Outside of the castle deep in the forest, Josh also found himself being challenged. Not from the Acromantulas, they still hadn’t found any of those and not from the hike in the woods. He had made similar hikes during training camps for baseball. No, his challenge was whether he could remain calm while Elijah spewed out a never-ending list of complaints.

“This forest is too damn chilly” Elijah whined “Who the hell opens a school out here? They deserve to be shut down”

Josh let out another controlled sigh, he had some experience with people like Elijah. Sean from the baseball team was known for his never-ending list of complaints and temper tantrums when the team lost. Elijah however seemed determined to never miss a single possible complaint.

“Why the hell are we looking for some dumbass spider” Elijah continued “This is a waste of my time”

Eve on the other hand seemed unfazed by the man’s sour mood. She walked swiftly and with purpose through the forest. She led the way, keeping an eye on the endless stream of spiders also making their way deeper into the woods. She had barely said anything since they had left the castle. Josh wasn’t particularly surprised by this; Lance wasn’t the type to desire unnecessary conversations so his human creation would mimic this habit.

Thankfully, their journey through the forest had been relatively peaceful. They hadn’t seen any creatures aside from the spiders they were following, though twice they heard some howling in the distance.

“I think we’re getting close,” Eve said, stopping on the path.

“What makes you say that?” Josh asked, curious.

“The spiders are starting to branch out” Eve explained “I’m assuming that means we’re closing in on their territory”

“Finally,” Elijah huffed “Let’s get this over with”

“Here” Eve said, handing Josh three small canisters

“These are the grenades Lance gave you right” Josh took the small objects carefully.

“Yes” she responding “Just press the button on the top and you’ll have five seconds before the gas is released”

“What are they for?” Elijah questioned “I thought we wouldn’t be in danger”

“They are just in case” Eve assured “They hold a special gas that are extremely effective on spiders”

“So why do I only get one?” Elijah asked, pulling a canister from his pocket.

“You haven’t been enhanced by God yet” Eve explained “You couldn’t throw them as far or as accurately as Josh or I could. You only have one in case you need to contribute in some way to be rewarded”

“How many of these do we have?” Josh asked cutting Elijah off from whining.

“Six total” Eve said “You have three, Elijah has one, and I have the last two”

“Understood” Josh nodded “Now let's head in and see what we can get”

The trio continued their trek into the woods, the little bit of sunlight that was making its way through the trees dimmed even further. Even Elijah went quiet at this point, the darkness around them left an ominous feeling. Eve led them through the woods until they came across a hole surrounded by tree branches where the spiders were funneling into. Eve took a step to the side and motioned for Josh to head in first. The jock grimaced as he entered the hole, trying to ignore the spiders crawling around him. A small conversation could be heard behind him as Elijah tried to resist entering behind Josh. Whatever Eve said seemed to work as a moment later Elijah muttered complaints could be heard echoing dully through the small tunnel.

The tunnel ended abruptly opening to a large clearing covered in spider webs. Every tree, rock, and plant were completely layered with webs to the point they could hardly be distinguished. Josh stood waiting as Elijah and Eve made their way out of the tunnel, once they did a massive form began to move from behind a hill crest. Thin hairy legs came into view, long as two grown men stacked together. A truly massive spider raised itself from the ground. This was Aragog.

“Who are you?” the spider spoke in a deep voice, all eight of its eyes focused on the three members. Josh fought the chills running through his body, he wasn’t usually afraid of spiders, but this creature was terrifying to look out. Elijah let out a small whine, his face a mask of terror.

“We are friends of Hagrid” Eve spoke up, taking a step forward.

“No, you are not” Aragog responded without doubt “You three have never spoken to Hagrid”

Eve paused at the bold declaration “We know of him and are working to prove his innocence”

“Why come here?” the Acromantula questioned “You and your team already know the beasts that hunts in the school”

Everyone was shocked at the spider’s words.

“How do you know that?” Josh asked

“My descendants tell me” Aragog explained “they live throughout the castle and whisper to me everything that happens”

“So, you know who we are,” Josh stated.

“More than you would expect” the spider agreed “I know you and your team are not of this world and I know you have come to me in hopes of being rewards”

Josh froze at the realization that Aragog knew to an extent that they came from God’s Dimension. This was the first time he had thought if the beings of these movie worlds could be made aware of their existence as movies.

“We didn’t realize you would have such access to information” Eve took up the conversation “We would be extremely appreciative if you told us any information you could”

“Why should I tell you any secrets?” Aragog asked “When you hold secrets from your own teammates”

Josh’s heart fell at these words “What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean” the spider accused “you withhold the fate of a loved one from someone in this very hollow”

“What the hell is he on about?” Elijah asked in a whisper.

Aragog focused his gaze on the young man “Do you wish to know what happened to your sister?”

“Wait” Josh cried out

“You know what happened to Ashley?” Elijah ignored Josh and stepped forward.

“I do” the spider nodded “My children learned from your teammates”

“What?” Elijah shouted and turned to the other two.

“Elijah listen” Eve began in a calming tone

“Screw that” Elijah shouted over her words “Where’s my sister?”

“Elijah” Josh tried to talk but was cut off.

“No!” Elijah's face was bloodred “Where’s Ashley?”

“She was in the last movie” Eve answered. Josh shot her a look but the look of resignation on her face made it clear what was about to happen.

Dread crossed Elijah’s face, for a moment it looked like he wasn’t going to ask his next question, but he did.

“What happened to her?” he asked

A long moment passed in silence.

“She was killed by the Creeper” Josh finally admitted, tears threatening to fall as he thought of his fallen teammate.

Elijah took a step back, as if he had been struck. He took a moment to process what he had just been told. Soon sadness crossed his face, a single tear ran down his face. Then anger rose up inside him.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he shouted, “You knew who I was, why wouldn’t you tell me?”

“We wanted to,” Josh began but the words caught in his throat.

“A movie world isn’t a place to grieve” Eve continued “We were going to tell you once we returned to the lobby”

“Bullshit!” Elijah declared. Josh lowered his head; he couldn’t look at him anymore. Josh knew Elijah was right. They didn’t hold the information back for any reason except to avoid any trouble it would. Trouble like having an emotional conversation while a swarm of spiders surrounded the group. Unnoticed by the team, dozens of dog sized spiders had begun to surround the group as they talked. Eve was the first one to notice and pulled out her canister in one hand, the other began to emit a frost mist.

“Do not fret young one” Aragog spoke up “You will be reunited with your sister momentarily,” At his words the swarm of spiders began to close in on the trio.

“Fuck you!” Elijah shouted in rage. He pulled out his canister, hit the button on top and threw it at the giant spider. As Eve had said earlier the young man’s throwing prowess were not impressive. The canister landed short of Aragog but still rolled close to the magical spider’s head. A green gas began to shoot out from the grenade quickly rising to reach Aragog. The second the gas hit him, Aragog began to cough roughly and backed away. After a couple steps his legs gave out and the spider’s large body fell to the ground.

At the same time Eve threw her own grenade in the direction the entrance laid. Just like Aragog any spider that came into contact with the gas fell to the ground as if all strength in their body left them. These gas grenades held Ethyl Chloride, a powerful chemical that sapped spiders of their strength.

Josh finally noticed the spiders closing in and pulled his hammer from his belt and raised it ready to fight. His eyes met Elijah’s and his heart broke. Those eyes were so full of hate, Josh remembers when he looked at those eyes as her life faded away. Blinking back the tears in his eyes Josh charged forward and struck a spider who had rushed ahead of the group. Josh grabbed Elijah and pulled him towards the tunnel. The jock also threw one of his own grenades to further clear a path for them.

Eve followed behind the two, the young woman held a small ice spike in her hand, the creation of her frost elf life force. With inhuman accuracy she threw it and impaled a charging spider. Josh and Elijah reached the tunnel quickly, Elijah going through first. A spider jumped onto Josh’s back, wrapping its thin legs around his neck. Josh flooded his body with his divine energy, running backwards he slammed himself into a large tree root. Ignoring the warm wet feeling that now covered his back Josh met Eve back at the tunnel, Eve dropped her last grenade at the entrance and the two quickly made their own way through. Elijah stood a little ways away from the entrance, a numb confusion on his face. Josh tossed another of his grenades into the tunnel before running out and grabbing Elijah’s arm. The trio took off running through the forest, Eve leading the way back to the castle. They all stayed on alert as they travelled waiting for another attack to come. After a few moments of tense travel an announcement filled their minds.

Bonus Mission completed; Survive encounter with Aragog. Rewarded 1 C rank reward and 2000 points. Rewards will be divided amongst team members.

Back at the castle things were still calm. As far as the other newbies knew the veterans were down in the chamber fighting the basilisk. Crystal had decided the castle was safe enough and took Claire with her to the infirmary. She wanted to talk with the nurse about arranging a burial for Raymond, their fallen teammate. She had brought Claire as the young girl’s knowledge of the castle would help navigate.

They arrived at the infirmary without issue, but they arrived to find the majority of the staff surrounding a single bed. They were having a hushed discussion over a prone form. Their grave expressions held even Claire’s excitement back. One of the professor’s noticed the two standing in the doorway and called them over. The two newbies walked over and both gasped in horror at what they saw. Laying in the bed was a new petrified student. Not one that had been petrified in the movie. One who was critical in the original demise of the basilisk.

Harry Potter laid in the bed petrified with a terrified expression on his face.

“As you can see another student has been petrified” Dumbledore spoke from his position next to Harry.

“Harry” Claire murmured as she looked down at her idol.

“Yes, Harry Potter is the latest victim” Dumbledore rubbed the bridge of his nose “with everything that’s happened today this could very well be the end of Hogwarts”

“No!” Claire refused.

“The rest of our team are in the chamber right now” Crystal picked up “within the next few hours there won’t be any more monsters in the castle”

“If you think just three people will be enough” Snape harrumphed besides Dumbledore.

“There’s six of them,” Crystal corrected.

“I personally saw three members of your team enter the forest” Snape said “Only three remained in the castle”

Crystal narrowed her eyes at the new information, this didn’t match with what the veterans had told them. Claire looked at the older woman in concern, the teen blinked her eyes quickly trying to dry the tears that were forming.

“We need to talk with our team” Crystal decided, grabbing Claire she quickly left the room and made their way back to the rest of the team. Crystal was aiming for Matt to get the truth out of him but before she could reach the door Claire pulled her to a halt.

“We need to get to the chamber,” the teen said.

“What are you talking about?” Crystal asked,

“You heard what Snape said” Claire answered “only half the veterans went down there, they’ll need back up”

“We should talk to Matt first” Crystal said “get the truth out of him first”

“We can’t wait” Claire stubbornly insisted “he’ll try to stop us and go by himself”

“He’s a veteran, he would be more helpful than us,” Crystal pointed out.

“I know more about the basilisk and chamber than all the veterans combined” Claire refuted

“That doesn’t mean you’ll be useful in a fight” Crystal shook her head, there was no way they could take on even a baby basilisk.

“Just because I can’t fight doesn’t mean I can’t help” Claire insisted “I have potions!”

“You have a potion that can kill a basilisk?” Crystal asked sarcastically

“No but I have a potion that can help against its venom” the teen responded

“Going down there would be a suicide mission” Crystal stated in finality.

“I have to avenge Harry,” Claire said with determination.

“Harry will be fine” Crystal started to argue but was cut off

“I don’t care!” Claire stated “Harry Potter was everything to me in the real world. I refuse to believe it’s a coincidence that this is my first movie. I can do something to help”. The teen met Crystal’s gaze with a fierce glare. The determination and resolve was clear. Looking into the teen’s eyes Crystal let out a sigh, she knew what was going to happen. Either she joined or the teen would go on her own.

“Let’s get the other newbies then” Crystal suggested “there’s power in numbers”

Claire hesitated for a moment but ended up agreeing. The teen took a step towards the newbie’s room but paused when Crystal pulled something from her pocket.

“Take this,” Crystal said, handing a jade amulet to the young teen.

“This is one of the protective charms” Claire realized out loud.

“I was asked by the veterans to pick someone to have it” Crystal explained “I think you’ll need it the most”

“Thank you” Claire said and put on the amulet. Suddenly she rushed forward and hugged the older woman. Crystal hesitated for a moment before also wrapping her arms around the girl and returning the embrace. The two stood there for a minute before breaking apart and entering the newbies room.

Thankfully, Otis and the other remaining newbie were weak willed people. It only took a couple minutes of talking to convince them to join on the quest to the Chamber of Secrets. The group took off immediately, Claire leading the way to the bathroom that held the chamber’s entrance. To everyone’s surprise Claire began hissing when she stood in front of one of the sink’s. The sinks began to move, opening to reveal a large hole leading into the castle. This gave the newbies some comfort seeing the one they were following had some idea of what she was doing.

Without hesitation Claire stepped forward and jumped down the hole. The sound of her cries of joy echoed up as she made her way down the long slide. The other two newbies jumped in next, leaving Crystal waiting in the bathroom. She hesitated to jump until a faint crying sound came from a toilet stall. The sound was growing louder with each second, sending chills down Crystal’s body. As the sound began to echo in the room Crystal jumped, not willing to see what was making that noise.

Matt woke from his short nap rather abruptly; he wasn’t sure what had woken him, but a sense of unease was filling him. He rose from his bed, stretching his body. The pain and damage from unlocking his genetic constraint had mostly faded at this point. One of the perks of having a sufficiently enhanced body at the point of unlocking.

Deciding he was done sleeping for now Matt crossed over to the newbie’s room, just to check in and make sure they were okay. All he found was an empty room. Quickly Matt rushed to the other room which also turned up empty. Now beginning to worry Matt checked every room in the hallway before admitting the newbies were gone. He had no way to know if they were alright, this wasn’t like a team battle where they were alerted with each team member's death.

He quickly began to rush to the library, hoping they all just decided to pass their time reading. He crashed through the library doors and began to run past every row of books. Due to the attacks the library was left mostly empty except for a couple study groups of fifth year students. Matt only stopped when a tall figure blocked his way. Professor Snape stood in front of him with a large book in his hands.

“Is there a reason you are making such a ruckus?” Snape asked.

“I’m looking for some of my teammates” Matt explained

“Well you won’t find them here” Snape sighed “I assume they followed the others and are trying to find the chamber”

Matt felt a chill run down his spine “Why would you say that?”

“When those two girls left the infirmary earlier, they seemed to be in a hurry,” Snape explained.

Without another word Matt turned and raced out of the library, ignoring Snape’s shouts as he ran. Within minutes he found himself in the girl’s bathroom, looking down the hole that was the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. Moaning Myrtle, the ghost that haunted this bathroom, floated in one of the stalls. Her head poking out just enough to watch Matt.

The young man pulled out his communication device and hit a button. After a few rings Logan answered on the other side.

“We have a major problem” was the first thing Matt could think to say.