Faced with Draco Malfoy's impotent rage, Amosta appeared calm and collected. He shrugged innocently, turned his head, and said,
"Too bad, I thought you'd find it cute!"
Who would find a creature that combines horror, danger, and ugliness, cute? Are you insane?!
Malfoy wanted to retort, but the Aragog, which had envisioned scenes of revenge countless times in its mind, had no patience to wait for them to converse. It saw that the powerful wizard who had trapped it had carelessly averted his gaze, deeming it an excellent opportunity for a sneak attack!
Whoosh!
The terrifying whistling sound made by its massive body, as large as a carriage horse, as it slammed through the air, sent shivers down one's spine. Malfoy's pupils suddenly contracted. Time seemed to slow down at that moment. He slowly opened his mouth, watching wide-eyed as the hairs on the Aragog's slender legs became clear.
Malfoy wanted to warn Amosta, but he suddenly found the speed at which his lips moved was so agonizingly slow. Even if he waited until he was crushed into a puddle of flesh by the spider, he might not have time to utter a single word!
Just as Malfoy thought he was doomed, Amosta, seemingly unaware, suddenly turned and raised his wand high. The tip of the wand glowed faintly, and like chopping firewood, he instantly brought it down.
In the dimly lit room, a thin, cicada-wing-like ink-black light barrier suddenly appeared. It was like an incredibly sharp blade lying across in front of them, its edge facing the pouncing Aragog!
In mid-air, the green light in the spider's eight compound eyes subtly changed. It seemed to realize the danger, intending to dig its slender legs into the wall to halt its body.
But unfortunately, its previous leap had been too forceful. In its haste, it simply couldn't resist the powerful inertia caused by its massive body. In the blink of an eye, it blocked its two large black palps in front of it, hoping to mitigate some damage.
Splish-splash!
A black rain instantly sprayed everywhere. The spider's body, split in half down the middle, crashed heavily onto the ground with a clang. Green internal organs, intestines, and bodily fluids mixed together and splattered all over the floor.
Malfoy stood behind the milky-white light shield conjured by Amosta, staring blankly at the spider, now in two pieces. The increasingly faint clicking and rattling sounds from its two large black palps sounded like dying wails and accusations in his ears. Consequently, Malfoy's legs began to tremble uncontrollably.
"My apologies, Mr. Malfoy, I've made quite a mess of your dormitory. But don't worry, I'll take care of it for you in a moment."
Amosta dispelled the magical shield and apologized. He walked to the spider's corpse, ignoring the still glowing hateful green light in its compound eyes. Instead, he poked its mouthparts with his finger a few times, as if searching for something. After a long moment, he looked disappointed,
"I forgot again. I've already collected the venom... It seems food scarcity and lack of exercise slow down the Aragog's venom recovery rate."
Malfoy's body trembled violently. He averted his gaze, looking at Amosta, who seemed to be complaining that he shouldn't have eaten too many cookies for afternoon tea, leading to a lack of appetite for dinner. For the first time, Malfoy truly understood what fear meant, and what power meant!
"What kind of magic was that?" Malfoy knew his voice was trembling, but he couldn't control it.
"What?" Amosta didn't hear clearly for a moment. He looked up, his face showing surprise.
"That one you just used, that killed this beast... spider."
"Oh!" Amosta lowered his head again, rummaging for valuable organs, and said casually, "I haven't named it, Mr. Malfoy. If you'd like, I can give you the naming rights... Phew!"
Amosta stood up, disappointed. He walked to the stone box but didn't rush to take it out. Instead, he rummaged through his portable spatial bag for something. A few seconds later, he took out a glass bottle filled with a dark green potion.
Hiss!
The seemingly ordinary stone box emitted a pungent white smoke the moment it touched the potion, as if it itself was at an extremely high temperature, directly vaporizing the potion.
Noticing Malfoy's body trembling violently again, Amosta kindly explained,
"I've placed a tracking charm and a highly poisonous potion on the box. If you touch it carelessly, you'll get into big trouble."
Since it's already coated with highly poisonous potion, is there still a need for a tracking charm?
Malfoy thought to himself, but he didn't dare to ask aloud.
"Alright!"
Amosta picked up the stone box, his tone becoming lighter. He surveyed the wreckage around him and waved his wand forcefully.
The collapsed bed, the cabinet shattered into sawdust, piece by piece, jumped back to their original positions. The scattered personal items regained their original forms in mid-air. Feathers re-entered the soft cushions and bedding. Damaged books automatically repaired themselves and neatly jumped back into their original places. The magical lights on the ceiling glowed faintly again. The green blood splattered on the wizard's robe and sweater also turned into twisting liquid figures, wiggling their hips and re-inserting themselves into the Aragog's belly.
Amosta waved his wand again. The spider's corpse turned into a wisp of smoke and dissipated. In the blink of an eye, the dormitory was restored to its tidy and comfortable state.
"Well then, thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Malfoy."
Amosta tucked the box under his arm and said pleasantly, "I imagine you won't mind keeping today's events a secret, will you?"
Malfoy's expression was stiff, and he nodded mechanically. "I will keep your secret... Mr. Brain."
"Thank you!" Amosta nodded politely in thanks, then turned and left directly.
Draco Malfoy stood frozen by his bed. He gazed at the familiar dormitory. There was no trace of what had just happened; everything seemed like a dream.
It wasn't until ten minutes later that he suddenly remembered something. His pallid cheeks quickly flushed red. He bolted out of the dormitory, crossing the spiral staircase in a few strides and entering the common room. Amosta had already left; the room was still empty. Malfoy ran to the table by the fireplace. The half-written letter still lay quietly on the desk. He grabbed the letter, crumpled the paper, and threw it into the fireplace.
In the rising flames, Malfoy pulled out a fresh piece of parchment from his school bag and once again bent over the desk, writing frantically...
Time came to night. Amosta stood at the doorway of a classroom on the third floor that hadn't been used for many years. This room was the office Professor McGonagall had arranged for him, and also his bedroom during his time working at Hogwarts.
The house-elves had cleaned it thoroughly. The air was filled with a pleasant musky scent, completely free of any decaying or rotting odors.
The furnishings in the room were not complex. More than half of the space was empty, with nothing placed in it. Only in the innermost part, a bed, an office desk, a bookshelf, and a wardrobe were prepared. Considering that the cold weather would persist for another two or three months, the elves had thoughtfully installed a fireplace here.
Amosta casually closed the door and walked into the warm room. The carved windows directly opposite faced Hagrid's hut and the Forbidden Forest, and he could just about see the Quidditch pitch.
The candlestick on the desk emitted a steady glow. Amosta walked over, took out his quill, ink, and other tools, and arranged them neatly. He also placed a photo of himself and Grandma Filena on the upper right corner of the desk. In the photo, Amosta looked much younger than he was now. It was taken during his fourth-year summer, before the start of his fifth year, with Filena at a photo studio across from the orphanage.
At that time, no one had expected that it would be their last photo together.
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