Chapter 296: A disaster waiting to happen

Riding on the back of Buckbeak was not the same as riding a broom.

Ivan felt everything around him spinning fast, figures on the ground quickly shrinking and disappearing, and the dividing line between sky and ground blurring. He clung to Buckbeak's neck and glued his body into his feathers.

Buckbeak's wings beat uncomfortably on either side of him, trapping him under his paws and making him feel like he was about to be flung off at any moment.

Due to the wind, Buckbeak's shiny feathers slipped under his fingers.

Ivan didn't dare try to hold on tighter. The Hippopotamus's four legs rose and fell with his wings. He felt himself rocking back and forth. This was much harder than riding a soft broom. If he had not overcome acrophobia in the last month or so, he could not have guaranteed that he would not have fallen unconscious.

However, Ivan could be sure that even if he fell from a high altitude, Buckbeak would be able to catch him before he hit the ground.

Thinking of it this way, there was nothing to worry about.

He tried to lean out and look at the surrounding landscape.

They were now flying fast over the huge lake in front of the castle, at an astonishing speed, faster than the firebolt.

As Buckbeak spread his wings and white clouds floated beside him, Ivan felt like he was dancing with the wind, which was a wonderful experience.

Soon, he discovered the advantages of riding a Hiporgriff.

Besides being extremely fast and flexible, it was also easy to hide. Looking from below, one could only see a Hippogriff flying through the air, and could not see Ivan hiding under its thick feathers.

In addition, these thick feathers could help Ivan resist the cold winds in the sky and maintain the temperature, so that he would not freeze and stiffen from flying.

Not to mention that Buckbeak himself was capable of fighting.

During a fight, he could help Ivan deal with Acromantulas and all sorts of potential dangers.

If comfort could be improved, it would be perfect.

"Let's fly to the Forbidden Forest, to the Acromantulas' territory!" shouted Ivan. "Our destination is the hillside, Aragog's lair!"

Just as Ivan and Buckbeak approached Aragog's lair, at the edge of the Acromantulas' territory, Malfoy, Goyle and Crabbe appeared as well.

They passed under a huge fallen tree trunk covered in green vines. The ground was covered with gravel and unfamiliar plants. The thick moss was very uncomfortable to step on and almost caused Goyle to slip. He scrambled to steady himself with Crabbe's help.

They both breathed fast and hard. They looked at the scenery around them that was getting a little strange, and their faces were full of fear and worry.

Even if they were stupid, they knew they couldn't stand up to the Acromantulas with their bulging muscles alone.

"Draco, we," Goyle's voice trembled, his small, dull eyes wandering back and forth between the nearby bushes in fear of something coming out of them.

"What?" Malfoy replied in a sullen manner, not even turning his head.

"I don't think we can go any further." Crabbe nudged Goyle, and the two exchanged glances. He said in an almost imploring tone, "All around, there are the dangerous Acromantulas Professor Black told us about."

"SHUT UP, GREGORY! Don't mention Black to me, he and the Weasleys are the scum of pureblood wizards!" Malfoy said sharply, "I can see already that the odious Black, the odious Potter and the odious Manson dirtyblood are behind all of this."

"Draco, the Acromantulas are dangerous. We're approaching their territory." Crabbe swallowed and was quick to persuade him, "Goyle is right. Let's go back home. They could come out at any time."

"YOU SHUT UP TOO, VINCENT!" Malfoy said in disgust, "I know what I'm doing. We're just looking for those stupid spiders, do you think I'm going to be defeated by them?! Well, you two, follow me."

Malfoy gripped his wand tightly and snapped furiously at the branches on the ground.

"But...," Goyle said.

"At the edge of the Forbidden Forest, the only Acromantulas to be seen are very weak. Only here can we find larger spiders. The three of us can handle it." Malfoy explained impatiently, "In the last few months, you've killed many."

Seeing Malfoy's angry face, Goyle and Crabbe didn't dare to refute.

They all knew better than to provoke Malfoy at this point. In fact, after losing to Gryffindor, all the Slytherin students questioned and talked about Malfoy's performance on the pitch. They did not understand why Malfoy would join Harry in preventing other players from blocking Angelina.

Although Malfoy had explained many times that he was avoiding Harry's physical collision, this explanation could not be understood and sympathized with in Slytherin House.

To most people, it was because of Malfoy's stupidity and cowardice that they lost the crucial final. Although no one dared to blame and question Malfoy publicly because of his family's situation, the way everyone looked at him was very unkind to him.

While Gryffindor celebrated, the atmosphere in the Slytherin common room was heavy and tense, and awkwardness took over.

As Flint and the rest of the team prepared to check each other out, Malfoy pulled Goyle and Crabbe out of the room.

He was so angry that if he could, he would rather have a duel with Harry.

In fact, now he couldn't even find Harry's shadow.

Malfoy wandered aimlessly around the castle, thinking about the recent series of unpleasant events: the Quidditch final had just been lost, Buckbeak had hurt him and escaped punishment, Harry had his meeting with his godfather Sirius Black, and the advice from his father and Professor Snape, etc.

The more he thought, the angrier he got, and the worse he felt about his recent misfortunes. Everything started to reverse around Christmas, and things got worse and worse.

After overhearing a few Hufflepuffs in the library talking about the Quidditch match and the big carnival held in the Gryffindor common room, Malfoy left with a grim face. He decided to blow off some steam by killing Acromantulas in the Forbidden Forest.

Through a few months of fighting Acromantulas, the fighting strength of all the young wizards had increased significantly.

With the help of others, Malfoy also killed over 30 Acromantulas, which put him in second place among all the young wizards at Hogwarts, surpassing most of the senior students, and that was enough to make him proud.

Although there was no professor to accompany him today, Malfoy didn't think he would be in danger.

Although angry, he still had enough reason to know that as long as he didn't go too far into Acromantula territory, there would be no danger.

What he needed now was to vent his anger by taking lives.

But strangely, today, he couldn't understand what was going on. Malfoy, Goyle and Crabbe had been searching for a long time outside the Forbidden Forest, and they didn't even see the shadow of an Acromantula. These creatures, which were very common in the past, seemed to have suddenly disappeared.