Lavender was a little further away, but guided by my daughters, we reached her quickly. Her body was hanging from the web, upside down, twitching weakly in unconsciousness… yet, to everyone's surprise, a slight smile was on her face.
Beside her, the Red Queen was waiting, having already finished giving orders to her spiders to begin removing the webs—both normal and red—from the entire area.
"Hello, my child," I said, gently stroking the Red Queen.
The girls froze. After what they had just witnessed, none of them could conceive of touching a giant spider, let alone with affection. In their eyes, I was completely insane for doing so.
Noticing something strange about my daughter, I knelt down so she could whisper her concern to me without the others hearing. It was rare to see her so uncomfortable, but I finally understood why.
"Girls, wait a moment. Don't worry, they won't hurt you," I said before raising a barrier that blocked both sight and sound around me, the Red Queen, and the web holding Lavender.
I stroked my daughter's head in a gesture of comfort and prepared to treat Lavender. Her condition wasn't serious; she just needed to replenish some of her energy. She hadn't been poisoned or injured like the others because of how she was captured.
Once she was more stable, I let the Red Queen's spiders begin removing her from the web. It was a delicate process; the webbing was connected to the victim's body, and if not done carefully, it could hurt them. Fortunately, the Red Queen had already severed the deep mental connection, leaving only a superficial link to monitor the prisoner's state.
The problem arose when Lavender, being relatively well and not having been knocked out, began to regain consciousness mid-process. The first thing she saw was me, freeing her. And then…
"Red…?" she murmured in a weak voice before opening her eyes with an ecstatic smile. "It's too late to save me… I am one with the hive… my body, once yours, has been claimed by the Queen… I will be used as sustenance for her offspring… my flesh will give life to litter after litter of spiders that will conquer the world!"
Her expression ignited like that of a religious fanatic.
"Lavender Brown no longer exists… only the Queen's faithful incubator remains… Her breeding machine!" she continued, her voice growing increasingly fanatical. "Your… your seed can no longer purify me; my body exists only to receive the countless eggs of my master… and give birth until the end of my days… Master… my Master… use me! PROFANE me to spread your offspring across the world! Turn us all into simple living wombs for the superior race!"
The Red Queen, to my side, began to tremble. She twitched her fangs as if trying to swat invisible flies, all while emitting a high-pitched, nervous chirp.
Far from stopping, Lavender doubled down:
"Yes! Do it! Shatter my body, consume my mind, tear out my soul, and let us become the eternal vessels of the hive! That is our only destiny and reason for being!"
It was then that I slapped her a couple of times.
"Lavender, calm down! You're upsetting the Red Queen," I said, pointing to the poor spider, who looked as if she were suffering from a brain-tickle.
"M-master? Did she catch you too…?" Lavender stammered, looking at me with misty, even more excited eyes. "Of course, no one escapes! Not even you… now you'll be part of the hive… Together, we'll give birth to the strongest spiders that will dominate this world! I've never been so happy, Red… sharing this destiny with you is the most beautiful thing that has ever happened to me…!"
I rubbed the bridge of my nose as I watched Lavender have an orgasm over her own delusions. The worst part was that, due to the connection with the red web, I could sense that both the Red Queen and the smaller spiders in the web were having trouble coordinating, as if they were also receiving a portion of that sick stimulation.
"How is it possible that your twisted mind can alter something that verges on the apocalypse?" I muttered, holding her as I finished pulling off the last threads that held her. "You shouldn't be so strong…"
"Embrace me, Red, while our master uses us as incubators… you'll like it…" she whispered with that silly, lovesick smile, as if she didn't understand she was already out of the web.
"Lav… she's not going to do that to me. She's my daughter. Literally, my biological daughter." I slapped her a bit more, trying to make her snap out of it.
"What?!" she seemed to react for a second, but immediately resumed her demented tirade. "It can't be...! Then I was taken by the daughter of my love… You didn't get here in time, it's too late, now I'm part of the hive, my body has already been modified, I hear her voice in my mind… I'm sorry, Red, but you lost me to the legs of your own daughter… At least I'll be able to give you many spider grandchildren who will dominate the Earth… Although I know your pain at seeing me forever one with the web must be shattering you… Maybe in your suffering you'll come to see me, while I'm full of eggs, and… you'll masturbate while you cry, seeing what you lost… against which you can do nothing…"
"Lav," I sighed. "First: my daughter hasn't done anything to you yet; your body is perfectly fine… unlike your head, which is a total mess. Second: you're already out of the web. And third: the influence you had was minimal because my daughter didn't want to harm you when she sensed you had a connection to me. In fact, you're the one causing her the most harm… with all your depraved thoughts." I gestured to the Red Queen.
"Master?" Lavender looked at her, and only then did she realize that the presence in her mind was the same spider standing before her. She gave her a look with heart-eyes, in love with her own fantasy made flesh… or legs.
The poor spider took a step back, raised her fangs, and let out a shriek of discomfort.
"I want that too…" Lavender stammered, tears in her eyes. "But I belong to your father… although I'm sure if he allows it, I could give birth to your young… become the breeding machine we always dreamed of…"
"Actually, what she's saying is for you to back away," I clarified with a sigh. "She's a little bit scared of you."
It was astonishing what a twisted mind could achieve: traumatizing a creature designed to subdue the minds of others. Of course, the Red Queen could have destroyed Lavender from the beginning, but that restriction—not to harm her—was what weakened her. At first, Lavender's thoughts mixed with the web without a problem, but when her psyche sank deeper into the Red Queen's mind, she noticed how invasive her unconscious delusions were. And since she had never had an interest or experience with Lavender's everyday depravities, she didn't know how to counter them.
I took a moment to explain the situation to get her back to reality… but she focused on the least important thing.
"So you've done it with a spider!?" she asked excitedly, with a euphoria that replaced the disgust anyone else would feel. "And you fathered these… super spiders… like the Master?" she said, looking at the Red Queen with desire.
"Please, stop calling her 'Master.' She's my daughter…" I muttered, rubbing my temple.
"Right… I'm your property. You must feel like you're losing me and…" she began to ramble again, until she changed the subject. "So you can reproduce with anything, giving birth to more and more grotesque monsters?!"
"Yes, probably… but did you hear any of the other things I told you?" I replied with frustration.
"Could you let one of your daughters devour me and keep me in her stomach… and let the Red Queen impregnate me… or let both of you, father and daughter, do it together… and then someone else eat me?" Lavender said with a sickly gleam in her eyes.
"Stupefy," I recited, casting the spell at her.
Lavender fell to the ground, unconscious. I looked at her with indifference. Perhaps I should have done that from the beginning. It was astounding what a monster I had created… and I wasn't talking about my spider daughters.
I removed the barrier and carried Lavender, taking her to the other unconscious girls. Meanwhile, the Red Queen ran to help remove the webs alongside her young. It wasn't a queen's job, but she preferred that to being near Lavender, even while she was asleep.
The girls had remained tense the entire time. The presence of the spiders had terrified them, and no one had dared to speak. Only an uncomfortable silence filled the air.
"Is she okay?" Penelope asked, worried about Lavender. Her rescue had taken too long, and the barrier I raised only confirmed that something serious had happened.
"I'd say a little too okay," I scoffed. "Alright, let's finish this. Astoria, come here." I raised my wand.
"Red! That… you don't need to erase her memory," Daphne blurted out, though without much force, guessing what I was about to do.
"Relax. I'm good at this. I wouldn't harm her mind. Otherwise, I wouldn't have dared to do it to the others," I said, trying to calm her.
"No… it's just… you don't have to. You can trust her like you trust me. We two, both sisters, are willing to serve you with all our hearts. She will guard your secrets as if they were her own," Daphne said quickly.
She was being sincere, selling herself and her sister to the devil… that is, to me. She had seen my potential and decided to follow me, but upon learning of the existence of these spiders who called me father, she understood that she had only scratched the surface of my power. She didn't fully believe they were my daughters, but the simple fact of commanding them was terrifying enough.
Before, she thought she would sacrifice herself to protect Astoria, but not anymore. Daphne was offering up her sister as part of the "package deal." She believed that serving me would be the only way to ensure a stable future for both of them. I was no longer just a good leader; I was a potential tyrant, and she had understood that. Like a true Slytherin, she was willing to sacrifice what was necessary, even their bodies, to survive and secure their place.
"I suppose that's fine… though I will make a small adjustment to ensure that if anyone probes your minds, no one sees more than they should… with all of you," I accepted. After all, I wasn't going to turn down the loyalty of a pair of sisters so willing to offer it.
Astoria was confused and terrified, but she didn't contradict anything her sister said. She trusted that Daphne was making the best decision, even if she didn't understand it.
"Alright. So… does anyone want their memories erased? I trust you all because you are my women and my trusted people. But if you feel what you experienced is too much, I can dilute it a bit." I gently tapped my wand against my palm.
"Millicent is your woman too!?" Pansy exclaimed, surprised. Of course, the others reacted too: no one knew when she had been added to the list.
"Yes… bad time for introductions, but there'll be time later. Now… does anyone want a little memory wipe?" I asked one last time.
In the end, no one accepted. Despite the fear and horror, no one wanted to forget what they had gone through.
With everything ready, several clones carried the unconscious girls, and we began the journey back to Hogwarts with the rest. There were still things to discuss in the Guard before I disappeared again. I also left a clone with my spider daughters to return them to the [Fief].
It had been a very intense day for many. Dawn was breaking when we finally set foot in the castle.