Forbidden Forest hollow.
An Acromantula the size of an elephant, grayish-white in color, lay at the mouth of a cave.
Aragog was enjoying the prey his offspring had brought him.
His once-blind, milky-white eyes now carried a faint glimmer of light. The world before him was no longer entirely dark—he could vaguely make out blurry shapes and shadows.
Aragog believed this was thanks to the magical potion the human boy had given him last time. After consuming it, not only had his strength returned, but his old, withered body now pulsed with newfound vitality.
"I wonder what that terrifying human boy's name was. He didn't say last time," Aragog muttered as he tore at the prey's flesh.
"My name is Lucien—Lucien Grafton."
Snap—!
The chunk of meat slipped from Aragog's fangs and hit the ground with a dull thud.
His mouthparts twitched involuntarily as the auras of those two beings suddenly entered his awareness.
Though the ancestral voice offered no commands, only meaningless murmurs, every Acromantula—large and small—immediately scurried away the moment Lucien and the glowing light appeared.
Fortunately, they were all spiders, and their eight legs carried them swiftly as they fled.
Lucien watched the scattering Acromantulas and chuckled softly.
"Heh, how have you been lately, Aragog?"
Though it sounded like a casual greeting, Aragog strained to interpret Lucien's tone.
"I—I'm fine?" he replied uncertainly.
Hearing the hesitant answer, Lucien couldn't help but find it amusing. It seemed he had truly scared Aragog last time.
"That's good. I wanted to discuss something with you."
"Go ahead, go ahead," Aragog said quickly, though he grumbled inwardly. Was this human here for venom again? That would mean another painful offering.
Still, when he thought of the potion he had received last time—the one that restored his vitality—Aragog felt a flicker of anticipation.
The older he grew, the more he longed for that sense of energy and strength.
"Ask your descendants if any of them are willing to come with me," Lucien said.
At that, Aragog froze. He wasn't here for venom?
But then terror struck him. Had this demon finally revealed his true fangs? Was he going to start targeting the Acromantulas themselves?
This time he wanted Aragog's descendants—but next time, would it be Aragog himself?
Aragog still remembered what Hagrid had told him when he was young: some wizards performed experiments on magical creatures—horrible, cruel things. That was why he had to hide well and never be discovered by human wizards.
And yet, after hiding all his life, was it all for nothing in the end?
Seeing Aragog's silence, Lucien assumed he was simply unwilling to part with his offspring, so he began to reassure him.
"You don't need to send many. I'll provide proper living conditions for them and only extract a little venom from time to time."
"Uh… no experiments?"
"What?"
Lucien blinked, momentarily confused.
"What experiments?"
"Hagrid told me…"
As Aragog recounted what Hagrid had once said, Lucien's expression turned a little odd.
Hagrid wasn't entirely wrong—some wizards did conduct experiments on magical creatures.
But that had been a long time ago—especially after Newt had worked tirelessly to promote numerous Magical Creature Protection Acts, those incidents had greatly decreased.
So, Hagrid had told Aragog all that simply to stop him from wandering around Hogwarts back then, hadn't he?
It was just like adults scaring children with ghost stories so they wouldn't sneak out at night.
After Lucien's explanation, Aragog accepted his words.
Well, more accurately, he had to accept them. He couldn't win in a fight—and as for running away…
Aragog doubted his old body could manage that anymore.
And as for feeling sorry for his descendants?
Hardly. With tens of thousands of offspring, losing one or two made little difference to him.
At Aragog's summons, several Acromantulas obediently lined up and crawled into the black gourd Lucien produced.
After collecting the spiders, Lucien sealed the gourd and prepared to leave.
He had assigned homework to Harry and Ron, after all, and still needed to go back to check on it.
"Aren't you taking any venom this time?"
Hearing Aragog suddenly call out, Lucien turned back, looking slightly puzzled.
Why was he the one asking if Lucien wanted venom? Last time, squeezing out half a bucket had nearly killed him.
Although Lucien had compensated him with a drop of Qilin saliva…
Hmm, could it be that the Qilin saliva had worked so well on Aragog that he now wanted more?
Lucien had left right after giving him that drop last time, so he hadn't paid attention to what happened afterward.
Now, after observing Aragog closely, he noticed that the spider's body didn't look as thin as before, and there was even a faint light in his once-cloudy eyes.
"Aragog, how did you feel after drinking that liquid last time?"
Hearing the question, Aragog rubbed his mouthparts, his aged voice rasping softly.
"It was incredible. The exhaustion I felt after producing venom completely disappeared. I even feel like I've regained a bit of vitality—and my eyesight seems to have improved somewhat."
So the Qilin saliva didn't just heal—it also seemed to replenish life force?
Or perhaps its powerful healing ability was actually a result of that restored vitality?
He remembered how the unicorn Seleneia had said that after drinking Qilin saliva, the foal inside her had grown stronger.
That was probably because the life energy contained in it helped the unborn unicorn develop more fully.
Now that he thought about it, he still hadn't personally tested the effects of Qilin saliva himself.
Uh, never mind. I should at least try it after refining it into a Potion first.
Looking at Aragog, Lucien suddenly grew curious—if the spider kept consuming Qilin saliva, how much could this aging Acromantula recover?
And what was the upper limit of the life force contained in Qilin saliva?
Hmm, there was plenty of it anyway, so this could just be a casual experiment.
It wouldn't harm Aragog—in fact, he'd probably welcome it.
While thinking this, Lucien took a crystal vial from his robe and drew out a single drop of Qilin saliva, guiding it through the air toward Aragog.
"What's this?"
Aragog hesitated, uncertain of Lucien's intention.
"Consider it payment—payment for the ..experiment."
The moment he heard the word experiment, the hair all over Aragog's body bristled.
Wizards really were evil!
But after a few seconds, he couldn't resist the temptation.
Just one drop, and that rush of vitality would return again.
Perhaps his blind eyes might even regain more of their sight.
Aragog swallowed the drop of Qilin saliva without further hesitation.
He had already lived for fifty years—more than enough. So if this was to be an experiment, then so be it.
That rush of restored energy and renewed vitality was simply irresistible.
"Alright… what kind of experiment?" he asked.
But by the time Aragog spoke, Lucien was already gone.
"Huh? Aren't we going to do the experiment?"
…
Inside the Room of Requirement.
Harry was brewing a cauldron of Potion while taking the opportunity to recite key notes.
Meanwhile, Ron was hunched over the table, switching between a pencil, ruler, and compass as he drew intricate structural diagrams.
Ron scratched his head from time to time; if it weren't for his interest in Alchemical Mechanics, he would have given up long ago.
"Harry, can you take a look at this for me?"
Harry walked over, studied it seriously for a moment, then nodded.
"Hmm… I can't."
Ron stared at him blankly.
"Didn't you say you've been learning from Lucien for a while?"
Harry pointed toward the cauldron and said matter-of-factly,
"I'm learning Potions. You're learning Alchemical Mechanics."
"In Lucien's words, our specialties are different."
__________
11 Advance Chaps- P@treon/DarkDevil1