"Get up, Eda! Mum's going to lose her temper. She says we might not make it to the train..."
A pair of soft, tender hands pulled Eda up from the bed.
Sitting on the bed, Eda stared blankly ahead, her head still foggy and heavy. After thinking for a while, she finally realized that the person who had woken her was Ginny.
Last night in the twins' room, Eda had talked with Fred and George for a very long time.
Starting with that Muggle named Shakespeare, they had chatted about all sorts of trivial things, to the point that Eda could no longer remember what they had talked about at the very end of the night.
After getting up, washing, and changing clothes, Eda finally walked out of the bedroom once she was all tidied up. Only then did she realize that she was not the last one. Someone was even slower than her, and the entire house had already descended into chaos.
Suddenly, Mrs. Black and Mrs. Weasley both began screaming at the top of their lungs from their portraits.
"That could seriously injure her. You two idiots..."
"Filthy half-breeds, defiling the ancestral home of my family..."
It turned out that Fred and George had enchanted their trunks so that they would fly downstairs on their own, saving them the trouble of carrying them. Unfortunately, the trunks flew straight into Ginny, knocking her down two entire flights of stairs before she landed in the entrance hall.
Growing up, my arse!
Whenever old Mrs. Black's curses rang out, Sirius could rush to the scene at an incredible speed, and this time was no exception. He roared, "Shut up, you horrible old hag! Shut up!"
The moment Sirius appeared, old Mrs. Black immediately turned her fury on him and screamed, "Filthy and wicked offspring! Wastrel, disgrace to the family, bastard I gave birth to!"
With Lupin's help, Sirius finally managed to block the portrait. The old woman's screams disappeared, leaving only an echo reverberating through the hall. Truly, the picture of maternal love and filial devotion.
Eda hurried downstairs to check Ginny's injuries.
Fortunately, the little girl was tough and had suffered no serious injuries, only a few scrapes. Eda glared fiercely at the offending twins while taking Ginny away to have her injuries bandaged.
After a while, Hestia Jones and Emmeline Vance arrived together. They were there to guard Harry and escort him to King's Cross Station.
However, Sturgis Podmore was nowhere to be seen. He was also one of Harry's guards. This was the second time in a week that he had failed to show up. He had suddenly become just as unreliable as Mundungus Fletcher.
Amid Mrs. Weasley's loud shouting and old Mrs. Black's angry curses, which had been awakened by the commotion in the entrance hall, everyone finally gathered with their luggage in the entrance hall and corridor.
Mrs. Weasley threw open the door, and the group stepped outside into the faint September sunlight. It took them twenty minutes on foot to reach King's Cross Station.
There was no denying that Harry had a much bigger entourage than Eda. He was practically surrounded on all sides.
As soon as they entered the station, they pretended to casually loiter around the barrier between Platforms 9 and 10. Once they were sure there was no one around, they one by one leaned against the wall and slipped through to the platform without anyone noticing.
The Hogwarts Express was already waiting there, billowing steam. The platform was packed with students saying goodbye to their families. The whistle sounded repeatedly, urging everyone to board as quickly as possible.
Without even having time to properly say goodbye to Mrs. Weasley, Eda and the twins had no choice but to hurry onto the train. The scarlet train accelerated continuously, houses outside the windows flashing past, while the three of them stood in place swaying with the motion.
Once they got used to the rhythm of the train's swaying, the twins went off to find an empty compartment. Eda, meanwhile, walked forward along the corridor. She still had to go to the prefects' compartment to hold a meeting for the prefects.
As she passed through one carriage after another, Eda saw many students holding copies of the Daily Prophet, with pictures of Dumbledore printed alongside the articles.
Quite a few students were quietly discussing Dumbledore and Harry, and occasionally Eda could hear her own name.
However, as soon as the students discussing her saw Eda passing by, they immediately fell silent, their faces filled with fear.
Eda estimated that in another ten days or half a month, she might be able to stop crying babies to sleep.
By the time she reached the prefects' compartment, it was already almost full.
Eda immediately spotted Hermione sitting ramrod straight, as well as Ron hiding in a corner and trying to make himself invisible.
The more he tried to shrink away, the more obvious he became. Did he really not understand that?
What a stupid marmot, a moldy orange.
Two prefects who knew how to read the room immediately stood up and gave their seats to Eda, allowing her to sit beside Cedric Diggory. The Head Boy badge was pinned prominently to Cedric's chest.
Eda nodded at the two prefects and walked straight over to sit beside Cedric.
"Is everyone here?" Eda asked as she took the badge out of her pocket and pinned it to her chest.
"Not yet. The new Slytherin prefects haven't arrived," Cedric replied.
He then introduced this year's new prefects to Eda. Gryffindor's Hermione and Ron, Ravenclaw's Anthony Goldstein and Padma Patil, and Hufflepuff's Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbott.
Eda waved her hand as a greeting. After she entered the prefects' compartment, the entire compartment suddenly became much more restrained.
Previously, everyone had only known that Eda could fight, something that had been confirmed during the previous school year. What nobody had expected was that she had also killed people, and more than one.
With a "murderous fiend who kills without batting an eye" mixed in among a group of students, it would have been strange if everyone were not nervous.
After waiting for a while longer, the Slytherin prefects still had not appeared. Eda said, "We're not waiting anymore. Cody Avery, go back and pass the message on. Ced, you go first."
Cody Avery nodded. His attitude had not changed much because of what happened last school year.
"All right, then I'll say a few words first," Cedric said. "My requirements for all of you prefects are more or less the same as last year. I hope everyone can take things seriously and work together to maintain the school's rules and discipline. I also hope that none of the prefects will show favoritism or shield their friends..."
Before Cedric could finish, the door of the prefects' compartment was suddenly yanked open from outside.
Cedric's words were interrupted, so he looked toward the compartment door. The other prefects looked over as well.
It was Slytherin's two idiots, Crabbe and Goyle. Behind them were the arrogant Draco Malfoy and the starry-eyed Pansy Parkinson.
Malfoy, wearing his prefect badge, walked into the compartment first. Pansy followed with her nose in the air. Crabbe and Goyle actually came in as well, standing at the compartment door.
Malfoy arrogantly glanced around the compartment. His eyes, like radar, quickly picked out Ron and Hermione. Saint Potter was not here.
Malfoy's lips immediately curled into a contemptuous smile. He walked over to Anthony Goldstein and abruptly hauled the unprepared Goldstein to his feet. "Ah!"
Just as he was about to sit down, someone spoke in the silent compartment.
"Stand! Did I tell you to sit down?"
It was Eda's voice. She had just been lowering her head to tie up her long golden hair.
Perhaps Draco Malfoy had not noticed her. Perhaps he had seen her but simply did not care, despite his incredibly reckless courage.
Malfoy's movements paused for only a moment. Then his smile became even more disdainful, and he continued sitting down.
Beside him, Pansy Parkinson let out a short laugh like a poodle defending its master, while Crabbe and Goyle standing at the compartment door also bared their teeth at Eda.
At that moment, two iron chains as thick as arms suddenly appeared inside the compartment. With a rattling sound, the chains shot toward Crabbe and Goyle, wrapping around their necks. Their faces immediately turned purplish-red.
Crabbe and Goyle simultaneously reached up to pull at the chains, trying to breathe more easily. But the chains gave them no chance. Amid a series of rattling sounds, the two of them were dragged out of the compartment like pigs.
The compartment door slammed shut.
Eda lightly tapped the table. Her yew wand was lying on the tabletop.
"Never learn from your mistakes. Your heads are filled with nothing but Flobberworms."
Draco Malfoy's pale face turned bright red, as though someone had just slapped him more than a dozen times.
Poor baby! Before the Dark Lord returned, Eda had slapped him in the face again and again. Now that the Dark Lord had returned, Eda was still slapping him in the face again and again.
Had the Dark Lord come back for nothing?!
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(～￣▽￣)～Read 12 Chapters ahead:
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