George's behavior was somewhat rude, even a bit disrespectful, but since Cedric had known the twins from childhood, he didn't mind George's slightly impolite actions.
Eda patted George on the shoulder, signaling him to stop. Realizing his mistake, George stayed silent.
"Whether you call me Eda or Esmeralda, either is fine. My friends usually call me Eda," she said.
"Then we're friends now!" Cedric replied with a smile. "You can call me Ced, that's what Fred and George used to call me."
Cedric had heard about how Eda and the twins became friends. He thought that if it had been him helping her with her luggage back then, they might have already been friends by now.
Both Cedric and Eda were not only in the same year but were also born in 1977, with Cedric's birthday being slightly earlier. They both enjoyed reading and were top students, with many other things in common. It would be a shame for them not to be friends.
They chatted casually for a while longer, and the atmosphere was quite pleasant, though the twins still felt a bit awkward. However, they didn't let their discomfort show.
"Alright, I should get going. See you in class!" Cedric said, as his friends had been calling for him several times. He jogged off to catch up with them.
"Cedric is really handsome!" Katie blurted out, clearly smitten by his charm.
The other two girls nodded in agreement, while the three boys scoffed dismissively.
Eda hadn't given any opinion, which made Alicia curious, so she asked, "Eda, what do you think?"
"He's alright. Who knows who'll be lucky enough to end up with him in the future," Eda replied.
"Cedric is just 'alright' in your eyes?" Alicia was a bit surprised by Eda's standards. "Then who do you think is handsome?"
"I think Fred and George are pretty handsome," Eda said. She really wanted to mention Al Pacino, but figured none of them would know who that was. "Oliver Wood is also quite good-looking."
Fred and George were pleased with her answer at first, but their enthusiasm waned when Oliver Wood was suddenly added to the list.
As they chatted, Charlie announced the final selection list. Angelina and Alicia had both made the team, and the twins had fulfilled the bragging rights they had boasted about to Eda.
After setting the date for the first team practice of the school year, the gathered Gryffindors began to disperse. Tomorrow was the weekend, and everyone was ready to relax.
At 7 p.m., Eda once again found herself in the dungeon classroom. Snape had moved the detention, originally scheduled for Wednesday, to Friday, so that even if Eda was utterly exhausted, it wouldn't affect her classes the next day.
However, tonight Snape didn't cruelly prepare three cauldrons to "torture" Eda, which made her feel relieved—she certainly didn't want to spend her entire Saturday bedridden.
Standing in front of the desk, Eda noticed that the table was completely empty. There wasn't even a single Flobberworm, let alone a cauldron. Just as Eda was wondering what "surprise" Snape had in store for her, he handed her a black cloth and instructed her to blindfold herself.
The black cloth was completely opaque, and with her eyes covered, Eda couldn't see a thing, which made her feel uneasy.
Snape pulled out a small bottle of liquid, uncorked it, and placed it in front of Eda, asking her to identify the potion through its scent and guess what ingredients it was made from.
Was Snape treating her like a sniffer dog?
Eda regretted not bringing Garlon along with her. She sniffed deeply, carefully trying to identify the liquid in the glass bottle.
After sniffing for a long time, Eda couldn't come up with an answer. Instead, she became more confused: had Snape given her the wrong bottle?
After two minutes of thinking, Eda hesitantly asked, "Rum?"
"Are you sure?" Snape questioned.
"Rum, I'm sure," Eda ultimately stuck to her answer.
Even though Snape's tone made her second-guess herself, she was convinced she smelled rum. However, she couldn't identify the other ingredients that might have been added to the alcohol.
Snape put the bottle away, "It seems your time at the Leaky Cauldron hasn't gone to waste. Why don't you just drop out and work there? Or at the Three Broomsticks? That's their famous Red Currant Rum."
This bottle had been a test, a trap.
Next, Snape brought out a green potion for Eda to identify.
Snape kept pulling out different glass bottles, and Eda continued to use her nose to smell them.
But the bottles didn't only contain potions and alcohol—there were even a few different drinks. One tricky test followed another. Some traps Eda successfully avoided, while others caught her completely off guard.
Eda's nose had become so sore that each breath felt painfully sharp. Only then did the "Trap Master" Snape finally call it a night and end the training session.
She removed the black blindfold and gently rubbed her nose, which was stinging so much that it almost brought tears to her eyes.
Snape, still in his robe, pulled out two small bottles—one blue, one green. The moment they appeared, Eda reflexively twitched her nose.
Fortunately, Snape wasn't entirely heartless.
These two bottles were specially prepared for Eda. The green one was for external use, and the blue one for internal, meant to ease the pain in her nose.
In fact, Snape had prepared similar potions last time but forgot to give them to her before she left...
Eda uncorked the blue potion meant for drinking, but the taste was so horrendous that she nearly gagged. She was convinced that nothing in the world could taste worse.
Next, she applied the green potion evenly on her nose. The moment it touched her skin, it was absorbed instantly, leaving a cooling sensation that gradually relieved the soreness in her nose.
Despite the unbearable taste of the blue potion, Snape's concoctions were undeniably effective.
Just as Eda was about to thank him, Snape's next words nearly made her explode with anger.
"Oh, right. Next time, remember to apply the green one first and then drink the blue potion. That way, the taste won't be as bad," Snape remarked casually. "But it's fine—the effect is the same. In fact, the way you took it might even work a little better."
Snape hadn't intended to trap her this time. After all, he had prepared everything for her properly. He simply hadn't mentioned the order, and Eda had already finished drinking it. So technically, she couldn't blame him.
With her nose still stinging, Eda hadn't thought it through. She had been too focused on getting rid of the pain and hadn't anticipated that yet another trap was waiting for her to fall into.
"This time, consider it a lesson for your recklessness," Snape said. "You don't need to come next Friday. I'll let you know when to return."
After spending the whole evening sniffing different potions, Eda had memorized their scents. If she ever encountered them again, she would easily recognize them, ensuring she wouldn't accidentally drink the wrong thing.
This "detention" was as productive as ever.
Eda walked along the path leading back to the Gryffindor Tower, with the house-elf Winnie following behind. From now on, every time she went to the dungeons, Winnie would escort her back afterward, a task Snape had arranged.
As they walked, Eda chatted with Winnie, asking about the castle's hidden secrets.
House-elves had lived in the castle for countless years, so they surely knew things no one else did.
Winnie had been living here for eleven years, and she definitely knew more than Eda, who had only been at Hogwarts for a year.
At the entrance to the Gryffindor common room, Eda ran into Toller, who had also just returned.
While she had been in "detention" with Professor Snape, Toller had been serving his detention with Professor McGonagall. Both had been detained, but their detentions were entirely different experiences.
For the past week, Toller had been expecting retaliation from Eda and the twins. But after waiting for more than a week without any sign of revenge, he assumed they were too scared of losing points to do anything. This made him look down on Eda even more.
Originally, Eda had planned to head straight back to the common room, but Toller's expression irritated her. She immediately drew her wand, pointing it at him, and said, "You'd better learn to look at people with respect—or lower your head."
"Miss, please don't do this. It will only bring you trouble..." Winnie tugged at Eda's robe, trying to dissuade her.
Toller didn't lower his head; he continued to stare at Eda.
"Either lower your head or pick up your wand like I have," Eda said, stepping closer to him.
Winnie followed, still gently tugging on Eda's robe, softly urging her to put down the wand.
The two were now standing very close, but Toller remained unresponsive. He still believed Eda wouldn't dare make a move on him here.
Eda pressed the tip of her wand against Toller's cheek and whispered, "You're right, I did come from an orphanage. But what gave you the idea that kids from orphanages can be bullied so easily?"
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