58 Aragog's Funeral (2)

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"The spiders in the woods are all gone." Hagrid's beetle-like eyes conveyed sadness, and a few tears fell.

"There was always a lively atmosphere in the past, but now there's nothing. It took me days to clean up the broken limbs of the Aragog's children." Hagrid blew his nose with a dirty handkerchief, causing the cabin to vibrate. (T/N - Hagrid's definitely bonkers)

Hearing Hagrid's words, Ron's hair stood up, and his body leaned back slightly. He couldn't even imagine the scene of the "big family of acromantulas." The Forbidden Forest in the distance harbored so many terrifying creatures that Ron couldn't help but feel afraid.

Seeing that Hagrid's emotions were getting out of control, Dumbledore hurriedly persuaded him: "Hagrid, let's talk about loyalty and love later. For my sake, forgive Ethan."

"But... but..." Hagrid was still a little sad and couldn't help himself.

"Hagrid, no matter how much I apologize, I can't save this situation. I want to give this to you." Ethan dug into his bag and pulled out a white egg the size of a beach ball— an egg he found in the acromantula's lair.

Although the eggs of the Acromantula were Class A prohibited trade items, Ethan put them away in the spirit of 'memory,' not expecting them to come in handy.

Hagrid took the giant spider egg from Ethan's hand tremblingly, stared at it for a while, and finally cried bitterly while holding it. Dumbledore breathed a sigh of relief. He could see that Ethan had been forgiven for Aragog's loss by giving Hagrid the giant spider egg.

Hagrid receives Aragog's egg from a tourist, takes him into the castle, and raises him in a storage room in the dungeon; now that Hagrid has lost Aragog and gained an egg again, it's a beautiful cycle of life. Everyone sitting here can't help but sigh.

After Hagrid calmed down, Dumbledore gently reminded him that the funeral could begin. Hagrid stood up slowly, "Okay, let's start now." Sniffing, he led the way, and the others followed from their huts.

"Is it going to be buried here, Hagrid, in your garden?" Harry looked at the huge spider corpse before him, feeling apprehensive.

"Behind the pumpkin patch, I think," Hagrid choked. "I've dug graves. I just thought we should say something. Those are good memories..."

Ron strongly disagreed with this sentence. He believed staying with this terrifying spider couldn't yield any "good memories."

Everyone entered the back garden, and the moon glowed bleakly between the trees, mixed with the light from Hagrid's window, shining on Aragog's body lying on the edge of a large pit next to a pile of ten-foot-high new soil.

Everyone stared at Aragog's huge headless body, feeling a little weird.

"Ethan," Dumbledore softly attracted Ethan's attention.

Ethan found Dumbledore winking at him, realizing that Dumbledore wanted Ethan to return Aragog's head. This embarrassed Ethan, as he was somewhat obsessive about collecting monster heads as trophies.

Unable to bear the pressure in Dumbledore's eyes, Ethan reluctantly took out Aragog's head and put it together with the body.

It was the first time Harry, Ron, and Hermione saw Aragog's entire face, and they moved closer to him curiously. The eight milky white eyes stared blankly at the sky, and the two curved horns were motionless in the moonlight.

"Not everyone appreciates their beauty," Hagrid said to the backs of Harry, Ron, and Hermione, tears streaming down the corners of his wrinkled eyes. "I don't know what you think of Aragog."

"Now, let's start the funeral," Dumbledore said.

Hagrid nodded, stepped forward, dragged Aragog, shouted, and rolled it into the black pit. There was a terrible creaking noise as the body hit the bottom of the pit, and Hagrid cried again.

"Of course, you can't stand it because you know him best." Dumbledore could only reach Hagrid's elbow but patted him anyway. "Let me say something."

Dumbledore said slowly, solemnly: "Farewell, Aragog, Lord of Spiders. Those who knew you will not forget your long and loyal friendship. Although your flesh will rot, your spirit will remain in the quiet, cobwebbed place of the forest home. May your many-eyed descendants flourish and your human friends find solace in their grief."

"That's right... that's right... That's beautiful," Hagrid howled and fell on the dung heap, crying even fiercer.

"Okay, okay," said Dumbledore with a wave of his wand, and the mound of dirt rose dully on top of the dead spider, forming a smooth mound.

"Let's go in and have a drink."

Everyone assisted Hagrid onto a chair at the table. Fang, who had hidden in the basket during the funeral, approached gently, resting his heavy head on Harry's lap as usual.

Ethan uncorked the bottle of wine he had brought, poured some for everyone present, and emptied the remaining half into Hagrid's bucket-sized glass.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione glanced at the cups before them with embarrassment. According to school rules, they weren't allowed to consume alcohol, especially in front of Dumbledore.

"Just this once," Dumbledore winked as he noticed the hesitation of the three young wizards.

Dumbledore stood up, lifting his cup, "For Aragog."

"Aragog," echoed everyone.

Hagrid, Dumbledore, and Ethan downed the wine in their cups in one gulp while the three young wizards took a shallow sip.

As the group sat together and began chatting, Hagrid spoke sadly, "I raised him from an egg. How small he was when he hatched, the size of a pug."

"Lovely," remarked Dumbledore.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione shuddered at the thought of Aragog's terrifying appearance. They hadn't realized the giant spider could be cute when young.

"I used to keep him in the school cabinet until... alas..." Hagrid sighed deeply.

Curious, the three young wizards looked at Hagrid, eager to know more about what had happened.

Seeing their curiosity, Dumbledore decided to share the details of the Chamber of Secrets incident fifty years ago with Harry, Ron, and Hermione.