Homecoming from Hogwarts

Sand. Sand. Sand.
Click, click, click--
At first glance, the yard, which was almost half the size of the Hogwarts campus, was filled with densely packed eight-eyed spiders, numbering almost hundreds!

Unlike outside the gate, the large yard of Avalon Prison was entirely bare sand, without a single tree.

So, hundreds of eight-eyed spiders, some as big as Hagrid and some as big as African elephants, appeared right in front of the little wizard.

In addition, if there was a slight smell of blood in the air, even Harry, who had dealt with them before, would tremble at the roots of his hair.

Even if hundreds of eight-eyed spiders appeared in the brutal Battle of Diagon Alley, they would probably be a powerful force that could decide the outcome of the battle!
Most of the young wizards couldn't even breathe smoothly when faced with thousands of blinking green compound eyes in broad daylight!
"You don't normally eat people?"

Qiu Zhang's friend, Marietta, stared at Professor Brian in amazement, seeking a reasonable explanation for this strange statement.

"Of course the Ministry of Magic will not use prisoners to feed the eight-eyed spiders. Just like Azkaban, the Ministry will regularly purchase some ordinary animals and send them here as food for the eight-eyed spiders--"

Amosta smiled and said,
"But if the prisoners here attempt to escape, or if they repeatedly disobey the correctional officers, then the Eight-eyed Spiders have the right to execute them."

Execution means
Hermione pursed her lips and breathed deeply.

This seems a bit inhumane?

However, thinking about the identities of the people imprisoned in the prison and then thinking about the former Azkaban prison, Hermione could not raise any questions.

Clang--
After a heavy metal collision sound, the silver-white door in front of the little wizard opened, and a young man with a similar clothing style to those who picked them up ashore appeared behind the entrance door of the pentagonal building.

"Hello, Mr. Blaine, my name is Heidi Barry. The control room has arranged for me to be the guide for this Hogwarts study tour—"

The young wizard with light brown curly hair smiled respectfully at Professor Brain.

The moment the door opened, a cold, fishy wind swept in, causing the little wizards to unconsciously hunch their shoulders.

"Thank you for your hard work, Barry--"

Amosta nodded and smiled at the young druid.
"How's it going here lately?"

"Much better, Mr. Blaine—"

A young man named Barry said,
"The eight-eyed spiders and the prisoners have started to adapt to each other, and we have also taken some measures."

When they were outside the courtyard wall, Harry thought that this pentagonal prison should be a two-story building, but it was not.

There is only one floor here, but the roof is built very high.

Behind the door is a deep corridor with gray granite on both sides, the floor and the ceiling.

I don’t know if it’s a psychological factor, but after walking in here, Harry can always hear faint wailing sounds.

Professor Braine emphasizes that order is simply superfluous.

With a click, the heavy door closed and darkness swept in from the corners of the corridor, with the only lighting coming from the torches embedded in the walls.

The solemn atmosphere weighed on the hearts of every young wizard, and no one could escape it.

The torches on the stone walls only ensured that the lower half of the corridor was bright, while the ceiling was hidden in the dim gloom.

Walking in the intricate corridors, the little wizards could always hear the sound of flapping wings in the darkness that the light could not reach.

It's a surveillance mirror.

Their every move since boarding the ship has been under the watchful eyes of the guards.

Harry originally thought that the eight-eyed spiders were only responsible for guarding the courtyard outside, but when he turned a corner, he almost suffocated when he suddenly saw two eight-eyed spiders with particularly bright green eyes appearing before his eyes in the dim light.

Click, click, click--
The little wizards were collectively petrified, facing off against these two crouching eight-eyed spiders the size of African elephants at close range. Even their breathing stopped!
Harry, whose body was stiff, suddenly felt someone pinching his wrist, and that person's palm was covered with cold sweat.

When I turned my head, a flash of red jumped into my eyes.

Harry pursed his lips and gave Ginny a reassuring smile.

"That is--"

Amosta looked at the two big spiders curiously, their abdominal cavities were clamped by a round wooden ring.

"That's the precaution, Professor Braine—"

Barry, who was leading the way, sighed and said,
“We don’t want to do this, but we have no choice. The ministry’s idea is to not provide enough food to the eight-eyed spiders so that they remain appropriately hungry. This will have a deterrent effect on the prisoners.

Some prisoners who have been in Azkaban for a long time have almost lost their sanity, and they will be more aggressive. We try not to let the prisoners become food for spiders, so we also put such wooden rings on the prisoners. "

Whatever this is doing, it can't be a good thing. Theodore Nott's face turned pale, and he stared at the "jailer" with resentment, while the Greengrass sisters were also unusually silent.

Barry condensed a green light in his palm and pressed it against the wall behind the spider. Then, with a rumbling sound, the stone wall sank downwards.

It seems that ordinary magic cannot open the stone wall, Hermione realized this, only the special magic mastered by Professor Larsen can do it.

Hermione counted silently. They passed through nine stone doors like this before they finished walking through this intricate maze of corridors.

Moreover, there are eight-eyed spiders guarding each door.

Finally, the little wizards walked out of the corridor and stood on the inner circle of the pentagonal prison.

The walkway circles around, and inside is a vast space that extends downward, about as high as three or four stories.

Just like the ceiling of the auditorium reflects the bright sky outside, providing lighting for this enclosed space.

The young wizards all exhaled. The corridor they just walked through was really too depressing.

"Oh, this is--"

The first thing Harry noticed was that on the spacious rock square below, which was also guarded by eight-eyed spiders, there were several tall ball hoops erected!
"Avalon Prison allows prisoners to engage in appropriate activities to relieve physical and mental stress—"

Amosta explained to the little wizards who were all surprised,

"But only on my days off."

"Are there any days off?"

Theodore Nott interrupted in surprise.

"Yes, but there are only three days in a month, the 10th, 20th and 30th--"

Amosita nodded. These management policies were formulated by him, so he knew them very well.

After a moment of silence, Theodore Nott nodded to Professor Braine.

"The prisoners are studying now, Mr. Blaine and classmates, please come over here--"

Prisoners. Study?

Barry's words immediately confused the little wizards again.

But Nott, who was eager to see his father, ignored all this and followed excitedly.

The students moved along the platform on the second floor, and Hermione discovered that in addition to the Quidditch field, Avalon Prison also had a library for the prisoners!

However, after taking a quick look at the books on the bookshelf through the wiped transparent glass window, Hermione discovered that most of the books collected here were magazines, newspapers and story collections, but there were no serious magic books.

"father!"

Although he had prepared himself mentally, Theodore Nott lost control when he actually saw his father, wearing a blue and white striped prison uniform, sitting upright in the classroom behind the huge glass window, listening to the lecture.

With tears in his eyes, he rushed forward in two steps, pounding heavily on the glass window that blocked out the sound and the outside world.

"Dad, it's me, can you see me?"

Some Slytherins were silent, most of them knew Theodore's father.

In their impression, although old Nott is not good-looking, he is still a gentleman with good manners.

And now, the person sitting under the podium, who was more serious than them in class, was just a skinny old man.

The noise made by Theodore could not be heard in the classroom, but it was noticed by the eight-eyed spider "supervising" in the large classroom.

The spider, which was originally crawling on the ground with its legs folded, suddenly showed its ferocious appearance. It jumped up with a thud, and its two big claws began to click.

This directly triggered a disaster. The prisoners who had been listening to the class obediently under surveillance thought that the eight-eyed spider could no longer control its desire to eat. They jumped up from their seats in horror and rushed to the classroom door frantically, pounding on the closed iron door. The craziest of them was -
"Hey Hermione—"

Looking up at the familiar yet unfamiliar face behind the small glass on the iron door, Harry swallowed his saliva with a gulp, his face full of disbelief.

"Um"

Hermione also saw that face. She responded tremblingly, her eyes wide open.

"Professor Lockhart" (End of Chapter)