In the days that followed, Eda still occasionally went to Cecil for his signature, but the two of them never discussed his health or dark magic again, as if that versation had never happened.

  Professor Cecil tieag his csses. His Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons remained as engaging as ever, blending theory with practice. Every css offered valuable knowledge on how to bat dangerous magical creatures or ter curses cast by wizards.

  The students had long fotten the so-called curse on Defense Against the Dark Arts professors, all hoping that Cecil could remaieacher indefinitely.

  Unfortunately, their wishes were destio be unfulfilled. No one knew how gravely ill this professor was, nor did Eda know how much longer he could hold on.

  On February 14, 1991, Valentine's Day.

  The castle once again turned pink, and couples g to each other, spreading their love.

  Seeing a Asian face at Hogwarts was rare, so Eda was naturally curious. She and the twins had snuck a peek at Cho g together. Cho had shiny, jet-bck long hair, a gentle and friendly personality, and spoke in a kind and harmonious manner. She seemed to get along well with others.

  However, Eda's iions with ained limited to that. The twins, oher hand, thought little Cho g was quite pretty.

  Eda had to agree on that point. Amid a sea of Western faces at Hogwarts, Cho g's distinctive East Asian appearance was certainly an appealiure—exotic charm, after all.

  Today, Gryffindor had a joint css with Hufflepuff, and Eda witnessed firsthand Cedric Diggory's talent for attrag attention.

  It wasn't just his peers who flocked around him—quite a few upper-year girls, aiming to rob the cradle, sought him out as well.

  The acked tightly with these girls. When Eda passed by and casually greeted Cedric, she was immediately subjected to an undeserved barrage of gres from the jealous crowd.

  Aside from Shat old bat, who else would dare to treat Eda so unjustly?

  Naturally, she returned each gre in kind.

  But these girls, blinded by infatuation, didn't care in the slightest about Eda. Their entire focus was on the sunny and handsome Cedric. Who did Esmeralda Twist think she was, anyway?

  Outnumbered, Eda had no choice but to retreat, obediently taking her seat.

  The crowd of admirers only dispersed relutly when css began. Thankfully, they didn't reappear after css, sparing Eda another round of hostile looks.

  That evening, Eda went aloo the underground room. She had inally p the twins along to teach them some practical spells to enhaheir skills.

  However, pns could never keep up with ges—the twins had been caught and assigned detention by Professonagall.

  Over the past year, the twins had broken tless school rules, enough to fill aire et in Filch's records. To them, this was just another minor scuffle. Professonagall's detentions had little deterrent effe the brothers.

  The story began on Valentine's Day whewins intercepted several letters addressed to Eda. With their mischievous target set, they decided to prank the unsuspeg boys who had sent them. These i ds had no idea how treacherous society could be or how plicated people could get.

  Hopefully, the twins didn't leave them with too much emotional trauma.

  However, even though the twins operated uheir usual "good deeds done anonymously" motto, they still couldn't escape punishment under school rules.

  Wheuation was brought to Professonagall, the sharp-eyed head of house quickly figured out what had happehe masterminds, Fred and Gee, didn't receive fiveness from their "victims" and were promptly disciplined by the ever-fair Magall.

  As for Eda, who was pletely uninvolved, she received only a verbal warning from Magall. There was no actual punishment sihe i wasn't her fault.

  In fact, had Magall not told her, Eda wouldn't have even knowwins had intercepted her letters.

  In the underground room, Eda stood face-to-face with a mannequin—a humanoid automaton.

  The two were identical in appearance, right down to the wands they held. However, uhe "true and false Monkey King" from the cssic tale, they weren't too hard to tell apart: Eda had removed her robe, while the mannequin was still dressed in one.

  With the twiained, Eda was left to face this trial alo was fitting, though, If she defeated the trial mannequin, she would earn her Valentine's gift.

  Eda and the mannequin raised their wands in front of them, bowing to each other, before stepping five paces back to their respective positions.

  This was the etiquette of wizard dueling. Only after pleting these formalities could the duel begin, with each side casting spells at the other until one lost their wand or the ability to retaliate.

  This was a standard wizard duel, much like the format in which Professor Flitwick cimed his championship title. It was akin to the "dueling" feature in online games: one partit's "health" dropped to ohe match was decided. While dangerous, such duels weren't lethal.

  Of course, where there were formal duels, there were also illegal ohese duels often ended with one party pletely incapacitated or dead. In such life-or-death frontatioiquette was unnecessary—anything goes, and any spell could be used without restri.

  Eda initiated the attack. Pieces of rubble from the ground floated into the air and, upon her intation, shot toward the mannequin like a storm of projectiles.

  The trial mannequin raised its wand horizontally, summoning a shimmering barrier. Every rock that struck the shield disied into fine powder.

  The flying rubble was just a prelude to gain the upper hand. came r fmes, surging toward the mannequin. The scorg fire left charred trails in its wake, and the heat was so inte sihe mannequin's hair.

  Siartiraining with the trial mannequin, Eda had discovered her preference for offense over defense. She enjoyed pressing her oppo with relentless aggression, f them onto the backfoot. By creating overwhelming pressure, she could pel them to make a mistake. One opening in their defense was all she o secure victory.

  Eda favored an unyielding, wave-like offerategy—relentless and unending. She relished the sense of domination it gave her. Ideally, she dreamed of ending fights in a sirike, overwhelming her oppo with one spell. The mere thought thrilled her.

  As the r fmes were ralized by the mannequin, Eda followed up immediately with a Stunning Spell and a Bsting Curse. The mannequin had no choice but to tinually cast Shield Charms and Protego to fend off her onsught.

  In the underground room, fshes of light streaked tinuously as Eda maintained her relentless assault. The trial mannequin could only manage occasional terattacks during brief openings in its defense. However, each of its terattacks was deftly blocked by Eda, failing to disrupt her rhythm.

  The trial mannequin was desigo mimic a person but wasn't a real human being. It cked humaions, which meant its as in battle weren't swayed by feelings. Whether attag or defending, it always executed the most rational choice.

  This was one of the main reasons why Eda, despite all her practice, had yet to defeat it.

  Eda transfigured some of the rubble on the ground into three hunting dogs, which lu the mannequin from different dires. She frequently used Transfiguration in her practice to create diversions, making it easier to spot fws in her oppo's defenses.

  Three streaks of silver light fshed, redug the dogs bato rubble, but the maneuver finally forced the trial mannequin to expose a weakness.

  Eda wouldn't let su opportunity slip away. Alongside her usual Disarming Charm and Stunning Spell, she unleashed an array of spells, including Shattering Hexes, Explosion Curses, and Severing Charms.

  Her magic coursed at high speed, sending a kaleidoscope of colored spells bursting from her wand. With the speed at which Eda was casting, one might think she had the makings of a wizarding rapper.

  The barrage left the mannequin with no escape routes; it was forced to either block every spell or be knocked down.

  As Eda anticipated, the mannequin mao deflely part of her onsught.

  The remaining spells struck it directly, sending it flying through the air.

  Blood seeped from its form, staining its bck robes a deep crimson.

  "Is it over..?"

  The mannequin y prone on the ground, yet the system still didn't decre Eda the winner.

  fused, she cautiously stepped closer to iigate.

  _______

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