Chapter 112. Spider Cave
"Good morning..."
Duncan held a hefty book in one hand, yawning nonstop as he greeted Cedric as he passed by.
Cedric lifted a hand lazily in reply, the same weary look on his face, his eyelids drooping of their own accord.
The Hufflepuff students had been too excited last night, and the celebratory feast went on until late into the night.
So this morning, everyone was in less than ideal shape, yawning even as they walked.
If they weren't afraid of losing points, there would certainly have been students pulling the covers over their heads in the dormitory and decisively skipping lessons.
After forcing himself through the day's classes, Duncan let out a long breath, quickly finished his food, and hurried back to the dormitory to catch some sleep.
But the moment he flopped onto the bed, Pro darted out from some corner and circled twice by Duncan's head.
Seeing Duncan still keeping his eyes shut and not reacting, Pro stretched out a paw and tugged at his hair.
"Duncan, Duncan, wake up!"
"Just let me have a proper rest for a bit...." Duncan replied weakly.
"If I don't sleep, I feel like I'll drop dead!"
"Aren't you going to the spiders' cave today?" Pro lay beside Duncan, sounding a little anxious.
Ever since yesterday, when Duncan told it that the statue might be connected to the spiders' cave in the forest, it had been brooding on it, wondering whether it could get a bit more treasure out of it to expand its hoard.
"Don't rush.
The cave's there; it won't run away.
We can go another day," Duncan said.
"But... but...." Pro spun round twice on the bed in its anxiety, then said, "That cave isn't locked.
Anyone can go!
What if someone gets there first and takes all the treasure inside?
Our loss would be enormous!"
Duncan sighed; to stop Pro from chattering on at his ear, he compromised.
"All right.
When it's late at night and the moon's out and everyone else is asleep, we'll go.
We can't take the trunk now—it'd be too easy to be noticed."
"Mm-hmm, good!
Then go to sleep now and get your strength up; we set off tonight!"
Pro spoke happily, gently patting Duncan's shoulder with a paw, as if lulling him to sleep.
When Duncan's snores began to sound, Pro tiptoed to the side and stared longingly at the clock hand on the wall.
It lay there motionless, as if it had turned into a Niffler statue.
Time passed; the moon slowly climbed to the zenith, and the castle of Hogwarts, lively all day, sank into complete silence.
Pro's beady eyes glanced at the sleeping Neville, and in a hushed, urgent voice it roused Duncan.
"All right, all right, I'm awake."
Duncan picked Pro off his face, stood up, and stretched.
After several hours of deep sleep, Duncan felt reborn, his whole body brimming with energy and vigour.
"Stay in my pocket and don't come out."
After changing his clothes, Duncan stuffed Pro into his pocket and used a potion to hide himself.
Then, carrying his trunk, he left the dormitory.
The way was clear all the way—until, near the exit, he ran into the patrolling Filch.
Filch, his eyes bulging like fish bladders, scanned his surroundings while muttering non-stop, cursing students who roamed at night and listing off his punishments.
Pro was so startled by Filch's hoarse voice that it shivered, burying its head at the bottom of Duncan's pocket and making his robes tremble with it.
As Duncan tiptoed past Filch, the little cat called Mrs Norris seemed to have noticed him.
Her nose twitched lightly and, stepping warily, she edged closer, step by step.
"Filch's cat isn't simple..." Duncan's brows twitched.
He stealthily slipped out a fragrant strip of dried fish, flicked it from his fingers, and it scattered a trail of aroma as it sailed off.
Mrs Norris sniffed at the air, mewed twice in excitement, and dashed towards where it had flown.
"My dear, what have you found?"
Thinking Mrs Norris had discovered a student out of bed, Filch looked thrilled, cackling as he limped after her.
"That fellow's getting more and more frightening..." Pro whispered, sneaking his head out of the pocket.
"Which is why you mustn't provoke him!"
Duncan pressed Pro's head back down with a finger and strode out of the castle.
Outside, snowflakes fluttered down; the wind whooshed; a layer of crystal-like rime had formed on the stones.
And, as though excited to see someone about at night, the cold wind blew harder, slapping at Duncan's face again and again, making him pull his collar up once more.
Entering the forest, Duncan stopped, looked carefully, and found among the thick shrubs the path that led to the spiders' lair.
He trod over the carpet of dry twigs and fallen leaves, the rustling gradually fading with his steps.
Not long after he left, the soil shifted and a greyish-white Jarvey burrowed up.
It looked doubtfully in the direction Duncan had gone, pressed its nose to the ground for a sniff, cocked its head to think, and then scampered after him.
Elsewhere, Duncan pushed aside the drooping branches and reached the edge of the spiders' nest; he took Pro out and set it on his hand.
"Your turn to work—anything in there?" Duncan said.
Seeing itself hanging in mid-air, Pro gripped Duncan's fingers nervously; only after ensuring its safety did it turn its eyes forward.
After a moment, Pro said doubtfully, "I don't see any special glow.
There's a bit of treasure inside, but very little."
"Is that so?
Let's go and have a look at that hatching pool the spiders spoke of."
Duncan walked down the slope, bent, and crawled in under the web at the centre of the pit, stepping into the pitch-dark cave.
Just as his figure disappeared, the Jarvey arrived.
Staring at the web-strewn place, it hesitated to enter.
But it didn't leave either, pacing along the rim of the pit again and again.
It seemed to have something it wanted to tell Duncan.
Deeper in, after searching for quite a while, Duncan found the narrower tunnel the Acromantulas had mentioned.
He hunched and squeezed his way in.
The floor was strewn with the husks of spider eggs large and small; silk covered the walls on all sides—an expanse of white that glimmered faintly under the small orb of light at his wand tip.
"Take out that statue," Duncan said.
"All right."
Pro answered, sitting on Duncan's hand, rummaging in the pocket for ages before hauling out the statue with difficulty.
As Duncan reached with his other hand to take it, he suddenly saw the gemstone on the statue's surface flare with light.
"Oh?"
Duncan raised his brows.
As he moved his feet, he noticed that the light on the statue kept brightening and dimming.
The statue in his hand seemed to be pointing out the way forward in this fashion.
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