With a flurry of fists, Dudley struck like lightning.
In that moment, it was as if a thousand punches flew through the air. Countless Acromantulas were sent soaring skyward.
Ripple Rush Barrage.
"What? What's happening?" Aragog's voice trembled. Blind as it was, it could only hear the agonized cries of its children and smell the thick, acrid scent of spider ichor in the air.
The massive creature grew frantic, desperate to know what was going on, but none of its kin answered.
In just a few breaths, a circle of devastation formed around Dudley. The ground was littered with the bodies of Acromantulas—creatures classified as XXXXX-level threats, utterly powerless against him.
The surviving Acromantulas stared at Dudley, their mandibles clicking with fearful 'skree-skree' sounds. His body radiated a golden glow, and with every step he took forward, they instinctively scuttled back.
"What's happening?!" Aragog's voice quaked, the stench of blood growing closer. It was only…
Dudley's large hand gently rested on Aragog's bristly head.
"Now, are you ready to listen?" Dudley asked calmly. "I think we can continue our little chat about terms."
"You killed my children!" Aragog roared, a mix of shock and fury in its voice, though it didn't dare move. It could sense the danger radiating from the hand on its head—one slight squeeze, and it would be crushed.
Even Hagrid couldn't have done this.
Powerful. Terrifyingly powerful.
But a wizard? This was… anything but magical!
Aragog was beginning to regret picking a fight with this human.
"You can keep refusing," Dudley said, his tone even. "But I reckon the Acromantula colony could be wiped from the Forbidden Forest today. You lot are far too dangerous."
"The choice is yours."
Dudley flashed a grin, revealing teeth so white they gleamed with an almost menacing purity—unlike Lockhart's charmed, dazzling smile, Dudley's was raw, like a steamroller's crushing weight.
If Aragog could've seen it, it would've known true fear: the smile of a devil.
'Who's the dangerous one here?!'
After a tense silence, Aragog spoke, its voice subdued. "I think… we should hear your terms."
Good. Even magical creatures could be reasoned with.
Dudley nodded, satisfied. His knack for "reasoning" and "persuading" had leveled up—now he was convincing magical creatures with logic and virtue.
"Skree-skree-skree!"
Suddenly, several Acromantulas, slightly smaller than Aragog, leapt forward, baring their venomous fangs and hissing sharply. A rustling sound followed as more of the colony gathered.
"Skree-skree-skree! (Aragog, you're too soft!)"
"Skree-skree-skree-skree! (It's just a human! Why submit? We're the mightiest creatures—Acromantulas!)"
"Skree-skree-skree-skree! (You're unfit to lead us, old fool!)"
"You'll doom our entire colony!" Aragog bellowed, waving its front legs furiously at the rebellious spiders. But its protests were futile—these Acromantulas had no intention of listening.
"Looks like you're in a bit of a bind," Dudley observed, slowly retracting his hand from Aragog's head. "Your kin seem to be plotting a coup."
"You understand them?" Aragog asked, stunned.
"Let's just say I know a smidge of Acromantula-speak," Dudley replied casually.
Magical creature languages were proving incredibly useful.
"As part of our deal, how about I help you clean up these traitors?"
Dudley clasped his hands together, and the alchemical array on the back of his hand glowed faintly. The ground rumbled as countless hands made of earth erupted from the soil, seizing the rebellious Acromantulas just as they had once grabbed Cornish Pixies.
Transfiguration could achieve a similar effect, but only a wizard of Professor McGonagall's caliber could pull it off with such precision.
A brief red flash gleamed from the Philosopher's Stone ring on Dudley's finger. The earth trembled harder, pebbles bouncing wildly. With a thunderous roar, a massive hand of soil rose from the ground, lifting Dudley into the air. As it ascended, the hand grew larger and larger, until it was vast enough to cover the entire Acromantula colony.
Then, it came crashing down.
The impact was catastrophic. Those caught in the palm's path were either killed or gravely injured—especially the traitorous Acromantulas, who had no chance of survival.
The rebels didn't go down without a fight. They sank their venomous fangs into the earthen hands, pumping in their deadly poison. Acromantula venom could fell an African elephant in seconds, but these hands were mere constructs of earth—immune to poison, unaffected by venom. The only change was their color, shifting from muddy brown to a sickly greenish-black.
From earth hands to venomous earth hands.
That was it.
The traitorous Acromantulas could only watch helplessly as the giant hand descended.
BOOM.
The ground quaked.
The Forbidden Forest shuddered.
Even Hogwarts Castle, miles away, felt a faint tremor.
Countless birds took flight, startled, while the forest's magical creatures turned their gazes toward the Acromantula colony, eyes filled with wary dread.
In one part of the Forbidden Forest, a centaur stared toward the colony and asked, "What's happening over there?"
Another centaur gazed at the sky, shaking his head. "The stars say nothing."
A third centaur snorted, issuing a stern warning to another preparing to move. "Whatever it is, it's none of our concern, Firenze. Stay out of it."
Deep in another part of the forest, a unicorn grazing on grass snapped its head up, staring toward the colony with an excited whinny. Notably, its mane was unusually short.
Moments later, a massive Norwegian Ridgeback dragon descended from the sky, landing beside the unicorn. By all logic, these two creatures shouldn't coexist—a fiery-tempered carnivore and a stubborn herbivore. Yet, somehow, they stood side by side without the slightest hint of discord.
The colossal earthen hand left a deep crater in the ground, as if the earth itself had been slapped.
The rebellious Acromantulas lay crushed beneath its palm.
Dudley stood atop the hand, arms crossed, golden sparks crackling around him. Behind him loomed the faint silhouette of a giant, like a god descended to earth.
From that moment on, not a single Acromantula dared approach him.