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"I have lived here in the forest ever since, where Hagrid still visits me. He even found me a wife, Mosag, and you see how our family has grown, all through Hagrid's goodness..."
— Aragog[src]

A colony of Acromantulas was established deep in the Forbidden Forest by Rubeus Hagrid, at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in 1943. The area of the forest inhabited by the colony is considered unsafe for humans and is rarely visited by them.[1]

History[]

Establishment of the colony[]

The colony was established in 1943, when a young Rubeus Hagrid, a third year student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, acquired the egg of an Acromantula from a traveller. He raised the creature in secret, naming it Aragog, feeding it on leftovers. However, during the same year, Tom Marvolo Riddle learned how to open the Chamber of Secrets, and released the Basilisk. Riddle, finding out about Hagrid and the Acromantula, diverted attention away from himself by blaming the attacks on the spider. Hagrid was expelled, but managed to release Aragog into the Forbidden Forest.[2]

Guarding the Forest Vault[]

One of the Acromantulas in this colony was dedicated to guarding the Forest Vault before and during the 1987–1988 school year. However, it was defeated multiple times in that and the following school years, including the duel before Jacob's sibling and their friends successfully entered the Vault.[3][4][5]

Dealings with Hagrid[]

Aragog lived in the Forbidden Forest, and Hagrid helped him as much as possible. He acquired another Acromantula, a female named Mosag, as a mate for Aragog and the two Acromantulas bred. The growing number of spiders built a huge dome web in the forest. Hagrid occasionally visited them, and Aragog, grateful for Hagrid's assistance, commanded his children not to attack and eat him.[1]

The re-opening of the Chamber of Secrets[]

Spidersketch4

Aragog and his Acromantula colony attacking Harry Potter and Ron Weasley

Acromantula: "Aragog! Aragog!"
Aragog: "What is it?"
Acromantula: "Men."
Aragog: "Is it Hagrid?"
Acromantula: "Strangers."
Aragog: "Kill them. I was sleeping..."
— The Acromantulas detecting human presence in their lair[src]

In 1993, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley were directed to the Acromantula colony by Hagrid to learn about what had transpired fifty years previously. The Chamber of Secrets had been reopened, and Hagrid was unable to tell them of the events leading up to his expulsion since he was placed under arrest and sent to Azkaban as a prime suspect. Before Hagrid left, he discreetly told the pair to "follow the spiders". Making their way through the forest, the duo arrive at the colony where an aged Aragog relayed the tale of his birth and what transpired in 1943, thus revealing Hagrid's innocence, while also giving a small clue of the Chamber's resident monster. While he restrained himself from attacking the boys, Aragog's orders to his children not to attack Hagrid, however, did not extend to Hagrid's friends. He allowed his children to attack the pair, but the two students were saved by a feral flying car.[1]

Death of Aragog[]

"Farewell, Aragog, king of arachnids, whose long and faithful friendship those who knew you won’t forget! Though your body will decay, your spirit lingers on in the quiet, web-spun places of your forest home. May your many-eyed descendants ever flourish and your human friends find solace for the loss they have sustained."
— Horace Slughorn's eulogy to Aragog[src]

In 1997, Aragog became ill and eventually died. The colony, as was their way, intended to devour the corpse. Hagrid, wanting to give him a decent burial, dragged the corpse through the Forest and buried it outside his hut in a small service attended by Professor Horace Slughorn (who used the opportunity to procure some Acromantula venom), and Harry Potter. With Aragog's demise, the colony no longer followed his orders of not to harm Hagrid, much to Hagrid's dismay.[6]

Battle of Hogwarts[]

"Hermione screamed, and Harry, turning, did not need to ask why. A monstrous spider the size of a small car was trying to climb through the huge hole in the wall: one of Aragog’s descendants had joined the fight."
— One of the Acromantulas participating in the Battle of Hogwarts[src]
Battle of Hogwarts GIF

Acromantulas during Battle of Hogwarts

During the Battle of Hogwarts in 1998, the Acromantulas were driven out of their nest by Death Eaters, who used the nest as a base of operations. The Acromantulas attacked the school, scaling the walls of the castle and attacking both the defenders of Hogwarts and Death Eaters alike. One of them was killed by Aberforth Dumbledore and another was possibly killed in an explosion.[7]

An Acromantula during the Battle of Hogwarts

An Acromantula being stunned during the battle

Near the climax of the battle, the nest was the location of Harry Potter's stand against Lord Voldemort, when he fully intended to sacrifice himself in order to defeat the Dark Lord. Harry also dropped a Deathly Hallow, the Resurrection Stone near here on his way to turn himself over to Lord Voldemort.[8]

What happened to the colony after the battle is unknown. It is possible that many were killed during the battle, but also that they managed to return to their original habitat in the Forbidden Forest, once the Death Eaters had abandoned it, and continued to live and breed there.

Appearances[]

Notes and references[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 15 (Aragog)
  2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 13 (The Very Secret Diary)
  3. Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, Year 4, Chapter 16 (The Forest Vault)
  4. Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, Year 5, Chapter 2 (Grave Danger)
  5. Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, Year 5, Chapter 11 (Mundungus Fletcher)
  6. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 22 (After the Burial)
  7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 31 (The Battle of Hogwarts)
  8. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 34 (The Forest Again)
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