Hogwarts Emerald

Filch led the twins to his office, muttering incessantly about the various gruesome punishments he would love to inflict upon them.

Despite his threats, none of these punishments could actually be used on students, as Dumbledore had long abolished such practices.

Eda trailed them at a distance, deciding to follow and observe. If the twins were assigned some form of labor as punishment, she could help them out.

Once at the caretaker's office, Filch roughly shoved Fred and George inside, slamming the door shut with a loud bang.

The twins stood inside the office, unfazed. They were all too familiar with this room, its gleaming chains and handcuffs no longer intimidating them. They knew the place almost as well as Filch and his cat.

A lone oil lamp hung from the ceiling, casting a dim light that made the room feel even smaller.

The office smelled of burnt fish, and along the walls stood filing cabinets filled with records of student infractions.

On Filch's desk was a drawer labeled "Confiscated Items – Highly Dangerous."

"See those chains and handcuffs?" Filch said menacingly. "I'd love to hang you two up there, just like a pair of fish. Leave you there for a few days, and you'd learn to behave."

"Too bad you can't actually do that," Fred replied, his tone unbothered.

"If I were you, I'd keep those well-oiled. You never know when you might get the chance to use them, dear Filch," George added, even daring to joke with the caretaker.

Filch's eyes narrowed at the twins' insolence, but he knew they were right. With a frustrated grunt, he turned away from them and began rummaging through his desk drawers, perhaps searching for something else to threaten them with.

Outside, Eda pressed her ear to the door, trying to hear what was happening.

She was ready to intervene if necessary, but for now, it seemed the twins had everything under control, handling Filch's threats with their usual bravado.

"You two will be the first to experience its wrath," Filch snarled. "Let me think about how best to punish you! The Forbidden Forest sounds good. Believe me, you'll be scared stiff!"

The twins remained indifferent to Filch's threats. In fact, they hoped Filch would actually send them to the Forbidden Forest—it was precisely what they wanted.

"But before that, I'll report this to Professor McGonagall," Filch continued, scribbling his punishment recommendation on a piece of parchment.

At the mention of Professor McGonagall's name, the twins' expressions finally changed.

Despite their bravado, they had a healthy respect for her. However, Filch, engrossed in his paperwork, didn't notice their reaction.

A meow sounded from the doorway.

Filch quickly opened the door and scooped up Mrs. Norris, who continued to meow insistently.

Filch then remembered something he'd forgotten in his excitement.

"Speak up! Where's the third person? Who is it?" Filch demanded, glaring at the twins. "Is it that dark-haired boy who's always with you?"

The joy of catching the twins had made Filch temporarily forget there was another person involved. Seeing his cat reminded him.

"You've got it wrong."

"It's just the two of us."

"There wasn't a third person," the twins said in unison. "Maybe it was a student from another house. Your cat can't talk, after all."

Filch's face twisted in frustration.

"You two are lying!" Filch shouted at Fred and George.

Filch didn't bother interrogating the twins further. Instead, he rushed out the door to check, but there was no one in sight.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" Filch called out, taking a few steps forward, but he still saw no one. His shouting was more of a bluff. Mrs. Norris leaped from his arms, letting out a sharp meow.

As soon as Filch left the office, George quickly opened the drawer labeled "Confiscated Items" and began rummaging through it. Fred used his body to block Filch's view as much as possible.

Filch, having found nothing outside, hurried back to his office, worried that if he stayed away too long, the twins would wreck the place.

He first scanned the office to ensure nothing was damaged.

Seeing the twins standing obediently where he had left them, he said, "You two come with me. We're going to see Professor McGonagall."

Meanwhile, Eda had been hiding nearby, eavesdropping ever since Filch took the twins into the office. The office had been eerily quiet.

A while later, Mrs. Norris reappeared, confronting Eda. However, instead of another standoff, the cat merely started meowing at the office door.

When Filch brought her inside, Eda could hear his harsh questioning. Realizing she could do little to help the twins at this moment, she decided to slip away quietly.

On her way back to the common room, Eda made a detour to the fourth floor to retrieve the evidence she had left behind.

Returning to the common room, Eda didn't go straight to bed. Instead, she settled into an armchair by the fireplace, waiting for the twins to return.

After a short nap with her eyes closed, Eda heard someone coming in. Opening her eyes, she saw the twins walking in.

"Did Filch give you a hard time?" Eda asked, concerned.

The twins had serious expressions and gave Eda a bitter smile, leaving her puzzled.

"I knew it was you!" an angry female voice echoed above Eda.

It was Professor McGonagall! Eda looked up and indeed saw Professor McGonagall standing behind the twins, her face stern.

As it turned out, when Professor McGonagall brought the twins back, she had them enter the common room first. After they went in, she followed, expecting to catch Eda in the act.

"Professor McGonagall, let me explain..." Eda tried to protest, hoping to salvage the situation.

"Hmm?" Professor McGonagall looked down at her with an imposing gaze. Eda swallowed the lie she had quickly concocted.

Seeing that Eda did not try to argue, Professor McGonagall continued, "You three are truly the pride of Gryffindor!"

Professor McGonagall, dressed in pajamas with a cloak over them, still exuded her usual authority.

The three of them stood in a row before her, heads bowed, receiving her reprimand.

"I am extremely angry! Roaming the corridors in the middle of the night instead of sleeping—do you know what time it is? Do you understand how dangerous this is?"

Despite keeping her voice low, her anger was palpable.

"You, Miss Twist, I expected better judgment from you. What were you thinking? And how did you promise me you'd behave in my office?"

Eda felt deeply embarrassed. It had been a long time since Professor McGonagall had called her "Miss Twist," highlighting just how furious she was.

Moreover, Eda was almost crying over her own foolishness for walking into a trap. She exchanged glances with the twins, Fred and George, who had not "betrayed" her.

"Mr. Weasley, you will pay for your dangerous actions. Thirty points will be deducted from Gryffindor! Each!" Professor McGonagall announced the punishment, effectively eliminating Gryffindor from the House Cup competition for the year.

"And as for you, Miss Twist, even though Filch didn't catch you, you still must be held accountable for your foolishness," Professor McGonagall paused. "From now on, you will complete double the amount of homework for every class, with no duplicated content. Every single subject!"

The three of them sat in the armchairs in utter silence after Professor McGonagall had left, leaving them to face the consequences of their actions alone.

"We didn't expect you to be waiting in the common room," Fred said, acknowledging McGonagall's cleverness.

Professor McGonagall had acted as if she believed the twins while in her office, but once back in the common room, she had swiftly exposed Eda.

"And to think we trusted her," George said incredulously, realizing they had all been outsmarted.

"It was my own stupidity. If I had just gone back to the dormitory, none of this would have happened. Even if I had just hidden on the staircase, I might not have been caught," Eda reflected, taking responsibility for her actions.

No matter how cunning a fox is, it can't outsmart an old hunter! McGonagall had years of experience, while Eda, even counting her two lives, had only lived a fraction of that time.

Compared to McGonagall, Eda wasn't even a fox yet.

Tonight's lesson taught her two things: First, breaking school rules is fine as long as you don't get caught—if you aren't caught, it's as if you never broke them. Second, she realized her own shortcomings. She couldn't let herself be outmaneuvered by McGonagall again.

Since acquiring the system, Eda had believed that she just needed to lay low and survive until the end. But now she saw that she needed to adjust her mindset. Compared to these old foxes, she was still very green and had much to learn.

"George, show us what you found in Filch's office. It's the only thing worth celebrating tonight," Fred said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Sure, just a moment." George reached into his pocket and pulled out a prized item. "Here it is!"

George produced a large, square piece of parchment. It was very worn and appeared blank.

"I don't know what it does." George scratched his head and said awkwardly, "But it was indeed in the drawer. Maybe we just haven't discovered its magical use yet..."

Eda once thought that George had taken the wrong piece of parchment, but now it seems that this piece of parchment is the treasure that George took from Filch.

That's it! That's it! That's it! That's just fucking it?!

Eda roared silently in her heart.

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12 Advance Chapters—Patreon.com/Dragonel