Hogwarts Emerald

The young woman pushed open the door and led Eda into the entrance hall.

Both inside and out, this orphanage was far better than the one in London.

To the left of the hall was a clean and spacious dining area along with a recreation room. On the right were a reading room and several classrooms. Directly in front of the entrance was a staircase, and behind it, a locked basement storage room.

Following the staircase, Eda trailed behind the young woman up to the 1st floor, heading toward the room at the far end of the hallway. Along the way, the children they passed greeted them politely. Some addressed the young woman as Miss Nelson, while others called her Catherine.

Stopping at the last door, Miss Nelson knocked lightly and said, "Madam Valente, this is Catherine. Miss Esmeralda Twist has arrived."

Madam Valente, the head of the orphanage, was a highly capable middle-aged woman. It was entirely thanks to her efforts that the orphanage was so well-maintained.

The door opened, revealing a well-dressed woman with a kind expression. Adjusting her glasses, Madam Valente looked at Eda and said, "You are just as beautiful as she described. Come in, she has been waiting for you for a long time."

Eda entered the room, following Madam Valente.

Miss Nelson, however, did not come in and instead returned to the yard to look after the children playing outside.

The room was small, and all the furnishings belonged to Sister Mary. Eda noticed a framed photograph of herself and Sister Mary taken before she left for Hogwarts, as well as the pictures she had mailed over the years—ordinary, unmoving photographs.

On the bed, Sister Mary lay fast asleep.

Her complexion was deathly pale, her face gaunt, and her features sunken. Even in sleep, her brows were tightly furrowed, as if the pain never truly left her.

"Ever since she came back from the hospital, she has been sleeping a lot. She doesn't have much time when she's fully awake," Madam Valente said as she pulled out a chair for Eda. She continued with a sigh, "Someone as kind as her shouldn't have to suffer like this."

Eda sat down by the bed with Madam Valente, her eyes never leaving Sister Mary. The illness had wasted her away even more than when Eda had last seen her. Now, even without magic, Eda felt she could lift her with ease.

"When did it start?" Eda asked softly, not wanting to disturb Sister Mary's sleep.

"During Christmas, she was still showing off your letters to me," Madam Valente recalled. "But just a few days later, she started feeling increasingly weak, lacking energy every day. At first, she didn't think much of it."

As she spoke, Madam Valente seemed lost in thought, sorting through her memories. "After Easter, she suddenly collapsed in the yard. We sent her to the hospital, and the doctors said..."

She trailed off, turning her head away and sniffing quietly. It was an unusual sight—such vulnerability from a woman as strong as Madam Valente. But as she had said, someone as kind as Sister Mary did not deserve this suffering. She pitied Sister Mary, but perhaps, in some way, she also pitied herself.

"The doctors wanted to keep her in the hospital, but she insisted on coming back, and we couldn't argue with her," Madam Valente continued. "Over the past few days, some of the children she once cared for have come to visit her. That, at least, is something comforting."

Madam Valente sat with Eda for a while longer, talking briefly about Sister Mary's condition before asking about Eda's studies. After a short conversation, she stood up and said, "Why don't you stay with her for a while? She'll be so happy to see you when she wakes up. I'll go arrange a place for you to stay and check on the children."

After seeing Madam Valente out, Eda reached for the pendant around her neck—Last Glory.

All the way from Hogwarts to the orphanage, she had been thinking of ways to help Sister Mary get through this.

At first, Eda naturally thought of potions. But after racking her brain for a long time, she couldn't think of any potion that would actually cure Sister Mary's illness. At most, she could find something to delay the inevitable.

She even considered the elixir used by Glover Cecil, but that potion required the drinker to possess magic. Sister Mary was just a Muggle—it would be completely ineffective on her and would likely only increase her suffering and hasten her death.

After going in circles without a solution, Eda abandoned the idea of potions and shifted her thinking. Then, she thought of the ring hanging around her neck.

One of the ring's passive abilities was Wild Growth, which increased the wearer's vitality.

If Sister Mary's vitality could be strengthened, maybe she could recover!

Eda placed the ring in Sister Mary's hand, waiting for Wild Growth to take effect. But as soon as the ring left her and touched Sister Mary's skin, its usual faint glow dimmed, turning into nothing more than an ordinary black iron ring.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

A system alert exploded in Eda's mind, ringing in her ears like a cursed tightening spell. She hadn't expected this damn ring to have an automatic alarm for separation from its owner.

Fortunately, it wasn't programmed to explode if separated by ten meters—otherwise, she'd have already become a demolition expert.

Gritting her teeth through the relentless alerts, Eda pulled up the system notifications, but she stubbornly refused to take the ring back just yet.

[Last Glory cannot take effect on any wearer other than the host. Please retrieve it immediately!]

Yet another exclusive item, just like the Trial Puppet—completely unusable by anyone else.

Eda sighed in frustration and reluctantly retrieved the ring.

This time, instead of hanging it back around her neck, she yanked off the red string and slipped the ring directly onto her finger.

The meaning of wearing a ring varies depending on which finger it's placed on. On the right hand, all fingers except the ring finger hold little significance, so one can wear a ring on them freely.

However, Eda was right-handed, and her dominant hand for wielding a wand was also her right. Wearing a ring that could transform into a shield on that hand would be inconvenient, so she decided to wear it on her left hand instead.

The left hand was said to be a gift of luck from God, and most people wore rings on it. Eda slipped Last Glory onto the ring finger of her left hand, hoping it would bring her some good fortune.

If a ring was worn on the thumb, it typically symbolized power and status. The index finger indicated being unmarried or having thoughts of marriage. The middle finger represented being in love or engaged—a sign of stepping into the so-called grave of love. The pinky finger signified a desire to remain single or live independently.

Of all these, wearing a ring on the left ring finger was perhaps the most well-known—it was believed to be the finger closest to the heart, symbolizing marriage. Of course, Eda was only fourteen; marriage was out of the question. She wore it on her ring finger simply because it felt comfortable and didn't interfere with anything.

She rubbed the ring absentmindedly, but after putting it on, she didn't feel any different. After all, things like vitality and willpower weren't exactly easy to visualize—it wasn't like she'd suddenly see a health bar hovering over her head!

Aside from the notifications regarding the ring, the system had also given her another update—this one about Apparition. Since she had followed Professor McGonagall in Side-Along Apparition, she had now learned the technique herself, albeit at a very basic level.

On the bed, Sister Mary's furrowed brows tightened further.

That feeling of hopelessness—Eda had experienced it before, which made her even more empathetic.

She reached out and gently smoothed out Sister Mary's frown, just as someone had once done for her.

Perhaps sensing Eda's presence, or maybe due to some lingering effect of Wild Growth, Sister Mary's pale complexion took on a hint of rosiness. Slowly, she awoke from her sleep.

Her gaze fell upon the girl in front of her, uncertain at first.

But when she realized it was truly Eda, a glimmer of light appeared in her weary eyes.

With great effort, she parted her lips and spoke in a soft, halting voice:

"Eda… are you doing well at school?"

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