"Hissssss—"
"Clack clack clack clack!!!!!!"
The endless hissing and frantic scuttling of arthropods suddenly broke the silence of the corridors, moments after Glenn, in his corrupted state, stormed out of the Great Hall.
And then, from the corner ahead, a tide of black surged forward like a wave.
It was a new wave of Acromantulas. Their sizes had visibly shrunk again, but even two or three walking side by side were enough to block the entire corridor.
Aside from their reduced size, Glenn noticed other peculiarities.
These creatures, far smaller than their counterparts in the Forbidden Forest, bore significant abnormalities. Oversized mandibles, mismatched legs—two or three of them—or even outright missing limbs.
It wasn't due to injuries. Aside from the size or absence, there were no signs of trauma on their defective parts.
It was as if they had been prematurely sent to the battlefield without fully maturing.
This observation aligned perfectly with the hypothesis forming in Glenn's mind and the phenomena he had detected within Hogwarts through his heightened perception.
Initially, when Hermione reported the situation to him, Glenn had simply regarded the incident as a riot of magical creatures from the Forbidden Forest.
But later, through his journey from the eighth floor to the first floor with Hermione, combined with the insights gained from his heightened perception and the suspicious "hint" from Lockhart, Glenn's perspective began to shift.
The timing of the incident coincided with a period when Hogwarts was defenseless. The Acromantulas from the Forbidden Forest launched a suicidal assault that had no chance of success, while within Hogwarts, another wave of Acromantulas emerged from nowhere during the professors' absence. These Acromantulas exhibited abnormal growth patterns, evident from their unnatural forms—something that couldn't have occurred naturally.
In other words, there was a human factor behind this Acromantula riot: someone had orchestrated and planned this event.
The purpose of this individual was to lure most of the Acromantula colony from the Forbidden Forest into attacking Hogwarts, diverting the professors' attention, while relying on pre-laid "traps" within Hogwarts to generate a new wave of Acromantulas to kill all the young wizards hiding inside.
Fortunately, the mastermind underestimated the current strength and mindset of the young wizards. None of them perished in this incident, and even the injuries sustained were only minor.
Their collective strength was more than sufficient to deal with these low-intelligence, incomplete creatures.
From Glenn's observations, it was evident that these Acromantulas within Hogwarts had been rapidly grown through some form of magic to achieve their current forms.
Such a violation of natural laws, forcing individuals to prematurely exhaust their growth potential, was widely regarded in the wizarding world as dark magic of the most malevolent kind.
Glenn had only read about such magic in books, and it was classified as advanced magic, with no recorded casting methods.
Moreover, controlling an entire colony of Acromantulas in the Forbidden Forest to obediently and relentlessly follow the caster's will required intricate planning, execution, and magic. It was an undertaking far beyond the capabilities of an ordinary person.
Based on these clues, the person manipulating the Acromantulas had to be an exceptionally powerful wizard.
The question was: could this person be the same Lockhart whom he and Hermione had easily subdued?
Uncertain. Better to observe further. For now, Glenn decided to resolve the source of the problem and leave the aftermath for Dumbledore to handle.
It was foreseeable that this incident would cause a significant stir, likely alerting the Ministry of Magic. Dumbledore would have his hands full.
The thoughts racing through Glenn's mind took only 1.47 seconds. What lay before him now were the vanguard Acromantulas, rushing to protect their base camp in a frenzy.
Under normal circumstances, Glenn might have been forced to stop and employ various methods to clear these relentless Acromantulas.
But for Glenn, who had entered his corrupted state, these seemingly overwhelming obstacles were no obstacles at all.
The dark energy radiating from Glenn, whose body had partially transformed into an Obscurial, was compressed within a certain range around him, enough to neutralize any attacks from the surrounding creatures.
Glenn, speeding through mid-air like a black-and-red fireball, collided head-on with the surging tide of Acromantulas.
"Hiss—AHHHHH!!!!!!"
Far louder and more anguished than the initial hissing, the cries of pain erupted from the Acromantulas as soon as they came into contact with the dark energy emanating from Glenn.
Almost instantly upon contact with the black-and-red substance, they lost their will to fight and their ability to move. The intense pain in both body and spirit completely overwhelmed the control imposed on them by their new leader.
The corridor descended into chaos. The incapacitated Acromantulas flipped onto their backs, writhing and hissing incessantly, while those untouched by Glenn's Obscurial energy were blocked from advancing toward the Great Hall.
The Acromantulas' assault had been halted, but Glenn did not stop. As a Sorcerer with Magical Affliction, he had long grown accustomed to the negative sensations brought by his Obscurial state. It was precisely because he endured the destructive energy rampaging within him and the chaotic, malevolent feelings in his mind that he continued to grow stronger and learn new content from magical tomes.
Contaminate, Corrode, Annihilate.
Contaminate, Corrode, Annihilate.
Contaminate, Corrode, Annihilate.
The black-and-red substance nearly engulfed the entire corridor. The eerie material began drawing energy from the first Acromantulas it had tainted and started spreading toward the untouched ones.
This was hell.
A hell brought by the Obscurial.
But Glenn didn't care.
Left turn, straight, right turn, left turn...
Smash through, push through, collide, charge...
Glenn was in a peculiar state. Though his consciousness was being washed away by the Obscurial's power, his mind remained clear.
It felt as if he had entered a meditative state, observing himself from a detached perspective, controlling his body like a puppet.
"What a peculiar experience," he thought.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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