The sun doesn't shine well in the Forbidden Forest.

Especially once you step into the territory of the eight-eyed giant spider, you can't see any sunlight at all. Even the gaps between the branches and vines have been filled up by that group of diligent arthropods using the skins and bones of their prey.

Smelly, corrupt, cold...

It almost meets all the fantasies of the Forbidden Forest for those who have never entered it.

Ron looked around.

The doubt just now was not just an illusion. He remembered that he had really been here with George and Fred. That was two years ago. This place was not the territory of the Acromanthus spider, and it was even quite far away from the territory of the Acromanthus spider.

Two years...

Can it expand here unscrupulously?

"Acromantula are creatures with strong reproductive abilities." Hagrid waved his wand and used magic to push aside the spider web. "Two acromantula will produce at least a hundred eggs at a time. After six to eight weeks of incubation, they will hatch. And they will reproduce about seven to eight times a year, almost once every two months."

"The lifespan of this creature is about sixty years. They can reproduce from the age of five, and lose the ability to reproduce at around fifty-five."

Ron snapped his fingers.

His arithmetic ability has improved significantly over the years thanks to the education of Harry, Hermione and others.

But this exponential growth in numbers was beyond his ability when he reached the second generation and he could no longer keep up.

Harry glanced at him. "Most importantly, there are no natural enemies of the Acromantula in the Forbidden Forest."

Acromantulas have few natural enemies.

When this creature has not yet grown to a large enough size, the spider-catching bird is considered a natural enemy. They can eat the young of the giant spider, but there is no such creature in the Forbidden Forest.

When the eight-eyed giant spiders grow up, the basilisk is their only natural enemy.

But... there is no such creature in the Forbidden Forest.

When creatures have no natural enemies, exist outside the food chain, and have strong reproductive abilities, the consequences are extremely terrible.

The eight-eyed giant spider was eating away at the space of the forbidden forest step by step.

Hagrid said nothing.

Harry didn't say anything and stopped. A crackling sound came from the woods, covering the whole place. Even Hermione and Ron noticed it.

An eight-eyed giant spider jumped out, carefully keeping a distance from them: "I remember you."

"The human wizard who killed so many of our people!"

"And Aragog's friends..."

"The front is our territory, please leave."

Harry whispered, "We need to see Aragog."

"We know what you want to do." The giant eight-eyed spider spoke, shaking its claws. "Aragog will not agree to it, and neither will we."

"contract?"

"That kind of thing doesn't make sense."

"Who knows what you human wizards are up to."

Harry pulled out his wand.

The eight-eyed giant spiders retreated several steps in response: "What do you want to do? Do you want to go to war with us, human?"

"No, I'm just letting you know that from now on, this is no longer your territory." Harry said softly, grabbing a handful of seeds from his pocket and throwing them on the ground.

Wands were waved and spells were chanted.

The seeds fell to the ground, quickly took root, and then grew. The branches and vines broke through the spider webs, wrapped around the contaminated trees, and devoured the flesh and bones hanging on the trees, which were full of stench and filled with maggots.

In an instant, it was dawn.

The moonlight shines through the gaps between the branches.

The woods are completely new in the blink of an eye.

The plants created by magic cleansed the trees and devoured the spider web decorations. Even the ground was covered with a new layer of moss, hiding the ugly land that was polluted and corroded by spiders.

Ron, Hagrid and the others looked on in surprise.

"What, what kind of magic is this?" Hagrid stammered, holding his wand.

Ron nodded, he wanted to know too.

"Professor Sprout taught us Herbology last year," Hermione reminded.

Learning spells in fifth grade?

Hagrid frowned, he had consulted the professors before, he had learned all the spells in the senior years, but this kind of spell really had no impression to him.

Ron was also thinking hard.

Fifth grade? Professor Sprout? Learned it yourself?

After a long while, he hesitated and said, "Hermione, are you talking about the bonsai spell?"

Hermione nodded.

The bonsai spell is an important learning content for fifth graders - after all, it is a spell that can actually help with employment. But the spell Harry cast was different from the bonsai spell Ron knew. How could the magic of trimming potted plants be applied to such a large forest?

He tried to take out his wand, pointed it at a tree, and started fiddling with it.

The eight-eyed giant spiders didn't like such a clean environment, and they retreated with a click.

"Hagrid, do you know where Aragog is?" Harry turned around.

Hagrid nodded and took a few steps forward, leading the way with the lamp.

The giant acromantula followed behind, lurking in the forest, following behind, and the size of the spider team grew larger and larger.

All four were fearless.

Harry was not afraid of them. No matter how big the scale was, he could deal with it himself. The only question was... whether he could keep this forest.

Hagrid believed that Aragog would not hurt him.

Hermione and Ron completely believed in Harry.

More than half an hour later, they arrived outside a nest.

A huge eight-eyed giant spider was waiting for them: "Hagrid, my dear friend..."

"I never thought that we would meet in this situation one day."

It speaks more coherently than other spiders. Time brings not only physical aging, but also more wisdom.

Hagrid was about to speak.

Harry beat him to the punch: "Aragog?"

“It’s me.” The huge, old Acromantula nodded.

"A giant acromantula with a name. I thought you would be closer to humans." Harry walked up to it.

Eight compound eyes reflected Harry's figure, and it replied: "Aren't we close to humans? We have lived in the Forbidden Forest for decades and have never hurt any little wizard."

"Really?" Harry said calmly, "Should I praise you then?"

"Never hurt any young wizard at Hogwarts."

He paused for a moment and said earnestly: "If you are not afraid to leave the forbidden forest."

"If you can't beat me..."

Aragog shook his head uneasily. "Human cub, I have restrained them, but you killed so many of my children. You should be prepared for revenge."

"It was your children who tried to ambush us in the first place," Harry said softly.

Aragog's voice became weak. "They just wanted to play a joke on you."

"The Acromantula is capable of joking?" Harry smiled and turned to Hagrid and said, "Dear Professor Hagrid, you can study this matter. Maybe you can write a paper that will shock the world."

When it comes to papers, Hagrid's head is almost as big as his brother's.

Harry raised his wand and pointed it at it. "So, now that I've come to invite you personally, you still don't want to sign the oath?"

"Human, please allow me to refuse." Aragog shook his head, his tone stiff, "You have gone too far!"

"This is the Forbidden Forest!"

"It is not your place to step in or interfere..."

Harry interrupted it and said, "It seems that you have heard something. Ravenclaw does have a vow with the Forbidden Forest. Hogwarts will not interfere with the development of the Forbidden Forest."

"But, you, the Acromantula are not part of the oath of the Forbidden Forest."

"It seems that since you are Hagrid's friend, I will give you one last chance to sign the Hogwarts oath. Hagrid and I will discuss and draw a territory for you. You Acromantulas can only live in that territory from now on, and you can never cross it again."

The group of eight-eyed giant spiders began to get restless with a crackling sound.

They could hear Harry's intention to reduce the size of his territory.

"or……"

"The last time I fought a bunch of you spiders was two years ago?"

"Perhaps, I should show you how much I have improved in the past two years?"

"I can let you see it, and I can also wait until you realize your mistakes and admit them before signing the oath."

Aragog was uneasy, his voice impatient: "Human, you are going too far!"

"So you choose the latter?" Harry raised his wand, and flames surged out, transforming into a small flaming griffin, hovering above their heads, illuminating the entire space. "Are you sure?"

Aragog raised his voice: "No! Human wizard!"

"So it's the former?" Harry said in a cold tone without putting away his wand.

Aragog looked at Hagrid and pleaded, "Let me think about it for a while, okay?"

"I have to be responsible for my people."

"Hagrid, my dearest friend, my dearest master, Hagrid, give me some time to think about it."

Hagrid couldn't bear it: "Harry..."

"You're stalling for time." Harry waved his hand, stopping Hagrid from saying anything. He looked at Aragog in surprise. "You're stalling for time?"

"Why?"

Aragog turned his head away.

It is indeed very smart, but it has only dealt with Hagrid over the years. It has wisdom but no experience in dealing with people.

It's like a display screen, showing all the thoughts running through its brain without reservation.

"You don't have room to think about it." Harry looked at it, put away his wand and flame, and thought, "You know, no matter how long you think about it, the final result will be the same. There is no point in delaying this time, unless you want to escape from the Forbidden Forest, but this is even more impossible. You should know that the Ministry of Magic, Hogwarts, Dumbledore and I can't tolerate such a large group of Acromantula cholera."

"But you still want to delay."

"Tell me, why?"

Aragog remained silent.

"Soul-reading!"

Harry raised his wand, pointed it, and chanted the spell.

His mental power searched its brain, and the memories were peeled off layer by layer. Harry picked up one of the layers and spread it out.

This is a memory from over a year ago.

It was a darker black than today, and Aragog met with a man in the forbidden forest.

"Human wizard, you are dangerous." Aragog stared at him. "If you don't want venom, what do you want to do?"

"This is the Forbidden Forest, I am..."

The thin, pale man shook his head: "I mean no harm."

"It's just that your child is a little disobedient. If I want to see you, I have to use some means."

"I came to visit you rashly because I want to discuss something with you."

Aragog looked at him.

"You must have had a hard time in the Forbidden Forest during these days." The man said softly, "You could only rely on catching some birds and mice for food, and often you couldn't even get enough to eat. That half-blood giant often asked you to be more restrained."

“This is my sincerity.”

He waved his wand and the pocket at his waist opened.

More than a dozen bodies flew out.

Harry, who was watching in his memory, saw more than a dozen corpses, both men and women. They all had the same feature: the skin on their left arms had been corroded by strong acid, erasing some traces.

"Human flesh! It smells like human flesh!"

"Food, it's food!"

The eight-eyed giant spiders surrounding them shouted and became excited.

"Please enjoy it." The man waved his hand.

The eight-eyed giant spiders pounced on him, leaving the two fattest corpses for Aragog, and dragged away the remaining ten or so, enjoying them without hesitation.

"What do you want to do?" Aragog's voice softened.

The man raised his head, looked at it, and asked, "Do you want to be free?"

"Freedom from being confined in the Forbidden Forest?"

"Want to enjoy food without restraint?"

Aragog shook his head. "Of course I would like to, but it's impossible. Hagrid won't allow it. Neither the old wizard with the white beard in the castle nor the young wizard with cat eyes will allow it."

The man lowered his voice, full of persuasion: "But my master allows it."

"Cooperate?"

"Hogwarts and the Forbidden Forest have a vow. The castle cannot harm the Forbidden Forest, and the Forbidden Forest cannot harm the castle. But you are an exception. You, a group of Acromantulas, do not belong to the Forbidden Forest. As long as you want, you can break into Hogwarts at any time. Those little wizards are all ready-made food for you."

Aragog continued to shake his head.

The man nodded. "Of course, I am aware of your concerns, Dumbledore and Potter."

"My master will get rid of them sooner or later, but of course it will require a little help."

"Are you willing to cooperate with us?"

Aragog hesitated. He stared at the two corpses in front of him. Although they were badly decayed, the smell of human flesh kept rising into the fluff on his legs. It was a sweet and delicious smell!

After a long while, Aragog asked, "What are you going to do?"

“When this mark lights up in the sky, rush to the castle. After the task is accomplished, the master will promise you a piece of land, and you will be able to build your kingdom of Acromanthus on this land.” The man waved his wand, and a small mark appeared. A black skull opened, and a hideous snake crawled out of its mouth.

It's the Dark Mark.

Aragog pulled the two corpses into his stomach with a crunching sound. "Human, if the old wizard with white beard and the wizard with cat eyes are still in the castle, we will not set foot out of the forbidden forest."

The man smiled and said, "Don't worry, everything will go smoothly."

He raised his head and his pale face showed a ferocious smile.

Harry, who was watching from the sidelines in his memory, saw his face clearly - it was Barty Crouch Jr., who had never shown his face before.