Chapter 279: Chapter 279: Dormitory Introductions

A palm-sized spider sat on the desk.

It crawled to Cuthbert’s hand and tapped a foreleg against his knuckle, then swiveled toward Alex, cocking its head to study him. One click of the chelicerae.

Cuthbert stared at it for a moment, lip curling, then turned around to find Regulus, disbelief written across his face.

"This little thing can kill us?"

Regulus ignored him.

He’d woken early to reapply the spell on Baruk. Without it, the spider would have already reverted by now.

Acromantula. XXXXX-rated. Carnivorous and dangerous.

At the moment it looked harmless, barely filling a palm, but that was the spell’s doing, not the spider’s nature.

A full-sized Acromantula wouldn’t need the whole dormitory. Cuthbert alone wouldn’t last.

He watched Cuthbert drift back to the desk, Hermes and Alex flanking him.

Hermes’s Dark Magic might hurt Baruk, but Baruk had eight legs, chelicerae, venom, and silk.

In a space this cramped, Hermes would probably get caught and eaten, though the struggling might make the meat sour.

Cuthbert and Alex wouldn’t even warrant discussion.

None of that would happen, of course.

He’d briefed Baruk: no biting, no venom injection. A pinch with the chelicerae, a wrap of silk, that was tolerable. At this size, nothing serious could come of it.

On the other side, he’d told the roommates the same thing he’d told Hermes. This creature can kill you. Behave.

Even if they didn’t believe it, they’d poke around a bit at most. They wouldn’t push it.

Whatever else it was, this was Regulus’s... pet?

Both sides had been briefed. Peaceful coexistence. Nothing to worry about.

Alex turned around, voice tentative, almost a whisper. "Acromantula?"

Regulus raised an eyebrow and nodded.

Alex sucked in a breath and stepped back, putting distance between himself and the desk.

He’d been guessing, but the guess landed perfectly.

A small spider that could kill young wizards had to be a magical creature. One that looked like this could only be an Acromantula.

He had no idea why Regulus had brought one into the dormitory, and he wasn’t going to ask. Regulus did what Regulus did. Asking sometimes got you nothing; not asking saved the trouble.

Still, he couldn’t help wondering. Had Regulus finally awakened some bizarre hobby?

It wasn’t unprecedented.

Plenty of Hogwarts students kept strange pets: toads, snakes, odd little lizards, all within the normal range. Some kept Bowtruckles, some kept Salamanders, some kept Puffskeins. Rumor had it an older student had once smuggled a Niffler into the dormitory before a professor caught on and had it removed.

Nifflers stole things. The school didn’t allow them.

But an Acromantula, XXXXX-rated? The school definitely didn’t allow that.

After the Ministry of Magic passed the Ban on Experimental Breeding in 1965, all cultivation and trade had been strictly prohibited.

Though that covered breeding and trading. It didn’t say you couldn’t keep an existing one.

The question was, who would keep an Acromantula as a pet?

Regulus could get one if he wanted. The Blacks could get anything. But why an Acromantula?

If Regulus intended to keep it in the dormitory, what could Alex do about it?

Couldn’t outfight him. Couldn’t out-argue him.

He glanced at the spider again. Eight legs, still shuffling across the desk.

"What are you on about?" Cuthbert had heard Alex’s guess. His tone was lazy, faintly mocking. "How big is an Acromantula? Where in Britain would you even find one? Those things are in Southeast Asia, used to guard wizarding dwellings and treasure. Haven’t you read Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them?"

He’d barely finished when he turned back and saw Regulus nod.

Cuthbert froze. Then he sucked in a breath and took two steps backward, landing shoulder-to-shoulder with Alex.

They looked at each other. Neither spoke.

A beat of silence.

Cuthbert edged half a step forward. Brow still furrowed, lip still turned down, neck pulling back.

Then his expression shifted. Eyes narrowing, widening, lighting up, fixing on Regulus.

"Acromantula." His voice pitched higher, excitement bleeding through. "Guarding wizarding dwellings. That’s literally what they’re for, isn’t it?"

He glanced at the spider on the desk, then back at Regulus, grin spreading wider and wider.

He wanted one too.

That was incredible.

Before 1965 you could still get them on the open market. Now they were practically extinct in trade, and Regulus had turned up with one from who-knew-where, a small one at that.

This was what it meant to be the young master of the House of Black. Everything he had was a cut above.

The young master of the House of Avery couldn’t afford to fall behind.

Cuthbert’s mind was already racing: where he’d keep it, what he’d feed it, what he’d name it.

He was even rehearsing the tone he’d use when someone asked what it was and he got to say the word Acromantula.

Regulus glanced at him, couldn’t be bothered, and looked away.

Cuthbert didn’t mind. He turned back to the desk.

Nothing to worry about. Regulus wouldn’t put an Acromantula in the dormitory to kill them.

And honestly, the little thing had a certain charm. Fuzzy, eight legs busy as could be, almost... handsome, in a skittering sort of way.

He reached out a finger to poke Baruk’s carapace. Baruk spread his chelicerae a fraction, and Cuthbert snatched the finger back, laughing.

Alex didn’t share the enthusiasm. He stood rooted for a moment, mouth opening and closing, closing and opening, until it didn’t stay closed.

He walked over to Regulus. "Regulus, is this really all right?"

Regulus knew what he was worried about.

He glanced toward the desk. Cuthbert and Hermes were crowded around it, one studying the spider, one poking the spider, each more fearless than the last.

Alex was the normal reaction. Know what it is, and you should be afraid.

Unlike those two.

He turned back. "This one’s well-behaved. Trained well. Don’t worry."

Alex still hesitated.

Of course Acromantulas were intelligent. But wasn’t that precisely what made them more dangerous?

A smart, thinking spider that could judge when to bite and when to hold back. It would wait. It would choose its moment. It would strike when its prey’s guard was lowest.

Was there anything more terrifying than that?

His entire sense of well-being collapsed.

From the desk, Cuthbert let out a yelp. "Ha!"

He held up his hand. Silk coated his entire wrist, milky-white, fingers webbed into a bundle. He was waving it around, laughing, finding the whole thing delightful.

Regulus didn’t bother with him. He stood and walked over.

Baruk sat in the center of the desk, eight eyes turned upward, chelicerae still.

"This is Baruk," he told the others, then looked down at the spider. "This is Cuthbert, Alex, Hermes."

Cuthbert blinked. The thing had a name?

He leaned in, closer, and waved at the spider. "Baruk."

Baruk clicked a rapid burst and waved back. A greeting. Then he rotated halfway toward Alex.

Alex reflexively retreated half a step, but held his ground, inching forward again. His voice was small. "... Hello."

One click from Baruk.

Hermes stood to the side.

He’d heard what Cuthbert and Alex said. He knew what an Acromantula was.

But the only thing on his mind right now was a single question: at this size, how exactly would it kill him?

He wanted to find out.

He believed Regulus. But he couldn’t help wanting to know.

A palm-sized spider. What method could it possibly use to kill a wizard?

Venom?

It had to land a bite first.

Silk?

Even wrapped up, then what?

Baruk clicked once in Hermes’s direction, then sprang up and landed on Regulus’s shoulder. The usual spot.

Eight legs gripped the fabric, shuffled once, settled. Chelicerae worked open and shut, clicking near Regulus’s ear as the spider circled twice.

"Regu... lus?"

Smart spider. He’d heard Cuthbert and Alex say it a few times, and that was enough.

Regulus nodded. "Regulus. Regulus Black."

Baruk bounced once. chelicerae snapped in rapid succession, click-click-click-click, with a ring of excitement.

"Baruk."

"That’s right." Regulus reached up, stroked the small carapace, then pinched Baruk gently and placed him back in the drawer. "Stay here. Don’t wander."

Baruk made a lap of the drawer, chelicerae opening and closing once.

"I’ll be back at noon," Regulus said. "I’ll bring food."

Quiet in the drawer for a moment. Then Baruk raised a foreleg and gestured in the air.

"Can... hunt..."

Regulus shook his head. Hunt what, young wizards?

"No. Wait for me."

A rustling, circling sound from inside the drawer, then stillness. Assent, apparently.

An intelligent creature could understand rules but still had to test where the boundaries were now and then. He understood that.

Regulus pushed the drawer half-closed, leaving a gap.

At this size, feeding him should be manageable.

A full-sized Acromantula at Hogwarts, he wouldn’t even know where to start.

How much did one eat per meal? A deer? A goat?

He wasn’t about to go hunting in the Forbidden Forest on its behalf.

At noon he’d let Baruk try cooked food, see if the spider could stomach it. If so, things got simple. The dining hall had everything.

He turned and called the others to breakfast.

At the table, Cuthbert wouldn’t settle down.

The moment he sat, the questions started, voice low but energy relentless.

"Where’d you get it? How’d you get it? How much does one cost? Is it hard to get?"

Regulus ignored him and focused on eating.

Alex, seated beside Cuthbert, nudged him with an elbow, voice lower still. "Keep it down. Having one in the dormitory is already against the rules. What are you yelling for?"

"Who’s yelling?" Cuthbert scanned the table. Everyone was eating their own meal, nobody looking their way. He dropped his voice another notch. "I want one too. What’s wrong with that? If Regulus can get one, why can’t I?"

Alex eyed the manic energy and couldn’t suppress a look of concern. "Where would you even put it?"

"The dormitory."

"There’s already one in the dormitory."

"So? Two’s fine."

"Cuthbert." Alex fixed him with a serious look. "Two Acromantulas in one dormitory. Does that sound like a good idea to you?"

Cuthbert speared a sausage and stuffed it in his mouth. Mid-chew, muffled: "Regulus, d’you think that’s a good idea?"

Regulus lifted his cup, took a sip of Pumpkin Juice, and still didn’t acknowledge him.

"See?" Cuthbert brandished the silence as evidence, chin jutting toward Alex. "He didn’t say no."

Alex sighed. "He didn’t say anything."

"Didn’t say no means yes!"

Alex drew a long breath, looked down, took a spoonful of soup, and tried a different angle.

"Do you know what happens when you put two of them together?"

Cuthbert thought about it. Nothing came to mind.

"Acromantulas are territorial," Alex murmured. "Two in the same space and they’ll fight."

"What if I get a female?" Cuthbert’s face lit up with inspiration. He turned to Regulus. "Is yours male or female?"

Regulus said nothing.

Cuthbert grumbled, forked a roast potato, and shelved the idea for later.

Hermes sat across from them, eating steadily. He’d trained too hard the night before. It hadn’t caught up with him at the time, but a night’s sleep had left him ravenous.

Bread, bacon, fried eggs, roast potatoes, plate after plate. His table manners weren’t ugly, but the speed was startling.