The darkness around them grew thicker and thicker. The light from the Lumos Charm could no longer penetrate the darkness ahead, so Eda had no choice but to turn up the brightness of her wand. The light gradually became somewhat glaring.
Along the way, aside from the Boggart, Eda also encountered a giant Blast-Ended Skrewt. This was a new species Hagrid had created, capable of breathing fire and exploding... In short, it was a new hybrid species that should never have existed in this world.
Naturally, Eda showed no mercy toward such a dangerous creature. She simply blasted it with a barrage of spells, kicking up a cloud of dust and smoke. When the smoke cleared, Eda did not see the remains of the Skrewt. It had probably escaped.
After wandering around in circles through the dark maze for quite some time, Eda finally approached the center of the maze. The Triwizard Cup was right in front of her, shining with an alluring light.
Eda did not sprint toward it. She slowly walked toward the Cup, and then she saw a huge shadow hiding behind the base of the Cup. It was an enormous Acromantula.
At this moment, Harry also appeared in the center of the maze. The obstacles in the maze had not caused him much trouble. He asked, "What's that? An Acromantula?"
"There is a huge spider colony in the Forbidden Forest. Its leader is Aragog, an Acromantula," Eda answered. "He's Hagrid's pet. Hagrid even found Aragog a wife."
Hearing Eda's answer, Harry's face twitched unnaturally. He said speechlessly, "Introducing an Acromantula to a wife. That's something only Hagrid could do."
"Hagrid is a kind person, and he has a tremendous amount of love to give," Eda said. "But his love is far too excessive. The little creatures he finds adorable are extremely dangerous to everyone else."
The two of them simply stood there chatting as though nobody else was around, completely ignoring the Triwizard Cup and the Acromantula guarding it. They did not even give the pair of eyes watching them from outside the maze any consideration.
There was nothing to be done about it. Who told him to have only one magical eye that could see through things, but not a pair of ears sharp enough to hear everything?
If someone merely looked at the scene of Eda and Harry chatting, it would seem more like the two of them were politely yielding to each other and discussing who should take the Triwizard Cup.
"With all the time Hagrid has spent finding an Acromantula a girlfriend and creating hybrid species, he might as well consider his own love life," Harry continued. "By the way, how are things between him and Madame Maxime from France?"
"Not very well. It seems they had a falling-out. Didn't you notice that Madame Maxime looked like she had been crying during dinner today?" Eda said. "Hagrid thinks Madame Maxime deceived him and only approached him to learn about the dragons from him."
Thinking of Madame Maxime's red-rimmed eyes during dinner, Eda found it unbelievable. No matter how tall or strong a woman's body might be, women really were made of water after all.
"All right, I didn't expect Hagrid to be so pure-hearted." Harry could not help laughing. "Okay, it's getting late. Let's stop chatting and get down to business!"
As he spoke, Harry pulled a small bottle from his pocket and discreetly took a sip. Then Harry and Eda walked toward the Triwizard Cup together.
When the Acromantula guarding the Cup saw Eda approaching, its body involuntarily shuddered. Then, without the slightest hesitation, the Acromantula ran away. Its eight eyes did not dare look at Eda even once.
"Uh... why did it run away? It didn't even try to stop us?" Harry looked at the fleeing spider. "Or was it scared away by you? Did you do something terrible to them?"
Eda lightly scratched her cheek and said, "Not really... I just borrowed a little of their venom. I wasn't exactly well-off at the time... And then I happened to set a fire..."
Harry looked at Eda, his entire face filled with disbelief. In his opinion, Eda had probably gotten the order backward. She should have set a fire first, and then "borrowed a little" venom, the kind of "borrowing" that was never going to be repaid.
The two of them stood together in front of the Triwizard Cup. They exchanged a glance, then simultaneously grabbed its handles.
At once, Eda felt as though someone had yanked her. Her feet instantly left the ground. The Triwizard Cup dragged Eda and Harry forward, flying through the howling wind and swirling colors.
Sure enough, the Triwizard Cup was indeed a trap. It had been replaced with a Portkey. Krum, who had been controlled, attacked Fleur and Eda simply to clear the path to the Cup for Harry.
Who knew how much time had passed? Perhaps only an instant. Who knew how far they had flown? Perhaps it was merely somewhere next door to the school. That was the purpose of a Portkey. It could take people to a designated location.
Eda's feet finally landed on the lovely ground. She released her grip, and the Triwizard Cup clanged to the ground.
Before them was a dark cemetery overgrown with weeds. Behind a tall yew tree on the right, they could make out the black outline of a small chapel. On the left was a hill. A beautiful old house stood on its slope.
Harry stood behind Eda and asked an utterly pointless question.
"Where are we?"
The cemetery was eerie and silent, without even a single ghostly light. Eda answered, "I don't know. I only know that I hate cemeteries, especially cemeteries at night."
The two of them drew their wands and walked into the cemetery under the cover of night. They wanted to determine their location and figure out where they were. The cemetery in front of them might be a good place to start.
Just then, a figure began walking toward them step by step between the graves. The night was too dark to make out the person's face. Eda only felt that his way of walking looked somewhat familiar.
The person in the darkness was carrying something in his arms as though he were holding a baby. He wore a hooded cloak that concealed his face, slowly closing the distance between himself and Eda and Harry.
The man stopped in front of a towering marble gravestone, very close to Eda and Harry.
He took off his hood, revealing a pale and gaunt face, and said excitedly, "Long time no see, Esmeralda Twist!"
It was Fowley, Benedict Fowley!
Although Eda had suspected Fowley before, wondering if he was the one taking care of Voldemort and helping the Dark Lord grow stronger, she still found it difficult to believe when she actually saw Fowley standing before her.
Another prisoner had escaped from Azkaban. That famous wizarding prison really was full of holes!
"How did you escape from there?" Eda asked suspiciously. Sirius Black was an Animagus, Barty Crouch Jr. had used Polyjuice Potion, so what method had Fowley used to escape from Azkaban?
"Surprised? It was certainly an unforgettable experience!" Fowley said bitterly. "Still, I have to thank you. During my time in Azkaban, I thought about many things. So, after I left that place, I immediately set out to find my master."
Eda was about to say something else and reminisce with Fowley for a while, buying herself some time. However, the baby-like thing in Fowley's arms suddenly spoke in a cold voice.
"Get rid of that nuisance!"
"Yes, my master." Fowley's voice trembled, but his expression looked utterly devout.
Fowley raised his wand and shouted, "Avada Kedavra!"
A powerful green light shot from the tip of Fowley's wand, illuminating the surrounding cemetery in a ghastly green. Eda quickly dodged. She had no intention of taking an Avada Kedavra head-on.
Eda immediately counterattacked from where she had moved aside. On the other side, Harry covered his forehead and nimbly hid among a cluster of gravestones, gradually disappearing into the darkness.
"Kill her, kill that useless girl!" the baby-like thing continued to shout. "Useless fool, kill her, hurry up!"
The cold voice kept urging Fowley on. The former Defense Against the Dark Arts professor had no choice but to speed up his attacks, constantly bombarding Eda's hiding place with spells.
"Come out! Come out!" Fowley shouted frantically. "After all these years, are you still only capable of hiding like a coward?"
Hide? How could that be possible? After being in this world for so many years, apart from Dumbledore, Eda had only ever lost to Fowley. She had been looking forward to this day for a very long time. Today, she could finally wipe away the humiliation of her defeat!
Eda waved her left hand, and a gravestone was lifted from its place by magic and sent flying toward the enraged Fowley.
"The same trick again? After all these years, you really haven't improved at all!" Fowley roared as he blasted the gravestone flying toward him into pieces.
Only when the fragments of the gravestone scattered did Fowley suddenly realize that Eda had already appeared right in front of him. Then a dazzling light flashed, and Fowley suddenly felt his hand go empty. His wand was gone.
"You really haven't improved at all after all these years. You've disappointed me, Professor Fowley." Eda smiled. "Now, I want to have a good look at that thing you're carrying."
Another beam of light emerged from the tip of Eda's wand. Fowley felt that the master in his arms was about to leave him, so he used all his strength to hold the bundle tightly, preventing it from flying toward Eda.
"Kill her! Kill her!" The thing inside the bundle continued to shout loudly, but it was slowly slipping from Fowley's arms.
Just then, another sharp voice rang out above the cemetery.
"Avada Kedavra!"
...
(～￣▽￣)～Read 12 Chapters ahead:
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