Aboard the Hogwarts Express, a cacophony of noise assaulted her ears as Eda passed by the Gryffindor compartment on her way to the Slytherins.
She heard Draco Malfoy loudly goad the simple-minded.
"Shove off Malfoy" Potter's annoying, self-righteous voice said.
Eda sighed and buckled up to save her snakes from what was undoubtedly, yet another fight and manoeuvred through the crowded train.
"Don't tell me you don't know? You've got a father and brother at the Ministry, and you don't even know? My God, my father told me about it ages ago... heard it from Cornelius Fudge. But then, Father's always associated with the top people at the Ministry... Maybe your father's too junior to know about it, Weasley... yes.. they probably don't talk about important stuff in front of him..."
Eda rolled her eyes at her House-mate's childish behaviour just as she reached the targeted compartment and spread her Magicks just enough to make her presence known.
Eda interrupted Weasley's indignant "Why you!-"
"Now, now Malfoy, what did we say about mocking the less-fortunate about their- lacking in many things," her sweet voice sounded from behind the platinum-haired boy, posh and patronizing to no end.
Potter scowled at the interruption, but his inconvenienced state was of no matter; as Eda's tone of voice immediately heckled Weasley, making his stupid face turn an angry shade of magenta.
"It makes you look ill-bred," she reprimanded Malfoy lowly, then added more clearly,
"Afterall, the news is all over-polite society, and any respectable member of Magical society has the means to get inside information from the Ministry of Magic" she added after a pause.
The feminine side of the so-called - 'Golden Trio' -stuck her chin out and said "Mind your business would you. This has nothing to do with you Riddle."
Raising her wand at the upperclassmen, Granger's voice reeked of bossiness and snide.
Eda didn't bat an eyelash at the pointed wand, though before she continued, Malfoy's indignation shown as he hissed a "How dare you" through his teeth, and said, "Learn how to address your betters you filthy little Mudblood".
Behind them, Crabbe and Goyle, the only surviving marked vassals of House Malfoy clinched their fists and cracked their knuckles in a show of power. It was amusing really; they were so childish Eda thought.
"You're barmy, why do you even listen to her?? she's barely a halfblood" snarled the voice of Weasley at the male Slytherins before him.
His rude remark made his friends gasp; shocked more about the blood commentary rather than the rudeness of it all.
"You dare disrespect the House of Riddle!" Malfoy snapped, "Learn how to address your betters traitor".
The final word emphasised in a snarl.
"We're not stupid, you know," Potter added.
"Well, that's news to me" replied Malfoy sarcastically.
The Gryffindors bristled, and Potter had to grab a flailing Weasley as he tried to punch a now squeaking Draco.
"There's NO House Riddle in the Sacred Twenty-Eight" Weasley yelled, his face becoming too red, reaching a point where it might explode- comically.
Eda sneered and waved her wand absent-mindedly "Step aside boys" she addressed Crabbe and Goyle, "so I may provide our fellow Gryffindors a proper conversation".
The hulking snakes moved to stand behind her, carefully minding her wand's movement, not wanting to get caught in her silent casting of the full Body-Bind curse.
"Petrificus totalus" Eda thought, and the three Gryffindors became bound at once.
Eda examining her perfectly manicured nails, completely disinterested "Thanks. Draco-" Eda said coldly and advanced further within the packed compartment and continued,
"Return to our compartment at once", her order clear enough for the three boys to scuttle away in a hurry to do her bidding.
"I trust you do not need a dire end to your pitiful lives," Eda pierced the petrified Gryffindors with one final look of warning and added most ominously,
"Which is why, I wish to impress the gruesome fate upon any of you wishing to harm one of those under my protection; so, careful now little ones, I'll say this once more as a final warning, do NOT tempt my thin patience".
At that, she sashayed in the opposite direction, and Weasley seethed -mentally, of course- and promised his brand of cold revenge.
Once in the safety of the Slytherin compartment at the end of the train, Eda cast a quick "Muffliato", silencing the area and rounding at Malfoy,
"Exactly, how many times do I have to save you Heir Malfoy?" her eyebrow raised with a tone colder than ice.
Malfoy's eyes widened in fear, and he stumbled, backing up "I'm sorry, but- but-he started it!" the young boy stuttered, his stoic pureblood mask breaking into pieces.
Eda froze him in place with a silent spell and advanced,
"Do not lie to me, child, your lack of wit is insulting to the House of Slytherin. You should be ashamed of yourself. And honestly, is Mudblood the only word you can think of? How unimaginative and dull" Eda sneered.
"Pull yourself together and start behaving in a manner befitting someone of your station" she added, as if in an afterthought.
For emphasis, Eda cast a spell that made the young Malfoy scion's blood boil for a short moment before she said, "you're dismissed".
He fell over from the pain, while Eda vaguely thought she heard unnatural sounds of squeaks in the background and hummed internally -she might have forgotten about Crabbe and Goyle- but they were Slytherins, so she needn't any damage control.
After arriving at the castle and laughing at the misfortune of the Gryffindors; who had to deal with one of Peeves' pranks, Eda led her band of Slytherins as they headed toward their table for the Sorting ceremony.
The start-of-term feast then began after Professor Dumbledore made a show of announcing a few start-of-term notices; the biggest one, being the cancellation of Quidditch this year.
As the old man probably predicted, his theatricality caused lots of mayhem, especially from the Weasley twins as they spewed off and shouted "impossible" and "that's rubbish!" along with the rest of the angry mob that is- the school population.
"Silence" Dumbledore's authoritative voice rang across the hall,
"As I was saying, we are to have the honour of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event that has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."
At that point, the Headmaster completely lost Eda's attention as he rambled on, explaining how they were hosting this 'very special event' at Hogwarts.
Before he goes on -thankfully- a mysterious man with a bizarre appearance appeared in the Great Hall just as a perfectly timed thunderbolt struck.
"How camp," Eda thought.
Dumbledore took no time to identify him as Mad-Eye Moody, the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor.
The entire Slytherin table became rigid, and the mood shifted and swirled with electric hate and what felt like suffocating contempt.
The shift was apparent enough for the whole of Hogwarts to see, and the whispers spread.
Within a few short moments, everyone knew Mad-Eye Moody's status as an ex-Auror and the part he took in the last war.
Afterwards, Dumbledore blathered some more about the Triwizard Tournament's starting date at the end of October on Samhain; or more known as, Hallowe'en; and Eda tuned him out, thinking about the strange Auror.
She couldn't help but spot him as he ignored the jug of Pumpkin Juice on the High Table and take a swig out of his flask; how strange she thought.
When the ancient man's rambles came to an end, he sent the students to bed.
Eda silently fumed the whole way to to the dungeons; she kept worrying her lip just thinking about the involvement of Crouch Snr in the tournament.
Eda wondered how Barty would react to seeing his father again; his reaction won't be well.
She winced, what if it hinders his task in any way?
At dinner on the night of their first day back, Eda catches Draco Malfoy insulting Ronald Weasley and sighs the deepest of sighs.
The young lady delicately shoved her class schedule inside the pocket of her school robes and glided toward the Slytherin table.
Expertly manoeuvring around the dinner crowd, Eda mumbled to herself "Blithering idiots"; she was sure they would be the end of her.
Eda walked closer and unobtrusively sat behind a standing Draco and co. as he showed Weasley a Daily Prophet article that casts Ron's father Arthur Weasley in a bad light by Rita Skeeter.
She patted the patterned skirt of her uniform and placed herself in the middle of the sixth year boys, completely ignoring her boring year mates as she surrounded herself in the protective bubble of the older boys.
Eda never looked up to see the strange new professor clenching his silver flask.
"Unsurprisingly, Mr. Weasley found, upon arrival at Mr. Moody's heavily guarded house, that Mr. Moody had once again raised a false alarm. Mr. Weasley [...] refused to answer Daily Prophet questions about why he had involved the Ministry in such an undignified and potentially embarrassing scene,"
Still annoyed at the Malfoy whelp, Eda decided not to interfere until he is hurt somehow; she knew that this was the only way for him to learn a lesson.
Things escalated fast -as usual with the Gryffindors- and while Harry and Hermione restrain an angry Ron, Draco had to open his loud mouth and make rude comments about the lumpy elder she-Weasley.
Hearing this, an indignant Harry counters it by making an even ruder comment about Draco's mother, the Lady Malfoy.
"You know your mother, Malfoy?" said Harry.
Both he and Hermione grabbed the back of Ronald's robes to stop him from launching himself at Malfoy,
"That expression she's got; like she's got dung under her nose? Has she always looked like that or was it just because you were with her?" continued Potter.
Malfoy's pale face went slightly pink, "don't you dare insult, my mother, Potter" he spat.
Harry Potter ignored him and started walking away, still struggling with a red-faced Ron; resulting in an even angrier Draco that attempted to curse Harry from behind.
Seemingly out of nowhere, Moody quickly appeared; swiftly transfiguring Draco into a white ferret and bounced him around.
The small ferret squeaked and shook with fear, and the moment Moody stopped controlling his movement, it ran behind the Slytherins, darting around them as if looking for someone.
"Draco Malfoy, the amazing bouncing ferret" Ron called loudly, his cheerful jeers echoing "this is the best moment of my life".
And that was Eda's cue to intervene, it was one thing to have Draco punished by another child, but a deranged ex-Auror is a whole other matter.
Quick as a snitch, Eda undid the spell and stood up, glaring at the deranged professor on behalf of the now scurrying Slytherin just as Professor McGonagall rounded the corner.
Eda ignored the squabbling professors and checked over the Malfoy heir for any signs of injuries and soothed him with a warm blanket of her magic.
She took note of his injuries and healed him as she contemplated sending a couple of letters about this particular incident to a select few; no one hurt her snakes, well, except her.
Eda heard McGonagall tell Moody off and lecturing him about proper punishments and rolled her eyes at them; neither one cared enough about the suffering student, pitifully sprawled beneath her feet.
Soon after, Eda kept regarding the supposed adults coolly as she notices Moody's gall at defending his actions.
Eda's disdain furthered when she saw the limping man's explanations on how he thought a solid, sharp knock would be sufficient.
With that, McGonagall finally paid attention to the students, and the ageing woman looked down her nose, past her emerald green robes, at a cool Eda, a sprawled Draco Malfoy and a mixture of laughing and terrified students -depending on the colours of their ties-.
About time Eda thought derisively.
"Explain yourselves," McGonagall questioned sternly.
And just as the melanin challenged boy was about to wail and howl with a voice that threatened to grate on Eda's auditory nerves, the young lady shushed him.
Then recounted the events most clinically and accurately, leaving no traces of fault.
McGonagall raised an almost impressed brow at her and surprised everyone by saying "five points to Slytherin Ms Riddle -for rescuing a fellow student in need- no matter how dangerous it is".
Eda chuckled internally; McGonagall never fails in her backhanded compliments and snide, how Ravenclaw of her, Eda thought.
And in her most no-nonsense tone, McGonagall led the troublemakers and Moody off to see Professor Snape about settling this.
Eda swore revenge on this so-called professor, Moody.
From an outsider's point of view, Eda's relationship with the Slytherins can be a tad confusing for the general public.
No one understood how she ruled over them; a halfblood -for all intents and purposes- with a dodgy past and an even more obscure family line that has all the Sacred Twenty-Eight twitching claiming that she's a pureblood.
None of the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs truly believe nor understand how they followed her like lost puppies.
It depends on how one perceived Ms Edasich Riddle, but the clearest thing to all is, she had a particular sort of control over her snakes.
Her -charm- or whatever, made the young purebloods and fellow halfbloods kneel before her feet through varying means and levels of exerted power.
To any on-looker, Eda is pleasantly charming and agreeable with all of her House-mates.
Though, if one cares to look hard enough; they can't help but notice how each one of them hurries to answer her beckoned calls or how they grovel at her feet for some positive reinforcement.
Some smart Ravenclaws noted -on several occasions, might they add- how anyone who dares to hurt a student that fell under Eda's protection, seemed to come to harm in the most heinous of ways.
These observant students often cringed at their peers' stupidity and fool-hardiness, the observant ones either whispered between themselves or kept their traps shut; knowing that no good would come if they so much as mumbled the wrong thing.
They knew better than to anger a girl that serves her revenge by sending people to the hospital wing, or worse.
Such an incident came too soon at the beginning of this term; it made the observant ones snigger so much, some felt they might have ruptured a spleen or something of the like.
Eda's green and silver tie billowed with the Autumn breeze as she walked along the corridor to her next class; she had Double Potions next, with the Gryffindorks; she mentally sighed.
Eda swatted a fluttered, wayward hair and spelt it in place, returning her pristine looks as they were.
She hated Autumn; it had too much wind.
Hearing a soft whimper halted her movement; making her classmates stop as well.
One of the more boring of the six boys that completed her class spoke up,
"Is something the matter my Lady?", Pritchard, her mind distractedly registered as his name.
The other five looked about in stark confusion; she sighed again.
There was a reason she rarely ever interacts with her classmen, the infamous 5th-year boys; she's sad to admit, but they are complete Imbeciles.
One of them; Vane she recalled his name, is pointless and extremely dull; the other one, Urquhart acts like he'd been obliviated one too many times as a child.
His best mate Baddock however, is simply too thick.
And when Eda says too thick; she means thicker than Crabbe and Goyle thick, which is absurd.
Eda often wondered how the boy walks and talks at the same time; it's quite sad.
Completing the six are Moran and Davis; one who is utterly vapid and prissier than most pureblooded girls while the other one; is as helpful as the Giant Squid.
Completely useless; at most they were fit enough to be cannon fodder.
Seeing how the boy's confused state ruffled them enough to start flanking her as if preparing for an invisible attack from all sides, Eda said,
"I'll handle this, gentlemen, that'll be all" she dismissed them as she does to House-elves; it wasn't her proudest moment, but it got the job done.
They scuttled away to Double Potions like tall mice; Eda notes the word tall because she's the shortest of her year, it was bound to happen; being the only girl in her year.
Bonus points are that she doesn't have to share her room with anyone.
Seeing her classmates backs, she rounded the corner and swallowed back the acidic bile, climbing up her throat.
They're just babies she thought sadly, as she stumbled upon a group of three first-year Slytherins getting attacked by older students and approached with a much slower pace.
Eda wanted to throttle them.
Disillusioning herself with a sharp movement of her wand, Eda crept up behind the much older student and acted fast.
She sent the lot of them several blood-boiling curses then bound and petrified them with haste; she didn't have the time to exact her revenge at the moment seeing as she's already almost late to class but, she'd manage it later.
So Eda vanished the bullies to her favourite spot in the Forbidden Forest for a later rendezvous.
Eda undid the Disillusionment charm, and the firsties looked up at her with teary eyes; forever grateful at her interference.
The young lady winked and helped them up, and one by one, she started healing them with all she had; not stopping once until she saw them all bloodless and healed.
As she sent the grateful baby snakes on their way, a group of second-year Hufflepuffs caught sight of Eda's bloody robes and hurried to form a tighter group, as though frightened she might attack stragglers.
Eda furrowed her brows in thought; bewildered about their frightened states, but when she looked down, Eda noticed the blood on her robes and let out a soft awkward laugh.
She waved her hand, cleansing her outerwear and continued on her way, officially late for class.
She was going to get an earful from Snape.
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