CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“ C’ mon, Fang, we’ re going for a walk,” said Harry, patting his leg, and Fang bounded happily out of the house behind them, dashed to the edge of the forest, and lifted his leg against a large sycamore tree.
Harry took out his wand, murmured,“ Lumos!” and a tiny light appeared at the end of it, just enough to let them watch the path for signs of spiders.
“ Good thinking,” said Ron.“ I’ d light mine, too, but you know— it’ d probably blow up or something....”
Harry tapped Ron on the shoulder, pointing at the grass. Two solitary spiders were hurrying away from the wandlight into the shade of the trees.
“ Okay,” Ron sighed as though resigned to the worst,“ I’ m ready. Let’ s go.”
So, with Fang scampering around them, sniffing tree roots and leaves, they entered the forest. By the glow of Harry’ s wand, they followed the steady trickle of spiders moving along the path. They walked behind them for about twenty minutes, not speaking, listening hard for noises other than breaking twigs and rustling leaves. Then, when the trees had become thicker than ever, so that the stars overhead were no longer visible, and Harry’ s wand shone alone in the sea of dark, they saw their spider guides leaving the path.
Harry paused, trying to see where the spiders were going, but everything outside his little sphere of light was pitch-black. He had never been this deep into the forest before. He could vividly remember Hagrid advising him not to leave the forest path last time he’ d been in here. But Hagrid was miles away now, probably sitting in a cell in Azkaban, and he had also said to follow the spiders.
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