HP and the Parseltongue Chronicles - Chapter - 28

It had been only four days since Harry and the Stars Club successfully relocated the entire Acromantula colony to Albania. Now, they waited, knowing Lucius Malfoy would strike soon.

And sure enough, he did.

On a crisp Saturday morning, the sound of crunching gravel filled the Hogwarts grounds as a Ministry delegation marched toward Hagrid’s hut.

At the front, Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic, strode with forced authority, flanked by several members of the Office for the Regulation of Magical Creatures. Lucius Malfoy walked beside him, his cane tapping against the ground in slow, deliberate beats.

They did not look happy.

Hagrid, now using his hut as a tool shed and outpost for the Stars Club, stood outside stacking crates of food for the magical creatures. He frowned as the group approached.

“Mornin’, Minister,” Hagrid greeted, wiping his hands on his apron. “What brings yeh to me hut?”

Fudge puffed out his chest. “Rubeus Hagrid, you are under arrest.”

The words echoed across the clearing. Nearby Stars members—Harry, Susan, Terry, Luna, and the Weasley twins—stood frozen.

Harry’s eyes narrowed. Here we go.

Hagrid crossed his arms. “Under arrest? Fer what?”

Lucius Malfoy smirked, stepping forward with his cane in hand. “For the illegal breeding of Acromantulas, of course.”

The S.T.A.R.S. members exchanged glances. This was exactly what they expected.

Hagrid’s bushy eyebrows furrowed. “I never bred ‘em. Never ‘ad no Acromantula eggs. Yeh need eggs ter breed, and I ain’t never ‘ad any.”

Fudge sniffed. “And yet, we have received undeniable reports that there was an Acromantula colony in the Forbidden Forest. A colony raised and protected by you.”

Lucius’s smirk widened. “Such a colony, Minister, could not have survived so close to the school unless someone was feeding and protecting them.”

Harry stepped forward. “Minister, you’re making a serious accusation without evidence.”

Fudge’s face reddened at the interruption. “Stay out of this, Potter. This is Ministry business.”

But it was too late. Students were watching. Professors had gathered near the castle entrance. Even Press reporters, who had come to interview Dumbledore that morning, were beginning to notice the commotion.

Lucius Malfoy’s plan had a flaw—he had expected the Stars Club to panic and react with reckless emotion. Instead, they stood firm, organized, and calm.

Hermione took a step forward. “Minister, did you find any Acromantulas when you investigated the Forbidden Forest?”

Fudge blinked. “We—well, no. But we have reports—”

“Did you find eggs? Evidence of breeding?”

Lucius Malfoy cut in smoothly. “The mere presence of such creatures is proof enough.”

Neville scoffed. “That’s ridiculous! Acromantulas can live hundreds of years. How do you know they weren’t here long before Hagrid even came to Hogwarts?”

Fudge’s mouth opened and closed, as if searching for words. He hadn’t expected this much resistance.

Then Harry delivered the final blow.

“Minister, I want to understand this correctly. You’re trying to arrest a man based on accusations alone. No physical evidence. No recent proof of breeding. Just accusations.”

Fudge’s face reddened further. “The Ministry has authority to detain individuals under suspicion—”

“Without a trial?” Harry asked sharply.

Gasps rippled through the crowd.

Even some of the Ministry officials in Fudge’s entourage shifted uncomfortably. They remembered what had happened last time Fudge tried to arrest Hagrid without cause.

Lucius Malfoy’s jaw tightened. He knew what Harry was doing—turning the situation into a public spectacle.

Fudge straightened his robes. “Very well. We will conduct a proper investigation first.”

Lucius shot him a sharp look, but Fudge ignored it. The pressure of the crowd was too much. He wouldn’t risk another embarrassment like last time.

With a sharp turn, he signaled his entourage. “We will return.”

Lucius said nothing, but his cold gray eyes locked onto Harry’s, filled with silent fury.

Harry met his gaze without flinching.

The search party arrived at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, their robes swaying in the cold wind. Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, stood at the front, gripping his lime-green bowler hat tightly. Beside him, Lucius Malfoy, dressed in his usual black robes, twirled his silver snake-headed cane, his face unreadable.

Behind them stood a group of Aurors and Ministry officials from the Office for the Regulation of Magical Creatures. Some of them looked eager—others uneasy. The Forbidden Forest was not a place people willingly entered, and the idea of hunting Acromantulas was enough to make even trained Aurors shudder.

Fudge cleared his throat, trying to project confidence. "Alright, we know there's a colony of Acromantulas in this forest, and we know that half-giant Hagrid was involved in breeding them."

An ORMC official, Barnabas Skean, hesitated. "Sir, we don’t actually have proof of breeding. We just have reports that a colony existed."

Lucius Malfoy tilted his head, his smirk thin. "A colony of that size doesn’t just form on its own. Someone had to be feeding them, protecting them. It's only logical that it was Hagrid."

Some of the Aurors exchanged glances. They weren’t sure logic was the best justification for raiding the most dangerous part of the forest.

Fudge straightened his shoulders. "Let’s not waste time debating. We’re here to prove that the creatures exist. Once we do, we’ll have all the evidence we need to charge Hagrid and—"

A loud snap of a branch made several officials jump.

The Forbidden Forest was alive.

Not in the way most forests were—with rustling leaves and the distant calls of birds—but in a deeper, more primal way. The trees were ancient and watchful, their twisted branches reaching toward the intruders like skeletal fingers. The air was thick with the scent of damp earth and something else—something wilder, more dangerous.

And yet, Cornelius Fudge and his search party pressed forward.

The Minister of Magic, his face already damp with sweat, gripped his lime-green bowler hat in one hand and his wand in the other. Beside him, Lucius Malfoy moved with cold precision, his silver snake-headed cane tapping softly against the ground.

Behind them, a dozen Aurors and Ministry officials trudged through the undergrowth. Some were from the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, others from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. All were here for one reason:

To find the Acromantula colony that Hagrid had supposedly bred—and to bring him down for it.

The group moved deeper into the twisted, dark pathways of the Forbidden Forest. The towering ancient trees loomed overhead, their gnarled branches blocking out much of the sunlight. It was eerily silent—no birds, no rustling leaves. Just the distant howl of some unknown creature.

An Auror, Jonathan Dawlish, muttered under his breath, gripping his wand. "I don’t like this. Acromantulas aren’t the only things in here."

Lucius Malfoy remained composed, his boots crunching softly against the damp forest floor. "If you’re scared, Auror, perhaps you should have stayed at your desk."

Dawlish gave him a dark look but didn’t respond.

The deeper they went, the less familiar the Forbidden Forest became. The trees grew taller and thicker, the underbrush denser. Strange sounds echoed through the shadows—growls, hisses, rustling leaves that moved when there was no wind.

And then, the first creature emerged.

A pair of glowing eyes peered at them from the darkness, followed by a massive feline form. A Wampus Cat—a sleek, muscular beast with six legs and yellow eyes that burned like embers—stepped onto the path.

It was watching them.

Dawlish raised his wand. "Stay back! That thing’s fast enough to dodge spells!"

The Wampus Cat snarled but didn’t move. It simply stood there, as if daring them to make the first move.

Then it was gone.

With a flick of its powerful body, the cat vanished into the undergrowth, making no sound as it disappeared.

Fudge gulped audibly. "W-what in Merlin’s name was that?"

"A Wampus Cat," muttered Miriam Edgecombe, one of the creature experts. "They’re rare outside North America, but some live here."

Lucius Malfoy’s lips curled in distaste. "We’re wasting time."

They pressed forward—but the forest wasn’t finished with them yet.

A few minutes later, the group stumbled into a clearing—and immediately froze.

A herd of Thestrals stood before them.

Their skeletal forms gleamed in the dim light, bat-like wings twitching. The creatures watched the wizards with unsettling intelligence, their blank, white eyes seeming to see straight through them.

One Auror—who clearly hadn’t seen death before—asked in confusion, "What are you all staring at?"

No one answered.

Lucius Malfoy stepped forward, his expression one of mild disgust. He had never liked Thestrals. They were too associated with death, too eerie.

"Move. Now," he ordered, and the group carefully edged around the silent, unmoving creatures.

They soon arrived at the area where the colony was supposedly located. Fudge waved his hand. "Alright, spread out! Look for webbing, egg sacs, anything that suggests an infestation."

The Aurors fanned out, casting Lumos as they searched through thick underbrush. One of them, a stocky witch named Miriam Edgecombe, knelt down, frowning. "Minister, I don’t see any webs."

Another ORMC official, Algernon Plimpton, ran his hand along a tree trunk, shaking his head. "No silk either. And no eggs."

Lucius Malfoy’s expression darkened. He moved forward, scanning the area as if expecting the spiders to drop down at any moment.

Then, from the left, a voice called out. "Over here! I found something!"

Fudge and the others hurried over to find an Auror, Reginald Burke, holding up a large, dry husk of a dead animal.

"A spider kill," Burke muttered. "Acromantula venom drains its prey completely. This is recent."

Fudge perked up. "Ha! I told you—"

"But there’s no webbing," Burke interrupted. "And no spiders. If there was a colony, it should still be here."

Lucius Malfoy’s fingers tightened around his cane. "Check the area again. They must be hiding."

For the next two hours, the group combed through the forest, but they found nothing—no webs, no Acromantulas, not even the smallest signs of lingering spiders.

Fudge’s confidence wavered. His face turned an uncomfortable shade of pink.

"This doesn’t make sense," he muttered. "All our sources said there was a thriving colony here."

Lucius Malfoy was seething silently, his hands clenched. "They were here. Someone moved them."

Dawlish snorted. "You think someone moved an entire Acromantula colony without us noticing? That’s impossible."

Lucius turned his glare on the Auror. "Nothing is impossible, Dawlish. Someone tipped them off." His mind immediately went to Harry Potter and his little club.

The Minister ran a hand down his face, glancing around at the empty trees.

"We can’t leave here with nothing," he mumbled. "The Prophet is expecting a story. The Wizengamot is expecting evidence. I—I told them Hagrid was guilty!"

Barnabas Skean shifted uneasily. "With all due respect, Minister, perhaps we should reconsider the charges against Hagrid. If there’s no Acromantula colony, there’s no case."

Lucius whipped around. "You think this clears him? You think this makes him innocent?"

Skean held his ground. "It makes him unprovenly guilty. And we don’t imprison wizards based on assumptions."

Fudge’s face fell. This was a disaster. He had counted on this raid to strengthen his authority. Instead, it had made him look like a fool.

Lucius Malfoy, however, was still deep in thought. His mind turned over the possibilities. Someone had moved the spiders—someone very powerful.

He had no doubt who it was.

With no evidence, Fudge was forced to call off the raid, though he did so with gritted teeth.

As they left the empty remains of what was once a thriving Acromantula colony, Fudge turned to Lucius.

"This was your information, Malfoy. You assured me there was a colony."

Lucius’s eyes flashed dangerously. "There was."

Fudge scowled. "And now it’s gone. I just wasted resources, Aurors, and Ministry credibility. If this gets out—"

Lucius interrupted coldly. "Then I suggest you make sure it doesn’t get out."

But even as he said the words, he knew the Stars Club was probably laughing right now, celebrating their victory.

This wasn’t over.

Not by a long shot.