The Hogwarts Express slowly pulled away from Hogsmeade Station, carrying the students toward London.
The summer holidays of 1995 had begun, on a beautiful and pleasant summer day.
Inside the compartment, Angelina and Alicia were sharing the latest issue of Witch Weekly, while Lee Jordan was engrossed in an article about a famous Quidditch commentator. The twins were slouching against the backs of their seats, bored out of their minds.
Eda sat in the innermost seat, leaning against the wall with her eyes half closed. She was checking the system's yearly assessment of her. Dumbledore's final speech had almost made her forget about it.
Name: Esmeralda Twist
Also known as: Esmeralda Rosier
Age: Seventeen years old
Height: Five feet seven inches (Know why you're not getting any taller? Because all your height is being weighed down by your scheming!）
Weight: 116 pounds (Approximately 52.6 kilograms. Your youthful potential is just beginning to blossom. How about some papaya, milk, or peanut soup to grow your... ehm... heart? Host, you have to believe in yourself! You can do it! No problem!)
Wand: Yew, phoenix feather, fourteen and three-quarter inches (With this wand combination alone, Host is destined for greatness! Michael Jordan's exclusive foot-washing-salon limited-edition GIF.)
Occupation: Hogwarts student (sixth year), Gryffindor Prefect, Head Girl, Preparatory member of the W.U.L. (Nurmengard exclusive), Dumbledore's successor, arsonist (Host, didn't you hear someone crying right beside your ear? You burned even the ashes away. How dark!)
The train traveled southward, the sky clear and cloudless. Eda's mood was just as sunny, not turning cloudy because of the system's malicious teasing. After years of the system's sharp tongue, Eda had long since gotten used to it.
Compared to a certain Professor whose surname started with S, the system was still far behind!
Besides, the system was just a system. As the old saying went, "If your chest isn't flat, how can you flatten the world?" What the hell did the system know!
Skipping over all that venomous commentary, the talents further down the list were what Eda cared about more. Last year, the talent Eda had obtained was "Insight," which allowed her to see through her opponent's weaknesses and openings.
That night in the cemetery, Eda had used this talent to see some of Voldemort's openings. Those openings might not have been fatal, but they could be exploited by Eda to establish an advantage.
Seeing them was one thing. Whether she could keep up was another.
That night, Eda had seen several openings exposed by Voldemort, but her hand speed and reaction time were unable to seize those fleeting opportunities.
The same problem had appeared at school.
Eda had never even met the fake Moody before, yet she had always felt that something about him was strange.
This was also the talent "Insight" at work. The same problem arose again. She had noticed that something was wrong with the fake Moody, but she had failed to seize the opening in time and expose Barty Crouch Jr. immediately.
She scrolled further down the system's assessment page, and a new talent came into view: Sudden Impact.
After using the Blink skill, Apparition, or leaving a flying state, the user will gain a brief increase in movement speed, while the casting speed of the next spell will be increased to a certain degree.
Looking at the newly appeared talent, Eda did not know how to evaluate it.
This new talent greatly increased Eda's chances of launching surprise attacks on others. The movement speed boost would allow her to approach her opponent more quickly, while the increased casting speed could prevent the other party from having time to react.
It was practically a divine skill for ambushing people. And not just for ambushing people, it should also be quite useful for escaping.
What was this supposed to be? "Slaying the king under the watch of the king's guards, escaping amid a forest of blades"?
Eda had once again misjudged herself. She had gradually accepted the possibility that she might be a healer, but now the system was telling her: No, you're not. You're actually an assassin.
What was that thing from Assassin's Creed again?
Oh, right. Killing everyone who sees you means the infiltration was successful.
Long journeys were always boring. Fred and George could no longer sit still and began scratching their heads and fidgeting. Finally, when they could not stand it any longer, the twins left the compartment. They wanted to find a few acquaintances to relieve their boredom.
At this point, Eda had also finished spacing out and wanted to buy some snacks, so she followed them out of the compartment.
There were actually some nuts on the little table in the compartment, but after reading the system's venomous comments, Eda would not want to touch another nut for quite some time.
As they walked, Eda and the twins heard some commotion coming from the carriage ahead. The voice sounded somewhat familiar.
The twins were already bored out of their minds, so why wouldn't they go see what was happening when there was some excitement? The brothers quickened their pace, wanting to see exactly what was going on.
Eda also could not resist her curiosity about the commotion, and her steps gradually quickened.
After passing through the connection between two carriages, Eda and the twins finally reached the scene. Unfortunately, the person causing all the commotion left them rather disappointed.
It was Slytherin's Draco Malfoy again, along with his two idiot followers. There was nothing new about it at all.
There was no need to ask or keep watching. The compartment they had blocked off definitely belonged to Harry. There was simply no other possibility.
Young Master Malfoy's obsession with Potter was truly astonishing. If he put that much effort into studying magic, perhaps he could achieve something quite impressive. At the very least, he would not be as useless as he was now, getting beaten up by everyone he met.
Watching the excitement really was a common human hobby. One little head after another poked out from the compartments in this carriage, all looking toward the smug Young Master Malfoy and the increasingly sinister smile on his face.
"You were doomed to lose from the very beginning, Potter! I warned you! I told you to be more careful when choosing your friends, remember? It was the first day at Hogwarts. I told you not to associate with these lowlifes!"
Then he jerked his head toward Ron and Hermione and said mockingly, "It's too late now, Potter! The Dark Lord is back, and they're going to be the first ones to go! Mudbloods and people who love Muggles will be the first!"
Just as Malfoy was basking in his own smugness, a series of loud bangs suddenly erupted inside the carriage, as if someone had set off an entire box of fireworks in the compartment.
Spells fired from different directions gave off dazzling flashes of light, so bright that the little heads poking out of the compartments could not even keep their eyes open. After the flashes faded, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were all lying unconscious at the compartment door.
In the corridor, Fred and George lowered their wands. The two of them had just taught Malfoy a lesson with their spells, and they were not the only ones who had done so.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked out of the compartment one after another, wands also in their hands. Clearly, besides the twins, the three of them had also given Malfoy a good beating.
"We wanted to see what exactly these three were planning to do," Fred said seriously as he kicked the unconscious Goyle.
"What an interesting effect," George said, looking down at Crabbe. "Which one of you three used the Fire-Making Spell?"
"Me," Harry said.
"What a coincidence," George said happily. "I used the Leg-Locker Curse. Looks like these two spells don't work very well together. He seems to have little tentacles growing all over his face, making him even uglier. All right, let's not leave them lying here. They're hardly attractive decorations."
As he spoke, the twins and the three others kicked, pushed, and rolled the unconscious Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle out of the way, making sure the three nuisances were no longer blocking the passage, and then entered the compartment together.
From beginning to end, Eda did not participate at all. She neither attacked Malfoys and his lackeys nor helped move the three unconscious boys. Eda merely glanced at the compartments on both sides, and all the little heads that had been poking out immediately disappeared.
Eda also followed them into the compartment, but when she entered, she kept as far away from Malfoys and his lackeys on the floor as possible, as if there were some unpleasant smell coming from them.
After sliding the compartment door shut again, Eda happened to see Fred pull out a deck of Exploding Snap cards.
"Since we're free anyway, how about a thrilling game of Exploding Snap?" Fred suggested.
"So... you came all the way to this carriage just to find us and play cards?" Ron asked. He immediately saw through the twins' real intention. As expected of actual brothers.
George said matter-of-factly, "Little bro, what else? Or do you think you're as charming as Bill?"
"Couldn't you get enough people in your compartment?" Ron asked irritably. He admitted that he did not have Bill's charm, but did they really have to say it so directly...
"Angelina, Alicia, and Lee are all busy, so we didn't ask them," Fred replied. "Are you playing or not? Stop wasting time!"
"Uh... well, why didn't you bring Eda? The three of you can play together, can't you?" Hermione asked in confusion.
Harry had a similar question. During his time at the Burrow, he had noticed that whenever everyone played cards, they would avoid Eda and never invite her to play with them.
At this moment, Eda gave Hermione a brilliant smile. She swept her hair back behind her head, revealing a hairstyle that looked like it belonged to someone who was very good at playing cards.
"I'm not very good at it. Can I join?" Eda asked in a pitiful tone, practically on the verge of clasping her fingers together.
Fred and George simultaneously turned to look at Eda, expressions of utter despair on their faces. The two brothers spoke in unison.
"No, we don't want to play cards anymore! Not at all!"
...
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