A new week had begun.

  After two weeks ba school, students had finally returo their regur routines, and the knowledge that had slipped away over the holiday was gradually being picked back up.

  Professors in each subject looked a little less annoyed.

  Professonagall patrolled the , her students. Although most of them hadn't succeeded in transf caterpilrs into chess pieces, they were ing fewer caterpilrs than before, and the students were no lrily smashing the ps.

  Some students were beginning to shape their caterpilrs into something resembling chess pieces. With a bit more practice, they might soon plete a full transformation.

  The first student to successfully create a plete chess piece was Eda. She transformed the caterpilr into a knight, the on to create other pieces. Each piece was lively in appearahe knight with its raised he imposing king. Now, Eda was w on transf a caterpilr into a queen.

  In wizard's chess, the queen's movements were uricted: it could advan any dire—horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. In European history, queens were often symbols of powerful alliaheir families lending armies to defeat foes or secure the monarchy.

  With a wave of her wand, the caterpilr transformed uhe spell into a queen. This queen wore armor, standing tall with her sword, her expression fierd anding—less like a queen and more like a warrior king leading troops into battle.

  Standing behind Eda, Professonagall quietly observed her casting. Eda's skill in Transfiguration was certainly due in no small part to Magall's dedicated teag.

  Today, Eda gave Professonagall a different feeling.

  It was intehough Magall couldn't quite pinpoint what exactly had ged about her. But Eda was moving in a positive dire, and that reassured Magall.

  The afternoon was Defense Against the Dark Arts css.

  The things Professlover Cecil had shared with Eda by the Bck Lake on Saturday—who knew if he'd been helping her or leading her into a trap?

  Logically, when someone shares a tragic story from their past, no matter how eloquent they are, it typically earns a bit of sympathy and perhaps some tears, leaving others sad for a moment.

  But Cecil's story had a profound impa Eda, nearly turning her into someone lost in memories, stu the past. It almost ruined her.

  Yet, when Eda mao pull herself out of those memories, she realized many things and gained crity on how she wao live her life from now on. In that sense, Cecil seemed to have helped her.

  Each time Eda ied with these older wizards, she felt her own inexperience. She couldn't truly uand any of them, nor could she easily grasp what their aeant, often needing to ponder over it for days.

  In the , the desks had been pushed to the sides, ly arranged along the room's edges. A rge empty space before the podium was draped in bck cloth, cealing somethih it.

  By the window, Cecil sat smoking as usual, shrouded in pale blue smoke. There was no trace of sorrow on him now; it was as if the man who had silently wept by the Bck Lake wasn't him at all.

  Cecil had returo the way he'd seemed on the first day of css—wise, knowledgeable, with a hint of humor.

  Eda looked at Cecil, and through his thick lenses, he looked back at her. Watg her ugh and talk with her friends, Cecil wore a satisfied expression. He had expected Eda might take more time to move on, perhaps even a lifetime. Her quick recovery surprised even him.

  The bell rang, and Cecil put away his pipe, stepping up to the podium.

  He said, "Dark magies in many forms, tless and ever-ging. Fighting it is like battling a monster—you might cut off one head, but it still see you from somewhere else. And it will only bee fiercer and more ing."

  Cecil's words struck a bit of fear into the students, and they gripped their books more tightly.

  "But, without a head, how would it see you?" Fred muttered quietly. "I'm genuinely curious."

  "I'm curious too. Haha, it might be thinking from his lower head…" Lee Jordan's grin turned a bit mischievous, his mind clearly veering somewhere inappropriate.

  Eda, oher hand, knew of one such being, but that was a god, not some dark magic or creature. She replied, "Who knows? Maybe it exists, or maybe he's just making it up to scare us. Why don't you go and ask him?"

  Lee Jordan shook his head vigorously. He had no desire to i with someone like Glover Cecil, a wizard with a reputation in dark magic.

  Iwo weeks sierm started, Professor Cecil had been a strange figure. Students enjoyed his csses, but few dared approach him after them—no one wanted any association with such a notorious figure.

  As soon as css ehe students scattered, rushing out as though the person teag them wasn't a wizard but a giant swinging a massive club.

  "Today, we'll be fag a ing and vicious dark creature," Cecil said, pointing his wand at the bck cloth. Instantly, the cloth vanished, revealing a small s. "They often reside in ss, attag passing travelers. Does anyone know what they are?"

  The s before them looked incredibly real, like a miniature version of a rge one. A narrow path shrough it, leading from the students to where Cecil stood.

  The students shook their heads, uo guess what creature lurked within the s. Still, they instinctively felt a sense of dread.

  Eda raised her hand, and Ceodded for her to answer. She said, "Is it a Hinkypunk? Many dark creatures live in ss, but the Hinkypunk seems the most suitable for us to study now."

  "Expin further," Professor Cecil enced.

  "Hinkypunk—a creature that looks as if it's made of smoke, bang on one leg, and appears frail and harmless," Eda recalled from her studies. "But it lures travelers into the marsh. When they drown, it devours them."

  "Exactly, correswer—five points to Gryffindor," Cecil said, g. "This creature sounds frightening, but it's easy to handle as long as you stay grounded and don't let it deceive you."

  "Your task today is to resist the Hinkypunk's lure and make it safely across this s." Cecil stepped down from the podium. "Don't worry—you're safe. I'll protect you."

  All the students took a synized step back, quick to avoid being the unlucky first choice.

  "No one? No volunteers for the first try?" Cecil said with a smile. "Well, the lesson must go on, so I'll have to choose someo random."

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