Chapter 156: Returned, Reunited Despite Different Paths!

Aragog was in a rather complicated state of mind.

On the one hand, it truly hoped to enable its offspring to feast on human flesh, so that its branch of the Acromantula clan could thrive.

On the other hand, it deeply loathed those spider descendants who had betrayed and defied it upon seeing it grow old and feeble, and desired to eliminate these trouble - makers.

It didn't care about the lives of a few individual descendants; what it cared about was the whole clan.

Therefore, Aragog didn't react strongly to the fact that Professor Eris had the blood of young Acromantulas on her.

But if Professor Eris truly fell into its clutches, it wouldn't hesitate to take revenge on her.

Thinking like this, Aragog also crawled into the training maze and followed the path Dumbledore had led it through, heading back to the cave deep within the maze.

...

The training maze construction team, led by Hagrid and Fang, was making their way through The Forbidden Forest.

When they were about to leave the area affected by the Acromantulas' territory, Snape, who was walking at the back of the team, suddenly spoke up.

"Dumbledore, I need to gather some potion ingredients in the forest. You all go back first. I can find my way back alone."

"Go ahead, Severus." Dumbledore agreed without even thinking.

He had full confidence in Snape's strength.

The conversation between the two was extremely fast. Before anyone else in the team could say a word, Snape turned around and quickly walked off in a certain direction.

The flaps of his special robe fluttered like a large bat skimming the ground.

Once Snape's figure was obscured by the trees in the forest and he was out of sight, Professor Eris in the group pretended to have just come to her senses and blurted out,

"I'm also going to collect potion ingredients. Don't worry about me!"

Saying that, Professor Eris endured the pain in her body and started running, dashing in the direction where Snape had left.

This time, she learned from her previous failures and Snape's recent success. Without waiting for anyone to stop her, she simply and swiftly took off.

By following the path Snape had taken, she was undoubtedly justifying her actions to everyone.

The love - struck persona she had built up over time proved useful once more.

"Oh dear! Professor Eris is truly lovesick! She still bears the curse from the unicorn ray attack. How can she venture alone into the perilous Forbidden Forest? How foolish of her!"

After realizing what was happening, Professor McGonagall said anxiously.

Watching Professor Eris's figure about to be obscured by the distant trees, she then proposed, "I'd better follow her and keep her safe!"

"Professor McGonagall, no need. Let me do it!"

Dudley stopped the kind - hearted Professor McGonagall once more. He watched as Professor Eris's back faded into the trees and then nonchalantly set off after her.

The remaining professors wanted to say something, but were interrupted by Dumbledore's words.

"Everyone, don't fret! Professor Eris, Professor Snape and Teaching Assistant Dursley are all highly capable. Even if Professor Eris isn't in top shape, the three of them working together won't run into any serious issues.

Let's head back to the Castle for a meal now!

Since Dumbledore had said so, the professors didn't say much more.

They continued their journey back to the Castle.

On the other side, after distancing themselves from the group, Snape, Eris, and Dudley all turned in the same direction and made an identical choice.

That was to return to the training maze, which was also the Acromantula Nest.

Snape aimed to obtain the venom of the Acromantulas. The reason he had lagged behind the other professors earlier was that he had set up several extra traps specifically for catching Acromantulas in the maze.

Eris intended to steal The Philosopher's Stone, which hardly needed further explanation. Snape's collection of potion ingredients was just a pretext she used.

Dudley wanted to ensure that Eris' injuries became even more severe. It was too troublesome to track her in The Forbidden Forest, so he simply ran to the maze first and decided to wait for her there.

Anyway, as long as Eris didn't end up seriously injured and on the verge of death today, she would definitely return to the maze to steal The Philosopher's Stone.

Among the three, Dudley was the best at running. With the blessing of the Strength Enhancement spell, his moving speed far exceeded that of Snape and Eris.

So, Dudley was the first to return to the maze. He cast the Invisibility Charm and hid beside the entrance of the maze, quietly observing.

He not only monitored the movements of the surrounding things but also took out a transparent round - bellied glass bottle from his Personal Space to check Eris' surveillance.

The bottle contained the meditation water specially made by Dumbledore, which could directly connect to Peeves' eyes and display the scenes Peeves saw.

And Peeves was invisible and constantly following Eris.

Therefore, Dudley could access Eris' surveillance at any time to check on her.

The image in the bottle showed that Eris was being chased by three adult Acromantulas in The Forbidden Forest, who were tracking her by smell.

In a hurry, Eris took out her wand and cast the Spider Repulsion spell, sending the three huge spiders flying far away.

Her magic power was so strong that it even knocked the three Acromantulas unconscious.

This showed that this mysterious new lackey of Voldemort's strength had indeed reached the professor level, which was quite impressive.

Afterwards, Eris finally noticed the flaw on herself. She used the Cleaning Spell to remove all the blue spider blood stains on her body and also got rid of all the strange odors on herself.

Dudley watched all this with great interest. It seemed that he would have a bit more trouble later.

However, isn't it more fun to frame a powerful enemy?

Thinking like this, Dudley suddenly noticed something unusual around him. It was Snape approaching the entrance of the maze.

He didn't move and ignored Snape.

His main goal today was Eris and Voldemort's main soul.

With a poker - faced expression, Snape directly entered the maze.

Dudley continued to watch the surveillance, waiting for Eris.

By the way, he sneak - attacked two adult Acromantulas that were returning from outside. He cast the Imperius Curse on them and controlled them to enter the maze. They silently hid at a corridor fork on the way to the end cave.

After some time, Eris, with a deathly pale face, finally arrived at the entrance of the maze.

Dudley had seen the scene in advance. He put away the glass bottle filled with meditation water and entered the maze, keeping a safe tracking distance far enough from Eris.

Eris had no idea about this. She also cast the Invisibility Charm and dived into the maze.

Following the route in her memory and staying on high alert, she walked steadily towards the cave deep in the maze.

By now, the Acromantulas had already taken over this unfinished training maze.

Eris tightened her grip on her wand, ready to fight at any moment.

To get The Philosopher's Stone quickly and let Voldemort's main soul resurrect his body and leave her beautiful belly sooner, she was going all out this time!