Time jumped back just a little earlier, over on Malfoy and Ron's side.
"You gonna do anything useful for once?"
Ron, hanging back, watched Draco casually poking at Norberta inside the cloth bag and finally lost it. "Don't you remember how dangerous the Forbidden Forest is?!"
"So what?"
Draco shrugged, giving the baby dragon's little head a gentle stroke. "You know what this is? A fire-dragon. The most powerful magical creature there is. I refuse to believe anything in this forest could beat her."
"But Hagrid said someone's after the unicorns," Ron reminded him, frowning. "What if we actually run into the guy? Norberta's tough, but she's still just a newborn!"
"Anyone who has to drink unicorn blood just to stay alive can't be that strong. Norberta's got our backs, right?"
Draco teased the little dragon in the bag again.
"Squeak~"
Norberta nodded hard, puffing out her tiny chest and thumping it with one wing like she was saying, Leave everything to me.
"Ariana, back me up here!" Ron groaned, clutching his head in despair.
He'd finally figured it out: Draco was a total fire-dragon fangirl. In his eyes, there was nothing a dragon couldn't fix. Without Norberta he'd been on high alert, scanning every shadow. Now? He was acting like they were on a picnic.
The switch was ridiculous.
"Ron's right," Ariana said quietly. "Norberta's still a baby. If something really bad shows up, she might not be enough on her own." She glanced around the dark trees. "Plus… I've got a bad feeling. Like something's watching us."
She stared into the shadows but saw nothing. Ghost or not, Dumbledore's little sister was still just a kid. She could phase through walls, sure, but her magic was nowhere near her brother's level yet.
"Squeak!"
Norberta clearly took that as a challenge. She was a proud fire-dragon! A bunch of whatever was out there wasn't going to scare her.
She opened her mouth and launched a fireball straight into the trees.
Then came the sound—rustle… rustle-rustle-rustle—like a thousand tiny legs scrambling at once. The fireball lit up the trunks, revealing thick, massive spider webs everywhere.
"Spider webs?! Wait—eight-eyed giant spiders?!" Ron's face went sheet-white. He knew this nightmare by heart.
"Shit!" Draco's face drained of color too. He knew the forest had Acromantulas, but why here? This was the path Fang had led them down!
He shot a glance at the dog. Fang was trembling but trying to look brave, standing right beside them.
Draco wanted to bolt, but Ron had already collapsed on the ground and Fang was right there. He hesitated. "I'm so screwed because of you!"
Even while complaining, he stayed put. He hurried to Ron, stuck out a hand, and said, "If you don't want to die, get up right now! Ariana, grab Fang!"
He had a plan—haul Ron onto his back, let Ariana carry the dog—but it was already too late.
Crimson pinpricks of light blinked open in every shadow: dozens upon dozens of glowing red eyes. The spiders poured in from all sides. Their bodies were the size of small cars. The three kids suddenly felt very, very small.
"Woof! Woof woof!" Fang barked, trying to sound fierce. He might be a coward, but he knew exactly what Hagrid meant to these spiders. As long as he was here, they wouldn't—
Behind the swarm, the spiders lifted something charred and still smoking: one of their own, flames still licking its body. Norberta's handiwork.
"Woof…?" Fang's ears drooped. He plastered on the most pathetic, pleading doggy smile he could manage, begging for a truce.
If Hagrid had been standing there it might have worked. But the lead spider just shook its head. No deal. The whole swarm kept closing in.
Draco yanked out his wand, one hand steadying Norberta on his shoulder. His face was pale, but his voice stayed steady. "Stay back! I'm warning you—I'll attack!"
The spiders didn't slow down.
Ron struggled to his feet with Draco's help and pointed his second-hand wand at the nearest monster, but his hand shook so badly he could barely aim.
"Squeak!"
Norberta had had enough. She was a fire-dragon, damn it! How dare these things?
She spat another fireball straight into the middle of the swarm. A whole cluster of spiders went up in flames and crumpled into smoking husks.
It worked—sort of. The rest of the Acromantulas went berserk and charged.
"Lumos!" Ariana shouted. A blinding white light burst from her wand. The front line of spiders flinched, eyes dazzled.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" Draco flicked his wand. A few of the biggest ones floated off the ground, legs kicking uselessly.
But there were too many. Norberta's fireballs packed the biggest punch, but she was still a baby—she couldn't keep it up forever. Ariana and Draco's spells only slowed the tide a little.
Draco's magic finally gave out. His vision swam. He staggered and hit the dirt.
We're dead, he thought. I never should have—
A bright red spark shot up from Ron's wand and exploded high overhead like a firework.
Ron stared at the glowing signal, relief flooding his face. A familiar blue cat popped into existence right in front of them.
"Thank Merlin," Ron muttered, giving Draco a shaky grin. "I actually got it right this time."