Harry lifted the invisibility cloak from his trunk, his hands shaking slightly. Annabeth fidgeted with her own hat, having given Jason Percy's.

"Well," Harry said, holding up the cloak. "We'd better get under."

Jason clasped a hand on Ron's shoulder, as Annabeth did Harry's, while putting on her hat. They draped the cloak over Harry and Ron, the four all vanishing from sight.

>>>•O•<<<

Ron raised his fist and knocked loudly, sending a terrified glance behind him at the echo. The door creaked open, revealing Hagrid. Only then did they whip off their items.

"What're you four doin' here?" He asked, lowering his crossbow. "Never mind— sit down— I'll make tea"

They shuffled in cautiously.

"Hagrid, did you hear about—" Harry started, but was cut off by Hagrid's gruff nod as he poured cups of boiling hot water (minus the tea bags, he'd forgotten.)

"Yeah, I heard, all righ'" he stopped at a loud knock on the door. They all sent terrified glances at each other before diving for the cloak and whipping on their hats.

"Here!" Annabeth pushed them all into the corner, just as the door opened.

It was Dumbledore, entering looking deadly serious, followed by a second man.

"That's the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge!" Ron breathed.

"I'm sorry Hagrid, had to come. Eight attacks, that's gone far too far. Ministry's got to act." The man said promptly in a crisp, official tone.

"I never," Hagrid said desperately, looking at Dumbledore. "You know I never, Professor Dumbledore, sir."

"I want it understood that Hagrid has my full confidence," Dumbledore said, frowning at the minister.

"Look, Albus, Hagrid's record's against him," Cornelius said uncomfortably. "The school governors've been in touch—"

"Yet again, I tell you that taking Hagrid away will not help in the slightest." Dumbledore said, a fire in his eyes.

"Look at it from my point of view," Cornelius said. "I'm under a lot of pressure. Got to be seen doing something. If it turns out it wasn't Hagrid, he'll be back and no more said. But I've got to take him. Wouldn't be doing my duty—"

"Take me? Take me where? Not... Azkaban?" Hagrid croaked.

Before Cornelius could answer, there was another loud rap on the door.

The adults glanced at each other before Dumbledore opened the door. There was a gasp in the space where Harry stood— it was Big Little Octavian Lucius Malfoy.

"Already here Fudge," he said approvingly. "Good, good..."

"What're you doing here?" Hagrid asked furiously. "Get outta my house!"

"My dear man, please, believe me, I have no pleasure at all in being inside your— er— do you call this a house?" Lucius Malfoy sneered. "I simply called at the school and was told the headmaster was here."

"And what did you want with me, Lucius?" Dumbledore asked, the fire blazing in his eyes amidst his calm demeanor.

"Dreadful thing, Dumbledore, but the governors feel it's time for you to step aside. This is an Order of Suspension, you'll find all twelve signatures on it. I'm afraid we feel you're losing your touch. How many attacks have there been now? Two more this afternoon? At this rate, there'll be no more Muggleborns left at Hogwarts, and we all know what an awful loss that'll be—"

"Oh no, see here Lucius," Cornelius looked alarmed. "Dumbledore suspended, no, no, the last thing we want just now—"

"The appointment— or suspension— of the headmaster is a matter for the governors, Fudge," Lucius said smoothly. "And as Dumbledore has failed to stop these attacks—"

"See here, if Dumbledore can't stop them, I mean to say, who can?" Perspiration gathered on Cornelius' forehead.

"Well, that remains to be seen. But as all twelve of us have voted—"

"An' how many did yeh have ter threaten an' blackmail before they agreed, eh?" Hagrid had jumped up and jabbed his finger in Lucius' direction.

"Dear, dear, you know, that temper of yours will lead you into trouble one of these days. I would advise you not to shout at the Azkaban guards like that. They won't like it at all." Lucius calmly folded his hands, his eyes jeering.

"Yeh can' take Dumbledore! Take him away, an' the Muggleborns won't stand a chance! There'll be killin' next!"

"Calm yourself, Hagrid," Dumbledore said sharply. He turned to Lucius. "If the governors want my removal, Lucius, I shall of course, step aside, however," he added very slowly and clearly. "You will find that I will only truly have left this school when none here are loyal to me. You will also find that help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it."

His bright blue eyes flickered to the side where they were standing.

"Admirable sentiments," Lucius said, bowing. "We shall all miss your— er— highly individual way of running things. And we can only hope your successor will manage to prevent any, ah, killins."

He opened the cabin door and bowed Dumbledore out. Fudge looked expectantly at Hagrid, who took a deep breath, and said carefully— "If anyone wanted ter find out some stuff, all they'd have ter do would be ter follow the spiders." Annabeth inhaled sharply and silently, but no one noticed as Hagrid walked out the door. Pausing, he called back, "And someone'll need ter feed Fang while I'm away."

The door slammed shut, and they all reappeared again.

"We're in trouble now," Ron said hoarsely. "No Dumbledore. They might as well close the school tonight. There'll be an attack a day with him gone."

>>>•O•<<<

School the next week was unbearable. Everyone was tense, like the half-bloods before the Titan war. Herbology was extremely subdued, especially since Frank, Hazel, Percy, Thalia, Nico, and Hermione were missing from their number.

They were herded to Defense Against the Dark Arts by Professor Sprout, who left them in the classroom. No sooner had they walked in that Lockhart bounded in happily like a joyful lamb.

"Come now, why all these long faces?" He asked, beaming around him. Everyone shared an exasperated look. Dean Thomas rolled his eyes.

"Don't you all realize," Lockhart said slowly, like he was talking to a group of toddlers, "That the danger has passed! The culprit has been taken away—"

"Says who?" Ron asked loudly.

"—My dear young man, the Minister of Magic wouldn't have taken Hagrid if he wasn't 100% sure it was him—"

"Oh, yes he would" Ron shot back.

"I flatter myself I know a touch more about Hagrid's arrest than you do, Mr. Weasley," Lockhart said with an air as if he was the one who had single-handedly taken down the culprit himself.

Ron opened his mouth to say more, but was kicked simultaneously by Harry, Annabeth, and Jason.

Harry pursed his lips, then scribbled down a note, before passing it to Jason, who was on his left. Annabeth leaned over to read it—

Let's go tonight.

Annabeth shivered, but nodded. Ron read the note, paled, but glanced at the empty seat that would usually be occupied by Hermione, then agreed.

>>>•O•<<<

"Finally" Jason grumbled as Fred, George, and Ginny headed up to bed. "We can go now."

Annabeth looked at the clock— it was past midnight. Not that she was tired. They slipped out the doors and walked across the grounds to Hagrid's house.

"We can leave these here," Harry said, scanning the forest. "It's pitch black."

They set the invisibility devices in the corner of the front door and set out for the forest.

"Follow the spiders," Annabeth repeated faintly. "Right."

They headed right to the edge of the forest when Annabeth suddenly stopped.

"I can't do this." She shook her head. "Not after Rome."

Jason looked at her sympathetically, but Harry shook his head. "No, you can do this, Annabeth. You're the bravest of all of us. We can't do this without you."

Annabeth just backed away faster. "You guys, just go on without me. I'll wait here."

"Annabeth," Harry said quietly. "For Percy."

Annabeth's hand twitched, but she sighed and made up her mind. "You're right," she said, determined. "For Percy."

Harry, Annabeth, and Jason lit the tip of their wands, lighting up the path in the jet black forest. Ron poked at his wand before deciding it wasn't worth it.

"There." Jason spotted them first, the tiny black trail of death crawling away across the roots.

Annabeth took in a deep breath before they followed them deeper into the forest. Ron looked just as pale in the ominous moonlight.

They went deeper into the forest, following the spiders as they crawled up the trees and over the roots. Then suddenly, Harry froze.

"Did you hear that?" He asked cautiously. Annabeth leaned forward and heard something up ahead— something large that seemed to be carving a path through the trees.

Ron let out a high-pitched squeak as the thing drew nearer. Then it stopped.

"Oh gods." Annabeth breathed, her hand going to where her knife was hidden. "Oh gods."

Suddenly, Ron's vision pinpointed on something directly behind them. He opened his mouth to scream again, when the thing— or things, swept them up and carried them through the forest.

In her peripheral vision, she could see Jason, Harry, and Ron all trapped in other pincers. Ron was screaming, though he seemed paralyzed with fear. Annabeth screamed just as loudly, struggling to get out. The beast had pinned her arms to her sides, preventing her from reaching her knife.

Annabeth could sense the hatred pulsing from the spider that held her, and it terrified her. Then they dropped them all onto the forest floor. Around them was the rustling of millions of spiders. She held back the scream and bile rising in her throat and tried not to move.

"Aragog!" One of the spiders that had carried them said suddenly. "Aragog!"

An enormous mass crawled out from behind the thick blanket of webs. Every inch of Annabeth's body wanted to run. She couldn't- not another one. Not again. The flashbacks hit her hard, as if they were all being dropped on her like a sack of bricks.

The giant spider pinned it's milky white gaze in their direction. "What is it?"

"Men." The spider clicked again. Annabeth was tempted to say, "and a woman!" but held it back.

"Is it Hagrid?" Asked Aragog, moving closer.

"Strangers," one of the other spiders hissed.

"I was sleeping," Aragog almost whined. "Kill them."

Kill them. Those familiar two words snapped Annabeth out of her daze. Kill them. But something told her to keep quiet.

"We're friends of Hagrid's!" Harry shouted. All the spiders clicked their pincers, millions of clicks resounding through the hollow.

"Hagrid's in trouble, that's why we've come," Jason said quickly.

"In trouble?" Annabeth detected true concern in the spider's voice. "But why has he sent you?"

"They think, up in Hogwarts, that Hagrid's been setting a— a— something on students. They've taken him to Azkaban."

"But that was years ago," Aragog said fretfully. "Years and years ago. I remember it well. That's why they made him leave the school. They believed 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, and you— didn't come from the chamber?" Ron asked, his voice quavering with fear.

"I!" Annabeth was terrified they'd offended it. "I was not born in the castle. I come from a distant land. A Greek traveler 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, 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. The majority of our family still lives in Greece, and we have spread there as well, but our community in the depths of these woods is all through Hagrid's goodness."

Annabeth was frozen on the spot. Family in Greece... A Greek traveler...

"So you never— never attacked anyone?" Jason asked for conformation.

"Never," the spider croaked. "It would've 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..."

Yes, Annabeth thought fearfully. The dark and the quiet. Memories of the cavern came back to her, the darkness before the Athena Parthenos was unraveled—

"But then, do you know what killed the girl, then?" Harry asked. "Because whatever it is, it's back and it's attacking people again—"

The entire swarm of spiders seemed to all move restlessly at the mere mention of it.

"The thing that lives in the castle 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." The spider murmured.

"What is it?" More rustling, Annabeth could sense the spiders moving in.

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

"So, is it like your enemy?" Jason asked. The spider turned to it, the pincers seemingly curving upward in a smile.

"Ah, we spiders all have but one enemy, half-blood. And your friend here knows her well." Aragog pinned his milky eyes on Annabeth, even though he was seemingly blind.

Annabeth was frozen on the spot, her hand on her dagger.

"Yes." The spider seemed to sense her fear. "You of all people should know. After all, our mothers did have a little spat in Greece. She is the mother of all spiders, as your mother is the mother of all your siblings." Annabeth's hand gripped her knife tighter.

"But now," the spiders were closing in tighter. "I can avenge her. A child of Athena, finally within my grasp."