BXBX NOVEL Chapter 160: Change of Mind
Chapter 160: Change of Mind
“Help me, Evan! Please, help me…” Seeing Evan, Peter’s horrified face flashed a glimmer of joy.
He stretched his arms to him and pleaded miserably.
He wanted to break free from the Acromantula’s control, but his weak resistance had no effect.
It clasped Peter tightly with its two front furry long legs, dragging him to the center of the woods.
It passed by Evan and disappeared into the dark trees.
Evan just moved, and the two Acromantulas in front of him rushed over.
They stopped him and prevented him from saving Pettigrew.
Sixteen glittering fierce black eyes were all locked on Evan. the sharp big Fangs clicked loud enough to give any normal man goose bumps.
Evan took half a step back, and through the faint light on his wand’s tip, he saw an Acromantula hurrying with its long, fluffy eight legs, attacking directly from the ground, while the other one quickly climbed to the towering oak tree beside him then rushed down.
They were ready to attack from up and down, and the situation was very crippling.
Evan did not hesitate. He left the oak tree beside him and rushed to the Acromantula in front of him.
His wand made a ray of light, like a sharp sword, and directly divided the monster in front of him into two halves from the middle.
After killing it, he hurriedly raised his head up.
His mouth quickly said his spell as his hand moved his wand from the bottom up, and the same curse with dazzling light hit the spider that had just came down from the trunk.
Pop!!!
Green, sticky innards of the spider splashed out and flew everywhere.
The remains of the corpse fell heavily to the ground, and the dead body broke into two pieces.
But their horrifying fangs were still moving at full speed, biting the air at insane speed as if they had caught Evan.
The absolute brutality of the eight-eyed creature was incarnate in that scene.
In the book “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”, the Acromantula was right there with the Werewolf being one of the most dangerous magical species known to date.
Yesterday in Hogsmeade, Evan fought a werewolf.
Fortunately, an Acromantula does not have the horrifying defense and resilience of the werewolf. Relatively powerful magic can damage them. One just needs to be careful not to be touched by their sharp, massive, poisonous fangs.
The forest was quiet again, as if nothing had happened.
Evan gasped for a while and chased the place where Peter was towed away.
With the help of the Tracing Agent, he could know where he was being taken, and he seemed to be moving towards the center of a huge hollow.
As before, the ground was sloping downwards, but the surrounding trees were not as dense, and were getting sparser and sparser. The trunks also showed an unhealthy gray color, they seemed to have been eroded by any pests, and were covered with spider nets.
The scenery on the ground was even more disturbing, with animal wrecks everywhere. Evan saw a lot of white pupae. He didn’t know what was wrapped inside them. It should be the Acromantulas’ food. Some of them shook violently as he passed by.
Obviously, the creatures inside have not yet died.
Because of the tension, Evan’s palm was full of sweat. He had probably realized that he was about to encounter something horrifying if he was to go on.
He was considering the possibility of giving up Pettigrew. With his current injury, he certainly couldn’t escape from the Acromanttula. Chasing him sounds like straight path to death. Evan hesitated, as common sense told him to retreat and get back to his friends.
But he could still hear Pettigrew’s screams.
He sighed heavily, and he knew that he couldn’t leave him there.
After all, he still needs him to clear up Lupin’s and Black’s names. Knowing Cornelius Fudge, unless Evan brings Pettigrew himself in, the Minister would never believe that the two are innocent.
Not to mention, Lucius Malfoy stirring up his own plots. Even with Dumbledore’s authority, there’s no way to face them. No matter how powerful or great is the Headmaster, he cannot persuade other people in the Ministry to side with him.
Therefore, Evan had to bring back Pettigrew.
Adding to that, Evan was not the type to watch someone die before his eyes without moving a muscle.
Even if the victim was Pettigrew, even with the danger awaiting him, he would never back down.
He walked forward, worrying about Black’s injury. He didn’t know about the state of Harry and Hermione either. As he was leaving, it seemed like the Dementors were approaching. But seeing the powerful barrier going out of the castle, he was relieved.
As long as they have that person, they will not be in danger.
Nevertheless, with the way things had developed this night, Evan found his responsibility being great.
In the face of an evil Dark wizard like Pettigrew, he found himself not being decisive enough.
The correct approach to this matter should’ve been stunning Pettigrew directly and then bringing him in to Dumbledore, or incapacitating him in order to wipe away any chances of his escape, or….
Evan had that habit of putting himself in everyone’s shoes.
He had this impression of Pettigrew. On top of his cowardice and stupidity, he felt that he had a conscience that had never been annihilated. With this image, combined with Peter’s tragic ending, Evan thought that when overpowering him and facing him with the truth, Peter would give up all resistance and confess.
To him this would have been a perfect ending to this year’s event.
With Black succeeding to clear up his name and get what he was supposed to get and Ron succeeding to rely on his own efforts to resist the Imperius Curse, having Peter pay the price for his actions and sincerely apologizing to Black and Harry would’ve been perfect.
However, things did not develop in that direction!
In order to escape, in order to evade the Dementors’ wrath, Pettigrew resorted to that forbidden Dark Magic, not caring one bit about the safety of the four innocent children in front of him.
Pettigrew’s reaction was totally different from what Evan ever imagined.
Evan realized at that moment that he was just too na?ve.
This is a real magical world, not a game where he could guess events basing on the original plot. These characters were real living people.
They all had their own ideas, making decisions based on the dynamics of their surroundings, rather than sticking to what was in the book.
Even Dumbledore, the greatest white wizard in the contemporary Era, had his own unknown plans. Otherwise tonight he…
And among all the Death Eaters, Pettigrew was the lowliest and weakest of all. And still, even he proved to be so evil and difficult to deal with.
Evan sighed again. He realized that if he kept being this na?ve, he would never become an opponent to Voldemort.
“Changing other people fates is starting to look more like a fairy tale. It seems like the one I need to change the most is myself!”
Evan’s eyes gradually became firm. Although his heart did not change, he made up his mind to use more practical ways to solve these real problems.