It was colder at high places. Standing atop the Astronomy Tower was much chillier than being on the ground. Eda pulled her cloak tighter around herself and turned to look at Dumbledore.
The headmaster wore a smile on his face, but the more she looked at it, the more it resembled a smile of schadenfreude.
"Even if I were going to kill myself, I'd do it outside the headmaster's office. Maybe one day when you open the door, you'll find me hanging there, with my tongue sticking out this far."
As she spoke, Eda gestured with her hand.
The length she indicated reached almost to her waist. Even if she were extraordinarily gifted or the reincarnation of someone who had died by hanging, her tongue could never stretch that far.
"As the saying goes, good people die young, while troublemakers live for a thousand years. I think you'll live to a hundred at the very least," Dumbledore said, ignoring Eda's glaring expression.
Dumbledore also rested his hands on the battlements and looked out over the entirety of Hogwarts.
"How wonderful," he said. "Everything on campus lies before your eyes. Looking down on it all, do you ever feel as though you're the master of everything?"
"The master of everything? Only if there really were a god in this world," Eda muttered. "No, even if an omniscient and omnipotent god really existed, they still couldn't control every person, every living creature."
Dumbledore looked at Eda.
"I thought you hadn't realized that yet. Since you know it's impossible to control people's hearts, why did you insist on trying? And why become so upset over something that was never possible in the first place?"
Ninety percent of what happened at Hogwarts escaped neither Dumbledore's notice nor his knowledge.
If there truly were a god in this world, then Dumbledore was the god of Hogwarts.
Of course, even gods nodded off from time to time.
The rules Eda had established for the prefects and the students had naturally not escaped Dumbledore's notice.
Even Eda's visit to the Slytherin common room was something he knew all about.
Yet the headmaster had neither said nor done anything.
He had simply watched quietly from the sidelines.
Some lessons could not be taught through words alone.
Only by experiencing them firsthand could a person truly understand their depth and distinguish right from wrong.
Just like Eda.
She had originally believed she could rely on her own strength to make everyone submit, have everyone follow her wishes, and maintain a superficial peace.
But what had happened?
Plans could never keep up with changing circumstances.
When Harry unexpectedly became the fourth champion, the students stopped fearing Eda's personal strength.
For the sake of what they believed to be their own interests, they united in resistance and began shaking the foundations of Eda's "rule."
Whether Harry had cheated to enter the Triwizard Tournament or not, whether he had entered willingly or not, none of that mattered to the students.
In their eyes, Harry was the beneficiary.
He had infringed upon their interests.
And so came the exclusion.
The isolation.
And now, the "Potter Stinks" badges.
All of it meant that Eda's attempt to make everyone act according to her wishes, her attempt to direct people's hearts, had completely failed.
The only reason that superficial peace had lasted for two months, and the students had obediently followed her orders for two months, was because Eda had never touched their personal interests.
She had never harmed them.
The moment their interests were affected, or the moment Eda's orders conflicted with what they wanted, things became what they were today.
Or perhaps they would go even further, forcing her from power or overthrowing her altogether.
That was why Dumbledore had remained an observer all this time.
He wanted Eda to personally experience something like this.
Where else besides school could she have such an opportunity?
If this lesson, with all its twists and reversals, had happened outside Hogwarts instead, it might very well have cost someone their life.
The human heart was the most difficult thing in the world to understand.
Controlling it was even more difficult.
People's hearts could never truly be subdued by force.
They could only be destroyed.
Eda gazed into the distance and spoke softly.
"I never wanted to control people's hearts. I simply wanted to maintain superficial peace within the school. It's just that somewhere along the way, what I was doing gradually changed."
"Although your starting point was different," Dumbledore said with a smile, "I believe you've learned many valuable lessons, haven't you?"
"Failure isn't necessarily a bad thing. What's important is whether you can draw experience and lessons from it."
Eda still sounded dejected as she absentmindedly replied,
"I know. Failure is the mother of success."
"Crude, but true," Dumbledore continued. "Rule established through force is destined to be overthrown someday. Voldemort ruled the Death Eaters through terror. Once he fell from power, the tree fell and the monkeys scattered. The Death Eaters collapsed, and only a very small number remained loyal to him."
"Gellert ruled his followers through his own strength and through belief. Even today, there are still many followers of Gellert across Europe."
Dumbledore quickly added,
"Of course, I'm not saying that Voldemort was necessarily wrong and Gellert was necessarily right. I hope you can learn from both of their failures instead of repeating the same path they walked."
Eda tilted her head and looked at Dumbledore with obvious dissatisfaction.
"Why are all the examples you bring up Dark Lords? Do you think I'll become the third Dark Lord?"
"Of course not. It's just that there aren't any better examples," Dumbledore explained. "They're the two most famous ones, aren't they?"
He continued, "You and I are not walking the same path, and our destinations will be different as well. I hope you won't spend all your time with your head down, focused only on reaching the end. Pay more attention to the scenery along the way. Those are the most beautiful parts of the journey."
"How do you know we're not on the same path? Haven't I already said that I want to become the headmaster of Hogwarts?" Eda replied stubbornly.
But she knew the truth herself.
She could never become someone like Dumbledore.
"Judging the whole from a small part may be somewhat biased, but it isn't entirely unreasonable," Dumbledore said. "You aren't the sort of person who lets yourself suffer injustice, unless the one causing you that injustice is someone very important to you."
Dumbledore suddenly reached out and gently stroked Eda's hair.
"As your teacher, and also as the Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, I should be guiding you onto the same path I took. But that path is too painful. Those hardships were never yours to bear. How could I force them upon you..."
The conversation had grown rather heavy.
Dumbledore withdrew his hand as though he had never reached out at all.
The cold wind of November blew across the tower, tousling Eda's hair.
She tucked a loose strand behind her ear and asked softly,
"If you could do it all over again, would you still choose this path?"
"I don't know. I don't know whether I would still have the same courage to walk this road filled with thorns."
The cold wind also ruffled Dumbledore's hair and beard.
For the first time, Eda realized just how old Dumbledore had become.
She knew that if he truly had another chance, he would still choose this path without the slightest hesitation.
And he would walk it even better than before.
Eda didn't know what had happened during Dumbledore's youth.
But whatever it had been, it must have been unimaginably painful.
Far more painful than everything he had experienced afterward.
"So, how's your preparation going? The first task won't be easy. Don't come crying when you embarrass yourself," Dumbledore said, changing the subject to the Triwizard Tournament.
"I haven't really prepared," Eda replied. "They've only told us the date of the first task. How am I supposed to prepare when I don't even know what it is?"
"I'll just show up on time. Whatever the task is, I'll bulldoze my way through it."
In the face of absolute strength, any conspiracy, elaborate traps, or clever schemes were nothing more than flashy tricks.
Paper tigers.
If the difficulty of the task had been designed specifically around Eda's abilities, then she would naturally have approached it cautiously and prepared carefully.
But the tasks also had to take Krum's and Fleur's abilities into account.
They couldn't possibly make them overwhelmingly difficult.
Otherwise, it wouldn't be a tournament.
It would be a funeral.
So Eda didn't need much preparation.
She only needed to adjust her condition, find her rhythm, and focus on dealing with whatever challenge awaited her.
Dumbledore suddenly slapped the battlements and exclaimed,
"Oh dear! We got so caught up talking that I nearly forgot. The champions have to undergo wand inspection, and you'll also be doing publicity photos together."
"Really? When?" Eda asked.
"Er... right now..."
...
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