The more she thought about it, the more questions piled up in her mind, and the more suspicious Sirius Black's escape seemed.
No matter how you looked at it, you couldn't avoid this core issue. If Black really was Voldemort's loyal servant and escaped in order to avenge his master, then why did he choose to break out only now?
For someone with such firm beliefs in his heart, Eda didn't think he would lose his sense of time in Azkaban. If he chose to escape at this particular moment, it had to be because something had triggered him, pushing him into making such a reckless decision.
But what exactly was it that triggered Black? Was it really because of the Minister for Magic, Fudge, and his so-called face-saving efforts? That seemed far too simple. In Black's eyes, the Minister for Magic was nothing at all.
How Black managed to enter the school was still a mystery. Although nothing had been found in the secret passages, Eda still leaned toward that possibility. Of course, there was another option as well—Black might have had an inside accomplice within the school.
Take a look at that newly arrived Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. Doesn't his shape and size make him a perfect candidate for an inside man?
Aside from the tiny first-years, Remus Lupin was the only newcomer in the entire school. He had barely arrived when Black broke into Hogwarts. If this blame wasn't pinned on him, it would be an insult to the chair he was sitting on.
And it wasn't only Eda who made the connection to Professor Lupin—Snape was also suspicious of his new colleague.
Eda merely thought about it in her own head; it was pure guesswork on her part. Snape, however, went straight to Dumbledore to lodge a formal complaint. That petty, small-minded look on his face was all too familiar. Every time Snape went looking for trouble with Gryffindor, he wore that exact same expression.
As dawn gradually broke, Eda came up with many possible explanations, only to reject each of them herself. Upon closer examination, none of these ways of entering the school really held up.
The only one that seemed even slightly plausible was that Black had first taken Polyjuice Potion, transformed into someone else, and then entered the school through a secret passage.
That way, Black would not be discovered by the Dementors, nor would he attract attention by appearing in the school.
Still, how a constantly wanted fugitive like Black managed to obtain Polyjuice Potion, and how he acquired a student's identity to blend into the school, were questions Eda still couldn't figure out.
Perhaps there really was an inside accomplice for Black within the school.
Over the next few days, the school still failed to find any trace of Sirius Black. It was as if he had vanished into thin air. You had to admit, the last male heir of the Black family really had some skill—worthy of being an outstanding graduate of the Continuing Education Institute of Azkaban.
Eda also hadn't forgotten about the Twilight Cabin. Her private base had originally been the Shrieking Shack, which could also be considered a secret passage leading out of Hogwarts. However, her search there was still in vain; she didn't find anything out of the ordinary.
The search for Black reached a stalemate, and the school shifted more of its attention to Harry instead. Since they couldn't find Black, they would protect Black's target and wait for him to walk into the trap himself.
Percy was always sticking close to Harry; he must have received orders from Mrs. Weasley. Professor McGonagall did not allow Harry to attend Quidditch practice after dark—if he insisted on going, then Eda had to be present. Snape was also secretly keeping an eye on Harry, and even Lupin was constantly appearing by Harry's side.
The "star at the center of attention," Harry, knew nothing of all this. He had only overheard that Black might be coming after him, and had no idea that Black was his godfather, nor that the person who betrayed his parents was his own godfather.
For a thirteen-year-old young wizard, that truth was simply too cruel.
The school also stopped having Gryffindor students sleep on the floor of the Great Hall. Before the Fat Lady was restored, the portrait of Sir Cadogan appeared at the entrance to the Gryffindor common room.
The knight rode a small pony, and he was always eager to challenge anyone who passed by his portrait to a duel.
Although Sir Cadogan could be rather irritating, he truly was a knight of extraordinary courage. Not only did he volunteer to take the Fat Lady's place, but in legend he had even risked his life to defeat the Wyvern of Wye.
Moreover, Sir Cadogan was the only one willing to replace the Fat Lady. All the other portraits avoided the position, fearing that they too would end up like the Fat Lady and fall victim to Black.
The Gryffindor students missed the Fat Lady terribly now—even her noise-like singing voice was remembered with fondness. Although everyone was grateful for Sir Cadogan's stepping forward, they really couldn't stand the constantly changing passwords.
In just a few days, poor Neville had already been locked out of the common room more than ten times. He would barely manage to memorize one password before Sir Cadogan had already switched to a different one.
After Halloween, the Hogwarts rumor mill was completely dominated by Sirius Black. Everyone was enthusiastically discussing everything related to Black, and the theories about how he had broken into the castle were becoming more and more bizarre.
The ever-unyielding Hannah even spent a great deal of time telling others that Black had managed to evade the Dementors' search and enter the school by transforming himself into a flowering shrub.
There were even more outrageous theories than that; it was the first time Eda realized just how rich everyone's imagination could be.
Eda did not take part in any of the discussions about Black. She believed that these wild, fanciful ideas would throw off her own thinking, leading her to make wrong judgments and affecting the plan to capture Black.
Yes, Eda had begun to take an interest in Black. She wanted to catch the fugitive who was preventing her from returning to her dormitory to rest.
Of course, there was a premise to that—within the school grounds. Eda had no intention of running out of the school to hunt down Black. The British Isles might not be large, but searching for a fugitive skilled at hiding was still like looking for a needle in a haystack.
The first Quidditch match was drawing closer by the day, and the weather was growing worse and worse. Under Madam Hooch's supervision, the brave and fearless Gryffindor team trained even harder.
And Eda finally made a long-overdue appearance at the training pitch. She wasn't there to train—she was just a merciless tool. When everyone on the team was standing in front of her like that, how was Eda supposed to refuse?
This was the final training session before Saturday's match. Everyone was taking preparations seriously, planning to make Draco Malfoy look bad in the opening game against Slytherin.
The ideal was full and glorious, but reality was painfully thin and sharp. Slytherin would not be Gryffindor's first opponent after all—the little lions' opponent was changed to Hufflepuff.
The reason given for the schedule change was that Slytherin's Seeker was injured and unable to play.
What a joke. Injured my ass—Malfoy didn't have any injury at all! When Harry was injured two years ago, no one allowed Gryffindor to postpone the match. If Eda hadn't been appointed at the last moment back then, Gryffindor would've been beaten into the ground!
The wind and rain raged all day long, thunder rumbling in the distance. After standing in the cold wind for so long, Eda really wanted to hit someone.
Flint or Malfoy, didn't matter. Once she got back to the castle, whoever she ran into was getting punched. Injured and can't compete, huh? Then don't compete at all this year.
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