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After returning to the dormitory at night, Angelina, who had just id down, heard a loud "bang". Angelina looked in the dire of the sound and found that Eda had thrown a small bag on the bedside table.
"What is that?" Alicia asked curiously, also startled by the noise.
"You didn't bring back a bag of rocks, did you?" Angelina asked.
"Why would I bring back a bag of rocks for no reason?" Eda responded, a bit exasperated. "These are cakes Hagrid gave me. He wanted me to share them with you."
Angelina and Alicia shook their heads immediately. It wasn't because they had heard of the notorious rock cakes, but any normal person wouldn't be ied in food that made such a loud noise when dropped.
"What? You say cakes? Those aren't food; they're ons!"
"e on, give them a try. Don't waste Hagrid's good iions!" Eda said, taking a rock cake from the bag and holding it out to them.
Seeing the true form of the cakes made Angelina and Alicia shake their heads even more vigorously. "Eda, there's no need for us to try them. reciate the gesture."
Looking at Angelina and Alicia, who were as in sync as twins, Eda relutly put the "brick" down. The hardest food Eda had ever entered before this was a frozen pear, but pared to the rock cakes, the hardness of frozen pears was nothing t about.
Throughout November, the professors turhe castle upside down. They didn't find the culprit or even a single clue. Apart from some traband that Filch fiscated from students, they found nothing at all.
The students' tense spirits finally rexed, and Hogwarts returo its usual lively atmosphere.
Today, the Gryffindor on room was especially lively. The coffee table was den with cakes, and there were pitchers of pumpkin juice, while the upper-year students eve off Filibuster's fireworks.
The students were celebrating today's victory in the on room. The Quidditch team, led by Charlie, had defeated Hufflepuff in today's official match.
Fred and Gee were wolfing down cakes, but even these delicious treats couldn't calm their restless hearts.
"Tonight, we're pnning to sneak out for some nighttime fun. Want to join us?" The twins once agaieheir invitation.
"Tonight?" Eda hesitated. "Aren't you afraid of getting caught?"
"The professors have stopped searg the castle so diligently. As long as we're careful, we'll be fine," Gee expio Eda as he swallowed a mouthful of cake.
Fred added, "We just o watch out for 'Dunghead' and his cat."
Ever since Hagrid referred to Filch as "Dunghead," the twins had adopted the niame to refer to him as well.
"You two are really asking for trouble!" Eda said as she picked up a piece of cake. "I already picture Professonagall ing to fetch you from Filch's office."
"This makes it even more exg!" Fred said.
"A mundane life is meaningless!" Gee said with a serious expression. "Eda, do you really want to waste your youth?"
My youth isn't wasted; I've been immersed in books. That's what Eda thought, but she said, "And how I avoid wasting my youth?"
"Living a mediocre life at Hogwarts is wasting your youth!" Gee said.
"When you get old and your kids ask you about Hogwarts' secrets, won't you be ashamed if you have nothing to tell them?" Fred gestured animatedly, urgio imagihe future.
Alright, you two brothers are like little Paul Kins! Eda had had enough of dealing with children duriime at the orphanage; she wao enjoy her solitude. She rolled her eyes, not engaging with Fred Kin and Gee Kin, and turo go back to her dormitory.
"At eleven-thirty, we'll wait for you in the on room," the twins called out to Eda's retreating figure.
Lying in bed, Eda found herself uo sleep, something that hadn't happened for a while. Retly, she had avoided te-night wanderings due to s about the attacks. She realized she missed those "Gryffindor behaviors."
Determined, Eda got up, ged inthttime gear, and quietly left the dormitory.
Eda walked dowairs from the girls' dormitory, just in time to see Fred and Gee whispering in the on room.
"I bet Eda will e, one Sickle!" Fred said. "How about it?"
"I also think Eda will e, same bet," Gee didn't fall for it at all.
Eda desded the stairs and said to the brothers, "Ahem... I'm not here for a night adventure, I'm just worried you might get caught, so I'm here to keep an eye on you..."
"Alright, we get it," Fred smiled at Eda, who retending to be tough.
"Let's head out and discwarts' secrets uhe cover of night!" Gee led the way.
Breathing in the corridor's night air felt uedly refreshing.
"Eda, we found a secret passage in the first week!" Gee called back to Eda.
Fred proudly added, "The passage behind Gregory the Smarmy's statue leads outside the school, we're professionals!"
Uhe cover of darkness, the three of them moved further away from Gryffindor Tower. The twins wao explore another secret passage, while Eda was on a mission to find a "safe house" and plete her tasks.
They didn't enter any professors along the way. Fred and Gee led Eda to a mirror on the fifth floor, suspeg it might ceal a secret passage.
"Are you sure there's really a... uh... passage here?" Eda asked the twins, watg them fumble around the rge mirror.
"irely sure, but this mirror looks very suspicious."
"It's our intuition, you know. Girls aren't the only ones with intuition!"
Eda didn't share their se; to her, the mirror looked quite ordinary and unremarkable.
[Ding! The host has discovered a secret passage at Hogwarts. Night adveask pletion +1. Finding the corretry method will reward additional pletion points.]
The night adveask pletion had already increased to 6 when they left the tower, and now it had risen to 7. Seeing the progress, Eda took out her wand, hoping to increase it even more.
Instead of randomly toug the mirror like the twins, Eda started poking at it with her wand, hoping to find the entrance by sensing the flow of magic. However, her efforts were just as futile as the twins'.
As the three of them stood around the mirror, at a loss for what to do , a cat's meow echoed through the corridor.
~Meow!~
They all turned simultaneously to see a sy cat standing before them. It was her than Mrs. Norris, Filch's beloved cat and the object of his affe.
Mrs. Norris's rge eyes gred at the trio, issuing another warning meow: Meow! It was as if she was saying, "Raise your hands! Don't move!"
"Run!" Eda yelled at the sight of Mrs. Norris, and she took off, with Fred and Gee following close behind.
The three of them bolted away from the fifth floor, Mrs. Norris chasing after them and meowing incessantly to alert her owner, Filch.
Soon, Eda heard the distinct sound of Filch's footsteps eg through the corridor.
"Split up!" Eda shouted as they reached the fourth-floor interseaking a sharp left turn. Fred and Gee, however, both decided to run downstairs.
Eda was nearly beside herself with frustration. Couldn't those two have chosen different dires? ht turn and one going downstairs would have made it harder for Mrs. Norris to follow them! Alone now, Eda eventually found herself ered by Mrs. Norris.
She reached into her pocket and pulled out the rock-hard rock cakes, which she had brought along as a makeshift on.
Holding the rock cake out, she tried to tempt the cat. "Mrs. Norris, this is a rare delicacy!" She waved the rock cake entigly before tossing it towards the cat.
The rock cake hit the ground with a thud and rolled to a stop in front of Mrs. Norris. But the cat was unimpressed and tio gre at Eda, pletely unfazed by the supposed treat.
It seemed that these rock cakes were useless for anything but as a st-ditch defense. Resigned, Eda turned and ran again, with Mrs. Norris still hot on her heels.
"Impedimenta!" Eda cast the Impediment Jinx at Mrs. Norris, hoping to slow the cat's pursuit.
The spell took effect, causing Mrs. Norris's movements to slow down. Eda tinued casting the jinx at the determined cat, buying herself enough time to finally shake off Filch's beloved pet.
Breathing heavily, Eda clutched her chest to steady her rag heart.
The frantic sprint had taken a toll on her.
"I really o work on my stamina. But with everything else going on, where will I find the time?"
While Eda mao escape, the twins weren't as fortunate. Filch had caught them red-handed.
"Ha! I've got you two now," Filch gloated, gripping the colrs of the twins' robes. "This time, I'll make sure you troperly punished!"
Filch's face was alight with glee, his wrinkles almost glowing.
Fred and Gee, however, seemed unfazed. "Filch, what grand punishment do you have in mind for us this time?" Fred asked. "Polishing the trophies in the dispy room or scrubbing your filthy mops?"
"I'll string you up and sh you with a whip!" Filarled. "Even gutting you wouldn't satisfy my hatred for you two!"
"Too bad, those punishments were banned by the headmaster ages ago," Gee replied, unfazed. "There's nothing you do to us, poor Filch!"
"One day, I'll make sure you two pay!" Filch gritted his teeth in frustration, dragging the Weasley twins by the back of their robes towards his office.
With Fred and Gee in Filch's clutches, Eda watched from her hiding spot behind a statue, alone in the now silent corridor.
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