Hogwarts had returo its regur css schedule, but Eda's retionship with the twins had not returo normal.

  For aire week, the twins avoided Eda, making it harder to see them than reag the stars.

  They were either wandering aimlessly around the castle or hiding in their dormitory, refusing to e out. The only times Eda could catch a glimpse of them were during csses or meals in the Great Hall.

  Although Eda uood why Fred and Gee were upset, she had clearly uimated the sequences of the situation. She truly hadn't expected the two brothers to stay angry for so long, giving her no opportunity to make amends.

  Without the twins, Eda found Hogwarts oddly dull.

  Without their stant chatter and antics, even reading a book became difficult.

  "Ugh..."

  Life without their humor felt unbearably b.

  Over the past week, Eda had been running herself ragged. During the day, she attended csses and made time to help the house-elf Winnie up the Shrieking Shack. Yes, despite her falling-out with the twins, Eda hadn't given up on her "Shrieking Shack Renovation Pn."

  Thanks to her and Winnie's efforts, the shack was now , leaving only the structural repairs and furniture restoration to plete.

  At night, Eda still couldn't rest properly. Snape's biting "private lessons" were ba full swing, with an array of cauldrons of various sizes waiting for her attention.

  These were part of her January assigs, and if she didn't plete them, Merlin only khe kind of scathing remarks Snape would unleash.

  On top of all that, Eda hadn't ed her bat training.

  She was no longer left bruised all over by the trial dummy; now, she could fight it to a draw and even gain the upper hand occasionally. However, she still hadn't cleared the current level, meaning she couldn't unlock the difficulty yet.

  In simple terms, Eda was stuck at a bottleneck. If she didn't want to spend moo level up, she'd have to put ira effort. But it probably wouldn't be long before her hard wot her stuck at the bottlenebsp;

  Being busy every night also meant she sometimes ate poorly or didn't have time to eat at all.

  In the past, when this happehe twins would alrepare food for her in advance. But now, with the twins still upset, unless Eda prepared meals herself, she'd just have to go hungry.

  The feeling of ay stomach was unpleasant, making her mind sluggish and her sleep quality worse. If it weren't for the stash of snacks she kept in her dorm, she'd have had to visit the kit more frequently.

  "Ok! They shouldn't be mad for a long time!"

  After more than a week, Eda felt that everyone should have calmed down by now. She thought the three of them could finally sit down and talk things through peacefully.

  "Ugh.."

  But the twins weren't giving her any ce.

  With the Marauder's Map in their hands, avoiding Eda was all too easy for them.

  When problems arise, they should be solved, not avoided. Though Fred and Gee were only thirteen, Eda still "looked down on" their unmanly behavior of running away.

  Exhausted from being "tortured" by Snape, Eda decided it was time to take matters into her own hands. She po force a versation with the twins to resolve their issues properly.

  While they could avoid her most of the time, they still had to attend csses. That made catg them in css her best ce. After enduring a grueling Herbology lesson filled with the cries of Mandrakes, Eda finally had the opportunity to talk to the twins.

  However, the moment css ended, Fred and Gee left the greenhouse with Lee Jordan.

  "Hey! Fred! Gee! Hey!"

  Eda had no choice but to call after them as she followed.

  Even though the twins clearly heard her, they showed no iion of stopping or turning around, tinuing to head straight toward the castle with their heads down.

  Uo get the twins' attention by calling out to them, Eda had no choice but to run after them.

  "Hey! Stop running!"

  "Eh!.."

  "Ouch!"

  "Ow!"

  Thud!

  "Sorry!"

  On the way, she bumped into several unsuspeg cssmates. Finally, she mao block the twins' path and said, "Huff! Huff! We o talk!"

  Lee Jordan, notig the temosphere betweehree, wisely realized he was unnecessary here. Without a word, he excused himself, leaving Eda and the twins to sort things out. The trio moved away from the crowd, heading toward the Forbidden Forest.

  "Haah... Do you find it fun to avoid me?" Eda asked as she walked ahead of them. The wind lifted her golden hair, making her look as if her anger had reached the tips of every strand.

  The twins followed behind silently, her saying a word. Eda suddenly stopped and turo face them. Unprepared for her abrupt halt, the twins nearly walked straight into her.

  Thud!

  "Ow! Fine, sulk if you want to sulk, argue if you want tue, but what's with the silent treatment? Why not go on a hurike while you're at it!" Eda excimed, pushing and lightly hitting Fred and Gee. She didn't use much force; it was more to vent her frustration.

  Eveh actally bite the tongue wheing—what's a little disagreemeween friends?

  Friends are bound to have flicts; it's not a big deal. What infuriated Eda was the twiing to a cold war. This kind of behavior, she thought, was the quickest way to ruin their friendship.

  Fred reached out and pced a hand on Eda's forehead, holdi arm's length. "So, Miss Violent Twist, where exactly are you pnning to take us?" he asked.

  "Are you going to use the dark magic you just learo kill us?" Gee added. "Because today doesn't seem like a great day for dying!"

  Eda tightly gripped Fred's hand, which ressing against her forehead. With a quick step bad a twist of her waist, she turhe tables, shoving Fred off band making him stumble.

  Boom!

  Fred, now on the ground, looked up at Eda with an i expression that seemed to say: It was Gee who said that! Why are you taking it out on me?

  "Damn..."

  Gee, standing nearby, made no move to help his twin up. Instead, his eyes sparkled with i, clearly impressed by Eda's swift and decisive move.

  "I'm already a bad seed," Eda said, her tone sharp. "Nothing I do should surprise you. In a moment, I'll dig a hole and bury the both of you in it." She turned and resumed walking toward the Forbidden Forest.

  The twins didn't follht away.

  Hearing her words, they froze, stunned.

  Up till now, Eda had been insulted with the term Mudblood, but they'd never heard her refer to herself as a bad seed in such a self-depreg way.

  Gee and Fred exged gnces, an unspokeion passiween them: Did we go too far? Have we pushed her to the point where she's not thinking straight anymore?

  Not hearing their footsteps, Eda stopped again and called back, "If you two don't hurry up, this new home of ours will just be mine."

  The twins kly what she meant by "new home." The Shrieking Shack wasn't marked on the map, and aering it would disappear from the Marauder's Map. Over the past few days, Eda had been vanishing from sight—what she to didn't need expining.

  Gerabbed Fred's hand and pulled him to his feet. The two jogged over to Eda, grinning from ear to ear, and took their pces oher side of her, just like a week ago when they'd been searg for secret passageways together.

  "Don't even dream about it. The house belongs to all three of us. Don't even think about hogging it for yourself!" Fred said with a straight face, looking less like a wizard and more like a wyer.

  "Mom told us to take care of you, so we 't let you pick up bad habits from Cecil, that old -smoker. We have to keep an eye on you," Gee added, his tone full of mock that even he didn't believe.

  Heh~

  Eda and the twins stood in front of the Whomping Willow once again.

  This time, Eda didn't jure a mouse but instead used a well-aimed spell to trol a pebble, which struck the knot oree trunk with precision.

  "Maybe we should find an easier way to get in," Fred suggested. The twins couldn't match Eda's level of magical trol.

  "Yeah, otherwise getting home will always be a big problem," Gee added. "And we o set up some safety measures. Just because we know how to get i mean others 't figure it out."

  The twins had a point, and Eda was already sidering solutions for both issues.

  The first problem was simple enough—she could traiwins rigorously until they mastered it. Another, albeit more bor-intensive, solution was to extend the length of the passageway so that the entrance could be moved from the Whomping Willow to another location.

  The sed problem, however, was more critical. No one waheir home to be wide open and defenseless. For now, though, Eda hadn't e up with a solution.

  __________

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