Chapter 119: Complaints and unexpected encounters
At this point, Cecil's story was more or less finished, but the account in Modern Advances in Dark Magic continued.
While serving his sentence in Azkaban, Cecil had no idea what was happening in the outside world. It wasn't until Joyce was imprisoned in Azkaban that he finally learned his family had been murdered—and that the killer was the very person he had once harmed.
From that moment on, Cecil no longer disregarded human life. He began to change his ways and, during Voldemort's reign, even assisted the Ministry of Magic in their fight against him.
Because of this, the Ministry granted Cecil a special pardon, allowing him to walk out of Azkaban alive—unlike poor Joyce, who lost his sanity in prison and ultimately died in his cell.
After his release, Cecil returned to the countryside where he had once lived, keeping a low profile. In fact, most people who remembered him didn't even know he had been freed. If he hadn't taken up the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, everyone would have assumed he had died in Azkaban long ago.
That was where the book's account ended. What followed were details about various Dark magic spells frequently used by Glover Cecil—spells like Fiendfyre and the Wind-Slicing Curse, all of which were meant for destruction and killing.
Eda had no interest in any of that. Right now, her only concern was whether or not Cecil had lied to her.
If he really had deceived her, then she might as well abandon all pretense of civility. She would no longer be obedient Eda—the side she showed to her teachers and she would become rowdy Eda—the side her enemy knows!
Eda felt downright miserable. It seemed like she was doomed to clash with whoever held the cursed position of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.
Two years at Hogwarts, and not a single one of her professors had been easy to deal with!
Last year's Benedict Fowley looked like a fool, the kind of naive heir to an old wizarding family. But in reality, he had been obsessed with resurrecting Voldemort and causing chaos. Even when he was covered in wounds from the curse afflicting him, he was still scheming to get rid of Eda.
It had taken so much effort to finally get Fowley locked away in Azkaban, only for another one to show up—Glover Cecil, who had only been out of Azkaban for a few years.
The man straight up started talking to me and then lied to me, gained sympathy and then encouraged me in reading dark magic books. There is no way he isn't targeting me.
Fortunately, Cecil hadn't caused much trouble so far. Given his physical condition, he wasn't really in a state to stir up chaos.
He probably didn't have any intentions of killing Eda, either. But the old man had managed to completely bamboozle her the moment he arrived, spinning a story that had "deceived" her for nearly an entire school year.
His tactics were far more sophisticated than Fowley's.
Eda had never cared about whether her friends were rich or not—after all, most of them had more money than she did, except for Fred and George! If not for the orphanage providing her with shelter, she would have practically started out in life with nothing but a begging bowl!
No powerful parents or grandparents. No prestigious bloodline. Not even a vault deep in Gringotts. How had an orphan with absolutely nothing ended up being such a target?
Right now, Eda only cared about two things: first, whether or not that crafty old man Cecil had actually lied to her (she was 90% sure he had), and second, who next year's Defense Against the Dark Arts professor would be—and what kind of new mess they would bring!
If next year's one-year-wonder professor also had it out for her, then this world truly wasn't worth it…
Just as Eda was inwardly ranting, the small, nearly deserted playground welcomed another visitor—a black-haired boy in ill-fitting old clothes, wearing round glasses.
It was Harry Potter.
He had been kicked out of the house by Uncle Vernon, who was hosting an important guest and didn't want Harry around to ruin things.
With nowhere else to go, Harry wandered to the playground, planning to stay there until after dark, hoping that by then, the important guest would have left.
He noticed a blonde girl sitting quietly on the swing. There was no wind, yet her golden hair floated behind her as if caught in a breeze.
From a distance, she looked beautiful. Harry swore he had never seen this girl in the neighborhood before.
She must have just moved here, he thought.
Not wanting to disturb her, he sat down on a bench outside the playground, deciding to wait until she left before going over.
In just over a month, his cousin Dudley would be celebrating his birthday. Last year, Dudley had received thirty-eight presents. How many would he get this year? Thirty-nine?
When it came to his own birthday, Harry had never received a single gift.
No birthday cake.
Not even a simple "Happy Birthday."
He longed to receive presents, to have a cake of his own, to spend the day celebrating recklessly with friends.
As the streetlights flickered on, Harry realized he had been sitting there for a long time, yet the girl on the swing still hadn't left.
He found it strange.
Didn't she have to go home for dinner? Could she have been kicked out too?
The weather in Britain was as fickle as a child's moods—it had been bright and sunny all afternoon, yet the moment the sky darkened, rain began to fall.
Harry, standing outside the playground, had nowhere to take shelter.
As he debated where to go and whether he should call out to the girl to take cover together, he suddenly saw her pull a thin, wand-like stick from inside her clothes, holding it in her hand as if it were an umbrella.
Harry was once again filled with confusion. What the girl was doing was no different from the emperor's new clothes.
Just as he was about to think she was merely fooling herself, something even more astonishing happened—the raindrops completely avoided her, as if she really were holding an invisible umbrella.
Holding the small wooden stick in her hand, the girl walked over to the slide to take shelter from the rain.
The rain was growing heavier by the second. Harry needed to find cover fast, or he'd be drenched. If he returned home soaking wet, Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia would surely punish him harshly.
The girl's strange actions should have made Harry stay away. Yet, instead of being frightened, he felt inexplicably drawn toward her. Before he even realized it, his feet had carried him toward the slide where she stood.
Eda had been lost in her own thoughts, venting about the unfairness of it all, when the rain suddenly began to pour. Without hesitation, she pulled out her wand and used it as an umbrella. She planned to wait until the rain stopped before heading back, but when the downpour only worsened, she moved under the slide for better shelter and cast a "Water-Repelling Charm" on herself.
She hadn't noticed anyone near the playground until she saw a boy running toward the slide.
He was thin and small, dressed in oversized, worn-out clothes.
As he got closer, Eda saw that he wore a pair of round glasses, barely held together by strips of clear tape. His black hair was messy, with a few stubborn strands sticking up even in the rain.
And, just like her, he had striking emerald-green eyes.
A faint lightning-shaped scar marked his forehead.
Eda recognized that scar. Every book that mentioned the Boy Who Lived tirelessly described the lightning-shaped mark on his forehead—it was proof that he had defeated Voldemort.
The two of them stood quietly under the slide, sheltering from the rain. Both weren't bulky, just small enough to fit in the space.
Neither of them spoke.
Harry was curious about what Eda had just done, but he didn't know her, so he didn't dare to ask.
Eda, on the other hand, knew exactly who the boy in front of her was—he was the Harry Potter that Ginny always talked about. But she didn't say anything either. Just because she knew his name didn't mean she actually knew him. To Eda, Harry Potter was just another name from a textbook, and she had never liked talking to strangers.
Harry, now damp from the rain, felt a chill creeping through him.
Eda, however, was completely unaffected. Thanks to her Water-Repelling Charm, she remained dry and comfortable. She even had the spare thought to consider submitting an article to the Daily Prophet—she could title it Sheltering from the Rain with the Savior of the Wizarding World.
Maybe she could make a good sum of money from it...?
The rain showed no sign of stopping.
Eda was starting to get impatient. If she waited any longer, she'd miss dinner at the orphanage. She was only a guest there, and it wouldn't be right to trouble Mrs. Valente too much.
Deciding she had waited long enough, Eda raised her magical "umbrella" once more and stepped out into the downpour.
Still under the slide, Harry watched in shock as she walked effortlessly through the heavy rain, completely untouched by it. He was so amazed that he even forgot to worry about how he was going to get home.
The cold seeped deeper into his bones, and he shivered violently, hugging himself for warmth. How was he supposed to get back in this kind of weather?
"Where do you live?"
The girl's voice sounded in Harry's ears. He looked up and saw that the blonde girl had come back and was standing in front of him holding a "magic umbrella".
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