stonecrandall Chapter 172 You made the wrong choice!
Chapter 172 You made the wrong choice!
"Stop, Aragog! Tell your children to stop! You can't make this mistake again!"
Seeing the swarm of giant spiders getting closer and closer to Dudley and himself, Hagrid snapped out of his daze, quickly stood up, and shouted at Aragog.
Upon hearing Hagrid's order, Aragog hesitated for a moment, but then made up his mind:
"This is impossible, Hagrid! We have no way back! If we don't capture this little wizard, my children and I will all die!"
Don't worry, my children won't attack you! Come here quickly and stand behind me!
Aragog showed no remorse and had decided to go down a dead-end path.
Hagrid was extremely disappointed and dejected.
But soon, his gaze became firm and sharp.
Hagrid clenched his fist, which was as big as a pot lid, and drew his wand, shouting:
“Aragog, I won’t let your children harm Dallie! If you agree to sign a contract with Hogwarts now, there’s still hope for everything…”
"Enough! Hagrid! I've said it before, I am your pet. I can be kept as a pet, and I can choose not to eat human flesh, but my children cannot! Even though they have already begun to disobey me!"
Aragog was extremely excited and, in his aged voice, flatly rejected Hagrid's proposal.
Hagrid finally came to terms with the harsh reality.
Meanwhile, the spiderlings surrounding them could no longer suppress their craving for blood and flesh.
Knowing that Dudley was very strong, they didn't bother to test him at all and immediately launched a brutal, all-out attack.
Spider webs, piercing spider legs, venomous bites, venom spray...
"Don't hurt Hagrid!" Aragog shouted anxiously.
However, this old spider was indeed old, and its reaction was a beat slow.
By the time it finished speaking, the spot where Hagrid and Dudley had been standing had become a mess.
Thick spider silk and a large amount of venom were piled up on the ground, and the hairs on the bodies of several eight-eyed giant spiders that engaged in melee combat were also dirty.
Dudley and Hagrid had vanished from sight; it was unclear whether they were completely enveloped in spider silk, or...
"You made the wrong choice!"
Dudley's voice came from mid-air, right where the spiders had just been blinded by their fire attack.
Aragog and his spiderlings, with their many eyes, quickly spotted Dudley, who was taking off while grabbing Hagrid's elbow.
Just as the spider swarm was about to adjust its attack angle and launch another attack, a thick fog suddenly spread out, obscuring their vision.
"Surrounded by clouds and mist!"
"Transform instantly!"
Dudley whispered a spell quickly, using a variant of the Weather Charm—the Cloud Charm—to summon a large cloud of mist. At the same time, he threw out the Smetine Staff and used his full power to transform it into a terrifying giant python three times the size of Aragog.
"Hiss—"
Dudley, referencing images of basilisks from movies of his past life and illustrations of related books in the library of this life, conjured up the natural enemy of the eight-eyed giant spiders.
The terrifying giant python appeared and disappeared in the mist, emitting a hiss that made the eight-eyed giant spiders tremble.
The balance of power shifted instantly.
“This is…this is…” Aragog’s eight old spider legs trembled violently, all his previous madness and courage gone.
It dared not utter the word 'basilisk,' just as most wizards in the magical world dared not call out the name 'Voldemort.'
Dudley was very considerate; upon hearing Aragog's stammering, he kindly reminded him:
"It's the kind of creature you're thinking of, the real monster lurking in the secret chamber, the absolute nemesis that your Eight-Eyed Giant Spider clan cannot resist—the Basilisk!"
"Hiss—"
Dudley, controlling the basilisk created by his transformation spell, let out another piercing hiss, paralyzing all the eight-eyed giant spiders in the space.
Aragog is no exception.
Then, with a thought, Dudley unleashed a one-sided massacre on the 'basilisk'.
Violent tail whip, snake fang piercing, python coiling around, rampaging and crushing...
The giant spider's nest was instantly transformed into a giant spider's graveyard; the battle was incredibly fierce.
However, due to the fog obscuring the view, Hagrid, who was suspended in mid-air by Dali, could not see the horrific scene clearly.
All that could be heard were the dying cries of the eight-eyed giant spiders.
This left Hagrid with heavy and complicated feelings.
"Squeak~ Squeak!!"
"Squeak..."
"squeak……"
More and more eight-eyed giant spiders wailed and died tragically under the attack of the 'basilisk'.
There's a saying that everything has its counter, and the eight-eyed giant spider was utterly powerless against the basilisk monster.
Many giant spiders, on the verge of death, barely managed to shake off some of their fear and try to escape, but they completely lost their way in the fog that Dudley had secretly added a confusion spell to, and ended up in the snake's jaws.
Aside from the deadly snake eyes and venom of a real basilisk, the basilisk that Dudley conjured, after being enhanced with a power-boosting charm, was even larger and stronger than a real basilisk.
The neighing and imposing aura it emitted were so convincing that they could easily be mistaken for the real thing.
With a single move, the eight-eyed giant spiders were routed.
Aragog is truly desperate and completely panicked.
It sensed that its offspring were dying in large numbers and could no longer make a sound, and it was powerless to do anything about it, which filled it with deep regret.
"Stop! I beg you to stop! You terrifying wizard, I am willing to lead my people to submit! I am willing to sign a servant contract with Hogwarts!"
Aragog mustered his last bit of courage, broke free from the basilisk's intimidation, and loudly surrendered to Dali in the mist.
"Too late! You think you can just attack and stop whenever you want? There's no such thing as a free lunch!"
Dudley was no merciful man, and he continued to control the 'basilisk' to wreak havoc.
He won't exterminate the giant spiders in the Forbidden Forest, but he will definitely reduce the number of adult giant spiders by two-thirds or even more.
Then they forced Aragog to sign a vassal contract on behalf of the tribe.
"Please, please stop! We know we were wrong..."
Aragog made a desperate and humble plea.
Dudley, however, turned a deaf ear.
Aragog had no choice but to swallow his pride and beg Hagrid:
"Hagrid, my master, I know I was wrong. From now on, I will listen to you completely. Please beg this young wizard not to... not to let that... snake... kill my offspring again!"
To save his people, Aragog even uttered the word "snake" despite the immense psychological pressure stemming from his bloodline, yet he received no response from Hagrid.
Haiger's mindset and perception have undergone a tremendous shift.
Seeing that Dudley alone could suppress the spider swarm, he silently loosened his fist, put away his wand, and let Dudley carry him flying without saying a word.
A moment later, the 'basilisk monster's' slaughter finally stopped.
The elite of the eight-eyed giant spider clan had been wiped out, leaving only fifty or sixty large spiders that had just reached adulthood and a group of small spiders with weakened bloodlines.
Aragog was already collapsed on the ground, unable to get up.
Dudley never allowed the snake monster he conjured to attack the old spider, and the old spider, knowing its own limitations, didn't dare join the battle and wasted its life.
Even after Dudley stopped fighting, out of consideration for Hagrid's feelings, he still did not dispel the thick fog that shrouded the battlefield.
Instead, it slowly descended, placing Hagrid on a relatively clean surface.
He then darted forward and appeared in front of Aragog. The 'basilisk' covered in the blue blood of the eight-eyed giant spider also slithered over under Dudley's mental control.
A pair of emotionless, serpentine eyes stared straight at Aragog.