The loud crash from the boys' dormitory, along with the chaotic noise in the common room, interrupted Eda and Hermione's conversation. Eda immediately realized that something had happened over there.
Pulling out her wand, still dressed in her nightgown, Eda rushed out of the dormitory. The dying embers in the common room cast a faint glow, and the place was in complete disarray, littered with remnants from the party.
A tall, gaunt man stood at the entrance to the common room, a sharp knife in his hand, while the portrait at the entrance was slowly opening.
Without any hesitation, Eda immediately cast a Stunning Spell, the red light shooting straight toward the man. As if he had eyes on the back of his head, the man twisted his body and dodged the spell.
Eda dashed across the common room, her wand never stopping as she fired off several spells in quick succession. But the portrait at the entrance had already opened, making the space wider, giving the man enough room to evade the attacks.
Even so, the authority of Gryffindor's top dog was not to be challenged—one of the spells still struck the man's shoulder, instantly staining it red with blood.
The bloody wound on his shoulder seemed to enrage him. He turned around and hurled the gleaming knife in his hand straight at Eda, then clutched his shoulder and fled the Gryffindor common room without looking back.
"Stop! Black!" Eda shouted loudly.
When the man turned, Eda had already clearly seen his face and recognized who he was. The wild expression from the wanted posters—she had remembered it the moment she saw it.
The sharp, cold blade flew straight toward her. Eda swung her wand, altering its trajectory and sending it flying back. But it was too late—Black had already escaped. The portrait closed again, and the blade struck the wall behind it, bouncing off the hard surface.
There was no time to think—Eda activated Blink and passed straight through the portrait without waiting for it to slowly open again.
But she was still a step too late. The open space in front of the portrait was empty, with only Sir Cadogan's confused voice sounding out: "H-how did you just appear out of nowhere?"
"Shut up!" Eda snapped angrily. "I'll deal with you when I get back! You're just as hopeless as your stories!"
Fortunately, Eda had injured Black earlier, leaving a trail of his blood on the ground.
Following the bloodstains, Eda chased all the way out of the castle. The moonlight illuminated the grounds brightly, making the blood easy to spot. But she soon noticed that the gaps between the stains were growing larger—it seemed Black had roughly treated his wound while fleeing.
Tracking the increasingly spaced-out bloodstains, Eda continued forward. But instead of leading toward the Whomping Willow and the Shrieking Shack as she had expected, the trail led all the way to the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
The Forbidden Forest at night was pitch black, as if it could swallow everything. The branches of the trees looked like clawing monsters in the darkness. Eda held her yew wand in front of her chest, cautiously on guard, carefully listening to every sound, ready to act at any moment.
When the twins had been with her before, she had never felt how frightening the forest at night could be. Now, venturing in alone, she had no choice but to be even more cautious.
Eda adjusted her breathing, which had grown rapid from running, and felt her way forward—but she found nothing.
The blood trail had already become indistinct at the forest's edge. Now that she was deeper inside, she couldn't even tell whether there were still bloodstains on the ground. Eda had no choice but to stop and reconsider her next move.
Suddenly, a rustling sound came from nearby. Eda spun around and immediately cast a spell!
A dazzling flash of white light burst forth, but no one fell. Instead, a voice echoed through the Forbidden Forest—a voice Eda knew all too well. It was Headmaster Dumbledore.
"Every time I see you use that spell, I'm amazed by your talent," Dumbledore said as he slowly approached with his wand raised, its tip casting a faint light to illuminate his path. "But your actions tonight were too reckless. That is an escapee from Azkaban—a highly dangerous criminal."
Seeing that it was Dumbledore, Eda let out a sigh of relief, then complained irritably, "You nearly scared me to death! Do you have any idea how frightened I was just now?"
"Oh? So fearless Eda can feel fear as well?" Dumbledore asked with interest. "I thought there was nothing you feared except the hospital wing."
People fear darkness because it is unknown—because you never know what kind of horrors might be hiding within it.
Eda wasn't afraid of the darkness of the Forbidden Forest itself, but the hidden dangers within it kept her constantly on edge. At the slightest disturbance, her mind had to immediately analyze and react, which was exhausting.
"I was so close—just a little more and I would have caught Black! I even injured him!" Eda was dissatisfied with her performance. If she had been more decisive, more ruthless, she might have captured him.
"You've already done very well—better than the Aurors," Dumbledore said absentmindedly. But to Eda, the "praise" sounded more like an insult.
"Let's go back. Miss Granger is very worried about you—you frightened her when you ran off like that," Dumbledore continued. "If Black really has fled into the Forbidden Forest, it will be very difficult to catch him tonight."
Eda had to admit that as well. The Forbidden Forest was simply too vast—even Dumbledore or Hagrid couldn't say exactly what lurked within it.
A thorough search of the entire Forbidden Forest wasn't realistic either. The creatures within the forest wouldn't care whether Black was an escaped criminal—they would only see it as an invasion.
Dumbledore and Eda left the forest. Black had once again broken into Hogwarts, and once again successfully escaped.
Now that her nerves had relaxed, Eda finally felt the cold. When she had been talking with Hermione, she had only worn a cloak over her nightgown—and by now, the night wind had long since chilled it through.
Eda looked up at Dumbledore, and the headmaster seemed to read her thoughts. "You don't expect a man over a hundred years old to give you his clothes, do you? Besides, aren't you a witch?"
If you're not giving it, then just don't—why say all that extra nonsense! Stingy!
While silently complaining about Dumbledore's stinginess, Eda cast a warming charm on herself. Magic could ward off the cold, but she still preferred wearing thicker clothes—it felt warmer psychologically.
Fortunately, near the edge of the forest, Eda ran into Hagrid, who draped his moleskin coat over her.
Wrapped tightly in Hagrid's coat, Eda looked much bulkier, but her eyes were still lively. She shot a sidelong glance at Dumbledore, her emerald-green eyes seeming to speak—but her silent accusation was ignored once again.
The group heading back to the castle grew from two to three. At the Gryffindor Tower, in front of Sir Cadogan's portrait, they saw an angry Professor McGonagall—she had been provoked by Sir Cadogan.
"Sir Cadogan, did you let a man into Gryffindor Tower just now?"
"Of course I did, my noble lady!" Sir Cadogan declared loudly.
A stunned silence fell both inside and outside the common room. Dumbledore also fell silent, his lowered gaze making it impossible to tell what he was thinking.
"You… you did that?" Professor McGonagall said. "But… but the password?"
"He had the password!" Sir Cadogan said proudly. "A whole week's worth of passwords, my lady! Read them straight off a little piece of paper!"
Everyone inside and outside the common room turned in unison to look at Neville Longbottom. A slip of paper with the passwords written on it—only someone with a poor memory like Neville would do such a thing.
Professor McGonagall was on the verge of going mad. First, Sir Cadogan had let Black in, nearly allowing him to murder a student, and now it turned out the password had been "leaked" by a student.
This was simply the worst batch of Gryffindors she had ever taught.
"Who was it?" Professor McGonagall asked weakly. She felt like she might need to go see Madam Pomfrey afterward.
Neville Longbottom slowly raised his hand. From his head down to his toes in fluffy slippers, he was trembling.
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