Chapter 163: Death in the Fire

Although Aragog said so, Ivan was somewhat hesitant.

He was not stupid enough to trust an Acromantula. As highly intelligent creatures, honesty and trust have never been synonymous with Acromantulas. In fact, they are the exact opposite; they are some of the most purely evil and ferocious dark creatures in existence.

Even if Hagrid had raised Aragog as his pet, this can only guarantee that he feels affection for him and him alone, this does not make him care one bit about other humans! This most prominently shows his initial order to his sons to kill Ivan and Pettigrew.

Ivan hesitated-if possible, he hoped to take Aragog with him, leaving the spider territory and the Forbidden Forest. That way, he wouldn't have to worry about the spider's trustworthiness.

But Aragog was so big that his eight huge spider legs could not support his own weight. If they left this web, he probably wouldn't be able to move.

"Reducius!" Ivan whispered, he was testing this magic.

It was one of the requirements of the seventh year N.E.W.T. exam. Ivan had seen Professor Flitwick use this spell to reduce a spider. He tried using it on Aragog. If he could shrink it, that would be great.

He didn't know if it was his lack of mastery over the spell, or if Aragog was immune to this magic. In short, it didn't work.

Seeing what Ivan did, the spiders around the hollow filled with anger, as countless pairs of hateful eyes glowed in their ugly black sockets.

"Hagrid's friend..." Aragog's voice held a hint of resentment. "Don't make futile attempts. I won't hurt you out of respect for Hagrid, but don't come back here again to bother us, We spiders like darkness and silence!"

"Well, I hope you can keep your word!" Ivan tried some more magic and it didn't work.

It seemed that Aragog's hard shell and huge body made him immune to some spells.

It couldn't take any longer. It was night; no one knew he had gone there. Rescue from the castle shouldn't come soon, and Peter Pettigrew's situation seemed to be getting worse. He simply bandaged his right hand and could not stop the blood loss.

The constant outbursts had taken a lot of his strength and energy. Looking at him, Ivan feared he might not be able to stay alive much longer.

Ivan slipped out of the webbed net. He took a step back, his wand still pointing at Aragog as he slowly backed up towards Pettigrew.

"Thank you, Ivan, you saved me, I'll repay you..." Peter grabbed Ivan's robes and said weakly.

This sentence did not make him happy at all. Unless something went wrong, Peter Pettigrew should spend the rest of his life in Azkaban Wizarding Prison. So yes, he couldn't expect him to pay him back, he didn't even want to see him again.

Pettigrew struggled to stand up, but his legs were extremely weak. He stopped halfway and immediately fell to the ground.

"Ivan, Ivan, I have no strength, help me, don't leave me alone here...", Peter said in panic.

"Shut up, keep your filthy hands off my robe!" Ivan frowned, seeing his black school uniform stained by Pettigrew's blood, he gently waved his wand, muttering, "Mobilicorpus!"

As if invisible strings were attached to Peter's wrists, neck and knees, he was pulled to his feet, his head shaking unpleasantly, like a grotesque puppet. He hung a few inches off the ground, his limp feet dangling.

"Don't resist, if you break free from the grip of this spell, I won't deal with you anymore," Ivan warned, and a wave of weakness swept through his body. So much happened tonight that he just wanted to go back and get a good night's sleep.

Surrounded by hundreds of huge Acromantulas, Ivan, slowly leaving the hollow with Peter, noticed that the number of spiders around him seemed to be increasing.

After receiving the news, the spiders that were hunting for food outside were gradually returning.

They were huddled together, making a numbing clicking sound, their murderous black eyes peering closely at the two humans passing by. Ivan could hear what sounded like they were salivating for them.

Fresh human flesh was too tempting for them.

Fortunately, they all obeyed Aragog's orders and did not attack.

In the center of the hollow, Aragog remained in the misty giant web. His large pincers slowly came together. It was as if he was staring at Ivan. It was as if his eight white blind eyes could pick up the boy's movements.

Then it slowly began to retreat back to its Lair.

On the hillside surrounding the hollow, all the paths leading to it were filled with Acromantulas.

Ivan left with Pettigrew. They climbed up to the ridge of the hollow to see the trees again. Aragog and the other Acromantulas were disappearing from their eyes.

Ivan had just breathed a sigh of relief when he heard Aragog's low voice coming from the deep depths of the lair. "Kill them!"

Hearing Aragog's command, all the spiders immediately became excited, and couldn't wait to run towards their prey.

Like an angry black river, with a roar of death, they ran straight at Ivan.

"Damn, that old man is not trustworthy!" Ivan didn't have time to think about it. Under Pettigrew's shouts, he hastily aimed his wand at the leaves on the ground and shouted, "Fire!"

A red flame erupted from the tip of his wand to instantly ignite the dry yellow leaves.

After being accumulated by the Acromantulas for over 50 years, no one knew how many leaves are in the hole. They were piled up and dried, corroded and dissipated, leaving some extremely flammable grass fibers.

With those fibers on the ground, Ivan's magic had achieved amazing results.

Aragog's lair, the holy ground of the Acromantulas, became a blazing bonfire in an instant, and the flames reached twenty feet high.

Astonishing waves of heat erupted, and the giant spiders emitted a rasping sound.

It was not the usual snapping sound, but screams from deep within their souls.

Looking at what happened in front of his eyes, Peter Pettigrew was pale. He looked at the hundreds of Acromantulas being burned and was suddenly struck by the same feeling he used to get from the Dark Lord. From the thin, black-haired boy in front of him all he felt were those sinister sensations: fear and horror.

At that moment, Ivan was Death!