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simple, but Saffron had previously learned that often the simplest of plans could go awry. She, Harry and Ron were going to use Harry's dad's old invisibility cloak to go to Hagrid's Hut. From there, they were going to take Fang into the Forbidden forest where they would wait to see if they could follow any spiders, as Hagrid had instructed them to do so.

Saffron did feel bad for Hagrid when they made it to his house. It was lifeless, barring Fang, which was a rarity for someone as lively as Hagrid. Once Fang saw them, the dog was instantly in a good mood. Harry and Ron had fed the dog on a number of occasions and as it turned out Professor Sprout was caring for Fang too. But barring those short encounters, Fang had been entirely alone.

Fang's excitement came with eager, loud barks, which Harry quickly stopped by force-feeding him several pieces of Hagrid's sticky treacle fudge. He left the invisibility cloak and readied Fang for their trek.

"Ready?" Saffron asked Harry, as she and Ron stood at the door waiting for Harry.

"Yeah," nodded Harry and so they set off to the edge of the forest. Saffron and Harry both lit the tips of their wands in order to give them a source of light to find the spiders with.

Saffron tapped Harry and Ron on their shoulders, pointing at the grass. Two solitary spiders were hurrying away from the wandlight into the shade of the trees.

"Okay," Ron commented exasperatedly, looking as though he would rather be anywhere else at that moment. It truly was one of his worst nightmares coming true, but nonetheless, his inherent bravery shone through. "I'm ready. Let's go."

The group of Gryffindors almost found themselves following Fangs lead in addition to the group of spiders that were around the dog. It turned out to be quite a journey into the forest and Saffron was on edge for entirety of it. Twenty minutes had passed, and during those twenty minutes, they remained close to the spiders. But after that period of time, the spiders diverged and went down a sloping stretch of forestry, that was completely black. Not even the moonlight provided it with light, the only source of light came from two of their three wands.

A large part of Saffron wanted to turn around and set off in the opposite direction, but she knew she couldn't. She wasn't putting herself through this likely life-threatening situation for herself, she was doing it for the school and most notably the Muggleborns of the school. They had an opportunity to find answers, even if the unreliable, incompetent Hagrid had provided them with that opportunity, they couldn't just ignore it. Hence, when Ron suggested they head back to the castle, in spite of wanting to agree and leave, Saffron insisted that they stay. Harry agreed, whilst Ron begrudgingly followed on.

Barely avoiding tripping over the trees, Saffron narrowed her eyes and stuck close to Harry, who was shining his wand at the ground in order to try and find the spiders whenever they disappeared amidst the darkness.

Suddenly, Fang gave out a loud bark, which made Saffron squeak and stumble backwards into Ron.

"What?" said Ron, as Saffron clutched onto his hand in fear.

"There's something moving over there," whispered Harry shakily, in turn, causing Saffron's hand to shake in Ron's, who too was holding tightly onto her. "Listen ... sounds like something big."

Biting her lip, Saffron listened closely and instantly froze, garnering the feeling that something was headed in their direction. Twigs snapped sharply as a light flashed in their direction. But then it came to a halt.

"Oh no," hissed Ron. "Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no."

"Shut up!" snapped Harry firmly. "It'll hear you."

"It knows we're here," Saffron muttered with anxiousness.

All of a sudden, the bright flash of light that had occurred momentarily a seconds beforehand happened again but this time, it lasted. Saffron shut her eyes and leaned down, cowering away from whatever was inevitably about to pounce onto them. It was only when Ron spoke did she open her eyes again.

"It's our car!" Ron shouted, with a small relieved laugh. "I can't believe it, it's our car! It's been here all this time!"

Saffron emitted a sigh of relief upon seeing the car that Harry and Ron had used to get to Hogwarts at the start of the year. Undoubtedly, the blue Ford Angela was in a much better condition the last time they saw it, as now, it looked as though it had gone rogue. The windows were shattering, branches grew out from within it and it looked as though it was barely surviving from a fatal accident.

"And we thought it was going to attack us!" chortled Ron, wrapping his arms around the bonnet of the car. "I wondered where it had gone."

Saffron couldn't help but grin. The fear she felt as they waited to be faced by something they presumed to be dangerous was immense but now subdued. However, when she looked over at Harry, she let out a strangled shriek. Right above him, were the biggest spiders that Saffron had ever had the displeasure of resting her eyes on. They were not even close to the size of the ones they had followed into the forest, it looked like they had multiple enlargement charms placed on them, as they were massive, intimidating and inevitably deadly.

Having seen it too late, Saffron had no time to warn Harry properly or even consider that similar spiders were behind her, as she felt herself being hoisted into the air. Kicking and screaming, she tried to make the spider let go of her, but her efforts were futile and in spite of her protests, she remained in the air and could only wait to be met by whatever fate the spiders were going to bestow upon her.

Saffron let out a piercing cry when she saw more of the creatures circle in around them. She had been wrong and she wasn't surprised. She presumed that Hagrid had learned a lesson last year, but it seemed as though he was incapable of learning anything. He had knowingly sent them into these spiders and into this danger. At that point, Saffron felt confident that this was the monster within the Chamber of Secrets and that both Luna Lovegood and Tom Riddle had been correct about the man being the heir

"Aragog!" one spider called. "Aragog!"

To make matters worse, the spider that evidently went by the name of 'Aragog' appeared and was roughly around the side of a small elephant. The sheer size of the creature was enough to make Saffron, Harry and Ron all take pause in their struggle. The spider had a certain presence that made it near impossible for them to take their eyes off of it.

"What is it?" he said, clicking his pincers rapidly.

"Humans,"

Saffron gulped. Being referred to in such a general way felt uncanny and reflective of the nasty fate awaiting them.

"Is it Hagrid?" Saffron's assumption was proven correct that this beast did know the other beast that was Hagrid. It was typical and angered her even more than she already was. Aragog sounded hopeful, as though hoping to greet a dear friend. But, the spider who held Ron told the spider that that was not the case.

"Strangers,"

"Kill them," Aragog demanded. "I was sleeping..."

"We're friends of Hagrid's, "Harry yelled out to the spiders.

"Hagrid has never sent men into our hollow before," Aragog said slowly, seemingly pondering over the prospect.

"Hagrid's in trouble," Harry rushed his words as they neared the mass of spiders behind Aragog. "That's why we've come."

At that, Aragog's interests had been piqued. When Harry mentioned the Chamber of Secrets, the frightening spider seemed frightened.

"But that was years ago," responded Aragog after Harry finished telling him that Hagrid was being aligned to the re-opening of the Chamber of Secrets. "Years and years ago. I remember it well. That's why they made him leave the school. They believed that I was the monster that dwells in what they call the Chamber of Secrets. They thought that Hagrid had opened the Chamber and set me free."

"And you... you didn't come from the Chamber of Secrets?"

"I was not born in the castle. I come from a distant land. A traveller gave me to Hagrid when I was an egg. Hagrid was only a boy, but he cared for me, hidden in a cupboard in the castle, feeding me on scraps from the table. Hagrid is my good friend and a good man. When I was discovered, and blamed for the death of a girl, he protected me. I have lived here in the forest ever since, where Hagrid still visits me. He even found me a wife, Mosag, and you see how our family has grown, all through Hagrid's goodness..."

"So you never - never attacked anyone?" Harry replied, his voice shaking.

"Never," snapped Aragog, although Saffron didn't feel convinced. "It would have been my instinct, but out of respect for Hagrid, I never harmed a human. The body of the girl who was killed was discovered in a bathroom. I never saw any part of the castle but the cupboard in which I grew up. Our kind like the dark and the quiet..."

"But then... Do you know what did kill that girl?" said Harry. "Because whatever it is, it's back and attacking people again--"

"The thing that lives in the castle," said Aragog, "is an ancient creature we spiders fear above all others. Well, do I remember how I pleaded with Hagrid to let me go, when I sensed the beast moving about the school."

"What is it?" questioned Harry.

"We do not speak of it!" retorted Aragog. "We do not name it! I never even told Hagrid the name of that dread creature, though he asked me, many times."

"We'll just go, then," Harry called desperately to Aragog, hearing leaves rustling behind him.

"Go?" said Aragog. "I think not..."

"What?" gasped Saffron fearfully. She had hoped that by Aragog opening up to them that perhaps he would have the decency to let them go, especially considering they were 'friends' of Hagrid.

"My sons and daughters do not harm Hagrid, on my command. But I cannot deny them fresh meat, when it wanders so willingly into our midst. Good-bye, friend of Hagrid."