The tranquility of Rosier Manor was not broken by Dumbledore's unexpected visit, and the manor soon returned to its usual lazy atmosphere. However, Eda finally put away her sluggish attitude and began going to bed early and getting up early.
Every morning, Eda would jog around the garden, followed happily by a large group of cats, dogs, sheep, deer, and other small animals. Physical stamina had always been something that troubled Eda, and compared to others her age, she also looked somewhat frail.
She did not need to train herself into having bulging muscles or defined abs, but at the very least she ought to be able to fight and run properly. Otherwise, every time she sprinted around she ended up wheezing like a broken bellows.
Eda had also spoken with Vinda about her previous worries, and they had discussed the Triwizard Tournament as well. Vinda did not offer comforting words, nor did she say Eda was her pride. Instead, she directly demonstrated what it meant to be "old yet still vigorous."
Although she was very old and her body was no longer what it once had been, Vinda was still not someone others could easily manipulate. These old bones still possessed the strength to fight. For a moment, Eda felt that Vinda would definitely become a core member of a public square dancing group—the most dazzling old lady in the plaza.
As for her opinion on the Triwizard Tournament, the old lady's view was even more straightforward: there was nothing else to say, just beat them all up. Europe's three greatest magical schools? Champions carefully selected from among the students? What she wanted to fight were exactly those so-called elites!
During the summer of 1994, Eda did not stay cooped up inside Rosier Manor the entire time. She and Vinda went on a self-guided tour through southern France like ordinary Muggles. They traveled using Muggle transportation, stayed in Muggle hotels, and visited Muggle attractions. They truly looked just like an ordinary grandmother and granddaughter on vacation.
Their first stops were Nîmes and Avignon, after which the grandmother and granddaughter stayed in Provence for two days. In the picturesque city of knights, the two witches stood amidst endless lavender fields, imagining what Eda's life would be like after graduation.
When Vinda learned that Eda actually wanted to become the headmaster of Hogwarts, it was the first time she had opposed one of Eda's ideas. Vinda hoped even more that after graduation Eda would work at the French Ministry of Magic—good pay, little work, and close to home. If she liked joke shops, opening one herself would also be perfectly fine.
Still, the two only discussed the future briefly. After all, those were matters several years away. Who could really say what the future would hold?
After leaving Provence, the grandmother and granddaughter visited several more cities, and before they realized it, they had arrived at the final stop of their journey: the Bay of Angels in Nice.
Surrounded by mountains on three sides and the sea on one side, the two distant ends of the Bay of Angels faced one another like a pair of angel wings stretching out to embrace the sea, forming the most magnificent scenery along the entire Azure Coast.
From the hotel along the Promenade des Anglais, looking out through the window into the distance, the azure-blue seawater shimmered under the sunlight with an almost unbelievable radiance. Its pure color was as flawlessly perfect as the curve of the bay itself.
The pebbles on the beach were somewhat painful to step on, while the azure seawater was calm and crystal clear. The refreshing sea breeze from the Mediterranean drifted gently by. It truly was a wonderful place to escape the summer heat.
The endless flow of tourists and the lively beach atmosphere did nothing to affect Vinda and Eda's good mood. For the two of them, this companionship was what mattered most, and the famous Bay of Angels itself had become little more than a backdrop.
Naturally, along the way there was no shortage of Eda's signature tourist photos. Even the always dignified and elegant Vinda suffered under her "evil hands," ending up with one elderly tourist photo after another.
Every one of those elderly tourist photos featured beautiful scenery, Vinda reluctantly appearing in frame, forced to raise her arms, while a scarf fluttering in the wind was naturally an indispensable element.
After the photos were developed, Vinda's face was filled with disdain, while Eda enthusiastically declared, "Now this has the proper feeling!"
After the self-guided tour through southern France ended, Vinda and Eda returned to Rosier Manor. Eda also received her new term's supply list, along with her freshly issued Head Girl badge.
Unlike a prefect badge, the letter on the Head Girl badge had been replaced with an "H." It looked very much like Hogwarts' shield-shaped crest, with a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake circling around the capital letter.
Eda had finally completed the long-term mission previously issued by the system: Become a prefect (Head Girl). The system reward was delivered immediately the moment Eda received the badge, and a new section instantly appeared on her system panel. This section displayed loyalty values.
The names shown on the panel included only those ten people, among them Laura and Sergei. It seemed that names would only appear in this section after establishing some sort of superior-subordinate relationship.
Among the ten, Laura's loyalty value was the highest, nearly maxed out, reaching the evaluation of absolute loyalty. Next came Sergei and Daniel, while the remaining seven people all had loyalty values exceeding half as well.
This left Eda somewhat puzzled. Theoretically speaking, there should have been a traitor among those ten people, yet their loyalty values did not look like the kind that would betray Eda at all. So where exactly had the problem occurred?
The loyalty ratings could change over time and according to one's state of mind. Was it possible that this traitor had once betrayed her, but later turned over a new leaf?
Or perhaps this traitor had unintentionally leaked information about her, without even realizing that it counted as "betrayal"?
The person hiding in the shadows, the one who had leaked Eda's information, seemed to be hiding deeper and deeper, while the truth concealed behind the fog drifted farther and farther away.
Before Eda could fully understand the evaluation standards behind "loyalty," she had to leave Rosier Manor once again. This time, however, it was not for vacation or sightseeing, but for a true departure.
Before returning to Britain, there was still one thing Eda needed to do—she wanted to visit Grindelwald.
Carrying her luggage and leaving behind the scorching heat of France, Eda appeared alone in the mountainous regions of Austria.
The snow-covered mountains here never melted, standing like white-haired elders looking down upon the people at their feet. Nurmengard was hidden among those white mountain ranges. The castle remained the same as before, intimidating and oppressive, and the mountain path beneath her feet was still difficult to traverse.
Yet this time, when Eda arrived at Nurmengard, her state of mind was completely different.
The last time she had come here, the road ahead had been uncertain and her heart filled with confusion. Eda had not even been in the mood to properly appreciate the scenery along the way.
But this time, there was no longer any unease in her heart, and the steps beneath her feet grew increasingly firm. She even had the leisure to gather wildflowers and weeds by the roadside.
Standing before the platform constructed from enormous stones, Eda waved her wand and recited a long and complicated incantation. In response, the castle gates appeared once more. They still looked as weathered and mottled as they had before she left last time.
Pushing open the gates, Eda stepped into Nurmengard once again.
This time, the inside of the castle was no longer covered in dust, nor would clouds of dust dance through the air with every step she took. It could not exactly be called tidy, but it was at least clean. It seemed that after Eda had left, Grindelwald had finally begun cleaning the castle.
The thin and withered old man slowly descended the spiral staircase. The scene was both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time.
What was familiar were the same setting and the same person. What was unfamiliar was the cleaned castle and the change in mindset.
"I had a feeling these past two days that someone would come here," Grindelwald said. He still looked as old and frail as ever. "I just didn't expect that person to be you."
Seeing the expression on Grindelwald's gaunt face, Eda said unhappily, "Looks like I'm not the person you were most eager to see. Should I just leave then?"
There were four great forms of tolerance in this world: "It's a holiday after all," "Since they've already come," "Life isn't easy for anyone," and "The person is already dead."
These four great forms of tolerance could be adjusted according to different situations and contexts. Right now, Eda belonged to the category of "since they've already come."
Sitting in the high-backed chair, Grindelwald neither told her to leave nor said anything like "since you're already here." The first Dark Lord of this century stubbornly maintained his dignified posture, completely lacking the shrewish manner he had displayed when arguing with Eda two years ago.
Only after watching Eda take advantage of the situation and sit down as well did Grindelwald speak again.
"What mistake did you make this time to get sent here?" he asked.
"In your eyes, am I really that unbearably troublesome?" Eda became even more dissatisfied. What kind of person was this! She had kindly come all the way here to visit him, this lonely old man, and this was how he repaid her kindness?
"Troublesome? No, no… you are not troublesome." Grindelwald waved his hand. "I simply saw the flame hidden deep within your heart. And seeing you this time, I've realized that flame is burning even more fiercely now."
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