The m, Eda resisted the temptation to revisit the secret passage, despite a persistent inner voice urgio check out the underground room again.

  Instead, she chose to go to the library with the older Smith girl who had given her a hat.

  This Smith girl po work at the Ministry of Magic after graduation, aiming to bee a civil servant.

  Eda inquired about the job prospects fwarts graduates, and Smith's response painted a bleak picture.

  Unemployment had long been a problem fwarts graduates. pared to Muggles, wizards and witches were vastly outnumbered, and the number of avaible jobs was limited.

  Wizards generally lived longer, resulting in longer careers. Eda hadn't heard of retirement in the wizarding world, so there were few vat positions each year.

  After all, even Professonagall was still w diligently despite her age.

  Every year, Hogwarts supplied fresh graduates to the wizarding world, all of whom needed jobs.

  However, it was clear that the wizarding world couldn't provide enough positions, leading to a low employment rate among Hraduates.

  Eda thought to herself, " Hogwarts really cim to be the best magic school in the world if it 't ensure jobs for its graduates? It's far behind the elite M7/Ivy League schools in that regard."

  During lun the Great Hall, Eda noticed that Be Fawley resent at the teachers' table.

  It was clear that the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor had returned early. Perhaps he had a deep love for his teag job, or maybe he was back to search for something.

  Fawley's presence made Eda's lunch less enjoyable; she always felt that this mysterious professor exuded an aura of danger.

  Iernoon, Eda holed up in her dormitain, f herself to ighe persistent nagging of her inner voice. She held a book in her hands, but as she read, her attentio drifting away from the pages, resulting in poor reading efficy.

  By evening, uo withstand the temptation any longer, Eda decided to revisit the secret passage on the fourth floor.

  In the dark underground room, Eda created another "little sun" with her wand. Using its light, she began to search the room thhly.

  Though she didn't know who had built this secret room, Eda reasohat there must be a signifit purpose behind its creation. If it was merely meant to be a passage to Hogsmeade, there wouldn't have been a need for su eborate setup. The resources ied in this room were evidently much greater than those needed for a simple passage.

  Believing that the room must hide undiscovered secrets, Eda couldn't calm herself throughout the day. She felt that the room's existence must be justified by something more than just a hidden passageway.

  Eda held her torch high and observed the statues in the room. These giant statues stood oone floor with both feet, supp the ceiling with their hands and shoulders.

  The overall design of the statues reminded Eda of the mythological figure Ats, the Titan who was o stand on the earth goddess Gaia and hold up the sky god Uranus. Whether these statues were modeled after Ats or were merely a ce, Eda couldn't say for sure.

  Eda examined each statue closely. Although their designs were uniform, their expressions varied greatly, with no two statues sharing the same facial expression.

  After cirg the room several times, Eda found no additional passages or anything unusual beyond the twirances.

  "Seems like overthinking isn't always a good thing," Eda muttered. Her voice echoed in the empty room, boung back from the walls as if affirmihoughts.

  Maybe this pce was just built as a safe house to protect against enemies. I'm overthinking it, Eda thought.

  Instead of feeling disappointed, Eda looked more relieved. Sihe room held no shog secrets, she could use it as a secret base. That was its purpose, after all, wasn't it?

  The only thing to be cautious of was the falling stones. As for whether the room would colpse, Eda didn't worry about it for now. It had sted so many years, a few more wouldn't hurt. She just hoped it could hold up a little longer.

  In a few years, Eda would graduate. By then, whether the room colpsed or exploded wouldn't her at all.

  Eda raised her wand, pnning to practice her spells here. The room acious and very private.

  "Wingardium Leviosa!" She first used the Levitation Charm to lift a stone from the floor. O reached a certai, she celed the spell. Without the magical support, the stone began to fall rapidly.

  "fringo!" She cast the Bsting Curse at the falling stohe stooo quickly, and Eda's spell missed, hitting the wall behind instead.

  Eda couldn't yet hit moving targets with 100% accuracy, so she deliberately reduced her magical power, making the spell less potent. The diminished version of the Bsting Curse only left a small crater in the wall without causing any severe damage.

  "Wingardium Leviosa!" Eda repeated her previous aaking the stone fly up again. This time, as the stone fell, Eda's spell hit the target, causing the stoo explode in mid-air.

  There was no expression of joy after her success. Eda's face remained indifferent. To her, she had only aplished a minor task a she hadn't done well enough.

  Dumbledore could probably destroy this pce with a single spell; Eda knew she was far from that level.

  Although she had mastered many spells that could help her in daily life, that was about it.

  "A domestic witch," Eda called herself, refleg on her current abilities. This term applied to many in the magical world; they possessed magic but were essentially "ordinary people."

  It's a simple truth: many Hogwarts students pass their wizarding exams, but few bee Aurors or renowned wizards. Most lead unremarkable lives.

  Being an "ordinary person" who could cast spells was not enough for Eda. Living a sed life, she was determined not to be ordinary. Eda wao bee a great wizard, either revered like Dumbledore or feared by many.

  All of this was for the sake of that great goal!

  Thus, for the past half-semester, the determined Eda had been engaging in simir practice sessions.

  These practices were small steps on her jouro greatness. Her spell accuracy had signifitly improved, and she could easily handle youudents. However, against skilled oppos, Eda feared she wouldn't stand much ce of surviving.

  Most spells could be blocked or deflected using defensive spells. Excellent wizards could even reflect curses back at the caster, a skill Eda read about in dueling books and deeply admired.

  However, for a spell to be blocked, it first had to hit the effective area, much like the strike zone in baseball. If the spell missed widely, the oppo wouldn't eveo block it; they could just stand there and watch you fil.

  Then, when you were off guard, they could deliver a decisive blow, knog you to the ground, leaving you feeling utterly humiliated.

  This highlighted the differen bat experience, a gap that Eda couldn't bridge at her current stage.

  After warming up with some slightly rger stones, Eda began targeting smaller ones and increased the distaween herself and the stones.

  Under Eda's Bsting Curse, the underground room was filled with more and more rubble; the demolition crew could certainly use her talents. After practig for a long time, Eda felt tired and decided it was time to head back.

  As she walked back, she kicked the rubble around, noearing more like her usual self.

  Returning from the underground room to the castle, Eda realized that curfew had already passed. More than w about the employment rate, she felt she probably needed a watch.

  The perpetually dark underground room made it easy to lose track of time. If Eda tio practice there, she might even miss css one day.

  Covered by the Disillusio Charm, Eda walked slowly back to Gryffindor, her wand-waving practice draining much of her energy.

  "I wish I knew where the kit was!" Eda muttered, clutg her stomach as she quietly made her way back to the on room.

  ____

  12 Advance Chapters - Patreon./Dragonel