The Duel Club hadn't taught the students anything useful—instead, it only made the burden on Harry's back heavier and heavier.
Harry had accidentally revealed his Parseltongue. That strange hissing, "ssss"-like sound was a very rare language ability, but also regarded as the mark of a Dark wizard.
Salazar Slytherin himself had been the most famous Parselmouth, and his descendants all inherited the same gift.
With the Chamber of Secrets open again, and the writing on the wall reminding everyone that Slytherin's heir had returned to the school—Harry's unexpected exposure of his Parseltongue seemed like indirect proof of the students' suspicions. Harry must be Slytherin's heir, the one who had opened the Chamber and attacked students.
Filch was always making life hard for students, and the fact that he was a Squib had already spread around. How could Slytherin's heir possibly tolerate a Squib staying at Hogwarts?
Colin Creevey, a Muggle-born who was always pestering Harry and constantly snapping photos of him, had become the first student Harry supposedly attacked.
Rumors like these began spreading across the school, and students grew more and more convinced that Harry was the culprit. They just lacked the evidence—they hadn't caught Harry Potter in the act.
Harry once again found himself facing the same kind of rejection he'd suffered in his first year, only this time it was even worse.
Students whispered about him in private, and everyone avoided him, keeping their distance, as though just being near him might result in being petrified by his monster.
If you had to say who in the whole school was the most uneasy, everyone would agree—it was Justin Finch-Fletchley.
This Hufflepuff boy had revealed some personal information to Harry, admitting that he was Muggle-born. Because of that one careless slip of the tongue, Finch-Fletchley was forced to hide away in the Hufflepuff common room, afraid Harry might harm him.
Because of this, Harry had even gotten into a fierce argument with the pure-blood Ernie Macmillan, a firm believer and loud supporter of the "Harry is the culprit" theory.
Not long after, even though Justin Finch-Fletchley had been in hiding, he still fell victim to an attack. He lay on the floor, body cold and rigid, his terrified expression frozen on his face, his eyes staring blankly up at the ceiling.
Nearly Headless Nick had been attacked alongside Finch-Fletchley. He, too, bore the same dreadful look of fear across his features.
The already tense and uneasy atmosphere in the school now tipped over into real panic.
As soon as the Christmas holidays arrived, students scrambled to flee from Hogwarts; they didn't want to stay another moment in such a dangerous place.
The castle became unnervingly empty, so much so that it didn't feel like Christmas break, but more like summer vacation—or as if the school had been shut down altogether because of the attacks.
Thus, Christmas of 1992 arrived in this unusually bleak atmosphere. This year's holiday was destined to be an extraordinary one, because both of Gryffindor's trios were preparing to do something big today.
Christmas morning dawned.
The air was cold, the grounds were blanketed in snow. In the dormitory, only Eda remained. She opened her presents one by one from the pile at the foot of her bed, savoring a brief moment of peace.
The gifts she received this year were more or less the same as in previous years: new clothes from Professor McGonagall, a handmade sweater and sweets from Mrs. Weasley, and everyday necessities from her friends.
As everyone grew older, they seemed to look forward to Christmas less and less. Even the preparation of gifts didn't carry the same care it once did.
It reminded Eda of her past life: as a child, she always looked forward to the New Year because it meant new clothes and rare delicacies. But after growing up, people would only complain that the New Year had lost its charm, that it wasn't fun anymore, even the firecrackers weren't set off at the same time.
One box after another was opened, until at last Eda noticed an extra package.
This one was small enough to fit in the palm of a hand, with no name written on it. Eda had no idea who might have sent it.
She held the box up to her ear and gave it a little shake, but there wasn't a sound. Then she set it carefully on the floor, put on her gold-rimmed glasses, stood at a safe distance, covered her nose and mouth, and pointed her wand at the package.
With a spell, the box opened. Inside, there was nothing strange, no monster leaping out—only a bracelet, lying quietly on a piece of silk.
The bracelet was made of gold, engraved with two lifelike griffins—one of Gryffindor's symbols, representing mastery of the earth (lion) and the sky (eagle).
Set into the golden band were four red gemstones, which glimmered brilliantly in the morning sunlight.
Expensive. Very expensive. Extremely expensive. That was Eda's first impression.
She carefully examined the bracelet, but she could sense no trace of danger from it. It was simply an ordinary golden bracelet.
Among the people Eda knew, there wasn't anyone who could afford to give such an expensive gift—let alone send it anonymously without batting an eye.
Perhaps Grindelwald, far away in Austria, had once been wealthy, and anonymity would make sense for him.
But the first Dark Lord would never send Eda jewelry, especially something so extravagant. Besides, Nurmengard was already so poor it could barely keep itself running.
So who exactly had sent this priceless golden bracelet?
At the Hogwarts Christmas feast, everyone ate heartily, including Eda—still full of unanswered questions—and Harry and his friends, who were about to drink the Polyjuice Potion.
The Great Hall was not only decorated with frost-covered Christmas trees and thick garlands of mistletoe and holly, but also with enchanted snow, warm and dry, drifting gently down from the ceiling.
Dumbledore led the school in singing a few of his favorite Christmas carols, and Hagrid's booming voice grew louder with every mug of eggnog he downed.
Percy failed to notice that Fred had bewitched his prefect badge so that the words now read "Big Dummy," and kept foolishly asking everyone why they were laughing.
In that moment, Eda let go of her worries. The Chamber, Slytherin's heir, the mysterious stalker, the unexplained golden bracelet—all of it seemed unimportant compared to the sweetness of the eggnog in her cup.
As night deepened, both Gryffindor trios began their plans. Harry, Ron, and Hermione went to the girls' bathroom to drink the Polyjuice Potion, while Eda and the twins slipped out of the castle and headed into the depths of the Forbidden Forest.
The moonlight was bright as Eda and the twins crossed the Quidditch pitch and entered the Forbidden Forest. As they passed Hagrid's hut, they even heard Hagrid's terrifying singing voice.
Fred and George lit their wand tips, casting light on the snowy ground, trying to spot the shadows of spiders. Eda opened her right hand, her wand lying flat across her palm. She whispered, "Point me!"
The wand began to spin horizontally in her hand, and after a few seconds, it stopped firmly. Eda led the twins in the direction it pointed. As they pressed deeper into the forest, the moonlight above grew weaker and weaker.
They continued like this, stopping and walking for more than half an hour, until the three of them were swallowed by complete darkness. The only light came from the twins' wands.
Pushing through the pitch-black thickets, parting the dense branches, the path beneath their feet suddenly widened. On the ground, they found the remains of animals.
The three of them exchanged a look—they knew they were close to the spiders' nest.
They went down a steep slope, where thick cobwebs hung everywhere. Soon, Eda and the twins arrived at the edge of a wide hollow. Amid the fallen leaves and snow, they discovered a hole covered in webbing.
Eda pointed her wand at the thickest part of the web and slid it downward.
The web split as though cut by a sharp blade, the gap widening steadily until it was large enough for all three of them to pass through side by side.
Holding her wand high above her head, Eda's wand tip flared with dazzling light, illuminating the three of them—and the entrance to the cave before them.
At the cave mouth, countless spiders huddled together in a dense mass. Luckily, none of the three had a fear of clusters, or they would have fainted before even stepping foot into the nest.
Looking into the cave, the deeper it went, the larger the spiders became—some were even bigger than horses.
"Fred, George, ready to become supper for the Acromantulas?" Eda said with a smile.
"No, no, no, we've no intention of filling the spiders' bellies," Fred replied. "We're here to pick one out."
George glanced back in the direction of the castle and added, "Let's hope little Ronnie will like the Christmas gift we've prepared for him."
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