Hope Mikaelson Goes to Hogwarts

Chapter 21: Farewell Aragog

Hope's POV:

The next morning comes around and I wake up to Harry muttering something and people whispering around me. I open my eyes to see Hermione and Ron sitting in front of us. "What's going on?" I mumble, sitting up and looking around. "I have a plan to get Slughorn's memory." 

My eyes widen at Harry's words. "What?" "Ron mentioned luck earlier. That's what I need. A little bit of luck." "Liquid luck." I mutter. He nods. I sigh. "Let me go get changed and when I come back you can take it and we'll figure out what the next move is, ok?" He nods. 

With that I stand from the couch and head upstairs. I quickly shower and change before using spell to dry my hair. Once I'm ready I head back down to the Common Room. Everyone is still in their same places, but Harry now holds the clear vile of Felix Felicis. 

I take a seat next to him as he holds it up. "Ready?" He asks me, a small smile on his face. I nod. With my go ahead, he downs it quickly. A second goes by and Harry just sits there with a weird smile on his face. "Well, how do you feel?" Hermione asks. "Excellent. Really excellent." He grins.

He then proceeds to stand, the three of us quickly following. "Remember, Slughorn usually eats early, takes a walk, and then returns to his office." Hermione tells him. They must have discussed this while I was asleep. "Right. Hope and I are going down to Hagrid's." 

With that he latches his hand onto mine and pulls me towards the portrait hole. "What?" Hermione asks, shocked this actions. Her and Ron follow us. "No, Harry, you've got to go and speak to Slughorn." She calls after us. He stops and turns towards her.

"We have a plan." She reminds him. "I know, but I've got a really good feeling about Hagrid's. I feel it's...it's the place to be tonight. Do you know what I mean?" He asks. Hermione, Ron, and I exchange a look. "No." We all reply at once. "Trust me, I know what I'm doing. Or Felix does." 

He grins before pulling me out through the portrait hole. "Hi." He says enthusiastically to some students we pass. I chuckle. "Should I be worried about what this potion is doing to you?" I ask as we briskly walk through the castle. He grins down at me. "Not at all." He beams. 

I chuckle at this. Oh well. Wasn't planning on doing anything else today anyway. Might as was chase after my boyfriend who is high on luck potion. We're passing the greenhouses when  we spot someone leaning into one, taking something from one of the plants. Harry walks up to him. 

"AH!" He gasps, shocked to see him. "Merlin's beard, Harry! Oh Hope, you're here too." He says, glancing at me, trying to recover from the scare Harry gave him. "Sorry, sir. I should've announced myself. Cleared my throat, coughed. You probably feared I was Professor Sprout." 

I hold back a laugh. Whatever this potion is doing to him, he's awfully chatty. "What makes you think-" "Well, just the general behavior, sir. The sneaking around, the jumping when you saw me.  Are those Tentacula leaves, sir? They're very valuable, aren't they?" 

"Ten galleons a leaf to the right buyer. Not that I am familiar with such transactions, but one does hear rumors. My own interests are purely academic, of course." "Personally, these plants always kind of freaked me out. Mm." 

With this Harry simply grabs my hand again, turns around, and continues to pull me towards Hagrid's hut. Slughorn stops us. "Exactly how did you two get out of the castle?" Slughorn asks. I shrug. "Though the front door sir." I tell him. 

"We're off the Hagrid's, you see. He's a very dear friend and I just fancied paying him a visit and I thought Hope would like to join me. So if you don't mind, we will be going now." He starts to pull me off. "Harry!" "Sir?" 

"It's nearly nightfall. Surely you realize I can't allow you two to go roaming the grounds by yourselves." "Well, then, by all means, come along sir." I can't help it, I snort out a laugh, but I have time to hide it in Harry's shoulder before Slughorn can hear it. 

With that Harry once again resumes our trek, but this time, Slughorn follows after us. "Harry, Hope, I must insist you accompany me back to the castle immediately!" Slughorn calls after us. "Harry, are you sure about this." "Of course." He then calls back to Slughorn. 

"That would be counterproductive sir." "And what makes you say that?" "No idea." I sigh. "We're so getting detention for this." I grumble. "We'll be fine." He beams down at me. My eyes widen when we finally reach Hagrid. 

He's standing at the top of a hill looking down onto the corpse of a very familiar giant spider. Aragog. Fang is with him. "Horace." Hagrid acknowledges. "Merlin's beard. Is that an actual Acromantula?" "A dead one I think, sir." Harry says. I harshly elbow him. 

Now's not the time to be blunt. We both know how much Aragog means to Hagrid. "Good God. Dear fellow, however did you manage to kill it?" Slughorn asks. "Kill it? Me oldest friend, he was." Hagrid informs him. "I'm so sorry, I didn't-" 

"Oh, don't worry yourself, you're not alone. Seriously misunderstood creatures, spiders are. It's the eyes, I reckon. They unnerve some folk." Hagrid tells us. I nod, understanding. It also doesn't help that he tried to feed me, Harry, and Ron to his children. "Not to mention the pincers." 

At this Harry drops my hand and brings both of his up to his mouth and plays out the motion of the pincers, clicking his tongue with it. I sigh, covering my face. He seriously did not just do that. Hagrid gives Harry a funny look. "Yeah, I reckon that too." 

He gives me a confused glance and I just shrug. I have no clue what's running through his head with that potion in him. "Hagrid, the last thing I wish to be is indelicate, but Acromantula venom is uncommonly rare. Would you allow me to extract a vile or two?" I raise my eyebrows at this. 

He seriously did not just ask that. "Purely for academic purposes, you understand." "Well, I don't suppose it's gonna do him much good now, is it?" He asks, starting to cry. I walk closer and place a comforting hand on his arm. "Papilio lux." I mutter, making sure no one hears me.

"My thoughts exactly. Always have a ampoule or two about my person for just such occasions as this. Old, uh, Potions Master's habit, you know." Slughorn mumbles as he approaches the dead spider. "I wish you could've seen him in his prime. Magnificent, he was. Just magnificent." 

As Hagrid says this, Slughorn breaks off one of Aragog's legs. I wince at this. This is just getting worse and worse. Once he has the venom he returns to our side. "Would you like me to say a few words?" Slughorn asks. "Yes." "He had a family, I trust?" He asks. 

"Oh yeah." Harry and I say together. He grins over at me. "Farewell..." He trails off. "Aragog." Hagrid sobs. "Farewell, Aragog, king of the arachnids. Your body will decay, but your spirit lingers on. And your human friends find solace in the loss they have sustained." 

As he speaks, Fang howls lowly. Goodbye Aragog