Just as Harry Potter and Ron were being surrounded by spiders, a Golden Snitch suddenly appeared in front of Harry.
"Why is there a Golden Snitch here?"
Ron was at a loss for words. The sudden, unnatural appearance of a Golden Snitch could only mean one thing—someone had been following them all along.
Naturally, this was one of Regulus Black's alchemical creations, another product from his mini-protection charm series.
[Five Element Flying Snitches – Water, Fire, Metal, Wood, Earth]This was just one of the planned five. However, the priority now was rescuing Harry Potter—otherwise, the Weasley family's car might steal the credit.
As soon as the Golden Snitch appeared, there was a flash of golden light, and with a croak—"Ribbit, ribbit…"—a toad dropped onto Ron's head.It was the [Black Lotus Sacred Flame Three-Legged Golden Toad], the true main force of the rescue.
"Ribbit…!"
With a thunderous sound, a black lotus-shaped flame burst into existence, radiating outward from Harry and Ron. The scene was dreamlike, almost surreal. The petals of black fire bloomed and scattered, forming petal-like patterns on the ground. Every spider caught within these zones, unable to escape in time, was instantly reduced to ashes.
"Amazing! We're saved!"
Ron, holding his battered wand, was thrilled by the feeling of surviving a near-death experience.
The Golden Snitch flew back to Harry and Ron."It's still dangerous—reach out your hands. I'm giving you something that might save your lives."
Regulus Black's voice came from within the Golden Snitch. The two boys obediently reached out their hands, ready to receive whatever was coming.
A flash of golden light later, two keys that looked like ornate crafts fell into their hands.
"These are keys to the Constellation Palace. They allow you to summon Constellation Palace Demons. I'm lending them to you temporarily. Harry, yours is Leo. Ron, yours is Sagittarius. Just focus on summoning them in your mind. Whoever holds the key can control the demon."
Harry and Ron exchanged a glance. Although the black flames were keeping the spiders at bay, the creatures were now gathering in massive numbers at the perimeter, looking like they intended to bury the two under a mountain of spiders.
"Summon Leo Demon!"
Harry shouted in a dramatic fashion. In truth, merely thinking it in his mind would have sufficed, but shouting it added flair.
The key in his hand emitted a beam of magical energy, and a magic circle materialized out of thin air. From within it, a massive figure stepped forward.
It was a lion-like beast, standing upright on two legs and nearly five meters tall. It glared fiercely at the key in Harry's hand. Once it confirmed who had summoned it, the Leo Demon shifted its gaze to the surrounding environment.
"ROAR…!"With a mighty roar, all the nearby spiders were blasted away. The weaker ones were smashed to pulp and were quickly devoured by the others.
The Leo Demon's attribute was [Fearless], representing courage. It quickly searched around for a suitable weapon and found one—the lantern Harry had earlier left behind on the ground. While it looked small in Hagrid's hands, Harry had to hug it to use it. But in the hands of a five-meter-tall demon, the two-foot-high lantern was a perfect fit.
Hagrid's gear really was durable. The Leo Demon began swinging the lantern, swatting away spiders left and right. Using both its hands and feet, it unleashed a simple yet effective set of martial moves.Under the combined assault of the Black Lotus Sacred Flame Toad and the Constellation Palace Demon, the spiders launched a futile counterattack that was quickly collapsing.
"Let's see what my Sagittarius Demon looks like!"
Seeing Harry's demon putting on such a show, Ron immediately used his own Constellation Palace key.
A similar burst of magic shot out, a new magic circle appeared, and from it emerged the Sagittarius Demon—a centaur. But instead of a human head, it had the head of a horse.
Standing over three meters tall, it immediately pulled the two boys and a dog onto its back, then began moving rapidly. As it galloped, it loosed arrows from its bow, pinning spiders to tree trunks one after another. Remarkably, as it moved, it also retrieved its fired arrows.
"No need to keep fighting! Let's get out of here first."Harry didn't want to wipe out Aragog's entire brood, so he urged the two demons to focus on escaping with them.
"Toad—Mountain-Breaking Flame!"came a sudden command from within the Golden Snitch.
"Ribbit…"The [Black Lotus Sacred Flame Three-Legged Golden Toad] spat out a black fireball that resembled thick phlegm. It rolled along the path they had just come from, incinerating all the spiders along the way.
Without needing any orders, the Sagittarius and Leo Constellation Palace Demons immediately followed.
Before leaving, the Leo Demon picked up a stone and stuffed it into the mouth of a nearby spider.
The attribute of the Sagittarius Demon was [Precision]—whether it was in attacking prey or observing events, its accuracy was impeccable. Because the spiders had been swarming Harry with such density, the Sagittarius Demon was now able to ensure that each time its four hooves landed, four spiders were crushed. Meanwhile, its bow and arrows picked off spiders blocking the path. As they moved, it would retrieve the arrows it had fired.
This tactic of firing arrows, retrieving them, and firing again was something the two boys had never seen before.
"Take us back to Hogwarts," Ron ordered from the centaur's back.
"No! Let's stop near Hagrid's hut," Harry interjected, realizing they couldn't bring the Constellation Palace Demons into Hogwarts. Things were already chaotic enough there. If he showed up with two powerful demons, there would be no way to explain it.
The two demons charged ahead with the rescued boys, turning every spider in their path into meat paste. At last, there were few spiders left in pursuit—the corpses of their companions would be enough for them to feast on.
Moreover, the spiders stopped chasing because going any farther would mean trespassing into the territories of other creatures. The Forbidden Forest wasn't ruled by spiders alone—territory boundaries had to be respected.
The two boys finally returned to Hagrid's hut. With a flash of golden light, the Golden Snitch recalled the [Black Lotus Sacred Flame Three-Legged Golden Toad], and Regulus Black's voice rang out again from within.
"Please recall the Constellation Palace Demons. Just hold the keys and recite the command silently in your mind."
Harry and Ron, though a bit reluctant, looked at the two demons that had just saved their lives. They really wished they could keep the keys.
As the magic circles reappeared, the Constellation Palace Demons obediently stepped back into them and vanished.
To anyone unaware, these two golden keys would appear to be simple crafts. But Harry and Ron, who had used them, knew very well how powerful they truly were. They had never used magical tools of such magnitude before.
"Return the keys. Then you may go to sleep. Goodnight, boys."
After reclaiming the keys, the Golden Snitch flapped its wings and flew toward the rooftop of Hogwarts, taking with it the hearts of two boys who had just lost their amazing "toys"—they couldn't stop staring as it disappeared into the distance.
"Follow the spiders? Ugh! If Hagrid ever comes back from Azkaban, I'm going to make him pay. I'll kill him!"Ron finally snapped, realizing just who had put them in such danger—who had nearly gotten them eaten by spiders.
"He sent us into the Forbidden Forest, but for what? Did we even find out anything?"
After all the chaos and danger, Ron finally remembered: they followed the spiders looking for answers. But where were the answers?
"We learned one thing—Hagrid didn't open the Chamber of Secrets. He's innocent."Harry felt no resentment toward Hagrid. After all, not everyone would treat a creature like Aragog as a pet.
"What do we do now?"Ron felt like their investigation had hit a dead end.
"We go find the person who helped us."
Harry suddenly had a flash of inspiration and hit upon the real issue. The two of them had been running around risking their lives for clues, but someone clearly already had all the answers. That person had just been silently watching them struggle this whole time.
And once that truth hit home—it was infuriating! The kind of anger that made you want to cough up blood!When all your hard work was just someone else's leftovers… what value did your efforts even have?
"I get it now. Whatever we need to know, we should just ask you directly—Mr. Black."
Back at Hogwarts, Harry and Ron went straight to the Room of Requirement to find Regulus Black.
But they weren't even allowed through the door.
"It's late. You two should go back to bed."
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