Given Eda's grades and abilities, whether she chose to become an Auror at the Ministry of Magic or a healer at St. Mungo's in the future, she would be able to excel at it.
But this was, after all, Eda's first time saving someone. Before this, she had always been killing people, so she couldn't help but feel uncertain, which was why she didn't boast in front of the twins about being able to cure him completely.
From a Muggle doctor's perspective, Eda's methods and handling were certainly unprofessional—and indeed, she wasn't professional. She was merely imitating what she had seen before.
To be on the safe side, Eda used up an entire bottle of disinfectant. If Madam Pomfrey saw her being so wasteful, this skilled healer would probably want to beat her to death.
At the same time, Eda also used healing magic on Black's wound to help it recover. It could be said that she had done everything she could—the rest depended on whether Black himself could pull through.
As for how Madam Pomfrey felt upon discovering a pile of missing potions in the castle, no one could say, but Snape's mood was much easier to guess.
The twins had taken a large amount of raw materials from Snape's private stores. To cover up their true purpose, they had also taken many other unnecessary items, but none of this could escape Snape's notice.
At Hogwarts, the only one who dared to covet the Potions professor's private stash was Eda. Hermione had done it once too, but her methods were too clumsy to be compared with Eda and the twins.
Although Fred and George had tried to cover their tracks, in Snape's eyes, it was nothing more than overcompensation.
The Potions professor had no intention of asking what Eda planned to do, but giving her a lesson was unavoidable. By now, Snape had probably already devised a plan.
Meanwhile, Eda, who was busy preparing a Blood-Replenishing Potion, was completely unaware of this, not knowing that "danger" was already quietly approaching.
"Eda," George asked while helping process the ingredients, "should we tell Dumbledore about this?"
"It depends on Black's recovery," Eda said, picking up a bottle of salamander blood and dripping a few drops into the cauldron. "If his condition doesn't worsen, I don't plan to tell Dumbledore for now."
Telling Dumbledore about Black would be the safest way to handle things. Regardless of whether there were doubts surrounding Black or how severe his injuries were, it could all be left for Dumbledore to decide.
That way, Eda wouldn't have to bear any responsibility—but whether she could continue to be involved in the aftermath of the "Black escape incident" would become uncertain.
Although Dumbledore had shown doubts about the incident itself, Eda wasn't sure whether, after learning the truth, he would satisfy her curiosity.
Moreover, Eda didn't want to rely on Dumbledore for everything. There would come a day when he couldn't be relied upon.
So Eda made a decision that seemed irresponsible and troublesome. She had to heal Black, prevent him from escaping her control, and at the same time protect him from being found by the Ministry.
It was practically asking for trouble!
After adding Horklump juice to the cauldron, the Blood-Replenishing Potion was essentially complete. The liquid inside had turned a deep blood-red; when it became light red, it would be ready for Black to drink.
Horklump juice was an extract taken from Horklumps. Potions made with it had healing properties, and when used together with essence of dittany, the effect was even better.
This plant originated from Northern Europe. It looked like a fleshy pink mushroom covered with black bristles. Goblins were particularly fond of eating Horklumps to fill their stomachs.
As night deepened, Eda returned to Black's bedside. The fugitive still hadn't woken up. Holding her wand, Eda walked around the room, and wherever she passed, blazing blue flames rose up.
Fred and George had seen these flames last year, so even though the burning fire didn't ignite any of the objects in the room, the two brothers didn't find it strange at all.
The ring of flames continued to spread outward. When they touched the doors, windows, and walls, the flames didn't stop—instead, they climbed up along the walls, eventually meeting at the ceiling. Only then did the blue fire gradually fade.
"Alright, with this, no one except us can get in. Even if Black wakes up, he won't be able to escape," Eda said. "This magic automatically identifies anyone who passes through the flames. If someone with intentions different from mine tries to pass, they'll be burned to ashes."
Then Eda went to the doors and windows and cast Confundus Charms and Repelling Charms on them to prevent anyone from unknowingly entering the room and dying by accident.
With the protective measures in place, the exhaustion from a full day of effort immediately hit them. Eda and the twins didn't return to the castle, choosing instead to stay overnight in the Twilight Cottage.
Fortunately, the Fat Lady, the dormitory "warden," was only responsible for opening and closing the door, not checking attendance.
Otherwise, Eda and the twins' absence for the night would have been discovered immediately, and Sirius Black's hiding place would have been exposed at once.
Over the next few days, everything at school remained normal. No one discovered that the Azkaban escapee was hiding in the Twilight Cottage.
Aside from classes and Quidditch training, the twins' daily routine now included going to the cottage to look after Black. As for Eda, she had little time to go there—she was busy enduring Snape's personal revenge.
Snape didn't even wait for the fifth-year students' Potions class. His retaliation came for Eda on Monday, using the "charge" that she had failed to fulfill her duties as a prefect and hadn't captured the fleeing Black.
It was completely absurd—such a charge was as forced as it could be. If that could be used to punish Eda, then everyone in the Ministry of Magic would deserve punishment.
But Snape didn't need logic. What the Potions professor needed was simply a "fault." His original "charge" had been that Eda washed her hair too often and that her shampoo smelled too strong.
Well, Eda much preferred the accusation of failing her prefect duties and not catching Black over being blamed for having overly strong-smelling shampoo.
The reason might have been ridiculous, but Eda had already prepared herself to be targeted by Snape. What she hadn't expected was just how quickly and fiercely his retaliation would come.
This time, the detention was real detention.
Eda was assigned to scrub the trophy room and clean the girls' lavatories.
At the same time, she had to work for Snape at night for free, processing potion ingredients needed by the lower-year students.
Flobberworm mucus, leech juice, rat tails, spider legs, beetle eyes... whatever looked disgusting and was troublesome to handle, Snape prepared for Eda. Everything was aimed at making her feel as uncomfortable as possible.
Snape would also make insinuating remarks, letting her know why she was being punished.
Eda, on the other hand, pretended not to understand what Snape was talking about. She had realized that Snape had no evidence, so she stubbornly refused to admit anything.
During these past few days, Eda had been living in utter misery. Compared to her, Harry might as well have been living in paradise.
Although Harry's Marauder's Map had been confiscated by Professor Lupin, and his trips to Hogsmeade had been exposed, Hermione had reconciled with Harry and Ron over the matter of Buckbeak.
The three of them were back on good terms, all preparing for Hagrid and Buckbeak's appeal.
On the other side, Black could be said to be living in paradise as well. From barely surviving in a cave to the comfortable life in the Twilight Cottage, it was a complete qualitative leap.
Everyone—human or otherwise—seemed to be thriving, while only Eda was "getting beaten." She really had it tough.
Fortunately, Black's condition was gradually improving, and he was no longer too weak to speak. After enduring so much, Eda's curiosity was finally about to be satisfied.
(～￣▽￣)～Read 12 Chapters ahead:
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