Chapter 55. Revenge Delayed for Ten Years (Part 3)
Spiderwebs covered the ground.
This was clearly territory occupied by the spider swarm, and all the large spiders had likely perished under Professor Fawkes's spell.
Only a few small spiders remained.
"Small" was relative; even in their juvenile stage, they were the size of an adult's fist.
Professor Fawkes stopped shortly after walking forward.
The tracking magic that had brought him here had vanished, meaning the person he was looking for was here.
But there was no one around, only a massive figure suddenly bursting out of a cave!
Professor Fawkes casually waved his wand, and the stone in front of him transformed into a sharp spike a split second before the figure charged.
The unsuspecting giant creature was instantly slashed in the belly, letting out a painful hiss as its six blade-like limbs curled up, unable to move forward.
Professor Fawkes quickly took two steps back, getting a clear look at the behemoth.
This was an unusually large eight-eyed spider, even bigger than a Muggle's car. Each movement of its six legs swept down swathes of trees like sharp blades.
Its eight eyes appeared somewhat abnormal, a strange grayish-white, as if it were blind.
This spider was clearly Hagrid's friend—Aragok.
However, its current state was strange, as if it were being controlled by someone.
Such large creatures, while terrifying to look at, were actually the easiest targets for wizards, as their sheer size made them perfect sitting ducks.
"Legs frozen, legs still."
The spell used to bind hands and feet was undoubtedly a good way to deal with this kind of jointed creature. Aragog was immobilized by eight legs, completely losing its ability to move.
Killing it would actually be easy, but Professor Fawkes showed mercy because of Hagrid.
"Aren't you coming out? Wilkes." He stood in the rainy night, shouting loudly at the empty forest.
"I guess you've had enough, haven't you? Even when I was imprisoned in Azkaban, you didn't dare to come out. You've been hiding here for ten years, and now you finally dare to fight back against me, so why don't you come out and meet me?"
The cold wind blew through the winter rain, and apart from the rustling of the leaves, no one answered him.
Professor Fawkes frowned slightly; he seemed to hear a voice.
A wooden arrow suddenly shot out from the depths of the forest, its target aimed precisely at his head.
But the arrow was stopped ten centimeters in front of Professor Fawkes by an invisible barrier; his armor charm had not been dispelled.
The first strike failed, and the rapid thud of hooves echoed as a figure hidden in the darkness shifted rapidly through the trees, giving Professor Fawkes no chance to lock onto him with his wand.
It was a centaur.
Fawkes habitually narrowed his eyes, recognizing the attacker.
He remembered Hagrid's words when they entered the Forbidden Forest: a member of the centaur tribe had recently gone missing.
Now it seemed their tribesman wasn't lost, but rather controlled by dark magic.
The centaur's arrows posed little danger to Professor Fawkes; the real threat came from the figure lurking in the shadows.
He didn't move rashly, but stood still, waiting for the hidden rat to reveal itself.
They remained in this stalemate for five minutes, until finally, the centaur roaming nearby couldn't contain itself any longer and launched its attack!
Knowing that arrows were ineffective, he decisively put away his longbow, brandished a wooden spear, and accelerated his charge, attempting to pierce Fawkes through.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Professor Fawkes didn't hesitate either. Not killing Aragog was a favor to Hagrid, but he had no reservations about the centaur. He raised his hand and unleashed a Killing Curse.
The ghastly green light seemed suffocating, piercing the rain and shooting straight at the centaur.
No one dared to face the Killing Curse directly, but the centaur's movements were incredibly agile.
Unlike Aragog, who was a sitting duck, he nimbly leaped, twisted to the side, and charged again!
Professor Fawkes immediately changed his strategy. Against such an agile opponent, spells that only worked on hit couldn't be used; area-of-effect spells were more effective.
"Explosive Explosion!"
Flames shot into the sky, and debris and mud flew everywhere. The centaur managed to dodge the direct damage of the Explosive Explosion Curse, but the subsequent shockwave sent him staggering back several steps.
Professor Fawkes seized the opportunity and unleashed his killing move.
"Shadowless Blade!"
The centaur's heart pounded, and he instinctively lunged to the side.
An invisible blade sliced through the night, saving him from being cut in half at the waist. Blood still splattered; his left arm was severed!
A pitiful wail echoed through the Forbidden Forest.
Just as Professor Fawkes was preparing his next spell to finish the man off, a ghastly green spell appeared out of nowhere, striking him from behind!
"Avada Kedavra!"
Hearing the incantation, Professor Fawkes knew it was too late to dodge.
So, he chose another way to avoid the spell.
His body shrank dramatically, his size and appearance rapidly changing. In the blink of an eye, Professor Fawkes had transformed into Professor Flitwick!
Due to the shrinking size, the spell that should have hit him now barely grazed past "Professor Flitwick's" hair.
Professor Fawkes, having completed his transformation, didn't stop. He'd waited so long for the rat to finally show itself; how could he possibly let this opportunity slip by?
Another silent transformation spell.
From the location of the killing spell, several tree branches silently transformed into long ropes, swiftly coiling around the dark wizard who had just revealed himself, like serpents.
The ropes tightened instantly, binding him tightly.
"Aha!" Professor Fawkes, reverting to his original form, exclaimed excitedly, "I've got you!"
However, the bound dark wizard vanished the next moment, the ropes falling limply to the ground, and a normal-sized spider appeared in its place.
This dark wizard's Animagus was a spider.
Having revealed himself, the dark wizard named Wilkes no longer hid; he transformed from a spider back into a human.
He appeared to be a middle-aged man living a very unhappy life, his face sallow, his hair disheveled as if he hadn't groomed it in a long time, and his robes tattered.
However, his eyes were unusually fierce, fixed on Professor Fawkes, gripping his wand tightly, and gritting his teeth as he said,
"Fawkes! I didn't expect you to be a natural Animagus!"
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(End of Chapter)