A few days after New Year's, Eda and the others were preparing to return to Hogwarts. On the evening before their departure, Mrs. Weasley was visibly downcast. Not evewins' jokes could bring a smile to her fabsp;

  They returo school via the Knight Bus. The twihrilled about the experieheir excitement fueled by an endless curiosity for anything new.

  The triple-decker, bright purple bus didn't drive so much as it "leapt" along the roads.

  That's right—leapt.

  The driver seemed barely familiar with the steering wheel, stantly veering the bus onto pedestrian walkways. Were it not for the posts, parked cars, aire rows of houses leapt out of the way, the Knight Bus would have long since been a total wreck.

  Between firepce travel that felt like being spun in a washing mae and the thrill-ride terror of the Knight Bus, did the wizarding world have no transportatiohods that weren't utterly nerve-wrag?

  The stant sounds of retg and the lingering stenside the bus made Eda's journey unbearable.

  Everything around her seemed to spin at dizzying speeds, and she felt like her brain had turo mush. If they didn't arrive soon, she was certain she'd be the oo succumb to motion siess.

  With her eyes closed, Eda tried her best to eil the bus finally reached the snow-covered streets of Hogsmeade. The bus wobbled to a halt at the gates of Hogwarts.

  While the Weasley boys unloaded their trunks, Eda stepped off the bus and immediately took in deep gulps of fresh air, desperate to rid herself of the ing smell inside.

  The path leading to the castle was icy, and Eda had to rely on Gee to steady her. She was still so dizzy that she worried she might slip and fall into a snowbank.

  "Haah~"

  Once she returo her dormitory, she y down for quite some time before the spinniion finally faded.

  The day after their return, csses had not yet resumed. After lunch, Eda and the twins headed outside the castle to che the Whomping Willow.

  The Whomping Willow stood at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, its temperament as votile as ever. Anything that veoo close to it would be mercilessly battered by its thick, powerful branches until it either fled beyond its reach or was utterly destroyed.

  The Marauder's Map marked numerous secret passages, and after figuring out how to use it, the twins had explored nearly all of them. Some passages were known to Filch, while others were not. However, there was one passage they had yet to iigate: the oh the Whomping Willow.

  Eda and the twins stood just outside the Willow's attack range.

  This wasn't their first attempt to approach it.

  During their initial visits, the Whomping Willow had tried to sh out at them with its branches. Over time, as their visits became more frequent, the tree had grown somewhat indifferent to these troublesome children's presence—so long as they stayed at a safe distance.

  "The map shows the passage is right beh the Whomping Willow," Fred said, gazing at the votile tree in front of them. Although the map clearly indicated the passage's location, it didn't provide ary method like it did for the oh the One-Eyed Witch.

  "Maybe we're just too far away for the method to appear," Eda suggested, crossing her arms while lightly tapping her left arm with her right index finger. "The One-Eyed Witch passage also required us to get closer before the instrus showed up."

  Gee let out a sigh. "The problem is, how do we get closer…" He cautiously stepped forward, only for the Whomping Willow t to life. A massive branch shed out at him, f him to retreat quickly.

  The branch smashed into the ground, sending snow, dirt, and fragments of stone flying.

  Eda raised her wand to shield them from the debris. Gee shrugged at Fred and Eda as if to say, See what I mean?

  From a safe distahe Whomping Willow looked peaceful and unassuming, its massive joints appearing almost tranquil. But the moment they tried to approach, the onsught of branches began like a relentless storm. Uo get any closer, Eda and the twins could only gaze at the tree in frustration.

  The three of them huddled together to examihe Marauder's Map more closely.

  The passage beh the Whomping Willow was clearly marked, but its destinatioended beyond the map's boundaries, leaving them unsure of where it led.

  Uhe One-Eyed Witch passage, no bubble text appeared to provide further clues.

  "Are we going to leave empty-handed again today?" Eda asked, frustration clear in her voice. If she could, she'd love nothing more than to set the tree abze.

  Fred picked up a stone and hurled it forcefully at the Whomping Willow. "When you were looking for the Shrieking Shack, you could've also looked for any weakhis tree might have..."

  "I did look—and I found something..."

  The Whomping Willow's branches swayed in the wind, almost as if mog them: So what if you know? e closer!

  "What is it?" Gee asked eagerly.

  "Hurry up and tell us!"

  Eda sighed. "Some Whomping Willows have a knot orunk. If you press it, the tree will stop moving. But… whether this particur tree has such a knot—and if it does, where it is—we have no idea."

  "How about we bring Garlon or Scabbers over to test it?" Fred proposed, an idea f in his mind.

  " you unicate with a dog or a rat?" Eda asked ftly.

  Fred shook his head; he had no such ability. L his head again, he tinued p for a solution.

  The only way to stop the Whomping Willow was to press its knot, but log the knot required getting close to the tree. And before you could find and press it, there was a good ce you'd be battered to death by its brahe very existence of this tree was truly infuriating.

  Eda paced bad forth, her head lowered, as she mentally simuted different strategies. Fred's idea, though a bit harebrained, had indeed sparked some inspiration.

  Pulling out her wand, she cast a Transfiguration spell, turning a ro the ground into a rat. She then used her wand to trol the rat a it scurrying toward the Whomping Willow.

  As the rat ehe tree's ras thick branches shed out. Eda deftly maneuvered the rat to dodge the first branch, only for ao follow immediately after.

  Fred and Gee, seeing what Eda was attempting, watched with bated breath.

  Their eyes were glued to the rat carrying all their hopes, and they called out to warn Eda of ining branches.

  The rat, dodging the relentless barrage of branches from the Whomping Willow, finally broke through the tree's defenses and reached its base.

  Eda carefully trolled the rat, guiding it to touch the knot oree. The enraged Whomping Willow thrashed wildly, its branches filing and cutting through the air with a whoosh sound, even though it could no longer reach its target.

  It was the dead of winter, with cold winds and snow bing the ground, but sweat beaded on Eda's forehead. trolling the rat to evade all those attacks was no easy task.

  "Eh?"

  Suddenly, the Whomping Willow froze, as if it had turo stone.

  It seemed the knot had been successfully pressed.

  "Hell Yeah!!"

  Eda and the twins exged gheir faces lighting up, and the three dashed forward, stopping only when they reached the trunk.

  Between the roots, a rge hole had appeared. Fred and Gee drew their wands and climbed in first. After firming the location of the knot for future reference, Eda followed them. Sliding down the sloped tunnel, she nded in a very narrow passage.

  The twins were waiting for her, bent over due to the low ceiling. The faint glow of their wands illumihe passage, and in unison, they grinned and said, "Wele, wele to the Kingdom of the Tree Hollow!"

  _________

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