"W-What… Aragog?"
Hagrid's face crumpled in panic, but he forced out an awkward smile.
"There are Acromantulas in the forest, sure… but their nest is deep, very deep, almost outside the Hogwarts boundary. It's dangerous and far. Tom, leave it to me. Tell me what you need, legs? venom?"
Inside, Hagrid was screaming.
Why am I cursed with Riddle trouble twice in one lifetime?
One Tom Riddle ruined his life, got him expelled, nearly jailed.
This Tom had saved him more than once, yes, but every request from him made Hagrid's heart do acrobatics.
"Please stop lying. You're terrible at it."
Tom sighed. Hagrid's eyes shifted wildly, hands twitchy, voice stuttering, as if his forehead bore the words I AM LYING carved across it.
"Do you know how I found the Chamber of Secrets?" Tom asked lazily. "I gained access to a memory from Voldemort's youth. You were in it. So was Aragog. I saw the day you were expelled."
Hagrid froze. Every drop of blood drained from his cheeks.
Tom continued calmly:
"Also, I get along well with the Centaurs. They told me about a massive Acromantula colony here. One large enough to be rare even worldwide. And they mentioned a king among them, one born only to their royal line."
His tone remained casual.
"Do you need more proof?"
Tom's smile held no pressure, but the truth pressed heavier than any threat.
"I'm coming to you, Hagrid, not because I can't find them, but because I don't want things to get ugly. You're clumsy, loud, not the brightest, but you're not a bad man. You've helped me find rare ingredients. I'm giving you a chance to save face."
Was… was that supposed to be a compliment?
Hagrid's heart felt like it was being stretched in five directions at once.
"…Fine." He slumped in defeat. "I just didn't want you meeting him. Aragog's not… kind. He doesn't trust wizards."
"Why can't you just tell me what you need and let me fetch it?"
"That won't work," Tom replied, already walking toward the trees. His voice drifted back, smug and casual.
"I need enough venom to fill vaults. Even if we drained every Acromantula in the forest, it wouldn't be enough. This will be a long-term deal. It has to be negotiated in person."
"Hagrid, if you don't come lead the way, don't blame me if someone gets hurt later."
"Wait! I'm coming!"
With his massive stride, Hagrid caught up easily. "But why do you need so much venom?"
Tom cast a Shrinking Charm on himself to match his pace.
"To change the world. The rest? Complicated. You wouldn't understand. If things go well, I'll give you a portable pocket world the size I mentioned before."
Hagrid's gloom vanished instantly.
Pocket world. Now that was something worth suffering for!
And Tom? He had his own reason. He needed it for WhatsApp, his magic messaging notebook. It could store nearly a million words of conversation and could even wipe itself clean afterward.
Which was exactly what Tom refused to allow.
How do you make money if your customers can delete everything?
So he needed a limiter, something to make deleting chats expensive. Something to prevent compression and cleaning of records.
Acromantula venom repelled magic so strongly that it prevented spell-storage contraction. With a few more limits on page size…
Voilà.
Subscription fees.
Profit. Permanent dependency. Venom was basically his future bank account.
The spiders would be working for him.
This forest was about to house unwilling employees.
…
They walked for half an hour without needing to navigate, Hagrid barreled straight toward the nest, humming and sipping from his flask.
Then, suddenly, three centaurs emerged from the brush.
Hagrid blinked, then grinned.
"Magorian! Long time no see. Out on patrol?"
Magorian nodded stoically.
"Some of my people sensed you. Hagrid, why have you entered Centaur grounds?"
He spoke to Hagrid, but every tense stare was fixed on Tom.
Last year, Tom had forced both Magorian and Firenze into weeks of nonstop tutoring. This year he'd been mercifully busy… until now.
Seeing Tom standing beside Hagrid again, Magorian rushed in to prevent another academic tragedy.
The centaurs behind him glared with deep, ancestral dread at the little wizard who had stolen their herbal secrets.
"Just passing through!" Hagrid chuckled. "We're headed to the Acromantula colony. I'll visit properly next time."
"Then… be careful," Magorian said, stepping aside.
Tom smiled politely. "We'll talk later."
Magorian's heart seized.
This was not a polite farewell.
Tom meant it.
You already learned almost all our herb lore last year. Why are you coming back?
What else do you want from us?