The incident in the Slytherin common room passed just like that.
The next day, not a single rumor about it circulated through the school.
Eda wasn't going to talk about it, and Slytherin had issued a gag order internally, forbidding anyone from spreading the story.
To the amazement of the students, Draco Malfoy reluctantly began cleaning the castle. Such an unusual sight naturally attracted plenty of onlookers, but before they could enjoy the spectacle for long, they were dispersed by the prefects of their respective houses.
Having brought the most unstable and trouble-prone house, Slytherin, under control, it was naturally necessary to rein in the equally unruly Gryffindors as well.
If a Gryffindor got caught provoking trouble with a loose tongue, it would be a slap in Eda's face, and an even harder one than if it came from any of the other three houses.
So Eda made a round through the Gryffindor dormitories, visiting room after room and having a few friendly chats with the little lions.
As a result, Gryffindor settled down considerably. They had no desire to offend Eda.
With the two unstable and troublesome houses no longer causing problems, there was little reason to worry about Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw.
Eda knew that the conflicts between the four houses had existed for a very long time. They were not something she could resolve with a few casual words.
Even Dumbledore hadn't managed it, much less her. She wasn't arrogant enough to think otherwise.
All Eda wanted was for the four houses to maintain a surface-level peace this year and not embarrass Hogwarts in front of outsiders.
She wasn't hoping for brothers quarreling at home while uniting against external threats. She simply hoped that, for the time being, everyone would stop aiming their guns at fellow Hogwarts students.
If students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang weren't coming to Hogwarts, why would she bother meddling in any of this?
What did it matter to her if the four houses fought each other to the death? It wasn't as though anyone foolish enough to cause her trouble would get away with it.
Eda could easily have turned a blind eye. Or better yet, closed both eyes entirely.
Let them fight. It would be even better if something happened. She could attend the feast afterward. Eda would sit at the children's table, because she'd recently quit drinking.
Of course, Eda also knew that forcibly squeezing the four houses together wouldn't solve the underlying conflicts between them.
But that was enough for her.
She wasn't here to solve the conflicts. She was only here to press the pause button on them.
Whether it was Slytherin or Gryffindor, they had only been temporarily subdued by Eda. What kept them in line was fear of her personal strength and the relatively fair conditions she had offered.
In truth, the most direct way to solve the conflict between the four houses would be to intensify it.
Put everyone to the test. Let them settle it with real wands and real fighting. The winners stay standing, the losers lie down.
Simple. Effective.
The victors would become truth itself. They would become justice.
Just like Dumbledore and Grindelwald. If Grindelwald had been the one who won back then, whose prison would Nurmengard among the mountains have become?
But that couldn't be done now.
At the very least, Eda couldn't do it.
Otherwise, Dumbledore would be the first person to refuse to let her off.
At its core, this was the fundamental difference between Eda and Dumbledore.
She had never seriously considered the source of the conflicts between the houses, nor had she ever thought about resolving them.
She was different from Grindelwald as well.
Eda had no grand dream, nor any desire to "bring benefits to the whole world after achieving success." All she wanted was temporary stability. After she was "dead," she couldn't care less if floodwaters drowned the world.
As for the great task of fundamentally resolving the conflict between the four houses, that could be left to great people.
Compared to solving conflicts, Eda was much better at solving the people who caused them.
And so the days passed one by one, with Hogwarts maintaining a superficial peace.
The Slytherins no longer swaggered around with their shoulders thrown back, nor did they look down on others through their nostrils.
The Gryffindors also stopped constantly picking faults with Slytherin and glaring at them over every little thing.
Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw were reassuringly trouble-free as well. The little badgers went about their daily lives without the slightest intention of stirring up trouble, while the Ravenclaw eagles devoted themselves wholeheartedly to their books, absorbing the knowledge they so eagerly sought.
Gradually, everyone began to get used to this kind of life. Even if they didn't want to, they had no choice.
On one hand, Eda was keeping everyone in line.
On the other, the students suddenly discovered that the professors had assigned an enormous amount of homework.
With no Quidditch matches this year, the professors seemed determined to burn off the students' excess energy through assignments.
The homework piled up like mountains. From fourth year onward, students in every year group were complaining bitterly, staring at their workloads with tears in their eyes.
Thinking about causing trouble?
Maybe think about whether you've finished your homework first.
What? You haven't finished it yet?
Then hurry up and do your homework!
Most students were so overwhelmed by the heavy workload that they could barely breathe. They had neither the energy nor the inclination to stir up trouble, and they kept to the agreement. As for the most unstable factor of all, Draco Malfoy, he had even less interest in causing trouble now.
Not only had his attempt to provoke Harry and Ron in the Entrance Hall failed, but he had humiliated himself and become a laughingstock.
Of course, nobody openly pointed fingers at Malfoy or mocked him to his face, but who could know how many people laughed about him behind his back?
Then, during a Care of Magical Creatures class, Draco Malfoy once again spoke disrespectfully to Professor Hagrid.
This time, Hagrid didn't let it slide. He fired back immediately, saying he ought to learn from Moody and turn Malfoy into a ferret.
While there were serious doubts about Hagrid's spellcasting abilities, and whether he could actually transform Young Master Malfoy into a ferret was very much open to question, the remark undoubtedly rubbed salt into an old wound.
As a result, Malfoy became dejected once again.
Meanwhile, after every Defense Against the Dark Arts class, students either left frightened by the Dark Magic Moody had demonstrated or utterly exhausted from dealing with the Imperius Curse.
That's right, the Imperius Curse.
Moody cast the Imperius Curse on his students and had them resist it themselves. Supposedly, Dumbledore wanted the students to experience it firsthand.
After being subjected to the Imperius Curse by Moody, Eda found herself under yet another Defense Against the Dark Arts professor's Imperius Curse.
This was exactly why she had wanted to drop the class, but Professor McGonagall had refused to allow it.
Fortunately, Eda's resistance to the Imperius Curse was quite strong. Moody hadn't been able to control her, nor had she embarrassed herself by hopping around like an idiot.
Before anyone realized it, October arrived.
Eda also celebrated her seventeenth birthday and received her coming-of-age gifts.
Her grandmother, Vinda, gave her a diadem.
Thierry and Henry gave her a complete set of jewelry.
Professor McGonagall's birthday gift was a set of clothes, but unlike previous years, this set was noticeably more mature...
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley sent her an "antique" watch. According to the twins, the watch had once belonged to one of their great-aunts when she was young.
Fred and George also contributed. The two brothers pooled their money to buy Eda an exquisitely crafted brooch. Judging by the look of it, the gift had nearly emptied their personal treasury.
Persuaded by the twins, Eda also hosted a birthday party on her own initiative for the first time. The venue was Twilight Cottage.
She invited all the members of Dawn, along with Ron, Ginny, Harry, and Hermione.
The group spent the entire evening going wild inside the cottage.
By the end, dishes and cups were scattered everywhere, and birthday cake had been smeared all over the place.
The aftermath left Eda full of regret, and Hermione equally distressed, because the cleaning at Twilight Cottage was done by house-elves.
In late October, a new notice was posted in the castle Entrance Hall.
It immediately attracted a huge crowd of students, completely blocking the area at the foot of the marble staircase so that nobody could get through.
The notice read:
Triwizard Tournament
The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will arrive at six o'clock in the evening on Friday, October 30.
Afternoon classes will end thirty minutes early. All students and staff are requested to take note.
At that time, students should return their bags and textbooks to their dormitories and gather in front of the castle to welcome our guests before attending the welcoming feast.
...
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