Chapter 343 Hagrid's Secret
The dust-covered crossbow, the weed-choked pumpkin patch, the surprisingly clean rubber boots, the curtains drawn tightly shut, and Fang, who had once again been forced to sleep outside—
All of it left no room for doubt.
Harry and the others had guessed correctly.
Hagrid had raised another forbidden magical creature.
"Poor thing, poor thing…" Ron muttered, pressing one hand down on Fang's head to stop the dog from enthusiastically licking his face, while scratching under Fang's chin with the other.
Fang whined happily, tail thumping against the ground like a drum.
"Who's there?! Careful, or you'll lose an ear!"
Hagrid's rough voice boomed from inside the hut. The door creaked open just a crack, and one massive eye peered out cautiously.
"Oh—it's you lot?" Hagrid visibly relaxed. "Merlin's beard, don't scare me like that."
"What d'you mean, you lot?" Ron protested, reaching for the door.
But Hagrid immediately stepped forward, blocking the entrance.
"Oi! What are you hiding from us?" Ron demanded, craning his neck.
Harry and Draco Malfoy, standing beside him, both leaned closer, peering through the narrow gap in the door.
Hagrid had raised magical creatures before—but this level of secrecy…
The last time he'd been this guarded had involved the Philosopher's Stone.
For a brief moment, both Harry and Draco tensed.
Could it be another task from Dumbledore?
"I ain't hidin' nothin' from you brats," Hagrid said awkwardly, scratching his beard. "Well—maybe a bit. Harry and Draco can come in… but Ron, I think it'd be better if you stayed outside."
He stepped aside slightly.
"I don't believe you—hey!"
BANG!
The door slammed shut.
Ron stood frozen.
All color drained from his face, leaving him pale—nearly the same shade as Draco's.
Slowly, stiffly, Ron turned around. He raised one trembling finger toward the hut and opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
"What did you see?" Harry asked urgently.
Draco's interest finally sharpened.
Up until now, his curiosity had been half-hearted. In Slytherin, secrets were common—either respected… or exploited.
Hagrid was his friend.
That meant discretion.
But Ron's reaction was far too extreme to ignore.
Draco considered Hagrid's earlier words.
Something Ron would be terrified of… but Harry and I wouldn't.
"…A spider?" Draco guessed.
Ron nodded frantically—then shook his head just as fast.
"An… Acromantula?" Harry tried.
"Y-yes!" Ron croaked, staggering backward.
Even now, he kept glancing toward the door, as if ready to flee at any moment.
"Yes," Hagrid admitted, his face softening with pride. "I've been keepin' Alaspade company lately."
He said the name with the tenderness of an old man speaking of a long-awaited child.
"Not Aragog?" Harry hesitated. "So… you're following that idea I mentioned before? Raising another Acromantula by hand… to make it the leader?"
"To keep the colony from gettin' outta control," Draco added, suddenly understanding.
"Oh—that's right!" Harry said, blinking. "I almost forgot."
Ron folded his arms tightly. "I told you those spiders were unreliable!"
Hagrid's eyes suddenly filled with tears.
"After what happened last time," he sobbed, "Professor Lupin asked me to test it—had Aragog leave for a while. And do you know what happened, Harry?"
He sniffed loudly.
"The moment Aragog was gone, the others wouldn't let me near their webs! If Aragog hadn't ordered 'em before leavin', they might've eaten me alive!"
"I believe you," Ron blurted out.
Harry nearly jumped out of his skin.
He shot Hagrid a nervous glance—but thankfully, Hagrid seemed too caught up in his emotions to notice.
"I—I don't think they'd really eat you, Hagrid," Harry said carefully.
"They just weren't raised by you," he added stiffly. "Look at Aragog—how obedient he turned out."
"Exactly!" Hagrid wiped his eyes, deeply moved. "Those others were ruined by Mosag—"
"Who's Mosag?" Draco interrupted.
"Aragog's wife," Hagrid said bitterly. "She taught 'em all the worst habits of wild Acromantulas."
He yanked on his beard angrily.
"Oh! I nearly forgot—come in, come in. I've kept you waitin' too long."
Hagrid swung the door wide open and pointed proudly toward the corner.
"There he is! Alaspade—Aragog's new son!"
The hut looked like something straight out of a nightmare.
Spider webs blanketed the once-cozy room, stretching across the walls, the ceiling, and even the large bed in the corner. The fire in the hearth—normally burning year-round—was gone. The room was cold, dark, and eerily silent.
In the shadows crouched a tusk-sized Acromantula, its eight eyes gleaming faintly.
"As you know, Acromantulas like darkness," Hagrid explained fondly. "When Aragog was little, I kept him in a dungeon storeroom."
"But now," he continued proudly, "I've got better conditions. Can't let the lad grow up poorly."
He stroked the spider's coarse black-and-gray hair lovingly.
"Some of these webs," Hagrid added, pointing at the bed, "are woven from unicorn tail hair."
Ron's knees nearly gave out.
"You—sleep like that?" he asked weakly, pointing at the web-covered bed.
"What's wrong with it?" Hagrid said, genuinely puzzled. "That way I'm always close to Alaspade!"
"Unicorn tail hair?" Draco repeated sharply.
"Each strand's worth ten Galleons!"
"And—if I'm not mistaken," Draco said, staring at a bucket in the corner, "that's dragon meat."
The chunks were greenish and massive—each larger than a carriage wheel.
"Oh, the unicorn hairs are everywhere in the forest," Hagrid waved it off.
"And yes, that's dragon meat."
"Good stuff. Helps Alaspade grow strong," he said proudly. "One day, he'll be the King of the Acromantulas."
Ron shuddered violently.
Some secrets…
really were better left undiscovered.
End of Chapter 343
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