The potions on this table, Eda had made them all before—except the nettle wine. Although she may not have brewed them herself this time, she was very familiar with them. So Eda only needed to look and sniff to determine which one would let them pass through the black flames.
Eda usually filled her pockets with snacks, but today she had tucked in two bottles of her own fireproof potion—she was sure it would be needed; after all, why else would Snape have required her to brew it?
After drinking the fireproof potion, the three of them walked straight through the flames. The black fire licked at their bodies, but caused them no harm whatsoever.
Beyond the black flames, they entered the final room.
Eda let out a sigh of relief as she gazed at the Mirror of Erised at the center of the room—no Ancient Runes riddles here, thank goodness.
But as she turned her head, a new concern struck her: this entire journey had been far too easy. Not just for them—almost anyone else with average skill could have made it this far.
"Is this the magic mirror you mentioned before?" Fred asked, pointing at it. "The one that shows you what you truly desire?"
Eda nodded and said, "Go take a look—see how ugly your hearts really are…"
"Relax, there's no way our hearts are uglier than yours!" George said as he strode forward confidently.
"Heheh~ It's not like we're going to see ourselves holding the Philosopher's Stone and turning it into a pile of gold."
Back when Eda had mentioned the Mirror of Erised to the twins, she'd told them what she had seen in it—her parents, whom she'd never even met in this life, and herself performing the act of turning stone into gold.
The twins now stood before the mirror. At the same time, they both exclaimed in mock disgust, "Fred (George), why are you in my heart's deepest desire?!"
Of course, they weren't truly complaining. From the very beginning of their lives, they had always been by each other's side. Deep down, the other was the most important person in the world to them—these two were just masters of pretending otherwise.
"What did you see?" Eda stepped up to the mirror as well. What she saw was no different from before: a healthy version of herself, and a young couple she didn't recognize—her parents.
"I saw George (Fred) and I opening a joke shop. Our products are a massive success, bringing joy to everyone. And of course, we made loads of money," the twins said in unison—clearly, they had seen the same vision.
"There was one difference, though," George said. "In my reflection, I was the older brother…"
Fred looked at George, completely baffled. He couldn't understand why George would care about something like that. Did it really matter who was older?
Eda remembered a pair of twin girls from the orphanage who used to fight constantly over who was older. Fred and George had never argued over such things, and Eda had assumed they simply didn't care.
But clearly, somewhere deep inside, George did want to be the older brother.
"Anything else?" Eda asked. "Your heart's desire is honestly pretty wholesome."
"Of course there's more. I saw you behind the counter, counting coins," said Fred.
"And although you looked a bit pathetic counting such a big pile of money," George added, "I believe you were suffering and enjoying it at the same time."
Eda was momentarily at a loss for words. She couldn't think of any good comeback. Counting money had to be enjoyable—unless there wasn't enough of it, or you were counting someone else's money. Like a curse breaker at Gringotts.
When Eda first learned about Bill's job, she had been envious for a while.
Helping Gringotts find treasure and dispel the curses placed on it sounded pretty cool.
But then she thought it over and stopped envying it—because those curse breakers saw so much treasure every day, but none of it belonged to them.
That was just depressing.
The three of them stood before the Mirror of Erised for quite some time. The twins tried hard to control their thoughts, to keep their minds clear, but the reflection in the mirror didn't change. It was still the same scene as before—no trace of the Philosopher's Stone.
Even when Eda used Occlumency, she still couldn't retrieve the Stone from the mirror.
All the previous challenges really had been simple—first-years could have made it through. But those earlier stages were just for show, set dressing. As long as this final trial remained, the Philosopher's Stone was safe.
The three of them, having looked into the mirror enough, returned the way they came. The troll was still unconscious and gave no reaction as Eda and the twins passed by again.
In the chessboard room, the pieces had reset to their original positions, standing tall in place—but this time, they automatically stepped aside for the returning trio, and Eda didn't need to win another match.
All the obstacles had reset, but the return trip posed no real difficulty, and the three didn't have to worry about being discovered.
Just as they were chatting and laughing while opening the door to the third-floor corridor, they saw Professor McGonagall standing at the entrance with a face like thunder. There was no doubt that Professor McGonagall, still awake so late at night, had been waiting for Eda and the twins to come out.
Without saying a word, Professor McGonagall walked ahead, and Eda and the twins followed behind obediently, heads down and silent.
None of them tried to run. Caught red-handed by Professor McGonagall, there was no point in fleeing—it would only make things worse.
Professor McGonagall led them straight to the seventh floor of the castle, where Dumbledore was already waiting for them in the Headmaster's office.
Dumbledore had noticed someone entering the forbidden section on the 3rd floor and assumed Quirrell had finally made his move. But it turned out it was just Eda and the twins, which left Dumbledore quite disappointed. So, the Headmaster notified the Deputy Headmistress and had her wait at the door to catch the three reckless students and bring them to him.
Inside the Headmaster's office, silver instruments emitted wisps of mist.
Fawkes the phoenix perched on his stand, tilting his head to look at everyone in the room. Whether it was the seated Dumbledore and McGonagall, or the standing Eda, Fred, and George—none of them said a word.
The calm before the storm is the scariest part—but even more frightening is when the storm never comes after the calm.
The twins were nervous. Although they often broke the rules, this time was by far the most serious, and they felt uneasy. Eda, on the other hand, had always had a good attitude when it came to admitting mistakes, but she didn't feel particularly afraid. After all, she had gone after the Philosopher's Stone with Dumbledore's "permission"—she just hadn't managed to get it.
"Where did you go and what were you doing?" Dumbledore asked, even though he already knew the answer. The light from the candles reflected off his half-moon spectacles.
"Looking in a mirror," Eda answered truthfully. They had looked in the mirror for a while and then come back. They hadn't even caught a glimpse of the Philosopher's Stone.
The twins stared at Eda in surprise. They were genuinely impressed by her ability to say something like that with a straight face.
"Esmeralda!" Professor McGonagall said sternly.
"Well? Did you get it?" Dumbledore ignored the flippant reply and continued with his questioning.
"Of course not. The protections you set up are flawless. We couldn't find a way through."
If the mood weren't so serious, Eda might've added: "You set the traps yourself—don't you know how tight they are?"
Dumbledore didn't scold Eda for dragging the twins along to break through the obstacles, because they had an agreement: if Eda could get the Stone, he would lend it to her. He asked again, "Have you given up now?"
"I gave up a long time ago. We were just bored tonight and decided to take a look…"
"Checking if I had any other safeguards in place while you were at it, right?" Dumbledore stood up, walked around the desk, and stood in front of Eda.
"My promise to you still stands," Dumbledore said. "But I hope that next time you plan to go, you'll let me or Professor McGonagall know in advance."
"And one more thing—you don't need to go through all this to prove you're better than Harry. You two are not on the same path. The moment you actively compare yourself to Harry, you've already lost."
"I'm not," Eda said firmly. For the first time since she entered, she lifted her head. Her eyes locked with Dumbledore's blue gaze, full of defiance.
Dumbledore could feel the anger behind her words and in her stare. He knew this remark would provoke dissatisfaction, yet he still said it.
He had wanted to test her, to see what she really thought about Harry, to better account for this unexpected piece in his greater plan.
"Professor, we really were just bored and decided to go to the fourth floor. We weren't thinking anything else!" The twins, who had been silent until now, hurried to explain. They didn't know exactly how much Dumbledore and McGonagall valued Eda—but they knew that however important she was, she couldn't possibly outrank Harry freaking Potter!
"Albus, I know Eda," Professor McGonagall said softly. "She would never think that way. She's one of a kind, and she's the best. She doesn't need to compare herself to anyone."
The office fell silent. The air was heavy with tension.
"You three were in your dormitory resting all night and didn't go anywhere," Dumbledore finally spoke again after a long pause. He issued no punishment, only waved his hand to dismiss them.
"Yes, we understand…"
The twins were still replying to the two professors, but Eda said nothing. She stormed out of the headmaster's office in anger. Fred and George quickly followed, trying to catch up with her.
Only Dumbledore and McGonagall were left in the office. Professor McGonagall said, "Albus, you shouldn't think of her that way…"
"Perhaps I was wrong from the very beginning, Minerva," Dumbledore took off his half-moon spectacles. "I've overlooked her own thoughts."
In Dumbledore's plan, everyone existed to serve the final goal. If necessary, anyone could be sacrificed—including Harry, and even himself.
Originally, there was no place for Eda in this plan. But her unexpected appearance had caught Dumbledore's attention. It had been a long time since he'd seen a child like her.
Dumbledore believed someone like Eda would one day surpass even him.
He tried to incorporate Eda into the plan, to add a safeguard to it. But Dumbledore realized he was wrong.
Eda could not be integrated into the plan. Her presence tilted the entire structure—an uncontrollable tilt that Dumbledore didn't want to see.
Staring at the wide-open wooden door, Dumbledore fell into deep thought, not even noticing McGonagall's quiet departure.
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