"So it's here..."
Dumbledore approached with extreme caution. Gradually, a series of strange sounds reached his ears.
He moved closer in suspicion, then his eyes widened.
He saw a gigantic female spider devouring an equally enormous Acromantula. Dumbledore recognized that Acromantula. It was the king of all the Acromantulas in the Forbidden Forest.
Hagrid's friend, the Acromantula king Aragog.
But now, it had become nothing more than a meal.
"What is this?"
Dumbledore was certain he had never seen, nor even heard of, such a magical creature before. It was also a spider, yet completely different from an Acromantula. And that sinister, unsettling power that had alarmed even Dumbledore was radiating from this spider.
Once he realized that the thing in the Forbidden Forest was not Voldemort, Dumbledore let out a quiet breath of relief.
No matter how this giant spider had appeared, or why it had appeared in the Forbidden Forest, a spider was still far better than Voldemort.
"I should leave first."
Watching Shelob tear into Aragog in great mouthfuls, Dumbledore felt a little uncomfortable. But just as he stepped back once, Shelob, who had been feasting on Aragog, slowly raised her head.
"Human!"
With a shrill screech, a woman's voice came from within Shelob's vast fanged maw. She suddenly leapt to Dumbledore's side. A sharp venomous stinger emerged from her tail and stabbed straight toward the invisible Dumbledore.
At the same time, two sheets of web shot out from her abdomen, sealing off his retreat.
Dumbledore's expression changed sharply, but he had already prepared himself before coming here. He did not panic. Instead, he swiftly raised his hand and circled his wand around himself.
Golden flames burst from the tip of the wand, forming a wall of fire that enclosed Dumbledore tightly.
Shelob was startled by the sudden flames. With a slight push of her grotesque spider legs, she jumped clear of the ring of fire.
"Who are you?"
Shelob did not attack again. Instead, she fixed all eight eyes on the now-visible Dumbledore and asked the question aloud.
"Albus Dumbledore. I am the headmaster of Hogwarts. And you? Why have you appeared in the Forbidden Forest?"
Dumbledore kept his wand in hand, not relaxing in the slightest.
"The Forbidden Forest? So this truly is no longer Cirith Ungol. How far is this place from Mordor? Are you one of the Maiar as well? Or are you a servant of Sauron?"
Shelob stared at Dumbledore's wand. Just now, Dumbledore had summoned fire, so Shelob took him for a wizard, and most wizards were Maiar.
"Sauron?"
Dumbledore's pupils contracted sharply. He suddenly remembered the parchment Hermione had handed them before.
The self-written account of that wizard named Gandalf. He seemed to have mentioned the name Sauron, saying he was a terrifying and evil dark wizard, and that the thing they were escorting appeared to be the key to defeating Sauron.
"You know Sauron?"
There was a trace of suspicion in Dumbledore's heart.
Based on his deductions, that parchment should have been something from at least thousands of years ago. So why was this spider speaking Sauron's name?
Or was this some kind of plot as well?
"Of course I know Sauron. Ever since he came to Mordor, very few Elves and Men have passed through Cirith Ungol. For all these years, I could only eat those filthy Orcs!"
Shelob let out a burst of laughter so harsh it made one's teeth ache. Several of her spider legs scraped restlessly against the ground, and the savage barbs on them gave off a rasping hiss.
"I want to eat people!!!"
Shelob roared at Dumbledore.
Dumbledore was still processing and analyzing the information hidden in Shelob's words. The moment he heard that roar, his whole body tensed, and his wand burst with blinding light.
A spell like lightning shot toward Shelob, but she knocked it aside with one foreleg, sending several Acromantulas flying apart.
"A wizard..."
Shelob's excited mood gradually calmed. Besides, she had just eaten a giant meal in Aragog, so she was not especially hungry now.
"Leave this place. From now on, this is my territory. Come again next time, and you won't be so lucky."
Shelob stared at Dumbledore, her tone grim and menacing.
Dumbledore slowly stepped back twice, then his figure vanished from sight.
Shelob's thrilled, terrifying laughter echoed throughout the Forbidden Forest. Very soon, she subdued all the Acromantulas, then deep within the spider nest, she spun a gigantic maze of webs.
"The Forbidden Forest... gahahaha, food, Elves! Humans!! Gahahahaha!"
Dumbledore left the Forbidden Forest with a heavy expression.
He still had not figured out where this giant spider had come from, nor who had brought it here.
And what exactly were the places it mentioned, Sauron, Mordor, and Cirith Ungol?
And did any of this have anything to do with Voldemort?
"No matter what, the Forbidden Forest will be even more dangerous from now on."
Dumbledore let out a sigh. Outside the Forbidden Forest, he cast a spell that formed a barrier there, one capable of preventing students from entering the forest.
"This matter... should I inform the Ministry of Magic?"
Dumbledore felt this was something the Ministry ought to be told about, but at the same time, he worried that the Ministry might use the opportunity to interfere with Hogwarts, causing the situation to spiral in an uncontrollable direction.
"Troubled times indeed."
In the end, Dumbledore still could not make up his mind. He planned to return and discuss it with the other professors first.
Altair, of course, did not care what sort of impact Shelob would have. That creature would probably be living quite comfortably in the Forbidden Forest. Once Altair unlocked the One Ring further, he would be able to control any dark creature in the world, and Shelob was included in that.
For now, he was simply free-ranging one of his future subordinates.