The Shrieking Shack had been abandoned for who knows how long.

  Just the slightest movement inside would stir up a rge cloud of dust, making it hard to breathe.

  With the doors and windows sealed by wooden boards for years, the house had developed a strange, unpleasant odor.

  Over the years, the ghostly rumors about this pce had grown more and more detailed. The decrepit Shrieking Shack seemed perfectly suited to hauntings. A "remote" mountain vilge, a long-abandoned old house—everything about it screamed to people: Want to see ghosts? e to the Shrieking Shabsp;

  Eda, whose curiosity was always in overdrive, had been drawn in by this allure. Foolishly, she had spent time researg everything about the Shrieking Shack, wasting her limited free time.

  Who would have thought that pns couldn't keep up with reality?

  What started as a casual exploration of an unvisited secret passage uedly led her to the Shrieking Shack! It should have been a pleasant surprise, a case of "search high and low only to find it effortlessly."

  It could even be sidered a "double blessing." But the Shrieking Shack turned out to be nothing more than its reputation.

  There were no ghosts at all, leaving Eda excited for nothing and feeling naturally disappointed.

  "So... what do we do now?" Gee waved his hand, trying to clear the dust in front of him. "Should we head back?"

  "There's really nothing worth seeing here. Everything's just old and broken," Fred said as he paced bad forth in the room. His footsteps kicked up more dust, f Eda and Gee to keep waving their hands to clear it away.

  "If you keep walking bad forth like that, I'll break ys!" Gee said irritably. "Eda, why don't we head back? I feel like my lungs are about to explode."

  Eda's mind was rag, bursting with tless ideas and inspirations. She hadn't studied British wizarding ws, so she wasn't sure if her current thoughts would be permissible or not.

  "Eda, what are you thinking about?" Fred waved a hand in front of her face. "e o's head back."

  "If you're really so attached to haunted houses, we find another one during the summer holidays," Gee said, reag out his right hand to help her up.

  "What do you think about me tidying up this pce?" Eda stood up, imitating Fred from earlier as she began pag around the room.

  The dust, which had just settled, started swirling through the air again.

  Fred spread his arms and spun around in the room. "This pce isn't small. ing it up would be a huge task. Besides, don't you already have that underground room? What do you his for?"

  "I'm not sure what Eda's pnning," Gee said with a grin, "but the ghost stories about the Shrieking Shack are definitely about to make a eback."

  "You know, I e from—"

  Fred raised his hand to cut her off. "Stop! I know about your background. Just tell us what you want to do."

  "My idea is simple: I want a house of my own," Eda said with her hands behind her back. Her obsession with owning a home was deeply ingrained, something she couldn't shake.

  For someone like Eda, who owned o nothing, buying a house was no small feat. Without the safety of a vault in Gringotts to fall ba, she had to rely entirely on her own pns and efforts.

  The shack, though dipidated, could be made livable with proper renovations. This would save a signifit amount of money.

  Moreover, the vilgers, scared off by the haunted house rumors, wouldn't bother anyone living there, ensuring pead quiet.

  The problem Eda now faced was how to acquire ownership of the Shrieking Shack.

  The house had been vat for many years, and no one ever mentios owner. Even if she wao buy it, she wouldn't know whom to approach. And, of course, Eda didn't have the Galleons to afford it.

  Although Eda was broke, the fact that the house had bee unattended for so lo she could simply move ily and deal with the money issue ter. Besides, this was a "haunted house," the kind of property that typically couldn't fetch much of a price.

  "You live at the Burrow! Mom has already said the Burrow is your home!" Fred shouted, his chest burning with frustration. He was angry now.

  "But I 't live at the Burrow forever, right? Moving out is only a matter of time, just like Bill did, and Charlie will, too, before long," Eda expined. She was deeply grateful to the Weasleys for treating her like family, but she couldn't stay there her whole life. Kids grow up, aually, they have to bee indepe.

  "It's not the same. Bill is an adult already. How old are you?"

  Gee's tone wasn't much better. Eda's words felt distant to him.

  Eda silently held up four fingers. The white fingers were very dazzling to the two brothers. They were one year youhan Eda. No, only half a year. The twins would not admit the one-year difference.

  The twins knew Eda was right, but they couldn't swallow their pride. Fred muttered, "We're not going to help you. If you want to fix it up, do it yourself. Exhaust yourself!"

  After finishing their versation, the sulking twihe shack without another word, disappearing bato the tunnel. Eda lingered in the room, wandering around o time before leaving. In her mind, she had already drafted a renovation pn worth a thousand Galleons, but since she didn't have that kind of mohe pn would have to wait for now.

  On the way back to the castle, the twins walked far ahead, clearly not waiting for Eda. She followed behind at her own paot b to catch up. She figured they were just being stubborn for the moment and would e around in a few days.

  Eda thought to herself that ing up and renovating the shack all by herself would indeed be a daunting task. The house was in su unlivable state that fixing it up would require a massive effort.

  However, she had already decided whom to ask for help—someone who could assist without leaking a word about her pns.

  Once back at the castle, Eda headed straight for the kits.

  She wasn't there for food but to find a helper: the house-elf Winnie, whom she had in mind as the perfect assistant for ing up the Shrieking Shack.

  House-elves were creatures long ago subjugated by wizards. From the moment they were born, they were taught to obey their masters unditionally. Traditionally, they served as sves for a ahy wizarding families, and being cast out of a household was sidered the greatest shame for a house-elf.

  Hogwarts had many house-elves. Thanks to their tireless work, the castle remained , and the students and staff enjoyed delieals every day.

  Eda never saw herself as Winnie's master, no matter how often the elf addressed her as "Miss." This wasn't an order but a request—Eda was asking Wio help her tidy up the Shrieking Shack.

  The house-elf Winnie was overjoyed to learn that she could help Miss Eda. Her tennis-ball-sized eyes were filled with delight, though she showed a bit of apprehension when she realized the task involved going to the Shrieking Shack.

  Even though she was somewhat scared, Winnie was determio go. A house-elf's deep-seated servitude was ingrained in her very being. Eda uood this, so she repeatedly assured Wihat the rumors about the Shrieking Shack were untrue. She also promised to apany Wihere and not leave her alone.

  At dinner in the Great Hall that evening, the twins were still sulking. They her spoke to Eda nor looked at her, choosing to sit far away from her.

  This situatio everyone puzzled.

  Eda and the twins had always been inseparable, stantly seen together. Now, after a single Christmas holiday, it seemed as though the three had "goheir separate ways."

  Angelina and Alicia, sittio Eda, were full of questions. They, too, wao know what had happened betweerio to cause things to end up like this.

  __________

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