Hogwarts Emerald

It felt like a dream; Eda found it unbelievable. She read the short admission letter several times, her fingers constantly stroking the thick parchment.

Now, all the strange events that had happened around the original Eda could be clearly explained—they were caused by the magical fluctuations from a young witch's awakening magic. The abilities she had been trying to practice after transmigrating weren't superpowers but magic!

She had once thought this was just an ordinary 1980s Britain, but today she discovered that Britain was still the same, only now it included a group of wizards, and she was just one of the little witches among them!

Eda had heard of Harry Potter, a novel that had taken the world by storm.

A friend had even once fantasized about receiving an admission letter from Hogwarts.

Now, Eda had fulfilled that dream for an old friend, but she couldn't feel happy about it.

Because of the long passage of time, Eda had forgotten most of what her friend had said about the content of the books. She vaguely remembered only three names: Harry Potter, Dumbledore, and Voldemort.

She vaguely recalled that the story of Harry Potter was set in the 1990s, and the noseless Voldemort wreaked havoc during that time.

This meant that the future of Hogwarts and the entire British wizarding world would be filled with all kinds of dangers!

How could Eda possibly be happy about this?

[Ding!]

[The host has received the Hogwarts admission letter, unlocking conditions met, system activation in progress...]

An indistinguishable synthetic voice, neither male nor female, echoed in Eda's mind.

Just as Eda was debating whether to experience the wonders of the magical world, the most annoying sound from her previous life reading web novels suddenly appeared in her mind.

As much as her past self disliked the concept of a system, her present self was that much happier. The "Law of Jinx" didn't fail her!

[The Wizard System has been successfully activated. Please review the details as soon as possible.]

Eda calmed her mind and began to explore the system in her head. The system's structure seemed uncomplicated, even simplistic, to Eda. It was so simple that she couldn't even see an option to allocate points on the basic character panel:

=================

Name: Esmeralda Twist

Gender: Female

Age: Twelve years

Height: Four feet eleven inches (approximately 149 cm; the host is a shorty)

Weight: 80 pounds (approximately 36 kg; correction, the host is a scrawny shorty)

Occupation: Hogwarts Student (Not yet enrolled, graduated from primary school)

Special Skills: None (Please don't be such a deadbeat, host, try harder!)

Proficient Subjects: None (Keep working hard, host!)

Proficient Magic: None (Can the host please put in some effort!)

**Talents:**

- Magic Reserve: (The host's magic reserve far exceeds that of peers, approaching the level of an ordinary adult wizard, but still a noob, not even a cannon fodder)

- Good at Learning: (The host, having undergone exam-oriented education, has excellent learning abilities for handling tests, but very poor practical skills!)

- Sympathy: (Good-looking, combined with an unfortunate background, makes it easier to gain others' sympathy, but it's not very useful)

**Evaluation Summary:**

The host has nothing worth praising besides good looks, utterly useless, a waste of magic power, and a complete weakling. The system is curious to see how long the host can survive in this story…

==================

Staring at the panel, Eda felt quite uncomfortable. "You should ask the other kids at the orphanage about my practical skills of twisting their fingers and see what they say!" In short, the system's evaluation of her had low impact but was highly insulting.

Eda silently recited the "Don't Get Angry" mantra and continued exploring the system, eventually discovering its usefulness. The system could help her improve in areas like magic proficiency, comprehension, and magical reserves.

Improving spell proficiency would allow Eda to cast spells more effortlessly. The same spell would consume less magic and have a stronger effect in her hands.

Improving comprehension would enable Eda to learn and master a spell more quickly, and it would also help in increasing proficiency faster.

The higher the comprehension, the quicker the proficiency improvement.

Magical reserves were simpler: casting spells required consuming magic. The more magical reserves one had, the more spells one could cast or the more powerful spells one could sustain.

"System, system, is there any sort of beginner's package or something?" Eda asked silently in her mind.

[The host is thinking too much.]

[There is no beginner's package, but the host has achieved the 'Admission Notification' milestone.]

[The reward has been issued. Please check it promptly!]

The synthetic voice, devoid of any emotion, was neither likable nor detestable.

Eda opened the achievement reward.

There were no flashy effects, just a plain and simple magic appearing in her mind: Occlumency, Complete Version (The host has too many unknown secrets. Once these secrets are known, they pose extreme danger! Please learn it as soon as possible).

Eda was grateful for the system's generosity. Whether it was her identity as a transmigrator or the secret of possessing a system, if either were discovered, it would not end well for her.

Being taken away for research would be the least of her worries.

Though not many people were proficient in Legilimency, there was no guarantee that someone wouldn't use it against her.

Therefore, learning Occlumency was crucial.

As Eda began to absorb the knowledge of Occlumency, fragments of past memories started replaying before her eyes, accompanied by waves of dizziness.

Eda clutched her head and collapsed onto the bed in pain.

...

In the orphanage's yard, a group of younger children, led by a few older ones, were playing football.

The football was a bit worn, and the yard wasn't very large, but everyone was having a good time.

They didn't even notice the sudden appearance of a person at the entrance.

It was a tall woman with a stern expression, dressed in a long, emerald green robe, wearing square glasses, and with her black hair tightly pulled back in a bun, giving her a very neat appearance.

As this woman walked into the orphanage, the children stopped playing.

Some began to straighten their clothes, seeing this lone woman as a beacon of hope, a chance to leave the orphanage.

The woman tried her best not to look at the poor children and strode towards the square building of the orphanage.

The woman reached the entrance just as a young girl wearing an apron came out, looking a bit flustered.

"Good morning, I have an appointment with Mrs. Mary. Is she in?" the woman asked, waving to the young girl.

"Uh, yes, she is," the girl replied, though she didn't remember Mrs. Mary mentioning any visitors today. "Please follow me."

The young girl led the woman to a room, knocked on the door, and said, "Mrs. Mary, a lady is here to see you."

After a short while, Mrs. Mary opened the door.

The once slightly plump Mrs. Mary had become gaunt and haggard, with visible exhaustion etched into her features.

It was clear that the past decade had not been kind to her.

The tall lady took out a stick and gave it a flick, "Hello, I am Minerva McGonagall. I wrote you a letter."

"Please come in." Mrs. Mary vaguely remembered that she had made such an appointment. She ushered McGonagall into the room.

The room was rather shabby and simple, with no decorations or decent furniture.

She invited McGonagall to sit on a chair and took her seat behind a cluttered desk, nervously watching McGonagall because she couldn't quite recall the details of their correspondence.

"In my previous letter, I explained the purpose of my visit. I am here regarding Esmeralda Twist, who resides in this orphanage," McGonagall said, breaking the silence as she observed Mrs. Mary's tense demeanor.

"Are you planning to adopt her?" Mrs. Mary asked anxiously. "Or do you know her?"

"Neither."

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Mary's expression became somewhat despondent. "Then what is your purpose?"

"I am a teacher at Hogwarts. I have come to discuss Miss Twist's admission to our school."

Mrs. Mary had never heard of this school and had not heard Eda mention applying to any school, so she asked skeptically, "How did you become interested in her? Did she apply to your school?"

"Her qualities happen to meet our admission criteria, which is why I am here today," McGonagall replied patiently. "Her name has been recorded at the school since birth…"

"Who registered her? Her relatives, or her parents who abandoned her?" Mrs. Mary asked. Her recent memory lapses did not mean she was confused.

McGonagall felt a bit exasperated.

This seemingly not-very-intelligent Mrs. Mary was unexpectedly difficult.

McGonagall took out her wand again and waved it at Mrs. Mary, then picked up a blank piece of paper and handed it to her.

Mrs. Mary took the completely blank piece of paper, her eyes becoming dazed.

She stared at the blank paper for quite a while, as if it held some magical power. "I understand now. The admission of Eda to your school is entirely reasonable and follows proper procedures. Thank you for valuing this child so much." She handed the paper back to McGonagall.

Seeing that Mrs. Mary was no longer being difficult, McGonagall breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that Mrs. Mary was indeed quite responsible towards the children.

Although McGonagall wasn't sure why Dumbledore had asked her to pay special attention to Twist, she decided to follow his advice.

She then asked Mrs. Mary, "If you don't mind, could you tell me about Miss Twist? Was she born here? Have you been taking care of her all this time?"

Perhaps it was because of the magic or perhaps because both of them were women, but Mrs. Mary let down all her defenses. "No, she wasn't born here. We found her at the orphanage's doorstep. That was twelve years ago, on a December day. It had snowed all day and only stopped by evening. It was terribly cold. Nancy and I... oh, poor Nancy, I hope everything is well for her in heaven... Nancy and I found her at the orphanage entrance. She was already somewhat frozen, but fortunately, she recovered..."

"Is there anything else?" McGonagall continued to ask.

______