanted my very own sycophant." "Well, can you blame me for trying to get into your good graces?" he shrugged as he matched my expression. "After all, you're well on your way to acquiring immense power." Couldn't argue with that logic. "I am, aren't I?" I chuckled. ~ Late Thursday night was devoted to sneaking into Sharp's office in the Potions classroom and stealing a suitable amount of stewed lacewing flies. To my slight annoyance he was out of the fluxweed, and there was too little bicorn horn or boomslang skin to get away with stealing any. This meant a trip to Hogsmeade was necessary, so as soon as Transfiguration let out on Friday afternoon, Sebastian and I ran outside to the castle walls and teleported directly there. Fortunately The Magic Neep had plenty of the fluxweed, and Dogweed and Deathcap had the horn and skin. With that out of the way, we stopped at Honeydukes before getting a drink at the Three Broomsticks. After Sirona had served us our Butterbeers we spent a few minutes chatting idly about the finer points of brewing this potion... until a man plopped himself down on the barstool next to mine. There wasn't anything all that interesting about him, though he did look as though he were extremely worried about something. "Oh... I do hope Mary and her neighbors aren't harmed..." he sighed mournfully, loud enough for the both of us to hear. Sharing a glance at first, I slid around in my seat to face the man. "Why would they be?" I raised an eyebrow. The man jumped a little in his seat. "Ah, sorry... I don't want to trouble a pair of students with my woes," he replied. "You already have," Sebastian shrugged. "Now, what's on your mind?" "Hmm... very well," the man nodded. "Name's Crispin Dunne... I trade in the surrounding hamlets. Do the most business in Aranshire... lovely little hamlet," he smiled. "Stunning gardens. Just the other day the Daily Prophet ran an article on its scenic hedgerows- ...Actually, before I go on, I should ask. Are you afraid of spiders?" "Afraid?" I laughed once. "Do you have any idea how many of the bloody things I've killed this year?" "Well, the hamlet's overrun with the vile things!" Crispin shivered. "And they're acting abnormally aggressively. I'm concerned about my customers, of course, but it appears that most of the hamlet's residents fled to safety." "Ah." Wretched pests. Can't blame the townspeople, really. "It's my friend Mary I worry about... I haven't heard from her, and I fear she's trapped in her cottage." "Your friend, eh? And why don't you come to her rescue?" smirked Sebastian. "I would... b-but I have a crippling fear of the eight-legged beasts which I seem incapable of conquering," Crispin looked away guiltily. "I don't know what to do... can you think of anyone who could help Mary?" Sebastian and I shared another glance. He knew my hatred of this world's spiders was unmatched, but the look in his eyes suggested that he wanted to help the poor man out. And we'd already bought what we came here for, so it wouldn't cut into my time much... ...I guess it's time to have another rumor spread around the school about how great I am. "Sure... I can think of a couple," I nodded. "Please do... if you can think of anyone that may be brave enough to help, I'd appreciate it. Thank you." "Right. Don't go anywhere, we'll be right back," I said as Sebastian and I stood up and paid for our drinks. Once we were outside he stretched out his arms with a grunt, as though already preparing for a fight. "Poor bloke," he commented. "Must be an awful lot of spiders for him to be so concerned." "Why do you want to help this random guy out?" I winced quizzically. He let out a hum before answering. "I've always liked Aranshire... and he's right, their gardens are lovely, especially in the spring," he replied fondly. "Hopefully this little spider problem of theirs isn't as bad as he says... I should like to show you the gardens when the flowers are in full bloom." "Oh... is that so," I blinked, blushing slightly. Well, that's... kind of romantic, I gotta admit. "It won't take any time at all to reach the hamlet," he grinned confidently as he pulled out his broomstick from his pocket dimension. "Just follow me." "Alright," I shrugged as I got on my own broom. "I'm sure this won't take long, anyway... Surely it can't be as bad as that guys thinks it is." ~ Ten minutes from Hogsmeade to Aranshire wasn't nearly enough time to prepare for the horrors I saw. At first I was mildly confused as to why snow seemed to stick to the outer walls of the hamlet's buildings and billowed from the barren trees like wisps of smoke. The weather, though bitterly cold and snowy, hadn't been suitable for blizzard conditions, or even particularly windy. Not to mention the snow didn't exactly glimmer in the dying light of the sun, but had a decidedly dull shine to it. Then I realized what it actually was. Spider silk. All of it was spider silk. The entirety of the hamlet was covered in it. The buildings, the ground, the trees, the traveler's carts... all of it was wrapped from the lowest cobblestone to the highest beam in sticky, stringy, clingy silk, with more of it being produced by what had to be thousands of baby spiders crawling all over the place, like pepper spilled onto a piece of parchment. Stray bits of silk broke off in the wind and stuck to my face, and I scowled as I kept trying to wipe off the nearly-invisible strands. I already wanted to scream. "Oh, sweet Celestia," I groused. "Understatement of the goddamn century!" "Indeed, this is much worse than what I was expecting," Sebastian nodded with a grimace. "Well... let's start clearing it out." I cast an Incendio below us so we'd have a place to land without sticking to the ground, then once we'd put our brooms away we both set about lighting all of the silk on fire. It was layered between snowfalls, so it took a few seconds for the cold, waterlogged silk to combust once lit. It only took a few more seconds for the larger, more grown spiders to show themselves, their mandibles squeaking and clattering angrily as we burned down their new home. And they were pissed - they pounced on us with the ferocity of a starved Timberwolf, spitting up blobs of venomous acid and forming netlike webs between their legs as they attacked. Some of them burrowed beneath the cobblestones as easily as if the ground were sand, and leapt upwards at us like sharks. Our incantations echoed mutely off the silk-covered surroundings as our spells ripped right through them. There were just so many of them... after about a minute of fighting I reached deep within myself to summon the ancient magic within. My eyes and horn bled with power, and I shouted as lightning leapt from its tip and electrocuted every spider I could see, even the tiny spiderlings. But only seconds after I'd killed them all, more poured out from the buildings, the forgotten crates and barrels of supplies and the cracks in the ground, and soon it was as though nothing had happened. I snorted in frustration - who knew how many of these things were here, both above and underground? I could blast them with ancient magic all day and night, but I couldn't be sure I'd gotten them all... I'd just tire myself out in the process. But I could be sure I'd gotten rid of the spiders currently around us with a simple augmented spell. Pointing my wand at my feet, I focused my ancient magic into a fiery form, then quickly swept my wand in a wide circle. Blue and white flames sprayed from the tip, quickly growing into an ever-expanding ring that instantly melted the snow, burned away the thick silk and spiderlings and climbed up the limbs of the larger spiders, turning their exoskeletons to ash almost as quickly as they caught fire. "My, my... such magic," Sebastian tilted his head with an impressed gaze as the ring continued traveling outwards, leaving nothing but ash and soot where spiders and silk once was, the buildings and other wooden objects left perfectly intact. "When did you learn to do that?" "Told you I've been experimenting," I grinned smugly, my eyes still searching the shadows for any sign of movement. Other than the occasional spiderling, I'd succeeded in clearing the area... for now. "So... which one of these do you think is Mary's house?" "What makes you think I know that? We'll just have to search each one," he shrugged. We began poking around the hamlet, using Ventus to blow away the excess soot that filled the air, the ground quickly becoming a burnt-smelling mud pit. A couple of notes had been left behind for would-be rescuers, explorers or looters, nailed to disheveled stalls or locked doors. They all detailed the infestation in their own ways - piecing it all together, it had apparently happened suddenly one night, forcing most of the residents to hide on the roofs of their houses. From there they watched helplessly as those who didn't make it fell victim to the spiders... the screams as their insides were liquefied were the stuff of nightmares. It was a day or two before most of them were rescued, and the hamlet had been utterly abandoned since. One single door was left unlocked. With my wand aglow to react to any threat inside, I pushed it open. Not all of the spider silk on the surfaces inside this house had burned away, seemingly much thicker than in the rest of the hamlet. More spiderlings crawled and rested atop the blackened, desiccated remains of a woman hanging from the ceiling, wrapped in burial silks of a predatory nature. "Welp, I'm guessing that's Mary..." I frowned. "...Don't think I want to burn that down. It'll just make a mess." "Here, there's a letter on her desk," said Sebastian, squinting distastefully as he read the scribblings. "Oh... I suppose we know what happened to her, now... she was breeding the spiders." He held up his lit wand so I could read it... ...And immediately any sympathy I might've had for the woman vanished. Crazy bitch was apparently farming the things for their silk and venom. A new cluster of spiderlings had just hatched in her cellar... and clearly, things had gotten way out of hand. I pulled the note away from the few bits of web that bound it to the desk and pocketed it. "She was breeding these things in her cellar... that means there's more underground." The thought of entering a small enclosed space with Celestia-knows how many giant spiders crammed inside made me shiver in disgust. "We'll need to destroy every last spider if this is to end," he nodded, staring apprehensively at the floor. The cellar door was outside, covered in another partially-burned layer of webbing. It took a few seconds for our Incendio spells to burn the rest of it away before we could enter. And once we did, my heart leapt into my throat. There was hardly a surface within that wasn't covered in spiderwebs. The cellar was far larger than I had been hoping it was, and from somewhere deep within I could feel a draft. Carefully we stepped inside, torching the webs and spiderlings as we made our way through, checking every blind corner, nook and cranny. "I'm not seeing a spider farm so far," I swallowed. Near the very back of the cellar was a hole in the brick wall, which led to what seemed like a hastily-constructed expansion. A number of egg sacs lined the corners, deflated and empty. Aw, damn it... The smoke from the burning sacs choked the air, turning it thick and dark. Simple Ventus charms were starting to become ineffective at clearing away the soot, so I channeled a bit of ancient magic and waved my wand to create a more permanent air current to blow it all out back the way we came. Once the air cleared I sucked in a good, deep breath and sighed. "A ladder," Sebastian pointed out. It led down into a hole in the floor, revealing a hidden cave system beneath the house. "Not sure I want to know where this leads." "Sure you do! This was your idea," I grinned as I gently pushed him towards the hole. "Ladies first." "Oh, I'm a lady, am I?" he chuckled. "Well then, that must mean that you're a gentleman, and a gentleman always goes first to make sure his lady is safe." "Please... quit stalling and just go. You're no damsel in distress," I scoffed, rolling my eyes. "Certainly not. But I'll go first, if it puts your mind at ease." He looked back at me, smiling bravely as he swung himself around and began descending the ladder. ...For a brief moment, I couldn't help but admire his courage. Or was it just blind stupidity? Either way, the warmth the feeling brought was quickly snuffed out as I climbed down and set my feet on the ground. The cave was even bigger than I had dreaded. Long, pillowy strands of silk lined every square inch of the rough stone. Tightly-wound lumps littered the floors and dangled from the ceiling, some far too large to have been mere animals that had been captured. Thousands more of the tiny spiderlings skittered about, some of them already trying to encase my boots in webbing. I shook them off with haste and crushed them under my heel, but only more of them came out to repeat the same doomed task. What was most concerning, however, was the undulating movements just above our heads. Tucked in the far corners of the cave were massive white egg sacs, pulsing with life. They were horrifically close to hatching. "Oh, hell no!" I screeched, firing a Confringo at everything that looked like it could be carrying eggs. A shrill screech not of my own echoed dimly through the still, cold air, soon followed by a small army of giant spiders. Though they were easily dealt with, the sheer number of them caused the fight to stretch on for over five minutes. We were surrounded by a ring of spider corpses five feet tall by the end, after blasting a way through them with a Depulso we headed for a tunnel that led deeper into the cave. Even as we walked carefully and quietly, I could hear the distant echoes of their screeches, their skittering across the brittle stone. "Ugh... I hate to think that they can all see me, but I can't see them," I muttered under my breath. Next to me, Sebastian bristled. "You're... you're not actually... scared, are you?" he blinked. A pang of guilty panic pulsed from his soul - I wasn't sure if it was because he was worried that this was too much for me (which it wasn't), or that if I of all people was scared, then he should be downright terrified. Either way, I gulped it down. "No... just... disgusted beyond all measure. You owe me something good for putting me through this little venture." He nodded in agreement. "Forget Butterbeer... I'm going to need an entire bottle of Firewhisky to forget about this." We forged onward, clearing out the small rooms at the edges of the tunnel and killing whatever lay within. At one point we stumbled across a relatively well-furnished room in the back of the cave, where Mary must've run her idiotic business from. "Ah, another note," mumbled Sebastian, glancing down at the desk. It was left on top of an accounting book, bragging about how she'd found the perfect place for her spiderlings to grow and thrive, and she'd soon be swimming in wealth. I mean... I couldn't fault her for wanting to get rich, but she quite obviously had no idea just how prolific spiders were. Nor was she apparently an expert at wrangling said spiders, or keeping them from crawling out of the cave into the cellar, killing her in her sleep and then infesting the entire town. It helped explain what had happened, however, so I grabbed it, too. After another ten minutes or so, we'd finally managed to clear nearly all of the cave system of spiders, their webs and their egg sacs. There was only one area we hadn't explored, a small chamber barricaded by silk and rocks. But it burst open as we approached, the matriarch of the spiders scuttling out to greet us, along with the last of her eldest children. "I hope that's the last spider," Sebastian whined, grabbing a boulder in his magic and smashing it into the matriarch. Her legs twitched and slowed while her children simply crawled over her body towards us. "Me too... then I can do this," I glowered, ancient magic pouring from my eyes. I put as much power as I could into the chain lightning spell, so much that the larger of the spiders exploded from the force, while the smaller ones were half-incinerated by the attack. The room filled with an acrid smoke, the two of us casting Ventus in an effort to breathe. But suddenly the entire cave began to tremble, pebbles clattering as they fell from above. A huge black mass dropped down from a fissure in the ceiling, the ground shaking wildly beneath its weight. It was a spider far bigger than any of the others, even the matriarch - it was nearly the size of an entire small cottage! No, this was no mere spider... this was one of the most feared beasts in the Wizarding World... an Acromantula. Not only were humans like us their favorite food, but the bloody things were sapient, and could talk to their prey while stabbing them with their foot-long fangs, injecting them with searing venom... and eating them as their flesh and organs melted from the inside out. "So... it is you two that have been exterminating my brood," it hissed in a low, gravelly, guttural squeal. Its eight eyes, glowing red like embers, fell upon me. I felt my heart freeze and drop into my stomach. ...Nope. Before I knew it I had scuttled behind Sebastian, peeking out from the crook of his neck as I clutched onto his shoulders with a death grip. Every single instinct I had, both human - and especially the pony ones - was screaming at me to run, to hide, to just get the hell away from that thing. But my legs felt like glass, that they would shatter to pieces if I tried to move. My eyes were fixated on the fearsome monster, watching its every move, every little twitch, knowing for certain that I would not be able to dive out of the way once it pounced. "S-Sunset...?" he breathed, fear thick in his voice. "I... I-I..." Mentally I backhanded the part of me that was scared and demanded it to fight. But it refused to back down, given a hysterical strength that for once, I could not make myself overcome. Another part of my brain quickly grew concerned about this... if I couldn't make myself move, then I was as good as a beetle on its back for the acromantula. But even that creeping dread wasn't enough to force myself to act! Sebastian let out a deep breath, face falling into a bold scowl as he lowered himself into a fighting stance. "Fear not... I'll handle this." My hands were wrenched from his shoulders, half of me wanted to yell at him to get back here as he strode towards the monstrous spider, gradually breaking out into a run as his wand burned with light. The acromantula reared up and slammed down with its front legs- And Sebastian disappeared in a flash of light, reappearing a moment later in the air behind the beast. He fired a Confringo at the back of its head, then vanished again when it swung around and tried to swat him down. This time he reappeared directly beneath its raised thorax, and he punched upwards with a strong Depulso. I heard the beast's chitin crack as it screeched in pain, then an angry hiss as it tried to flatten itself to crush him. But he vanished and reappeared again on a ledge behind the acromantula, casting a few quick Incarcerous spells to tie its legs to some stalactites so he could hoist it off the ground and get in a few more hits on the wound he'd created. As I watched him fight, a part of my mind unaffected by paralyzing fear eked itself out in admiration. His newfound mastery of teleportation was awe-inspiring to watch, and he was trying so hard to bring the beast down himself, to smash through its steel-like carapace and tear it apart... all because he was protecting me. I could feel it so even from here. I wanted so badly to join him - again I tried to force myself to take even one step towards the battle, but my damned instincts kept me rooted firmly in place. I still didn't want that thing to see me, notice me... eat me. I watched for what felt like an hour as Sebastian continued his assault - in time he managed to rip off three of its legs, blind five of its eyes and had beaten large cracks into the monster's exoskeleton. But it seemed that he was still unable to finish it off himself, and after crushing one of its remaining legs beneath a boulder to trap it in place, he teleported over to me. "Here, this would go much faster with your ancient magic!" he breathed hard, pointing his wand at me. "Laetificet!" A puff of multicolored confetti burst out of the tip, scattering and dissipating back into nothing while I was bathed in soft pink light. As he teleported back to keep the acromantula's attention on him, suddenly I felt my fear vanish as though blown away by a gust of wind, replaced with feelings of serenity, contentment... even joy. But more importantly, it got the scared part of my mind to finally shut up and release its hold over my body. With barely a nod I reached deep inside my soul and dragged the magic to the surface, light flaring up through my eyes and horn. Just as the beast lashed out in desperation towards him with dripping fangs, I simultaneously cast an augmented Reducio charm along with an Accio. It yanked the beast away from him, even as Sebastian teleported out of its way, and it shrank drastically in size as it soared towards me and landed at my feet, now no bigger than the average tarantula. Wretched creature... how dare you terrify me?! And just to teach it a final lesson, I lifted my foot and crushed it beneath the sole of my boot. My heart instantly lightened, and I delighted in the crunch of its fragile carapace shattering, the squish of its innards being mashed into the ground. After a few seconds I wiped off my boot on a patch of spider silk, during which Sebastian moved to my side and grinned at the wet smudge. "Heh... not even a scratch!" he gloated in our victory. Seeing him laugh with pride at the acromantula's corpse suddenly put him in a whole new light to me. Besides taking to the teleportation spell very quickly, he'd... actually spent the time and effort to cast a beneficial spell on me. Something that I'd always hated the thought of doing. And all this time, I thought that spell was useless... I mean... why would I ever cast it? If someone was too scared to fight, then they shouldn't have gotten into the fight in the first place. Their lack of a will to beat back their enemy and survive would doom them before they ever even got their first spell off; that was an oft-repeated lesson I'd read in so many books about combat and warfare. Therefore, to me a Cheering Charm served no purpose other than to delay the inevitable. It was a stalling tactic. A placebo. A weakness. But the part of me that felt as though it should've been deeply insulted by having it cast upon me was silent. I'd trained my mind as much as I had my magic, so I'd never need to cast such a useless spell. But despite years of hardening my resolve, as much as I hated to admit it... I still froze when it counted. My mind betrayed my body and I became the prey... it was as simple as that. By all accounts, if it wasn't for him, the thing very well could have killed me. It should have killed me. I... should be thankful he clearly didn't have the same disinclinations about support spells that I did. But... he doesn't think of me as weak... right? No, he even said so himself: there wasn't anything I couldn't do. Of course, that was long before we faced that horrid abomination of an arachnid, but... I trusted his words, and the emotions behind them. Maybe that spell wasn't as useless as I thought. "Are you alright, Sunset?" he turned towards me, fretting. I clutched a hand to my chest and breathed deeply for a few moments before answering him. "...Next time, I'm picking who we help. I'm gonna have nightmares about that thing for the rest of my life, now." "Right... sorry." He pressed a hand to his forehead and exhaled shakily, catching his breath. "I had no idea it was this bad. To think an Acromantula was down here beneath the hamlet all along...!" I blinked as the words hit me - if one of these things had been living beneath the village, then who was to say it was the only one? What if some of those egg sacs we'd destroyed had been its eggs? What if this wasn't even the entire cave system we'd cleared out?! Surely there were gaps in the cave that we couldn't see... a spider could've crawled in and laid eggs anywhere! No... there was only one way to be sure we'd gotten them all. "...It's not your fault. You couldn't have known," I sighed, slowly shaking my head. "But I'm setting this entire goddamn village on fire just to be sure they're all gone, gardens be damned." Sebastian frowned, then shrugged in resignation. "Pity... but, I can't say that I blame you." We hurriedly made our way out of the cave and cellar, then quickly got on our brooms. Once we'd flown a couple hundred feet above the hamlet, I closed my eyes and summoned as much ancient magic as I could from within my soul. My eyes and wand burned like stars as I focused my spell, and I shouted with exertion as I hurled down a Deprimo so large and powerful it imploded a massive crater that rippled out from the center of the hamlet. It continued to crumble and form a sinkhole that dragged the surrounding buildings into the deep darkness. Once the ground had settled I set to Transfiguring every nearby house, every abandoned stall, every crate, barrel and bit of debris I could see into various types of high explosives and accelerants, then once I had amassed what I felt was enough I levitated them all into the sinkhole. The pile just barely peeked into view; I told Sebastian to brace himself, then cast a Confringo downwards. Almost instantly the pile erupted into a fiery, earth-shattering explosion, with more of varying intensities going off in rapid succession and crumbling more of the ground, some of the thinner parts glowing bright red from deep within. The main blast formed a mushroom cloud over what little remained of the hamlet like a grave marker. Even from high above, the shockwave it caused threatened to knock us off our brooms, even through our Protegos. We watched the inferno burn for a few minutes, then we flew away from Aranshire back to Hogsmeade, leaving it a smoking, smoldering crater. ~ Crispin Dunne hadn't moved from his spot at the bar, a small pile of Butterbeer tankards to his right as well as a couple of empty shot glasses. Sebastian and I slowly shuffled over to him and sat down in the same seats, at first not paying him any attention but simply staring a thousand miles in front of us. "Ah, you two are back," he blinked in surprise. "Have you found someone to take care of the spiders?" My eyes slid over to him, a cold glare to match my thin lips. Wordlessly I fished Mary's letters out of my pocket and slapped them down onto the bar. He took a few seconds to read them, his face falling. "...Oh." He sighed sadly, taking a long, deep swig from his current tankard. "Poor Mary... what untoward scheme were you involved in? If she needed financial assistance, she could have just come to me..." "Yea, um, speaking of 'financial assistance', I think me and my friend here are gonna need some after clearing out all those spiders," I growled, gesturing with my outstretched palm. "I think that experience took a good ten years off of my life," Sebastian added, dramatically slamming the side of his face onto the bar. "I... very well," Crispin sighed as he pulled out a bag of Galleons and dropped it into my hand. "I imagine the first order of business will be to help the hamlet rebuild. I suppose I have nothing to fear from dead spiders." Oh... you're gonna be rebuilding for a looooong time. "...Even so, you'll want to prepare yourself. The place needs something of a... clean up." Obliviously, Crispin nodded. "Thank you both for what you have done... I shall keep you apprised of the hamlet's rebuilding." He raised his tankard - if he was trying to prompt us into joining him, then he was in for disappointment. Sebastian and I watched with tired glares as he toasted himself. "To dearly departed Mary," he sighed before draining the rest of his drink, then after plunking down enough Galleons to pay his tab he stood up and shambled out of the Three Broomsticks. "Ugh, I'm glad that's over," I groaned, rubbing at my temples. "Sirona, what's the strongest stuff you've got that you can legally serve us?" "I'll see what I've got stashed away for just such an occasion," the barkeep nodded sympathetically. "I'll also fetch you some supper... it would seem the two of you have had quite an adventure." ~ After returning to Hogwarts, we settled on using the Undercroft to brew the potion - though she hadn't come around since she'd shown me the Room of Requirement in the first place, I didn't really want to answer any questions if Professor Weasley happened to stop by. It also wasn't as troubling if Ominis happened to wander in and discover the potion in one of the far corners of the room; we could simply pass it off as practicing for our OWLs. I gathered together everything I would need and meticulously set everything in its place before getting started. I wanted to get to this next trial as soon as possible: every second counted, and I couldn't make a single mistake. First I poured a quarter-cup of olive oil into the copper cauldron for the base, then once it was warm I added the fluxweed and knotgrass. I stirred the ingredients exactly four times clockwise, then as it simmered I set the timer in my pocketwatch for an hour, minus the few seconds it took me to set it up. As soon as it went off with a pleasant little chime I added four plump leeches, then while they boiled and burst apart I took a cup of the stewed lacewing flies and ground them into a paste, then added two tablespoons of the gray-brown slime to the cauldron and set it to low heat for exactly thirty seconds. After this I added three tablespoons of shredded boomslang skin and a tablespoon of powdered bicorn horn, which I'd prepared during my hour of downtime. I heated the mixture for twenty seconds on high heat, then as I brought it back to a simmer I set the pocketwatch timer again for eighteen hours. After sleeping and spending much of the next day studying Sebastian's relic, I made sure to return to the potion well before the timer chimed. Once it did I added a half-cup of intact stewed lacewing flies to the cauldron, then stirred exactly three times counterclockwise. The hard part was over... now all I had to do was wait until exactly one synodic month had passed. "Eugh... I don't envy you for having to drink that," Sebastian grimaced as he peered down into the cauldron, a thick, muddy sludge bubbling away at the bottom like a tar pit. It smelled exactly as pleasant as the ingredients that had gone into it. "The things I do for power," I halfheartedly agreed. "I better learn something real good from this trial, or I'm gonna be mad." "Have you ever actually learned anything from the Keepers?" he asked. "It seems to me that what you do know about ancient magic, you've taught yourself." I sighed and nodded in agreement, crossing my arms. "...That's true," I frowned. I was beginning to lose my patience with them... for as much as Rackham had seem excited for someone with this ultrarare ability to find him and seek his instruction, their "teachings" had so far amounted to trials that only made me look inside my own mind and examine myself in retrospect. And while I supposed that had been... helpful, it wasn't at all what I had been promised. What I had been promised was power beyond my wildest dreams... and yet, I had earned the beginnings of that power myself. Dragged it up and into my soul from the depths of those reservoirs... and if I ever crossed paths with Ranrok again, I was going to drag the power he'd stolen right out of his body and take it back. Seeing how I had done it all on my own so far, I had already made peace with going the rest of the way on my own, too. I expected it, and expected no new enlightenment after this next trial. But until this potion, this unappetizing sludge was finished brewing... I would just have to wait and see.