"Colloportus." I sighed in relief as door to the train hallway clicked shut and the privacy window tint engaged. Navigating down the length of the train without bumping anyone with my spider legs or butt had been a harrowing experience. Now that I was safely away from the other students I could finally relax.
"Oof." Before I knew it I was on the ground nursing a bruised elbow. 'Oh, right, benches.' Beds I could handle with a little effort, but benches and chairs were far from friendly to giant spiders. With careful concentration I maneuvered my eight legs to lever myself upright before sitting down between the train compartment's benches. Honestly, eight legs were far too many. Four I probably could have handled, but it had been a number of weeks now and I still tripped a few times a day. A necessary consequence of a human mind controlling a spider body, I supposed. Certainly better than the reverse.
Despite the frosted glass this was no time to be incautious. Turning nearly 180 degrees at my waist I adjusted the invisibility cloak I'd stolen from Harry, making sure it covered all my spider parts. Well, except for my teeth. The small fangs were a recent acquisition, gained during one final attempt at completing my animagus training before I lost my nerve. Considering the fangs had come with a sudden new appreciation for red meat I figured it was best to stop while not too far behind. My dear Crookshanks wouldn't even come in the same room as me. For the first time, I was going to Hogwarts entirely alone. But I wasn't a little girl anymore, and over the past – for me – two years I'd learned how to get along by myself quite well.
While a good start, the invisibility cloak wasn't enough to let me blend in by itself. It did however make the process of maintaining an illusory floor-length skirt or robe far easier. It was still draining and the control to conjure the image of 3D legs was as of yet beyond me, but as long as no one bumped into me and I didn't show off my fangs it was sufficient to pass as fully human. Thankfully it was only a temporary solution and with luck I wouldn't have to keep it up for very long, but it did present some problems as far as how to shower at school. Even with the time turner, a trip back home every day would be annoying. Hogwarts wasn't even on the same island. But... there was the rift.
It had been such a long time since I'd been through. Fall had come with force here in Scotland, but perhaps it was still summer in that other world. I could bathe in a crystal-clear river without having to squeeze my spider half into a shower cubicle or worrying about discovery. It sounded heavenly. And on top of that, I'd finally get to let loose and practice some real magic. I'd studied a bunch of theory and learned a few wandless cantrips and of course screwed up an animagus transformation, but my wand had been strictly off limits. Stupid Ministry of Magic underage misuse of magic monitoring system crushing my creative spirit, or something.
Gurgle. "Shut up, stomachs." I was already regretting skipping out on the Sorting feast. But despite the questions it might bring from Harry and Ron there was just no way I could have gone. Not only would someone have bumped into me at the crowded dining table, I wasn't sure I could even properly sit at the table without breaking a leg. I'd just have to grab something from the kitchens later. It could be hours before there was anything hot there though, and I had little appetite for crackers or fruit anymore. No point in using the time turner then. Breakfast was far enough already. This visit to the world beyond the rift would have to be a short one.
I really had to come up with a better name for this place than "world beyond the rift." Narnia? Verdania? Arda? That sounded about right. And what a beautiful sky Arda had. This was the first time I'd visited Arda on a cloudless night, and the view was breathtaking. A multitude of stars shined against the purest black sky I'd ever seen, none of the hazy pollution of England. The constellations were different from those I'd learned in astronomy class, as I'd expected. Either this was a different dimension or planet entirely, or so far back or forwards in time that the stars themselves had changed position. It would take considerably more exploration to find out which one for sure though.
I stepped towards the river but stopped thereafter, a light tap-dance of spider-feet betraying my indecision. I'd intended to pop by the river I'd discovered in a previous visit, but with night falling the air was turning a touch chill. Besides, there was another piece of Arda that was drawing my attention. The dark, murky woods to the East had seemed forbidding last year, but now something about them called to me. I'd spent an awful lot of time this summer hiding away in my room, constantly studying and suppressing my spider instincts. Maybe it was time to let loose for a little while, here where no-one was around to fear me or call me a freak or a monster.
It took a bit to find the rhythm, but soon enough I was running at a fair pace on my eight legs. Or was it scuttling? skittering? galloping? Regardless, it was considerably faster than my pace had been on human legs. Last time it had taken two days to reach the edge of the forest, this time it barely took two hours and a third of my water bottle. Not sweating anymore significantly helped with water efficiency, despite my larger body. Hunger was a different matter. I'd been a bit peckish when I left Hogwarts but now I was ravenous. Well, it was a forest. I could probably forage for some nuts and berries. And wasn't that a grimace-inducing thought. I hadn't been much for vegetarian fare since my transformation, particularly after I'd grown fangs. Vegetables were hard enough to choke down in a curry, let alone au naturale.
It was dark in the woods and I hadn't brought a light. But I did have my wand. "Lumos." Devouring darkness spread from my wand until I canceled the spell with a thought. "Or not." It seemed I was right to come here to practice my wandwork before trying any spells in class. I'd suspected something was wrong when I'd practiced lumos and other minor spells wandlessly over the summer, but this proved it. When my body changed, so did my magic. It didn't affect everything, but certain spells were subtly changed, weakened or strengthened. Or, like lumos, rather less subtly.
Despite the lack of light I moved deeper into the woods, careful not to lose the dim starlight behind me. 'Well that's odd.' A dozen yards into the woods and I hadn't run into a single branch, hadn't even had a single one of my legs stumble. I could feel... everything. It was like touching a doorknob through a thick glove, but I could feel a rock ten feet away, the falling of a leaf, even the swaying of the trees. Not only that, my eyes were starting to adjust. It was murky, but I was starting to see dim shapes limned in silver-gray. Some sort of night vision with a little echolocation spider-sense type thing on top, I surmised. Not bad, not bad at all. My failed animagus experiment had caused me no end of trouble back in civilization, but it was proving quite useful for exploring.
Buoyed by my newfound talent I scampered deeper into the woods. Navigating out of the woods could wait until dawn, right now navigating around tree trunks was enough. I went faster and faster as I gained familiarity with my senses. 'Ground' took on a whole new meaning as I went deeper into the woods. A tumultuous mix of rocks, fallen trees and vines had me running well above the soil, often as not. Scents filled the air, little scurrying creatures darting into the brush as I passed, making me want to pounce. I restrained myself, of course. It wasn't like I'd know what to do with one of them if I caught something anyways. Other than that however I let my instincts have free reign. Here in the depth of the woods it was as if I'd entered another realm. Time and the trappings of civilization felt very far away.
I wasn't sure how long it had been when I came to an abrupt stop. Neither was I immediately sure what it was that had stopped me. Even with my improved vision I couldn't see anything in front of me, but I could feel a barrier, feel the wind press and weave through it. Cautiously I brushed it with a fingertip. 'Silk?' A gentle pluck revealed its secrets, vibrations thrumming outwards through a series of interconnected webs. 'Spider silk... but what kind of spiders could weave webs this large?'
My question was answered moments later with a rustling along the webs. A hissing at the edge of sound reached my ears. Strangely, though it was no language I'd ever heard, I began to grasp its meaning. "Meat." "Glorious meat." "More intruders?" "Kill them." "EAT them."
"Oh shit," I said. 'Wait, did I just hiss?' Eyes flashed in the darkness and I wondered if it was too late to run. Or maybe... "I come in peace," I hissed to the spiders. Giant spiders. Bear-sized spiders. Was it weird that they looked huggable? Yes, that was definitely weird.
My words seemed to have thrown the arachnids into disarray, but it hadn't stopped them from gathering in the trees above me. At least three dozen of them chittered above me amongst the branches, too many hiss-words flying at once for me to interpret. All of a sudden all of their voices started saying the same things.
"Grandmother! Honored Grandmother!" "Come come Grandmother, we have food for you."
"Huh?"
