Whether it was the evidence out in the open or the clues hidden beneath the surface, all of them pointed to Remus Lupin, the newly appointed Defence Against the Dark Arts professor.
Even with so much evidence backing it up, Eda still found it hard to believe—or rather, she was unwilling to believe—that this conscientious and dedicated professor was actually a werewolf.
This was Eda's fifth year at Hogwarts. Five years—do you know how Eda had spent those five years?
Four Defence Against the Dark Arts professors in a row, each one riddled with their own problems.
The course itself had stagnated as a result, leaving students' progress in Defence Against the Dark Arts severely hampered, to the point where the subject felt almost dispensable.
After finally getting a professor who was genuinely capable and seemed perfectly normal, she was now being told that this person would turn into a furry little creature every full moon.
The news was far too shocking, and Eda needed time to digest it.
With these thoughts weighing on her mind, Eda collapsed weakly onto her soft, comfortable bed, listening to the howling cold wind outside the window, unable to fall asleep for a long time.
The wind outside was too fierce, shredding all of Eda's dreams. She was startled awake again and again by the "woo-woo" of the wind. What one thinks about during the day appears in dreams at night, and Eda's final dream was tied to the events of the past few days.
In her dream, Eda saw a massive canine creature howling at a full moon, as if calling out to its companions.
The dream was unclear—blurred and indistinct. Eda couldn't even tell whether the creature was a ferocious wolf, a werewolf that had changed form, or simply a dog.
That night, Eda slept restlessly, and early the next morning she was woken up by the noise made by her roommates.
The five-person dormitory housed only four students: fifth-year Eda, Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet, and fourth-year Katie Bell.
All four were members of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. The difference was that Eda was only a substitute, while the other three were starting players.
The wind outside howled fiercely, and Eda wasn't the only one who hadn't slept well. Little Katie was the first to wake up. She sat on her bed sighing, truly not wanting to fly high in the air in this kind of weather—it would freeze a person stiff.
It was clearly already daylight, yet thick, dark clouds stretched across the sky, blotting out the light of the sunrise. The distant horizon seemed to merge with the ground, creating a sense of oppression that made one want to shout aloud just to vent it.
Angelina and Alicia woke up one after the other. Their movements were almost perfectly synchronized: first sitting on their beds in a daze, then muttering under their breath as they got dressed.
You become like the company you keep. The two of them had long since been influenced by Eda. Their complaints were all about why the school couldn't postpone the match, and about Slytherin's despicable tactics, occasionally punctuated by a line of "elegant" French.
If there were a choice, who would want to fly dozens of feet in the air in such awful weather? Aeroflot aside…
Eda was woken up by this chorus of complaints. She struggled to get up, threw on a morning robe, and stood by the dormitory window.
The cold wind roared. Even though Hogwarts had already awakened and thrown itself into the routines of a new day, the cracking sounds of branches snapping in the distant Forbidden Forest could still be heard inside the castle.
Dull thunder rumbled across the sky, and violent winds slammed recklessly against the castle walls. Everything seemed to signal that today's match would be anything but ordinary.
Quidditch was immensely popular. Even weather this terrible couldn't dampen the enthusiasm of the entire school. After breakfast, everyone braved the fierce winds and ran across the lawn toward the pitch.
The stands were packed to the brim; almost the entire student body had shown up. Eda stood beside Ron and Hermione, her gaze sweeping across the stands. Among the professors, only the stay-at-home Bathsheba Babbling and the ill Lupin were absent.
Before long, even before the match could begin, a heavy rain arrived without warning. The storm carried the rain down in sheets, blurring the line between sky and earth.
The rain grew heavier and heavier. Words like "pouring rain" felt almost stingy—Eda thought using "bucketfuls" would be more accurate.
Amid peals of thunder, the Quidditch match began. Gryffindor wore their traditional red robes, while Hufflepuff's were a pale yellow.
Behind the curtain of rain, the figures of the fourteen players became extremely blurred, and Eda had to squint just to barely make out what was happening on the pitch.
The wind kept blowing, sending the players in the air swerving back and forth, unable to fully control their broomsticks; the rain kept falling, and in just five minutes, every player was soaked through like a drenched rat.
Not to mention the spectators in the stands—even the players on the pitch had no idea how the match was progressing. The torrential rain blocked their vision, and the wind and thunder made effective communication impossible.
Several times, players nearly collided with one another, yet the match still wasn't called off.
Suddenly, a bolt of lightning split the sky, illuminating everything before them, followed by a thunderclap that exploded in everyone's ears.
The pitch suddenly felt strange.
An eerie silence swept through the entire stadium. The wind was still just as fierce, yet it seemed to have forgotten to roar, as if someone had suddenly pressed a mute button.
An icy, bone-chilling cold seeped into everyone's bodies. The once-noisy stadium fell instantly silent, with only the wind and thunder continuing to howl.
Dementors!
The Dementors had violated the rules. They had not only broken into the school, but had even run into the packed stadium.
The cheering crowd, radiating intense emotions, had attracted the Dementors. To them, this wasn't a match—it was a lavish feast!
Eda drew her wand, and the tip flared with silvery light. But someone moved even faster than she did: a boundless silver barrier spread over the stands, driving away all the Dementors that tried to feed.
It was Dumbledore! Eda had never seen Dumbledore this angry before. To the Dementors, the silver curtain of light was soul-devouring and deadly, but to the students it was warm and gentle.
That sheet of light didn't merely protect the students in the stands—it actively attacked the Dementors as well. Many Dementors that failed to escape in time were torn apart by the light, forced into fragments.
The raging wind tossed Dumbledore's silvery-white hair and beard about, whipping his robes so that they snapped loudly. Holding the Elder Wand high, Dumbledore looked like a god incarnate, as though only a single color remained between heaven and earth.
The Dementors abandoned their companions and fled the pitch, but the impact they had caused didn't end with their departure. Within the curtain of rain, a small red dot suddenly appeared, gradually growing larger in everyone's eyes.
Dumbledore extended his free hand and pointed toward the ever-expanding red dot in the sky. This wandless spell slowed its rapid descent, and only then did the students realize that the red dot was Harry Potter, who had fallen from his broom.
The Gryffindor students immediately rushed down from the stands. Falling from dozens of feet in the air, Harry filled everyone with dread and worry.
Fortunately, Harry was all right. His abdomen still rose and fell with his breathing—he had merely lost consciousness. He hadn't been smashed into a pulp, nor had he broken bones or torn ligaments; even his glasses hadn't been damaged.
What happened on the pitch today—if it had been anyone else, no one could have handled it as perfectly as Dumbledore did: protecting the students in the stands while also saving Harry as he fell from the sky.
It had to be said—Dumbledore's mastery of magic was truly something to be looked up to.
At the instant she saw Dumbledore cast his spell, Eda seemed to understand something. She grasped a fleeting moment of insight.
Only now did Eda finally understand what Grindelwald meant by the summit—only now did she realize just how breathtaking the view from the peak truly was.
(～￣▽￣)～Read 12 Chapters ahead:
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