The i of attag Flint seemed to have blown over. He hadn't mentio to anyone else—perhaps he thought beied by a sed-year girl was too humiliating to admit.

  Flint's refusal to apologize to Charlie Weasley was likely his st shred of pride. Still, the i wasirely bad for him. At least his buck teeth had shrunk signifitly, effectively giving him free dental work.

  Eda's iions were simple: to teach Flint a lesson and help Charlie vent his frustrations. Revenge was straightforward in her eyes—grievances should be repaid in kind. Living a sed life, she didn't want to spend it c or being overly fiving.

  People whe you to always be magnanimous? Stay away from them. When lightning strikes them, it might hit you too. As for sayings like "Five those who have wronged you because they made you stroo Eda, those were plete nonsense.

  Fiving them was Merlin's business; Eda saw herself as merely the ferryman, responsible for sending them to meet Merlin. Flint's foolishness wasn't severe enough to warrant a meeting with Merlin, so a simple lesson sufficed. There was o utterly crush him.

  If she dared to go that far, Professonagall would be the first to make sure she faced sequences.

  When Flint had injured Charlie, Professonagall had already anticipated how things might unfold. She knew Eda would find a way to retaliate; she could hold Eda back for a while but couldn't trol her for aire school year.

  Siopping the i ht was impossible, Magall focused on minimizing its impact. She preemptively set boundaries for Eda to ensure she wouldn't go overboard in a fit e.

  And as things pyed out exactly as Magall had foreseen, she was satisfied with the oute. As a result, she awarded Eda five points in Transfiguration css.

  The five points made Eda feel a bit "overwhelmed." The st time Professonagall had awarded her five points was ba their very first Transfiguration lesson a year ago.

  After css, Eda received anift—a meticulously anized set of Transfiguration notes, personally piled by Professonagall.

  At the time, the was empty except for the two of them. her the older woman nor the younger one spoke a word. Everything was uood in sileacit uandiween women.

  If Professonagall's as implied tacit approval of Eda's behavior, then Snape's response was pletely inprehensible to her.

  Snape had dohing.

  He didn't make things difficult for her in Potions css, and even the November tut schedule tinued as pnned.

  Eda didn't believe for a sed that the head of Slytherin had failed to notiything. Last school year, Snape had been aware of her wandering aimlessly around the castle—how could he possibly be oblivious now, when Flint had been thhly beaten?

  It was impossible!

  Ahat was the situation. Snape showed ion and didn't give Eda any trouble, leavio enjoy a rexed period.

  While Eda was having an easy time, the Weasley twins were in utter misery. The brothers were on the verge of being driven mad by Oliver Wood.

  Since Charlie's hospitalization, Gryffindor's Quidditch practices had been led by Vice Captain Wood. Known for his striess, Wood frequently lost his temper during training sessions. Even Angelina and Alicia were often scolded, let alohe mischievous twins.

  On the day before the match against Hufflepuff, Wood had even dragged the team out early in the m to discuss tactics. But despite all his efforts, Gryffindor still lost the match.

  Gryffindor dominated for most of the game, but Charlie's absence left a gap that couldn't be filled. The team's substitute Seeker was no match for Cedric Diggory. In the end, Cedric successfully caught the Golden Snitch, leading Hufflepuff to an ued eback victory.

  The sed-year Cedric caught the Golden Snitch, earning 150 points and single-handedly g the match, being Hufflepuff's hero. He was the lion-sying warrior of the day.

  The Seeker position was crucial, capable of turning the tide of a game single-handedly, embodying a heroic fir that overshadowed other roles oeam.

  Of course, if your Chasers mao lead by more than 150 points, thehe oppo catg the Snitch wouldn't matter—but such sarios usually occurred in professional matches. Hogwarts students simply didn't have that level of offensive firepower.

  After putting in so much effort only to fall short, a sense of deje hung over every Gryffindor pyer, including the twins.

  Even Wood, who had been gring fiercely before the match as though ready to devour his oppos, was deeply disappointed. But as the vice-captain, he had to hide his own frustration and try to fort each team member, despite it not being his forte.

  The team's mood was low, but it didn't st long. Slytherin also lost their match, falling to Ravencw with an equally inplete lineup.

  In the race for the Quidditch Cup, Slytherin now sat at the bottom after two secutive losses. The satisfa of having their archrival beh them lifted Gryffindor's spirits siderably.

  The cherry on top came the evening after Slytherin's loss, when Charlie Weasley, cool as ever, was discharged from the hospital wing. Not a moment too early, not a moment too te—his timing was impeccable.

  With Charlie's return, Gryffindor's training finally returo normal. The echoes of Wood's shouting och were no more, and the team was full of fidence for their match.

  Eda hadn't been going to Gryffindor's training sessioly because she had a pile of books to get through. These books were all from the Restricted Se of the Hogwarts library, and she o make the most of her time to read as many as possible.

  Accessing the Restricted Se required a professor's signature. In her first year, Eda couldn't get one—Professonagall thought she was too young and shouldn't be there.

  Without the required permission, Eda had resorted to sneaking in whenever Madam Pince wasn't looking, which had even cost her house points.

  But this year, Eda didn't have to sneak around.

  She had finally obtained a professor's signature. Now, she could fidently hand the signed o Madam Pind stride into the Restricted Se to borrow books.

  The signatures Eda obtained all came from the same professor—but it wasn't Professonagall.

  Instead, it was Glover Cecil, the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor who frequently called on Eda in css and awarded her points.

  Cecil was so aodating that if Eda handed him a bnk piece of part, he would sign it without hesitation. He didn't care in the slightest what books Eda might borrow from the Restricted Se.

  Not only did Cecil favor her during css, but he also went out of his way to answer all of Eda's questions after css. Even if her questioaio Dark Magic, he would ahem in full.

  If Dumbledore hadn't forbidden Cecil from using Dark Magi school grounds, he would likely have enthusiastically demonstrated its terrifying power to Eda.

  The allure of Dark Magic, of course, y in its unparalleled strength. But to wield such power, one needed exceedingly stroive emotions. The more intehe emotions, the more potent the Dark Magic that could be unleashed.

  If a person remains in a stant state of ivity for too long, it's only a matter of time before they break down. Eda had no desire to be trolled by ive emotions, and her i in Dark Magic was strictly limited to uanding it. For this reason, she had never accepted Professor Cecil's enthusiastic reendations.

  After all, Glover Cecil himself was a living example—if not for the influence of Dark Magic, why else would he have done something he would regret for the rest of his life?

  If Eda were to tell him ht that she wao learn Dark Magic, Cecil would undoubtedly teach her everything he had mastered over his lifetime, no questions asked.

  The white-bearded old man with a pent for smoking was utterly indulgent toward Eda, catering to her every request to a nearly doting degree.

  In this world, love and hate never e without reaso Cecil's excessive favoritism seemed utterly irrational, leaving Eda puzzled.

  Eda had even discussed the matter with the twins more than once. However, despite their bined efforts, the three of them couldn't e up with any pusible expnation.

  While the reason behind Cecil's behavior remained unclear, there was no denying that he had been of immense help to Eda. Whether iudies or daily life, he had offered her invaluable advice time and time again.

  _______

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