Harry and the Acromantula

[Weasleyfanforever]

Ok, we know when Harry was stabbed by the Basilisks fang, that he got poisoned. But Harry should have posioned another time, in Goblet of Fire...

In the third task, Harry meets an Acromantula. Well, an Acromantula's secretions are poisonous.... So Harry is bitten by it, then later, he starts rubbing his leg, and the secretions from the Acromantula are on his leg. Why didn't Harry get poisoned?

He looked down at his leg. It was bleeding freely. He could see some sort of thick, gluey secretion from the spider's pincers on his torn robes.

An Acromatula is described as a gigantic black spider with a poisonous bite, the acromantula is an anomaly in the beast / being classification system. While capable of human speech, the acromantula is classified as a beast rather than a being due to its violent tendencies. It is believed to have been a wizard-bred species, serving as an example of why the Ban on Experimental Breeding was put into effect.

OK, so questions I have about this are:

Why wasn't Harry poisoned?

Does Voldemort now have that poison in his veins as well, since Harry does?

It says that the Acromantula is a wizard-bred species. So, could Voldemort have created the Acromantula?

[MissWhizbee]

Maybe, DD or one of the others that set up the maze took the poison out of the Acromantula's venom to help prevent it from killing one of the contestants. Surely, there's a spell for that, there's a spell for everything...except raising the dead ;)

[Alz]

You have to remeber RE the fang - that was Fawkes that saved him - a phoenix tear ;)
I think MW makes a good point - perhaps they were milked prior to the event starting?

Another thought is it has been said that Dumbledore might have gifted Harry this 'resitance' to poisons etc when he was a baby ... whereas I would look towards the potions master ;)

[Tonks]

Are we 100% sure that this beast was an Acromantula, and not just a relative of Aragog? Or was Aragog himself an Acromantula?

I definitely think that it's a pretty large possibility that if it was an Acromantula, then it would've been un-poisonized before the start of the task. The MoM did try to make the tournament much more safer this time (not that it helped ;) ).

However, could the Acromantula's poison be extremely slow-acting? Going a bit unrealistic here, but maybe it takes such a long time to act, that it didn't take effect on Harry until after he was back at Hogwarts and already under the care of Madam Pomfrey (yes, I know it's a bit of a stretch).

[Tinkerbell]

Never really thought about the Acromantula's venom being deadly although was aware it was a poison, particularly as Harry is once again assisted by Fawkes who drips his healing tears on Harry's leg when Harry is recounting the graveyard incident. Sure, if the venom was deadly, it sure takes a long time to take effect!

Tend to feel that, yeh, the MoM would have tried to reduce the possibility of casualties during the Tournament, but who the hell would want to milk an Acromantula anyhow!!!?

[Weasleyfanforever]

Are we 100% sure that this beast was an Acromantula, and not just a relative of Aragog? Or was Aragog himself an Acromantula?

I definitely think that it's a pretty large possibility that if it was an Acromantula, then it would've been un-poisonized before the start of the task. The MoM did try to make the tournament much more safer this time (not that it helped ;) ).

However, could the Acromantula's poison be extremely slow-acting? Going a bit unrealistic here, but maybe it takes such a long time to act, that it didn't take effect on Harry until after he was back at Hogwarts and already under the care of Madam Pomfrey (yes, I know it's a bit of a stretch).

I don't know if they would have taken the danger out of things so much. The dragons could have easily killed one of the contestants in the second task, and I am almost positive that there were other things in the maze that had the potential to kill.

Also, in OotP when they are all in the Hog's Head, I believe it is Cho that says that Harry fought the acromantula in the maze...

~Edit~

OK, I found the quote, here it is:

'And that's not to mention,' said Cho (Harry's eyes snapped across to her; she was looking at him, smiling; his stomach did another somersault) 'all the tasks he had to get through in the Triwizard Tournament last year - getting past dragons and merpeople and Acromantula and things…'

I like the idea of the slow-acting poison. Not only because it would explain why Harry survived the bite, but also, could this poison effect Voldemort? He used Harry's blood in GoF after he had been bitten. Could the poison now be in Voldemort's system? This is a gargantuan stretch, I know... :D

[Tinkerbell]

That is an excellent point Wheezy, and provides more ammunition for the train of thought that Harry and Voldemort are becoming more and more similar...

[Tonks]

Tend to feel that, yeh, the MoM would have tried to reduce the possibility of casualties during the Tournament, but who the hell would want to milk an Acromantula anyhow!!!?
I'm sure there are other ways of getting the poison out of the spider's "gluey secretion" other than actually milking it! Definitely agree, that would be some nasty business! Although, probably wouldn't be too bad with a wand (can always stun the thing and then perform a spell to extract the poison).
I don't know if they would have taken the danger out of things so much. The dragons could have easily killed one of the contestants in the second task, and I am almost positive that there were other things in the maze that had the potential to kill.

Also, in OotP when they are all in the Hog's Head, I believe it is Cho that says that Harry fought the acromantula in the maze...
I don't know; there were MoM wizards standing by the first task the entire time in case things got out of hand, weren't there? They would not have let any of the dragons kill a contestant. In the maze, they were still standing by, but exactly as close or as aware of everything going on (since they were behind the hedges). They would probably want to make it as safe, yet challenging, as they could.

Still, if the venom was slow-acting, then that would be enough of a safety feature (because it would be pretty possible to get the antidote or some sort of treatment started before it turned fatal).

Oh and thanks; was wondering where it said it was an acromantula! Thought I'd really missed something. ;)