Hogwarts Emerald

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Stay warm, stay magical, and don't let the elves steal your cookies!

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The stands descended into chaos as the professors worked to calm the students from both houses, stopping them from rushing onto the field.

In the center of the pitch, Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall were examining Charlie's condition.

The Gryffindor team had formed a protective circle around their captain, with the twins glaring red-eyed at Marcus Flint. If not for their teammates holding them back, the two would have already lunged at him.

Meanwhile, the Slytherin players stood behind Snape, defiantly facing off against the twins. Marcus Flint, the instigator, was shielded in the middle of the group.

"That's my brother! Let me through!" Percy shouted as he ran toward the scene. "Let me through—Charlie is my brother!"

This was the first time Eda had ever seen Percy like this.

His eyes were red, and he shoved classmates aside one by one without a second thought. Normally, Percy only ever looked this frantic when the twins were teasing him, and even that was rare.

The professors let Percy through, and Eda, taking advantage of the distraction, slipped out of the crowd to follow him. As soon as Percy broke free, he made a beeline for the Slytherin team, clearly intending to pummel Flint.

But with Percy's slight frame, attempting to take on seven players by himself would only end one way—with him being thoroughly overpowered and beaten.

This was no time for recklessness.

Eda quickly grabbed Percy and tried to talk him down, urging him to calm down and not throw himself into a futile fight.

Truth be told, Eda herself badly wanted to cast a Bat-Bogey Hex right in Flint's face, but Snape was standing right there. There was no way Snape would allow her to attack one of his students.

Still, Eda had no intention of letting Flint off the hook, especially since he showed no remorse whatsoever. Instead, he was smugly boasting about his actions to his teammates.

Flint noticed Eda and Percy watching him and deliberately met their gaze with a mocking smirk. As Eda dragged Percy away, Flint's taunting smile lingered, making his face look even uglier.

In the crowd, Charlie regained consciousness. His face was pale, and his brows furrowed in pain. The twins and Percy immediately crowded around him, asking where he felt unwell.

"Professor, how is Charlie?" Eda asked anxiously. The twins and Percy also turned their eyes toward Professor McGonagall.

"His ribs are broken. He'll need some time to recover," McGonagall replied. She was furious, barely restraining herself from assigning Marcus a year-long detention.

"I think you should take your brother to the hospital wing as soon as possible," Dumbledore said. "I've already notified Madam Pomfrey; she'll have Charlie back to full health in no time."

The twins, Percy, and the remaining team members carefully carried the injured Charlie off the field. Eda didn't follow them—she wanted to stay and hear what punishment Marcus would face.

Dumbledore walked over to Snape and said, "Severus, Marcus's actions were truly appalling. I'm deducting fifty points from Slytherin. Marcus will also serve detention for the next month. Additionally, while Charlie Weasley is unable to play, Marcus is also banned from participating in any matches."

With each sentence, Snape's sallow face darkened a shade.

By the time Dumbledore finished listing the punishments, Snape's expression was darker than even Lee Jordan's skin color. He said nothing, simply leading the Slytherin team off the field in silence.

After Dumbledore announced the punishment, the rest of the students began to disperse, leaving the pitch behind.

On the way back to the castle, Eda walked behind Professor McGonagall. She wanted to gauge the professor's attitude and decide just how far her own plans for revenge should go.

"You did well today. You weren't as impulsive as last year," Professor McGonagall said, her tone clipped as if every word was squeezed out between clenched teeth.

"If Percy and I had charged forward, Fred and George would have joined us for sure. The team has already lost Charlie; we can't afford to lose the Beaters too," Eda replied.

As she had thought earlier, acting on impulse wouldn't have accomplished anything. Snape wouldn't just stand by and let his students get hurt, not to mention the number of professors present made any retaliation impossible.

"Learning to think before you act means you've made good use of this past year," McGonagall remarked. "Go visit Charlie later on your own. I won't be going. Once you've checked on him, head back quickly—don't linger around."

Even as they reached the castle, Eda still hadn't fully deciphered McGonagall's stance on the situation. She couldn't tell what the professor's exact thoughts were.

Just before they parted ways, McGonagall added, "I've recently compiled some new notes on Transfiguration. If you're interested, you're welcome to come by and take a look."

"Understood, Professor!"

Eda replied, finally grasping McGonagall's bottom line and gaining clarity on the situation.

After separating from McGonagall, Eda headed to the hospital wing. There, Fred, George, and Percy were seated by Charlie's bed. Charlie, propped up with a chest brace, was chatting with them about something.

Eda shared Dumbledore's punishment with the group. Charlie and Percy expressed no objections to the decision, but the twins still looked dissatisfied. It was clear they would have preferred to send Marcus to the hospital wing in Charlie's place.

The twins' dissatisfaction didn't escape Charlie's notice, so he specifically instructed them, "Fred, George, you're not allowed to go after Marcus. Once I'm out of the hospital wing, I'll defeat Slytherin fair and square on the pitch—that will hurt him the most!"

"Got it…" the twins replied half-heartedly.

After all, Charlie was stuck in the hospital wing and couldn't physically stop them, right?

"Keep an eye on them, Percy." Compared to Charlie, the twins were still too impulsive.

Percy nodded. "I will. I'll watch them." Calm once more, Percy had reverted to his usual bookish self—the same Percy who wasn't particularly popular.

That evening, the common room was unusually quiet.

With Charlie still in the hospital wing, there was no celebratory atmosphere for their victory earlier that day. Fred, George, and Eda sat in the armchairs by the fireplace, whispering softly.

Eda held a book in her hands, though she wasn't actually reading. Beneath the book's pages lay the Marauder's Map, which she had been staring at all afternoon.

Across from her, Fred and George cracked their knuckles, the sharp sound breaking the room's silence. They had been waiting for Marcus Flint to be alone. Currently serving detention, Marcus would likely be unaccompanied once it ended, giving Eda and the twins their chance.

However, they still had one obstacle—Percy, the so-called infiltrator in their midst. He had been keeping an eye on them from within the common room the entire evening.

When the time was right, Eda and the twins left the common room anyway. To their surprise, Percy didn't try to stop them. Instead, he turned his back to them, not even sparing them a glance.

The twins were utterly puzzled, unable to figure out what Percy was up to. However, Eda understood his message perfectly—Percy was a Gryffindor after all!

Inside Snape's office, Marcus Flint was furiously writing lines. Over and over, he scrawled "I shouldn't attack others from behind" on rolls of parchment. He had been at it for an entire evening, and his right hand was starting to go numb.

After he finished yet another sheet of parchment, Snape finally allowed him to leave. Flint, shaking out his stiff hand, began making his way back to the Slytherin common room.

He wasn't worried about being alone—if the Weasleys dared to come after him, he'd send them to the hospital wing to join their brother. He wasn't some weakling like Avery.

The corridors were deserted. As Flint walked, he suddenly heard voices.

"We've been waiting for you for a while," said one of the twins, blocking the path to the Slytherin common room.

Flint felt confident that he could handle a two-on-one fight. Smirking, he sneered, "In a moment, you'll both be joining your brother in the hospital wing."

"You owe Charlie an apology, Flint," Fred said. "Or we'll make sure you apologize in person."

"You two are hilarious," Flint mocked, laughing loudly. "What's the matter? Is your family so poor that it starved your brains?"

Drawing his wand, he prepared to teach the twins a lesson they wouldn't forget.

"You'd better listen to us," George said, gesturing behind Marcus. "If you don't want to get hurt, you'd better put your wand away."

Flint turned to look behind him and saw Eda standing a short distance away. Her hands were clasped behind her back, and she was casually tapping her right foot on the ground, looking completely at ease.

In all of Hogwarts, Eda was one of the most recognizable people. Even putting her appearance aside, her reputation alone made her unforgettable: the know-it-all, one of Gryffindor's biggest point-losers, Snape's least favorite student, and countless other labels.

Flint, of course, knew about Eda. But he had never taken her seriously. To him, she was just a thirteen-year-old girl—not worth worrying about.

"You Weasley scum really like sticking together, huh?" Marcus Flint sneered. "Fine, I'll send all of you to join Charlie Weasley!"

Raising his wand, Flint shot a spell at Eda. But his spell was weak and posed no real threat to her.

"Is that it?"

Eda remarked, lazily flicking her wand to deflect the spell.

She hadn't expected Flint to be this unimpressive.

"You attacked me first," she continued with a smirk. "Anything I do now is just self-defense, right?"

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